From the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/06/travel/0...html?ref=travel
Following the phenomenal success of no-frills, low-cost airlines in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, we are now seeing the emergence of budget airlines operating on international long-haul routes.
For instance, Zoom Airlines (www.flyzoom.com), a Canadian carrier, operates low-cost service from eight Canadian cities to London (Gatwick), Glasgow, Manchester, Cardiff and Belfast in Britain, and Paris. Zoom operates Boeing 767-300’s with 268 seats. Economy passengers get a 31-inch seat pitch and meals and drinks; premium economy offers 36 inches of legroom and an extra baggage allowance. A search recently turned up round-trip fares between London and Toronto this month starting at $205 in economy, $355 in premium economy.
Air Sahara (www.airsahara.net), based in New Delhi, operates a network of services within the subcontinent and between Delhi and London, and Delhi and Singapore. One-way fares from London (Heathrow) to Delhi start at around $235. Beginning in October, the start-up budget carrier Oasis Hong Kong Airlines (www.oasis-air.com) will operate Boeing 747-400’s, with seat-back entertainment and hot meals, though passengers can order a “gourmet food service†at extra cost. Oasis has announced one-way fares between London (Gatwick) and Hong Kong from $141 plus tax. It plans to add service between Hong Kong and Milan, Berlin, Cologne/Bonn and Oakland and Chicago.
The Scottish airline Flyglobespan (www.flyglobespan.com) operates a fleet that includes Boeing 767-300 aircraft with three classes: no-frills economy with a 30-inch seat pitch (you must buy your own meals and drinks); premium economy with a 34-inch pitch and full meals and drinks service; and business, with 50-inch sleeper seats. The airline operates from Glasgow, Edinburgh and London to more than a dozen European cities, and to Orlando, Fla.; additional routes will be offered this winter. One-way fares from Glasgow to Orlando this month start at about $280; premium economy, $385.
Icelandair (www.icelandair.com), a forerunner of cheap trans-Atlantic flights, offers flights between Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Glasgow, London, Oslo, Paris, and Stockholm (via Reykjavik) and Baltimore/Washington, Boston, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Orlando and New York, with full service at low-cost fares (along with seven other cities in summer only). A recent search for dates this month from New York to London found rates from $762.
Following the phenomenal success of no-frills, low-cost airlines in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, we are now seeing the emergence of budget airlines operating on international long-haul routes.
For instance, Zoom Airlines (www.flyzoom.com), a Canadian carrier, operates low-cost service from eight Canadian cities to London (Gatwick), Glasgow, Manchester, Cardiff and Belfast in Britain, and Paris. Zoom operates Boeing 767-300’s with 268 seats. Economy passengers get a 31-inch seat pitch and meals and drinks; premium economy offers 36 inches of legroom and an extra baggage allowance. A search recently turned up round-trip fares between London and Toronto this month starting at $205 in economy, $355 in premium economy.
Air Sahara (www.airsahara.net), based in New Delhi, operates a network of services within the subcontinent and between Delhi and London, and Delhi and Singapore. One-way fares from London (Heathrow) to Delhi start at around $235. Beginning in October, the start-up budget carrier Oasis Hong Kong Airlines (www.oasis-air.com) will operate Boeing 747-400’s, with seat-back entertainment and hot meals, though passengers can order a “gourmet food service†at extra cost. Oasis has announced one-way fares between London (Gatwick) and Hong Kong from $141 plus tax. It plans to add service between Hong Kong and Milan, Berlin, Cologne/Bonn and Oakland and Chicago.
The Scottish airline Flyglobespan (www.flyglobespan.com) operates a fleet that includes Boeing 767-300 aircraft with three classes: no-frills economy with a 30-inch seat pitch (you must buy your own meals and drinks); premium economy with a 34-inch pitch and full meals and drinks service; and business, with 50-inch sleeper seats. The airline operates from Glasgow, Edinburgh and London to more than a dozen European cities, and to Orlando, Fla.; additional routes will be offered this winter. One-way fares from Glasgow to Orlando this month start at about $280; premium economy, $385.
Icelandair (www.icelandair.com), a forerunner of cheap trans-Atlantic flights, offers flights between Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Glasgow, London, Oslo, Paris, and Stockholm (via Reykjavik) and Baltimore/Washington, Boston, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Orlando and New York, with full service at low-cost fares (along with seven other cities in summer only). A recent search for dates this month from New York to London found rates from $762.
