Empty leg flights to and from Guernsey
Guernsey and Jersey are two jurisdictions, not two islands in one. Guernsey is its own Crown Dependency with its own parliament, its own border agency and its own tax system, and the fifteen minute hop between the two crosses a real frontier. It also has no value added tax and no goods and services tax of any kind, which is not true of its neighbour.
The flying here is defined by one number. The runway is 1,463 metres, which is short enough to rule out a great deal, and it is not going to change: an extension was proposed twenty years ago and voted down to protect the island's countryside. Almost everything else about flying here follows from that.
Empty legs from Guernsey right now
The board below shows what our operator network has released on Channel Islands routes. Two things shape it. Alderney and Jersey are each fifteen minutes away, and some of the cheapest sectors we handle start on those hops. And parking has to be notified in advance at any time of year, which in July and August becomes the thing that decides whether a sector can happen at all.
Ask us what is available at Guernsey right now.
This board refreshes through the day as operators release sectors, and it shows only part of the market: a large share of repositioning flights never reach a public list at all. Check back shortly, or tell us your route and dates and we will look at what operators are holding at this moment.
Typical empty leg prices from Guernsey
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guernsey to Alderney | Pilatus PC-12 | 8 | 0h 15m | 1,800 GBP | 4,200 GBP |
| Guernsey to Jersey | Pilatus PC-12 | 8 | 0h 15m | 1,800 GBP | 4,200 GBP |
| Guernsey to Bristol | Learjet 75 | 8 | 0h 45m | 3,200 GBP | 7,600 GBP |
| Guernsey to Cardiff | Learjet 75 | 8 | 0h 50m | 3,200 GBP | 7,600 GBP |
| Guernsey to London | Learjet 75 | 8 | 0h 50m | 3,200 GBP | 7,600 GBP |
| Guernsey to Paris | Citation CJ2 | 6 | 0h 55m | 2,600 GBP | 6,300 GBP |
| Guernsey to Birmingham | Citation CJ2 | 6 | 1h 05m | 2,600 GBP | 6,300 GBP |
| Guernsey to Manchester | Learjet 75 | 8 | 1h 05m | 3,200 GBP | 7,600 GBP |
| Guernsey to Dublin | Pilatus PC-12 | 8 | 1h 15m | 2,000 GBP | 4,600 GBP |
| Guernsey to Amsterdam | Citation M2 | 6 | 1h 15m | 2,300 GBP | 5,300 GBP |
| Guernsey to Edinburgh | Learjet 75 | 8 | 1h 25m | 3,400 GBP | 8,200 GBP |
| Guernsey to Geneva | Citation XLS+ | 8 | 1h 35m | 5,000 GBP | 11,900 GBP |
| Guernsey to Milan | Phenom 300 | 7 | 1h 50m | 4,400 GBP | 10,400 GBP |
| Guernsey to Nice | Citation XLS+ | 8 | 1h 50m | 5,800 GBP | 13,800 GBP |
| Guernsey to Palma de Mallorca | Citation XLS+ | 8 | 2h 05m | 6,600 GBP | 15,700 GBP |
| Guernsey to Faro | Praetor 600 | 9 | 2h 10m | 8,800 GBP | 21,000 GBP |
| Guernsey to Malaga | Citation XLS+ | 8 | 2h 25m | 7,600 GBP | 18,200 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.
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 at Guernsey.
Nothing is stored on this site. The button opens a chat with the message already written, and you send it yourself. We reply during office hours, 07:00 to 23:00, and check messages outside them too.
Where Guernsey sectors come from
Three things move private aircraft in and out of the island, and only one of them is a holiday.
Guernsey Airport in detail
The operational facts that decide whether an aircraft, a time and a route work at this field, including the two runway figures and which one to use.
| Codes | GCI (IATA), EGJB (ICAO) |
| Location | The parish of the Forest, two and a half nautical miles west south west of St Peter Port. Elevation 336 feet, which for an island airport is high and is part of why the fog behaves as it does |
| Runway | A single asphalt runway, 09/27. The declared distances are not symmetrical. Landing distance is 1,463 m in both directions. Take off run available is 1,463 m on runway 09 but 1,583 m on runway 27, so a departure to the west has a hundred and twenty metres more to work with than one to the east. That difference occasionally decides whether a given aircraft can take a given load |
| Which figure to use | Both figures are correct: 1,463 m is the landing distance and 1,583 m is the westbound take off run. Using the larger figure to judge whether an aircraft fits is the mistake, because it only applies to a departure in one direction |
| Aircraft size | Turboprops, light and midsize jets are comfortable. Heavier types such as the Falcon 2000 and the Challenger 604 do operate here on selected missions, but only after a performance review and rarely at full capacity. The field is genuinely restrictive: even small airliners cannot use it at maximum take off weight |
| Approaches | Category one instrument landing only. There is no low visibility capability, so sea fog closes the airport outright, and in spring and early summer that is a planning factor rather than a footnote |
| The runway will not grow | An extension was examined in 2005 and rejected by the island's rural planning process on countryside grounds. Runway end safety areas were improved instead. Anyone waiting for Guernsey to take larger aircraft in future is waiting for a political decision, not an engineering one |
| Operating hours | Not round the clock. There is a night restriction from roughly nine in the evening to six in the morning, with only emergency and specifically approved movements outside it. The island publishes noise abatement procedures rather than a simple opening time, so we confirm the exact window with the handler for each flight rather than quoting one at you |
| Slots and parking | Slots are allocated for private and charter flights, and the airport asks that handlers are told of a visit in advance specifically to confirm parking. On an island this size that request is not a formality |
| Handling and fuel | Two fixed base operators for executive traffic, both long established, both with their own hangars. Commercial flights are handled separately. Both Jet A-1 and AVGAS are available on the field, which is not true of every airport this size and matters for a piston or a turboprop |
| Ownership and charges | The States of Guernsey, through Ports of Guernsey. As in Jersey, the airport is run as public infrastructure rather than for a shareholder, and the airport fees are collected by your handler and invoiced against the island's published price list rather than negotiated |
| Traffic | Around 684,000 passengers in 2024 and roughly sixteen thousand aircraft movements. A small airport by any measure, and one where a private arrival is noticed rather than absorbed |
A separate country, and what that means in practice
People treat the Channel Islands as one place. They are not, and the differences matter on a private flight more than they do on a ferry.
