What Is a Charter Flight

Defination:

A charter flight is a non-scheduled flight arranged for a person, group, business or organisation rather than operated solely as part of an airline’s normal published timetable.

Charter flights are often confused with private jets, but the two terms do not mean the same thing. A private jet flight can be a charter, yet charter aircraft can also include turboprops, helicopters, regional airliners, Boeing 737s, Airbus A320-family aircraft and large cargo planes.

The main difference is commercial control. On a typical private or group charter, one customer hires the aircraft for a particular journey instead of buying individual seats on an airline’s existing scheduled service.

That difference affects the route, departure time, airport experience, baggage rules, price and even which terminal you use.

TL;DR: 

A charter flight is arranged around the needs of the person or organisation hiring the aircraft. Depending on the type of charter, that may mean choosing the departure time and airport, moving an entire sports team or transporting hundreds of holidaymakers to a seasonal destination.

• Private charter: an individual, family or company hires an aircraft for its own journey.
• Group charter: an organisation hires aircraft capacity for a sports team, company, club or other group.
• Tour charter: a tour operator contracts aircraft capacity for holiday customers, although many modern UK package holidays now use scheduled airline services.
• Specialist charter: aircraft move cargo, government delegations, medical patients or people requiring repatriation.

For UK passengers, charter flights still operate under commercial aviation rules. Paying for a business jet does not turn the journey into an informal private arrangement: the operator needs the correct certificates, licences and insurance.

What is a charter flight?

A charter flight is a flight arranged for a specific customer or purpose instead of operating only as part of an airline’s published scheduled network.

The word charter refers to hiring or renting transport. In aviation, the charterer may hire the entire aircraft, a large block of its capacity or, under certain charter arrangements, capacity that is later sold to individual passengers.

On a private ad hoc charter, the customer normally chooses the route and preferred departure time. The price usually covers the aircraft rather than one passenger seat, so adding passengers does not work like buying another ticket from a commercial airline.

Aircraft size varies enormously. A small Cessna Citation or similar light jet might carry four to eight passengers, while an Airbus A320, Airbus A321, Boeing 737 or larger airliner can carry hundreds. Specialist charter operations can use aircraft with capacities reaching 500 passengers or more.

How does a charter flight work?

A charter flight starts with a transport requirement rather than an existing airline timetable. The customer gives an operator or air charter broker the route, date, passenger numbers and other needs, then suitable aircraft and operators are matched to the journey.

For a private charter, the process normally works like this:

• Give the broker or operator your departure point, destination, preferred time and passenger number.
• Compare suitable aircraft based on range, cabin size, baggage capacity and airport access.
• Receive a whole-aircraft quotation that may include flying time, positioning, crew, airport charges and handling.
• Confirm the aircraft, passenger details, ground arrangements and any catering or special requirements.

The operator then manages the operational side of the trip. That includes crew planning, flight planning, airport slots where necessary, handling and any permits required for the route.

A key cost factor is aircraft positioning. If your chosen jet must fly empty from another airport before collecting you, that repositioning flight still costs money. This is one reason two charter quotes for the same route can differ significantly.

What types of charter flights are there?

Charter aviation covers much more than private jet hire. Different forms exist because a family travelling to Nice has very different requirements from a Premier League team, tour operator, cargo company or government department.

A private or ad hoc charter hires an aircraft for one customer

A private charter, also called an ad hoc charter, is arranged around a specific journey. High-net-worth individuals, companies and families commonly use private jets such as the Cessna Citation, Bombardier Challenger 604, Gulfstream G650 or Embraer Praetor 600.

The main attraction is control. Passengers can often choose smaller airports closer to their starting point or destination, which may reduce ground-travel time even when the flight itself costs far more than an economy or business-class ticket.

An inclusive tour charter carries customers travelling as part of a holiday programme

An inclusive tour charter, or IT charter, traditionally involved a tour operator contracting aircraft capacity and selling seats as part of packages containing flights plus accommodation or other holiday services.

This model shaped British leisure travel for decades. It is also why many travellers associate the word “charter” with Mediterranean summer holidays and winter ski programmes.

However, buying a TUI or Jet2holidays package in 2026 does not automatically mean your flight is a charter. TUI sells a substantial flight-only programme, while Jet2.com carries both package-holiday and flight-only passengers. The CAA also lists Jet2.com as authorised for both scheduled and charter passenger services.

The better distinction is therefore operational: an IT charter is specifically chartered capacity, while a modern package holiday can place you on a scheduled service.

