Empty leg flights to and from Stuttgart

Stuttgart is one of the cradles of the motor car, where Gottlieb Daimler built his first engines, and cars are still made here. Mercedes-Benz has its headquarters in Untertürkheim, Porsche builds its sports cars in Zuffenhausen, and Bosch, Mahle, Trumpf, Kärcher and hundreds of engineering firms fill the valleys around the Neckar. The capital of Baden-Württemberg also has vineyards inside its own limits, the Cannstatter Volksfest every autumn, two of the best car museums in the world and palaces in Ludwigsburg and in the city itself, with the Black Forest and the Swabian Jura within an hour. Local time runs an hour ahead of London, and the flight from the Thames takes roughly ninety minutes in a light jet.

Private flights use Stuttgart Airport, code STR, on the Filder plateau about 13 kilometres south of the city, with the trade fair halls of Messe Stuttgart directly beside it.

Stuttgart sectors available today

The first list shows every sector currently offered into or out of Stuttgart. When Stuttgart itself is quiet, it adds flights at Schwäbisch Hall and Karlsruhe Baden-Baden, the two other nearby airfields that regularly take business jets. A second table gives full charter figures for the same jets, as a yardstick for any empty leg.

Also moving across Schwäbisch Hall and Karlsruhe

Sectors on this list do not touch Stuttgart 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.

What sends empty jets to and from Stuttgart

Stuttgart's private traffic is driven by industry, and industrial travel is full of one way trips, short stays and aircraft that go home without passengers.

Sectors appear all year, with the most around the start and end of the working week, the big trade fairs and the Volksfest. Flights back to Britain on Thursday and Friday afternoons are released most often.

Stuttgart Airport in detail

The airport at Echterdingen opened in 1939 to replace the old airfield at Böblingen, and since 2014 it has carried the name of Manfred Rommel, Stuttgart's long serving mayor. It is owned by the state of Baden-Württemberg, with 65 per cent, and the city of Stuttgart, with 35 per cent. In 2025 it handled about 9.6 million passengers, 4.8 per cent more than in 2024, and 95,765 aircraft movements, and the airport expects slightly fewer passengers in 2026 as the regional economy slows. A new long distance railway station beneath the airport, part of the Stuttgart 21 project, is planned to cut the journey to the main station to about eight minutes, although Stuttgart 21 has slipped again and its opening now looks further away.

For crews, Stuttgart is a comfortable airport: one long runway with instrument approaches in both directions, a separate apron for business aircraft beside the General Aviation Terminal and a handler that has worked there for years. The constraints are the night rules and the slots. Jets must be airborne by 23:00 and on the ground by 23:30, so an evening trip needs a margin, and every flight needs a slot, with the morning and evening waves filling first. Winter adds de icing on the high plateau, where frost and fog are more common than in the city below.

The General Aviation Terminal and its handlers

Private flights at Stuttgart use the General Aviation Terminal, a separate building on the edge of the airport with its own apron, security check and border control. Several companies handle aircraft there, and the operator chooses between them.

We can ask for a particular handler when you book. Whichever one looks after the aircraft, the passengers pass through the same terminal and the same border control.

Arriving at Stuttgart, step by step

Stuttgart is quick for a private passenger: fifteen minutes or so separate engine shutdown from the car door, and leaving follows the same path backwards.

At Stuttgart the passengers rarely set the limits. The slot, the 23:00 departure rule and fog on the plateau in winter are what we plan around, and we settle them when you book.

Before you book Stuttgart: five questions

We put the answers to these five questions in writing with every Stuttgart quote, because each of them can change the plan.

From the airport to the city, the factories and the Black Forest

The airport sits south of the city, between Stuttgart, Sindelfingen and Esslingen, so most destinations are close. The times assume a driver collecting you at the business aviation building at a quiet hour; Stuttgart's valley roads can double them at peak times.

S Bahn lines S2 and S3 run from the airport to Stuttgart main station in about half an hour, and a long distance station beneath the airport is being built as part of Stuttgart 21. Most private passengers still prefer a chauffeured car, which goes door to door to a plant gate or a hotel.

Taxes and charges on a Stuttgart trip

Beyond the aircraft price, a Stuttgart trip involves British duty on the flight out, German air transport tax on the flight home and the new city tax on hotel nights.

Under the German Air Transport Tax Act, a passenger leaving any German airport on a commercial flight pays a levy set by how far away the destination is, and charter flights on business jets are no exception. Britain is in the lowest band, and the rate fell from 15.53 to 13.03 euros on 1 July 2026. The tax is due only on the flight home; a positioning flight with an empty cabin pays nothing, but once you buy the sector, its passengers pay in the normal way.

