Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia and one of the busiest business aviation destinations in Spain, with the Fira Gran Via exhibition halls on one side of the airport, the port and its cruise terminals on the other, Sitges half an hour down the coast by road and the Balearics under an hour away by air. Josep Tarradellas Barcelona El Prat lies about 10 kilometres south west of the centre, and its corporate aviation terminal, open every hour of the year, is where private passengers arrive.
From London the flight takes about 2h 05m. Trade fairs fill the city in February and March, the islands and the coast fill it from June to September, and cruise ships bring their passengers in from April onwards. Because a visiting private aircraft may stay only 96 hours, and far less than that in a fair week, most jets drop their passengers and leave, and those flights home are the empty legs on the board below.
BCN / LEBL
Josep Tarradellas Barcelona El Prat, with a corporate aviation terminal of its own that works around the clock
2h 05m
from London to Barcelona in a Phenom 300 or a Citation XLS+, and 2h 45m to 2h 50m from Glasgow or Aberdeen
Open 24 hours
the airport, its customs desk and the private terminal, although night movements are held to a restricted runway configuration
96 hours
the longest a visiting private aircraft may stay on the ground, and shorter when the airport is full
Empty legs to and from Barcelona right now
The board shows every sector touching Barcelona, and below it the flights from Girona, Reus and Perpignan, the other fields within a drive of the city and the coast. Below both, the charter list prices those same aircraft for an ordinary booking between Britain and Barcelona, which is the figure to hold an empty leg up against.
Quantity: 1 | Shown:
Date
From
To
Aircraft
Passengers
Price
18 Nov 2026
London Luton, GB (LTN/EGGW)
Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat, ES (BCN/LEBL)
Prices are for the whole aircraft and are shown in pounds. Some are indicative figures worked out from the distance and the class of jet; the firm price is confirmed with the operator when you send a request.
Typical empty leg prices between the UK and Barcelona
Guide prices for the whole aircraft, in pounds, on the corridors that produce repositioning sectors most often. These are not live offers and carry no dates: what is available right now is in the schedule on this page. The charter column is the same aircraft booked on your own dates.
Route
Aircraft
Seats
Flight time
Empty leg from
Charter from
London to Barcelona
Phenom 300
7
2h 05m
5,000 GBP
11,800 GBP
Barcelona to London
Citation XLS+
8
2h 05m
6,600 GBP
15,700 GBP
Farnborough to Barcelona
Citation XLS+
8
2h 00m
6,300 GBP
15,100 GBP
Barcelona to Biggin Hill
Citation CJ3
7
2h 00m
4,400 GBP
10,400 GBP
Oxford to Barcelona
Phenom 300
7
2h 05m
5,000 GBP
11,800 GBP
Barcelona to Jersey
Phenom 300
7
1h 45m
4,200 GBP
9,900 GBP
Southampton to Barcelona
Citation CJ3
7
1h 55m
4,200 GBP
10,000 GBP
Barcelona to Manchester
Citation XLS+
8
2h 20m
7,400 GBP
17,600 GBP
Manchester to Barcelona
Phenom 300
7
2h 20m
5,500 GBP
13,200 GBP
Barcelona to Bristol
Phenom 300
7
2h 05m
5,000 GBP
11,800 GBP
Birmingham to Barcelona
Citation XLS+
8
2h 10m
6,800 GBP
16,300 GBP
Barcelona to Newcastle
Legacy 500
8
2h 35m
9,300 GBP
22,100 GBP
Edinburgh to Barcelona
Legacy 500
8
2h 40m
9,600 GBP
22,800 GBP
Barcelona to Glasgow
Citation XLS+
8
2h 45m
8,700 GBP
20,700 GBP
Belfast to Barcelona
Citation XLS+
8
2h 35m
8,200 GBP
19,500 GBP
Barcelona to Dublin
Legacy 500
8
2h 25m
8,700 GBP
20,700 GBP
Cardiff to Barcelona
Phenom 300
7
2h 05m
5,000 GBP
11,800 GBP
Barcelona to Aberdeen
Citation XLS+
8
2h 50m
9,000 GBP
21,400 GBP
Both columns assume an aircraft already at the departure airport, so no positioning flight is billed. Where an operator has to fly one in to collect you, a charter can run considerably higher than the figure shown. Prices also run in both directions: an empty leg exists only when an operator is moving that aircraft anyway, so the sector you want may run the other way this month. Tell us the route and we will watch both directions for you.
