Turboprop Empty Leg Flights
Turboprop empty leg flights are one-way repositioning trips sold below standard charter rates. A King Air 350i cruises at 312 knots with room for 8 passengers. These legs typically appear 24 to 72 hours before departure.
A turboprop empty leg is a flight an operator must move without paying passengers to reach the next booking. Rather than fly it empty, the operator sells the seat capacity to a broker network. Turboprop empty leg flights on King Air and PC-12 aircraft typically cost 2,200 to 3,500 USD per hour, which is the standard hourly band for this class. On a repositioning leg, the quoted price often lands well below that because the operator is recovering a fraction of the cost, not the full rate. The trade-off is timing. You are buying a flight that already exists on someone else's schedule, so the departure date, time, and routing are fixed. You can add a passenger, but you cannot move the aircraft to a different airport.
These legs are most common on short to medium routes where turboprops do the bulk of the work. A Los Angeles to Las Vegas empty leg at 199 nautical miles would price between 2,000 and 3,500 USD as a standard one-way charter, so the repositioning discount on that route is real but the base cost is already low. Longer examples like New York to Miami at 949 nautical miles show the bigger savings, because the full charter price of 8,000 to 12,500 USD has more room to fall. The key comparison is not turboprop versus jet in the abstract. It is the empty leg quote against the standard one-way price for the same route on the same day. If the gap is small, book the standard charter and keep your schedule.
Beechcraft King Air 350i
- 8 seats
- 312 kt cruise
- 1,800 nm range
- 55 cu ft baggage
The Beechcraft King Air 350i is the workhorse of the turboprop empty leg market. It seats 8 passengers, cruises at 312 knots, and has a range of 1,800 nautical miles. The cabin is 4 ft 9 in tall and 16 ft 8 in long, with 55 cu ft of baggage space. On a New York to Miami empty leg at 949 nautical miles, the King Air 350i flies nonstop in about 3 hours 37 minutes, which makes it the default choice for East Coast repositioning legs where a jet would be more capacity than the route needs.
Pilatus PC-12 NGX
- 6 seats
- 290 kt cruise
- 1,800 nm range
- 40 cu ft baggage
The Pilatus PC-12 NGX seats 6 passengers and cruises at 290 knots with a range of 1,800 nautical miles. The cabin measures 4 ft 10 in tall and 16 ft 11 in long, with 40 cu ft of baggage. A Los Angeles to Aspen empty leg at 634 nautical miles takes about 2 hours 31 minutes in the PC-12 NGX, and the aircraft handles the Aspen elevation better than most light jets. Operators use it heavily on West Coast and Mountain West repositioning legs where runway length is a constraint.
When turboprop empty legs appear
- Morning repositioning on the East Coast is the most common window for turboprop empty legs, because operators move aircraft between New York area airports and Florida bases before the day's first paid trip.
- Late Sunday and Monday legs follow weekend traffic, when aircraft return from leisure destinations like Aspen or the Hamptons and need to be back at a base for weekday business charters.
- Event-driven legs cluster around large gatherings, because operators stage extra aircraft into a city and then need to fly them out empty after the event ends.
- Short-notice legs appear 24 to 72 hours out, so the useful window for booking a turboprop empty leg is narrow and the good ones go quickly.
What an empty leg cannot do
An empty leg is a fixed flight, not a charter you configure. The departure airport, arrival airport, date, and time are set by the operator's repositioning need. You cannot change the routing or add a stop on a turboprop empty leg, and if your plans shift, the leg does not shift with you. Some brokers will hold a leg for a short window, but the operator can release it if a full charter comes in. Treat the booking as confirmed only when you have it in writing.
The other limit is regulatory, and it matters for international legs. Charter flights are operated by companies holding FAA Part 135 authority, and those operators hold operational control of the flight. A broker arranging the trip acts as an agent under DOT Part 295, not as the operator. On a leg that crosses a border, CBP clearance is required and the passenger manifest must be final before departure, so an empty leg to the Bahamas or Canada is not a walk-up purchase. Domestic legs still require standard TSA and identity checks at the FBO.
Turboprop rates on major routes
Turboprop empty legs show up most often on shorter routes where the aircraft type is already the operator's choice. The examples below use standard one-way charter prices as a benchmark. The empty leg quote on the same route is typically lower, but availability is the variable you cannot control.
