National Geographic Traveller UK 10.2019

When did budget
transatlantic lights begin?
Founded in 1966 by British
entrepreneur Freddie Laker,
Laker Airlines was the irst
carrier to ofer low-cost,
no-frills transatlantic lights.
Primera Air, Wow Air and
Norwegian were among the
airlines that adopted the business
model in the ensuing decades.

What do these no-frills
oferings look like?
Well, irst of all, forget the extras.
Passengers pay for their seat only,
with everything else — meals,
luggage, drinks and choice of
seat — at an additional cost. This
scaled-back approach means
passengers aren’t paying for, say,
checked luggage if it’s not needed.

Which airline is doing it
particularly well?
There’s one standout carrier:
Norwegian. It’s been
honing this business model
since 2013 and has grown
from providing transatlantic for
less to piecing together a web of
low-cost routes that span North
America, South America, Europe IMAGE: ALAMY

ARE NO-FRILLS TRANSATLANTIC

FLIGHTS HERE TO STAY?

BUDGET AIRLINES HAVE BEEN FLYING US ACROSS THE ATLANTIC FOR OVER
40 YEARS. WE TAKE A LOOK AT THE MAJOR PLAYERS AND ANALYSE WHAT
THE FUTURE HAS IN STORE. WORDS: JOSEPHINE PRICE

and Asia. At the Skytrax World

Airline Awards in June 2019,

Norwegian was named World’s

Best Long-Haul Low-Cost Airline

for the ith consecutive year.

Have there been many

notable failures?

Yes. Primera Air, the Scandinavian

low-cost carrier, terminated

business at the end of 2018

due to its failure to make the

long-haul arm of the business

proitable. The airline was looking

to move from the charter light

model, which had lost its footing

in Europe, and wanted to try

something more attractive to

customers — it didn’t succeed.

Wow Air — the Icelandic no-frills

option — had made inroads into

the transatlantic market, too,

but went under in March 2019.

Ryanair hasn’t yet made it into the

long-haul arena, either, despite

promising to do so.

Is there much competition

in this ield?

Airlines such as Virgin and British

Airways are now competing

on fares directly with low-

cost carriers. British Airways,

for example, has cut costs by

reducing leg room.

What do these cheap lights

mean for sustainability?

With the price of jet fuel

continuing to rise and consumers

becoming increasingly aware

of the environmental impact of

lying, many airlines are facing an

uncertain future. But the budget

carriers don’t have the business

and irst-class options that bump

up carbon emissions (the fewer

seats on a light, the larger the

carbon footprint per passenger),

so no-frills airlines are arguably a

better choice.

What’s next for the

no-frills market?

Not every no-frills airline is

expanding at the moment.

Norwegian has scaled back some

of its transatlantic routes for the

winter season, but the airline

is believed to be exploring less

crowded routes such as the UK to

South Africa and South America.

Luthansa is also launching a

host of new transatlantic routes,

to be shared with its low-cost

subsidiary Eurowings.

HOW MANY

TRANSATLANTIC

ROUTES ARE THERE?

FREQUENT FLYER

11

WITH NORWEGIAN

5

WITH LUFTHANSA

10

WITH VIRGIN ATLANTIC

29

WITH BRITISH AIRWAYS

TRAVEL GEEKS

184 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel