Empty Leg, Shared Flight or Seat Charter?

They are three products. An empty leg is a whole aircraft on somebody else's repositioning flight. A shared or semi-private flight sells you a seat alongside other passengers. A seat charter is the same idea sold per seat by the operator. The first suits a group with loose dates; the others suit one or two people on a served route.

The Mondial Jets team · Charter specialists

Published 23 September 2026 · Last reviewed 23 September 2026

Written and checked by the charter team at Mondial Jets, who quote and arrange these flights daily. Figures are taken from published aircraft specifications and market sources, each linked at the foot of the article.

Three things, one marketing word

"Fly private from a few hundred euros" covers three different transactions, and the difference decides whether the offer is any use to you. One sells you an aircraft that is already going somewhere. The others sell you a seat next to people you do not know. Both are legitimate; neither is the other.

The three discounted ways to fly private, compared. General market practice in Europe; consulted 2026-09-23.
	Empty leg	Shared / semi-private flight	Seat charter
You buy	The whole aircraft	One or more seats	One or more seats, sold by the operator
Route	Fixed by someone else's booking	Scheduled or semi-scheduled corridors	The operator's route
Timing	A window, not a time	A published departure	A published departure
Booking window	Days to a couple of weeks; appears when the trip that creates it is confirmed	Typically five to twenty-one days	Similar
Other passengers	None — the cabin is yours	Yes	Yes
Main risk	Cancels if the original booking changes	Cancels if the flight does not fill	As the operator's terms state
Best for	Four or more with flexible dates	One or two on a served corridor	One or two on that operator's route

The empty leg

An aircraft is flying a route anyway, without passengers, because it is repositioning for or returning from somebody else's trip. Selling that flight recovers cost the operator has already committed, which is why discounts reach around 75% of the normal charter rate. You get the whole cabin and no strangers, on a route and in a window you did not choose.

The condition is the one that catches people: the leg exists because of another booking, and if that booking moves, your flight moves or disappears — usually with a refund and no obligation to find an alternative. The full mechanics, including how the discount is set, are in how an empty leg is priced, and the seasonal pattern is in empty legs after the Yacht Show.

Shared and semi-private flights

Here the operator or platform sells individual seats on a charter from the outset, usually on corridors with predictable business demand — London to Paris, London to Geneva, Paris to Nice. The model is sometimes called semi-private; charter by the seat is a specific version of it. You board a business jet from a private terminal and share the cabin with other passengers who bought seats the same way.

What you keep: the private terminal, the fifteen-minute arrival, no queue. What you give up: the cabin to yourself, the route, and the timing. In Europe the number of such routes is small compared with the United States, and flight sharing operates under EASA rules like any other commercial operation.

Which one fits your trip

The arithmetic is simple enough to do in your head. A charter price divided by your party size is your per-head cost; compare it with the seat price times your party size.

One or two people, fixed date, served corridor: a shared seat, if one exists for your route. Nothing else is cheaper.
Four or more, flexible dates: an empty leg. Four people splitting a discounted whole aircraft usually beat four separate seats, and you keep the cabin.
Four or more, fixed date: a normal charter. The per-head figures are in our break-even comparison, and at six or eight they are closer to a business-class fare than most people expect.
Any party, unusual route: charter. Shared flights exist only where demand is repeatable.

What we do and do not sell

We are a charter broker: we arrange whole aircraft, including empty legs when they fit your dates. We do not sell individual seats, and if your trip is one person to Paris on a fixed Tuesday, a seat product or a scheduled business-class ticket is genuinely the better buy. Saying so costs us a quote and saves you money, which is the right trade.

If your party is four or more, or your route is not on anyone's schedule, send us the trip — and mention if your dates have any give, because that is what turns a quote into an empty-leg opportunity.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between an empty leg and a shared flight?

An empty leg is a repositioning flight sold whole, with a fixed route and window set by somebody else's booking. A shared or semi-private flight sells individual seats on a charter from the outset, usually on a scheduled or semi-scheduled route with a booking window of days to a few weeks. You buy an aircraft in the first case and a seat in the second.

Is a shared flight cheaper than an empty leg?

Per person, often yes, because the cost is split across every seat rather than borne by one buyer. Per aircraft it is not comparable — an empty leg gives you the whole cabin. If you are two people the shared seat usually wins; if you are six, the empty leg usually does.

Can I buy a single seat on a private jet?

On routes where an operator or platform sells seats, yes. It is not the norm in Europe outside a handful of business corridors, and it is a different product from chartering: fixed route, fixed time, other passengers. If you want a specific city pair on your date, you are chartering.

Which should I choose?

Count the party and the flexibility. One or two people on a served corridor with a fixed date: a shared seat. Four or more, or an unusual route: charter, and ask about empty legs if the dates are loose. Our guide to empty-leg pricing covers the discount and the risk.

More on this subject

Private jet vs business class

The party size at which chartering beats a business class ticket, computed per route.

Read this guide

How an empty leg is priced

Where the 75% comes from, what sets the exact figure, and the condition the price does not show.