Global Low Cost Airlines to 2021: Market overview and insights for low-cost airlines to 2021

Summary

Low-cost carriers (LCCs) have gradually evolved to become a popular alternative to full-service airlines over the last 10-15 years, where price has become a critical factor in determining the carriers. According to Euro Control, the low-cost airline has been the fastest-growing segment in Europe, with the number of low-cost flights growing by 61% in the last 10 years (2007-2016).

Growth in the low-cost carrier was also characterized by a decline of 10% in the traditional scheduled flight segment during the same period in Europe. LCC’s also holds an estimated share of 30% in the overall US airline market, primarily dominated by major airlines such as Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways. The increase in flight capacity reinforces the fact that low cost traffic has significantly increased in the last decade, which is expected to continue in the forecast period.

In 2016, EasyJet revealed plans to trial the use of hydrogen fuel cells on its planes. The concept has been conceived to convert its entire fleet of ordinary planes into hybrids without the need to purchase any new aircraft. These aircraft could have the potential to save 50,000 tons of fuel and at the same time prevent CO2 emissions each year. The concept relies on the use of hydrogen fuel cells, which would be stored in the aircraft and allows a plane to move to and from the runway without using any fuel.

There were 21 low-cost airlines in Southeast Asia in 2016, operating with approximately 600 aircraft, and there has been a significant degree of strategic agreements (e.g. Value Alliance) and partnership activity in the region, which helped to increase the growth opportunities of LCC in the region.

The report “Global Low Cost Airlines to 2021”, provides a thorough insight into global low cost airlines market. The report shades light into the key trends and issues. It offers key insights at regional level and major country level markets analyzing the number of seats available and seats sold, load factor, average revenue per passenger, total revenues, revenue generating passenger kilometers and passenger kilometers available.

Companies mentioned in this report: Southwest Airlines, Ryanair Holdings,EasyJet,Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes SA, Spice Jet, Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, AirAsia Berhad, Dubai Aviation Corporation, Air Arabia (Maroc)

Scope

– The widespread adoption of ticketless travel along with increasing internet distribution and bandwidth has been a huge boon for the entire LCC segment, especially in the developing countries. The advent of internet connectivity has helped to reduce the need for complex and expensive ticketing systems, which were previously used by legacy airlines to manage their complicated pricing structures, and decrease their over-reliance on travel agents to sell the tickets. The emergence of the internet as a primary medium in the last few years for booking tickets has greatly increased the transparency of ticket pricing, and has worked to the LCCs’ advantage because of their lower ticket prices. It is further expected to augment the market for LCC, especially in the untapped and less developing markets (such as Seychelles, Mauritius, Ethiopia, and Argentina) where there is significant potential of market entry for LCC, with a gradual increase in the disposable income of these countries.
– LCCs in the region typically used to fly short-haul routes so that they could return to their home base at night, and avoid hangar and other allied costs. However, the strategies have been changing; low-cost airline LEVEL (from the IAG Group) has started long-haul flights from Barcelona to North and South America to attract customers from the traditional full service airlines (where there is significant demand for long-haul fights). In addition, traditional full service carriers are unbundling their offers and selling food, seat choice, and checked baggage separately to reduce the basic airfare cost, which will help to withstand the competition in the LCC segment.

Reasons to buy

– Take strategic business decisions using historic and forecast market data related to the global low-cost airlines market
– Understand the key market trends and growth opportunities in the global low-cost airlines market
– Gain strategic insights on the leading global low-cost carriers.