Empty leg flights to and from Monaco

Monaco is the one destination on our list with no runway at all. The Principality covers about two square kilometres between the mountains and the sea, and every private jet flying there lands at Nice Côte d'Azur, about 20 kilometres along the coast. The last part of the journey is a helicopter hop of about seven minutes to the heliport at Fontvieille, or a drive of 30 to 45 minutes, depending on the road and the season.

That is why the board below is built around Nice as well as Monaco itself. A sector into Nice is a sector into Monaco for anyone staying in Monte-Carlo, and residents and yacht owners keep aircraft moving between the Riviera and Britain all year, with the Grand Prix and the Yacht Show adding sharp peaks.

The Monaco board as it stands today

The board lists every released sector that lands at or leaves Nice, since those are the flights that serve Monaco, along with the occasional helicopter sector into Fontvieille. If the Nice list runs short, sectors into Cannes Mandelieu and the Italian Riviera follow below it. Under the board is the charter list, pricing the same cabins for a trip between Britain and Monaco on dates of your own choosing, and that price is the one an empty leg must undercut before it counts as a saving.

Why Monaco produces empty legs

Few places of its size generate as much private flying. The reasons are the people who live there, the boats in its harbours and a calendar of events that fills the coast several times a year.

Supply follows the calendar more than the weather. It is strongest around the Grand Prix, through July and August and in the week of the Yacht Show, and it never quite stops in winter.

Monaco Heliport in detail

For a private flight to Monaco the heliport is the airport in all but name. It sits at the western end of the Principality on land reclaimed from the sea in Fontvieille, between the Stade Louis II, the Princess Grace Rose Garden and the Fontvieille harbour, and it has been the gateway for Monaco residents since it opened in 1976 with the backing of Prince Rainier III.

The terminal building was renovated between October 2022 and the spring of 2023. The passenger hall was redesigned, access for passengers with reduced mobility was improved, a new police post was added for border checks, and 180 square metres of solar panels went on the roof. Behind the terminal stand the hangars of the resident helicopter companies.

Who flies between Nice and Monaco

The route between Nice airport and Fontvieille is one of the busiest helicopter routes in Europe, with up to about 50 return flights a day on the regular line in season. Almost all of it is shared between Monacair and Blade, which fly the regular line as well as private flights, and Heli Air Monaco, which flies private transfers.

For a party flying in by private jet the private cabin is the usual choice. The helicopter waits for the jet instead of keeping to a timetable, the whole party and its luggage travel together, and on the busiest days nobody has to compete for a seat.

Helicopter, car or train from Nice

The helicopter is the fastest way in, but not the only one, and on some days it is not the best. The prices below are for 2026 and exclude the event weeks.

By road there are two ways in. The A8 motorway, usually the quicker route, climbs behind Nice and comes down into Monaco from La Turbie. The Basse Corniche follows the coast through Villefranche and Beaulieu and is slower but more scenic. In July and August, on Grand Prix weekend and during the Yacht Show, either route can take more than an hour.

What we arrange for a Monaco trip

• The helicopter goes on the same booking as the jet. It is timed to the jet's slot at Nice, and if the flight moves we move both.
• We count the bags at the start. Whatever the helicopter cannot take travels by van, booked in advance rather than at the kerb.
• A car is always in reserve. Low cloud, a strong wind or a thunderstorm over the coast can ground the helicopters, so we keep a car on standby for every arrival.
• We watch the sunset. A jet landing after dark means a twin engine helicopter, which costs more and must be booked in advance, or the car. In December the sun sets before five in the afternoon.
• We plan the aircraft's day, not just yours. If the jet is to wait at Nice for more than four hours, we decide early whether it stays, repositions or goes home, because in summer a stand is approved late or not at all.
• Event weeks are booked months ahead. For the Grand Prix and the Yacht Show we reserve the helicopter when we reserve the jet, because in those weeks both run out.

What passengers find at Nice and Fontvieille

Nobody should expect a large terminal at either end of this flight. The heliport is built for passing through rather than for waiting, and on a private transfer the time between the car and the pad is usually a few minutes. What the operators sell is speed, and everything around the flight is organised to protect it.

Bags, the border and the timing

Monaco is not a member of the European Union or the Schengen area, but it has an open border with France and applies Schengen rules through France. For a traveller from the UK every formality happens at Nice, and the helicopter to Monaco is treated as a domestic flight.

In short, the helicopter is for people, the road is for luggage, and the timing follows the jet's slot at Nice.

What Monaco and the French coast add to the bill

The flight to Nice is most of the cost. A Monaco trip adds several lines to the bill, and for most parties the largest of them is a French tax rather than a Monegasque one.

The French tax is charged on every passenger leaving a French airport on a business flight, and Monaco trips pay it because the jet leaves from Nice. It is 420 euros each on a jet and 210 euros on a turboprop, so a party of six flying home from Nice to London adds 2,520 euros to the bill. Flights into France pay nothing, children under two are not counted, and a passenger connecting within 24 hours pays it only once.

For British duty Monaco is in Band A, the cheapest band, since the distance from London to Monaco is well under 2,000 miles. On a private jet between 5.7 and 20 tonnes that means 32 GBP a passenger in the 2026 to 2027 tax year, and 142 GBP on a heavier aircraft. From April 2027 all private jets of 5.7 tonnes or more pay the higher rate, which will be 146.63 GBP a passenger for Monaco. A flight from Jersey or Guernsey pays no British duty.

Hotels in Monaco have charged a tourist contribution since 2024, for each adult guest and each night, at the rates set in February of that year: 2 euros in a two star hotel, 3 euros in a three star, 5 euros in a four star and 7 euros in a five star hotel, the rate most private travellers pay. Residents pay nothing.

