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Aviation glossary

Low-cost carrier

Also: LCC, budget airline, no-frills airline

Airlines and business

Airline built around keeping costs down to sell cheap fares: a single aircraft type, high aircraft utilisation, one cabin class and extras charged separately.

What it is

The model took shape in the United States with Southwest Airlines, which began flying in 1971, and spread to Europe once the air transport market was liberalised in the 1990s. Its building blocks are a fleet of one aircraft type, which simplifies maintenance and crew training; quick turnarounds so that each aircraft flies more hours a day; a single, densely configured cabin; direct online sales; and separate charges for checked bags, seat selection and food.

Many low-cost carriers fly point-to-point and favour secondary airports or those with lower charges. Ryanair, with a fleet built on the Boeing 737, and easyJet, flying the A320 family, are European examples; in Latin America, Volaris and Brazil's GOL follow similar lines.

Over time the boundary with traditional airlines has blurred, and some low-cost carriers now sell bundled fares and connecting journeys.

On Vuelopedia

Southwest Airlines Ryanair Boeing 737

Related terms

Point-to-pointNetwork model in which an airline flies directly between the cities it serves, rather than funnelling connections through a central hub airport. Load factorShare of the capacity offered that is actually sold; for passengers, revenue passenger kilometres divided by available seat kilometres over a flight or period. Aircraft familyGroup of models from one manufacturer that share a basic design, flight deck and systems while differing in size, capacity or range. Cabin classesService levels into which an airline divides its cabin, such as first, business, premium economy and economy, each with its own seats and service. AirlineCompany that carries passengers, cargo or mail by air for payment, holding an air operator certificate issued by its national aviation authority.
Whole glossary

Cite

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This page was last updated on October 9, 2026

APA

Vuelopedia. (2026, October 9). Low-cost carrier. Retrieved October 16, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/low-cost-carrier

MLA

“Low-cost carrier.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 9 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/low-cost-carrier. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Vuelopedia. “Low-cost carrier.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 9, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/low-cost-carrier.

Harvard

Vuelopedia (2026) Low-cost carrier. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/low-cost-carrier (Accessed: 16 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{vuelopedia_en_glossary_low_cost_carrier,
  author       = {{Vuelopedia}},
  title        = {{Low-cost carrier}},
  publisher    = {Fundación Poderia},
  year         = {2026},
  date         = {2026-10-09},
  url          = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/low-cost-carrier},
  howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/low-cost-carrier}},
  urldate      = {2026-10-16},
  note         = {Accessed 2026-10-16}
}

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/low-cost-carrier |title=Low-cost carrier |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-09 |access-date=2026-10-16 |language=en}}

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