A plane ticket cheaper than a taxi from the city center to the airport? How is this possible? Next, in this entry by Lugarnia we give you some reasons why low-cost airlines can afford to offer us such discounts.
Reasons why low-cost airlines allow us to travel so cheaply
Allergy to luxury
In essence, and perhaps this is extremely predictable, the main reasons that low-cost airlines are so cheap is that, fundamentally, they do not offer expensive services. This makes them cheaper to work: You will never find a television in the back of a Ryanair seat.
Smart spending
After some air accidents, the airline industry has suffered heavy financial impacts. However, Ryanair has not, and has intervened in this crisis by expanding its fleet, buying planes in the cheapest markets, thus achieving a high level of success.
This buying behavior is typical of a budget airline, and often the fleets they buy are in the fairly efficient range, saving them significant money and fuel costs.
Streamlining services
Both Ryanair and EasyJet use only one aircraft genre, 737 and a320, respectively. All employees – pilots, mechanics, flight crews, etc. – only require training for that vehicle , and these costs are usually quite low.
Savings in plane conditions
Low cost airlines save a lot on the features and services of the plane. Ryanair buys seats that do not recline, for example, as they are cheaper to buy and maintain. Likewise, the lack of rear pockets on these seats means less cleaning time between flights, which saves more time.
Buying power on flights
On low-cost airline flights, nothing is free (almost nothing) and passengers are advised to purchase items on the flight. Ryanair is famous for selling lottery tickets among many other items. Any additional revenue generation is encouraged, and often failing to print a boarding pass can make the “printing fee” hefty.
Landing at cheap airports
Not all airports cost the same. Heathrow and Paris CDG are inevitably going to cost more than London Stansted or Rome Ciampino for various reasons, largely due to competition rates. Consequently, low-cost carriers avoid them like the plague and join the cheaper options.
Generally, budget operators dominate the airports they fly from and therefore have great bargaining power. In short, many airports depend on a certain budget airline for commercial survival. This ensures that the airline can dictate to some extent the prices they pay to that airport.