Set up an alert for Barcelona
Most empty legs are gone within hours of being released, and a good number are never published at all. Tell us the route and the window you can travel in, and we will message you the moment a matching sector comes up between the UK and Barcelona.
Please fill in both the departure and the arrival city.
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Where Barcelona sectors come from
Three kinds of traffic send aircraft home from Barcelona with nobody on board.
The fairs at Gran Via
Two shows do most of the work. Integrated Systems Europe takes the halls in early February 2027 and Mobile World Congress in early March, and for a week at a time the airport becomes one of the busiest business aviation fields in Europe. Aircraft land, set down a delegation and leave again because there is nowhere to keep them, and the sector home is on the board the same afternoon.
Summer on the islands and the coast
Ibiza is about 50 minutes away by jet and Palma about 45, the Catalan coast is a drive of one to two hours, and from June to September aircraft shuttle between them all day. Many of those movements are repositioning flights that carry nobody, which is why summer produces the widest choice of short sectors.
A city on the Mediterranean circuit
Barcelona sits on the circuit that links Madrid, Nice, Geneva and Milan, and jets move round it all year for meetings, football and conferences. When one leg of a trip is chartered, the other is often empty, and the two ends can be a long way apart.
Barcelona also draws private flights from the Gulf, from Morocco and from the United States in the summer months, so sectors on the board are not limited to Britain. A traveller who can start in Madrid, Geneva or Nice widens the choice considerably.
Barcelona El Prat Airport in detail
El Prat is a large, fully coordinated airport where a private flight is one movement among many, so the slot, the stand and the handler are settled before anything else. These are the points that shape an arrival.
Codes and name
BCN (IATA), LEBL (ICAO). Josep Tarradellas Barcelona El Prat since 2019, when the name of the first president of the restored Generalitat was added to it.
Location
About 10 kilometres south west of the centre, between the sea and the Llobregat delta in El Prat de Llobregat, 15 to 20 minutes from the city by car outside the rush hours.
Operator
Aena, the Spanish airport company, which runs the runways, the terminals and the corporate aviation terminal used by private flights.
Runways
Three: 06L/24R at 3,352 metres and 06R/24L at 2,660 metres, both 60 metres wide, with the crossing 02/20 at 2,528 by 45 metres, on a field that lies 4 metres above sea level.
Hours
Open 24 hours a day, with customs, immigration, handling, fuel and the corporate terminal available around the clock.
Terminal for private flights
A building of its own, opened in 2008 and covering 2,118 square metres on two floors, with lounges that look out over the aprons, meeting rooms and a covered car park of its own. Several handling companies work from it, and the operator of your aircraft picks one of them.
Slots
Every arrival and departure needs an airport slot, requested through the handler. The slot office works around the clock and usually answers within the hour, the stand is confirmed at the same time, and a departure slot has no tolerance, so the flight plan must match it.
Parking
About 40 stands for general aviation beside the terminal, charged by the weight of the aircraft. An occasional visitor may keep an aircraft on the ground for up to 96 hours, and through the summer season a large cabin aircraft of code letter D or above is held to 36 hours. A summer arrival in the morning window must be notified to the airport 15 days in advance.
Handling
Compulsory. Every aircraft using the airport must appoint a ramp handling agent, and that agent is named in the flight plan.
Who may not use it
Closed to fixed wing aircraft of 2,000 kilograms or less and to flights under visual rules, the exceptions being ambulance, rescue, state and certain public service flights, so light propeller aircraft go to Sabadell instead.
Night rules
Between 11 pm and 7 am the airport moves to a night configuration: in the preferred one aircraft land on runway 02 and take off from 06R, and when the weather rules that out everything works from 24L. Departures fly the published noise abatement routes and pushing back under reverse thrust is forbidden.
On the stand
On the remote stands that private flights use, the auxiliary power unit may run for about ten minutes after chocks on and ten minutes before pushback, and the windows on the contact stands are shorter still. Ground power or an air start unit covers anything longer, and the handler brings it out to the aircraft.
Formalities
Spain sits inside the Schengen area and Britain outside it, so there is a passport check in each direction, and a British traveller's first crossing goes into the Entry/Exit System. The officers work in the corporate terminal rather than at the aircraft.
