Empty leg flights to and from Marrakech

Marrakech is one of the most exotic cities within easy reach of a British business jet. In about three and a half hours from London you leave the grey of an English winter for the red walls of the Medina, the square of Jemaa el Fna, the Majorelle Garden and the snow on the High Atlas behind the palm groves. The riads and palace hotels of the old city, the villas of the Palmeraie and the desert camps of Agafay draw British visitors from October to May, and the calendar adds the marathon in January, the 1-54 art fair in March and the international film festival in late November. Morocco keeps GMT plus one for most of the year and returns to GMT during Ramadan, so it is an hour ahead of London in winter and on the same time in summer.

For private flights, Marrakech means Marrakech Menara Airport, code RAK, a few kilometres south west of the Medina, where business aircraft use a terminal of their own opened in 2020.

Marrakech sectors available today

Below is every sector we currently hold into or out of Marrakech, together with flights released at Essaouira, Agadir and Ouarzazate, the three Moroccan airports where aircraft most often drop, wait or collect passengers on a trip that also takes in Marrakech. Beneath it sits a second table with the full charter fare of each of those jets, for travellers who choose their own dates.

Why Marrakech produces so many empty legs

A flight to Marrakech is long enough that operators rarely keep a jet on the ground for the whole stay, and short enough that British travellers make the trip for a long weekend. That combination turns most visits into two separate positioning flights.

Sectors appear all year, with the most from October to May and around the school holidays. Because each trip is long and the aircraft rarely stays, operators often release the empty flight home only a day or two before departure.

Marrakech Menara Airport in detail

The airfield at Menara was built during the Second World War, when it served American forces on the air routes across North Africa, and it still belongs to the Royal Moroccan Air Force while the state airport authority, ONDA, runs the civil side. It reopened in 1991 after a renovation that lengthened the runway and rebuilt the facilities. In 2025 it handled 10,197,736 passengers, 10.09 per cent more than in 2024, and passed 10 million for the first time, which makes it the second airport of Morocco after Casablanca, with 28 per cent of the national traffic. A contract worth about 1.8 billion dirhams, awarded in 2025 as part of the Airports 2030 programme for the World Cup, will extend the terminal to some 142,000 square metres and raise its capacity to 16 million passengers a year.

For crews, Marrakech is an easy airport: one long runway, instrument approaches, fuel and customs at any hour and no night closure. The elevation of 471 metres and summer temperatures near 40 degrees reduce the take off performance of a loaded jet, so on hot afternoons an operator may plan a fuel stop on the way north or choose a larger aircraft. Paperwork matters more than at any European airport: a charter needs its Moroccan landing permit before departure, and the civil aviation authority handles requests during office hours, so a weekend flight is best requested by Thursday.

The business aviation terminal and its two operators

Private passengers at Marrakech never enter the airline terminals. Since February 2020 they have used a terminal built only for business and private aviation, the second of its kind in Morocco after Casablanca, where ONDA keeps a central area for passport control and security screening and two private operators, chosen by international tender, run the lounges and the handling on either side.

The operator of the aircraft normally chooses between Jetex and Swissport, but we can ask for one of them if you prefer its lounge.

From the aircraft to your riad, step by step

Between touchdown at Menara and the door of your riad there are only a few formalities, and the order is simply reversed on the way home.

Paperwork is the main constraint on a Moroccan trip, so we settle the landing permit, the choice of terminal operator and, over Christmas or New Year, the parking plan for the jet at the time of booking.

Five things to know before booking Marrakech

Every quote we prepare for Marrakech covers the following points from the start, because each of them can change the price or the timing.

From the airport to the Medina, the Palmeraie and the Atlas

The airport sits close to the old city, and most hotels are reached within half an hour. The times below are by car from the business aviation terminal, outside the rush hours.

Taxis wait outside the airline terminals, but after a private flight a car booked through the handler or the hotel is simpler, and the driver waits at the business aviation terminal whatever the time of landing.

Taxes, fees and currency on a Marrakech trip

A Marrakech trip carries a short list of charges besides the aircraft: British duty on the way out, the Moroccan air tax where it applies, and a small tourist tax on hotel nights.