Turboprop flight times and rates per route
On these 16 routes a turboprop takes 0h 35m to 8h 30m, with one-way estimates running $2,000 to $30,000.
| Route | Time | Estimate one-way |
|---|---|---|
| New York → Miami | 3h 37m | $8,000–$12,500 |
| New York → Los Angeles | 8h 30m + stop | $18,500–$30,000 |
| Los Angeles → Las Vegas | 1h 00m | $2,000–$3,500 |
| New York → Palm Beach | 3h 27m | $7,500–$12,000 |
| Los Angeles → San Francisco | 1h 17m | $3,000–$4,500 |
| New York → Aspen | 6h 19m + stop | $14,000–$22,000 |
| Los Angeles → Aspen | 2h 31m | $5,500–$9,000 |
| New York → The Hamptons | 0h 35m | $2,000–$3,500 |
| Chicago → New York | 2h 28m | $5,500–$8,500 |
| Dallas → Houston | 1h 02m | $2,500–$3,500 |
| Miami → Nassau | 0h 52m | $2,000–$3,500 |
| New York → Boston | 0h 51m | $2,000–$3,500 |
| Washington, DC → New York | 0h 59m | $2,000–$3,500 |
| Los Angeles → Cabo San Lucas | 3h 08m | $7,000–$11,000 |
| Dallas → Las Vegas | 3h 32m | $8,000–$12,500 |
| Chicago → Miami | 3h 53m | $8,500–$13,500 |
Questions
How much do turboprop empty leg flights cost?
Turboprop empty leg flights are priced against the standard hourly band of 2,200 to 3,500 USD for the class, and the empty leg quote usually comes in below that because the operator is recovering repositioning cost. On a short leg like Los Angeles to Las Vegas, 199 nautical miles, the full one-way charter is 2,000 to 3,500 USD, so the discount has a floor. On longer routes like New York to Miami, 949 nautical miles, the standard price of 8,000 to 12,500 USD leaves more room for a lower empty leg quote. All prices are estimates.
How far in advance are turboprop empty legs listed?
Most appear 24 to 72 hours before departure, because the operator only knows the repositioning need once the surrounding charters are confirmed. That window is short. A King Air 350i cruising at 312 knots can cover 1,800 nautical miles, so operators have flexibility on where they reposition, and the leg may be posted to several brokers at once. If you can travel on short notice, you see more inventory. If your dates are fixed weeks out, a standard one-way charter is the more reliable purchase.
Can I book a turboprop empty leg for 8 passengers?
Yes, on the right aircraft. The Beechcraft King Air 350i seats 8 passengers with 55 cu ft of baggage, and it is the most common turboprop on these legs. The Pilatus PC-12 NGX seats 6 with 40 cu ft. If your group is larger than the aircraft, the leg does not work, because you cannot add capacity to a repositioning flight. Confirm the seat count and baggage volume before you pay, especially on a ski trip where gear takes space.
Do turboprop empty legs fly nonstop?
Some do and some do not, and the route decides. A New York to Miami leg at 949 nautical miles is nonstop in about 3 hours 37 minutes on a King Air 350i. A New York to Aspen leg at 1,503 nautical miles is not nonstop in this class and takes about 6 hours 19 minutes with a fuel stop. The empty leg listing states the routing, and a stop is part of the flight, not something you can remove. Ask for the planned stop and the total block time before booking.
Are turboprop empty leg flights safe?
They are flown by the same operators and crews that fly standard charter, under FAA Part 135 rules, because an empty leg is just a repositioning flight with passengers added. The aircraft type matters more than the label. A King Air 350i or PC-12 NGX with a two-pilot crew is a standard setup for this class, and both have ranges of 1,800 nautical miles. Ask for the operator's name and certificate before you book, and confirm the crew configuration.
What happens if the empty leg is cancelled?
The operator can cancel or reassign the aircraft if the underlying charter changes, and that is the main risk with any empty leg. The leg exists because of a repositioning need, so if that need disappears, the flight does. Reputable brokers disclose this before booking and will offer a standard charter alternative, usually at the full one-way price. On a short route like Los Angeles to San Francisco, 279 nautical miles at about 1 hour 17 minutes, the fallback cost is 3,000 to 4,500 USD, so budget for that possibility.