No Frills: The truth behind the low-cost revolution in the skies [Paperback]

"'MUST FLY... MUST BUY' EVENING STANDARD"

‘Everything you need to know about slumming it in the skies’

Following the tremendous success of the earlier editions of No Frills, leading TV presenter and top travel journalist Simon Calder now gives the low down on how these cheap ticket airlines have spread all round the world, enabling the eager traveller to plan economical and exciting long haul trips as well as taking advantage of the ever growing routes and destinations across Europe.

Not a day goes by without there being a headline (or a TV programme!) about one or other of the highly successful low cost airlines like Easyjet and Ryanair.

They have truly revolutionised air travel from the UK and No Frills is the highly entertaining story of how it all came about, and in particular, of the swashbuckling personalities of the entrepreneurs like Stelios Haji-Iannou and Michael O'Leary whose drive and inspiration made it all possible.

No Frills is the highly acclaimed story of a modern-day travel phenomenon, told by an expert with exclusive access to the airline industry’s main players. In the past few decades, the rise of low-cost airlines has become the biggest business success story in the world. Simon Calder, Britain’s leading investigative travel journalist and now television presenter, discovers the secret of the budget airlines’ success. This fully updated edition reveals how low-cost airlines have opened up the world, forcing traditional airlines to slash prices, and explores the complaints and setbacks that have dogged their campaigns. No Frills makes fascinating reading for the economical and eager traveller.

In the past few decades, the rise of low-cost airlines has become the biggest business success story in the world.

With innovative characters such as easyJet's Stelios Haji-Ioannou and Ryanair's Michael O'Leary, entreprenaurial tactics and a 'David and Goliath' saga plot, the story of low-cost airlines has one winner: airline passengers.

Expensive flights that once made air travel off-putting are now a thing of the past, and millions of passengers are jetting around the world at rock-bottom prices. But what are the origins of these airlines? How do they manage to sell seats for next-to-nothing, yet still make massive profits? What are the implications for the future of air travel? And are all these questions overshadowed by one burning issue: just how safe are they?

Simon Calder, Britain's leading investigative travel journalist and now television presenter, discovers the secret of the budget airlines' success. This fully updated edition reveals how low-cost airlines have opened p the world, forcing traditional airlines to slash prices, and explores the complaints and setbacks that have dogged their campaigns. No Frills makes fascinating reading for the economical and eager traveller.

Simon Calder is senior travel correspondent of the Independent, a contributing editor of Conde Nast Traveller, a columnist for BA's inflight magazine High Life, and a frequent BBC radio and television presenter, currently starring in Departure Lounge.