Empty leg flights to and from Frankfurt

Frankfurt am Main is Germany's financial capital and one of the busiest business destinations in Europe. The European Central Bank, the Bundesbank, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the German headquarters of most international banks sit within a few streets of each other, and since Brexit many London firms have added or enlarged offices here. The Messe, one of the largest exhibition grounds in the world, brings the Book Fair, Ambiente and dozens of other trade fairs, and the Rheingau vineyards, the spa town of Wiesbaden and the Taunus hills are all close by. Germany is one hour ahead of the UK all year, and the flight from London takes about 1h 20m.

For private flights, Frankfurt means a choice of two airports. Frankfurt Airport, code FRA, is Germany's largest hub, with its own General Aviation Terminal on the southern side, and Egelsbach, about 10 kilometres south east of the airport, is the country's busiest airfield for general aviation.

Frankfurt sectors available today

The list below shows every sector we hold into or out of Frankfurt Airport and Egelsbach, and adds flights released at Hahn and Mannheim, the other airports in the region that business jets use. The price list under it shows what the same aircraft would cost if you chartered it outright for your own dates.

Why so many jets fly empty between Frankfurt and Britain

Frankfurt is a business destination first, and business trips are short. A jet that brings bankers or exhibitors in the morning rarely waits for them for two days; it flies home or on to its next job, and comes back empty for the return.

Sectors come up in every month, with the busiest weeks around the big trade fairs, the end of the quarter in the banking world and the school holidays. Monday mornings and Thursday and Friday evenings are the best times to look for flights between London and Frankfurt.

Frankfurt Airport in detail

The airport opened on 8 July 1936, and after the war its southern part became the Rhein-Main Air Base of the United States Air Force, which closed in 2005; Terminal 3 now stands on that land. Fraport AG runs the airport, which is the home base of Lufthansa. In 2025 it handled 63.2 million passengers, 2.6 per cent more than in 2024, and 460,272 aircraft movements, 4.4 per cent more. Terminal 3 opened in April 2026, British Airways moved into it in May, and Terminal 2 closed in June, to be rebuilt later.

For crews, Frankfurt is a first class airport with long runways, precision approaches and every service, but it is also one of the most tightly controlled in Europe. Every flight needs a slot, the night ban is enforced strictly, and a delayed flight that cannot reach Frankfurt by midnight must divert elsewhere. When no slot is free or the night ban gets in the way, Egelsbach is the usual alternative for light jets, and Hahn or Cologne Bonn for later or larger flights.

The General Aviation Terminal and VIP services at Frankfurt

Private passengers at Frankfurt do not pass through the public halls of the airline terminals. The General Aviation Terminal, known as the GAT, is a separate building in Cargo City South, on the far side of the airport from Terminal 1, with its own lounges, security check, passport control and customs.

Which handler looks after the flight is usually chosen by the aircraft's operator, but we can ask for a particular company, and any of them can add the airport's VIP services.

Through the GAT, from car to aircraft

Frankfurt's GAT is small and quick compared with the airline terminals, but it follows German rules to the letter. Here is the order of events in each direction.

In practice the only real risks are the clock and the slot. Book the slot early, keep well clear of 23:00, and the rest of the GAT takes minutes.

Egelsbach: the business airfield south of Frankfurt

Egelsbach, officially Frankfurt Egelsbach, lies about 10 kilometres south east of Frankfurt Airport and 17 kilometres south of the city. With more than 80,000 movements a year it is the busiest general aviation airfield in Germany, and it is popular with light jets because it needs no airport slot and is less crowded than the main airport.

Egelsbach suits a light jet on a business day in Frankfurt, Darmstadt or the southern suburbs, and it avoids the slot system of the main airport. It is not the answer for a heavy jet, an arrival after dusk without prior permission, anything after 21:00 or a flight that needs a long runway on a hot summer day, and for those Frankfurt Airport is better.

Five things to know before booking Frankfurt

Each of these points changes either the price or the plan, so we settle them in every Frankfurt quote.

From the airport to the city, the Taunus and the Rhine

Frankfurt Airport sits next to one of the busiest motorway junctions in Europe, so most destinations are quick to reach outside the rush hour, which here means weekday mornings and late afternoons.

From Egelsbach the drive to the financial district takes about 25 minutes. The airport's long distance station also puts Cologne less than an hour away by ICE, which some travellers prefer to a second flight.

Taxes and charges on a Frankfurt trip

Besides the aircraft, three charges matter on a Frankfurt trip: British duty on the way out, German tax on the way home and the city's contribution on hotel nights.

Germany's Luftverkehrsteuer is charged on commercial departures from German airports, and a charter, including an empty leg sold to passengers, counts as commercial. Since 1 July 2026 the rate for a destination in Britain has been 13.03 euros for each person on board, with babies under two who sit on a parent's lap going free. The flight into Frankfurt pays no German tax.