An affinity or group charter carries people connected by a common purpose

An affinity charter carries passengers who belong to a particular club, organisation or group. Today, the broader term group charter is often easier for passengers to understand.

Examples include football clubs flying players and staff to European fixtures, Formula 1 teams moving personnel between races, businesses taking employees to conferences and associations arranging travel for members.

The aircraft might be a regional airliner, Airbus A320, Boeing 737 or VIP-configured airliner rather than a private jet.

Public, cargo, humanitarian and government charters serve different markets

A public charter generally involves charter capacity marketed to members of the public, although the exact legal meaning varies between jurisdictions.

A cargo charter hires aircraft specifically for freight when scheduled cargo capacity cannot meet the size, route or timing requirement. Humanitarian and repatriation charters move people or supplies during emergencies, while medical evacuation flights use specially equipped aircraft for patient transport.

Governments also charter aircraft for official movements, defence-related transport and VVIP travel.

What is the difference between a charter flight and a scheduled flight?

A scheduled flight operates according to an airline’s published timetable. A charter flight is arranged around a particular customer, group or programme.

Feature	Charter flight	Scheduled flight
Schedule	Set around the charter requirement	Set by the airline
Route	Can be arranged between suitable airports	Limited to the airline’s published network
Booking	Usually whole aircraft or contracted capacity	Individual seats
Price	Usually quoted for the aircraft or operation	Priced per passenger
Airport choice	Can include smaller airfields and business aviation airports	Usually commercial passenger airports
Terminal	Private charters often use an FBO or private terminal	Main passenger terminal
Baggage	Depends on aircraft space and operator rules	Published airline allowance
Check-in	Often much faster for private aviation	Standard airline check-in and security
Best suited to	Flexible, private, specialist or group travel	Most normal passenger journeys

A scheduled service normally wins on price for one or two travellers because hundreds of passengers share the operating cost.

A charter becomes more commercially interesting when schedule flexibility has a high value, no useful scheduled route exists or a large group would otherwise need many separate tickets and connections.

Is a private jet the same as a charter flight?

No. A private jet is an aircraft category, while charter describes how an aircraft is hired or operated.

A Gulfstream G650 can operate as a private charter, but charter flights can also use turboprop aircraft, helicopters, regional airliners and full-size passenger aircraft.

Someone who owns a private jet is also not necessarily chartering it. Fractional ownership and jet-card programmes are other business aviation models. A jet card normally gives customers access to aircraft at agreed commercial terms, while fractional ownership gives customers an ownership interest in an aircraft programme.

Private jet hire is therefore one part of the wider air charter, on-demand aviation and business aviation market.

What is an empty leg flight?

An empty leg is a charter aircraft journey that must operate without its original paying passengers, usually because the aircraft needs to reposition for another booking.

Suppose a jet carries passengers from London to Geneva but has another customer waiting in London the next day. The aircraft may need to fly Geneva to London empty. The operator can offer that repositioning sector to another customer rather than fly with no passengers.

Empty legs can cost less than a normal private charter because the aircraft needs to make the journey anyway. The trade-off is flexibility: the route, date and departure window usually depend on the aircraft’s main booking.

If that main booking changes, the empty leg can also change. It suits flexible travellers better than passengers who must reach a destination at an exact time.

What is the difference between a wet lease and a dry lease?

A wet lease places an aircraft with another airline while the aircraft continues to operate under the lessor’s Air Operator Certificate. A dry lease provides the aircraft without that operating arrangement, and the aircraft operates under the lessee’s AOC.

The CAA describes a wet lease as an agreement in which the lessor operates the aircraft under its own AOC. A dry-leased aircraft operates under the lessee’s AOC. A damp lease sits between the two and includes only part of the crew.

You may also see the term ACMI, meaning Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance. In a planned ACMI wet lease, the supplying airline provides those four elements.

Wet leasing often helps an airline add short-term capacity, cover aircraft maintenance or respond to seasonal demand. It differs from passenger charter because the customer hiring capacity is usually another airline rather than the person sitting in the seat.

How much does a charter flight cost in the UK?

A charter flight has no single standard price because aircraft type, flying time, positioning, airport charges and availability all change the final quote.

The most useful way to understand price is to look at the cost drivers:

• Aircraft category: a light jet costs less to operate than a heavy or ultra-long-range aircraft.
• Flight time and route: longer journeys require more fuel, crew time and potentially overnight expenses.
• Positioning: an aircraft that must fly empty to collect you adds cost to the trip.
• Airport and handling charges: landing fees, parking, slots and FBO services vary between airports.

