Airliner World Magazine November 2024 Back Issue

LOW-COST CARRIERS IN THE SPOTLIGHT

The November 2024 edition of Airliner World, incorporating Airports of the World, is a low-cost carrier special, featuring two of the world’s biggest names in budget air travel.

In the first of two two-part specials, we look at Ryanair, Europe’s largest low-cost airline. Assistant editor Robert Veitch uncovers the airline’s early days, flying a solitary Embraer turboprop from Waterford to London/Gatwick, to its transformation under the leadership of Michael O’Leary. Meanwhile, editor Thomas Haynes brings us up to date with Ryanair’s race for renewal and how the airline plans to upgrade its fleet to carry 300 million passengers annually by 2034.

Hoping across the pond, we take a walk down memory lane with Southwest Airlines’ founder, the late Herb Kelleher. His vision for the airline was truly the beginning of the low-cost revolution, inspiring countless others to enter the market.

Assistant editor Lee Cross examines how legacy carriers reacted to the low-cost boom in the 1990s by creating their own ‘airline within an airline’, often with varying degrees of success.

Richard Schuurman reports on a new chapter for the Dutch flag carrier KLM as it welcomes its first Airbus A321neo to the fleet. After being a loyal customer of Boeing for many years, the aircraft’s arrival marks a pivotal moment in the airline’s history. Chris Sloan goes behind the scenes at Hawaiian Airlines’ operation at its Honolulu HQ. We then head to New Zealand, where Michael Magnusson tells us about the recent evolution of regional carrier Air Chathams.