An empty leg flight is a private jet repositioning without passengers — after completing a one-way charter, the aircraft flies to its next booking or home base empty, and operators sell that repositioning leg at 50–75% below standard charter rates. For Canadian businesses that fly executives between Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, and Montreal, empty legs turn a $20,000 charter into an $8,000 one — same aircraft, same crew, same FBO experience.
What to know before you read further:
- Empty leg flights are repositioning flights sold at steep discounts because the aircraft would otherwise fly empty — savings of 50–75% off standard charter rates are typical
- Canada’s air charter market generates roughly $3.5 billion annually, and an estimated 30% of private aircraft are repositioning empty on any given day
- Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, and Vancouver are the highest-volume Canadian empty leg corridors
- The trade-off: fixed routes, booking windows that open 24–72 hours before departure, and cancellation risk if the primary charter changes plans
- A TMC monitors multiple operators and matches empty leg availability to your travel schedule — capturing the savings without the manual search
What are empty leg flights and how do they work?
An empty leg — also called a deadhead flight or ferry flight — happens when a private jet needs to reposition after dropping off a one-way charter client. The aircraft has to get to its next booking or return to its home base regardless, and the operator absorbs the full operating cost of that flight whether anyone is on board or not. Selling seats on the repositioning leg recovers some of that cost, which is why the discounts are steep enough to make private jet travel accessible to businesses that would never pay full charter rates.
The repositioning economics behind empty legs
Charter operators run the numbers on every empty repositioning: fuel, crew costs, landing fees, and maintenance-cycle hours all accumulate whether the cabin is occupied or empty. On a light jet repositioning from Toronto Pearson to Calgary, the operator might spend $8,000–$12,000 in direct operating costs. Recovering even $5,000–$8,000 from an empty leg sale is better than absorbing the full cost. That recovery incentive is what creates the 50–75% discount window for buyers. The Canadian Business Aviation Association represents over 400 member companies operating across these corridors, and the volume of repositioning flights across their networks creates a steady flow of empty leg opportunities.
Common Canadian empty leg routes
The highest-volume Canadian empty leg corridors follow the same business travel patterns that drive the country’s commercial aviation market. Toronto–Calgary and Toronto–Vancouver are the two busiest, driven by energy-sector executives, mining companies, and financial services firms with offices in both cities. Montreal–Toronto runs at high frequency because of the short flight time and heavy business demand. Vancouver–Calgary repositions spike during oil and gas project cycles and during ski season when charter traffic to the Rockies increases.
In our experience arranging private charters for Canadian corporate clients, the empty legs that deliver the best value are the ones on these high-frequency business routes — Toronto to Calgary, Vancouver to Montreal — where operators reposition aircraft multiple times per week.
Aircraft types available on empty legs
Empty legs are available across every aircraft category. Light jets (Citation CJ3, Pilatus PC-24) are common on short-haul Canadian routes like Toronto–Montreal or Calgary–Edmonton. Midsize jets (Hawker 900XP) and super-midsize jets (Challenger 350) cover the Toronto–Calgary and Toronto–Vancouver corridors. Heavy jets (Global 6000, Gulfstream G650) appear on longer repositioning legs — Toronto to the US eastern seaboard, Vancouver to Los Angeles, or transatlantic repositions between Canadian hubs and European base airports.
How much can you save on empty leg flights in Canada?
The standard discount range is 50–75% below full charter rates on the same route. The exact savings depend on three variables: the aircraft category, the route distance, and how close to departure the empty leg remains unsold.
Typical discount ranges
A light jet charter from Toronto to Montreal runs roughly $9,000–$15,000 at standard rates. The same aircraft repositioning as an empty leg might list for $4,000–$7,000. A midsize jet on the Toronto–Calgary corridor — normally $35,000–$45,000 — might appear as an empty leg at $10,000–$15,000. We’ve seen clients save $8,000–$12,000 on a single Toronto-to-Calgary repositioning by booking through our charter desk instead of going direct to a single operator, because we compare availability across multiple carriers simultaneously.
When discounts are deepest
The closer to departure an empty leg remains unbooked, the steeper the discount. Operators would rather recover 25% of the operating cost than 0%. Flights posted 48–72 hours out typically sit at 50–60% off standard rates. Flights still available within 24 hours of departure can drop to 70–75% off. Seasonal patterns also affect pricing: business charter traffic peaks between September and June, which means more repositioning flights and more empty leg inventory during those months. Summer sees fewer business charters but more leisure traffic to destinations like Muskoka, the Okanagan, and the Maritimes.
