Low-cost carrier

It has been claimed that unsubsidized low fare trans-oceanic travel will finally become affordable following the development of an extended version of the Airbus A380, which will be able to hold up to 1,000 persons. It appears in Judaism as early as the verse in Genesis, referring to Eliezer's encounter with Rebekah: 'And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her' (Genesis 24:16) and is a recurring theme throughout the Bible, especially with regard to the laws governing betrothal, marriage and divorce. Late in 2004 the Canadian airline Zoom Airlines also started selling transatlantic flights between Glasgow, UK; Manchester, UK; and Canada for £89. One of the most fundamental aspects of Jewish tradition—which also may be going the way of other Victorian virtues—is the great significance attached to virginity. In 2004 the Irish company Aer Lingus lowered its prices to compete with companies such as Ryanair and also started offering no-frills transatlantic flights for just above €100. However, that is not the punishment according to Islamic Law or Sharia', and is more often viewed as a primitive traditional and cultural norm found in rare societies. The service was suspended after Laker's competitors, British Airways and Pan Am, were able to price Skytrain out of the market. In Islamic communities it is sometimes, but very rarely, known for sexually active but unmarried young girls to be killed by relatives protecting the family's honor.

The first airline offering no-frills transatlantic service was Freddie Laker's Laker Airways, which operated its famous "Skytrain" service between London and New York City during the late 1970s. However, in many conservative Muslim societies an individual who is not a virgin may be looked upon unfavourably for a possible marriage. In 2004, Ryanair announced proposals to eliminate reclining seats, window blinds, seat headrest covers, and seat pockets from its aircraft. Despite this, people who are not virgins may still be allowed to marry each other. In Europe, the emphasis has remained on reducing costs and no-frills service. Quotes such as 'Do not even go near Fornication' (Al-Israa 17: 32), are testament to this. America West Airlines, now a part of the US Airways Group, offers a first class product, for example, while JetBlue Airways advertises satellite television. Islam provides very strict conditions that sexual activity must occur between married individuals.

In the US, airlines have responded by introducing variations to the model. There are terms such as a "born again virgin", where a person who has had pre-marital sex may regain a state which they consider to be pure. As the number of low-cost carriers has grown, these airlines have begun to compete with one another in addition to the traditional carriers. Some theologians hold that once virginity is lost in a pre-marital context then one is polluted or defiled from that state through the consequence arising from the corruption of retaining unlawful carnal knowledge through experience. This set-back may block Air Asia's Singapore expansion ambitions. For example, some believe the New Testament of the Christian Bible forbids pre-marital sex of any form. Malaysia's Air Asia made repeated attempts to set up a Singaporean operation, but its insistence in using Seletar Airport, in addition to other demands to cut airport usage charges, delayed its abilities in gaining the relevant permits from the authorities in Singapore. Some Christian observers say that virginity indicates a requisite state of holiness in terms of sexuality before marriage.

Not to be outdone, Singapore Changi Airport's second most dominant carrier, Qantas Airways, also started its Asian offshoot, Jetstar Asia Airways based in Singapore and commencing operations on December 13, 2004. This has been termed technical virginity or hot virginity. On May 5, 2004, Singapore's first low-cost carrier, Valuair was launched, prompting dominant carrier Singapore Airlines to invest in a new low-cost startup, Tiger Airways, to beat the competition. Some historians and anthropologists note that many societies that place a high value on virginity before marriage, such as the United States before the sexual revolution, actually have a large amount of premarital sexual activity that does not involve vaginal penetration, e.g., oral sex, anal sex and mutual masturbation. Freedom Air continues to provide discount services between Australia and New Zealand. Continuing virginity after a certain age is even regarded by some to be a negative thing, implying that the person is unattractive, prudish or sexually immature. Fierce competition on the trans-Tasman routes lead to the collapse of Kiwi Airlines in 1996. The increasingly-common belief of some western youth that virginity is no longer to be regarded as a virtue has become a matter of considerable debate, especially related to controversies involving sexuality among young people.

In 1995, Air New Zealand established a low-fare subsidiary, Freedom Air, in response the commencement of discount trans-tasman services by the upstart Kiwi Airlines. Some elements within western culture no longer regard premarital virginity as a virtue and may allude to it disparagingly. Qantas has launched two low cost carriers: JetStar competes with Virgin Blue in the Australian domestic market, while Australian Airlines operates internationally to Asian destinations. This may even hold true for women who are assumed to be non-virgins (for example, those involved in a second marriage), but the practice is not universal. The former was short-lived, while Virgin Blue has become the nation's second largest airline. It is unclear the extent to which this symbolism is accurate given that some women may choose to wear white even if they are no longer virgins. In 2000 Impulse and Virgin Blue commenced low cost operations bringing fierce competition to Australian cities. Traditionally in western marriage ceremonies, a veil is taken as a symbol of the bride's virginity; it is a popular misconception that the white dress indicated virginity.

Australia's first low cost airline was Compass which launched operations in 1990 but was short lived. Traditionally in some cultures (especially those dominated by Christianity, Islam and Judaism, as also Hinduism and the other Indic religions) there has been a widespread belief that the loss of virginity before marriage is a matter of deep shame. After three months of bankrupt of Flying Finn, the other operator Blue1 began flights to three best-profitable destinations of Flying Finn. Female virginity is closely interwoven with personal or even family honor in many cultures. In Finland the competition went in a different direction, as the national carrier Finnair lowered prices so that the low-cost competitor Flying Finn was forced to cease its operations. The constellation Virgo represents a wide selection of sacred virgins. IndiGo Airlines recently placed an order for 100 Airbus A320s worth 6 billion USD during the Paris Air Show; the highest by any Asian domestic carrier. The Maiden or Virgin is one of the three persons of the Triple Goddess in many Neopagan traditions.

