The world's best budget airlines (including a few you probably haven't heard of)

The 2018 World Airline Awards, dubbed the “Oscars of the aviation industry”, were announced earlier this summer. Singapore Airlines pipped Qatar Airways - last year’s winner - to the top spot, with Japan’s All Nippon Airways completing the podium.

Top 20 | World Airline Awards 2018

But what of the best low-cost carriers? Alas, there were no prizes for Ryanair, but it did rise from 76th to 64th in the overall rankings – putting it ahead of a host of traditional “premium” airlines, including American, United, TAP Portugal and Alitalia. In fact, according to the awards, which are based on the opinions of millions of travellers, it is now the 11th best budget airline on the planet. Here is the top 10:

10. Scoot

61st overall

It should come as no surprise to see Scoot among the world’s best low-cost carriers; after all, it is a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines. It serves 68 destinations, with a firm focus on the Far East and Australia (its route map features Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Manila, Bangkok and Hong Kong). It does, however, offer direct flights from Singapore to Athens and (since June 2018) Berlin, with prices from around ￡350 return, as well as Honolulu. Last year it was reported to be considering services to other long-haul destinations, such as Copenhagen, Vienna, Cairo and Manchester, but a spokesman later denied further expansion was imminent.

Like many of the airlines on this list it has a modern fleet, including 18 Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

First flight: 2012

HQ: Singapore

Fleet size: 45

Destinations served: 68

9. Eurowings

59th overall

Lufthansa’s low-cost subsidiary wasn’t always a low-cost carrier; the switch was made from regional to no-frills in 2014.

In recent years it has also been increasing its long-haul portfolio, with departures now going both east (Bangkok) and west (Seattle, New York, Las Vegas, Miami, Cancun in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Varadero and Havana in Cuba). Starting in November 2018 is a link with Barbados. Services to Dubai, Boston and Phuket were offered briefly but have since been scrapped.

Frugal fliers, take note: last year it was found to offer the cheapest in-flight food and drink of any major European budget airline, with beers available for an impressive ￡2.55.

First flight: 1993

HQ: Dusseldorf

Fleet size: 109

Destinations served: 79

8. Southwest Airlines

57th overall

The biggest low-cost airline of them all – and the inspiration for Ryanair. Michael O’Leary, who transformed the Irish carrier from a tiny regional airline into the behemoth it is today, once said: “We went to look at Southwest Airlines in the US. It was like the road to Damascus. This was the way to make Ryanair work. I met with Herb Kelleher. I passed out about midnight, and when I woke up again at about 3am Kelleher was still there, the *******, pouring himself another bourbon. I thought I'd pick his brains and come away with the Holy Grail. The next day I couldn't remember a thing.”

Southwest has a staggering 734 aircraft, but doesn’t venture beyond North America or the Caribbean. A first flight to Hawaii has been on the cards for months, but still hasn’t launched.  

First flight: 1971

HQ: Dallas

Fleet size: 734

Destinations served: 99

World Airline Awards | Previous winners

7. IndiGo

55th overall

IndiGo might just be the biggest airline you’ve never flown with. Founded as recently as 2005, it now has a fleet of 167 planes and carries 46m passengers a year, making it comfortably India’s biggest carrier and the third largest low-cost airline outside of Europe and North America (just behind the AirAsia group, based in Malaysia, and Lion Air, from Indonesia).

Is it resting on its laurels? Not a bit of it. On top of that fleet of 167 (nearly all of which are Airbus A320s or Airbus A320neos, with room for 180 passengers) it has a whopping 437 aircraft on order. That includes 405 A320neos (it is already the largest operator of the model, introduced in 2016), 25 A321neoLRs, and 42 smaller ATR 72-600s, which have room for just 74 on board. The ATRs will help IndiGo take advantage of the Indian government’s regional connectivity scheme, which will see the creation of up to 100 new airports in remote parts of the country over the next few years. The potential for growth in India, a country of 1.324 billion increasingly middle class people, is incalculable, so IndiGo could one day become a low-cost giant to rival the likes of Southwest and Ryanair.

Its route map, for the time being, is almost entirely limited to domestic destinations. You’ll find Dibrugarh, Vadodara, Ranchi, Kozhikode, Indore, Dimapur, Bhubaneswar, Coimbatore, Madurai, Agartala, Bagdogra, and many more rapidly-expanding Indian cities you’ve probably never heard of, but only a handful of international destinations, namely Kathmandu, Muscat, Doha, Singapore, Colombo, Bangkok, Dubai and Sharjah.

