Low Cost Airlines

The introduction of low-cost airlines has revolutionised the airline industry, opening up the market to a huge range of cheap flight tickets and cheap deals. Now commonplace, low cost airlines offer reduced prices on their routes and itineraries, and provide what is known as a 'no-frills' service, where customers experience limited in-flight services and entertainment, and must pay additional charges for standard features such as baggage allowance, online check-in and priority boarding. The significant reduction in fares makes low cost airlines particularly appealing to passengers looking just for the cheapest fare, at the expense of all other factors.     

 

With familiar names like Jet Blue, EasyJet, BMI Baby, Ryanair and Jet2.com, low cost airlines have become the first choice for short-haul flights for customers for whom price is the main factor. Low cost airlines have also managed to open up the market to everyone, making air travel accessible to all passengers, whatever their budget. Providing a basic service, low cost airlines generally offer less comfort and convenience on-board, with customers happy to accept a no-frills experience in the air, if it means considerable savings. Low-cost airlines generally advertise the best fares to popular tourist resorts in Europe, in Spain, the Balearics, the Canary Islands, the Algarve and Greece, such as Malaga, Alicante, Faro and Athens, as well as to major cities, and a host of smaller or secondary airports. There are also plenty of cheap deals to popular European destinations, making low cost airlines ideal carriers for reasonably-priced city breaks to Paris, Amsterdam and Rome, to name just a few.

 

Low cost airlines sell seats in one single class, with a simple fare scheme enabling passengers to purchase one-way tickets for convenience, offering direct flights and preferring to use early and late departure times. Low cost airlines can also make use of smaller less well-known airports, which charge lower landing fees, with the savings passed onto the customer. Services do vary on low cost airlines, with some carriers offering more extensive facilities than others, such as allowing allocated seating, and others enforcing strict guidelines in return for their low fares, such as inflexible no-refund policies.