Low Cost Airlines

Low-cost airlines offer air travel at normally very low rates by cutting down on expensive customary in-flight passenger services. They are also referred to as no-frills airlines or budget carriers.

The idea of Low caost airlines was originated in the US in 1971 by Herb Kelleher, Southwest Airlines offered tickets that worked out to be cheaper than a car or coach ride. It is the fourth largest US airline in terms of domestic customers carried annually. It has been profitable every year since 1973. Budget airlines have been enthusiastically accepted by the Indian passengers.

The business model of them broadly includes the following features: a single passenger class; a single type of aircraft for lesser maintenance, flying early in the morning or late in the evening to avoid air traffic delays and take advantage of lower landing fees, short flights and fast turnaround times; emphasis on direct sales of tickets, especially over the Internet, hence avoiding agent commissions, optional paid-for in-flight food and drink aggressive fuel hedging programmes; and segregation of ancillary charges.

Some of the low cost airlines opertaing from india are

Deccan

Formerly known as Air Deccan the airline is operated by Deccan Aviation. It was started by Captain G. R. Gopinath and its first flight was launched on 23 August 2003 from Bangalore to Hubballi. It was known popularly as the common man's airlines, with is logo showing two palms joining together. The dream of Captain Gopinath was to enable "every Indian to fly at least once in his/her lifetime." Air Deccan was the first airline in India to fly to second tier cities like Hubballi,Mangalore, Madurai and Visakhapatnam from metropolitan areas like Bangalore and Chennai.

Go air

The airline was established in June 2004. On 9 June 2005 GoAir announced that it intended to launch operations in October 2005 with a fleet of 20 leased Airbus A320 aircraft. Initial flights would be in the southern and western areas of India with the first nine A320s, the remaining 11 aircraft being added in the second year. Go Air is wholly owned by the Wadia Group Mumbai based and majority owners of Bombay Dyeing and Britannia Industries.The airline operates its services under the brand GoAir. GoAir, a low-fare carrier launched with the objective of commoditising air travel, offers airline seats at marginal premium to train fares across India. The airline currently operates across 11 destinations through 561 weekly flights.

The GoAir route network spans prominent business metropolis as well as key leisure destinations across the Indian subcontinent. GoAir is currently servicing the airports at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Mumbai and Srinagar. Through this route network GoAir ensures a smart value-for-money option for both business and leisure travellers, without compromising on either safety or service factors.

Indigo
The airline commenced operations on 4 August 2006 with a service from Delhi to Imphal via Guwahati. The airline is owned by InterGlobe Enterprises. It took delivery of its first Airbus A320 aircraft on 28 July 2006 and received six aircraft during 2006. Nine more aircraft were delivered in 2007 taking the total to 15. The carrier has set a target of serving approximately 30 Indian cities by 2010 with a fleet size of 40 A320 and A321 aircraft. The airline will receive all 100 A320 family aircraft by 2016.

Jetlite

JetLite, formerly Air Sahara, is an airline based in New Delhi, India.[1] Controlled by Jet Airways, the airline operates scheduled services connecting metropolitan centres in India. The airline also provides helicopters which are available for charter services and aerial photography. Its main base is Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, with hubs at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad, Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai.

Sahara
The airline was established on 20 September 1991 and began operations on 3 December 1993 with two Boeing 737-200 aircraft as Sahara Airlines. Initially services were primarily concentrated in the northern sectors of India, keeping Delhi as its base, and then operations were extended to cover all the country. Sahara Airlines was rebranded as Air Sahara on 2 October 2000, although Sahara Airlines remains the carrier's registered name. On 22 March 2004 it became an international carrier with the start of flights from Chennai to Colombo. It is part of the major Sahara India Pariwar business conglomerate. The uncertainty over the airline's fate has caused its share of the domestic Indian air transport market go down from approximately 11% in January 2006 to a reported 8.5% in April.

SpiceJet

SpiceJet is a low-cost airline based in New Delhi, India. It began service in May 2005. It was voted as the best low-cost airline in South Asia and Central Asia region by Skytrax in 2007. SpiceJet’s mission is to become India’s preferred low-cost airline, delivering the lowest
air fares with the highest consumer value, to price sensitive consumers.

SpiceJet was earlier known as Royal Airways, a reincarnation of ModiLuft. it was promoted by Ajay Singh, Sanjay Malhotra and the Kansagra family.

SpiceJet marked its entry in service with Rs. 99 fares for the first 99 days, with 9000 seats available at this rate.Their marketing theme "offering low 'everyday spicy fares' and great guest services to price conscious travelers. Their aim is to compete with the Indian Railways passengers travelling in AC coaches.