SkyAccess Brings Empty-Leg Flights Into the Open
SkyAccess is turning private aviation’s costly inefficiency—empty repositioning flights—into a bookable marketplace, with real-time inventory, clear pricing, and discounts of up to 80 percent.
Photo: Ramon Kagie / Unsplash
The inefficiency has been known for decades: Private jets often fly without passengers when repositioning between assignments. Industry estimates suggest that about 40 percent of flights operate this way, representing billions of dollars in lost revenue each year. Now, a Los Angeles startup, SkyAccess, is betting that technology and transparency can turn that waste into opportunity.
The company has launched a booking platform that publishes real-time empty-leg inventory, making thousands of repositioning flights searchable and bookable at discounts of up to 80 percent compared to standard charter pricing. What was once tucked behind broker lists or operator call sheets now sits in a public portal with clear fares attached.
The implications are twofold. For operators, it’s a chance to monetize capacity that has long been written off as the cost of doing business. For travelers, it’s access to last-minute private flights—on popular corridors like New York–Miami, Los Angeles–Las Vegas, and ski or island runs—that were previously available only to insiders. Since a soft launch earlier this year, more than 30,000 users have signed on, and tellingly, the company reports that 60 percent are first-time private flyers.
SkyAccess is hardly the first company to eye the empty-leg market, but its scale is notable. With more than 10,000 active flights on its system, it is now one of the largest single aggregators of repositioning capacity worldwide. Co-founder and CEO Daniil Buriev says the platform reframes private aviation’s reputation: “Private jet travel has always been seen as wasteful and out of reach,” said Buriev. “We’re changing that by giving travelers direct access to flights that would have flown empty anyway.”
Not everyone sees it as a win. Charter brokers, who have traditionally controlled access to this opaque inventory, caution that radical transparency could upend established business models. For an industry that relies heavily on relationship-driven sales and curated service, the shift to online booking raises questions about where value lies: in the seat itself, or in the experience surrounding it.
Either way, SkyAccess has opened a conversation that the sector has long avoided. Empty legs are no longer invisible; they are commodities waiting to be filled. With consumer demand for private aviation remaining strong in 2025, the race to monetize inefficiencies is only just beginning.
