Do empty legs use the full range of the jet? 71.6% fly under a quarter of it
- ✓ 71.6% of distinct empty leg listings flew under a quarter of the aircraft’s maximum range.
- ✓ 93.5% flew under half of the range.
- ✓ 6.5% flew half of the range or more.
- ✓ No single operator supplied more than 22.4% 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.
Do empty legs use the full range of the jet? On SkyAccess, the empty leg marketplace, 71.6% of distinct empty leg listings with departures from November 1, 2025 through October 31, 2026 flew under a quarter of the maximum range of the listed aircraft, and 93.5% flew under half of it. 6.5% flew half of the range or more and 21.9% flew a quarter to half. 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 jet-range analysis, not a route ranking. For the busiest routes, see the Empty Leg Index for November 2026, which ranks corridors every month.
Contents
- Do empty legs use the full range of the jet?
- Why do so few empty legs use half the range or more?
- What do these range shares measure?
- What does aircraft range mean for a search?
- How were these figures calculated?
- What do people get wrong about empty legs and aircraft range?
- Where can you go deeper on empty leg data?
- Frequently asked questions
Do empty legs use the full range of the jet?
Rarely: 6.5% of distinct empty leg listings flew half of the maximum range of the listed aircraft or more, and 71.6% flew under a quarter of it. 21.9% flew a quarter to half of the range, so 93.5% flew under half. The shares use the distinct legs with a stored maximum range for the aircraft model and two airports at different positions; 0.4% of legs lacked one or the other and are left out.
The table gives each band as a share of all distinct empty legs with a known aircraft range in the window. The distance is the great-circle line between the two airports, so the route actually flown is a little longer.
| Distance against the aircraft’s maximum range | Share of listings |
|---|---|
| Under a quarter of the range | 71.6% |
| A quarter to half of the range | 21.9% |
| Half of the range or more | 6.5% |
Why do so few empty legs use half the range or more?
An empty leg is a repositioning flight: the aircraft flies back to its base or on to its next pickup, and most of those moves are short next to how far a business jet can fly. Aircraft are also kept near where trips start, so the gap between one trip and the next is usually a fraction of the range. Ranked by share, the bands ran under a quarter of the range, a quarter to half of the range and half of the range or more.
What do these range shares measure?
Each distinct empty leg is placed in a band by the great-circle distance between its departure and arrival airports divided by the maximum range stored for its aircraft model: under a quarter of the range, a quarter to half, and half or more. A share is the number of distinct empty legs in that band divided by all distinct empty legs with a known range in the window. Maximum range is a published figure for good conditions; payload, winds and fuel reserves shorten it on a given day. 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 aircraft range mean for a search?
Read a short leg as a short leg, not a small jet. 71.6% of listings flew under a quarter of the aircraft’s maximum range, so a short listing says little about how far that aircraft can fly.
Ask the operator about a long trip. The operator confirms every booking and the range on the day; 6.5% of listings flew half of the range or more.
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 November 7, 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 November 1, 2025 through October 31, 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. Range use is the great-circle distance between the stored positions of the departure and arrival airports, in nautical miles, divided by the maximum range stored for the aircraft model, grouped under a quarter, a quarter to half, and half or more; 0.4% of legs in the window had no stored range for the aircraft model or two airports at the same position 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 22.4% 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 0.5 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 legs and aircraft range?
✗ Myth: “Empty legs are long flights that stretch the aircraft.”
✓ Reality: 71.6% of distinct empty leg listings with departures from November 1, 2025 through October 31, 2026 flew under a quarter of the aircraft’s maximum range, and 93.5% under half of it.
✗ Myth: “An empty leg never uses much of the jet’s range.”
✓ Reality: 6.5% of distinct listings flew half of the range or more 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 November 2026: ranks the busiest corridors every month, the route view this post leaves out.
- how long empty leg flights are: breaks listings down by listed flight time, the duration view of the same supply.
- which aircraft types fly empty legs: breaks listings down by aircraft class, which sets cabin size and range.
- the private jet charter aircraft directory: describes each aircraft type that appears on the board.
- the live empty leg board: lists current departures, each one the whole aircraft at one listed price.
Frequently asked questions
How often do empty legs use the full range of the jet?
Rarely: 6.5% of distinct empty leg listings with departures from November 1, 2025 through October 31, 2026 flew half of the aircraft’s maximum range or more. 71.6% flew under a quarter of it.
What share of empty legs fly under half of the aircraft’s range?
93.5% of distinct empty leg listings flew under half of the maximum range of the listed aircraft. The other 6.5% flew half of the range or more.
How is range use measured here?
Range use is the great-circle distance between the two airports divided by the maximum range stored for the aircraft model. Legs are grouped under a quarter, a quarter to half, and half or more.
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 November 1, 2025 through October 31, 2026, the twelve full months before this analysis. The read-only queries behind them ran on November 7, 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 0.5 percentage points and no ranking changed.
Where can I see which routes carry the most empty legs?
The Empty Leg Index for November 2026 ranks corridors every month and names the busiest routes. This post is a jet-range analysis, not a route ranking.
Do empty legs use the full range of the jet? Across distinct empty leg listings with departures from November 1, 2025 through October 31, 2026, 71.6% flew under a quarter of the aircraft’s maximum range and 93.5% under half of it. 6.5% flew half of the range or more. 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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