Empty leg flights to and from Manchester

Manchester is the principal business aviation hub for the north of England, and the northern field that works most like a London airport. Two parallel runways of a little over three kilometres each, a dedicated business aviation centre, round the clock operation and a catchment that runs from the Cheshire belt to the Lake District. Trips that would otherwise start in London start here instead.

That density is what produces repositioning sectors. Every one way charter into Manchester leaves an aircraft that has to go somewhere next, and the north generates a great many one way charters: fixture nights, race meetings, business travel to London and Europe, and the steady flow of families in and out of the Alps and the Balearics.

Empty legs from Manchester right now

The board below shows what our operator network has released on northern routes. Manchester produces fewer sectors than London in absolute terms, so registering a route here is worth considerably more than refreshing a page.

Where Manchester sectors come from

The north generates repositioning flights for reasons London does not share, and understanding them tells you when to look.

Manchester Airport in detail

What the field can take, when it is open, how the slots work and what happens on the ground.

The private terminal

Private flights at Manchester use the business aviation centre, away from the passenger terminals. A second name also comes up often, and it is worth being clear about what it is.

On an empty leg the handling comes with the sector, because the operator has its own arrangement with a handler. The building, the address and the crew contact are confirmed in the flight brief, and on an airport this large it is worth reading before you set off.

What the ground costs

Manchester sits in the middle of the British range, and the value shows up in the things that are scarce further south.

That last point matters more than any published charge. A charter from Manchester on an aircraft based in the south carries the cost of flying it up here first, and that single sector can add thousands. It is also exactly why a northern empty leg is such good value: the aircraft is already here and has to leave anyway.

The other fields in the north west

Manchester does most of the work, but the other fields in the region are worth knowing, because a sector into one of them can beat waiting for the airport you had in mind.

Getting into the city and the region

Manchester Airport is close to the places its passengers are going. These are typical off peak times by road.

Helicopter transfers are arranged alongside the flight where the road is the problem, most often to the Lake District, north Wales or a venue with its own landing site. Manchester Barton has a dedicated heliport and sits closer to Salford and the city centre than the main airport does.

Popular destinations from Manchester, and which way they run empty

Not every route produces repositioning flights at the same rate. These are the ones that do. Prices are the typical starting point for the whole aircraft on an empty leg.

The corridors are much the same as London's, but the volume behind them is not: fewer movements produce fewer sectors, so a given route here fires less often than the same route in the south. What the north gives you in exchange is less competition for each one, and an aircraft that is already up here rather than needing to be flown up.

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 Manchester from abroad

The formalities are the same as anywhere in Britain and most of them happen before you travel rather than on the day.

• Passenger details go in with the booking. Everyone on board needs to be named, with date of birth, nationality and passport number. The operator files a General Aviation Report for any international movement in or out of the United Kingdom, and that filing cannot wait until the morning of the flight.
• Electronic travel authorisation. Visitors from countries that do not need a visa now require an ETA before travelling to the UK, and it applies on a private flight exactly as it does on a scheduled one.
• Border control at the private terminal. Officers attend the terminal for the flight rather than processing you in the airline halls, and on a quiet arrival it is a matter of minutes.
• Air Passenger Duty on departures. Charged per passenger leaving a UK airport and shown as its own line in any quote we send, rather than folded into the total.

Empty leg calendar for Manchester, month by month

Manchester follows the northern year rather than the London one. The racing calendar, the football fixture list and the school terms move aircraft here in ways that have nothing to do with the City of London.

September, April, March and October are the months to aim for. The northern rule is the same as the national one with one addition: the days straight after a major race meeting or a European fixture night are unusually good, because the aircraft that brought people in have to leave again regardless.

Three situations, three answers

Travelling with a dog or a cat

Animals usually travel in the cabin at your feet on a private flight, and departing from Manchester the rules that apply are those of the country you are flying to. That part is straightforward and we handle it with the booking.

Coming back into Great Britain is where it gets narrower. An animal may only enter on a flight where both the operator and the route hold the relevant approval. Manchester is on the approved list for a number of charter operators, so a dog returning from France or Switzerland can often land here, but on an operator without that approval it may have to land elsewhere and continue by road. Tell us about the animal in the first message and we will plan the routing around it rather than discovering the problem later.

Questions about flying private from Manchester

Call +44 7857 574938, message the same number on WhatsApp, or write to flight@empty-leg.co.uk. Tell us the route and the window you can travel in, and we will watch the northern corridors for you.