How long are empty leg flights? 76.1% are under two hours
- ✓ 76.1% of distinct empty leg listings had a listed flight time under two hours.
- ✓ The largest band was under 1 hour, at 41.9% of listings.
- ✓ Legs of three hours or more made up 7.3% of listings.
- ✓ No single operator supplied more than 19.0% of the legs in any band.
- ✓ Every figure is a share of distinct listings shown to customers of SkyAccess, the empty leg marketplace, and no total is quoted.
How long are empty leg flights? On SkyAccess, the empty leg marketplace, 76.1% of distinct empty leg listings with departures from October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026 had a listed flight time under two hours. The largest band was under 1 hour, at 41.9%, and legs of three hours or more made up 7.3%. All figures are shares of distinct empty leg listings shown to customers of the marketplace, so they measure supply, the repositioning flights operators list for sale, and not passenger numbers or bookings.
This is a trip-length analysis, not a route ranking. For the busiest routes, see the Empty Leg Index for October 2026, which ranks corridors every month.
Contents
- How long are empty leg flights?
- Why are most empty legs short?
- What do these flight-time shares measure?
- What does flight length mean for a search?
- How were these figures calculated?
- What do people get wrong about empty leg flight length?
- Where can you go deeper on empty leg data?
- Frequently asked questions
How long are empty leg flights?
Most are short: 76.1% of distinct empty leg listings had a listed flight time under two hours. 41.9% ran under one hour, 34.2% one to two hours, 16.6% two to three hours and 7.3% three hours or more. The shares use the distinct legs with a usable listed flight time; 0.1% of legs had none and are left out.
The table gives each band of listed flight time as a share of all distinct empty legs with a usable listed flight time in the window. The largest band, under 1 hour, held 41.9% of listings, and the smallest, 3 hours or more, held 7.3%.
| Listed flight time | Share of listings |
|---|---|
| Under 1 hour | 41.9% |
| 1 to 2 hours | 34.2% |
| 2 to 3 hours | 16.6% |
| 3 hours or more | 7.3% |
Why are most empty legs short?
An empty leg is a repositioning flight: the aircraft returns to its base or moves on to its next pickup, so its length follows the trip before it. Where that trip was regional, the hop that follows it is short; a longer leg follows a one-way trip across the country or abroad, where the aircraft has to cover the same distance again without passengers. Ranked by share, the bands ran under 1 hour, 1 to 2 hours, 2 to 3 hours and 3 hours or more.
What do these flight-time shares measure?
Flight time here is the listed flight time on each listing, the operator’s stated time between the two airports, not the door-to-door trip. A share is the number of distinct empty legs in that band divided by all distinct empty legs with a usable listed flight time in the window. The figures also do not show how many legs were booked: a listing counts whether it sold or not. Each listing is the whole aircraft, offered by the operator that flies it under an FAA Part 135 certificate or its international equivalent, and the operator confirms every booking.
What does flight length mean for a search?
Search the short bands first. Under two hours is where 76.1% of listings sit, so a short regional trip has the widest choice.
Give a long trip more room. Legs of three hours or more made up 7.3% of listings, so a long trip usually needs flexibility on dates and airports, and searching from nearby airports widens the pool.
Check the board through the day. New legs are added to the board throughout the day and others are booked.
Price the whole aircraft. Empty legs are priced for the whole aircraft, not by the seat, and taxes and fees are shown at checkout. Prices are often 25 to 75% below a comparable full charter, a range sourced from Avinode marketplace data.
How were these figures calculated?
Source: the database of SkyAccess, the empty leg marketplace, read-only queries run on October 11, 2026: one checking the mix of listing sources, one producing the figures, and one repeating them without the listing sources whose monthly volume changed sharply during the window. Window: departures from October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026, the twelve full months before this analysis. Only listings shown to SkyAccess customers on the empty leg marketplace are counted. Each empty leg is counted once: listings that share origin airport, destination airport, departure time, tail number and aircraft model are one leg, and deleted, cancelled and internal-only listings are excluded. Flight time is the listed flight time on each listing; a leg listed more than once takes the shortest of its listed times, and 0.1% of legs in the window had no usable listed time and are left out. Every figure is a share of distinct legs, and no total is quoted. Concentration check from the same query: in every band, no single operator supplied more than 19.0% of the legs. Recomputed without the listing sources whose monthly volume changed sharply during the window, no share in this post moved by more than 0.8 percentage points and no ranking changed. Counts reflect listings on the marketplace, not flights flown, bookings or passengers.