Published PrivateFly examples show how wide the market can be. Its indicative hourly table lists rates from about £1,300 for a four-seat Citation Mustang and £1,350 for an eight-seat King Air BE200 to about £5,641 for a 14-seat Global Express.

Route examples on the same service include about £12,000 for a Luton–Nice–Luton trip using a Citation XLS and about £113,000 for London–Miami–London using a Gulfstream G450. Those figures are examples rather than guaranteed 2026 quotations because aircraft location, availability and airport costs change constantly.

For a small party, charter normally costs far more per person than a commercial flight. For a large group, the calculation can change because you are comparing one aircraft contract with dozens or hundreds of individual tickets, hotel nights, connections and lost working time.

Are charter flights safe?

Legal UK commercial charter flights operate under commercial air transport safety rules, not a lower standard simply because passengers use a private terminal.

The UK CAA states that when a passenger or employer pays for a flight in a light aircraft or business jet, the journey counts as commercial air transport. The operator needs the correct certificate, insurance and licences.

A UK commercial operator may need an Air Operator Certificate, or AOC, covering its operation. The CAA issues an AOC after the operator demonstrates compliance with applicable requirements and then carries out continuing oversight.

That makes operator verification important. If a charter price looks unusually cheap, check who actually operates the aircraft and whether that operator holds the permissions needed for commercial passenger transport.

Are charter flights ATOL protected?

A charter flight is not automatically ATOL protected. ATOL, or Air Travel Organiser’s Licence, protects qualifying UK flight-inclusive travel arrangements if the travel organiser fails.

The CAA says businesses selling flight-inclusive packages to UK consumers fall within the ATOL rules unless another specified exemption applies. ATOL can provide refunds or repatriation when an ATOL holder stops trading.

For passengers, the practical test is the ATOL Certificate. If you buy a flight-inclusive package, check the certificate and confirm which parts of the booking appear on it.

Do not assume that hiring a private jet gives you ATOL protection. A standalone private charter is a different commercial arrangement, so read the contract, cancellation terms and payment conditions before paying a large deposit.

TUI makes the same distinction on its current consumer guidance: its flight-inclusive holidays receive ATOL protection, while some flight-only bookings do not.

What changed for UK charter flights after Brexit?

Brexit changed the permit framework for foreign airlines operating commercial flights to, from or within the UK.

Since the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December 2020, non-UK carriers, including carriers from the European Economic Area and European Free Trade Association, generally need a UK Foreign Carrier Permit before operating relevant commercial services.

The CAA separates permits into ad hoc permits for short-term or one-off non-scheduled charter services and scheduled or series-charter permits for continuing operations.

This matters because charter flying depends partly on traffic rights. Cabotage — broadly, carrying commercial traffic between two points inside another country — is governed by the rights available under aviation agreements rather than by the passenger simply hiring an aircraft.

For a traveller booking through an established broker or operator, the aviation company normally handles these permissions. The practical effect may appear in aircraft availability, lead times or price rather than as paperwork for the passenger.

What happened to traditional UK charter airlines?

The old British charter-airline model has changed rather than disappeared. Dedicated holiday charter carriers once dominated many leisure routes, while modern operators increasingly mix package-holiday passengers, flight-only customers and scheduled capacity.

Several well-known names disappeared during that shift. Monarch ceased operations in October 2017, while Thomas Cook entered compulsory liquidation on 23 September 2019. Thomas Cook’s collapse left about 150,000 UK passengers abroad and triggered a major CAA-led repatriation operation.

Today, companies such as TUI and Jet2 combine airline operations with large tour businesses. Jet2 reported millions of both flight-only and package-holiday passengers, while TUI openly sells flight-only seats across its network.

That is why “package holiday flight” and “charter flight” should no longer be treated as automatic synonyms.

How early should you arrive for a charter flight?

Private charter passengers can often arrive much closer to departure than passengers using a main commercial terminal, but the exact timing comes from the operator and FBO.

Some private aviation journeys work with roughly 15 to 30 minutes between passenger arrival and departure. Farnborough Airport, for example, illustrates a journey in which a passenger arrives at 10:30, boards at 10:40 and departs at 11:00.

Do not apply that timing to every charter. A large group charter using a standard terminal may need normal airline-style baggage, security and boarding procedures, so passengers may be asked to arrive around 90 minutes or more before departure.

International private flights also remain subject to immigration and customs requirements. Faster private-terminal handling does not remove border controls.

