Empty leg flights to and from Malta

Malta sits in the middle of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, and packs an extraordinary amount into a small space: Valletta, a fortified capital built by the Knights of St John and listed by UNESCO, the silent city of Mdina, the Grand Harbour, the beaches and diving of Gozo and Comino, and a busy business scene in finance, online gaming and yachting. For British visitors much feels like home: English is spoken everywhere, and you keep to the left on the road. Private flights land at Malta International Airport, code MLA, at Luqa about 5 kilometres south west of Valletta, where business jets are handled on the general aviation apron. From London the flight takes about 3h 15m.

Malta is also one of Europe's great bases for business aviation. Its 9H aircraft register has grown from a few dozen aircraft to more than 900, many of them business jets, and a number of large business jet operators fly under the Maltese flag. Aircraft constantly position in and out of the island, which is good news for anyone looking for an empty leg.

Malta sectors available today

The list below shows every sector we hold into or out of Malta, and adds flights released at Catania and Comiso in Sicily, the nearest airports for a diversion or a combined trip. Under it, a second list shows what each aircraft would cost as an ordinary charter, and on a flight of more than three hours the difference is large.

Why Malta is a good place to find empty legs

A flight from Britain to Malta takes more than three hours, so a full charter is expensive and an empty leg saves a large sum. At the same time, few operators keep their aircraft on the island for a week while guests enjoy the sun, and many aircraft are based in Malta and fly out empty to collect clients.

The Easter break, the long summer and the autumn half term are when sectors are released most, and business routes keep a smaller flow going in every other month. In winter Malta stays mild, and business traffic keeps a steady supply of aircraft moving.

Malta International Airport in detail

The airport occupies the site of the former RAF Luqa, and the present passenger terminal became fully operational on 25 March 1992. Malta International Airport plc runs it, and in 2025 it handled 10,061,969 passengers, a new record and 12.3 per cent more than in 2024, with 65,470 aircraft movements. The United Kingdom is its largest market. KM Malta Airlines replaced Air Malta as the national carrier in March 2024, and the SkyParks Business Centre next to the terminal houses offices and meeting rooms. Business jets use the general aviation apron, away from the passenger terminal.

For crews Malta is an open, well equipped airport with long runways, instrument approaches and no night curfew, which makes it a popular technical stop between Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The difficulties are summer crowding on the aprons and the weather: strong winds, occasional thunderstorms and summer heat that reduces aircraft performance. In high season parking should be confirmed with the handler well in advance. Catania and Comiso in Sicily are the usual alternates.

Private terminals and lounges at Malta: handlers, formalities and bags

Private passengers at Malta never queue in the public terminal. Three handlers look after business jets on the general aviation apron, each with its own staff, lounge or VIP service and access to the aircraft.

How we plan a Malta flight

• The aircraft. We choose a jet with the range for more than three hours in the air, so the flight is nonstop from Britain.
• Parking. In summer we confirm the stand with the handler as soon as the aircraft is booked.
• The handler. The choice between the three handling companies depends on the lounge, the VIP service and the timing you want.
• Your dog. Malta requires tapeworm treatment for dogs before arrival, so we plan the vet visit with you.
• Ground and sea. Drivers, boats to Comino and the ferry to Gozo are booked with the flight.

Four things to know before booking Malta

Clients ask about each of these before booking, so the answers go into every quote.

From the airport to Valletta, the coast and Gozo

Malta is small, and nowhere on the main island is more than about 45 minutes from the airport. The times below are for a car outside the rush hour; traffic around Sliema and St Julian's can be heavy in summer.

A fast ferry from Valletta reaches Gozo in about 45 minutes, and a private boat or a helicopter to the heliport at Xewkija is quicker still for a day on the island. Gozo has no runway for jets, so every private flight lands at Luqa.

What else you pay on a Malta trip

Apart from the aircraft, the extras on a Malta trip are British passenger duty on the way out, the airport's passenger charges on the way home and the handler's fee.

