Traditional empty leg pricing is often guesswork. Our AI analyses route demand, seasonality, and operator preferences to suggest optimal pricing that benefits both operators and travellers.
The current state of empty leg pricing
Most operators price empty legs using simple rules of thumb: "Charge 60% of the full charter rate" or "Cover direct costs plus a small margin." This approach ignores market dynamics, seasonal demand, and route-specific factors that significantly impact bookability.
The result? Empty legs that are either priced too high (and remain unsold) or too low (leaving money on the table). Both outcomes are suboptimal for operators trying to maximise yield on otherwise wasted capacity.
Meanwhile, travellers struggle to find fairly priced opportunities because there's no transparent, data-driven market for empty legs.
What our AI pricing system considers
Our algorithms analyse multiple data points to suggest pricing that optimises for bookability while maximising operator revenue:
Route-specific factors
- Historical demand: How often do travellers search for this specific route?
- Seasonal patterns: London–Palma commands premium pricing in summer, different dynamics in winter
- Competitive landscape: What alternatives exist via commercial aviation or other operators?
- Timing sensitivity: Business routes (like London–Geneva) vs leisure routes (like Farnborough–Nice)
Operational factors
- Notice period: Empty legs published with longer notice generally command higher prices
- Aircraft type: A Cessna Citation vs a Gulfstream G650 have very different market positions
- Departure flexibility: Fixed departure times vs windows affect pricing power
- Operator preferences: Some prioritise revenue maximisation, others favour quick booking
Learning from real booking data
The most valuable aspect of our AI system is its ability to learn from actual booking behaviour. Every search, enquiry, and completed booking teaches us about traveller preferences and price sensitivity.
For example, we've observed that business travellers are less price-sensitive for Monday morning departures from London to European financial centres, but highly price-sensitive for Friday afternoon returns. Leisure travellers show opposite patterns, with higher flexibility around departure times but clear preference for weekend arrivals.
This granular understanding of demand patterns allows us to suggest pricing that maximises the probability of booking while ensuring operators capture appropriate value.
Keeping operators in control
Our AI provides suggestions, not mandates. Operators retain full control over their pricing, terms, and availability. The system simply provides data-driven insights that many smaller operators lack the resources to generate independently.
What operators tell us:
"Before JetSet Direct Link, I was guessing at empty leg pricing based on gut feel. The AI suggestions give me confidence that I'm in the right ballpark while still letting me adjust for my specific operational needs."
— Charter Pro operator, currently in private beta
The feedback loop
Every pricing decision creates data that improves future suggestions. When an empty leg books quickly, we learn that the price point was attractive. When it remains unsold despite high search volume, we adjust our algorithms accordingly.
This feedback loop is particularly valuable during our private beta phase. With 15–18 operators and a target of 50+ monthly empty leg listings, we're gathering substantial data on pricing effectiveness across different routes, aircraft types, and seasonal patterns.
Our goal is to reach a 15–20% fill rate on listed empty legs—significantly higher than the industry average of 5–10% through traditional channels.
Why this matters for the industry
Better pricing isn't just about maximising revenue on individual flights. It's about making empty legs a more viable and predictable revenue stream for operators, which encourages more operators to participate in the marketplace.
For operators:
- Higher fill rates mean more consistent additional revenue
- Data-driven pricing reduces the guesswork and opportunity cost
- Learning algorithms improve suggestions over time
For travellers:
- More accurately priced empty legs mean better value discovery
- Transparent, market-driven pricing vs arbitrary broker mark-ups
- Increased supply as more operators find empty legs profitable
What we're building next
Our current pricing system is just the foundation. We're developing additional features like dynamic pricing based on demand signals, seasonal adjustment factors, and route-specific optimisation models.
We're also exploring predictive analytics—using historical patterns to help operators anticipate which repositioning flights might have strong empty leg demand, allowing them to plan routes and schedules accordingly.
The goal is to make empty leg revenue as predictable and optimisable as primary charter revenue, turning what was once waste into a meaningful component of operator yield.
Building in public: This post is part of our commitment to transparency about how we're building JetSet Direct Link. Follow our progress on the News & Product Updates page.