Do charter flights use normal airport terminals?

Private jet charters often use a Fixed Base Operator, normally shortened to FBO, rather than the main passenger terminal.

An FBO is a private aviation handling facility that manages passengers, crew and aircraft. It may provide lounges, vehicle access, catering, baggage handling and border-processing facilities.

Farnborough Airport specialises in business aviation, while London Biggin Hill has two full-service FBOs and describes its private terminal as co-located with UK Border Force for border clearance.

Other charter flights, especially large group or tour operations, may use the same terminal infrastructure as scheduled airlines.

How do you book a charter flight in the UK?

You can book through an aircraft operator directly or through an air charter broker that searches suitable operators and aircraft on your behalf.

Start with the journey rather than a preferred jet model. Give the broker passenger numbers, dates, airports, baggage needs and whether departure timing can move. An eight-seat aircraft with enough range and luggage space may make more sense than a larger aircraft whose cabin looks better online.

Compare quotations on a like-for-like basis. Check whether the price includes positioning, landing charges, passenger taxes, catering, de-icing where relevant and overnight crew expenses.

Most importantly, identify the operating carrier, not just the company selling the flight. The CAA specifically warns passengers to check that paid charter flights operate legally with the correct commercial permissions.

Getting to your charter flight starts with finding the correct terminal

Private aviation passengers should confirm the exact FBO or handling agent before arranging airport transport. Entering only “Luton Airport” or “Manchester Airport” into a journey plan may send you towards the main passenger terminal when your aircraft departs from a different facility.

This matters particularly at airports with several handling companies or separate access roads. Farnborough Airport and Biggin Hill are heavily focused on business aviation, while airports such as Luton, Stansted, London City and Manchester can combine commercial passenger activity with private aviation services.

Give your driver the airport, FBO name and requested arrival time. If the operator changes the aircraft or handling agent, update the ground-transfer booking too.

For early departures, late arrivals or journeys carrying several passengers and significant baggage, booking the airport transfer in advance also removes one more variable from a flight whose main value is often time control.

Frequently asked questions

Q:1 Can anyone charter a flight?

Yes. Charter flights are not restricted to celebrities or large companies. An individual, family, company, sports club, tour operator, government body or charity can arrange one, subject to aircraft availability, payment and legal operating requirements.

Q:2 Is a charter flight cheaper than a commercial flight?

Usually not for an individual traveller. Commercial airlines spread aircraft operating costs across many passengers, making economy and even business-class tickets cheaper in most cases. 

Q:3 How far in advance should I book a charter flight?

Simple private charters can sometimes be arranged at short notice, even on the same day when aircraft, crew and permissions are available. 

Q:4 Do charter flights have baggage limits?

Yes, but the limit depends mainly on the aircraft rather than a standard airline allowance. A light jet can run out of luggage space before it runs out of passenger seats, while larger aircraft offer much greater capacity. 

Q:5 Do charter flights have business class?

Some do, but private jets normally do not divide the cabin into airline-style economy and business classes. The whole cabin serves the chartering party. 

Q:6 Do charter flights go through customs and immigration?

Yes. International charter passengers still have to meet passport, immigration, customs and border requirements. Private aviation facilities may process them differently from a large passenger terminal, which can make the journey quicker. 

Q:7 Can you bring your own food on a private charter?

Often, but you should check with the operator first. Private charter catering can usually be arranged around passenger preferences, while airport security, customs rules and the aircraft’s storage or heating facilities may limit certain items. 

Q:8 Can I book a charter flight from Manchester?

Yes. Charter services can operate from Manchester and other UK airports when suitable aircraft, handling facilities, slots and permissions are available. 

Choose a charter flight when control matters more than the cheapest seat

A charter flight makes sense when the timetable, route, privacy or group requirement matters enough to justify hiring dedicated aircraft capacity.

For most individual journeys between cities served by frequent airlines, a scheduled flight will still be cheaper. For executives on tight schedules, families needing privacy, sports teams travelling together, specialist cargo movements or groups flying to poorly served destinations, charter can solve problems a normal airline ticket cannot.

Before booking, identify the actual operating carrier, check the aircraft and baggage capacity, understand the complete quotation and confirm what financial protection applies. For UK package bookings, look for the ATOL Certificate rather than assuming the word “charter” provides protection.

Finally, confirm your exact departure terminal or FBO before arranging your airport transfers. Private aviation saves time only when every part of the journey, including airport transfers, is planned as carefully as the flight itself.