Empty leg flights to and from Madeira

Madeira is a Portuguese island in the Atlantic, about 2,500 kilometres south west of London and closer to Morocco than to Lisbon, with a mild climate all year, the Laurisilva forest listed by UNESCO, levada walks along old irrigation channels and the wine that carries its name. British travellers have come for the winter sun since the nineteenth century, and today many private flights from the UK bring families for a week or two, golfers, walkers and guests of the Christmas and New Year celebrations in Funchal. The island keeps the same clock as Britain, winter and summer, and a light or midsize jet reaches it from London in about three hours and fifty minutes.

The island's airport, named after Cristiano Ronaldo and coded FNC, lies at Santa Cruz on the east coast, 13 kilometres from Funchal. It is a demanding airport for pilots: the runway sits between the mountains and the sea, the approach ends in a turn close to the cliffs, and strong winds can stop landings for hours. Every private flight also needs a slot and a parking stand agreed in advance, so a trip to Madeira is planned more carefully than most.

Madeira sectors available today

The list below shows every sector we hold into or out of Madeira. When Madeira is quiet, it adds flights at Porto Santo, Tenerife and Gran Canaria, the neighbouring island airports from which Madeira is a short hop. Next to it, a table gives the regular charter price for the same aircraft types between Britain and Madeira on dates of your choosing, so every released sector can be judged against the full fare.

Also moving across Porto Santo, Tenerife and Gran Canaria

Sectors on this list do not touch Madeira 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 jets fly empty between Britain and Madeira

Madeira is a holiday island with a long flight at either end, and few operators leave an aircraft waiting there for a week. Five things turn that pattern into empty sectors.

Sectors appear in every month, with the most around Christmas and New Year, at Carnival and Easter, and through the Flower Festival in May. Because the flight is long and stands have to be requested in advance, operators plan these repositionings early, so Madeira sectors can appear several days before departure.

Madeira Airport in detail

The airport opened on 8 July 1964 with a runway of 1,600 metres, which grew to 1,800 metres in 1986 and was extended again on 15 September 2000 onto a platform built partly over the ocean and carried by 180 columns about 70 metres tall; the structure received the Outstanding Structure Award of the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering in 2004. The present passenger terminal opened in 2002, and it was rebranded with the name of Cristiano Ronaldo, who was born in Funchal, on 29 March 2017. The airport is run by ANA Aeroportos de Portugal, part of VINCI Airports, and in November 2025 it passed five million passengers in a single year for the first time, after traffic had doubled in a decade; over 2025 as a whole it grew by about 12 per cent. Together with Porto Santo, the island's airports handled about 5.7 million passengers and 38,700 aircraft movements in 2025, and 26 airlines now link Madeira with 65 destinations in 24 countries, New York among them since United Airlines began flying from Newark in 2025.

For a crew, Madeira is an airport that has to be learnt. There is no instrument landing system, the approach to runway 05 ends in a visual turn close to the coast, the runway lies between steep hills and the sea, and turbulence and wind shear from the mountains are common. Portuguese rules require captains of larger aircraft to have at least 200 hours in command on the type and recent experience at Madeira, in the aircraft or in a simulator, and a captain may fly in at night only after having landed there in daylight. Business jet operators set their own limits and training for Madeira in their manuals, so not every operator accepts the flight, and we approach only those that do.

Wind, slots and the night pause at Madeira

Four rules shape every private flight to Madeira. We check all four when the flight is booked, and the wind again on the day before departure.

Wind is the one factor no booking can remove. If Santa Cruz is closed when the aircraft arrives, the crew wait in the air, try the other runway direction or divert to Porto Santo, 60 kilometres away. The jet can then hop back as soon as conditions allow, and Porto Santo is also linked to Funchal by a car ferry.