Getting away
The centre in 15 to 20 minutes, the Fira Gran Via halls in about 10, the cruise terminals at the Moll Adossat in 15 to 20 and Sitges in about half an hour.
El Prat is our first choice for Barcelona, and in almost every case it remains the choice. We look at Girona for the Costa Brava or when El Prat has no stand to give, at Reus for Tarragona and the Costa Daurada, and at Lleida or La Seu d'Urgell for the Pyrenees and Andorra.
Where private passengers are handled at Barcelona
Private flights use the corporate aviation terminal, which has its own entrance from the road, its own car park and its own passport desks, and no connection at all to the airline buildings. The operator of the aircraft chooses which of the companies working inside it will meet you.
The corporate terminal
A building on two floors, put there for business aviation alone and standing between the old control tower and the Iberia maintenance hangar. Inside are the handling offices, the lounges, the baggage and security area and the passenger control desks. Outside are 60 parking spaces under cover, a few steps from the door and about seven minutes from the runway.
What the lounges are like
Every handling company in the building keeps lounges of its own, so which one you sit in follows from which company the operator uses. The seating faces the aprons through tall glass, so you can watch your own aircraft being loaded, and the rooms are sized so that a party of six usually has one to itself.
Sky Valet at El Prat
Sky Valet keeps one of the largest operations in the building, with three passenger lounges, a crew lounge, two rooms where crews can rest and a meeting room, and it offers customs cover around the clock.
ExecuJet Barcelona
ExecuJet works 24 hours from the corporate terminal. Its passenger room has wireless internet, daily papers and refreshments on request, the crew get a briefing area of their own, and the company arranges fuel, catering, cars and hotels and coordinates the airport and air traffic slots.
United Aviation
On duty at any hour of any day, with free lounges for passengers and crew, wireless internet, television, newspapers, coffee and cold drinks. It brings its own equipment to the aircraft, including a belt loader and baggage carts, so nothing waits on a shared vehicle.
Universal, AviaVIP and the others
Universal Aviation keeps an office inside the terminal with free lounges for its passengers and crews, conference rooms, internet and refreshments. AviaVIP works in Spanish, English, Catalan and Italian and is used to government flights, and General Aviation Services and Jetex are there too, the latter with showers and meeting rooms.
Eating and drinking in the building
Do not expect an airline style lounge with a buffet in it. What the handlers put out is coffee, cold drinks, newspapers and magazines, and a proper meal comes aboard as catering instead. On a short hop to London that suits most parties better anyway, because the food is served once the aircraft is level rather than eaten in a hurry on the ground.
Ordering the catering
Barcelona has good caterers working around the clock and the handler places the order for you. A day's notice covers almost anything, from a cold seafood plate to a hot service for eight, and shorter notice usually works outside the fair weeks. When the flight is booked, tell us about allergies or anything the party does not eat.
What happens to the bags
Nothing you have to think about. The cases go from the car straight to a cart or a belt loader on the apron and into the hold while you are inside the building, and on arrival they travel the other way and are in the car by the time you reach it. There is nowhere to check in, no tags and no carousel.
Screening, and how light it is
A private flight is not exempt from security, but the check happens inside the building rather than in any public hall, and it takes a couple of minutes rather than the better part of an hour. The passenger list is sent over beforehand, so the party is expected by name and identity is confirmed against it.
Passports without a queue
Handlers reckon on about five minutes to clear an arriving party and ten to fifteen minutes on departure, depending on the number of passengers, with the officers working in the same building rather than at the aircraft.
The car, and where it waits
Driving a private car out to the aircraft is not routine at El Prat: the chauffeur waits at the corporate terminal and the handler runs you the short distance to the steps. One or two handlers advertise ramp access for a delegation, but it is the exception rather than the rule and has to be arranged well before the flight.
The crew side of the building
Every company in the building keeps something for the crew, from a briefing desk with wireless internet to rooms where pilots can rest properly. That matters more than it may sound on a long day, because a crew with somewhere to sit out the hours between two legs can still fly you home in the evening.
Whichever company meets you
The operator picks the handler, not the passenger, and from your side the difference is slight: the lounges sit a few steps apart in the same building and the officers, the loaders and the cars are the same. What changes is who signs for the aircraft.
