LOW COST AIRLINES

In lieu of offering a whole college course on budget airlines (oh, the things we could talk about!)here's a quick recap of our thoughts on low-cost carriers.

Personal Experience

Over the past decade, we have come to deeply appreciate European low-cost carriers. We've booked budget flights to jet off from western Europe to eastern Europe, from the Mediterranean to the Nordic lands, and on short-haul jaunts as well as longer journeys.

Recognizing that the budget air revolution has completely changed tourism in Europe, we decided to create a low-cost carrier overview for EuroCheapo.

And so, in late 2005, we went live with a profile of some of Europe's largest and most durable low-cost carriers: Aer Lingus, Air Berlin, easyJet, Fly Nordic, Germanwings, Ryanair, SkyEurope, and Transavia, along with full route information for these airlines.

The Big Idea

So, you might be asking, 'What's the big deal with European budget airlines?'

Put plainly, low-cost flights have dramatically changed the way people get around Europe. For tourists, they allow great flexibility in moving from one point to another; for weekend break tourists they render short visits from hometown to London, Valencia, Krakow, or Riga (among hundreds of other destinations) dramatically more affordable; for citizens of (mostly) eastern European countries following the 2004 enlargement of the EU, they make the prospect of working abroad financially conceivable.

Though the environmental impact of low-cost carriers gives us pause the low-cost revolution has utterly altered the way that we travel in Europe, and we don't see things changing anytime soon.

There are pros and cons to low-cost airline travel, and we'll admit to being partial to trains and rural buses for the atmospheric journeys they foster, but on balance we are fans of the low-cost revolution. Especially for travelers who can remain flexible, budget airlines represent an affordable and quick means of getting around Europe, both for residents and tourists alike.