The advantage of low cost carriers

The LCCs were experimenting with all means of reducing cost and increasing operational efficiency and it helped the industry as a whole. Many of the established practices in flight operations were challenged by these operators. In an effort to reduce the cost of sales, they established booking engines on their websites to overcome the dependency on GDS systems. This opened the inventory of flights and other services to the public and the emerging tech-savvy generation enjoyed the freedom of making their bookings on their own laptops.

By making meal service optional, for those who prefer to purchase their meals on board the flight, the ground time of the aircraft in loading and unloading meal trays was reduced. This led to very short turnaround time and brought down the airport cost and improved aircraft utilization. Another innovation was to try to develop less used airports instead of clamouring for flight slots at the busy airports. This step reduced the cost for parking charges, congestions problems and also made the trip to the airport shorter for many passengers. They appreciated this move and began boarding flights from airports closer home.

Online travel sites – the ease of comparison

Travel portals that were growing in number and clout also found the emergence of low cost carriers a boon to their business.  By integrating the website of the LCC to their own air booking site, they made it easier for the passengers to compare the price and timings of various airlines operating on the same route in one click. This ease of making comparison before making the purchase is preferred by the experienced traveller instead of visiting so many websites for the same piece of information.

When some of the low cost carriers started sans due planning by the adventurous did not succeed, there was a pessimistic view that bubble of the LCC boom will soon burst.  If you look at the total picture, it is obvious that the Low cost carriers are here to stay and prosper as the tourism industry is rapidly growing around the world.  In fact, in many areas the LCCs are going to lead the way and others follow it, learning new lessons from this experiment.