What do people get wrong about empty leg flight length?
✗ Myth: “Most empty legs are long flights across the country.”
✓ Reality: 76.1% of distinct empty leg listings with departures from October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026 had a listed flight time under two hours, and the largest band was under 1 hour at 41.9%.
✗ Myth: “Long empty legs do not exist.”
✓ Reality: Legs with a listed flight time of three hours or more made up 7.3% of distinct listings in the same window.
✗ Myth: “Empty legs are sold by the seat.”
✓ Reality: Every empty leg on SkyAccess, the empty leg marketplace, is the whole aircraft at one listed price; taxes and fees are shown at checkout, and prices are often 25 to 75% below a comparable full charter.
✗ Myth: “The marketplace flies the aircraft.”
✓ Reality: No. The marketplace lists the leg; the certified charter operator that flies the aircraft offers it and confirms every booking.
Where can you go deeper on empty leg data?
Each page below measures the same listing supply from another angle, with its own window and method.
- the Empty Leg Index for October 2026: ranks the busiest corridors every month, the route view this post leaves out.
- when empty leg flights appear before departure: measures how far ahead legs are listed, which decides how early to search.
- the best day of the week for empty leg flights: shows how listings spread across the week, the companion timing view.
- which aircraft types fly empty legs: breaks listings down by aircraft class, which sets cabin size and range.
- the live empty leg board: lists current departures, each one the whole aircraft at one listed price.
Frequently asked questions
How long are empty leg flights, typically?
Most are short: 76.1% of distinct empty leg listings with departures from October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026 had a listed flight time under two hours, and the largest band was under 1 hour, at 41.9%. Legs of three hours or more made up 7.3%.
Are there long empty leg flights?
Long empty legs exist, but they are the exception. Legs with a listed flight time of three hours or more made up 7.3% of distinct empty leg listings in the same window.
What share of empty legs are under an hour?
41.9% of distinct empty leg listings had a listed flight time under one hour. The next band, 1 to 2 hours, held 34.2%.
What counts as one empty leg in these figures?
Each empty leg is counted once: listings that share origin airport, destination airport, departure time, tail number and aircraft model are one leg, and deleted, cancelled and internal-only listings are left out. Only listings shown to customers of SkyAccess, the empty leg marketplace, are counted.
Do these figures count bookings or passengers?
These figures do not count bookings or passengers. A listing counts whether it sold or not, so the figures describe supply, the repositioning flights operators list for sale, and not passenger numbers.
Is an empty leg priced by the seat?
Empty legs are not priced by the seat. Every empty leg on SkyAccess, the empty leg marketplace, is priced for the whole aircraft; taxes and fees are shown at checkout, and prices are often 25 to 75% below a comparable full charter.
Which period do these figures cover?
The figures cover departures from October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026, the twelve full months before this analysis. The read-only queries behind them ran on October 11, 2026.
Did leaving out the listing sources that changed sharply move the figures?
The figures held when those sources were left out. Recomputed without the listing sources whose monthly volume changed sharply during the window, no share in this post moved by more than 0.8 percentage points and no ranking changed.
Where can I see which routes carry the most empty legs?
The Empty Leg Index for October 2026 ranks corridors every month and names the busiest routes. This post is a trip-length analysis, not a route ranking.
How long are empty leg flights? Across distinct empty leg listings with departures from October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026, 76.1% had a listed flight time under two hours: 41.9% ran under one hour and 34.2% one to two hours. Legs of three hours or more made up 7.3%. On SkyAccess, the empty leg marketplace, every listing is the whole aircraft, offered by the certified charter operator that flies it, and new legs are added throughout the day.
Browse current departures on the SkyAccess empty leg flights page.
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