Empty leg flights from Monterey

The Monterey Peninsula produces a private jet market with a distinct seasonal rhythm. The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February concentrates celebrity, corporate sponsor, and executive travel into four days -- one of the densest private aviation windows on the California coast outside of the US Open. The Concours d'Elegance in August draws European car collectors, automotive executives, and museum representatives who consistently travel private. Between those peaks, Pebble Beach Resort, Quail Lodge, and the Big Sur coast draw corporate retreats and golf trips that run year-round.

KMRY sits four miles east of the peninsula and six miles from Pebble Beach Golf Links. The proximity cuts ground transfer time compared to routing through San Jose (80 miles north) or Oakland (100 miles north). For groups coming specifically for Pebble Beach or Carmel, those savings matter -- the resort corridor runs 15 minutes from the airport on normal traffic days.

Empty leg supply here comes from a structural pattern: Bay Area operators fly clients down to Monterey for weekend stays and then return to their home base in Oakland, San Jose, or Van Nuys empty. Those repositioning legs appear at significantly below full charter rates, particularly on Sunday evenings and Monday mornings when weekend retreat traffic clears out. Outside event periods, legs post with 24-to-72-hour windows and tend to move within the first day of listing.

Monterey Regional Airport (KMRY) has a 7,175-foot runway that accommodates aircraft through heavy jets, including the Gulfstream G550 and Bombardier Global series. Two FBOs split the ramp: Del Monte Aviation and Monterey Jet Center. Both handle 24-hour fuel, overnight, and concierge coordination. Neither facility is large (combined ramp capacity is modest by Bay Area standards), but outside of Pro-Am and Concours weekends, congestion is not a problem.

Commercial service at KMRY runs on narrow-body regional aircraft with limited frequency, so the terminal is quiet by California standards. Private operations use the general aviation ramp independently, avoiding the commercial security queues entirely. The ground transfer to Pebble Beach Golf Links runs about 15 minutes on a clear day; plan 25 to 30 minutes during Concours d'Elegance week when local traffic thickens.

Empty legs departing from Monterey currently range from $5,000 to $12,400. The average listed price sits around $9,600. Broken down by aircraft: midsize jets averaging $11,900, light jets averaging $5,000.

Popular routes with current pricing: Las Cruces, NM at $11,400-$12,400; Las Vegas, NV at $5,000. Route availability rotates as operators reposition aircraft, so today's routes may differ from next week's.

We track 28 active legs from this area. 3 have published prices; the rest are quote-on-request. Operators often add pricing closer to the departure date, so checking back frequently or setting an alert catches deals as they appear.