Low-cost carrier
airline with generally lower fares
A low-cost carrier (LCC) or low-cost airline, also called a budget or discount carrier or airline, is an airline that is operated with an emphasis on minimizing operating costs. It sacrifices certain traditional airline luxuries for cheaper fares. To make up for revenue lost in decreased ticket prices, the airline may charge extra fees, such as for carry-on baggage.
The term originated within the airline industry referring to airlines with a lower operating cost structure than their competitors. The term is often applied to any carrier with low ticket prices and limited services regardless of their operating models. Low-cost carriers should not be confused with regional airlines that operate short-haul flights without service, or with full-service airlines offering some reduced fares.
Some airlines advertise themselves as low-cost while maintaining products usually associated with traditional mainline carriers' services. These products include preferred or assigned seating, catering, differentiated premium cabins, satellite or ground-based Wi-Fi internet, and in-flight audio and video entertainment. The term ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) has been used, particularly in North America and Europe, to refer to carriers that do not provide these services and amenities.
Business model
The low-cost carrier business model practices vary widely.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q190915. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Low-cost carrier” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.