Expedia.com has released the results of the Expedia 2014 LCC Airline Index, a study conducted by Northstar that examined Western European traveller attitudes towards low cost carriers (LCCs), a surging sector of the aviation industry. And it turns out that more than half of the respondents will sacrifice quality service to save on airfare.
The Expedia 2014 LCC Airline Index asked 1,500 adults in the UK, Germany, France, Ireland and Spain to report on that trade-off between fares and frills. What sacrifices would they be most/least willing to make in pursuit of the lowest fare? What types of trips are optimal for an LCC, versus a traditional carrier? What sorts of customer service do they expect on LCC? And what features are most important when selecting an LCC?LCCs are booming in popularity. EasyJet and Ryanair are the two most popular LCCs serving Western Europe. 71 per cent of Western European study respondents (and 99 per cent of those from Ireland, where Ryanair and Aer Lingus are based) report having flown on an LCC in the past two years. The CAPA Centre for Aviation reports from September 2012 suggest that between 2000 and 2012, approximately 130 LCCs were launched, with 70 per cent still in operation. According to Morgan Stanley, LCC European market share has grown from approximately 14 per cent in 2003 to almost 40 per cent in June 2014. Expedia’s own data shows that LCCs’ business has nearly doubled over the last five years, growing over 90 per cent from 2009 to 2013, on Expedia sites worldwide.The reason for low cost carrier success in Europe is intuitive: low cost. The 2014 LCC Airline Index revealed that “saving money” is the top desire among European flyers. 36 per cent of study respondents cited it as their prevailing concern, outranking “airport locations” (24 per cent), “flight times” (16 per cent) and other criteria. “Saving money” was most important across all countries in the study. The Expedia 2014 LCC Airline Index asked Western European travellers which features they would be willing to sacrifice in order to save money. 65 per cent of the respondents chose “in-flight entertainment”. The list includes pillows and blankets (63 per cent), snacks and beverages (51 per cent), ability to choose seat in advance (45 per cent) and others. Across all ages and genders, in-flight entertainment and pillows and blankets were considered the two least important perks.The Expedia 2014 LCC Airline Index asked respondents which trips would be most appropriate for an LCC flight. Weekend trips were most popular, honeymoons the least. 45 per cent of Western Europeans would consider an LCC for a flight time of up to three hours. For a flight approaching five hours, that figure drops to 23 per cent, and tumbles thereafter. Only 3 per cent of study respondents would fly an LCC for a flight up to eight hours long, and 1 per cent would fly up to 12 hours. Younger flyers expressed more willingness to fly longer on an LCC, with 42 per cent of under-35 flyers willing to fly more than three hours, versus 24 per cent among those 55 and older.The study revealed that 81 per cent of Western Europeans expect to receive “much or somewhat better” customer service when flying with a traditional carrier versus an LCC. 77 per cent report that they are willing to accept worse customer service in exchange for a cheaper seat.