The European Low Fares Airline Association (ELFAA) was an organization formed in 2004 to represent

low-cost carrier A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...

s and lobby European institutions on their behalf. It ceased operations and disbanded in 2016, as major members joined the newly formed trade group

Airlines for Europe Airlines for Europe (A4E) is the largest EU airline association, representing 70% of European air traffic. History A4E was founded in January 2016 by Europe's five largest carriers: Air France–KLM Group, easyJet, International Airlines Grou ...

. ELFAA was based in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Belgium.

Membership

Before stopping operations in 2016, ELFAA had ten members:

British Airways British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and passengers ...

and

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese language, Aragonese and Occitan language, Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a pe ...

and low-cost carriers

EasyJet EasyJet plc (styled as easyJet) is a British multinational low-cost airline group headquartered at London Luton Airport. It operates domestic and international scheduled services on 927 routes in more than 34 countries via its affiliate air ...

Jet2.com Jet2.com Limited is a British low-cost leisure airline offering scheduled and charter flights from the United Kingdom. As of 2022, it is the third-largest scheduled airline in the UK, behind EasyJet and British Airways. Jet2 is also official ...

Iberia Express Iberia Express is a Spanish low-cost airline owned by Iberia, which operates short- and medium-haul routes from its parent airline's hub at Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport, providing feeder flights onto Iberia's long-haul network. Histo ...

Norwegian Air Shuttle Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, trading as Norwegian, is a Norwegian low-cost airline and Norway's largest airline. It is the fourth largest low-cost carrier in Europe behind Wizz Air, easyJet and Ryanair, the second-largest airline in Scandinavia ...

Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier founded in 1984. It is headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland and has its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. It forms the largest part of the Ryanair Holdings famil ...

Volotea Volotea (stylised VOLOTEΛ) is a Spanish low-cost airline registered in Castrillón, Asturias, Spain, with bases in Spain, Italy, France and Greece. History Volotea was established by Alaeo S.L. from Barcelona, a company created by former Vue ...

Vueling Vueling S.A. is a Spanish low-cost airline based at El Prat de Llobregat in Greater Barcelona with hubs at Barcelona–El Prat Airport (main), Paris-Orly Airport in Paris, France and Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy (sec ...

, and

Wizz Air Wizz Air, legally incorporated as Wizz Air Hungary Ltd. ( hu, Wizz Air Hungary Légiközlekedési Zrt.) is a Hungarian ultra-low-cost carrier with its head office in Budapest, Hungary. The airline serves many cities across Europe, as well as ...

. BA and Iberia joined in 2015, citing similar views regarding air transport liberalisation and position regarding major Middle East airlines. Former members include

Air Polonia Air Polonia was the first privately owned low-cost airline in Poland with its headquarters in Warsaw and its largest operations base at Warsaw Frédéric Chopin Airport. On 5 December 2004 Air Polonia ceased operations due to financial difficultie ...

(ceased operations on 5 December 2004),

Bmibaby Bmibaby Limited (styled as bmibaby.com) was a British low-cost airline that flew to destinations in the United Kingdom and Europe from its bases at Birmingham and East Midlands airports. It was a subsidiary of British Midland International, it ...

(ceased operations on 9 September 2012),

Flying Finn "The Flying Finn" ( fi, Lentävä suomalainen, sv, Flygande finländaren) is a nickname given to several Finnish athletes who were noted for their speed. Originally, it was given to several Finnish middle and long-distance runners. The term w ...

(ceased operations on 27 January 2004), My Way Airlines, later MyAir.com (ceased operations on 24 July 2009),

SkyEurope SkyEurope Airlines was a low-cost airline headquartered in Bratislava, with its main base at Bratislava Airport (BTS) in Bratislava, Slovakia, and another base in Prague. The carrier filed for bankruptcy on 31 August 2009 and suspended all fli ...

(ceased operations on 1 September 2009), Sterling (ceased operations on 29 October 2008), Volareweb.com (ceased operations on 12 January 2009), Basiqair
. ELFAA Press Releases. 18 December 2003. (merged into

Transavia.com Transavia Airlines C.V., trading as Transavia and formerly branded as ''transavia.com'', is a Dutch low-cost airline and a wholly owned subsidiary of KLM and therefore part of the Air France–KLM group. Its main base is Amsterdam Airport Schi ...

on 1 January 2005),

Clickair Clickair was a low-cost airline that was based in the ''Parc de Negocis Mas Blau'' in El Prat de Llobregat, near Barcelona, Spain. Clickair flew to nearly 40 destinations in Europe. The airline's main base was Barcelona–El Prat Airport with ...

. ELFAA Press Releases. 14 April 2008. (merged into

on 15 July 2009),

Hapag-Lloyd Express Hapag-Lloyd Express (previously also marketed as ''HLX.com'') was a no-frills, high-frequency, express airline based in Langenhagen, Germany. It operated services within Germany and to destinations in Europe. In January 2007 it combined its o ...

, later TUIfly
. ELFAA Press Releases. 11 January 2007. (merged into TUIfly in January 2007), and

Blue Air Blue Air is a Romanian low-cost airline headquartered in Bucharest, with its hub at Henri Coandă International Airport. It is the largest Romanian airline by scheduled passengers flown. In 2017, Blue Air carried over 5 million passengers, a 40% ...

References

External links

European Low Fares Airline Association
Airline trade associations Organisations based in Brussels Organizations established in 2004 Organizations disestablished in 2016 {{Europe-airline-stub

Membership

See also

References

External links