Empty leg flights to and from Sion

Sion is the capital of the Valais, the sunny, wine growing canton of the upper Rhône valley, and its airport is the nearest long runway to the big resorts of the region. Crans-Montana, Nendaz and Anzère are well under an hour away by road, Verbier about an hour, and a helicopter reaches Zermatt or Saas-Fee in about twenty minutes.

For a British skier the appeal is simple: land in the valley rather than at Geneva and save one to two hours in the car at each end of the trip. The price is a set of rules Geneva does not have. The airport keeps daylight hours in winter, every captain needs a local qualification, and the approach drops steeply between mountains. Those rules decide which aircraft come to Sion, and they shape its empty legs as well.

Empty legs to and from Sion right now

The board lists every sector released into or out of Sion. When Sion itself has nothing, it shows flights through Geneva, Saanen for Gstaad, Bern and Aosta instead, because from each of them a car or a helicopter reaches the Valais resorts. Below it, a table of regular routes gives the full charter price for the same aircraft.

Where Sion sectors come from

Three patterns fill the Sion board, and nearly all of them follow the ski calendar.

Flying time from London is about an hour and forty five minutes, well within the range of every aircraft that uses the airport. The mix is lighter than at Geneva: the types seen most often at Sion in 2025 were the Pilatus PC-12 turboprop, the Citation CJ2 and the Phenom 300. Larger jets use Sion too, but light and midsize aircraft suit it best, and the routes table is priced on an eight seat Citation XLS+.

Sion Airport in detail

Sion is a regional airport with a long runway, a small public terminal and a busy business aviation side. The rows below cover what shapes a private flight there.

Three rows matter most to a passenger: the hours, the crews and the weather. In midwinter the airport closes in the late afternoon, not every operator has pilots qualified for the approach, and foehn wind or low cloud occasionally sends a flight to Geneva instead.

Where private passengers are handled at Sion

Private passengers at Sion are looked after by one of three handlers, Signature, Alpine Jet or the airport's own team, rather than at the airline check in desks. Customs, passport control and the waiting car all meet at the handler.

Which building you use depends on the operator's choice of handler, not on the passenger. If you have a preference, the Alpark spa before a late departure, say, tell us and we will pass it on.

The terminal from a passenger's side

A private departure and arrival at Sion, step by step, from the A9 motorway to the aircraft door.

Two things decide a smooth Sion trip: the hour and the crew. Everything on the ground takes minutes; what cannot be rushed is a winter sunset or an operator without qualified pilots.

Four rules that shape a Sion trip

Handled well, none of this is a nuisance. It simply means that Sion rewards planning more than Geneva does, and that a traveller who books the right hour lands a short drive from the chalet door.

What the ground costs at Sion

Sion's own charges are modest by the standards of Alpine gateways, and most of the extra cost comes from winter and from how long the aircraft stays.

The largest variable is not an airport fee but the aircraft's week. An owner may keep a jet in a hangar at Sion until the family flies home, while most charter aircraft go back to Britain or to their next job after the drop and return for the pickup. Those positioning flights are the empty legs on the board, and travelling on one is the most direct way to avoid paying for them.

Switzerland adds no ticket tax. A levy of 500 to 3,000 francs on private departures formed part of the CO2 law that Swiss voters rejected in June 2021, and none has been introduced since. Britain charges Air Passenger Duty on the outbound leg alone. Aircraft under 5.7 tonnes, such as the PC-12 or the Citation CJ2, pay none at all; a Citation XLS+ or a Phenom 300 pays the standard rate of 32 GBP a head until April 2027, when the higher rate is due to reach every private jet of 5.7 tonnes or more.

Geneva, Saanen and the other airports around Sion

For a jet, Sion is the closest airport to most Valais resorts, but its neighbours matter whenever the weather, the hour or the aircraft rules it out.

From the airport to Verbier, Crans-Montana and Zermatt

Sion sits in the middle of the Valais, with the resorts spread up the side valleys. The times below are for a car in normal winter conditions; on a Saturday changeover or after heavy snow, allow more.

Chauffeur companies meet passengers at the handler's door with vehicles fitted for the mountains. A helicopter to Le Châble or Zermatt saves the most time, but it needs daylight and decent visibility, so the car stays booked as the backup.