Handlers, CIPSTAR lanes, lounges and cafés at Madeira

Madeira has no separate terminal for private flights. Passengers of business aircraft pass through the main terminal with an escort from their handler, and ANA offers a paid service with its own lanes for security and passport control. The handler is chosen by the operator, but a request for a particular company or for the CIPSTAR lanes is usually accepted when it comes with the booking.

The options differ in who can use them, what they include and how they are paid for.

Handling is booked by the operator together with the slot and the stand. Tell us about CIPSTAR, a particular handler or a car when you book, and we arrange them in the same request.

Arriving at Madeira and leaving again, step by step

With a handler at your side, the walk from the aircraft to the car at Madeira takes about a quarter of an hour on a quiet day, and longer when airline arrivals fill the border hall.

The slot, the stand, the handler, the arrival hour and the car are all fixed before the aircraft leaves Britain, in one booking with us.

Five points to settle before a Madeira trip

Each of these can move the date, the time or the cost of a Madeira flight, so our first reply to any request covers all five.

From the airport to Funchal and around the island

The coastal expressway runs from the airport to Funchal and on along the south coast, and tunnels bring the north within an hour. Driving times are estimates for a chauffeured car in light traffic, and the mountain roads are slower than the distance suggests.

Buses run from the airport to Funchal, but with luggage a car is simpler, and the handler can arrange one to wait at the terminal whatever the hour of landing. For Porto Santo, the ferry leaves from Funchal harbour and crosses in about two hours and twenty minutes, or a short flight links the two islands.

What a Madeira trip adds to the bill

Taxes on a Madeira trip arise at three points: British duty on the way out, the Portuguese carbon tax on the way back, and a local charge on hotel nights.

Air Passenger Duty applies only to the flight leaving the UK, and Portugal, Madeira included, falls in Band A. The per passenger charge is 32 GBP for a private jet between 5.7 and 20 tonnes and 142 GBP for one of 20 tonnes or more in the 2026 to 2027 tax year, and from 1 April 2027 the two merge into one private jet rate of 146.63 GBP. Every jet on our Madeira list weighs more than 5.7 tonnes, so all of them pay. The Channel Islands lie outside the duty altogether. Scotland takes over its own departures from April 2027 with the Air Departure Tax, and the Scottish government has announced a separate charge on private jets from April 2028.

Portugal's carbon tax is charged per flight on private departures from any Portuguese airport, Madeira included: 20 euros multiplied by the number of seats and by the distance in thousands of kilometres plus one. An aircraft certified for seven seats pays about 490 euros from Madeira to London and one with nine seats about 700 euros to Aberdeen, and a take off that follows a landing forced by weather or a technical problem is exempt, so a diversion to Porto Santo does not add a second charge. The flight into Madeira pays no Portuguese tax. Madeira sets its own VAT rates, lower than those of the mainland, with a standard rate of 22 per cent against 23. Nearly every municipality on the two islands, Funchal, Santa Cruz and Calheta among them, adds a tourist tax of 2 euros a night per guest for up to seven nights, with residents and children under 13 exempt.

Walkers pay one more charge: since 1 January 2026 every classified walking trail on Madeira must be booked in advance through the regional SIMplifica portal, in 30 minute slots, at 4.50 euros a person. Trail slots are best booked as soon as the dates are fixed, because the famous summit and levada routes fill up in high season.

Porto Santo, the Canaries and the other airports around Madeira

Madeira Airport serves nearly every private trip to the island. Porto Santo is its natural partner, and the Canary Islands and Lisbon are the other airports that matter when the wind closes Santa Cruz or when the journey continues.

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

Every figure in the table is for the entire aircraft on a positioning flight, whatever the size of your party, and the times count only the hours airborne. London and Madeira are about 2,500 kilometres apart, so the aircraft range from light jets such as the Citation CJ3 on the shorter runs from southern England, Wales and Jersey to the Legacy 500, the Praetor 600 and the Challenger 350 for Scotland and the larger parties. For fixed dates, the charter price list for Madeira gives the regular fare for each aircraft.