The two private terminals
Both handlers have been here a long time and both have hangars, but they are built around different jobs.
On the island since 1992, with a 21,000 square foot hangar, a separate maintenance and engineering hangar and enough apron to handle aircraft up to a corporate airliner. Passenger lounge, crew room, a crew car, flight planning and weather, wireless internet, and apron access so a car can collect at the aircraft.
It runs customs and immigration, a pet handling service, ground power, catering, fuel, chauffeurs and hotels, and it is the handler on the island where duty free alcohol and tobacco can actually be bought. It also maintains aircraft, holds airworthiness approvals and has bases at Northolt and Bristol, which is why a technical problem here is usually solvable here.
The specialist, built solely around handling and hangaring business and private aircraft rather than around maintenance. Its hangar runs to 20,000 square feet and is climate controlled, and it takes aircraft up to Gulfstream G650 size, which on a 1,463 metre runway is a statement about hangar doors rather than about what can depart.
Inside there are passenger and crew lounges, a separate VIP lounge and a conference room, with weather and flight planning computers and a crew car. It also collects the airport fees, coordinates the slot and arranges hotels and hire cars, so one conversation covers the whole visit. The usual answer when an aircraft is staying on the island for several days and the weather is doing what Channel Islands weather does.
What the terminal is actually like
Both operations are small, and small here means quick rather than basic.
A quarter of an hour ahead of departure is ample here. Which of the two handlers you use is settled by the operator on an empty leg, and it reaches you in the flight brief with the address and the crew contact.
What the ground costs
Guernsey is inexpensive for reasons that have nothing to do with competition and everything to do with tax.
The tax position is worth understanding properly. Guernsey charges no sales tax of any kind, so the handling invoice, the fuel and anything bought on the island arrive without an addition. Air Passenger Duty applies to departures from United Kingdom airports and this is not one, so that line does not appear either. What does bite is the runway and the apron, and neither of those is negotiable at any price.
The other fields nearby
Guernsey has one airport, and the Bailiwick has a second on Alderney. After that the options are in other jurisdictions.
Worth knowing if Alderney is part of the plan. In 2026 the States of Guernsey approved up to twenty four million pounds to rebuild Alderney's runway, which is at the end of its working life and has been patched repeatedly. The length stays at 877 metres; the width goes from eighteen metres to twenty three to meet current design standards, and the taxiway, apron, drainage and lighting are all replaced.
The relevant part for a traveller: officials have said the airport may have to close for an extended period to get the work done quickly. Construction has been discussed for 2027 or 2028. If a trip to Alderney matters to you, ask us to check the current position rather than assuming the island is reachable by air on your dates.
Getting around the island
Guernsey is about nine miles by five and the airport sits in the middle of the south of it. These are typical times by road.
| Destination | By car | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| St Peter Port and the finance district | 10 to 15 min | Two and a half miles. The island speed limit is 35 miles per hour, which sets the pace more than distance does |
| The south coast cliffs | 5 to 10 min | The airport is already on this side of the island |
| Cobo and the west coast bays | 15 to 20 min | Across the island, which here means about four miles |
| St Sampson and the north | 20 to 25 min | The far end of Guernsey, and still a shorter drive than most airport transfers |
| Herm | Not by car | Twenty minutes by boat from St Peter Port, and no cars on the island when you get there |
| Sark | Not by car | Under an hour by ferry. Sark has no cars and no airfield, so the boat is the only way |
The island speed limit of thirty five miles an hour means nowhere is quick in the way a mainland journey is quick, and nowhere is far either. Nothing on Guernsey is more than about twenty five minutes from the airport, which removes the usual question of choosing a field closer to the destination. There is no other field.
