How Budget Airlines Work
Wendover Productions2 HN recommenders · recommended in 2 months, 2017–2019
explainer · general · evergreen · 2017–2019 on HN
A Wendover Productions explainer on how budget airlines can sell tickets for under 10 euros. It covers the costs airlines face and how low-cost carriers structure their business.
HN points to it as a short, clear answer to why budget airlines are so cheap.
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3 comments from Hacker News
Europe has extremely cheap prizes because the big airlines are trying to compete with the budget airlines. The real question is "why are budget airlines so cheap in Europe (they often cost about a third of what a budget ticket in the US would cost)?". Well, lots and lots and lots of reasons why. ▶ this video
For some extra background on EasyJet and Ryanair's ability to charge lower prices than Air France and KLM, Wendover has a short 8 minute video: ▶ this video
You should check this video out: link You would be pretty surprised how many costs airlines have to pay. An extra $4/passenger/flight would eat significantly into their bottom line. This is especially true for budget airlines, which often already make less than this per passenger already (source: ▶ this video )