Holidays shape the pattern more than the working week: many stays run from Saturday to Saturday or Sunday to Sunday, so aircraft fly empty towards Britain on the day of arrival and empty towards Madeira the day before collection. The busiest weeks for both are around Christmas and New Year, half terms and Easter.

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.

Entering Portugal at Madeira: passports, customs and tax free

Madeira is an autonomous region of Portugal and part of the EU, of Schengen and of the EU customs territory. For a traveller from Britain it is the external border of Schengen, checked by the Public Security Police at the airport.

• Passport. Portugal asks for a passport issued less than ten years before the day of entry and valid for at least three months after the day you leave; an older or shorter document can be refused at the border.
• 90 days in 180. British visitors need no visa for stays of up to 90 days in any 180 day period across the Schengen area, and a winter spent on Madeira uses that allowance like time anywhere else in Europe.
• Entry/Exit System. Since April 2026 the border records a digital entry instead of a stamp; on a first visit each traveller is photographed and, from twelve years of age, gives four fingerprints.
• ETIAS. Not in force yet: in July 2026 the EU pushed its start into 2027, without naming a day. Once running, it will be needed by every traveller without a visa, will last three years and will cost 20 euros for adults from 18 to 70, with younger and older travellers free.
• Customs. Portuguese customs allow each adult coming from Britain 16 litres of beer and 4 litres of still wine duty free, plus either 1 litre of spirits or 2 litres of fortified or sparkling wine, 200 cigarettes and other goods to a value of 430 euros; cash from 10,000 euros upwards has to be declared to customs.
• Food. Meat and dairy products from Britain, a packed ham sandwich included, may not enter the EU in personal luggage.
• Tax free. Visitors living outside the EU may claim back Portuguese VAT on larger purchases if the refund is validated electronically before they leave.
• Coming home. On a private flight into the UK each adult may bring, without duty, 42 litres of beer, 18 litres of wine, 200 cigarettes and goods worth up to 270 GBP, plus either 4 litres of spirits or 9 litres of fortified wine, the category that includes Madeira wine. Note the new grouping from 1 October 2026: from that date bottles of sparkling wine count against the 18 litres of wine, and cider against the 42 litres of beer.

Empty leg calendar for Madeira, month by month

Madeira's year follows the British winter more than the European summer: demand is highest when it is cold at home and in the festival weeks of spring.

The best choice of empty legs comes from Christmas to Easter and in April and May. Travellers tied to particular dates will find slots, stands and hotels easiest to secure in November and the first half of October.

Three situations, three answers

Flying to Madeira with a dog or a cat

Pets from Britain enter Portugal under the common EU rules: a microchip, a rabies vaccination given at least 21 days before travel and an animal health certificate issued by an official vet no more than ten days before arrival, because a pet passport issued in Great Britain is not accepted, and since 22 April 2026 an EU pet passport no longer covers a pet living in Great Britain either. Madeira Airport is one of Portugal's designated entry points for dogs, cats and ferrets from outside the EU, with a regional veterinary service contact, while Porto Santo is not, so the operator has to plan the wind diversion with the animal in mind. Portugal asks for no tapeworm treatment on the way in, and up to five pets may travel with their owner.

Returning to Britain, the pet must fly with an operator approved by the UK authorities to carry animals, and a dog needs a tapeworm treatment given by a vet between 24 and 120 hours before landing, entered in its documents. A vet in Funchal can give the treatment near the end of your holiday, and if the animal is mentioned in your first request we contact only operators cleared to carry pets.

Private flights to Madeira: what our clients want to know

Call +44 7857 574938 , message the same number on WhatsApp , or write to flight@empty-leg.co.uk . Give us your dates, the number of passengers, the golf bags or other bulky luggage and where on the island you are staying. We answer with the sectors that fit next to the charter price, and a single booking then covers the aircraft, the slot and the stand at Madeira, the handler and the car to your hotel.