Between May and July, Magnus Aviation(1), a UK-based private jet charter business, saw a 19% increase in the number of private jet empty legs available when compared to the same period last year. It estimates that in August, there could be around 2,400 empty legs on private jets departing the UK.(2)
Empty legs are a cost effective way to arrange a private jet charter. They take place when an aircraft is positioning for a departure point without passengers, and those booking a flight on one of these can save up to 75% on the typical price.
Over the next few days, Magnus Aviation has an empty leg on a six seater Citation CJ2 flying from London to Deauville in France for around £1,500; a Citation CJ2 (six seater again) from London to Palma for around £3,000; an eight seater Phenom 300 flying from London to Nice for approximately £3,000, and a nine seater Citation Bravo flying from the Midlands to Malaga for approximately £5,000.
Magnus Aviation’s research(1) reveals that in Europe, there was a 16% increase in the availability of empty legs on private jets in the first five months of this year compared to the same period in 2015. It has also secured 21% more empty leg placements for clients.
One of the main reasons for an increase in the availability in the number of empty legs on private jets departing the UK is that there has been a big increase in flights to France, the most popular overseas destination. In June, there was a 5.3% increase in private jet flights from the UK to France when compared to the same period last year, and the corresponding figure for May was 9.1%.(3)
Magnus Aviation estimates that around 25% of all private jet flights in the UK and Europe are empty legs, and there were an estimated 74,987 of these in Europe during the first five months of this year, and 13.2% of these were UK based(2).
In terms of the top overseas destinations for private jet empty legs for UK customers, Nice, Palma and Ibiza are the top three, and the top two UK based airports are Luton and Farnborough.
James Armstrong, Head of Commercial Development at Magnus Aviation said: “Part of the increase in the availability of empty legs on private jets is down to the fact that there have been more business aircraft flying from the UK to some of the most popular destinations. For example, in July, the number of private jets flying from the UK to France was up 11.2% on the same month last year.”(3)
In June, the UK had four of the 20 busiest business aviation airports in Europe(3) (Luton – 4th); Farnborough (6th); Biggin Hill (14th) and Northholt (16th).
Highest availability of overseas empty leg business aviation (Source: Magnus Aviation)
| Ranking | Destination |
| 1 | Nice |
| 2 | Palma |
| 3 | Paris |
| 4 | Malaga |
| 5 | Ibiza |
| 6 | Geneva |
| 7 | Cannes |
| 8 | Seville |
| 9 | Edinburgh |
| 10 | Lisbon |
Magnus Aviation has a running list of private jet empty legs available on its website, which can be found athttp://www.magnusaviation.co.uk/news/category/empty-legs/
- Magnus Aviation data
- Magnus Aviation’s analysis of WINGX data and its own data
- WingX data
