One of the most frequently asked questions I answer lately is how this or that company charges just £10 per ticket. Indeed low cost aircarriers are striving to get bigger market share and be more competitive than traditional one, in Europe there are many: RyanAir, WizzAir, SkyEurope, EasyJet, GermanWings and so on.

Since they are offering low-cost tickets their service is also low cost and they charge you extra for many things and services you receive onboard. Forget the free peanuts, whiskey or snacks, you’ll be charged even for a bottle of water. Good news is that in Europe these companies offer relatively short distance flights and therefore you can survive the flight if you are too greedy to pay £3 for 250 ml water.

Other specific detail is the airport where you land. Believe it or not, almost half of the money you pay go for airport taxes, even more, sometimes airport taxes rise and the ticket prices go down. These taxes cover all luggage processing, ticket checkup and even clean bathrooms. The big airports have bigger taxes and therefore low-cost carriers take you to smaller airports that are not tremendously far from the main city. For example the main airport in London is Heathrow or eventually Gatwick but if you select any of the companies listed below, they will take you to Luton. Luton is large town located 51 km from London, with direct public transport to the city; which means that in half an hour you reach the capital.

Here is piechart that will help you get oriented what and who pays your price:

Source: http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/16-03/ff_free_air