The private aviation industry has sought long and hard to find a practical solution to fill empty legs with estimates suggesting that between 30-50 per cent of all private jet flights fly empty.
With the launch of AeroBid in April 2022, the team behind the thriving platform has developed what they believe is the answer: ‘The Empty Leg Marketplace’, which they say has real 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 on short notice and go very fast. Existing methods to fill these empty legs often depend on static directories, alongside collating quotes via phone call and operator websites. Often, a time-consuming process that cannot keep pace with the changing, transient nature of empty-leg flight schedules.
The AeroBid platform is an exclusive live marketplace for the private aviation industry. Designed to modernise and digitise the private charter booking process, the platform uses data and instant alerts to bring a fast, transparent and convenient way for brokers to request charters for their clients, and for operators to receive and bid on live flight requests, in real-time. To keep up with customer demands and the growing need to find a sustainable and effective solution to fill empty legs once and for all, AeroBid’s ‘Empty Leg Marketplace’ was born.
The platform’s key differentiator from the static marketplaces and directories currently on offer – is that its system is intelligent, live and evolving. It makes use of all the key features that make the AeroBid platform revolutionary, from its SMART flight alerts, focused user interface and experience to its real-time marketplace functionality. In a few simple steps, operators can instantly post their empty legs within the marketplace and alert brokers to the flight.
“Our users are crying out for this added functionality,” says AeroBid 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. With AeroBid’s marketplace, brokers can finally put offers forward to operators and suggest pickups along the route all within the platform.
Furthermore, in early 2023, the ‘Empty Leg Marketplace’ will be integrating with the core AeroBid marketplace providing an intelligent matching system that will detect if there is a charter request already live within the AeroBid marketplace that can be matched with the empty leg flight and vice-versa. Providing operators and brokers with more opportunities to capitalise on their empty legs, and brokers ample possibilities to secure their client’s charter requests at a cost-effective price.
Aiming to tackle the empty leg issue head-on, and helping to improve the sustainability of private air travel, AeroBid’s new platform enables operators tangible opportunities to generate revenue on their otherwise empty, return or repositioning one-way trips, and provides brokers, and ultimately the end-user, more possibilities to secure private flights than ever before.
Mr Deir added: “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 monetize 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.
“To build a sustainable future, the right digital platform is critical. By opening up the AeroBid marketplace to the empty sector, operators and brokers can work together to spark more efficient flight planning. Taking advantage of otherwise missed opportunities and making far better use of market demand.”
