The era of long-haul budget airlines has arrived — one-way flights from Europe to the Americas for under NT$5,000!

▲IAG launches long-haul budget airline LEVEL (Photo/aviationtribune)

By Rita

Currently, budget airlines are still mainly regional services, but soon, long-haul flights won’t require spending tens of thousands of dollars on tickets either. According tobusinessinsiderreports, the International Airlines Group (IAG), formed from the merger of British Airways and Spain's national carrier Iberia, officially launched a long-haul budget airline this Friday (the 17th), named LEVEL.

The head of the International Airlines Group stated that LEVEL aims to offer a stylish, modern experience while keeping ticket prices affordable. The airline will connect European cities with destinations across the Atlantic, operating Airbus A330 aircraft, with cabin crew provided by Iberia.

Tickets are now on sale, with the lowest one-way fare under NT$5,000, and the airline plans to begin operations in June 2017. Routes include Barcelona to Los Angeles, Auckland, and Barcelona to Buenos Aires.

With such low prices, what services are included? The airline says each A330 will have 21 premium economy seats and 293 economy seats. Premium economy passengers will receive complimentary meals, in-flight entertainment, and one checked bag. In other words, other classes will come with extra fees.

The launch of LEVEL marks the entry of traditional major European airline groups into the LCC market with long-haul routes. It remains to be seen whether this trend will impact Asia. Currently, long-haul LCC operations in Asia are just getting started — Scoot launched Singapore-Greece flights in June this year, and AirAsia is experimenting with Tokyo-Hawaii long-haul routes.