Ultra Low Cost Carriers Grow in USA
By Nick June 15, 2007
$10 one way budget airline tickets within the United States? And they say the US airline industry is hurting. Okay, went too far there. But new American Budget airlines called Ultra Low Cost Carriers are trying to grow a bit in the US, and they will embark on the challenge of linking this sprawling country…cheaply in the air.
Spirit Airlines and Skybus are currently the only “ultra low cost carriers” taking on the United States, and I would be surprised to see another independent carrier sprout up anytime soon.
Spirit Airlines, who is trying to change since being named the worst online airline, Regardless of the past, here is a brief look at what each of these American budget airlines offer passengers.
Spirit Airlines
Spirit Airlines has always been a budget airline focusing on cheap flights to the Caribbean. They’ve continued this theme recently to include a few more cities out west, including LA, San Francisco, and Las Vegas. In the near future, Spirit will be adding flights from Fort Lauderdale to Lima Peru, Honduras, and Nicaragua. This will give Spirit the sole lead as the mainstream budget airline that services South America. Here’s a complete Spirit Air Route Map.
Current airline promotions by Spirit Air include $9 Fares that anyone can get, as long as they join a “special” members type of club with their email and personal info. Spirit Airlines also has really began to push their beach vacation packages as well, which do seem to be pretty good deals.
Skybus
Skybus is currently a very niche airline, servicing only flights to or from Columbus, Ohio. I have heard rumors that they will be growing over time, but I haven’t seen much action regarding their efforts of adding flights to and from places other than Columbus.
But, if a flight to/from Columbus is needed in your travels, Skybus has some great airfares. Their most famous promotion is a guarantee of ten seats per flight for only $10. So if you reserve your seat early, you could only be paying $10 for your ticket. It’s a good deal, to say the least.
Even though they aren’t rapidly expanding nationwide, I won’t give up hope on Skybus yet since they’re a promising little airline.
So the future of ultra low cost carriers is obviously up in the air. I think these two airlines will be around for awhile, since they each focus on their respective niches and aren’t challenging the goliath of the budget airline industry: Southwest. So they could continue to prosper while serving US budget travelers.
Topics: Budget Airfare and Airlines, North America |
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