Thursday 20 September 2012

Restriction that come with the Cheap Tickets of European LCCs


There are many LCCs in Europe. Due to the Open-Skies Treaty of 1992 among the member countries of the EU, the requirement of government permission for flying the flag-carrier airlines of other countries was withdrawn. This opened the way for LCCs to fly without any restrictions or limitations. The passengers could now travel on air ticket international within the EU without any hindrances. The European model of LCCs is based on certain restrictions which these carriers impose on the passengers for flying on their cheap tickets. These are:
  • No meals are provided inside the flight. Or, if it is provided, it is charged for. The best option is to bring your own food. However, these might not allow the messy food on flights. Further, there might be restriction for carrying the liquids. Liquids are generally required to be carried in bottles of up to 100 ml and these shall be carried in the clear, transparent bag of 1 liter only.
  • No in-flight entertainment is provided by the airlines. So, the only option is to carry your own laptops, ipods, books, magazines, etc.
  • The LCCs might also land you at an airport which is not so famous and which can be far away from the city where you have to go. This is so because the LCCs prefer to use those airports which have low airport costs in order to provide cheap tickets.
  • If you are late for check in or even for getting the boarding pass, you would miss the flight. The airplane will not wait for the late passengers. There is a requirement for quick turnaround times of the aircrafts so that maximum number of flights can be accommodated in a day.
  • You usually do not find the tickets of connecting flights on LCCs since these mostly operate on the point-to-point routing model. So, if you need the connecting air ticket international, you will have to make a fresh booking and even have to check-in baggage another time. This could be inconvenient for passengers.
  • Extra charges: The airlines also charge extra sums for a number of things such as extra baggage, meals and other products which are usually allowed for free in traditional carriers. 

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