A huge guide to low-cost carriers: everything you need to know

What is a low-cost air carrier?

A Low Cost carrier is a carrier that provides services at minimum fares and with minimum free service. The first successful company to be known as a low-cost carrier was American Pacific Southwest Airlines. The historic flight of the first flight with ticket prices several times cheaper than those of its competitors took place on May 6, 1947.

In the European market, the first budget airlines were Irish Ryanair and British EasyJet, founded in the 90s. Their rapid growth was due to the creation of the EU and the subsequent deregulation of the European airspace — airlines received the right to fly between the countries of the European Union without the need to obtain special permits.

In the last 10 years alone, more than 100 new low-cost airlines have emerged in the world, and the share of passengers traveling by low-cost airlines has grown from 13% to 29% of the total global passenger traffic. Many classic airlines have also changed their business models under the pressure of competition, turning into discount airlines. For example, UIA launched low-cost fares in 2017.

In 2018, having analyzed the reviews of travelers from all over the world, Skytrax organization named low-cost airline Air Asia from Malaysia the best low-cost airline in the world.Norwegian carrier Norwegian Air came in second place, followed byAmerican JetBlue in third, and followed by British EasyJet and Virgin America from the United States.

LOW-COST BUSINESS MODEL

The basic low-cost model involves the following:

Abandonment of traditional on-board services. Low-cost carriers have no cabin division by class, more spacious cabin layout (not reclining, narrower seats, less distance between seat backs), which ultimately allows to take on board a larger number of passengers. Paid meals, baggage allowance and seat selection.

Route network optimization: high-frequency point-to-point routes and reduced downtime. Low-cost companies mainly focus on short and medium distances - up to 2000 km on average.

Fleet unification — airplanes of one model with one class of service (without business and premium economy classes) are used. This allows to save money on maintenance staff. In addition, airlines try to use aircraft not older than 10 years to save money on maintenance.

For example, Ryanair uses only Boeing 737s, while Wizz Air uses Airbus A320s and A321s. New aircraft will cost more, but with active turnover, maintenance will be much cheaper. Moreover, when ordering large batches of airplanes, the airline receives a good discount from the manufacturer, and after a few years of use the airplanes can be sold at a still good price.

The average age of low-cost airlines is much lower than the market average (13 years).

1. At Norwegian Air it is 4 years.
2. FlyDubai, Air Arabia, Pegasus and Wizz Air — 5 years.
3. Ryanair — 7 years.
4. Vueling, EasyJet, Transavia — 8 years.

For comparison, Lufthansa — 12 years, British Airways — 14, Turkish Airlines — 8, Qatar Airways — 6, KLM — 9, Emirates — 6, LOT — 8, UIA — 13.

The optimum age for aircraft use is a range of up to 15 years.

4. Use of secondary airports. Since a traditional ticket includes the cost of airport taxes, often quite high, the use of secondary airports allows to reduce this cost item, and the downtime at the airport is also reduced.

The turnaround time for a budget airline is 25 minutes. The smaller the airplane on the ground, the less it makes costs. Sometimes you can see that passengers enter one door of the airplane at and passengers who have arrived only have time to exit at the other door — this is a vivid example of saving idle time.

5. The "as little baggage on board as possible" approach not only reduces the take-off weight of the airplane, which results in lower fuel consumption, but also reduces the time for servicing the airplane on the ground, and Ryanair's non-folding seats and lack of back pockets on the seats reduces the time for cleaning the cabin. Together, this allows airlines to ensure a quick turnaround time on the ground. Wizz Air and Ryanair operate an average of 5 flights per day.

6. Staff are trained to fulfill multiple roles. In some airlines, for example, flight attendants also check boarding passes at the gate.Pilots may be hired through intermediaries to save money on sick leave, vacations and insurance. Salaries of pilots and cabin crew are not the highest, because of which you can often hear about strikes that lead to canceled flights. The high standards of service on board are not to be dreamed of either.

SAFETY

Low-cost airlines use relatively new airplanes and keep a good eye on them. According to statistics, the 3 largest European low-cost carriers Ryanair, Wizz Air and EasyJet have never had a single major accident (with casualties) in their history, and in general, common accidents are 3 times less frequent than the average for all planes in the world and 20% less frequent than the average for planes aged 0-5 years. Therefore, safety can be named along with price as the main pluses of low-cost airlines.

