Budget airlines spread their wings across the Atlantic

Discount airlines are spreading their wings across the Atlantic, driving down ticket prices and expanding service to major and second-tier cities in the biggest shake-up to travel across the pond in decades. New long-haul budget airlines are chipping away at the near-monopoly the major, full-service airlines enjoy on routes between North America and Europe, on which they control 80% of capacity. Targeting customers who fly infrequently or once visited Europe on package tours, they are bringing the shift toward low-cost flying to one of the globe’s busiest and most lucrative corridors. Norwegian, Canada’s WestJet and Iceland’s WOW air offer trans-Atlantic trips that cost as little as half of what their major competitors charge. While these newcomers and others represent only a tiny fraction of the seats on these routes, major airlines are fighting back. Low-fare offshoots of full-service carriers, including Air Canada’s rouge unit and Lufthansa’s Eurowings are offering cheaper fares, fewer amenities and planes outfitted with more seats than their premium sister airlines. Air France-KLM’s CE Jean-Marc Janaillac recently said his company “is looking at all possible ways to respond to the market trend of low-cost, long-haul” but hasn’t settled on a plan. Norwegian has been the most aggressive since it began flying the North Atlantic in 2014. <br/>