First flight: 2006

HQ: Gurgaon

Fleet size: 167

Destinations served: 52

6. WestJet

54th overall

Canada’s biggest low-cost carrier is slowly becoming familiar to UK travellers. It now flies from two UK airports - Gatwick and Glasgow - as well as Dublin. From the London hub, one can fly to Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg and St John’s (an unlikely culinary capital on the island of Newfoundland). That flight to St John’s takes just over five hours, making North America a feasible destination for a weekend break.

WestJet also recently launched a low-cost sibling. Swoop, also based in Calgary, has four 737s serving a handful of destinations including Hamilton, Halifax and Edmonton, and - from October 2018 - Las Vegas, Orlando and Tampa Bay. Swoop calls itself the “Robin Hood of airlines… trying its best to bring ultra low fares to all.”

First flight: 1996

HQ: Calgary

Fleet size: 174

Destinations served: 108

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5. AirAsia X

47th overall

The long-haul arm of the Kuala Lumpur-based AirAsia group, AirAsia X began life 11 years ago as FlyAsianXpress. A name change, in favour of brevity, came soon after. The group is owned by Tony Fernandes, best known to most Britons as the chairman of Queens Park Rangers football team.

AirAsia X briefly flew from both Gatwick and Paris to the capital of Malaysia, but pulled services in 2012 due to that troublesome combination of high fuel prices, high tax, and low demand. It suggested a return to Europe was on the cards in 2013, and again last year, but so far nothing concrete has been announced.

Among the more enticing destinations on its route map are Auckland, Sydney, Jaipur, Hawaii, and Jeju in South Korea, which might just be the most popular holiday destination you’ve never heard of. Amritsar will be added later this week, Phu Quoc (Vietnam) in November, and Melbourne in December.  

A recent study revealed it to be the world’s cheapest airline in terms of cost per mile travelled.

First flight: 2007

HQ: Kuala Lumpur

Fleet size: 22

Destinations served: 26

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4. Jetstar Airways

46th overall

Australia’s finest no-frills carrier made its name offering not only cheap domestic flights but also links with popular holiday destinations in south-east Asia and the South Pacific – Bangkok, Phuket, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, Rarotonga and Fiji are all on its route map. It goes farther afield too, with services to China and Japan.

Despite its premium rival Qantas recently launching the first direct service to the UK, don’t expect to see Jetstar planes at British airports any time soon. It has no plans to try to crack the European market.

First flight: 2003

HQ: Melbourne

Fleet size: 76

Destinations served: 37

3. EasyJet

43rd overall

In contrast to the high-profile travails of Ryanair and BA, everyone’s favourite orange airline seems to quietly go about its business. Growth has been steady over the past 10 years or so, from 44.6 million passengers in 2008 to 81.6 million in 2017, making it the world’s eighth largest carrier, and it now serves an impressive 132 destinations in Europe, North Africa (Hurghada) and the Middle East (Tel Aviv). New routes on the way include Aarhus (Denmark), Rovaniemi (Finland) and Aqaba (Jordan).

First flight: 1995

HQ: Luton

Fleet size: 167

Destinations served: 132

Europe's 10 largest airlines

2. Norwegian

32nd overall

Oslo-based Norwegian has been surfing the skies of Europe for 25 years, but only became a low-cost airline in 2002, and in recent years has been adding scores of long-haul routes to its briefcase.

You can now fly with the carrier to four continents, with direct services from the UK to a clutch of cities including Austin, Boston, Buenos Aires, Chicago, Orlando, Denver, Miami, New York, LA, San Francisco, Seattle and Singapore,

Starting later this year is a non-stop route to Tampa, while Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing could follow.

First flight: 1993

HQ: Fornebu

Fleet size: 51

Destinations served: 153

Can Norwegian become the Ryanair of long-haul travel?

1. AirAsia

28th overall

Rather unfairly, the AirAsia group fills out two spots in the table. Had Skytrax chosen to lump their short-haul and long-haul arms together, then Ryanair would have cracked the top 10. C’est la vie.

First flight: 1993

HQ: Kuala Lumpur

Fleet size: 89 (excluding subsidiaries)

Destinations served: 74 (excluding subsidiaries)

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