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Old Sep 12, 2012, 11:38 am
  #1  
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"Budget" Airlines Fly South

As the article points out, the cities that they can serve is limited by the range of their aircraft, but if these initial forays prove economically viable, they may become more than mere irritants to the big carriers.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/09/16....html?src=dayp

Last edited by Sabai; Sep 22, 2012 at 4:17 pm
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Old Sep 15, 2012, 7:12 am
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But it would be very hard for any LCC to do well on mid-long haul, especially from the states. Look at a Y ticket from UK to US, and the fare may be £200 return. The real beef to the fare comes in airport fees and taxes. Of course they can land in the smaller airports, but beyond that, the model doesn't do well internationally. Look at Air Asia X. Their flights to London are often more than BA and Virgin. It is just hard to compete with the international carriers, because they make their money on their premium products, not their economy.
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Old Sep 18, 2012, 4:39 am
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Originally Posted by AlwaysFlyStar
But it would be very hard for any LCC to do well on mid-long haul, especially from the states. Look at a Y ticket from UK to US, and the fare may be £200 return. The real beef to the fare comes in airport fees and taxes. Of course they can land in the smaller airports, but beyond that, the model doesn't do well internationally. Look at Air Asia X. Their flights to London are often more than BA and Virgin. It is just hard to compete with the international carriers, because they make their money on their premium products, not their economy.
Long-haul LCCs are difficult to sustain. Air Asia X is indeed a good example; they had to withdraw from London because with all the competition it didn't make sense financially. Long flights need a lot more fuel and are expensive to operate; charging for luggage and food doesn't really make up for the difference. The premium class was a good deal though.
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Old Sep 22, 2012, 12:02 pm
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Spirit is making a killing.

The thing about South America is so many people have families there and want to go visit. Flying Ft Lauderdale (which is basically Miami) to South America is actually genius. The flights aren't quite as far as you think. I've tried booking some last minute flights w Spirit and they seem to fill up nicely.

Interestingly Spirit tried some LAX-Latin America flights and shut them down. The east coast latinos seem to travel a bit more.
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Old Sep 23, 2012, 2:51 pm
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I wish Spirit success...just have zero interest in flying with them or their business model.
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Old Sep 27, 2012, 7:05 am
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Originally Posted by ryandelmundo
Interestingly Spirit tried some LAX-Latin America flights and shut them down. The east coast latinos seem to travel a bit more.
The competition in LAX is fierce for Mexico/LATAM flights (DL, AS, AM, LAN, TACA, UA, Virgin, Volaris). It's tougher to penetrate there.
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Old Oct 5, 2012, 5:02 pm
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Originally Posted by steve367
you can check air Asia.
I've flown Air Asia plenty of times, but didn't realize that it flew from the US to Central and South America.
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