UK Air Passenger Duty applies to the flight out of Britain. Malta falls in Band A, where the charge until the end of March 2027 is 32 GBP per head in a jet of 5.7 to 20 tonnes and 142 GBP in anything larger; from April 2027 one rate of 146.63 GBP per head covers every private jet from 5.7 tonnes. Jets under 5.7 tonnes and flights from the Channel Islands are exempt, and Scottish departures move to Scotland's own Air Departure Tax in April 2027. Malta has no separate government departure tax on private flights, but the airport charges a passenger service fee, a security fee and a small charge for passengers with reduced mobility on every departing passenger.

Catania, Comiso and the other airports near Malta

Malta International Airport is the only airport on the islands that takes business jets. The list below covers the islands themselves and the Sicilian airports used as alternates and as stops on a combined trip.

Popular routes from the UK and Ireland to Malta, and which way they run empty

What you book here is an entire aircraft on a leg it must fly regardless. Times are for the flight alone. Because Malta is more than 2,000 kilometres from Britain, our routes use jets with the range for the trip, from a Citation M2 on the Jersey route to a Challenger 350 or Legacy 500 for larger groups and Scotland. If the dates are fixed, the normal charter price appears in the second list near the start.

Sectors bunch on Saturdays and Sundays in summer, when holiday stays begin and end, and on Mondays and Fridays for business travel. Because so many aircraft are based in Malta, flights from the island to Britain are often released at short notice.

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 Malta from Britain: border and customs rules

A private flight from Britain lands at an external Schengen border, and the handler walks passengers through Maltese immigration and customs. Many things feel familiar to British visitors, but the rules are European.

• Passport. Look at both dates in your passport: issue in the past decade, expiry no sooner than three months after the day you fly out of the Schengen zone.
• Stays. No visa is needed for up to 90 days in any 180 across Schengen, and a trip on to Sicily counts towards the same limit.
• EES. Four fingerprints and a photograph are taken on the first entry; children under 12 give only a photograph.
• Customs allowances. Coming in from Britain, an adult's duty free allowance is a carton of cigarettes, one litre of spirits or two of fizz or fortified wine, four of table wine, sixteen of beer and goods worth up to 430 euros.
• Food. Leave British ham, cheese and milk at home, as the EU refuses them at the border.
• Cash. Sums of 10,000 euros or more must be declared.
• Familiar habits. English is an official language, traffic drives on the left and the sockets are the British three pin type, though the currency is the euro.
• The way home. Flying back privately, each adult can land in Britain with up to 270 GBP of shopping plus 18 litres of wine, 42 of beer, 4 of spirits and 200 cigarettes without paying duty, and from 1 October 2026 fizz joins the wine allowance and cider the beer one.

Empty leg calendar for Malta, month by month

Malta has a long season: warm from April to November, busiest in summer and quieter in winter, when business travel and mild weather keep aircraft moving.

The best empty leg value comes in summer and around the school holidays, when many aircraft fly back to Britain empty. Travellers with fixed dates find the most aircraft and the easiest stands between November and March.

Three situations, three answers

Taking a dog or cat to Malta

The animal is chipped, then vaccinated against rabies at least three weeks before the trip, and an official vet signs its health certificate no more than ten days before you land. Unlike most EU countries, Malta also requires dogs to be treated against tapeworm by a vet between one and five days before arrival, and one person may bring no more than five pets.

For the flight home, Malta is one of the few countries exempt from Britain's tapeworm rule, so a dog returning from Malta needs no further treatment, but the aircraft must be operated by a company approved to carry pets into Britain. Executive Aviation Malta is approved to handle pets under the pet travel scheme, and we check the operator's rules for the cabin with you in advance.

Flying privately to Malta: common questions

Call +44 7857 574938 , message the same number on WhatsApp , or write to flight@empty-leg.co.uk . Send the dates, how many are flying, the luggage, any animals and your hotel or villa on the islands. We will send the sectors that fit with their charter prices, and plan the handler, the transfer and any ferry or boat to Gozo and Comino.