Empty leg flights to and from Samedan

Samedan is the airport of the Upper Engadine, 5 kilometres from St Moritz and, at 1,707 metres above sea level, the highest airport in Europe that takes business jets. Private jets and helicopters make up most of its traffic, and they bring guests within minutes of Badrutt's Palace, the Kulm and Suvretta House, of the Corviglia and Corvatsch ski areas and of the frozen lake where the White Turf races and the Snow Polo World Cup are held every winter.

From London a Citation XLS+ needs just under two hours. The flight itself is short; the planning goes into the arrival. Every pilot must complete the airport's own briefing, the field closes at dusk in winter and the approach needs good visibility, so the choice of operator and a fallback through Zurich matter more here than almost anywhere else on our board. Empty legs cluster around Christmas and New Year, the February races and polo, the ski weeks of March and the summer season from July.

Empty legs to and from Samedan right now

The board shows every sector that touches Samedan. When the Engadine is quiet, it adds flights at Zurich, Lugano and Milan, the airports that serve St Moritz by road or helicopter when Samedan is closed or full. Under it, the price list gives the cost of chartering the same aircraft for dates you choose.

Also moving across Zurich, Lugano and Milan

Sectors on this list do not touch Samedan itself. They are shown because the fields are close enough that the drive rarely costs you more than waiting for the right sector does. Tell us which one interests you and we will confirm it is still open.

Where Samedan sectors come from

Three patterns of travel leave aircraft flying empty through the Engadine.

Samedan also creates sectors that begin somewhere else. When cloud or snow closes the valley to jets, flights divert to Zurich, Lugano or Milan and the aircraft reposition later, and operators whose crews do not hold the Samedan briefing often land their passengers in Zurich from the start. Those legs appear on the board as well.

Samedan Airport in detail

The facts a crew and a passenger should know before a private flight into the Engadine, from the runway to the rules that decide who may land.

The airport rewards a crew that has prepared for it and punishes one that has not. That is why we quote Samedan only with operators whose pilots hold the briefing, and why every Samedan quote names a Zurich alternative for days when the valley is closed.

Where private passengers are handled at Samedan

There is one terminal at Samedan and one handler, the airport company itself, which looks after every private flight from the aircraft door to the car.

Because the airport company handles everything itself, one conversation covers the car, the catering, the fuel and the hotel booking. The request simply has to come early in the peak weeks.

The terminal from a passenger's side

A private arrival at Samedan takes minutes rather than hours. These are the steps, and the details worth planning for on the way home.

Samedan is quick on the ground and slow only when the weather says so. The ten minute drive to St Moritz is the reward for choosing the right crew and keeping an eye on the clock.

Four rules that shape a Samedan trip

Follow these four and Samedan is the most convenient airport in the Alps. Ignore them, and a well planned trip can end three hours away at the wrong airport.

What the ground costs at Samedan

Samedan publishes its charges, and most of them are modest; winter brings the largest additions.

Britain levies Air Passenger Duty on the outbound flight only when the aircraft has a maximum weight of 5.7 tonnes or more, so a Pilatus PC-12 from Oxford pays nothing, and flights from Jersey or Guernsey pay none at all, because the duty applies only to departures from UK airports. A Citation XLS+ is charged 32 GBP for each passenger at the Band A standard rate for 2026 to 2027; from April 2027 every private jet of that weight or more is due to move to the higher rate. Switzerland adds no departure tax of its own.

Most charter jets do not wait in the Engadine for a week. They leave after the drop and come back for the pickup, and those two positioning flights are the empty legs that make the next traveller's trip cheaper. We list the handling, the car and any helicopter next to the flight price, so the whole cost is clear before you book.

Zurich, Lugano and the other airports around the Engadine

Samedan is the only airport in the valley itself. When it is closed, full or unsuitable, these are the alternatives.

From Samedan airport to St Moritz and the Engadine

Driving times from the airport in normal conditions. Snow, pass closures and the weekend traffic into St Moritz can add time in winter.

