You can whizz from London to Paris in a private jet for the startlingly low cost of £248.

If you are looking to book a private jet the normal way, it will cost you around £60,000 to get from London to New York on a Global 6000 aircraft, according to LunaJets. Not only is that around double the average UK yearly income, it is terrible for the environment.

Crossing the Atlantic in a private jet adds about 25 metric tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, or around 80 times more per passenger than an economy seat on a typical commercial flight. That’s six years of emissions from an average European household, each way.

There is a way to enjoy the luxury of flying in a private jet that doesn’t cost the Earth quite so much, literally and figuratively.

A term that is likely unfamiliar to most, it refers to the open one-way journey of a private jet post or pre-charter. Offered at heavily discounted rates (with the aircraft travelling this route anyway), it offers the opportunity to indulge in and experience the extravagance of private aviation but for a fraction of the cost.

Empty-leg flights are aircraft that are scheduled to fly without any passengers as a result of needing to reposition or return for a charter. Charter companies estimate that between 25%-50% of private jets fly empty. Because their owners are keen to maximise the amount of money they make, they sell the empty-leg flights for as much as 75% off the standard charter price.

Often it is possible to hire out the whole jet and then split the price between a group of friends or family, or even strangers if you’re good at organising. Data from Oliver’s Travels show the cheapest private jet empty-leg flights currently going.

At the top of the pile is the Bristol International Airport to Paris-Le Bourget Airport route, which can be bagged for £248.48 per person – not a bad price considering there are no security lines, no baggage restrictions, and no waiting for hours in the terminal.

If you were to rent the whole plane out yourself, flying from the UK to the French capital would cost closer to £11,000.

It appears that people are capitalising on this money-saving, luxury ‘hack’ around the globe. Worldwide, Google searches for ‘how to book empty leg flights’ have increased by 120% over the last year, and searches for ‘empty leg trick flights’ by 180% over the same period.