Empty leg flights from RAF Northolt

Northolt is usually the quickest run into the West End of any London business aviation field, thirteen miles from Mayfair and about thirty five minutes from Hyde Park on a good run. It is also a working Royal Air Force station, and everything else about flying from here follows from that one fact.

Northolt produces very few empty legs compared with the other London fields, and the reasons are structural rather than seasonal. If a repositioning sector is what you are after, you will usually find it at Farnborough, Luton, Biggin Hill or Stansted, and it pays to plan around that from the start.

Empty legs at Northolt right now

The board below shows what has been released across our operator network. If little or nothing is listed for Northolt, that is the normal state of this airport rather than a failure of the feed, and the other London fields are where the sectors run on the same days.

Departing from RAF Northolt

Also moving across the other London airports

Sectors on this list do not touch RAF Northolt itself. They are shown because the fields are close enough that the drive rarely costs you more than waiting for the right sector does. Tell us which one interests you and we will confirm it is still open.

Why Northolt produces so few empty legs

An empty leg exists because an operator decides, often at short notice, to move an aircraft. Three features of Northolt make that decision difficult, and together they explain almost everything about availability here.

The corridors that run from here

Northolt traffic is business travel rather than holidays, and it concentrates on short European sectors where the time saved on the ground is the whole point of the exercise.

Transatlantic departures are possible on the right aircraft but constrained. The usable take off run is shorter than the paved length, so a long range jet leaving for New York may not be able to carry full fuel, and operators frequently route those trips through Stansted or Luton instead. If your trip is long haul, expect us to suggest one of them.

The airport in detail

Arriving at a military station

No other London airport works like this, and it is worth knowing before you travel rather than discovering at the barrier.

What the terminal is actually like

There is one civil terminal, separate from the military side of the station, run by a single licensed handling provider that manages the slot and permission process on your behalf. You do not choose an FBO here and you never deal with the station directly.

The building is modest, and the time it saves is what you are paying for.

Allow around twenty minutes before a domestic departure and thirty before an international one, counting the check at the gate as well as the terminal. Inside the building it is as quick as anywhere in London, but the gate is unfamiliar on a first visit and is the part people underestimate.

What Northolt does not have

Facilities are usually listed by what an airport has. At Northolt the gaps are more useful to know, and beyond the terminal itself there are four that catch people out.

None of this makes Northolt a poor airport. It makes it a specific one, suited to a planned weekday trip by a small group who value the short drive and the privacy above everything else.

What the ground costs

Northolt is not the cheapest London field and it is not the most expensive either. The published charges are clear: a flat landing fee for aircraft up to ten tonnes, the first two hours of parking included, and surcharges for weekend and out of hours movements. What it charges for is access rather than luxury, and the real cost of using it is measured in flexibility rather than in pounds.

That last point is the honest arithmetic of this airport. A sector into Farnborough or Luton at empty leg prices can be thousands cheaper than a charter into Northolt, and the difference pays for a great deal of driving. Whether the swap is worth it depends entirely on what your day looks like at the other end.

Online calculator

If you want to see what your route would cost as a standard charter, so you have something to measure an empty leg against, use the calculator below. Fill in the airports, the dates and the number of passengers, add any preference on aircraft type, and we will send a written calculation by email or messenger. Please check your contact details carefully so that we can reply quickly.

Getting into London

This is why people put up with the restrictions. For the West End, no other London business aviation field is usually as quick, and on a weekday morning the difference against Farnborough or Luton is close to an hour. These are typical off peak times.

South Ruislip Underground station is nearby, but with luggage the car is the practical answer at both ends of the journey, and there is no helicopter shuttle from the airfield.

Empty leg calendar for RAF Northolt, month by month

Northolt runs on corporate and government activity rather than on holidays, so its year is flatter than that of the other London fields. What moves it is the working calendar and the Royal Air Force's own requirements.

The pattern is the opposite of the holiday airports: Northolt is at its most difficult when corporate London is at its busiest, in June and September, and at its most obliging in April, August and November, although August can be affected by summer restrictions on civil hours. If your trip is flexible by a few weeks, those are the months to aim for.

Three situations, three answers

Travelling with a dog or a cat

At Northolt the answer is often no, and it is important to know that before you plan around it. The station accepts dogs and cats only on flights from England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and Ireland. A dog coming back from France or Switzerland has to land at an approved airport such as Luton, Farnborough, Biggin Hill or Stansted instead.

Where an animal can travel, there are conditions. Pets must be vaccinated and kept on a leash or in a crate under the owner's control at all times, dogs need a collar and identity tag, and valid third party insurance is required. There are no animal welfare facilities on the station. Some operators also decline animals on their own aircraft. Tell us about the animal at the enquiry stage and we will confirm what applies to your particular routing.

Questions about flying from Northolt

Call +44 7857 574938, message the same number on WhatsApp, or write to flight@empty-leg.co.uk. Northolt needs more notice than the other London fields, so the earlier you tell us the dates, the better the answer we can give you.