How busy the building gets
In a strong summer month the corporate terminal sees around a thousand private movements, and a fair week compresses a good part of that into three or four days. Outside those weeks it is calm, and a party often has its lounge to itself from arrival to boarding.
The slot, and what it costs to waste one
The slot office answers around the clock, and the stand comes with the slot. A departure slot carries no tolerance, and a slot that is booked and then left unused counts against the operator and can attract a penalty, so we cancel the moment a plan changes.
Fair weeks
In a Mobile World Congress week the 40 stands fill first and the slots follow, and operators who leave it late end up setting the party down and repositioning to Girona. Integrated Systems Europe fills the city in much the same way. We book slot and stand as early as the dates allow and plan on the aircraft leaving straight after the drop.
The quote names the handler, the terminal and the slot times, and we send the passenger list, the baggage count and the car details ahead so that the officers, the loaders and the driver are all in place when the aircraft arrives. If the party wants catering, we send the order at the same time.
The terminal from a passenger's side
An arrival at the corporate terminal is quick and the city is close, so the day is usually decided by traffic and by the calendar.
ARRIVAL
Straight off the aircraft and inside
The aircraft stops on the general aviation apron beside the corporate terminal and the handler drives you the few metres to the door. Passports are checked inside while the cases come off the aircraft on a cart, and a party of four is usually in the car within about ten minutes of the engines stopping.
DOCUMENTS
What Spain asks for
A British passport must have been issued within the ten years before you land and must still have three months to run when you leave the Schengen area. A visit may last 90 days in any rolling 180 days. The Entry/Exit System takes a photograph at the first crossing, along with fingerprints from anyone who has turned 12.
LUGGAGE
Golf clubs, bikes and the rest of it
Tell us what is coming beyond the suitcases. Golf clubs for four, road bikes for the Garraf hills or a pushchair and a travel cot all change the aircraft we suggest, and a light jet that suits six passengers may not suit six with equipment.
THE ROAD
Into the city in under half an hour
The C32 and the C31 run from the airport into the city, and the ring roads carry you round it. Reckon on 15 to 20 minutes, half an hour in the morning peak, and note that the Fira Gran Via halls are closer to the airport than the centre is.
TIMING
Lunch on the Passeig de Gràcia
Leave London at 9 am and you land at about 12.05 pm local time, in the city before one. Coming home, a 6 pm departure from Barcelona reaches London at about 7.05 pm UK time.
FAIRS
The weeks when the city fills
Integrated Systems Europe runs from 2 to 5 February 2027 and Mobile World Congress from 1 to 4 March 2027, both at Fira Gran Via. Hotel rates rise sharply, slots and stands go early, and the airport takes several hundred extra business flights across the week.
CRUISES
The ships at the Moll Adossat
Barcelona is one of the great cruise ports of Europe, and it counted just under four million cruise passengers in 2025, most of them through the terminals on the Moll Adossat quay. The drive from the corporate terminal takes 15 to 20 minutes, and the season runs from spring into October.
THE ISLANDS
Ibiza, Mallorca and Menorca
Ibiza is about 50 minutes away by jet, Palma about 45 and Menorca a little more, and in summer those hops are the busiest short sectors in Spain. A jet that brings you to Barcelona often continues to the islands empty.
BY TRAIN
Madrid in two and a half hours
The high speed train from Barcelona Sants reaches Madrid in about 2h 30m and Paris in about 6h 50m, which is worth knowing when a return leg has no empty sector and the meeting is in Madrid.
AUGUST
The month the city empties
Barcelona is hot and humid in August, many restaurants and small shops close for a fortnight and business travel nearly stops, while the coast and the islands are at their fullest. Prices for a sector out to Ibiza are at their highest of the year.
TOURIST TAX
What a visitor pays in the city
Catalonia charges a tourist tax and Barcelona adds a surcharge of its own. Since 1 April 2026 a night in a five star hotel in the city carries 12 euros a person, a four star 8.40 euros and a holiday flat 9.50 euros, while a cruise passenger on a call of twelve hours or less pays up to 11 euros.
TAX FREE
No minimum to claim
Spain sets no minimum purchase for a visitor from outside the EU, so any receipt can be claimed. The forms are validated electronically at DIVA points before you leave the country, and the goods have to leave the EU by the end of the third month after the month of purchase.
