List of low-cost airlines

The following is a list of low-cost carriers organised by home country. A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (also known as a no-frills, discount or budget carrier or airline) is an airline that offers generally low fares in exchange for eliminating many traditional passenger services.

Africa

A Mango Boeing 737. The airline ceased operations in July 2021.
A kulula.com jet at Cape Town International Airport. The airline ceased operations in June 2022.
 Egypt
 Kenya
  • Fly540
  • Jambojet
 Morocco
  • Air Arabia Maroc
 Nigeria
  • Green Africa Airways
 South Africa
 Zimbabwe
  • Fastjet Zimbabwe

Americas

A Flybondi Boeing 737-83N
A Volaris Airbus A320-232
A Spirit Airlines Airbus A321 approaching Newark Liberty International Airport

Asia

A Jetstar Asia A320 at Kansai International Airport in Osaka, Japan. The airline ceased operations on Thursday, 31 July 2025.
An AirAsia Airbus A320 aircraft in Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
An IndiGo Airbus A320neo. The airline is the largest operator of A320neos.
A Cebu Pacific A330-300 approaching Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Metro Manila, Philippines
HK Express Airbus A320-200
Flydubai Boeing 737-800 approaching Dubai International Airport, UAE.
A Lion Air Boeing 737-900ER at Singapore Changi Airport. Lion Air is the largest low-cost airline in Indonesia.
 Afghanistan
 Armenia
  • FlyOne Armenia
 Bangladesh
  • Fly Dhaka Airlines
 Cambodia
  • AirAsia Cambodia
  • Cambodia Airways
 China
 Hong Kong
 India
 Indonesia
 Japan
 Kazakhstan
  • FlyArystan
 Kuwait
 Malaysia
 Nepal
 Oman
 Pakistan
 Philippines
 Saudi Arabia
 Singapore
 South Korea
 Taiwan
 Thailand
 United Arab Emirates
 Vietnam

Europe

A Ryanair Boeing 737-800. Ryanair is the largest low-cost airline in Europe and second largest in the world.
Eurowings Airbus A320-200
An Airbus A319 of EasyJet, the largest budget airline in the United Kingdom.
 Austria
  • EasyJet Europe
  • Eurowings Europe
 Czech Republic
 France
 Germany
 Hungary
Iceland
  • Play
 Ireland
Italy
Malta
  • Lauda Europe
  • Malta Air
  • Wizz Air Malta
 Moldova
  • FlyOne
  • HiSky
 Netherlands
 Norway
 Poland
  • Buzz
 Romania
  • Dan Air
  • Fly Lili
  • HiSky Europe
 Russia
 Spain
 Sweden
 Switzerland
 Turkey
 Ukraine
 United Kingdom

Oceania

 Australia

Largest low-cost carriers

This is a list of largest low-cost carriers in the world, ranked by number of transported passengers, shown below in millions.

Ranks Airline / holding '15 '14 '13 '12 '11 '10 Sources
1 Republic of Ireland Ryanair 101.4 86.4 81.4 79.6 76.4 72.7 [1] [2]
2 United Kingdom easyJet1 69.9 65.3 61.4 59.2 55.5 49.7 [3]
3 Malaysia Air Asia Group2 50.6 45.6 42.6 34.1 29.9 25.7 [4] [5]
4 Indonesia Lion Air Group3 45.0 37.9 32.0 27.0 20.5 [6]
5 Brazil Gol Transportes Aéreos 27.1 25.7 21.0 15.0 13.6 10.9
6 Norway Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA 25.8 24.0 20.7 17.7 15.7 13.0 [7]
7 Spain Vueling 24.8 21.5 17.2 14.8 12.3 11.0 [8]
8 Turkey Pegasus Airlines 22.3 19.7 16.9 13.6 11.3 8.6
9 Hungary Wizz Air5 19.2 12.0 11.2 9.6 7.8 5.8 [9]
10 Australia Jetstar6 18.9 17.1 15.2 10.5 9.7 8.0
11 Philippines Cebu Pacific7 18.4 16.9 14.4 12.3 10.5 [10]
12 United States Spirit Airlines 17.9 14.3 12.4 10.4 8.5 7.0 [11]
13 India SpiceJet 11.7 12.6 11.7 9.5 8.6 6.6 [12]
14 Netherlands Transavia8 10.8 9.9 8.9 - - - [13]
15 United States Allegiant Air 9.4 8.0 7.1 6.6 6.1 5.9 [14]
16 United Arab Emirates flydubai 9.0 7.3 6.8 5.1 [15]
17 Vietnam VietJet Air9 8.5 7.0 6.8 6.5 6.0
18 China Spring Airlines 7.9 7.6 6.6 6.7 5.8 5.3
19 United Arab Emirates AirArabia10 6.8 6.1 5.3 4.7 4.5 [16]
20 United Kingdom Jet2.com 5.9 6.0 5.5 4.8 4.2 3.4 [17]
21 Thailand Nok Air 4.8 5.0 4.5 3.3 3.7 3.9
22 South Africa Mango 2.3 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.3 1.3 [18]
23 South Africa Fastjet11 0.8 0.6 0.4 <0.1 [19]
Notes