Many of the grand hotels send their own cars, and the handler can book a chauffeur for any other address. For Davos, Klosters or a meeting in Zurich, a helicopter from the same apron turns hours on the road into minutes, weather permitting.

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

The prices refer to complete aircraft on sectors that operators have put up for sale because the jets must reposition anyway. Booked as an ordinary charter on your own dates, the same Citation XLS+ would cost around two and a half times as much, and the charter list under the board has those figures. The times cover the flight alone, and in winter the departure also has to fit into the daylight hours.

Few charter jets stay in the Engadine for a whole holiday, partly because the apron is small in winter. A ten day stay therefore tends to produce two empty sectors, and the busiest days of the season produce many on the same afternoon.

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 Samedan from the UK

Switzerland stays outside the EU but belongs to the Schengen area, so for a flight from Britain Samedan is a Schengen border crossing, and passports and goods are checked in its small terminal on arrival.

• Passport. The Foreign Office requires a British passport issued less than ten years before the day you land and valid for at least three months after you plan to leave the Schengen area.
• 90 days. Time in Switzerland counts towards the Schengen limit of 90 days in any 180, together with any days spent in France, Italy or other Schengen countries during that period.
• Entry/Exit System. Switzerland has registered visitors in the EU's electronic border system since October 2025. A first entry means a facial photograph and, from twelve years of age, fingerprints, and the digital record, which lasts three years, is used in place of stamps.
• ETIAS. No one needs the EU travel authorisation yet. Switzerland will ask for it once the scheme launches, expected in 2027, at 20 euros for applicants aged 18 to 70.
• Swiss allowances. Goods for your own use enter free of Swiss VAT up to a total of 150 francs per person, and separate duty free limits cover 5 litres of drinks up to 18 per cent alcohol, 1 litre of drinks over 18 per cent and 250 cigarettes. Food from Great Britain containing meat or milk has to stay at home.
• Kit and cash. Skis, boots and other equipment for your own use cross the border freely. Cash is not declared automatically, but officers may ask about sums of 10,000 francs or more.
• Returning to Britain. On a private flight home each adult may bring 200 cigarettes, 4 litres of spirits, 18 litres of wine, which from 1 October 2026 includes sparkling wine, 42 litres of beer and other goods worth 270 GBP. Swiss cheese, air dried beef and other beef, pork, lamb and dairy products may not be brought into Great Britain.
• Taxes. Air Passenger Duty on the outbound flight for aircraft of 5.7 tonnes or more, the passenger charge at Samedan and the local tourist tax that hotels and chalets add for each night.

Empty leg calendar for Samedan, month by month

The Engadine lives by two seasons, a long winter and a shorter summer, with quiet weeks in between when many hotels close.

The best supply of sectors comes on the days around Christmas and New Year and on the February weekends. For a calmer trip and an emptier apron, choose March skiing or the settled weeks of September.

Three situations, three answers

Flying to Samedan with a dog or a cat

The first rule is geographical. Pets arriving in Switzerland by air from Britain must enter through Basel, Geneva or Zurich, so a dog or cat cannot land directly at Samedan: the aircraft clears the animal at Zurich and flies on, or the family drives the last three hours. The paperwork is the usual set: a microchip, a first rabies jab given three weeks or more before the trip, and an official vet's animal health certificate dated within the ten days before arrival. At Zurich the pet goes through the red customs channel. Switzerland bans the import of dogs with docked ears or tails, although exceptions can apply to short holiday stays, so check with the Swiss veterinary office before booking.

Great Britain has rules of its own for the journey home. Pets may arrive by private jet only with an approved operator on an approved route, and a dog needs a tapeworm treatment from a vet between one and five days before it lands. Vets in the valley can give it, but book the appointment together with the flight, and mention the animal in your first message so that every aircraft we offer comes from an operator that carries pets.

Questions about flying private to Samedan

Call +44 7857 574938 , message the same number on WhatsApp , or write to flight@empty-leg.co.uk . Tell us the hotel or chalet, the dates, the number of passengers and skis and whether a pet is coming, and we will reply with matching sectors, a full charter price, the ground costs and the Zurich alternative.