A report commissioned by the European Low Fares Airline Association (ELFAA) predicts that budget carriers will carry the bulk of the point-to-point airline traffic within Europe by 2020. What does this trend mean?

According to the report conducted by York Aviation, a UK aviation consulting firm, the overall share of passengers flying intra-Europe on budget carriers will increase from 38% to 53%. For point-to-point travelers within Europe (non-connecting passengers), the number will jump from 43% to 60%. ELFAA states in a press release that the results prove that low fare airlines are the future of aviation in Europe.

Budget carriers are flying to more destinations at lower prices than have been available in the past. This rapid growth seems to indicate that price-sensitive consumers are flocking to the low-cost airlines, especially for shorter trips. Many budget carriers also offer flights to alternate airports near major cities which means less crowded (and perhaps less stressful) experiences for flyers.

The rapid growth of low-cost carriers could have more than economic reasons. It could be the result of massive capacity and route adjustments by larger, so-called legacy airlines too. As airlines seek to maximize their revenue, they have cut flights, swapped larger planes for smaller ones and have consolidated their operations into major key hubs. Additionally, the larger airlines have realized the power of alliances and have created joint ventures with partner airlines to fill in any gaps in their route structures. For these alliances to flourish, they must ideally place the bulk of their operations where they can make the most money. This means lucrative hub cities. So what happens to domestic and short-haul flying? That's where many of the low-cost airlines have found their niche.

Though alliance partnerships often have long-haul components that plug into other partners' shorter flight networks, the choice for customers wanting to fly domestically or intra-continent has increased thanks to budget carriers. It seems that the larger airlines are willing to give up their dominance of local markets in favor of a partner-driven collective reign over more profitable long-haul international routes. The competition from low-cost airlines keeps short-haul fares relatively low, but what happens when some of these budget carriers start joining some of these alliances or start flying longer and longer routes? Chances are we will start seeing some answers before 2020.