The UK continues to be the biggest market in Europe for no-frills airlines with capacity rising by 15 per cent over the last year.
New figures from aviation data firm OAG show that the low-cost sector will provide 8.8 million international seats this month – more than double the capacity available 10 years ago.
The UK remains in top spot for no-frills capacity ahead of Spain where LCCs will be offering a total of 7.4 million international seats in May.
Across Europe, the number of seats operated by low-cost carriers has risen by an average of 14 per cent per year over the last decade – over the same period, legacy airlines have only increased capacity by an average of 1 per cent per year.
The market is dominated by Ryanair and Easyjet which together operate more than half of Europe’s no-frills capacity (Ryanair has a third of all seats while Easyjet has a 21 per cent market share).
John Grant, executive vice president for OAG, said: “While it’s no surprise that LCCs are increasing capacity at a faster rate than their legacy counterparts, the actual rate at which low-cost airlines are growing their market share is quite astonishing. In the last 12 months alone, the UK’s international LCC capacity increased by 15 per cent.”
Although the UK has the largest number of no-frills seats, Spain is the only major European country where no-frills carriers offer more than 50 per cent of overall air seats both for domestic (51 per cent) and international (54 per cent) capacity.
Out of the major European countries, France has the lowest penetration of no-frills carriers – they account for only 18 per cent of domestic and 28 per cent of international capacity.
oag.com