The coming of the Low Cost Carriers: Part 1 “Bakit ngayon lang ito. Matagal ko na hinihintay itong mga sandaling ito.”
One would find it hard not to be affected by such an outburst of emotions coming from a traveler. But this is indeed what a Filipina cried out, as she alighted from an Air Asia 737, on its first landing at Clark in April 5 of 2005. Now many can travel more often; and more importantly, others who have never traveled by air, can do so. The era of the Low Cost/Fares Airline has started.
Southwest Airlines started the Low Cost (No Frills) Air Travel concept in the Continental USA in the 70s. Since then Southwest has become the most profitable airline in the US up to today. Ryan Air started using the same method in
Data from the last Low Cost Airline Symposium in
Today, there are more Low Cost Carriers in the Asia Pacific Region and the forecasted number of travelers has grown to 5.3 billion. The Frost and Sullivan Chart that the Low Cost Carrier phenomenon in
Depending on the situation and place, this non-traditional airlines are defined by any of the following names: Low Cost Carriers (LCC), Low Cost Airlines (LCA), Budget Carriers (BC) or Low Fares Airlines (LFA). These type of airlines offer the lowest of fares because of low operating costs as a result of eliminating most traditional passenger services.
The LCCs travel short routes and are point-to-point as opposed to the traditional airlines that use long routes that connect hubs. As a result, there are no connecting flights for LCCs; and because the routes are short (3-4 hours), there are no in flight catering services.
Turnaround times on the ground are short, normally 30 minutes. This allows more use of aircraft and more passengers. It is therefore a practice to operate only on secondary and decongested airports where there is less traffic.
Emphasis is on direct sales of tickets and use of internet, eliminating the use of airline staff in various operating locations.
LCCs operate only a single type of airplane that offers the most efficient engines and operating systems for the short routes. Commonly used aircraft are the 150-seater Boeing 737 or the 180-seater Airbus 320. Because of this, aircrew are easy to train and always available.
LCCs use only a single passenger class type and no reserved seating
Employees work in multiple roles; for instance, flight attendants also perform the clean up of cabin between flights.
All these result in lower operating cost and therefore afford the lowest fares for the riding public.
Since the start of the LCC revolution in the 70s, there also emerged Low Cost Airports. In
Because of the excellent geographical location of the
Next week: The future of low cost travel and airports.
- Latest
- Trending