On the British side, the duty is collected only when you leave the UK. Destinations in Germany sit in Band A, which for private jets weighing from 5.7 up to 20 tonnes means 32 GBP a head until the end of March 2027, while bigger jets pay 142 GBP; on 1 April 2027 a single rate of 146.63 GBP takes over for every private jet from 5.7 tonnes upwards. Jets under that weight pay no duty at all, the Channel Islands are outside the scheme, and departures from Scotland move to the Scottish Air Departure Tax in April 2027. Frankfurt has charged its tourism contribution of 2 euros a night to business travellers too since October 2024.

Egelsbach, Hahn and the other airports around Frankfurt

The Rhine and Main region has several airports that business jets use. They matter when a slot is short, when the night ban bites or when the trip ends somewhere other than Frankfurt.

Popular routes between the UK and Frankfurt, and which way they run empty

Prices here buy the complete jet, never a seat, on a positioning trip that is already scheduled, and the durations leave out taxiing and time on the ground. Frankfurt is only about 650 kilometres from London, so even the smallest jets make the trip easily, from a Citation M2 on the Southampton and Jersey routes to a Challenger 350 or a Legacy 500 for larger groups. For fixed dates, the second list near the start gives the full charter price of each aircraft.

Sectors between London and Frankfurt bunch on Monday mornings and Thursday and Friday evenings, when business trips begin and end, and in the days around the opening and closing of the big fairs. Operators based around the Rhine and Main often decide on a return to Britain the evening before, which is when those sectors reach our board.

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 Germany from Britain: passports and customs

Germany is in the EU and in Schengen, and Britain is in neither, so every private flight between them crosses the EU's external border. The federal police check passports in the GAT, and German customs may inspect the bags.

• Passport. The federal police look at two dates: the passport must be under ten years old and must not expire until three months after you plan to exit the Schengen zone.
• Time allowed. Holders of British passports get 90 days in every rolling 180 for the Schengen countries as a group, so nights spent in France, Switzerland or Austria on the same journey use up the same allowance.
• EES. Passports are no longer stamped: the EU's Entry/Exit System, fully in place since April 2026, stores a photograph of each traveller and the fingerprints of everyone aged twelve or over.
• ETIAS. British travellers do not need the new EU travel permit yet. In July 2026 its start was put back to 2027, and it will then cost 20 euros and last three years.
• Duty free limits. On arrival from Britain each adult may bring 200 cigarettes, 16 litres of beer, 4 litres of still wine and either 1 litre of spirits or 2 litres of sparkling or fortified wine, with other goods worth up to 430 euros.
• Cash and food. A cash sum from 10,000 euros upwards goes on a customs declaration, and the EU ban on meat and dairy from outside means British ham, bacon and cheddar stay at home.
• Back in Britain. On a private flight home each adult may bring 200 cigarettes, 4 litres of spirits, 18 litres of wine, 42 litres of beer and 270 GBP of other goods without duty; from 1 October 2026 sparkling wine falls within the wine allowance and cider within the beer allowance.

Empty leg calendar for Frankfurt, month by month

Frankfurt is a year round business city, and its calendar follows the trade fairs, the banks and the seasons of the Rhine valley rather than the beach holidays.

The best value comes in the weeks of the big fairs, when many aircraft bring exhibitors in and leave without passengers, and on Thursday and Friday evenings, when jets head back to Britain after the working week. If your dates are flexible, the summer holiday weeks of July and August offer the widest choice of slots.

Three situations, three answers

Flying to Frankfurt with a dog or a cat

Dogs and cats entering Germany from Britain must be microchipped and vaccinated against rabies at least three weeks before departure, and must travel with an animal health certificate completed by an official vet within the ten days before landing. Pet passports from EU countries stopped being accepted for animals of British residents in April 2026, so the certificate is now the only route. Germany does not require tapeworm treatment on the way in, and Frankfurt Airport is a travellers' point of entry for pets, with its own animal station, so tell the handler about the animal in advance and land at Frankfurt rather than Egelsbach.

The return to Britain needs more planning. Only an operator approved to carry pets into Britain may bring the animal home, and a dog needs tapeworm treatment from a vet between 24 hours and five days before landing. Vets in Frankfurt and Wiesbaden see this request often; book the appointment when you book the flight and tell us about the animal from the start, so we quote only operators that carry pets.

Flying privately to Frankfurt: common questions

Call +44 7857 574938 , message the same number on WhatsApp , or write to flight@empty-leg.co.uk . Tell us the dates, how many are travelling, the luggage and where in the Rhine and Main region you are going. You will receive the matching sectors and the full charter price of each, and we take care of the slot, the GAT handler, the VIP service if wanted and the chauffeur.