Air Deccan now faces stiff competition from other low-cost Indian carriers such as Kingfisher Airlines, SpiceJet, GoAir and Paramount Airways. The Vestal Virgins were strictly celibate priestesses of Vesta. The success of Air Deccan has spurred the entry of more than a dozen low-cost airlines in India. Virginity has been often considered to be a virtue denoting purity and physical self-restraint and is an important characteristic of some religious figures such as the Virgin Mary (often called simply the Virgin), the Ten Virgins and the Greek goddesses Athena, Artemis, and Hestia. The airline's fare for the Delhi-Bangalore route were 30% less than those offered by its rivals such as Indian Airlines, Air Sahara and Jet Airways on the same route. The word "chastity" (or "celibacy," when referring to the lifestyle choice) is sometimes used for men in place of virginity, although these terms are usually applied to women. India's first low-cost airline, Air Deccan started service on August 25, 2003. There is no obvious physical indicator of virginity in human males, though there may be social indicators, including possible sexual anxiety and a lack of sexual experience or prowess.

(Jetsgo itself ceased operations on March 11, 2005.). There are even women who take this "spiritual" conception of virginity to its maximum, considering "born again" Christians to be virgins, regardless of their past sexual conduct. Air Canada operated two low-fare subsidiaries, Tango and Zip, but both were discontinued. Traditionally, women were not regarded as virgins after a sexual assault, but some people disavow this notion. In Canada, Air Canada has found it difficult to compete with new low-cost rivals such as Westjet, Canjet, and Jetsgo despite its previously dominant position in the market: Air Canada entered a period of bankruptcy protection in 2003, but emerged from protection in September 2004. Conversely, in rare cases a woman's hymen is imperforate, and as menstrual discharge cannot then escape, surgical intervention to break it is necessary to protect her health. Two exceptions to this have been bmi's bmibaby and Qantas's Jetstar which both successfully operates alongside its full-service counterpart. Also, the hymen can be broken before a woman engages in sexual intercourse, for example during strenuous exercise or during the insertion of a tampon.

Many carriers opted to launch their own no-frills airlines, such as KLM's Buzz, British Airways' Go Fly, and United's Ted, but have found it difficult to avoid cannibalizing their core business. The absence of one, however, is not necessarily an indication of participation in sexual intercourse, since in some women the hymen is either absent from birth, or sufficiently vestigial not to be affected by sexual penetration. From 2001 to 2003, when the aviation industry was rocked by terrorism, war and SARS, the large majority of traditional airlines suffered heavy losses while low-cost carriers generally stayed profitable. The presence of an intact membrane is therefore often seen as physical evidence of virginity in the broader technical sense. Low-cost carriers pose a serious threat to traditional "full service" airlines, since the high cost structure of full-service carriers prevents them from competing effectively on price - the most important factor among most consumers when selecting a carrier. Among human females, the hymen is a membrane, part of the vulva, which partially occludes the entrance to the vagina and which is often physically torn when the woman first engages in vaginal sexual intercourse. As of 2004, low cost carriers are now edging into Australasia, led by operators such as Malaysia's Air Asia, and Australia's Virgin Blue. .

With the advent of aviation deregulation the model spread to Europe as well, the most notable successes being Ireland's Ryanair, which began low-fares operations in 1991, and easyJet, formed in 1995. The term maiden is also sometimes used to mean a virgin, although that can also refer to an unmarried or merely young woman. Often, this credit has been incorrectly given to Southwest Airlines which began service in 1971 and has been profitable every year since 1973. The status of "virginity" is sometimes respected and valued in certain societies, especially in relation to views of many religions on sexual conduct before marriage. The first successful low-cost carrier was Pacific Southwest Airlines in the United States, which pioneered the concept when their first flight took place on May 6, 1949. Also, someone can be referred to as an "anal virgin," being a virgin to anal sex (specifically receiving anal sex). Typical low-cost carrier business model practices include:. This use is traditionally restricted to a person who has not yet engaged in vaginal intercourse, but it is sometimes used to describe someone who has not engaged in sexual activities in general.

. Traditionally, virgin is used to describe a person who has not engaged in sexual intercourse. The concept originated in the United States before spreading to Europe in the early 1990s and subsequently to much of the rest of the world. In its most general sense, virginity is characterized by a state of unimpacted purity, usually stemming from a lack of experience (for example, newcomers to game Bingo could be referred to as virgins). A low-cost carrier or low cost airline (also known as a no-frills or discount carrier / airline) is an airline that offers generally low fares in exchange for eliminating many traditional passenger services. "Free" in-flight catering and other "complimentary" services are eliminated, and replaced by optional paid-for in-flight food and drink.

employees working in multiple roles, for instance flight attendants also cleaning the aircraft or working as gate agents (limiting personnel costs). emphasis on direct sales of tickets, especially over the Internet (avoiding fees and commissions paid to travel agents and corporate booking systems). simplified routes, emphasizing point-to-point transit instead of transfers at hubs (again enhancing aircraft utilization). short flights and fast turnaround times (allowing maximum utilization of planes).

flying to cheaper, less congested secondary airports (avoiding air traffic delays and taking advantage of lower landing fees). unreserved seating (encouraging passengers to board early and quickly). a simple fare scheme (typically fares increase as the plane fills up, which rewards early reservations, known as "yield management"). a single type of airplane, commonly the Airbus A320 or Boeing 737 (reducing training and servicing costs).

a single passenger class.