Less than 200 euros for a flight from Paris to New York City!

No, you’re not dreaming!

The low-cost airline business

Last year, the airline company, Norwegian, inaugurated its first flight from Paris to New York City. So far that was nothing unusual. But it was without counting the price, indeed for this flight the price for the one-way ticket was 179 euros, less than 200 euros for a long-haul flight!

In tourism, low-cost flights have become normal especially for short flights. Furthermore, some airlines are exclusively specialized in this market, such as Ryanair, Vueling, Easyjet and Volotea, to name but a few. This is a sector that is doing very well because people want to travel more but they don’t want to spend more money. It is quite the contrary -people compare more and more prices and the Internet allows to do so quickly and efficiently. According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAC), the traffic of low-cost airlines represents 28% of world traffic.

From Lyon to London or from Paris to New York, 24 and 179 euros respectively. How is this possible?

Several factors allow low-cost airlines to cut the prices.

The employees

First, the number of employees is lower than a normal airline. For example, Ryanair employs 13,000 people, whereas Air France employs 82,000 people.  However, those employees work more, for example a pilot of medium-haul flights, at Air France, works an average of 565 hours a year compared to 900 hours for a Ryanair pilot. The pace of work is intense, but according to the employees the pace is bearable.

To cut costs even more low-cost airlines does not employ cleaning companies but it is the flight attendants themselves who clean the plane after each landing.

The Planes

Low-cost airlines own only one type of aircraft, which allows them to improve the maintenance organization and the training of pilots. Moreover, those airlines often renew their planes, because a recent plane require less maintenance.

Planes spend as little time as possible on the ground, because the parking of an aircraft at an airport costs money. Indeed, the more delay there is, the more expensive it is. Consequently, planes flight more, allowing airlines to operate at least four return flights daily, and so equipment is specifically designed to run continuously.

In low-cost airlines there are more passengers on board, because the seats are tighter.  In addition, to ensure the maximum use of the space on board of their aircraft, airlines routinely practice what is called over-selling. This means that airlines sell more seats than are available and thus to avoid flying with empty seats.

Extra-cost option

You pay for your flight out and return, from Lyon to Berlin, less than 70 euros? Well done! But have you taken all additional costs into account? I don’t think so!

It all starts at the airport with hold baggage, from airline to airline the prices vary from 35 euros for the first luggage to 75 euros for the second luggage. Then aboard the aircraft it is the same model given that there is no free lunch whether it is for a short-haul flight or a long-haul flight. However, passengers can still buy a sandwich or a meal tray.

If you want a specific seat or more space for your legs, you will have to pay extra costs. Even if you want a blanket you will have to pay. Without counting the multimedia aspect with Wi-Fi or recent movies.

All these additional costs can easily double the cost base.

Low-cost flights and low-cost airlines are today significant alternatives for everyone who wants to travel at a lower price, however the passengers have to be careful to all extra charges and they should not expect a high level of comfort and service.

Furthermore, the Irish airline Ryanair owns more planes, performs more flights and carries more passengers than Air France. In 2016, Ryanair carried almost 117 million passengers compared to the 93,4 million for Air France-KLM.

Low-cost flight is a promising sector therefore the competition is very strong and for some years new competitors appeared. Competitors from the middle East and from Asia offer lower prices with quite a good service quality. Is it the beginning of a price war?

Myriam S.