The per-person calculation
For a group of four travelling on a light jet empty leg priced at $5,000, the per-person cost is $1,250 — comparable to a flexible business-class fare on the same route. For a group of six on a midsize jet at $12,000, the per-person cost drops to $2,000 with significantly more privacy, no airport queues, and door-to-door time savings of two to three hours each way. The value case for empty legs strengthens with group size — for a deeper look at when private aviation makes financial sense, see our breakdown of the benefits of flying private.
Where do you find empty leg flights in Canada?
Three channels exist, each with trade-offs between access, speed, and cost.
Direct from Canadian charter operators
Operators like Chartright, Sunwest Aviation, Skyservice, NovaJet, and Execaire Aviation publish current empty leg availability on their websites. These listings update frequently — sometimes multiple times per day — and show route, aircraft type, date, and pricing. The advantage of going direct is that you’re dealing with the operator, which can simplify negotiation. The disadvantage is that you’re seeing only one operator’s inventory. If Chartright has a Toronto–Calgary empty leg on Thursday but Skyservice has a better-priced one on Wednesday, you won’t know unless you’re checking both.
Aggregator platforms and alert services
Third-party platforms consolidate empty leg listings from multiple operators into a single searchable interface. These platforms let you set route alerts — “notify me when a Toronto-to-Calgary empty leg appears” — and some offer pricing comparisons. The advantage is broader visibility. The limitation is that these platforms often lag behind the operators’ own listings by hours, and by the time you see a deal, it may already be booked. Platform data also doesn’t include negotiation context — the listed price may be the opening ask, not the final number.
Through a TMC that monitors the market for you
A TMC with charter relationships across Canadian operators — like Worldgo’s private jet charter service — monitors empty leg availability across the market and matches it to your corporate travel schedule. Corporate travel managers we work with often discover empty leg opportunities they never knew existed once we start monitoring the charter market on their behalf — the savings are real, but only if someone is watching for them. The TMC handles the comparison, the negotiation, the booking, and the backup plan if the empty leg cancels — all within the same corporate travel solutions program that manages the rest of your travel.
What are the risks and limitations of empty leg flights?
Empty legs come with constraints that full charters don’t. Understanding them is the difference between a smart travel decision and a logistical headache.
Fixed routes and schedules you can’t change
The route and departure time are set by the operator’s next commitment, not by your calendar. If the empty leg departs Toronto at 7:00 a.m. for Calgary, you need to be at the FBO by 6:30 — there is no moving it to 9:00 because your meeting runs late. You can’t reroute a Toronto–Calgary empty leg to Toronto–Edmonton. The aircraft is going where it needs to go, and your job is to decide whether that aligns with where you need to be.
Cancellation risk from the primary booking
Every empty leg depends on the primary charter that created it. If the original client changes their plans — delays by a day, switches destinations, or cancels entirely — the empty leg disappears. Industry data suggests that roughly 15% of empty leg bookings are cancelled or significantly altered due to primary-booking changes. Most empty leg contracts include a “Subject to Primary” clause that makes this explicit. Some operators offer partial refunds if the cancellation happens within a certain window; others don’t.
One-way only — return logistics
Empty legs are one-way by nature. You fly Toronto to Calgary, but you still need to get back. That means booking a separate commercial flight, arranging a full-price charter for the return, or finding a second empty leg in the opposite direction — which is possible on high-traffic corridors but far from guaranteed. A TMC can help coordinate the full itinerary, including the return leg, through Worldgo’s travel technology platform so the empty leg sits within a complete travel plan rather than creating a logistics gap.
Aircraft and cabin configuration unknowns
When you book a full charter, you choose the aircraft. On an empty leg, you get whatever aircraft is repositioning. A midsize jet listing might mean a Challenger 350 with a full galley and WiFi, or it might mean a Hawker 800 with a smaller cabin and limited connectivity. If specific aircraft features matter to your trip — say, a meeting table for in-flight work, or enough baggage capacity for equipment — confirm the exact aircraft before booking, not just the category.
How can corporate travellers take advantage of empty leg opportunities?
Empty legs aren’t for every business trip. They work best when the schedule has flex, the route matches a high-traffic corridor, and the savings justify the trade-offs.
Fitting empty legs into corporate travel policies
Most corporate travel policies don’t address private charter at all, let alone empty legs. Adding a “charter and empty leg” clause to your policy sets the rules before the opportunity arises: who can approve a charter booking, what the spending threshold is, how the cost compares to the commercial alternative, and what happens if the empty leg cancels. The clause should also define how travel reporting and analytics capture charter spend so it’s visible in the same dashboard as your air, hotel, and ground transport costs.
When empty legs make business sense — and when they don’t
Empty legs make strong business sense when a team of three or more is travelling the same route, when the schedule has 24–48 hours of flex, when the route matches a high-volume corridor (Toronto–Calgary, Vancouver–Montreal, Toronto–Montreal), and when the per-person cost competes with flexible business-class fares. They make less sense for solo travellers (the per-person economics don’t work), for critical meetings where a cancellation would be costly, or for routes with thin charter traffic where empty legs appear rarely and unpredictably.
