| > | | | | popularity by ensuring that people travel at an |
| The year 2008 witnessed an increase in airfares | | | | affordable price without having to compromise on |
| especially in the third quarter. Normal 0 | | | | safety and punctuality. In fact, Southwest, a low |
| MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ | | | | cost carrier, has the best on-time arrival ranking with |
| table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table | | | | a punctuality score of 80.5. Low cost airlines are |
| Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; | | | | usually no frills airlines that aim to reduce operating |
| mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; | | | | expenses by eliminating amenities which are not |
| mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; | | | | mandatory for a reasonably comfortable trip. The |
| mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; | | | | modus operandi of low cost airlines includes |
| mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; | | | | maintaining the same model of airplanes, in order to |
| font-family:"Times New Roman";} | | | | reduce servicing costs. |
| The average cost of air travel rose by 10% in the | | | | |
| second quarter only to be superseded by the airfare | | | | Since carriers like Go Air are no frills airlines, people |
| prices in the third quarter which recorded an all time | | | | are expected to pay for refreshments. Many low |
| high, because of an increase in fuel prices. The fourth | | | | cost airlines have started charging extra for baggage. |
| quarter of 2008 witnessed a fall in the cost of airfare | | | | People are encouraged to travel light and check-in |
| by 3.7 percent. However, despite a fall in the prices | | | | only limited baggage. Some airlines have even started |
| of flight tickets, there was a 12 percent drop in the | | | | reducing the size of cutlery and are carrying limited |
| sales of air tickets. This trend, which continued into | | | | cutlery in order to make air fares competitive! Taking |
| the first quarter of 2009, resulted in airlines reducing | | | | a cue from the low cost airlines, some airlines have |
| fares for travel in February, by as much as 63% as | | | | decided to go the extra mile in order to offer cheap |
| compared to the previous summer. | | | | airline tickets. |
| | | | | |
| The drop in airfares, for more than 80 percent of | | | | These measures include plans to make passengers |
| the routes, for travel within the country, is an effort | | | | haul their own luggage, charge for online check-in and |
| to boost air travel during the recession. Airlines, in the | | | | for using the restroom on the flight! Some of these |
| face of reduced demand, have chopped the price for | | | | measures may be adopted by other low cost airlines |
| domestic travel on 136 routes. This may be the best | | | | making air travel cheap but uncomfortable. This brings |
| time to purchase tickets for summer travel. | | | | us to the question of how a person can fly cheap |
| | | | | without loss of comfort. |
| Low cost airlines have managed to retain their | | | | |