London to Paris is the most popular international route for ‘empty leg’ private jet flights, which allow flyers to secure heavily discounted journeys, according to new research.
SkyAccess, a US-based private jet booking platform, ranked private aviation’s busiest ‘repositioning corridors’ – where private jets fly between destinations without passengers in order to get to their next chartered assignment.
The ranking excludes US trips, and found London, Paris, Geneva and Nice to be among the most popular ‘empty leg’ destinations in the last year.
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An ‘empty leg’ flight can see passengers typically enjoy a discount of between 25 and 75 per cent, SkyAccess said.
Matt Feldon, sales director at Smart Aviation, which charters planes across Europe, told Spear’s these figures are in line with what he currently sees in the market, while adding that these savings come with risks attached.
‘It’s not as simple as I think some brokers make out,’ he said. ‘We have clients asking all the time: “Can you get me empty legs” – the answer is “yes we can”, but it depends on how flexible the client can be with their schedule.’
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Feldon said it wasn’t uncommon for ‘empty leg’ flights to be cancelled last minute – and he had seen this happen three or four times this year with his clients.
‘Empty leg’ flights are wholly dependent on the primary charter immediately before or after the ‘repositioning’ flight. If the passengers involved in the primary charter change their plans, or decide to fly later or not at all – no ‘empty leg’.
‘We try not to do many [empty leg flights], I’ll be honest,’ Feldon said. ‘There’s too much risk.’
Despite this, Feldon said the flights remain a popular option all year around, with high demand in the summer for destinations in the south of France and Spain, as well as Portugal’s Algarve region.
In the winter, meanwhile, Chambery and Sion are popular with those looking for skiing getaways, he added.
SkyAccess said its rankings were based on an aggregate of the last 12 months of repositioning legs recorded on its systems, as well as currently listed future flights – and that individual routes only qualified if there had been activity across at least three distinct months.
