Transatlantic empty legs are rarer than regional ones, but the value can be substantial on these long sectors. This guide explains how transatlantic empty legs work and how to position yourself for one.
Crossings between North America and Europe are flown by long range and ultra long range aircraft capable of the distance. When one of these jets completes a one way booking across the ocean, it often needs to reposition back, and that return sector is where a transatlantic empty leg can appear.
Because the aircraft is large and the sector is long, the underlying cost is high, so when an operator releases the repositioning flight the saving against a full charter can be considerable.
Transatlantic empty legs most often track the busiest corridors, including New York and the wider US Northeast to London, Paris, and other European cities, in either direction. These are tendencies rather than guarantees, since each leg depends on the booking behind it.
Volumes are thinner than on short regional routes, so matching dates and endpoints calls for patience and flexibility.
An empty leg is a repositioning flight. The aircraft has to fly a sector with no paying passengers, either to return to its home base or to reach the airport where its next booking begins. Because that flight is happening regardless, an operator will often release it at a price well under a standard charter, since any revenue improves on flying it empty.
The saving is the whole appeal. The catch is that the date, the departure airport, and the destination are already fixed by the booking behind the leg, and the flight can still move or fall away if that original trip changes. The value is real and the flexibility is not.
Register your route and a wide date window, and note every airport you can use on each side of the ocean. On long sectors, openness to nearby airports and adjacent dates matters more than on regional routes, because qualifying legs are scarcer.
The more flexibility you offer, the more transatlantic repositioning flights will qualify for your plans.
We can hold a standard quote for your transatlantic trip while watching for a matching empty leg, so you keep certainty and a possible saving together.
Subscribe to The Flight Deck, then send your route and flexible dates and we will flag suitable repositioning flights and return an indicative price band.
Tell us your route and dates and we will route your enquiry to vetted charter partners and return an indicative price band.
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