"LOW COST AIRLINES" by kenadams

The past few years have seen a boom in the low-cost no-frills airline business.
It all started in the United States with Southwest Airlines , it reached Europe via Ryanair , a small charter airline converted into a low-cost giant, it is now everywhere.
Europe has been an extremely fertile soil for low-cost airlines: after 9-11, Ryanair started giving out free tickets (all you had to pay was airport taxes): at the end of the year, despite the obscene economic losses around the aviation world, the Irish carrier was the only one still making big money.
I won't go on telling the story, but I will provide a list of low-cost airlines for Europe and North America. Airlines that are consistent in offering the lowest fares (below 10€ per leg excluding taxes) on an almost daily basis are listed in Bold.

Italian carrier MyAir continues Volareweb's marketing habit of offering great deals on outbound flights but not on inbound flights. As a result, you'll never find one of those superconvenient, Ryanair style 5€ roundtrip deals.

[in contruction]

There is one website that deserves credit for keeping an up-to-date list of carriers: visit Attitude Travel to plan your next European/North African low-cost holidays. I found some incredibly good deals thanks to this site.
Other than that, here's a list of airlines that fly around Europe at a low price.

Flights all over Europe:
Ryanair (hubs: Dublin, London, Brussels, Frankfurt)
Easyjet (hubs: London, Liverpool, Geneva)

Based in Austria:
[Fairline ceased operations]

Based in BeNeLux:
Basiqair , Virgin Express , VLM , Corendon

Based in Bulgaria:
Bexx Air

Based in France:
FlyWest

Based in Germany:
Air Berlin , Hapag Lloyd Express , Germania Express , VBird , Germanwings , DBA , Intersky

Based in Iceland:
Iceland Express

Based in Italy:
JetX , [ Volareweb suspended operations and ticket sales on November 19, 2004 Is now flying again, but judicial and economic problems make this a risky buy ] , [MyAir born as a result of financial operations to save Volareweb, it operates without all proper ENAC certifications, and with pending judicial investigations ], Windjet , eVolavia , Airserviceplus, Club Air, Alpi Eagles

Based in Malta:
Air Malta Fare 4U

Based in Poland and eastern Europe:
Wizz , SkyEurope , [Air Polonia, suspended all operations on Dec. 5, 2004 after less than one year in service: tickets honoured by Sky Europe], [Air Baltic not a low-cost, Latvia's national airline occasionally offers good deals on selected flights], Blue Air, Central Wings, Discovery , Smart Wings

Based in Portugal:
Air Luxor Light

Based in Scandinavia:
Sterling , Snowflake , Nordic Airlink , Scandjet , Swedline , Sverigeflyg , FlyMe , Snalskjutsen , Norwegian Air Shuttle, Blue 1, Cimber Air

Based in Spain:
Vueling ,
Lagunair

Based in Switzerland:
Flybaboo , Helvetic

Based in Ireland and UK:
Flybe , BMIBaby , Flyglobespan , Thomsonfly , [Duo suspended operations as of May 1st 2004] , Aer Arann , Jet2 , Monarch , MyTravelLite , [Now failed to begin service in 2004, launch postponed] , Air Wales , Air Scotland , Air Southwest , Planet Air , Budget air , [EUjet , ceased operations] ,[Skynet Airlines suspended operations as of May 26th 2004, is currently reorganizing], Aurigny, Emerald Airways

Morocco:
Atlas Blue

Turkey:
Atlas Jet

The American market is different from the European. Greater distances make saving money a bit harder so lowcost airlines can't slash prices the way some European ones can. Rather than lowcost - no frills, these airlines (especially the successful ones) have focused on a reduced fares-increased confort criteria. All Jetblue aircraft, for example, are equipped with personal TVs: most major airlines don't have personal TVs in economy class on domestic routes.

Based in Canada:
Tango , CanJet , Zip, Westjet , Jetsgo , HMY Airways

All over U.S.:
Spirit Airlines (hubs: Atlantic City, Detroit)
Jetblue (hubs: New York, Long Beach)
Southwest Airlines (hubs: Dallas, Phoenix, Baltimore)
Ted (hubs: Chicago, Denver, Washington)
American Trans Air (hubs: Chicago, Indianapolis)

Based in Atlanta, GA:
AirTran Airways , Interstate Jet

Based in Denver, CO:
Frontier Airlines

Based in New York, NY:
Song

Based in Phoenix, AZ:
America West

Based in Washington, D.C.:
[Independence Air Originally a United Airlines partner, this airline claimed independence from its parent and became a low cost. Because of poor performance, it's approaching United to welcome it back into its network]