Stuttgart introduced its overnight tax on 1 July 2026 at a flat 3 euros a person a night, paid through the hotel. On the British side, duty is charged only on departures from the UK, and Germany is in Band A: 32 GBP a passenger on a jet of 5.7 to 20 tonnes and 142 GBP on a heavier one until March 2027, then 146.63 GBP for every private jet from 5.7 tonnes. Very light jets below 5.7 tonnes and flights out of the Channel Islands escape it altogether, while Scottish departures come under Holyrood's own tax from April 2027.

Schwäbisch Hall, Karlsruhe Baden-Baden and the other airports of the region

Stuttgart is the natural airport for the city, the car makers and the Messe, but two other airfields near Stuttgart regularly take business jets and are worth knowing.

Routes from Britain and Ireland to Stuttgart, and which way they run empty

Each price below buys the whole aircraft, whatever the number of passengers, and each flight time runs from take off to touchdown. At roughly 750 kilometres from London, Stuttgart is within easy nonstop range of everything in the table, which runs from a six or seven seat Citation M2 back to Biggin Hill or Jersey up to a Challenger 350 for a management team with cases of equipment. The return leg also carries the German Luftverkehrsteuer. For fixed dates, compare with the charter list near the top.

Between Britain and Stuttgart, sectors cluster on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays and around the opening and closing days of the trade fairs. Sectors heading back to Britain dominate the list and are often published the same day.

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.

Entering Germany at Stuttgart: passports, customs and business goods

A private flight from Britain to Stuttgart crosses the external border of the EU and the Schengen area, and the Federal Police and customs clear it in the General Aviation Terminal.

• Passport. Border officers check that a British passport is under ten years old on arrival and still has at least three months left after your intended exit from Schengen.
• Length of stay. Meetings, trade fairs and holidays need no visa for up to 90 days in any 180 across Schengen; hands on work at a plant may count as employment, so check in advance.
• Entry/Exit System. Passport stamps have given way to a digital record since April 2026; the first time you enter, your face is photographed and, for anyone twelve or older, four fingers are scanned.
• ETIAS. The EU's travel permit has not started, and in July 2026 its launch slipped to 2027; when it arrives, it is expected to cost 20 euros and to last three years.
• Customs. Each adult coming from Britain may bring in duty free 200 cigarettes, 4 litres of still wine, 16 of beer, a litre of spirits or two of sparkling or fortified wine and other goods worth up to 430 euros; 10,000 euros or more in cash must be declared.
• Prototypes and samples. A prototype part, a set of tools or the exhibits for a fair stand need an ATA Carnet or a customs declaration, and both are drawn up before take off.
• Back to Britain. On the way home an adult may bring in without duty 18 litres of still wine, perhaps some Trollinger or Lemberger from the Stuttgart hills, 42 of beer, 4 of spirits or 9 of fortified wine, 200 cigarettes and 270 GBP of other goods; from 1 October 2026 sparkling wine falls within the wine limit and cider within the beer limit.

Empty leg calendar for Stuttgart, month by month

Stuttgart's year follows the working week and the trade fairs, with the Volksfest in the autumn and the Christmas market in December.

Empty legs are most plentiful during the Volksfest and the major trade fairs, when many aircraft arrive and leave within a few days. August is the quietest month for business travel, and the easiest for slots, parking and hotels.

Three situations in Stuttgart, three answers

Taking a dog or a cat to Stuttgart

A dog, cat or ferret flying from Britain to Germany must carry a microchip, have a rabies vaccination given at least 21 days before travel and come with an animal health certificate issued by an official vet within ten days of arrival; since April 2026 an EU pet passport held by a British resident no longer counts. German rules add no worming requirement on arrival; the officers look at the papers in the business aviation building while the owners clear passport control.

Coming home, pets may only fly with an operator approved to bring animals into the UK, and dogs must be wormed by a vet no earlier than five days and no later than one day before the flight lands. Stuttgart vets are used to this; book the appointment when you book the flight, and tell us about the pet at the start so that our search covers only approved operators.

Private flights to Stuttgart: frequently asked

Call +44 7857 574938 , message the same number on WhatsApp , or write to flight@empty-leg.co.uk . Let us know the day, how many are flying, whether you carry samples or parts and whether you are heading for a factory, the Messe or a hotel in town. Our answer lists any sectors that fit alongside a full charter figure, with the slot, the handling at Echterdingen, the German levy and the transfer already priced in.