BY AIRLINE
When only one leg is empty
British Airways, easyJet, Jet2, Ryanair and Vueling all fly between Britain and Barcelona, most of them several times a day, so the direction that has no sector can be flown on a scheduled service without losing the day.
ONWARD
Onward in an hour or two
From Barcelona, Palma is under the hour away by jet, Madrid and Nice about 1h 10m and Marrakesh about 2h 20m, so the city works as the first stop of a longer trip rather than the only one.
DEPARTURE
Back for the slot
Be at the corporate terminal about 20 minutes before departure. The slot has no tolerance, so the handler will ask for the car to arrive in good time, and the walk from the lounge to the aircraft takes a couple of minutes.
The airport itself rarely costs a party more than twenty minutes. The slot, the fair calendar and the traffic on the C32 are what shape the day, and we work all three into the plan before the flight is confirmed.
Four rules that shape a Barcelona trip
A slot for every movement
El Prat is fully coordinated, so the arrival and the departure each need a slot and the stand is confirmed with them. The slot office answers quickly, but a departure slot has no tolerance and an unused one can be held against the operator, so the times in the quote are the times we fly.
Ninety six hours, and often fewer
Four days is the ceiling for an occasional visitor. A fair week shortens it, and through the summer a large cabin aircraft is held to 36 hours. More than anything else, that limit is what fills the board with sectors leaving Barcelona.
A handling agent, named in advance
Every aircraft must hire a ramp agent, whose name goes in the flight plan, and the agent books the slot and the stand and arranges the customs officers. We name the company in the quote.
No light aircraft, and no visual flying
El Prat is shut to fixed wing aircraft at or below two tonnes and to flying under visual rules, ambulance, rescue and state flights excepted. A light propeller aircraft lands at Sabadell instead, about half an hour from the centre by road, and we say so at the quote stage rather than later.
None of the four takes long to settle, and all of them are in the confirmation before the aircraft leaves Britain.
What the ground costs at Barcelona
Spain is gentler on the private traveller than France, Italy or Austria: there is no passenger tax on a flight leaving the country, so what a party pays at El Prat is the airport's own charges and nothing on top of them.
On the invoice
Landing, parking and passenger charges set by Aena, the handling fee of the company that meets the aircraft, the slot coordination and the fuel, normally all inside the charter price we quote
No Spanish departure tax
Spain charges nothing on a passenger leaving the country by private jet, so the flight home from Barcelona carries no equivalent of the Italian or French levies
Air Passenger Duty
Band A, on any flight leaving the UK: 32 GBP a passenger on a private jet of 5.7 to 20 tonnes, which covers every aircraft on our Barcelona routes, and 142 GBP on jets of 20 tonnes or more
British duty falls on the departure from the UK, Belfast included, and never on a flight leaving Jersey or Guernsey. The higher rate is due to widen in April 2027 to every private jet from 5.7 tonnes, lifting the charge on the aircraft we fly to Barcelona from 32 GBP in the present tax year to 146.63 GBP a passenger.
What a party does pay in Spain is the tourist tax at the hotel, and in Barcelona that is the highest in the country. The airport charges, by contrast, are modest for a short stay and grow only if the aircraft waits, which is one more reason so few of them stay.
Give us your phone number and we'll call you back
Girona, Reus and the other airports around Catalonia
Catalonia has more usable airports than most regions of Spain, and each of them is useful for something different.
Girona, GRO. Girona Costa Brava, about 74 kilometres north of the city, with a runway of 2,400 metres, handling from Universal Aviation and ExecuJet and far more room on the apron than El Prat. It is the natural choice for the Costa Brava and the first alternative when Barcelona is full.
Reus, REU. On the Costa Daurada with a runway of 2,459 metres, about 8 kilometres from Tarragona and 103 kilometres from Barcelona. It serves Salou, PortAventura and the beaches south of the city, and its aprons are quiet outside the summer charter peaks.
Sabadell, LELL. The general aviation field of the Barcelona area, about 20 kilometres north of the city, with a runway of some 1,050 metres, more than 200 based aircraft and Spain's oldest flying club. It takes light aircraft and helicopters in visual conditions, not the jets on our routes.
Lleida Alguaire, ILD. Inland Catalonia, about 150 kilometres west of Barcelona, with a runway of 2,500 metres and plenty of space to park. It is the closest full length runway to the Pyrenees and the Val d'Aran.
