The battleground among low-cost carriers has never been so stretched. Where once it was easy to split the market into either low-cost or network carrier camps, the lines have long since been blurred. Now even among the low-cost carriers themselves, the proposition can differ widely, whether it be frequent flyer schemes, distribution platforms, onboard services, codeshares or even fully-fledged alliance membership.

On the one hand categorising airlines as a low-cost carrier probably only really matters to the media; it makes it easier for people like myself to brand a carrier as standing in one camp or another. Air Berlin, after all, has never described itself as a low-cost carrier – so its evolution into an alliance member with oneworld arguably should not have been a surprise. Others tried to dodge being categorised in traditional camps at all; Virgin Blue for example in 2005 dubbed itself a New World Carrier.

But the upscale evolution among low-cost carriers, and its potential impact on its fundamentals, was one of the under-currents during the recent World Low Cost Airlines Congress in London. And what is clear is more than ever is no one size fits all.

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Alex Cruz - Chief executive, Vueling
Read the Airline Business cover interview from June 2010 with Vueling chief executive Alex Cruz here
“It has split between fundamentalists and the others that are not,” suggests Alex Cruz, chief executive of Spanish low-cost carrier Vueling. While the fundamentalists’ tendency is to stick to the core low-cost model, others are tinkering further at the fringes of the legacy world – further enticed by the opportunity to attract and retain business travellers that have downgraded during the economic crisis.

“The market conditions have evolved. I don’t believe the rest of the carriers that are fundamentalists will be able to continue forever [without evolving],” says Cruz.

While his own airline Vueling is among those evolving and already has some mainstream characteristics, such as GDS distribution, Cruz insists this will only be done on the low-cost carrier’s terms. “Number one [priority] is to have the lowest possible cost base. Period,” he says. “Then keep evolving the product….so long as we are not compromising the first premise.” While he does not consider Vueling to be a fundamentalist low-cost carrier in outlook, he adds: “I do need to be fundamentalist about the cost-base.”

This is one area all low-cost carrier executives appear to agree. But what is noticeable is the fundamentals of the low-cost business can differ depending where in the world or maturity cycle you are. For example, secondary airports have fuelled much of the low-cost growth in the European and American markets, but in other parts of the world such opportunities are more limited.

“Australia is a bit different,” notes former bmibaby chief and Tiger Airways Australia’s new managing director, Crawford Rix. “When you fly from nowhere to nowhere, unlike in Europe, you really are flying nowhere to nowhere. It’s a very different environment we operate in.”

But at the same time the environment does offer its own benefits. “As we grow our fleet, there are some great opportunities to fly overnight in Australia and by doing that we will up our utilisation,” he says.

FlyDubai’s chief executive Ghaith Al Ghaith points to a similar situation in his region. “The fact you don’t have secondary airports means that will not allow you to operate to cheaper airports is one issue that is different. But the positive side is our airports in the region are open 24 hours a day, so we can mount utilisation around the clock and our utilisation is always going to be better [than other regions]. That is a great advantage.”

In Europe low-cost carriers are increasingly present at more mainstream airports and even cost-crusader Ryanair has made recent moves into higher yielding more mainstream airports of late, such as its newly launched base at Barcelona El Prat airport.

“In Europe we have been living through a phenomenal passage of secondary airport growth,” notes Vueling’s Cruz. “Part of that growth has been funded by public money and this has driven strong passenger growth.” But he questions what the impact might be should the new stranglehold on public purse strings in Europe hit these airports: “If the money goes away, will the passengers go away?”

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In Brazil, chief financial officer at the country’s largest low-cost carrier Gol, Leonardo Pereira, highlights the large segment of business travellers in the country. “You cannot ignore that segment,” he says. Gol certainly has not. Its acquisition of Varig in 2008 may have brought with it an ill-fated flirtation with long-haul - from which it rapidly withdrew and returned to what Pereira terms Gol’s “original DNA” – but also gave it a big presence at Brazil’s key airports and an established frequent flyer programme. The carrier has also subsequently embarked on codeshares with several network carriers, including American Airlines and Delta Air Lines.

But Pereira believes it retains its key low-cost fundamentals like operating a single fleet type and 95% of flights being less than three hours. “We're shifting, but we are keeping the basics. Our cost base is going back to the 2006 pre-Varig levels. Costs [this year] will be slightly lower than 2006 levels,” he says. “The model still has a low-cost structure. If you keep to the original values, it is not going to destroy the model, it is going to evolve it.”

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Even Southwest Airlines, the original poster-child for the low-cost sector, has dipped its toe in the network world. It continues to work on codeshare-style relationships with Mexican carrier Volaris, and will when it completes its recently announced acquisition of AirTran, move a little away from another of the low-cost carrier staples; adherence to a single-fleet type. Southwest plans to operate Airtran’s 86 Boeing 717s, alongside its existing 737-300/500/700s.

“We’ll be close to 700 aircraft [combined],” explains Southwest’s executive vice president, strategy and planning, Bob Jordan. “When you get to a certain size, the key is to be able to do things efficiently. The challenge you always have is doing small things in small numbers.”

But Jordan adds: “We haven’t shifted in the key elements. Those things never changed. [Over the years] we have refined our processes.”

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Adel Ali, inset (200)
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Elsewhere the low-cost model has been pushed further by the development of long-haul operations. Here AirAsia X remains the trailblazer. Its chief executive Azran Osman Rani has been a regular at the Low Cost Airlines Congress over the years and he points to a noticeable a change in perceptions over the years. “I really enjoy coming to this conference to meet people who are writing off our chances of success,” he jokes. “This is my fourth time and there are less of them.

“One of the things we have learnt is not to come in with any pre-conceived ideas. Our journey has been one of a lot of experimentation and learning…and we continue to do so,” he says. The carrier, which has just secured access to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport and will launch thrice-weekly flights from Kuala Lumpur in December, is also embarking on steps to separate out from its parent with a public listing earmarked for next year. Azran says under this structure it can be even bolder in its experimentation.

With more carriers eyeing the long-haul field and budget carriers continuing to push the envelope of revenue generation, service offerings and passenger connections, the low-cost sector has and continues to evolve. “I think it has been changing for a long time,” says Adel Ali, chief executive at pioneering Middle East low-cost carrier Air Arabia. “The world was a different place then and it is a different place today. Low-cost carriers are changing to ensure they keep their costs down.”

Source: Airline Business