European Aviation Club: Charter airlines were the original low cost long haul operators

European Aviation Club chairman Rigas Dogansi, speaking at CAPA's Airlines in Transition Conference on 25/26-Mar-2015, stated (25-Mar-2015) there have been low-cost long-haul airlines operating in Europe for the past 40 years, in the form of charter carriers. The keys to their success have been higher seating densities and higher load factors than have been historically achieved by legacy carriers. These European charter carriers have been offering seating densities of 30%-70% higher on the same aircraft than their legacy competitors.