Andorra La Seu d'Urgell, LEU. In the Pyrenees at 802 metres above sea level, 12 kilometres from the Andorran border, with a runway of 1,267 metres that suits turboprops and the smallest jets rather than a midsize cabin.
Perpignan, PGF. Across the French border, about 190 kilometres from Barcelona and an hour from the Costa Brava, useful when a party is splitting its time between Catalonia and the Languedoc coast.
From Barcelona El Prat to the city and the coast
Typical drive times from the corporate terminal outside the rush hours. Fair weeks, Friday evenings and August weekends on the coast roads can add a good deal to them.
Destination
By road
Notes
Fira Gran Via
About 10 minutes
The halls that hold Mobile World Congress and ISE
Passeig de Gràcia and the Eixample
15 to 20 minutes
Most of the city hotels
The Gothic Quarter and Port Vell
15 to 20 minutes
The old city and the marina
Moll Adossat cruise terminals
15 to 20 minutes
The quay where the large ships berth
Diagonal and Les Corts
20 to 25 minutes
Offices, the university and Camp Nou
Sitges
About 30 minutes
Beaches and hotels south of the airport
Montserrat
About 1 hour
The monastery in the hills inland
Girona
About 1 hour
The city and the road to the Costa Brava
Begur and the Costa Brava
1h 30m to 1h 45m
The coves north of Palamós
Tarragona and Salou
About 1h 15m
PortAventura and the Costa Daurada
Andorra
About 3 hours
Through the Cadí tunnel into the Pyrenees
Baqueira Beret
About 4 hours
The Val d'Aran, closer to Lleida
We book the car with the handler once the slot is confirmed, and for a fair week we set the collection time earlier than the table suggests, because the roads around Gran Via fill with coaches.
Popular routes between the UK and Barcelona, and which way they run empty
Every price below is for the whole cabin, on a sector the operator has already committed to fly. The times are airborne times and the aircraft differs from route to route, which is why two sectors of the same length can carry different prices. British duty is added when the aircraft leaves the UK and nothing is added in Spain, and the charter list higher up the page has the figure for dates of your own.
Route
In the air
Empty leg from
Season
Which way it usually runs empty
London to Barcelona
2h 05m
5,000 GBP
All year
Out empty to collect a party after a fair or a weekend
Barcelona to London
2h 05m
6,600 GBP
All year
Home after a drop, most often on a Monday or a Thursday
Farnborough to Barcelona
2h 00m
6,300 GBP
February and March
Out to collect a delegation after the fairs
Barcelona to Biggin Hill
2h 00m
4,400 GBP
All year
Home after a business drop
Oxford to Barcelona
2h 05m
5,000 GBP
Spring and summer
Occasional, out for a pickup
Barcelona to Jersey
1h 45m
4,200 GBP
Summer
Home after an island family drop
Southampton to Barcelona
1h 55m
4,200 GBP
Summer
Occasional, out to collect a party
Barcelona to Manchester
2h 20m
7,400 GBP
All year
Home after a weekend or a match
Manchester to Barcelona
2h 20m
5,500 GBP
Summer
Out to collect a family from the coast
Barcelona to Bristol
2h 05m
5,000 GBP
Summer
Occasional, home after a drop
Birmingham to Barcelona
2h 10m
6,800 GBP
March
Out to collect a group after a fair
Barcelona to Newcastle
2h 35m
9,300 GBP
Summer
Occasional, home after a holiday drop
Edinburgh to Barcelona
2h 40m
9,600 GBP
Spring and autumn
Out to collect a Scottish party
Barcelona to Glasgow
2h 45m
8,700 GBP
Summer
Home after a drop
Belfast to Barcelona
2h 35m
8,200 GBP
Summer
Occasional, out for a pickup
Barcelona to Dublin
2h 25m
8,700 GBP
All year
Home after an Irish business drop
Cardiff to Barcelona
2h 05m
5,000 GBP
Summer
Occasional, out for a family holiday pickup
Barcelona to Aberdeen
2h 50m
9,000 GBP
Summer
Occasional, home after a drop
Sectors between Britain and Barcelona appear in every month of the year, although the regional airports see most of theirs in summer and the London airports see far more of them than anywhere else. The best weeks are the days after the February and March fairs and the end of the summer, when aircraft that have been working the islands go home.
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.