Popular destinations from Guernsey, and which way they run empty
A handful of routes generate sectors week after week while most produce nothing at all. These are the first kind. Note the top of the list: the two fifteen minute hops, one inside the Bailiwick and one across to Jersey, are among the cheapest flights we handle.
| Destination | Flight time | Empty leg from | Peak | Which direction runs empty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alderney | 0h 15m | 1,800 GBP | May to September | Both. Among the cheapest flights we place, and a sector that stays inside the Bailiwick, so nothing has to be declared at either end. Check where the rebuilding works have got to before you plan around it |
| Jersey | 0h 15m | 1,800 GBP | All year | Both, and constantly. Fifteen minutes between two separate jurisdictions, and a standard pairing for anyone with business on both islands |
| Bristol | 0h 45m | 3,200 GBP | All year | Both. The nearest English field and a corridor crossed several times a week |
| Cardiff | 0h 50m | 3,200 GBP | All year | Both. Quieter than the London corridor and correspondingly easier to catch |
| London | 0h 50m | 3,200 GBP | All year, weekdays | Both. Advisory and finance traffic, and the route that carries the year outside summer |
| Paris | 0h 55m | 2,600 GBP | All year | Both. Under an hour to Le Bourget, which is less than most of England |
| Birmingham | 1h 05m | 2,600 GBP | All year | Both. Driven by the based fleets at the Midlands end rather than by demand here |
| Manchester | 1h 05m | 3,200 GBP | All year | Both. Domestic business with a summer leisure overlay |
| Dublin | 1h 15m | 2,000 GBP | All year | Both. Fund and insurance business at either end, with a weekday shape to it |
| Amsterdam | 1h 15m | 2,300 GBP | All year, weekdays | Both. Corporate day returns and the European hub for onward travel |
| Edinburgh | 1h 25m | 3,400 GBP | All year | Both. Fund administration at either end keeps this alive through the year |
| Geneva | 1h 35m | 5,000 GBP | All year | Both. One offshore centre talking to another, and busier in winter than the weather suggests |
| Milan | 1h 50m | 4,400 GBP | All year | Both. Business rather than leisure from the island |
| Nice | 1h 50m | 5,800 GBP | May to September | Both. Second homes and yachts at the far end |
| Palma de Mallorca | 2h 05m | 6,600 GBP | June to September | Back to Guernsey. Friday out and Sunday back are the expensive halves |
| Faro | 2h 10m | 8,800 GBP | April to October | Both. Golf traffic keeps this running well outside the summer peak |
| Malaga | 2h 25m | 7,600 GBP | April to October | Both, and like Faro it runs for seven months rather than a summer |
There is no New York and no Dubai in that table and there never will be. At 1,463 metres a genuinely long range aircraft cannot leave here with the fuel a crossing needs, so an intercontinental trip starts on the mainland. Farnborough and Le Bourget are each under an hour away and both are places aircraft already sit, so the first leg is short and the second one is the real journey.
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 Guernsey from abroad
The Bailiwick runs its own border service, so the rules here are Guernsey's rather than Britain's or Jersey's. Most of them are simple and none of them should be assumed.
- The island has its own arrival report. Guernsey's border agency requires its own General Aviation Report for movements in and out of Guernsey and Alderney. It is not the United Kingdom form and it is filed with the island rather than with Britain. Both handlers accept it.
- Immigration is light, customs is real. Arriving from the Common Travel Area there is no formal immigration control, but customs procedures apply in both directions and are carried out at the FBO. The island is outside the United Kingdom for customs purposes.
- The Bailiwick has its own travel authorisation. Since 23 April 2026 visitors who do not need a visa and fly in directly from outside the Common Travel Area need Guernsey's own electronic travel authorisation. Arriving from Britain, it is not asked for. We confirm what applies before the flight.
- No Air Passenger Duty on the way out. The UK duty applies to departures from UK airports and Guernsey is not one, so it does not appear on a quote for a flight leaving the island.
Empty leg calendar for Guernsey, month by month
Guernsey runs on the same two calendars as its neighbour: a finance industry that flies all year and a visitor season from May to September. What makes the shape different here is the runway and the apron, both of which are smaller, so the summer squeeze bites harder and earlier.
What the Bailiwick is asking of the aircraft market that month, and what it does to a charter price.
How many repositioning sectors reach the market, and how deep the discounts run.
Aim for September, then April and October, with March and November not far behind. July and August are the ones to plan around, and the reason is physical rather than commercial: a small apron on a small island fills up, and when it is full a sector cannot be created however much anyone wants it.
Fly private, your way
Tell us your route - we'll respond within the hour.
Three situations, three answers
Travelling with a dog or a cat
Guernsey is among the simplest places in Europe to arrive with an animal, and for two reasons that reinforce each other. The rules between the island and the United Kingdom are light, and one of the two handlers on the field offers pet handling as a listed service rather than as a special request.
From further afield the usual scheme applies, with the documentation and the veterinary window that go with it, and the island's own requirements rather than Britain's are what count on arrival. Going the other way it is the destination that sets the rules. Mention the animal in your first message and there is genuinely very little left to arrange.
Questions about flying private from Guernsey
Call +44 7857 574938, message the same number on WhatsApp, or write to flight@empty-leg.co.uk. Send us the dates you can work with and we will keep an eye on the island corridors for you.
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