Empty leg flights to Asia

A flight to Asia is among the longest a business jet makes from Britain. Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Bali and the Maldives lie between nine and a half and about fifteen and a half hours from London, and only long range aircraft can reach most of them without a stop. Every one of those flights has a mirror image: a jet that has taken a family to Phuket for Christmas has to come home, and a jet that has brought a Singapore owner to London for the summer has to fly back east. When those aircraft travel without passengers, the operator sells the flight as an empty leg, and on routes this long the saving against a full charter runs into tens of thousands of pounds.

Asian sectors available today

The first list below carries every sector we hold that starts or ends at an airport in Asia, from long flights to and from Europe to short hops between Asian cities. The second lists what the same trips cost as full charters from London and the main European cities, a yardstick for any empty leg. A city or a country typed into the search box narrows the first list.

Why empty legs fly between Europe and Asia

An empty leg exists because an aircraft has to be somewhere its passengers are not. Between Europe and Asia the reasons repeat every year, and they tell you in which month and in which direction a sector is likely to appear.

Sectors to Asia are rarer than sectors within Europe: only long range jets make the trip without a stop, and each flight keeps an aircraft away from its base for days. The sums are large too. A Gulfstream G650 from London to Bangkok has a guide empty leg price of about 64,500 GBP against 153,600 GBP as a charter; shared by fourteen passengers, that is about 4,600 GBP each.

Flying from Europe to Asia in 2026: the routes around closed airspace

The straight line from London to Asia no longer matches the route a jet actually flies. Two closures shape most flight plans east, and together they explain why the flying times in our tables are longer than older guides suggest.

Asian destinations for a private jet from London

Each country in the region runs its airports in its own way, and several busy resorts have little room for parked aircraft. That shapes both the trip and the empty legs that follow it.

Private terminals in Asia from the passenger's side

On arrival the routine is quick almost everywhere, with immigration and customs handled in or beside the private terminal. The work happens before the flight, and much of it depends on the passenger list.

Empty legs between London and Asia

The routes that most often produce a sector to or from London are listed with the time in the air, a guide empty leg price for the whole aircraft, the season and the direction in which the jet usually flies empty. Full charter prices for the same flights on your own dates are in the price list for Europe and Asia.

Bangkok, Singapore and Hong Kong see sectors in both directions through the year, because jets based there fly to Europe on business in every season and bring owners over for the summer. The Maldives, Phuket and Sri Lanka follow the European winter holidays, and Tokyo and Bali take the longest, with a stop on most flights to Bali and on many flights home from Japan. The stop adds about an hour on the ground to the flying time shown.

Empty legs between Europe and Asia

Many Asian sectors begin on the continent, above all in summer, when jets that brought Asian owners to Paris, the Riviera and Switzerland head home, and a party already in Europe also saves the trip to London. Prices are for the whole aircraft, set against the full charter fare for the same jet and route.

Geneva and Milan are closer to the Maldives than London, and a jet starting there saves 35 to 50 minutes. Paris and the Riviera are the natural starting points in summer, when Asian owners spend the season in France and their aircraft go home without them.

Empty legs within Asia

Travellers already in Asia can use a regional market of their own. Business jets based in Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok move between the resorts and the cities all year, and every stay in Bali, Phuket or the Maldives produces two empty flights: one home after the drop and one back out to collect the party.

Hops between two countries, such as Singapore to Bali or Hong Kong to Tokyo, are open to any operator holding the right permits. Domestic routes are not: Thailand, China, India and most other countries in the region reserve them for local operators, so for Bangkok to Phuket we bring in a Thai operator while your European jet can still carry you on to the Maldives.

Which aircraft fly from Europe to Asia

Range decides how many times a jet lands on the way to Asia. London to Bangkok is about 5,400 nautical miles on the routes in use today, Singapore about 6,100 and Tokyo about 6,400, while a super midsize jet covers about 3,200 to 4,000 between stops.

The hourly figures are where an operator starts. A route price also covers positioning, crew allowances, permits, handling and the aircraft's return, so a long sector or a short regional hop works out dearer per hour than the rate alone suggests.