LOW-COST AIRLINE PRICING. WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO BUY TICKETS?

Ticket prices for low-cost airlines on a specific route tend to vary much more widely than those of traditional carriers. They depend on the time remaining until departure, demand, and the level of competition on the route. Unlike regular airlines, low-cost carriers rarely offer cheap tickets more than three months before departure. This is due to their desire to maintain flexibility in long-term route planning. The reason is simple: canceling a flight with only five tickets sold is much easier than canceling one with fifty tickets sold. Therefore, they stimulate demand mainly within three months of departure, when the flight schedule becomes more stable.

The cheapest tickets are usually sold 45–90 days before departure. However, this does not mean that purchasing a ticket at the last minute will necessarily cost a fortune. The price will depend on the demand for a particular flight. Please note: low-cost airline tickets purchased at the lowest fare are non-refundable and non-changeable.

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO PAY EXTRA FOR?

• Airport check-in and printing of the boarding pass (if you did not check in online).
• Baggage. If you are sure you need checked baggage, add it during the booking process. At the airport, baggage fees can increase several times and may even exceed the ticket price.
• Additional carry-on baggage allowance
• The option to refund or change ticket details
• Meals
• Seat selection
• Priority boarding

Please note! Low-cost carriers do not provide automatic baggage transfer to the airline operating your next flight, even if it is the same airline. If your itinerary includes multiple low-cost flights or a combination of low-cost and regular airline flights, you will need to collect your baggage and check it in again at each connection.

FLIGHT CANCELLATIONS. HOW OFTEN AND WHY DO THEY HAPPEN? WHAT TO DO IF A FLIGHT IS CANCELED?

On average, about 1% of flights are canceled in the market and low-cost carriers also stick to this figure on average. Moreover, major European airlines such as Lufthansa, Air France, KLM, Turkish have a higher percentage of cancelations than low-cost carriers.

Therefore, it is impossible to call flight cancelations the problem of low-cost airlines. The point lies deeper - in the consequences of cancelations. Since low-cost airlines do not guarantee connections, if one flight on a connecting route is canceled, your entire trip may be in jeopardy. And scheduled airlines offer a convenient replacement for the entire itinerary if one segment is canceled.

The reasons for cancelations can be different — weather conditions, airport closures, airplane breakdowns, canceling the route as a whole, staff strikes. In case of cancellation, the airline (even low-cost airlines) is obliged to provide you with a ticket to the same destination on other dates or compensate the cost of the ticket if you are not satisfied with the proposed option.

TRANSIT FLIGHT. DO I NEED A VISA?

Visa requirements are more country and airport specific, but since low-cost carriers only sell direct flights and do not guarantee connections, each flight you take will be considered separately, and if the airport does not have a transit zone or closes it, you will have to go through passport control at the gate and go through it again on boarding.

If you don't have a visa for the country where you plan to connect between low-cost flights, it's very likely you won't even be put on the first flight. For example, Ryanair passengers on a flight to London are not allowed to board if they do not have a British transit visa, regardless of the availability of tickets for further flights.

Therefore, you should be careful when buying low-cost flights through British airports Luton and Stansted — as there is no transit zone in them, you will have to pass through passport control to continue your journey. Accordingly, a UK visa is required for flights via London on Ryanair or Wizz Air. Read more about how to make a connection in London in this article.

IS IT TRUE THAT YOU HAVE TO TAKE A SEAT ON BOARD A LOW-COST CARRIER LIKE ON A SHUTTLE BUS?

This practice existed before. The reason for this, apart from the motivation to pay for seat selection, was to encourage passengers to board faster, not to linger in the terminal and not to cause delays at departure. However, this led to disorderly boarding and a lot of complaints, especially from families with children. This is why now, for example on Wizz Air and Ryanair, seats are fixed at the time of check-in.

RULES FOR BUYING LOW-COST TICKETS

• Make sure you can fly — you can't return your ticket, unless you change the dates, but at an additional cost.
• Buy your ticket 45-90 days before departure.
• Check in online to avoid the hassle of printing out your boarding pass.
• Take less stuff, and also measure your luggage just in case. If your backpack/bag looks suspiciously large, you will pay extra.
• Choose a seat, buy food and luggage at the ticket purchase stage — it's cheaper that way.

