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Revealed: the best low-cost airlines in 2024

AirlineRatings.com has analysed passenger reviews, fleet age and safety ratings to determine which budget operators are worth the bargain

Liv Kelly
Written by
Liv Kelly
Contributing Writer
Ryanair plane
Photograph: Patryk Kosmider / Shutterstock.com
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Copping a super-cheap flight might seem like a good idea when you’ve finally had that annual leave approved, but the reality of flying on a budget can lead to everything from enduring terrible legroom to succumbing to hidden fees

Thankfully, AirlineRatings.com has conducted some analysis into the world’s best low-cost airlines, to make those annoyances a little less likely. The platform has evaluated 12 criteria, including passenger reviews, product offerings, safety and incident ratings and the age of an operator’s fleet, awarded each airline a score out of seven, and the results have landed. 

Europe did well overall, with nine low-cost airlines making the top 25, including Transavia, easyJet and Air Baltic, but Vietjet, a Vietnamese operator, won two awards in total: best ultra low-cost airline and best low-cost airline online hospitality. 

Is your go-to airline for budget flights on the list? Take a look below. 

The 25 best low-cost airlines in the world (in alphabetical order)

  • AirAsia Group
  • Air Baltic
  • Air Canada Rouge
  • Cebu Pacific
  • easyJet
  • Eurowings
  • FlyDubai
  • FlyNAS
  • GOL
  • Jetblue
  • Jet2
  • Jetstar Group
  • Jeju Air
  • Norwegian
  • Peach
  • Ryanair
  • Scoot
  • Spicejet
  • Suncountry
  • Southwest
  • Transavia
  • Vietjet
  • Volotea
  • Vueling
  • WizzAir

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