Low-Cost Airlines: Why Do They Have Cheaper Tickets?

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You’ve always wanted to visit a European metropolis, but couldn’t afford an expensive plane ticket. Can you believe that for 10 euros you can fly to London or for 15 euros to Paris, and all this is possible with low-cost airlines?

Well, in this article, we will let you know what are low-cost airlines and how and why they have cheaper tickets than other airlines.

What are low-cost airlines?

As the name suggests, these are low-cost or cheap airlines. The name lowcost alone does not instill much confidence in people, especially when it comes to airplanes. One wonders, why are they so cheap. So what kind of planes do they have? We will surely collapse if we buy a ticket for 5 euros.

Example of Ryanair – the average age of their planes is around 10 years, while other airlines have an average age of around 18 years, although the age of the planes does not affect the safety of the planes.

Business model

Low-cost airlines have a different business model.

the purchase of tickets takes place online, therefore companies do not have to open offices around the world and do not have to hire workers to work in them, thus reducing large costs,
on the plane, food, drinks, and entertainment are charged,
they mostly land at smaller airports that are further away from the city center.
seats on the plane are generally charged and if you want to sit together or in a certain place you will have to pay, of course paying for the seat is not mandatory but then you will get a “random” seat.
airplane seats are cheaper, i.e. they cannot be lowered and there are no pockets behind the backrest that need to be cleaned between flights, which also contributes to savings.
when buying an airplane, they decide on one type of airplane (e.g. 50 pieces of Airbus A319), so they get quantity discounts
they have more seats on the plane than regular airlines, and thus less legroom – reduced comfort, but more tickets sold.
online check-in – e.g. with Ryanair or Wizzair, passenger check-in takes place online (at the airport you will be charged a fee if you do not do this) – savings with workers at the counters
there are no transfers – which means that the costs are again lower due to fewer staff, luggage transfer and of course there is not so much lost luggage
you only print the boarding pass at home using your computer or have the boarding pass on your mobile phone
their planes and personnel “sleep” at other airports, but after a round or two they return to the base and thus avoid fees for the plane’s stay at the incoming airport
low-cost airlines rarely use plane tunnels because they are expensive, they will use stairs or buses which are cheaper or passengers will walk to the building
often, tourist boards give great incentives to fly from their cities in order to attract as many tourists as possible, and thus they can lower the price of the plane ticket

Luggage

A lot of attention should be paid to the size, weight and amount of luggage, because it often happens that you pay more for the luggage than you paid for the plane ticket, so many passengers prefer hand luggage or cabin luggage, which is free but must have certain dimensions.

If you don’t want to pay for baggage, before buying a ticket on the airline’s website, be sure to check the dimensions of the cabin baggage that you can take on the plane, because if you exceed the dimensions, you will be charged for it at the airport.

Purchase of tickets

In order to buy the cheapest possible ticket, you have to be flexible and buy the ticket as soon as possible, and if you want to buy the cheapest tickets that can be found under €10, you should choose travel dates that are not attractive. It means avoiding weekends, holidays and public holidays.

Of course, when a ticket is announced for €5, €10, or €15, it does not mean that all seats on the plane are sold at that price. A certain number is sold, so you should be quick with your purchase.

Tickets are purchased online using credit or debit cards. Also, sometimes you need to check which card is the best to pay with so that you don’t get charged a commission.

After the purchase, you will receive a confirmation by e-mail that you have successfully purchased the ticket.