Low Cost Airline (or Low Fare Airline or Budget Airline) is a new business model
in the airline industry. It was first introduced by Southwest Airline (SWA) in the
United States in 1971. The success of SWA led to the spread of the model to Europe
and then to Asia. LCAs compete by offering lower fares than those of full-service
airlines. To make up for revenue lost in decreased ticket prices, the airline may charge
for extras like food, priority boarding, seat allocating, and baggage etc. Most airlines
have only a single passenger class and usually feature the Airbus 320‟s or Boeing
737‟s in their fleet of aircraft. Efficiency is the major consideration in LCAs‟
operation and several strategies in cutting the cost down are employed.