A Study on the Effects of Low-Cost Airlines in Planning Issues : Case studies of Glasgow, Stockholm and Düsseldorf

Abstract: This thesis is carried out with the aim of identifying if, and how, low-cost airline services have their effects on planning issues. Low-cost airlines have set new trends in the travel market and induced air travel demands without competition with established airlines: creating new travel networks with new entry points in countries in Europe. The development of this network is apparently grounded in the expansion of the European Union and its policies. This was also obviously present in the development of the case studies. These case studies illustrated that low-cost airlines have created a complementary system in the region which enhances theoretical network ideas. Furthermore, it becomes more than clear that low-cost services attract passengers from larger distances and therewith have a more spread out effect to the greater region instead of what is often expected to be to the benefit for the locality. That is also why the perceptions between the adjacent town and the region differ, as respectively opportunity and support. The conclusion of the thesis is in the end that low-cost airlines do have an effect on planning issues, though it is indirectly with more reaction from the locality but rather more meaning to the region. The implications for planning are presented and a few directions are discussed on how to handle the phenomenon and what the future might hold for this concept.