Defunct low-cost carriers

Africa

Algeria
  • Antinea Airlines
  • Ecoair International
Morocco
  • Atlas Blue
  • Jet4you
Mozambique
  • Fastjet Mozambique
 South Africa
Tanzania
  • Fastjet Tanzania
Zimbabwe
  • Zimbabwe flyafrica.com

Americas

Argentina
Barbados
  • REDjet
Brazil
  • BRA Transportes Aéreos
  • OceanAir
  • WebJet Linhas Aéreas
Canada
Chile
  • Latin American Wings
Colombia
Costa Rica
  • Aeropostal Alas de Centroamerica
Honduras
  • EasySky
Ecuador
  • Icaro Air
Mexico
  • Aero California
  • Aladia
  • Aviacsa
  • Avolar
  • Click Mexicana (until 2008; Click was rebranded MexicanaClick and was no longer a low-cost airline)
  • Interjet
  • Líneas Aéreas Azteca
  • SARO
  • TAESA Lineas Aéreas
Peru
  • Viva Air Perú
United States
Uruguay
  • U Air

Asia

Azerbaijan
  • AZALJet
  • Buta Airways
Bahrain
  • Bahrain Air
Georgia
  • Flyvista
Hong Kong
  • Oasis Hong Kong Airlines
India
Indonesia
Israel
Japan
Jordan
  • Air Arabia Jordan
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Macau
  • Viva Macau
 Malaysia
  Nepal
  • Cosmic Air
  • Fly Yeti
Pakistan
Philippines
 Republic of Korea
  • Air Pohang
Saudi Arabia
  • Sama
Singapore
Sri Lanka
Taiwan
  • U-Land Airlines
  • V Air
Thailand
United Arab Emirates

Europe

Albania
  • Albatros Airways
  • Belle Air
 Austria
Belgium
Cyprus
Czech Republic
  • Blue Air Moravia
Denmark
Faroe Islands
  • FaroeJet
Finland
  • Flying Finn
France
  • Air Turquoise
  • Flywest
Germany
Greece
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Netherlands
  • V Bird
Norway
Poland
  • Air Polonia
  • Centralwings
  • Direct Fly
  • GetJet
  • OLT Express Poland
Romania
  • Carpatair (now operates as a regional airline)
  • Fly Romania
Russia
  • Avianova
  • Dobrolet
  • Sky Express
Serbia
  • Centavia
Slovakia
Spain
Sweden
Ukraine
United Kingdom

Oceania

Australia
New Zealand

See also

References

  1. ^ Flybondi official website
  2. ^ "Indigo Partners acquires stake in Alas del Sur - report". ch-aviation. ch-aviation GmbH. 2 July 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  3. ^ Jet Smart official website
  4. ^ Gamboa, Víctor; Villa y Caña, Pedro (26 December 2023). "Mexicana de Aviación vuelve a volar con viajes "más baratos" y equipaje de hasta 25 kilos sin costo". El Universal (in Spanish). Compañía Periodística Nacional. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  5. ^ "Mexicana de Aviación will become the new regional, low-cost airline". The Yucutan Times. 11 August 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  6. ^ InterCaribbean Airways
  7. ^ "Low Cost Cheap Flights to and from Forli Airport".
  8. ^ "Smartavia войдет в лето с 15 воздушными судами, три из которых Airbus A320neo". ATO. 17 April 2021.
  9. ^ Eastern Air Lines