Where a jet stops for fuel on the way east

On the northern route the usual stops are Istanbul, Baku and Almaty, and on the southern route Dubai, Doha, Bahrain and Muscat when their airspace allows. Over the Indian Ocean crews use Malé, Colombo and Mumbai, and on the Arctic route to Japan they stop at Anchorage in Alaska. For a party of four watching the budget, one stop in a large jet to Bangkok can save a great deal against a long range jet flying through, and a stop in Malé splits the flight to Bali into legs of about ten and five hours.

Rules for private flights to Asia

A flight to Asia usually passes through several jurisdictions, each with its own demands, and a handful of points most often decide whether a sector is usable for your party.

Entry for British passport holders

Entry rules for British citizens on holiday, as they stood in September 2026, vary by destination. Most of these countries also ask for a passport valid for at least six months from the day of arrival.

Taxes on a private flight to Asia

Passenger taxes mostly follow the airport of departure and the weight of the jet. A jet positioning with nobody aboard pays none, but once a party is on board the sector is taxed in full.

Four passengers in a Gulfstream G650 from London to Bangkok pay 4,564 GBP in Air Passenger Duty between them. Switzerland charges nothing and France would take 8,400 euros, so a family spending the summer near Geneva or Zurich keeps the whole sum by flying east from there, on a shorter flight as well.

Coming back to Britain

Guests from Asia. Japanese, Singaporean, Malaysian and South Korean visitors, like others who can enter Britain without a visa, need a UK Electronic Travel Authorisation, and it has been enforced on private flights since 25 February 2026. Citizens of India, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Sri Lanka need a UK visa. British and Irish citizens need neither.

Allowances. Arriving by private aircraft, each adult may carry goods to a value of 270 GBP plus 200 cigarettes, four litres of spirits, 18 litres of still wine and 42 litres of beer. Sparkling wine moves into the wine allowance, and cider into the beer allowance, on 1 October 2026.

Paperwork. Before the aircraft leaves for Britain, the operator lodges a General Aviation Report listing everyone on board, built from the passport details given when you booked.

How to book an empty leg to Asia well

An empty leg to Asia is cheap because the jet has to fly the route anyway, and the operator has already settled the day, the airports and the permits. Fit your plans around those points and you give up very little.

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.

The figure the calculator returns is an estimate for planning. The firm quote comes back from our consultants with the cost broken out line by line, and the price agreed there is the price written into the contract.

If you would rather skip the arithmetic, send us the route and the dates instead and a consultant will come back with both numbers, the charter price and any empty leg that fits.

Asian empty leg calendar, month by month

Two seasons drive flights between Europe and Asia: the European winter, spent in the Asian sun and snow, and the Asian summer, spent in Europe. For each month we rate demand for long range aircraft and the number of sectors we usually see.

Europe to Asia sectors peak in June, Asia to Europe ones in the weeks before Christmas. Heading east, look first at the start of the European summer and at early January; heading home, look at December and at late August and September.

Three situations, three answers

Travelling with a dog or cat to Asia

A pet going to Asia needs far more preparation than one going to Europe. Japan does not treat Britain as free of rabies, so a dog or cat needs two rabies vaccinations, a blood test and a wait of 180 days after it, and the animal quarantine service must be told at least 40 days before arrival. Singapore and Hong Kong ask for an import licence or a special permit issued before travel, and Thailand for a permit from its livestock department. Dogs are not allowed into the Maldives, and dogs and cats cannot be flown straight into Bali.

Coming home depends on where the animal has been. From Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia the rules are the usual ones: a microchip, a rabies vaccination given at least 21 days before travel, an official health certificate and, for dogs, a tapeworm treatment between 24 hours and five days before landing. From Thailand, Indonesia, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, India, China and Vietnam the pet also needs a rabies blood test taken at least 30 days after vaccination and a wait of three months from the date of the sample before it may enter Britain. Choose an operator approved to carry pets into Britain and an approved arrival airport, such as Luton, Farnborough, Biggin Hill or Stansted, and mention the animal in your first message.

Empty legs to Asia: common questions

Call +44 7857 574938, message the same number on WhatsApp, or write to flight@empty-leg.co.uk. Give us the destination, the dates and how far they can move, the number of passengers and the passports they hold, the luggage and any pet. We will reply with the sectors that fit, the full charter price for comparison and the entry rules, permits and taxes that apply to your trip.