UK-based start up AeroBid is launching The Empty Leg Marketplace, a new add-on to its charter booking platform.

The private aviation industry has sought long and hard to find a practical solution to fill empty legs. Estimates suggest that between 30-50 per cent of all private jet flights fly empty. The team behind the platform believes this marketplace has the potential to provide a viable solution to the challenge.

The challenge with unlocking the empty legs market is that empty leg flights have pre-defined departures and destinations, are subject to last-minute changes in schedule, become available at short notice and go very fast. Existing ways of filling them often depend on static directories, collating quotes via phone call and operator websites; a time-consuming process that cannot keep pace with the changing, transient nature of empty leg flight schedules.

The AeroBid platform's key differentiator is that its system is intelligent, live and evolving. In a few simple steps, operators can instantly post their empty legs and alert brokers to the flight.

“Our users are crying out for this added functionality,” says CEO and founder Zaher Deir. “Static directories do not establish an easy and effective way for brokers and operators to buy and sell empty legs. A live marketplace makes this objective possible.”

The Empty Leg Marketplace provides operators with complete control over how they choose to market their empty legs. From airport-to-airport routes that are either fixed or flexible, right down to pricing that is either negotiable or non-negotiable. Brokers can put offers forward to operators and suggest pick ups along the route.

In early 2023, The Empty Leg Marketplace will be integrated with the core AeroBid marketplace, providing an intelligent matching system that will detect if there is a charter request already live, that can be matched with the empty leg flight and vice-versa.

Deir adds: “Harnessing the power of empty legs is the next logical step for the private aviation industry to experience real growth towards a viable alternative for all. After three decades in the aircraft and aviation industry, I understand altogether the issues impacting the private aviation sector. The lack of opportunity to monetise empty leg flights and make better, more effective use of them, both from an operational and a brokerage perspective, is what's holding the industry back.”