How Worldgo sources and manages charter opportunities
Worldgo’s charter desk maintains relationships with operators across Canada and monitors empty leg availability as part of our business travel savings program. When an empty leg matches a client’s upcoming travel — right route, right window, right aircraft category — we flag it, run the cost comparison against commercial alternatives, and handle the booking if the numbers work. If the empty leg cancels, we activate the backup commercial itinerary so the trip still happens. The whole process runs through the same Worldgo services platform that manages your corporate travel program — no separate apps, no separate vendors, no separate reporting.
Interested in whether empty leg flights could work for your corporate travel plans? Contact Worldgo to explore charter and empty leg options on your most-travelled Canadian routes.
About This Guide
This guide draws on Worldgo’s experience arranging private jet charters and monitoring empty leg availability for Canadian corporate clients. Primary sources include Transport Canada’s Canadian Aviation Regulations (CARs) Part VII — Commercial Air Services (tc.canada.ca) and the Canadian Business Aviation Association (cbaa-acaa.ca), which represents over 400 business aviation operators across Canada. Market sizing references Canada air charter services market data. Pricing benchmarks reflect operator listings and charter desk experience as of July 2026; actual empty leg pricing varies by aircraft, route, and booking window. For current empty leg availability and charter pricing on your routes, contact Worldgo directly.
Frequently Asked Questions
An empty leg flight is a private jet repositioning without revenue passengers. After completing a one-way charter, the aircraft needs to fly to its next booking or return to its home base — that repositioning flight is sold at a steep discount (typically 50–75% off standard charter rates) because the operator would otherwise absorb the full operating cost of flying the cabin empty. Empty legs are also called deadhead flights or ferry flights.
Empty leg flight pricing in Canada varies by aircraft category, route distance, and booking window. As of July 2026, light jet empty legs on short-haul routes (Toronto–Montreal, Calgary–Edmonton) typically range from $4,000 to $8,000. Midsize jets on corridors like Toronto–Calgary or Toronto–Vancouver range from $10,000 to $15,000. These represent savings of 50–75% compared to standard charter rates on the same routes. Prices drop further within 24 hours of departure.
Three main channels: directly from Canadian charter operators (Chartright, Sunwest Aviation, Skyservice, NovaJet, Execaire) who publish listings on their websites; through aggregator platforms that consolidate listings from multiple operators; or through a TMC like Worldgo that monitors availability across the market and matches empty legs to your corporate travel schedule. The TMC route offers the broadest visibility and handles booking, negotiation, and backup planning.
Most empty leg flights become available 24 to 72 hours before departure, though some operators post repositioning flights up to two weeks out on well-established routes. The short booking window is inherent to how empty legs work — the repositioning flight only exists once a one-way charter is confirmed and the operator knows the aircraft needs to reposition. Setting route alerts with operators or working with a TMC that monitors the market helps you capture opportunities as soon as they appear.
Yes. Empty leg flights are “Subject to Primary,” meaning the repositioning leg only exists as long as the original charter booking remains active. If the primary client changes their departure time, switches destinations, or cancels entirely, the empty leg disappears. Industry data suggests that roughly 15% of empty leg bookings are cancelled or altered due to primary-booking changes. Some operators offer partial refunds; others don’t. Having a backup commercial itinerary is essential.
Empty leg flights are subject to the same Transport Canada safety regulations as any other commercial charter operation. The aircraft, crew, maintenance standards, and operational requirements are identical whether the flight carries a full-charter client or an empty leg passenger. The operators listed on Canadian empty leg platforms hold Canadian Aviation Document (CAD) certificates and operate under Part VII of the Canadian Aviation Regulations. You are not flying on a lesser standard — you are flying on the same aircraft that just completed or is about to begin a full-price charter.
A standard charter gives you full control: you choose the route, departure time, aircraft, and catering, and the flight is guaranteed. An empty leg gives you no control over the route or schedule — those are set by the operator’s next commitment — and the flight can be cancelled if the primary booking changes. The trade-off is price: a standard charter costs the full hourly rate plus positioning fees, while an empty leg costs 50–75% less. Standard charters suit critical, schedule-dependent travel; empty legs suit flexible trips where savings outweigh the uncertainty.
Yes, and businesses represent roughly half of all empty leg customers. Corporate travellers use empty legs for team trips on high-traffic corridors, executive travel where the schedule has flex, and site visits to remote locations served by charter. The key is integrating empty legs into your corporate travel policy with clear approval workflows, spending thresholds, and backup planning. A TMC manages the monitoring, booking, and fallback logistics so the empty leg fits within your broader corporate travel solutions program.
