Low cost long haul airlines are becoming a vital new ingredient of a fast changing industry

20 February, 2018

Reservations were held until very recently about the long term validity of the low cost long haul airline model, but this has changed greatly, as full service airlines themselves have introduced subsidiaries. Singapore Airlines now has Scoot, Qantas has Jetstar, IAG' has Level, Lufthansa has Eurowings, Air Canada has rouge, Korean Air has Jin Air and there are many other examples. These join to compete with major independents including the Norwegian Air Group, AirAsia X and Cebu Pacific, whose services are now criss-crossing the world.

To discuss this exciting expanding area of the market CAPA - Centre for Aviation has announced that it has established a major new partnership with Seville Tourism to launch a strategic airline summit dedicated to this subject. To be held in the Spanish province, the CAPA Low Cost Long Haul Global Summit, will take place over 08-09 October 2018, and is the world's first conference dedicated solely to exploring the evolution and sustainability of the low cost long haul airline model.

The Summit complements CAPA's existing suite of global aviation events held in Asia, Europe, the Americas, Australasia and the Middle East, and is expected to attract more than 250 senior level executives and decision makers from LCCs, airports and industry suppliers.

FIND OUT MORE: Visit the dedicated CAPA Low Cost Long Haul Global Summit site for all the latest news about the new event.

"The long haul low cost model has rapidly progressed from a position where its viability was questioned to becoming an essential part of the international system," says Peter Harbison, executive chairman, CAPA - Centre for Aviation.

"Today there is a growing number of successful independent long haul low cost operators, as well as a full service airline subsidiaries. This recognition by full service airlines of their need to respond in kind is a clear endorsement of the fact that long haul LCCs are here to stay," he adds.

To introduce proceedings at the Summit, CAPA will provide an in depth, big picture overview of low cost long haul developments globally, outlining the main proponents and describing some of the strategies that have been adopted. This will be followed by a debate featuring LCCs and industry figures analysing the industry role and future prospects of this disruptive business model.

There will also be keynote presentations from leading low cost long haul operators, and panels covering issues such as: the role of low cost long haul subsidiaries in full service carrier groups; the viability of independent low cost long haul carriers vs those that belong to large LCC groupings; the LCCs' evolving relationships with airports; low cost long haul to short haul connectivity; virtual interlining, and the role of new-generation equipment in enabling the growth of the model - including the impact of long haul narrowbodies on traditional high fare markets.