Our services
Empty Leg UK is an air charter broker based in the business aviation area of London Luton Airport. We arrange flights on aircraft operated by third party companies holding their own Air Operator Certificate, and we name the operator on every quote.
Most of our work is empty legs, the repositioning sectors operators need to fill. That is where the savings are and it is what we are known for. But a repositioning flight only exists on the operator's dates, so alongside it we arrange everything else business aviation covers, from a light jet to Jersey on Friday to an airliner for a squad and its kit.
Empty leg flights
Around 40 per cent of business jet movements are flown without passengers: aircraft going home after a one way charter, moving to collect the next client, or transferring between bases. The fuel, the crew and the handling are paid for either way, so operators release those sectors at 25 to 75 per cent below the price of the same aircraft booked normally.
We watch those movements full time and keep our own list, including a good number that never reach a public page. You buy the whole aircraft rather than a seat, the cabin and the crew are exactly what a full price client would get, and the only real constraints are that the airports and the departure time are the operator's rather than yours.
If your route rarely produces empty legs, we will tell you at the first conversation instead of leaving you waiting on an alert that will not fire. Current sectors and prices by class and route are on our prices page.
Private jet charter on your dates
When the schedule cannot bend, this is the answer. You choose the airports, the date and the hour, we choose the aircraft with you and price the whole trip line by line.
Jet sharing
Here you buy individual seats and the cost of the aircraft is split between everyone on board. The departure is confirmed once enough seats have sold, and you travel with people you do not know. Everything else stays the same: a private terminal, a proper cabin and the service standards of business aviation. It is the cheapest option per person on a popular route at a popular hour, and the wrong one if you want the cabin to yourself.
Group and team charter
Above about fourteen passengers a business jet stops being the answer and a VIP airliner or a regional aircraft takes over. We arrange those too, and the questions change: hold space for equipment, parking at the destination, crew duty limits on a long day, catering for forty rather than four.
This is where a private aircraft is at its most defensible on cost. Twenty people on one aircraft, to a field twenty minutes from the venue, usually beats twenty business class tickets through a hub, before you count the day nobody spends travelling.
Helicopter transfers
Useful in Britain more than most places, because the fields that take business jets are not in the city. A helicopter from Biggin Hill reaches central London in about twelve minutes, and the same logic applies to the Alps, the Côte d'Azur and the Balearics, where the airport and the destination can be an hour apart by road in season. We arrange the connection alongside the flight so that you are not solving it at the FBO.
Time critical and valuable cargo
A part that has to reach a production line, artwork moving between exhibitions, equipment for a broadcast. We arrange the aircraft, the paperwork and the security arrangements, and where the shipment needs an escort we build that in. Customs formalities on a UK export are part of the job rather than something we hand back to you.
Medical transfers and repatriation
Air ambulance work is flown by operators with specific medical approvals and their own clinical teams. We are not one of them and we do not employ medical staff. What we do is find the right operator quickly, coordinate with the hospitals at both ends and handle the flight arrangements around it.
If a patient is stable and does not need a medically configured aircraft, a standard charter with the right cabin and the right airport is often faster and considerably cheaper. We will tell you which of the two your situation actually calls for.
Fly private, your way
Tell us your route - we'll respond within the hour.
Travelling with pets
One of the most common reasons British clients fly private in the first place. Dogs and cats travel in the cabin at your feet rather than in a hold, and on an empty leg that costs no more than it would on a full price charter.
What needs planning is the paperwork and the point of entry. Animals can only enter the UK on a general aviation flight through approved airports, and not every field that takes your aircraft will take your dog. Your pet needs a microchip, a valid rabies vaccination and the correct health certificate for the direction of travel, with tapeworm treatment for some countries. Tell us at the enquiry stage and we will match the sector to a field that can process the animal.
Seasonal and event travel
The British calendar drives a great deal of private flying, and knowing it is half of finding a good price.
-
1.Flight request -
2.Commercial offer -
3.Choosing an airplane or a helicopter -
4.Conclusion of the contract and payment -
5.Flight at the appointed time
Everything around the flight
A flight is rarely the whole job. These are arranged alongside the aircraft by the same consultant, not by a separate department.
- Chauffeur transfers to the FBO and onward at the destination
- Meet and greet at the private terminal
- Catering to your order, including from a named restaurant where the field allows it
- Close protection and security arrangements
- Extra hold space for skis, golf clubs, instruments or oversized items
- Cabin crew on aircraft types where it is optional
- Hotels, villas and other accommodation at both ends
- Cars and yachts through partners we know
- Tickets for sporting and cultural events
- Advice on documents and permits for the countries you are flying to
Where we introduce you to a hotel, a villa or a yacht company, we simply pass on the contact. We do not book those services, take payment for them or receive commission from them, so the recommendation is based on nothing except whether they are any good.
Choosing the aircraft, and the airport
Two decisions do more to shape a quote than anything else, and both are ours to get right.
The class of aircraft is set by your group, your baggage and the range the sector needs. A turboprop or very light jet covers domestic hops and the Channel Islands. Light jets reach Paris, Edinburgh, Dublin and Amsterdam comfortably. Midsize aircraft are the workhorses of the UK to Mediterranean and Alpine routes. Heavy and ultra long range jets take larger groups to the Gulf and across the Atlantic.
The airport matters just as much, and in Britain the options are not interchangeable. Farnborough is business aviation only and around forty minutes from central London. Luton is the busiest private field in the country with three competing handling agents, but it does not accept landings between roughly 23:00 and 06:00. Biggin Hill sits fourteen miles from the centre with a helicopter shuttle. Northolt is closest to Mayfair but capped on daily movements. London City is limited to smaller types with specifically certified crews. Stansted is open around the clock when a late arrival leaves no alternative.
Our team
Charlotte Mckinney
Commercial Director
Henry Richter
Head of Aviation
Emma Miller
Director of Development
Liam Bishop
Leading Aviation Consultant
Oliver Davis
Air Broker
Anna Laurent
Aviation Consultant
The company in numbers
- About 6,000 business jets across our operator network
- More than 1,000 empty leg sectors in our own database
- 5,000+ clients flown, most of whom come back
- 26 specialists speaking more than ten languages
- Two offices, London Luton and Limassol
- 12 years of experience in business aviation
The office is open from 07:00 to 23:00 seven days a week, enquiries are read around the clock, and once your flight is booked your consultant is reachable at any hour until you land.
How booking works
- Tell us the route, the dates and the number of passengers, by phone, email or WhatsApp.
- Within 30 to 50 minutes we come back with three to five aircraft at different price points, including any empty leg that fits your dates alongside the standard charter price.
- You choose, and we issue the contract naming the operator and the aircraft. Payment is in sterling, by transfer or card, in full before departure.
- We handle slots, handling, catering, transfers and border formalities, and we watch the flight through to arrival.
The calculation is free and commits you to nothing. If you would rather see the arithmetic yourself first, the cost calculator will give you an estimate in a couple of minutes.
Whichever route you take, you will be dealing with one named consultant from the first message until you land, and the price agreed in the contract is the price you pay.
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.