Air Passenger Duty falls only on the leg leaving the UK, and Morocco is in Band A. Until the end of March 2027 each passenger pays 32 GBP in a private jet of between 5.7 and 20 tonnes and 142 GBP in anything larger, and from April 2027 the duty becomes one figure, 146.63 GBP, whatever the size of the jet above 5.7 tonnes. Aircraft under 5.7 tonnes are exempt, as are departures from the Channel Islands, and from April 2027 departures from Scotland pay the Scottish tax instead.

The Moroccan air tax was created in 2014 and written into the general tax code from January 2022; children under two and passengers in direct transit are exempt. The operator settles the Menara landing, parking and handling bills itself, so none of them reaches you as a separate charge.

Essaouira, Agadir and the other airports of southern Morocco

Marrakech Menara is the natural airport for the city, but a trip to Morocco often continues to the coast or the desert, and other airports matter when the apron at Menara is full.

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

Every fare below is for the entire aircraft on a flight that is going anyway, whether you fill two seats or all of them, and the times shown are spent in the air. Marrakech lies about 2,300 kilometres from London, the far end of the range for the smallest jets, so our list runs from a Citation M2 on the Jersey route and a Citation CJ2 on the Southampton route to a Challenger 350 or a Praetor 600 for larger parties. For a trip on fixed dates, compare these fares with the standard charter figures listed higher up.

Sectors between Britain and Marrakech gather around Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays, and around the half term holidays in October, February and May. Because an aircraft rarely waits three or four days in Morocco, flights from Marrakech back to Britain are released most often, frequently at a day's 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 Morocco: passports, customs and money

Morocco is outside the EU and outside Schengen, so the European rules do not apply. Moroccan police and customs clear every private flight from Britain in the business aviation terminal.

• Passport. The British Foreign Office asks for a passport valid for at least three months from the day you arrive, and a damaged one can be refused.
• Visa. British citizens need no visa for a holiday of up to 90 days; a longer stay needs an extension from the Moroccan police.
• No EU checks. The Entry/Exit System and ETIAS belong to Schengen and do not apply in Morocco, where the police simply stamp the passport.
• Currency. The dirham is not convertible abroad. Foreign currency worth 100,000 dirhams or more, roughly 8,000 GBP, must be declared on arrival and on departure.
• Customs. Visitors may usually bring 200 cigarettes, a litre of spirits and a litre of wine free of duty. Drones need prior permission from the civil aviation authority; without it they can be confiscated and fined.
• Back to Britain. On the flight home each adult may land, duty free, 200 cigarettes, 4 litres of spirits or 9 of fortified wine, 18 litres of still wine, 42 litres of beer and other goods up to 270 GBP; from 1 October 2026 sparkling wine joins the wine allowance and cider the beer allowance.

Empty leg calendar for Marrakech, month by month

The Marrakech season runs from October to May, with a lull in the hottest weeks of summer and peaks at Christmas, New Year and the school holidays.

The best empty leg value comes from October to May, when jets drop guests for a week or a long weekend and fly home empty. Travellers with fixed dates find aircraft and parking most easily in the quieter weeks of November, January and early March.

Three situations, three answers

Flying to Marrakech with a dog or a cat

Morocco asks for a microchip, a valid rabies vaccination, an official veterinary health certificate and, for a temporary stay, a rabies antibody blood test taken at least 30 days after vaccination and showing at least 0.5 IU per millilitre. Pit bulls, boerboels and tosas are not admitted. Tell the handler about the animal in advance so that the veterinary check is arranged, and check with the riad or hotel that pets are welcome.

The return is the harder part. Morocco is not on Britain's list of approved countries, so a pet coming home needs a passing rabies blood test, and if the rules are not met before departure it may have to wait three months from the blood sample before it can enter. Arrange the test with your vet in Britain well before the trip. Only operators approved by the British authorities may carry the animal back, and dogs also need the tapeworm treatment 24 to 120 hours before landing. Mention the animal when you first write, so that our search is limited to operators that accept pets on this route.

Private flights to Marrakech: your questions answered

Call +44 7857 574938 , message the same number on WhatsApp , or write to flight@empty-leg.co.uk . Tell us your dates, how many are travelling, what luggage you are taking and the riad, hotel or villa where you are staying. Our reply sets out the matching sectors next to the full charter fare, and a single quote then covers the Moroccan permit, the terminal operator at Menara and the drive to the Medina.