The most profitable low cost carriers worldwide 2019

U.S. airline Southwest is by far the most profitable low-cost carrier in the world, with a net profit of 2.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2019. Irish carrier Ryanair was the second most profitable with 719 million for the same year. These two airlines were the most profitable low-cost carriers by a significant margin.

Low-cost carriers

Low-cost carriers are an increasingly important component of the global air travel industry, almost doubling their market share since 2006 to 31 percent in 2019. They differ from traditional full-service carriers through charging additional fees for services such as checked baggage, food and beverages, and entertainment, allowing for cheaper base ticket prices. This business model means that a significant portion of low cost carriers’ revenue is derived from ancillary services – comprising well over one third of total revenue for some airlines.

Global low-cost carrier market

Southwest and Ryanair are also the largest low-cost carriers in terms of total revenue and seats offered. On these metrics though, the distance between these two and other low cost-carriers is narrower. This gap is likely to close further in future, with Asian low-cost carriers growing at a much faster rate in 2019 than established carriers in the more developed low-cost markets of North America and Europe.