How Budget Airlines Work

Flying is an expensive endeavor, but somehow certain budget airline are able to sell tickets for less than 10 euros. This is how they work.

Thanks to Reddit users Phynub and Joey23art for their contributions and fact-checking.

Attributions:
Air travel graph courtesy Mappy10101
EasyJet photo courtesy Biggerben
Scale image courtesy Althepal
Ryanair fleet photo and Cabin Crew photo courtesy Ryanair and used under fair use
EasyJet fleet photo courtesy Curimedia
Airport check-in photo courtesy Leonid Mamchenkov
Ryanair interior photo courtesy Ruthann
Select Ryanair footage courtesy Amsterdam airport Schiphol
German wings flight attendant photo courtesy Oxfordian Kissuth
Heathrow Aerial courtesy Panhard
Charles de Gaulle aerial courtesy Dmitry Avdeev
Heathrow ground photo courtesy Warren Rohner
Bucharest airport photo courtesy Cristian Bortes
Airline seat icon courtesy Adam Mullin
Flight attendant icon courtesy Gabriella Fono
Map of French regions courtesy Superbenjamin
Regional airport image courtesy Mjrmtg
Licenses available upon request
Airport line photo courtesy Jaysin Trevino
Southwest interior photo courtesy Paul Sullivan
Baggage handling video courtesy Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
Ryanair check-in photo courtesy Jhcx
Check-in machine photo courtesy frankieleon
Jetway photo courtesy Cliff
Ryanair stair photo courtesy Juanedc
Song, metrojet airlines photo courtesy Anthony92931
All images and videos are both royalty free and used under fair use guidelines

[amctothemoon]

I bought some fries and a coke at my RyanAir flight, only to realize that this was more expensive than the flight it self

[HristoKolevMayvena]

The cheapest I've flown was on a Ryanair flight from Sofia to Pisa - 10 euro for a two-way ticket. That's actually cheaper than a taxi ride from my home in Sofia to the airport.

[JayTheBroducer]

That feeling when the outbound travel covid test costs 10x more than the flight itself.

[wallince]

All of these time saving measures which cut down on comfort also aren't such a bad thing to lose on European flights as they're usually not going far, so the slightly higher amount of discomfort is over so quickly

[Egosftw]

Lol paid 20 Pounds return Manchester to Dublin, the cab to the airport was 25 pounds

[YouTubeQuora]

Most expensive thing on flight is flight itself

Ryanair air : we removed flight from our flight

[harryhaller]

I'm not even mad at "Trevioso" cuz it sounds even more Italian that the actual Treviso. Good video anyway

[carb_]

i've only ever flown ryanair and wizzair and until now i didn't realize they were 'budget'. pretty much the only airlines people i know fly. they're cheap, convenient, fly very specific routes between small airports (even if the hours can be ungodly) and i have no complaints other than the very little leg room 😭
and, of course, i can only imagine how badly they treat their workers. but i never would have left my country without their ridiculous prices

[ubertube]

when plane tickets cost less than a taxi

[Post_Stall_Maneuver]

Next: Ryanair charges each passenger for the steps and if they don't pay, they have to climb on for boarding and jump off the plane after arrival.

[nivyan]

When my ex lived in London, I could visit her frequently because a ticket cost me like 10€. Especially on short flights, there's little to no reason to use a regular flight - even more so when an airport has quick transportation to the main cities. Stanstead has a train that frequently goes to London, and even with the additional cost, it's a fraction of what it would've cost to land anywhere else. If I have to wait ~30 mins more to reach my destination with a slightly longer method, but can visit twice as often, it's a no-brainer.

I've also flown with Ryanair at least 30+ times, and only ever had 1 cancelled flight. The total cost, if I want something to eat, pay for extended travelling *and* buy stuff at the airport, is maybe 2/3 of the non-budget flights. But if you're not dumb with your money, the total is generally 25-66% cheaper.

In addition to all this, all three of my school trips I went on when I was younger was a lot more exotic because the school could afford it.

[vincentpeeters]

4 things to add for Ryanair 1) they also save costs by not offering their pilots and cabin crew a cab fee or hotel if they need to spend the night somewhere. 2) They charge you insane prices for your luggage 3) They fuel the exact legal minimum of fuel, while others tend to fuel a bit more. This gives them landing priority in some circumstances. 4) Their head offices are in Ireland, which gives them a big tax advantage.

[serenity]

When taxi trips to the airport cost more then the actual flight...

[marcbrady]

*Here is a budget airline joke of Ryanair!*

Michael O’Leary, Chief Executive of Ryanair after arriving in a hotel in Manchester went to the bar and asked for a pint of Guinness.

The barman said, "That will be £1 please, Mr. O’Leary."

Taken aback, O'Leary replied, "That's very cheap, " and handed over his money.

"We do try to stay ahead of the competition", said the barman. "We have the cheapest beer in England".

"That is remarkable value", Michael comments.

"I see you don't have a glass, you'll need one of ours. That will be £3 please."

O'Leary scowled, but paid up. He took his drink and walked towards a seat.

"Ah, you want to sit down?" said the barman. "That'll be an extra £2. If you'd pre-booked it would have cost £1."

O'Leary swore to himself, but paid up.

"I see you've brought your laptop" added the barman. "That wasn't pre-booked either, that's another £3."

O'Leary was so incensed and his face was red with rage.
"I've had enough! I insist on speaking to a manager!"

"Here is his e-mail address, or if you wish, you can contact him between 9.00 am and 9.01am every morning, Monday to Tuesday. Calls are free, unless answered, then there is a charge of only £1 per second".

"I will never use this bar again".

"OK but do remember, we are the only hotel in England selling pints for £1."

[neefeef]

Transavia was not created by air France. Transavia started as a holiday charter airline in the Netherlands in 1965.joined the KLM group. In 2004 KLM and air France joined and became the biggest group in Europe. Air France started to use The Dutch Transavia airline for holiday flights out of France

[LesD]

I remember a time when Ryanair had some completely FREE flights - they even paid the flight fees and taxes! If they could make enough on the upgrades to cover the flight costs they were happy.

Just compare flying with grocery shopping. If you went into a store to buy a loaf of bread and they wanted you to pay for a trolley-load, you wouldn't shop there.

[techmantra]

Normal approach: 50, 40, 30, 20, 10
Ryanair approach: *Whoop Whoop* PULL UP!

[jeruelleapigo]

I believe that Ryanair will remove all of the seats in their aircraft by 2030.

[MlayehSaber]

I won't lie, I love Ryanair... It's extremely affordable and sometimes they do flash sales for 5 euros à ticket for selected destinations! It's simply mind blowing how cheap it is.

[asis]

Remembered watching this video while I was studying a module during my diploma days. This video helped me a lot in understanding how LCC works!