Low-Cost Carriers
As air travel continues to expand across the world, there is no doubt that low-cost carriers (LCCs) have fuelled this growth by creating a more competitive environment for air travel. LCCs have been one of the most significant developments in air travel in this century and have completely changed the way that people travel and make choices, not just in terms of carriers, but in terms of the mode of transport and where they travel from. Indeed LCCs have transformed the language of airlines as the traditional distinction between scheduled and charter airlines has in effect disappeared, and LCCs have risen to take their place. The British Airports Authority estimates that LCCs flew less than 8 million passengers in 1998 compared to 59 million in 2005 and that in Europe alone the two leading LCCs - EasyJet and Ryanair - account for around one third of capacity. In the future there will be more LCCs on long haul-routes and variants on the model are emerging such as ‘business only’ carriers operating a ‘less frills’ rather than a ‘no frills’ service.