Almost every article on this topic is written by someone selling private jets. So they tilt the math. Here's the version that starts from the assumption you're trying to spend less, not more.
The single-passenger case
First class wins, almost always. A London-Nice first-class ticket on a major European carrier in shoulder season is around €600–€1,200 one-way. The same route as a single seat on an empty leg — when one is available — is around €1,800–€3,500. As a full charter, you're looking at €8,000–€15,000.
For one person, you go private only when (a) the schedule flexibility is worth more than the price difference, or (b) you need to fly into a private-only airfield. Otherwise: first class.
The group case — where the math flips
The break-even is a function of group size and route. The fixed cost of the aircraft doesn't change with passengers; first-class scales linearly per seat. So the cost-per-person on private goes down dramatically with more passengers.
London to Nice — €/person, full charter (light jet, 6 seats)
| Pax | First class | Full private charter | Empty leg (when available) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €800 | €10,000 | €2,500 |
| 2 | €1,600 | €5,000 | €1,250 |
| 4 | €3,200 | €2,500 | €625 |
| 6 | €4,800 | €1,667 | €417 |
The numbers above are illustrative averages from the European market in 2026. Actual pricing varies with day-of-week, fuel cost, slot availability, and aircraft type.
Reading the table
- At 4+ passengers on London-Nice, full private charter is already cheaper per person than first class.
- At 2+ passengers, an empty leg (when available) beats both first class and full charter — by a lot.
- The availability of an empty leg is the variable. They're not always there. But on the busy Northern-Europe-to-Mediterranean corridors in season, they're frequent.
The non-financial case
If you're not running the math, you're probably running the other column: time. A private flight from London to Nice cuts the door-to-door from roughly 6 hours (Heathrow journey + 2-hour check-in + transit + Nice transfer) to under 3 hours (private terminal → fly → private terminal → 15 minutes to your destination). Whether that 3 hours is worth €4,000 to you is the question only you can answer.
See current empty legs across Europe at /empty-legs/europe, or explore the live corridor pricing.