Arriving in Barcelona from the UK
Passport and customs checks for a private flight take place inside the corporate terminal. Here is what they cover, together with the allowances in each direction.
Passport. It has to be under ten years old on the day of arrival and still valid three months after you leave the Schengen area. If yours is near either limit, renew it before the trip is booked.
Days in Schengen. Ninety days of visa free travel in any rolling 180 days, and days already spent in Spain, France, Italy or another member country in that window count against the total.
Entry/Exit System. In use at every Schengen border since 10 April 2026: a photograph and, from 12 years old, fingerprints at the first crossing, and the record is then held for three years.
ETIAS. Still not in force, and the EU has not confirmed a start date. It is planned at 20 euros for three years of trips, or until the passport runs out.
Allowances into Spain. Coming from Britain, anyone aged 17 or over has a duty free limit of 200 cigarettes; 1 litre of spirits, or 2 litres of sparkling or fortified wine; 4 litres of still wine; 16 litres of beer; and 430 euros of everything else. Cash of 10,000 euros or more is declared on arrival, and anything with meat or dairy in it has to stay behind.
Nothing to pay on departure. Spain levies no passenger tax on a private flight, so nothing is added to the journey home. Whatever British duty the trip carries was paid on the way out.
Back to Britain. The British allowance for one adult runs to 200 cigarettes, 4 litres of spirits, 42 litres of beer and 18 litres of wine, a category that takes in sparkling wine from 1 October 2026, with a further 270 GBP for anything else. Jamón, chorizo and Manchego cannot travel at all, since the ban on EU meat and dairy applies to a cabin bag as much as to the hold.
Empty leg calendar for Barcelona, month by month
Barcelona works all year: fairs in winter, the coast and the islands in summer, cruise ships from spring to autumn and business travel in between.
Demand What brings travellers to Barcelona in each month, from the Gran Via fairs to the island season and the cruise calls, and how it moves charter demand.
Empty legs The number of sectors between Barcelona and Britain in a typical month, and how far below a full charter they are usually priced.
January
SteadyFair
The quietest weeks of the year in the city. Business travel restarts after Epiphany on 6 January and the hotels are cheap by Barcelona standards.
February
Very busyGood
Integrated Systems Europe fills Gran Via from 2 to 5 February 2027, and the airport fills with it. Sectors home run all week as aircraft drop their delegations and leave.
March
Very busyStrong
Mobile World Congress, from 1 to 4 March 2027, is the biggest week of the year for business aviation here. Easter Sunday falls on 28 March 2027, so the holiday traffic starts before the month is out.
April
BusyGood
The Easter holidays run into the first days of the month, the first warm weekends follow, and the cruise season is under way with ships calling at the Moll Adossat.
May
BusyGood
Conferences, football and the best weather of the spring, and in some years the MotoGP meeting at Montmeló falls in this month as well. Aircraft begin moving between the city and the islands as the Balearic season opens.
June
Very busyStrong
Primavera Sound and Sónar bring music crowds, the islands fill and short sectors between Barcelona, Ibiza and Palma appear most days.
July
Very busyStrong
The peak of the summer. Jets shuttle to Ibiza, Mallorca and the Costa Brava, and a great many of those legs are flown empty in one direction.
August
BusyGood
The city empties and the coast fills. Business flights nearly stop and the islands are at their busiest, so a sector out to them is dearer than at any other time.
September
Very busyStrong
Business returns and La Mercè fills the streets at the end of the month, while the islands wind down and aircraft reposition home.
October
BusyGood
Conference season and the last of the cruise calls, with warm weather into the middle of the month and plenty of movement in both directions.
November
SteadyFair
Smart City Expo and a steady run of congresses keep the weekdays busy, while weekends are quiet.
December
SteadyFair
Business slows towards Christmas, the city fills with visitors for the holidays and sectors thin out until the new year.
The days after a fair week are worth watching, and so is the end of September, when the summer fleet leaves the islands. Going the other way, June to August offers the widest choice.
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Three situations, three answers
A week at Mobile World Congress
Give us the dates the moment the exhibition stand is confirmed, because the slot and the parking are gone long before the hotels are. Plan for the aircraft to set you down and go, and for a second flight to fetch you. Because so many jets do exactly that, the sectors home at the start of a fair week and the sectors out towards its end are the ones most often released.
