A charter that flies one way leaves an aircraft somewhere it may not want to be. It has to get back to base, or on to wherever its next passengers are waiting, and on that sector it carries nobody. Operators would rather sell that flight cheaply than fly it empty, so they list it as an empty leg. Charter One Aviation and Air Charter Network both say discounts run from 25 to 75 per cent off a normal charter, and Airly claims up to 90 per cent with prices starting at $3,300. Real listings bear that out: on 29 September 2026 FlightCharter listed Gold Coast to the Sunshine Coast on a Challenger 604 for $3,000 excluding GST.
The route, the date and the departure time belong to somebody else's booking, and if that booking changes your flight can disappear.
Prices shown are published estimates only. Your final price will depend on the aircraft available, travel date, route, passenger numbers, luggage and any additional fees. Request a quote from the charter company for an exact price.
Why empty legs exist
Charter aircraft do not sit waiting at every airport. When someone books a one-way flight from Sydney to the Gold Coast, the aircraft either waits on the ground until it is needed again or flies somewhere else, and the operator is paying for that movement either way. The same happens when an aircraft is ferried to a maintenance base.
Charter One and Air Charter Network both estimate that 30 to 50 per cent of private charters generate one of these sectors. Of the sectors FlightCharter listed on 29 September 2026, almost all ran between the east coast cities, Adelaide, the Queensland coast and New Zealand, and none started or finished in Perth.
What operators are actually listing
These are real listings, not estimates. Each is one way, for the whole aircraft.
| From | To | Aircraft | Seats | Price | Flight date | Listed by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold Coast | Sunshine Coast | Challenger 604 | Up to 10 | $3,000 ex GST | 23 December 2026 | FlightCharter |
| Archerfield | Adelaide | Pilatus PC-24 | Up to 8 | $8,800 ex GST | 9 December 2026 | FlightCharter |
| Cairns | Archerfield | Pilatus PC-24 | Up to 8 | $8,800 ex GST | 10 December 2026 | FlightCharter |
| Gold Coast | Sydney | Falcon 900 | Up to 13 | $9,500 ex GST | 1 January 2027 | FlightCharter |
| Brisbane | Tullamarine | Challenger 604 | Up to 10 | $13,000 ex GST | 6 December 2026 | FlightCharter |
| Townsville | Essendon | Challenger 604 | Up to 10 | $16,000 ex GST | 16 March 2027 | FlightCharter |
| Brisbane | Tullamarine | Legacy 600 | Up to 13 | $26,300 ex GST | 6 December 2026 | FlightCharter |
| Essendon | Gold Coast | Gulfstream G650ER | Up to 13 | $31,000 ex GST | 29 October 2026 | FlightCharter |
Listings checked: 29 September 2026, on FlightCharter's empty legs page. Many will have flown or been withdrawn by the time you read this, so treat them as a guide to what the market looks like rather than as availability.
What the discount is really worth
The headline percentages flatter the product twice over. An empty leg is priced for the whole aircraft, so a 13 seat Falcon 900 at $9,500 is only cheap if you have people to fill it. And, in our reading, a headline discount is measured against a full charter on that same large aircraft, which may not be the aircraft you would have booked.
Gold Coast to Sydney makes the point. FlightCharter lists that sector on a Falcon 900 at $9,500 excluding GST. A conventional same-day return on the same route in a light jet or turboprop is $11,600 with Navair. So you are getting a much larger aircraft one way for roughly 80 per cent of the price of a smaller aircraft both ways. That can be a saving, but it is not the 75 or 90 per cent the marketing suggests, and it only works if a one-way flight is what you needed.
Charter One's own worked example is more useful than any percentage: $9,000 split between six passengers is $1,500 each.
What you give up
The departure time is fixed and it belongs to the original booking. You cannot move it by an hour.
The flight can be cancelled if the primary charter changes, and what happens then depends entirely on the operator. Airly says it refunds in full if a leg is cancelled. Air Charter Network says empty leg bookings are typically non-refundable. Charter One says refunds are often limited or unavailable. Those are three different risk positions on the same product, so read the terms before you pay rather than after.
Notice is short. Charter One, Air Charter Network and Airly all describe legs being released 24 to 72 hours before departure, sometimes only hours ahead.
And the route is the route. If the aircraft is going from Essendon to Adelaide, you are going to Adelaide.
Who they suit
Empty legs work when your dates are genuinely flexible, when you can move at a day's notice, and when the aircraft happens to be going where you wanted to go. Groups do best out of them, because the price is for the aircraft and filling the seats is the only thing that brings the per-head cost down.
They do not work when you have to be somewhere at a fixed time. A cancellation 12 hours out may leave you with no alternative at that price. Giving up schedule control to save money makes sense only when the schedule was never the point.
How to find one
Companies publish their own legs and nobody aggregates all of them, so finding a specific route means checking several lists. FlightCharter, Airly and The Jet Club publish current sectors. Charter One and Air Charter Network list them as a service and will take a request.
Some membership programs give members a better deal on them. The Jet Club lists priority access to empty legs for its card members, Light Jets Australia says empty legs on its own fleet are free to JetCard holders when available, and MJet says empty leg prices are further reduced for its jet card members.
If you have a route in mind, the practical move is to tell two or three operators the sector and the window you can travel in, and ask them to call you when something matches. In our reading, that is more practical than refreshing listing pages.
Have your passenger count, luggage and a payment method ready before you enquire, because legs are often released only 24 to 72 hours ahead.
Common questions
Are empty leg flights refundable?
It depends on the operator, and the positions differ sharply. Airly refunds in full if the leg is cancelled. Air Charter Network describes bookings as typically non-refundable. Charter One says refunds are often limited or unavailable. Ask before paying.
Do I pay GST on an empty leg?
Domestic charter is a taxable supply and carries 10 per cent GST (ATO). FlightCharter lists its sectors excluding GST, so add 10 per cent to the advertised figure on a domestic sector. International legs to or from Australia are GST-free.
Can I book an empty leg one way and charter the return?
Yes, and operators will quote it. The return will be priced as a normal charter, so the combined cost sits well above the empty leg figure. It is still often cheaper than a full return charter because you have paid for one sector at a discount.
Can I take pets on an empty leg?
Navair, Airly and Charter One all say pets travel in the cabin on their flights. Confirm it for the specific aircraft and operator when you book, because an empty leg is somebody else's aircraft on somebody else's schedule.
Are there international empty legs from Australia?
Yes, though fewer. On 29 September 2026 FlightCharter listed Auckland to Tullamarine, Sydney to Auckland and Christchurch to Tullamarine, each on a Legacy 600 at $31,000 excluding GST.
Are there empty legs from Perth?
They are less often published. None of the sectors FlightCharter listed on 29 September 2026 started or finished in Perth, and a leg between Perth and the east coast is a long flight, so expect it to cost more than an east coast hop.
Tell us your route and the dates you can move between, and we will flag matching legs as operators release them.