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

The table lists the figure a released Sion sector usually goes for, and that sum hires the entire jet, not one place on board. Chartering the same aircraft on your own dates tends to cost a little under two and a half times as much, and the price list under the board shows that full charter figure route by route. The times cover the flight alone, so allow roughly half an hour on the ground at each end.

Unlike the busiest island airports, Sion lets aircraft stay, so not every trip produces two empty sectors. Most charter aircraft still fly home after the drop, because crews and aircraft are needed elsewhere during the week, and they come back empty for the pickup. Winter Saturdays carry the most traffic in both directions, while midweek sectors are fewer but less contested.

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 Sion from the UK

A flight from Britain to Sion crosses the outer border of the Schengen area, which Switzerland joined without joining the EU, so Swiss officers check passports and goods on arrival.

• Passport. The Schengen rule applies: a passport issued within the last ten years and valid for at least three months beyond the day you leave. Days spent in Switzerland count towards the allowance of 90 days in any 180 across the whole Schengen area.
• Entry/Exit System. Switzerland began registering travellers in the EU's electronic border system on 12 October 2025, and it has been fully in use since April 2026. On a first entry, British travellers give a facial photograph and, from the age of twelve, fingerprints, and the digital record takes the place of passport stamps.
• ETIAS. Not required yet. Switzerland will ask for the EU travel authorisation once it starts; in July 2026 the launch was put back to 2027. The fee is set at 20 euros for travellers aged 18 to 70, and one authorisation covers three years or the remaining life of the passport.
• Customs on arrival. Goods for personal use are free of Swiss VAT up to 150 francs per person per day, and separate duty free quantities apply to sensitive goods: 5 litres of wine or beer, 1 litre of spirits, 250 cigarettes and 1 kilogram of meat. Meat and dairy products may be brought only from the EU, Norway, Iceland and Northern Ireland, so food packed in Great Britain stays at home.
• Sports kit. Skis, boots and other equipment brought for your own use cross the border freely, and so does cash, although customs officers may ask about sums of 10,000 francs or more.
• Flying home. On return to Great Britain each adult may bring 42 litres of beer, 18 of still wine, 4 of spirits and 200 cigarettes, plus 270 GBP of other goods. Under the rules in force from 1 October 2026, sparkling wine is counted as wine and cider as beer. Swiss meat and dairy products, the dried beef and cheeses included, may not be brought into Great Britain.
• Taxes. British duty is due only on the southbound leg and only for aircraft of 5.7 tonnes or more; Sion adds its 7 franc passenger fee, and the resort's own tourist tax arrives on the chalet or hotel bill.

Empty leg calendar for Sion, month by month

Sion's calendar is ruled by snow: the winter months carry most of the traffic, summer brings a second, smaller season of music, golf and walking, and spring and autumn are quiet. The cards show what drives each month.

For the widest choice of sectors, look at the Saturdays around Christmas and February half term. For calmer slopes and easier timing, choose mid January or March, when the resorts are quieter and, by March, the airport stays open into the evening.

Three situations, three answers

Flying to Sion with a dog or a cat

From Britain to Switzerland a pet travels with a microchip, a rabies vaccination given at least 21 days before the trip if it is the first one, and an animal health certificate that an official vet signs within ten days of departure. The route matters more than the paperwork. Swiss rules send every pet from Britain through the airport at Basel, Geneva or Zurich, so a dog or cat cannot fly straight into Sion: the aircraft lands at Geneva for the check and then continues, or the family covers the last stretch by road. Dogs with docked ears or tails may not be brought into Switzerland at all.

For the return, Great Britain accepts dogs, cats and ferrets only on approved routes and with approved carriers, and every dog needs a tapeworm treatment given by a vet one to five days before arrival. Vets in Sion and the resorts see British dogs every winter, but book the appointment together with the flight, and mention the animal in your first message so that we approach only operators that carry pets.

Questions about flying private to Sion

Call +44 7857 574938 , message the same number on WhatsApp , or write to flight@empty-leg.co.uk . Tell us which resort you are heading for, your dates, how many are travelling and how many pairs of skis, and we will send back the sectors that fit and a charter price for the same trip.