Terms of payment and refund
Every flight is confirmed by a written contract, and the price in that contract is the price you pay. There are no adjustments at the aircraft and no charges added at the terminal. Below is how payment works at Empty Leg UK, what the quoted figure covers, and what happens if a flight is cancelled by either side.
How you pay
Payment follows the signed contract. For most clients that means a bank transfer against an invoice, which is the fastest and cleanest route for both sides.
Whichever route you take, the contract, the invoice and the flight confirmation are issued in the same way, so your accounts department sees a complete and ordinary paper trail. If a departure is genuinely urgent and the timing does not allow for a transfer to clear, tell us. We can often work around it with the operator, but each case is agreed individually and depends on who is flying the aircraft.
What the price includes
A quote from us covers the aircraft and everything needed to fly it. What sits outside is anything specific to you, and we itemise those rather than bury them.
Fuel
Handling at both ends
Landing and navigation charges
Standard catering
Your baggage
De-icing in winter, at cost and only if used
Extended parking if the aircraft waits for you
Special catering
Ground transport
Pet handling
Tax on a UK private flight
Two taxes matter here, and they behave differently. We break both out in the quote rather than folding them into a single number.
Air Passenger Duty
APD is charged per chargeable passenger on departures from UK airports. The operator collects it and passes it on. From April 2027 the higher rate extends to every business aircraft of 5.7 tonnes or more, which brings almost the whole midsize fleet into scope.
| Destination band | From April 2026 | From April 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic and band A, within 2,000 miles of London | 142 GBP | 146.63 GBP |
| Band B | 1,097 GBP | 1,132.76 GBP |
| Band C | 1,141 GBP | 1,178.20 GBP |
VAT
VAT works the other way round to what most people expect. Under HMRC rules, transport from the UK to a place outside it is zero rated, so a flight from Luton to Nice or Geneva carries no VAT.
A purely domestic sector is zero rated only if the aircraft is designed to carry ten passengers or more. So a London to Edinburgh hop on a six seat light jet is standard rated at 20 per cent, while the same route on a larger aircraft is not.
It is an odd rule and it catches people out, so we set the VAT position out in the quote. We are brokers rather than tax advisers, and for anything unusual your accountant should have the final word.
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Reputation
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12 years of successful work in business aviation in Europe. More than 100 regular customers and 30 partner companies around the world.
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A large selection of aircraft
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The current database includes about 9,000 business jets of various types. We will select an airplane for a flight of any range and complexity.
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Transparent contracts
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We do not slip tricky contracts but are responsible for the services provided. We show flexibility and meet our clients halfway. We are always ready to discuss the details and make changes.
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Online booking
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You can book and pay for the flight online, without a personal presence. You can also arrange all the documents in our office. We’ll adjust to the option that is convenient for you.
Cancellation and refunds
Cancellation terms are written into your contract before you pay, and they are set by the operator flying the aircraft rather than by us. Different operators hold different terms, so the same route on two different aircraft can carry two different schedules. Your consultant will put the exact wording in front of you before you commit to anything.
Documents for your accounts
You receive a full set of paperwork, prepared to satisfy a UK accounts department. Where your finance team or an assistant needs a particular format or additional detail, ask and we will produce it.
We handle personal and corporate details in confidence. Passenger information goes to the operator and to border authorities because the flight cannot legally happen otherwise, and it goes nowhere else.
Why clients book through us
We ask for feedback after every flight and we read all of it. These are the nine things clients mention most often, in the order they raise them.
The aviation expert will answer all your questions about business aviation and private flights. We will help you to compare and choose the best business jet for your flight.