| One of the great debates raging across the travel | | | | Meanwhile, the budget airlines have picked up the |
| industry at the moment is the future of cheap | | | | slack on short and even medium-haul routes. |
| flights. With the advent of low-cost airlines at the | | | | Some, such as Ryanair, have even managed to |
| end of the 1990s, new vistas of travel opened up | | | | expand during this period, placing itself in what |
| for many households who had previously | | | | looks like a near-unassailable position. |
| regarded flying as way out of their price range. | | | | However, there are still doomsayers within the |
| Nowadays, with carriers such as Ryanair, Monarch | | | | travel world that insist the bubble will inevitably |
| Airlines and easyJet dominating the market, cheap | | | | burst. They point to increases in fuel duty and |
| flights are an everyday part of life. As the global | | | | airport charges, and argue that this will eventually |
| economic downturn continues to put strain on | | | | no longer make cheap flights profitable. |
| households' pockets, they are increasingly being | | | | Budget airlines such as easyJet have complained |
| used by business travellers, as well as | | | | bitterly about the British government's increases in |
| budget-conscious holidaymakers. | | | | Air Passenger Duty (APD), and some have even |
| Many within the sector point to the increased | | | | pulled out of many UK airports as a result. |
| amount of market share taken by the low-cost | | | | However, carriers such as Ryanair have |
| carriers over the past year as proof that cheap | | | | countered this by expanding their operations in |
| flights are here to stay. It is certainly true that | | | | countries like Spain, which have halved their |
| the recession has made trading conditions for the | | | | airport charges and waived all tourism taxes to |
| more established chartered airlines very difficult. | | | | attract investment. Recently, Ryanair boss Michael |
| All airlines were feeling the pinch as the price of | | | | O'Leary said that he confidently expected his |
| fuel kept creeping higher and higher ahead of the | | | | airline to be offering more cheap flights than ever |
| credit crunch, but the big long-haul companies and | | | | before in the future. |
| the flag carriers have been hardest hit by the | | | | Certainly for the time being, a quick look at price |
| global slump. This is due to a combination of | | | | comparison websites shows the casual viewer |
| factors - particularly a drop in demand for | | | | that there is no shortage of deals on cheap flights |
| business, club or first-class tickets - leading to | | | | out there. As long as the sector remains split on |
| empty seats on planes and the need to | | | | the issue, there is no way of telling how long this |
| implement capacity cuts to stem financial losses. | | | | state of affairs will endure. |