By Svenja Schumacher
About 35% of all flights with private aircraft take place without passengers. Since even at Fly Aeolus not every flight is occupied by passengers. Those so-called “Empty Leg Flights” can be booked with different operators and sometimes with Fly Aeolus. It is an opportunity to get cheap last-minute flights, but there might be some caveats. How Empty Legs come about, you will learn in this blog!
What does the term “empty legs” mean?
Most often, Empty Legs occur when the customer’s departure location does not match the aircraft’s base or current station. For example, when a customer books a flight from Bremen to Frankfurt, but the aircraft is still in another destination. Hence the operator must therefore first fly the aircraft to Bremen, which would be the empty flight. So when the private jet does have to fly back to its base or to the next origin of operation without passengers, this empty leg flight can be offered by an operator at a comparatively lower price.
Empty legs can also arise when a client’s stay in their destination is longer than 2 to 3 days. Mostly an operator will fly the aircraft back to its base for cost reasons unless it can pick up some other passenger on the way back. This return flight and the renewed flight to the destination, therefore, takes place without passengers.
In the first case, the pilot brings the passengers to their destination and flies back home without them. This flight is an empty leg flight.
In the second case, the pilot has to fly to airport B for picking up the passengers and to fly them to airport C. That means that flight A to B and flight C to A are empty leg flight.
Why should you choose an empty leg flight?
As already mentioned, the routes with free seats or empty legs are cheaper than the conventional booking of private flights: The price is noticeably lower than the usual charter costs. In our blog, you can learn how the charter flight prices of Fly Aeolus are set up.
Empty Legs deals may inspire you to travel to new destinations. Other passengers book specific routes for their journey. So only certain destinations are available, which gives you new ideas for your travel experience. Think outside the box and jump into the adventure of Empty leg flights!
If you need some quick tips about your destination after booking an Empty Leg flight with Fly Aeolus, be sure to check out our city and country blogs! In one of our blogs, for example, we offer a brief overview of the top European cities. Please ask us about your destination and we will provide you with the appropriate information.
As far as the arrival and departure are concerned, however, passengers have to be a little more flexible. However, if everything fits for the customer, they get a comfortable and stress-free flight at a reasonable price. For the passengers, it is important to know that the Empty Legs are dependent on the original booking. This means that if the flight that causes the free seat is canceled, this free seat may no longer be available.
For families, individuals, or business travelers, empty legs can be an opportunity. Hence, they are an upgrade to the original travel plans and make the travel even more comfortable. Or an empty leg offers the opportunity to make a spontaneous private flight.
What does an empty leg flight cost?
The prices for our empty-leg flights are recalculated for each flight. They depend on many different factors, such as the length of the route and how many people are traveling. Therefore, we cannot prepare a fixed price list.
Often empty leg flights also arise at very short notice, which is why they cannot always be planned far in advance. It is therefore always worth asking whether empty legs are available with the operator.
Empty leg flights Belgium and Netherlands
Is the system of empty flights interesting for you? Since the flight is carried out without passengers anyway, the price for an empty flight is naturally more attractive. However, if you decide to take an empty flight, you have to be flexible with the times and also expect the actual flight to be cancelled.
So how do you get an Empty leg? Feel free to ask us if we have an Empty leg flight coming up in the Netherlands, Beligium or another country. We will help you to find a possible trip at a reasonable price.
Book your next trip in an air taxi with Fly Aeolus!
After taking a deeper look at how empty leg flights occur, book an air taxi with Fly Aeolus for your next trip! Fly Aeolus offers flights to and from 1600 different airports in Europe. Check our destinations page to find your desired destination. Use our price calculator to check the price of your personalized Fly Aeolus air taxi trip and begin planning it!
You still have questions about air taxis ? Then check our blog about all the answers for your questions when hiring an air taxi. For more help or any further questions with your reservation, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@flyaeolus.com or +32 (0)3 500 9082.