Barcelona and the islands in one trip
Fly into El Prat, spend two days in the city and continue to Ibiza or Palma in under an hour. In summer the short sectors between them are the cheapest way to move, and a jet that has dropped a party on the islands is often looking for passengers back to the mainland.
Joining a ship at the Moll Adossat
Land the day before the ship sails rather than the same morning, because a cruise will not wait for a slot that slips. The corporate terminal is 15 to 20 minutes from the quay, and the handler can send the luggage on ahead to the ship.
Flying to Barcelona with a dog or a cat
For Spain a pet from Britain travels on the EU papers: a microchip, a rabies vaccination given 21 days or more before the journey, and an animal health certificate from an official vet dated within ten days of the flight. The EU pet passport has not counted for British residents since 22 April 2026. Catalonia is an easy place to arrive with a dog, though it must be on a lead in the street, and dogs are barred from the city's beaches through the bathing season, roughly late May to mid September, apart from a fenced dog area on Llevant beach.
Bringing the animal back takes more arranging. The aircraft has to be flown by an operator holding approval to bring animals into Great Britain, and the dog needs a vet's tapeworm dose in the 24 to 120 hours before touchdown. Vets in Barcelona know the forms well, so book that appointment as soon as the flight is booked, and say at the outset that an animal is coming; we will then offer only aircraft that can take it.
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Questions about flying privately to Barcelona
How quickly can we be in Barcelona from London?
Two hours and five minutes in the air from the London airports, two hours from Farnborough or Biggin Hill, and about 1h 45m from Jersey. Manchester adds a quarter of an hour, Belfast half an hour and the Scottish airports thirty five to forty five minutes.
Which airport do private jets use in Barcelona?
El Prat, which has a corporate aviation terminal of its own open around the clock. Girona and Reus are the alternatives when the stands at El Prat are full, and Sabadell takes only light aircraft and helicopters.
Do we need a slot to fly privately into Barcelona?
Yes, for both the arrival and the departure, since El Prat is fully coordinated. Your handler files the requests and the stand comes with them, which is why we ask for firm dates and times early.
Why does our jet leave instead of waiting for us?
Because a stand at El Prat is for moving traffic, not for storage: the limit for a visitor is 96 hours, and a good deal less when the fairs are on. The jet goes to its next job and comes back for you, and those two flights are the empty sectors.
What is the private terminal like?
Two floors built for business aviation in 2008: seating that faces the aprons, meeting rooms, passport and customs desks and a car park at the door, with each handling company keeping a lounge of its own inside.
What does an empty leg to or from Barcelona cost?
Our lowest figures are about 4,200 GBP for a whole aircraft, a Phenom 300 back to Jersey or a Citation CJ3 out of Southampton, and a Phenom 300 from London starts at about 5,000 GBP. Chartering the same aircraft on our listed routes for dates of your own costs roughly 9,900 to 22,800 GBP.
Is there a Spanish tax on private flights?
None to pay. There is no departure levy to add in Spain, which is part of why the ground costs here come out below Rome, Nice or Innsbruck.
Will the car be waiting at the steps?
In most cases the driver meets you inside the building and a handling vehicle covers the last few metres of tarmac. A car on the ramp is the exception at El Prat, offered by one or two handlers for a delegation, and it has to be asked for when the flight is booked rather than on the day.
How far is the cruise port from the airport?
The Moll Adossat terminals are 15 to 20 minutes away by car. For a sailing day we land the evening before, because a ship keeps to its own timetable.
Can we fly on to Ibiza or Mallorca?
Yes, and it is quick: about 50 minutes to Ibiza and 45 to Palma. In summer those sectors run constantly, which puts them among the easiest empty legs to find.
Can our dog come with us?
Yes. Going out, the chip, the rabies jab three weeks or more beforehand and a vet's certificate dated inside ten days cover it. Coming back, the flight must be with an operator cleared for animals, and a dog is wormed by a vet shortly beforehand.
And if nothing is released for my dates?
Give us the dates, the party size and how far either way you could move the dates. We keep watch on El Prat, Girona and Reus and come back the moment a sector fits, most often just after a fair week and as the island season ends.
Call +44 7857 574938 , message the same number on WhatsApp , or write to flight@empty-leg.co.uk . Give us the address in the city or on the coast, the dates, how many passengers and bags there are and whether a dog or a cat is coming, and we will send back matching sectors, the full charter price and a plan for the slot and the car.
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