Text A. Travelling by low-cost carriers

In the good old days it was easy. Most countries had a national airline: KLM was the Dutch one, LOT –the Polish national airline, and so on. The exception to this was the US, where different major airlines such as Pan Am, American Airlines, or Delta, competed only for clients. Most of these airlines offered similar products at more or less the same prices. Of course, some companies concentrated more on short-haul, domestic flights – the sort of flight where you are only just in the air when the cabin crew are telling you to get ready for landing. Others like Qantas became famous for their long-haul, intercontinental routes, offering free stopovers to make eighteen-hour flights more attractive to customers.

The air ticket itself was, and still is, a complex business. The basic return ticket was the most common: the single ticket was so expensive that nobody ever bought one except in an emergency. And of course, the traditional ticket came in different classes to suit different pockets: economy for the masses, business for the executives, and first class for those lucky few who could pay ten times the economy tariff to get more legroom and a seat that converts into a bed!

The whole system was turned upside down, however, by the arrival of the low-cost carriers. Ryanair got no-frills flying going in the early 90s, modeling itself on the American budget airline, Southwest Airlines, easyJet was quick to follow, and since then the idea of getting on a plane the same way you would get on a coach has really taken off, with Germanwings, Smart Wings, BMI Baby, Vueling, and a hundred others. The rest is history, with traditional airlines going deeper and deeper in the first two decades of this millennium.

The low-cost strategy is based on limited turnaround times at airports – usually twenty to twenty-five minutes. This means that the airlines can get more flights out of a day – eight as opposed to the normal six. Some low-cost carriers also use secondary airports, with much lower landing and take-over charges. Paperless ticketing and sales over the Internet also keep costs down. They also issue single tickets only, and of course, there are no first-class or business-class seats. No free newspapers nor free food. In fact, no free anything, although you can pay to buy most things during the flight.

And the future? Paperless ticketing and Internet sales from traditional airlines? That’s already here. Low-cost flights to long-haul destinations? That’s less likely to happen, precisely because of the way low-cost carriers make their money by fitting so many flights into each day. But who knows? The sky’s the limit!

Vocabulary

airline, n	авиакомпания
flight, n	рейс
short-haul flight	маршрут малой протяженности
long-haul flight	длительный перелет
domestic flight	внутренний рейс
route, n	рейс, маршрут
intercontinental route	межконтинентальный рейс
cabin crew	экипаж
landing , n	посадка
free, adj	бесплатный
stopover, n	билет, допускающий остановку в пути
return ticket	билет в оба конца
single ticket	билет в один конец
legroom, n	расстояние между рядами сидений
seat, n	место, кресло
low-cost carrier	бюджетная авиакомпания
no-frills flying	перелет по сниженному тарифу
getting on a plane	посадка на самолет
coach, n	автобус
take off	взлетать
turnaround , n	время между рейсами
charges	расходы
take-over charges	затраты на обслуживание
рaperless ticketing	обслуживание по электронным билетам
costs	затраты
keep costs down	снижать затраты
destination, n	пункт назначения

I. Read the following international words and guess their meaning. Consult the dictionary:

national, airline, major, client, product, concentrate, company, sort, cabin, intercontinental, traditional, basic, class, economy, business, tariff, convert, system, model, budget, idea, history, decade, strategy, airport, minute, normal, Internet, limit.

II. Look through text A and find the English equivalents to the Russian word combinations:

основные авиакомпании; по схожей цене; перелеты на близкие расстояния; внутренние рейсы; экипаж самолета; приготовиться к посадке; перелеты на дальние расстояния; бесплатная пересадка; привлекательный для клиентов; билет на самолет; большее расстояние между рядами сидений; бюджетная авиакомпания; перелет по сниженному тарифу; ограниченное время, проведенное в аэропорту; предоставление электронных билетов; бесплатные газеты и еда.

III. Read the text ‘Travelling by low-cost carriers’. Complete the sentences with words from the text.

1. A less technical name for a low-cost carrier is … . 2. A … allows you to interrupt a long flight and stay in a city en route to your destination. 3. A …-… flight is one that does not go further than 10,000 km. 4. …-… are airlines that offer low tariffs for basic services with no ‘extras’ such as meals on the plane. 5. Giving the customer a reference number for a seat on a plane but not a ticket they can hold in their hand is known as … … . 6. The fees an airline pays to an airport for using its facilities are known as … and …-… 7. The … is the minimum time between a plane landing and taking off.

IV. According to the text, which of the following statements are

a) only true for major airlines?

b) only true for low-cost carriers?

c) true for both types of airlines?

d) true for neither type?

1.They do not have different classes of seating on board their planes.

2. They offer free in-flight food and entertainment.

3. They offer free stopovers on long-haul flights.

4. They often use less important airports.

5. They only sell single tickets.

6. They operate long-haul flights.

7. They operate short and medium-haul flights.

8. They spend as little time on the ground as possible.

9. They use paperless ticketing.

10. They provide little legroom for passengers.

V. Fill in the blanks with proper prepositions.

1. The exception … this were only a few companies.

2. They competed openly … clients.

3. They offered products … similar prices.

4. The cabin crew will tell you to get ready … landing.

5. Others became famous … their long-haul flights.

6. That made long flights more attractive … customers.

7. The system was changed … arrival of the low-cost carriers.

8. Their strategy is based … limited turnaround times at airports.

9. Sales … the Internet keep costs down.

10. That’s unlikely to happen because … the way low-cost carriers make their money.

VI. Make a list of the reasons for the current success of low-cost airlines. Have you ever used their service? Would you travel by a low-coster or a major airline to Europe? To the USA?