8 POPULAR LOW-COST CARRIERS

Air Asia

The most popular Asian low-cost carrier, recognized by Skytrax as the best low-cost carrier in the world for 8 years in a row. The Malaysian airline operates on the principle "Now everyone can fly", and it seems to be true, because Air Asia offers from 400 destinations from 25 countries. Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Japan, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and more.

Hand baggage: one baggage size 56*36*23 cm, weight not more than 7 kg.

Norwegian

The third largest low-cost airline in Europe. Norwegian offers an impressive network of routes between the cities of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and various cities of Northern and Southern Europe. Prepare yourself for the fact that there will be no super-budget flights here, because we all know that Scandinavian countries are quite expensive. But you should be pleased with free Wi-Fi on almost all airplanes and hand luggage allowance, which is much more pleasant than that of Ryanair.

Hand baggage: one piece up to 10 kg with dimensions 55x40x23 cm.

Easy Jet

EasyJet is a British low-cost airline, on the air market since 1995, flying to more than 300 destinations in 30 countries. Every year its services are used by more than 50 million passengers. The company's website has an interesting section: "Travel Ideas" (almost the same as the familiar "Fare finder" from Ryanair). In front of you is a map with the closest airport to you on it. You just need to choose your wish list (where to fly to) and the approximate cost of the ticket that suits you.

Hand baggage: one baggage of 56x45x25 cm, no weight limit.

Ryanair

One of the most popular low-cost airlines in Europe. Ryanair is an Irish airline, which was one of the first European low-cost carriers and is still going strong today. 37 countries, 220 airports and more than 1600 destinations.

Hand baggage: 1 piece of hand baggage measuring 40cm x 20cm x 25cm and weighing up to 10 kg.

Wizz Air

Hungarian low-cost airline that flies to 44 countries in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Kazakhstan.

Hand luggage: 1 piece of hand luggage with a maximum size of 40x30x20 cm.

You can book a hotel with a discount of up to -65% on the website.

FlyDubai

Yes, yes, there are low-cost carriers in the UAE too! FlyDubai 's main hub is located in Dubai, and the carrier flies to Europe, Africa, India, Central Asia and the Middle East.

Hand baggage: your luggage is up to 55*38*20 cm in size and weighs up to 8 kg.

Vueling Airlines

Vueling Airlines is a Spanish low-cost carrier, one of the largest in Europe. Every year the budget airline carries more than 24 million passengers. It flies to 38 countries in Europe and North Africa.

Hand baggage: your luggage up to 55*40*20 cm in size and 8 kg in weight.

Jetstar Airways

Jetstar Airways is a low-cost Australian airline with its main base at Melbourne Airport. More than 19 destinations across the Green Continent, as well as flights to Malaysia, China, Japan, New Zealand, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and even the USA. Soon the low-cost promises to appear at airports in Italy, Greece and Germany.

Hand baggage: luggage weight up to 7 kg, considering the size of 56*36*23 cm.

And take note of these low-cost airlines too.

Europe

• Corendon is a budget airline in Turkey.
• Israir Airlines is an Israeli low-cost airline based in Tel Aviv.
• Flybe — British budget airline, not part of any airline alliance.
• Transavia is a subsidiary low-cost airline of KLM.
• Thomson is a popular budget airline from Britain. It is part of the TUI Group.
• Sun Express — A subsidiary of Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines.
• Canaryfly — Explore the Canary Islands with airfare starting at $5.

North and South America

• Jetblue — a popular American low-cost carrier.
• Alaska Air — lowcoster with cheap tickets to Alaska.
• Island Air — for those looking for flights around the Hawaiian Islands.
• Fly Frontier, Spirit and Sun Country are also American low-cost carriers.
• Viva Aerobus is a budget airline from Mexico.
• Azul Brazilian Airlines is a low-cost carrier from Brazil. Flies from Latin American countries to Europe.
• LATAM is an airline from Chile. Flies to Latin America, Oceania, Australia, Europe and the United States.

Asia

• Nok Air is a Thai low-cost carrier.
• GoAir is a budget airline from India. If looking for destinations in this country, we also advise you to look at SpiceJet and Air India Express.
• Solasead Air is a low-costairline from Japan.
• Air Do is another domestic Japanese budget carrier. As well as Sky Mark.
• Cebu Pacific Air is a Philippine low-cost carrier.
• CH.com is a budget airline from China.

Africa

• Mango is a South African budget airline.
• Jambojet — low-cost carrier from Kenya.
• Kulula — offers flights across the African continent.