One of Europe's go-to budge airline, Ryanair, could start selling low cost trans-Atlantic flights. Reuters reported that if the airline secures enough twin-aisle planes and has more access to cities in the U.S. it could start selling the low cost tickets.
"This will be a unique opportunity to bust open the trans-Atlantic services. Trans-Atlantic fares should start at $10 or 10 euros," said Michael O'Leary, the airline's Chief Executiveat the Paris Airshow to Reuters.
O'Leary said to Reuters that the long-haul business would have to be separate in order to succeed.
"There is an opportunity with the EU-U.S. open skies to, on a fairly big scale, connect 15-20 European cities with 15 of the big U.S. cities almost from day one. But you need a fleet of 30, 40, 50 aircraft and not two, four or six," said O'Leary to Reuters.
"The business model would also be different from Ryanair's short-haul one, which hinges on offering low fares on flights that are operated in a high-density single-class configuration in Boeing 737 aircraft. Passengers have to pay for frills such as better seats and checked-in baggage," reported Reuters.
However, long haul flights with Ryanair could have a premium section. Many Asian airlines have the long-haul flights already in place including AirAsia. Reuter's reported that AirAsia based in Malaysia may not be the most profitable however as they dropped service from Kuala Lumpur to London and Paris due to the cost of fuel as well as because of competition from full service airlines like Emirates.
"Long-haul budget flights have become popular in Asia in recent years with Malaysia's AirAsia X , Australia's Jetstar and its Singapore-based affiliate Jetstar Asia, and Singapore Airlines subsidiary Scoot starting operations," reported Reuters.
Reuters also reported that AirAsia also dropped its service to India because of the high taxes in the country.
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