LCC experiences: how was it for you? Hybridisation and Airlines in Transition

Is the LCC label still valid? Are they only about point-to-point markets? What are the prospects for LCCs created by full service carriers? Is there a unit cost threshold that defines a low-cost carrier? Peter van Fenema, Adjunct Professor at McGill University, led a panel discussion at the CAPA World Aviation Summit in Amsterdam in Nov-2013, in which executives shared their experiences of being involved in LCCs.

The panel included representatives of a European LCC owned by a legacy group, a legacy group planning a new LCC subsidiary, a start-up LCC in Africa, China's only pure LCC and an investor in LCCs.

In our fourth in a series of reports on the panel discussions at the Summit, we summarise recent LCC experiences and developments.