Every repositioning flight is a potential empty leg. For operators, they represent cost. For travellers, they represent opportunity. Here's how our platform turns this inefficiency into value for both sides.
What exactly is an empty leg?
An empty leg occurs when a private aircraft flies without passengers. This happens more often than you might think. When a charter operator flies passengers from London to Nice, that aircraft needs to return to its home base or reposition for the next charter. Unless there's a passenger booked for that return journey, the aircraft flies empty.
These repositioning flights represent pure cost for operators—fuel, crew time, aircraft hours, landing fees—with no offsetting revenue. For the private aviation industry as a whole, empty legs account for an estimated 40% of all flight hours.
That's a significant inefficiency in a sector that prides itself on precision and optimisation.
Why do empty legs exist?
Empty legs are an inherent part of private aviation logistics. Unlike commercial airlines with fixed routes and schedules, private aircraft follow demand wherever it leads them. A jet might fly business executives from Farnborough to Geneva on Monday, then ferry to Palma to collect a family for their return to London on Wednesday.
Traditional charter brokers have struggled to monetise these flights effectively. The manual process of identifying, pricing, and marketing empty legs to potential travellers is time-consuming and often unprofitable at traditional broker margins of 10–15%.
This is precisely the problem that AI-powered platforms can solve.
The opportunity for travellers
Empty legs offer travellers access to private aviation at a fraction of the normal cost. Instead of paying £15,000 for a charter from London to Nice, you might find an empty leg on the same route for £4,000–6,000. The aircraft, service level, and experience remain exactly the same.
The trade-off is flexibility. Empty legs operate on the operator's schedule, not yours. They're ideal for leisure travellers who can be flexible with timing, or business travellers who need to reach specific destinations and can adapt their schedules accordingly.
Popular UK–EU leisure and business corridors like London–Palma, Farnborough–Nice, Biggin Hill–Geneva, and Luton–Olbia see regular empty leg opportunities, particularly during seasonal peaks.
The challenge for operators
For operators, empty legs present both opportunity and challenge. While any revenue is better than flying empty, the process of finding, pricing, and booking travellers for repositioning flights has traditionally been cumbersome and expensive.
Many operators simply accept empty legs as a cost of business rather than invest in the systems and processes needed to monetise them effectively. This is understandable—their core focus is on charter operations, not marketplace management.
AOC-verified operators who can streamline empty leg publishing while maintaining operational control stand to improve their yield significantly.
How JetSet Direct Link changes the equation
Our platform addresses the core inefficiencies in the empty leg market through AI-powered logistics and automated marketplace mechanics.
For operators:
- Automated empty leg publishing with AI pricing suggestions
- 5% platform commission plus 2.5% Stripe transaction charge (vs traditional 10–15%)
- Secure payments through Stripe Connect with 24–48 hour payouts
- Full operational control—you set availability, pricing, and terms
For travellers:
- Access to verified empty legs from AOC-certified operators
- Transparent pricing with no hidden broker mark-ups
- AI-powered matching for relevant routes and timing
- Secure booking through Stripe Connect
Important: JetSet Direct Link is a technology platform that connects travellers with operators. We are not a charter broker or aircraft operator, and we do not operate aircraft or employ pilots.
The path ahead
We're currently in private beta with selected AOC-verified operators across the UK and Europe. Our goal is to onboard 15–18 quality operators within 60 days, reach 50+ monthly empty leg listings, and prove a 15–20% fill rate on those opportunities.
This controlled approach allows us to validate our pricing models, refine our matching algorithms, and ensure platform stability before scaling.
Empty legs represent one of private aviation's largest inefficiencies. By connecting the dots between available capacity and flexible travellers, we can turn waste into value for everyone involved.