Know a few things about an empty leg flight

If you’re known to charter jet journeys, you must have heard of empty leg flights. Empty leg flights aka deadhead flights are scheduled when the aircraft flies from point X to point Y without any passenger. Such an empty seat on private jets to and from Boston MA is often booked by on-demand charter flyers when their journey spans many days because with an empty leg flight, they can get optimal pricing. The flights are also used by the jet card programs as well as charter brokers. Oftentimes jet card providers don’t have their own airplanes and they have to rent jets from the market.

Finding empty leg flights

To book a private charter flight to and from Boston MA, especially to find empty-leg flights, retail clients often check sites operated by jet charter brokers, air carriers, and independent charter market aggregators. But it’s not a 1:1 match of actual empty leg schedules. These are often booked by clients having similar schedules and interested in paying additionally as positioning fees. For example, if a New York to Orlando posts an empty leg, it can be used for flights like New York to Miami. This almost-match type of booking uses an empty leg that costs less than a round trip but more than a direct match.

Pricing of empty leg flights

The price of the empty leg flights depends on the type of aircraft, schedule/routine, as well as other details. However, there are some things to be taken care of and those are as follows:

• Charter jet hourly rate – The quality of an empty leg of a private jet charter to or from Boston MA is on the basis of its hourly rate and the hours involved. It would be better if the price is closer to point-to-point value. While you book an empty leg flight, know the retail hourly rate of the concerned aircraft.
• Positioning fees – In case of a 1:1 match, of the posted empty leg flight and your routine, the price will equal the hourly rate of the plane*flight time + taxes and fees. However, direct matches are hardly found unless there is heavy traffic. Usually near matches are provided to one-way clients who are likely to pay additional fees on one or both ends.

Supply and demand – Empty leg flights behave like any other private jet charter flights in Boston MA in the market, in terms of demand and supply. During peak seasons, high volume routes operate the pricing of such flights. On the other hand, less volume routes with less demand usually yield competitive prices.