Low Cost Air Travel: Welcome Aboard?

Abstract

This paper presents a small sample of passenger’s experiences of low cost air travel (LCAT) and the opinions of principle tourism professionals. The paper draws from research undertaken in Newcastle upon Tyne in the north-east of England. The paper initially discusses the limited amount of focus given to social class by those academics concerned with tourism and travel. In particular the paper suggests that a new emphasis is needed on the role and impact of social class on individual’s abilities to partake in low cost air travel and the inclusions and exclusions social class can underpin within touristic experiences. Literature on low cost airlines is then addressed, identifying an overemphasis on the financial success stories of LCAT, suggesting a need for a clearer focus on the social and cultural impacts of LCAT. The paper then draws from 12 interviews and 38 questionnaire responses from the travelling public and travel professionals. In so doing the paper suggests that experiences offered of LCAT highlight the role of financial, social and cultural capital in an individual’s abilities to partake in the LCAT boom — where the middle class or those already mobile may be those who primarily benefit from the arrival of LCAT.