Talks to Watch

How Budget Airlines Work

10.2M views · May 31, 2016 · 8:28 · 2 HN recommenders · 3 mentions · discussed 2017–2019

A Wendover Productions explainer on how budget airlines can sell tickets for under 10 euros. It covers the costs airlines face and how low-cost carriers structure their business.

Why Hacker News points people here: HN points to it as a short, clear answer to why budget airlines are so cheap.

“Wendover has a short 8 minute video”HN comment, 2017

What Hacker News said 3

RecommendsjasodeDec 2017

“Wendover has a short 8 minute video”

Short explainer on how budget airlines charge lower prices.

Full comment

For some extra background on EasyJet and Ryanair's ability to charge lower prices than Air France and KLM, Wendover has a short 8 minute video: this video

in “Trying to spark an emotional connection in the commoditized airline market” · view on HN
RecommendspimmenApr 2019

“Well, lots and lots and lots of reasons why.”

Explains why European budget airlines are so cheap.

Full comment

Europe has extremely cheap prizes because the big airlines are trying to compete with the budget airlines. The real question is "why are budget airlines so cheap in Europe (they often cost about a third of what a budget ticket in the US would cost)?". Well, lots and lots and lots of reasons why. this video

in “Sweden Wants to Revive Europe’s Overnight Trains” · view on HN
Cites itchipperyman573Feb 2019

“You would be pretty surprised how many costs airlines have to pay.”

Source for airline per-passenger margins.

Full comment

You should check this video out: link You would be pretty surprised how many costs airlines have to pay. An extra $4/passenger/flight would eat significantly into their bottom line. This is especially true for budget airlines, which often already make less than this per passenger already (source: this video )

in “The Colgan Air disaster was a milestone in aviation safety” · view on HN