It’s a surprising and rather unfortunate reality of the business aviation sector that roughly 44% of private jets fly completely empty—without any passengers or cargo. These empty legs occur because private jets often need to move to a new location after completing a flight to return to their home base or complete another booking, similar to how a taxi often needs to reposition itself on the ground.
From both financial and environmental perspectives, it makes complete sense for the business aviation sector to try and fill as many empty legs as possible. However, from a logistical and service perspective, there are numerous complications that make this easier said than done.
Many operators and charter brokers focus their marketing efforts on filling empty legs in a bid to ‘democratize’ private aviation and make it more accessible. While there are benefits to this, it can lead to disappointing service if clients aren’t provided with all the facts and realities prior to booking. At Victor, our aim is to bring transparency to what many consider an opaque market. In line with this, we have provided our top three tips below to ensure you are fully informed before inquiring about an empty leg flight.
Make sure the advertised empty legs are actually real
It is often the case that the empty legs being advertised on broker websites are not always accurate and sometimes don’t even exist. Without permits being agreed and crew secured for a flight there is no 100% guarantee that an empty leg is going ahead. It is also worth remembering that empty legs are dependent on a primary charter not only going ahead, but also not having any changes to the aircrafts set schedule. Therefore, you always run the risk of last minute delays or cancellations even a few hours before take-off.
While empty leg flights are often advertised at heavily discounted rates, there may be hidden costs associated with the flight from certain providers. It is not uncommon for many brokers to not fully disclose the extra taxes, fuel surcharges, landing fees, or other expenses that may be required to operate the flight. To combat this, if you see an empty leg advertised, send it to your Victor Account Manager who will be able to reach out to the operator and provide you with the likelihood of the flight going ahead.
Check the terms and conditions
It is always worth checking the terms and conditions before flying, and a good broker will always make sure to highlight any differences prior to booking. However, with an empty leg flight it is imperative that you are well versed on the potential pitfalls in the small print. Because of caveats such as ‘subject to the primary charter taking place’ the cancellation terms are not always preferable.
If you are flying during the winter it is also worth checking whether or not the operator discloses their de-icing costs prior to booking. Wifi is also usually charged post-flight depending on how much bandwidth was used.
Make sure you have a back-up plan
It is not uncommon for an operator to offer zero protection in case of there being an AOG (Aircraft on Ground) due to a maintenance issue. If your travel plans are firm and you must be at a location for a particular event, even if the empty leg matches up, we would still advise considering booking a traditional charter. In reality, empty legs are best suited for someone without a set schedule looking to enjoy last-minute getaways on a whim.
A good broker will always advise a back-up plan and will try to ensure that there is availability for an urgent flight leaving the same or a nearby airport. It is always worth remembering that, from an operator’s perspective, empty leg flights are simply a byproduct of their main primary routes and business, which is transporting passengers. As such, they are subject to the same constraints as any other private jet charter.
For more information about empty legs email the team at Sales@flyvictor.com so that your dedicated account manager can alert you whenever a suitable empty leg opportunity arises.