Where the jet lands for Monaco

Nice is the answer for almost every trip, but not for all of them. Four other airfields are worth knowing, each with its own reason and its own limits.

From Fontvieille to the hotels, the port and the casino

Once the helicopter has landed nothing in Monaco is far away. The times below are by car from the heliport in ordinary traffic, with the drive from Nice airport alongside for the days when the helicopter is not an option.

The times are for normal conditions. On Grand Prix weekend the circuit closes the streets around the port and the casino, and traffic in the whole Principality slows to a walk. The cars that meet the helicopters know the diversions.

Yachts berth in Port Hercule, which has almost 760 berths, around 30 of them for visitors, and deep water for the largest yachts, or in the smaller Port de Fontvieille, with 290 berths and a draught limit of 3 metres. Fontvieille harbour is a short walk from the heliport, and Port Hercule a short drive.

Monte-Carlo, the address most visitors mean

Many people who ask for a flight to Monte-Carlo mean one district of Monaco. Monte-Carlo is the quarter on the old Spélugues plateau, named in 1866 in honour of Prince Charles III, whose casino and hotels turned a rocky headland into a resort. It has no airfield of its own. The heliport that booking systems list as Monte Carlo, MCM, stands in Fontvieille on the far side of the Rock, and every jet bound for Monte-Carlo lands at Nice.

Whatever the address in Monte-Carlo, the route there hardly varies, with the jet landing at Nice, the helicopter crossing to Fontvieille and a short drive up to the square. What changes is the final address, and the sooner we have it, the sooner the driver does.

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

Every row below is a complete aircraft rather than a single seat, priced at what its operator will accept to fill a cabin that is flying regardless. Each flight lands at or leaves Nice, and the times run from wheels up to wheels down, so the helicopter to Fontvieille or the drive along the coast comes on top. The rows use different jets, from a Phenom 300 to a Challenger 604, so price does not simply follow distance. If fixed dates count for more than the saving, the charter list above prices every one of these cabins in full.

The table lists flights in both directions, because aircraft run empty both ways. Many of these sectors turn up in three bursts: the days either side of the Grand Prix, the changeover Saturdays of high summer and the closing weekend of the Yacht Show.

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.

Passports, customs and the rules of the Principality

Monaco has its own government, its own police and its own laws, but for a visitor its border is the French border, and the passport and customs checks on the way in and out all happen at Nice.

• The passport. At Nice the officer checks the issue date, which must be less than ten years before your arrival, and the expiry date, which must be at least three months after you leave Schengen. It is possible to pass one test and fail the other, so check both.
• Days in Monaco count as days in Schengen. A British visitor may spend 90 days in any 180 day period in the Schengen area, and days in Monaco are counted with the days in France, Italy and the rest.
• The Entry/Exit System. Since April 2026 the passport stamp has gone, and British travellers are registered with fingerprints and a photograph on the first crossing, at Nice for a Monaco trip. The record lasts three years, and residents of Monaco are exempt.
• ETIAS. The travel authorisation has still not started. Its start date was taken off the European Commission's website in July 2026 without a replacement. When it comes it will cost 20 euros for three years, with a grace period of six months once it begins.
• Customs. Monaco is inside the EU customs territory through its customs union with France, so the allowances are the French ones: 200 cigarettes, 1 litre of spirits, 4 litres of still wine, 16 litres of beer and other goods worth up to 430 euros on a charter flight. Anyone carrying 10,000 euros or more in cash must declare it, and sandwiches with ham or cheese from home are confiscated at the border.
• VAT and tax free shopping. Monaco applies VAT at the French rates. A British visitor can reclaim it on purchases in Monaco on the same terms as in France, with the forms validated at Nice, so let the handler know before the day of departure.
• Bringing it home. Back in Britain each traveller is allowed 42 litres of beer, 18 litres of still wine, 4 litres of spirits and 200 cigarettes, and on a private flight goods worth up to 270 GBP besides. The rule changes on 1 October 2026, when sparkling wine joins the wine total and cider joins the beer.
• The euro. Monaco uses the euro, and its own coins are collectors' items. Cards are accepted almost everywhere.

Empty leg calendar for Monaco, month by month

Monaco has no dead season. The residents fly all year, and the event calendar adds peaks that are sharper than anywhere else on the coast.

The best value is in the days either side of the big events, when aircraft that brought the crowds in are going home or coming back for them, and in March, October and the quieter weeks of April and May, when the coast is pleasant and the airport is not full.

Three situations, three answers

Flying to Monaco with a dog or a cat

Since every jet for Monaco lands at Nice, a dog or cat from Britain comes in under the French rules. It needs a chip first, then a rabies vaccination given three weeks or more before the flight, and finally an animal health certificate that an official vet has signed no more than ten days before landing. Since 22 April 2026 a British resident can no longer travel on an EU pet passport issued to them. Monaco follows the French rules. Tell us when you book, because not every helicopter operator takes animals and we choose the operator to suit.

Plan the flight home first. Only an operator approved for the purpose may bring an animal into Great Britain, so the choice of aircraft for the return is narrower than for the outbound flight. A dog needs a vet to treat it for tapeworm between one and five days before it lands in Britain, and cats need the same papers without the tapeworm treatment.

Your questions about flying privately to Monaco

Call +44 7857 574938 , message the same number on WhatsApp , or write to flight@empty-leg.co.uk . Let us know the hotel, the yacht or the address in Monaco, the dates, the number of passengers and bags, and whether you want the helicopter or the car from Nice. Our answer lists the matching sectors with their charter prices alongside, and sets out the Nice slot, the helicopter and the car waiting at Fontvieille.