Airlines like Norse, French Bee, and Play have all been trying to capture a wave of post-pandemic revenge spending transatlantic travelers by trying to lower their ticket prices as much as possible.

Norse、FrenchBee 和 Play 等航空公司都在試圖儘可能降低機票價格，以抓住新冠疫情後報復性消費的跨大西洋旅客浪潮。

And their tactics go far, far further than just charging for the seats and separating out added extras.

而他們的手段遠不止收取座位費和分離出額外的費用。

It's more about getting every part of your business at the lowest possible costs.

更重要的是以儘可能低的成本獲得業務的每個部分。

But major legacy airlines are competing hard on pricing, so much so that sometimes they even undercut the low-cost carriers.

但主要的傳統航空公司在價格方面競爭激烈，以至於有時甚至低於低成本航空公司的價格。

And now with winter around the corner and demand set to fall, there's a huge question over the long-term viability of low-cost transatlantic flight.

現在隨著冬季即將來臨，需求預計將下降，低成本跨大西洋飛行的長期可行性存在著巨大問題。

So are these airlines and their airfares set to disappear as quickly as they arrived? Let's find out.

那麼，這些航空公司及其機票是否會像它們到來時一樣迅速消失呢？讓我們一探究竟。

Okay, so first I want to know how these low-cost airlines are getting their ticket prices down.

好的。我首先想知道這些廉價航空公司是如何降低機票價格的。

And so to do that, I've come to visit Norse Atlantic.

為此，我來到了北歐大西洋航空。

The company was formed in Norway after the pandemic and has 15 of these Boeing 787 Dreamliners, 10 of which it currently operates from America to Europe.

該公司在新冠疫情後於挪威成立，擁有 15 架波音 787 型夢幻客機，其中 10 架目前從美國飛往歐洲。

Now, part of what helps Norse get its prices down is by doing something called unbundling ancillaries,

現在，降低北歐航空價格的其中一個方法是進行所謂的「附加項目」，

which in plain English is basically charging separately for everything other than the seat.

簡單來說，「附加項目」就是除了座位之外，將其他一切都分別收費。

Flying its most basic fare, Norse will charge you to check in a bag, or to bring a carry-on, or to choose which seat you want to sit in.

在最基本的票價上，Norse 會收取托運行李費、隨身行李費或選擇座位費。

Meals will cost extra, as will priority boarding and check-in.

餐費以及優先登機和辦理登機手續的費用另計。

Norse makes around $87 per passenger on ancillaries on every flight, around a fifth of all passenger revenue.

Norse 航空公司每個班機的附加項目收入約為每位乘客 87 美元，約佔全部乘客收入的 1/5，

And has aims to become the highest ancillary revenue per passenger airline globally.

其目標是成為全球乘客人均附加項目收入最高的航空公司。

But any airline, including the big legacy carriers, can, and often do, unbundle their ticket prices.

但任何航空公司，包括大型傳統航空公司，都可以並且通常會將他們的機票價格進行分離。

So much so that revenue from ancillaries across the aviation industry has doubled since 2013 to total over a hundred billion dollars.

甚至在航空業，自 2013 年以來，來自附加項目的收入已經翻了一番，總額超過了一千億美元。

So to really get prices down, especially as a startup, you need to go even further.

因此，要真正降低價格，尤其是對於一家初創公司來說，你需要走得更遠一些。

And for Norse, that started with getting these aircraft for cheap.

對 Norse 來說，要從購入便宜飛機開始。

It was really an asset play initially where we got the assets at historic low prices and very flexible terms.

最初，我們以歷史最低價和非常靈活的條款獲得資產，這實際上是一個資產平。

That's CEO Bjorn Tore Larsen, who told me that Norse has streamlined operations in an attempt to minimize costs.

首席執行官比約恩-拉森（Bjorn to Larsen）告訴我，為了最大限度地降低成本，公司已經精簡了業務。

We fly long haul only, we fly one aircraft type, the Dreamliner, only.

我們只飛長途。我們只飛夢幻客機一種機型。

So all our crew are trained on only one type of aircraft, we only do one type of maintenance.

是以，我們所有的機組人員都經過培訓，只負責一種類型的飛機，只做一種類型的維修。

The company also operates some of its flights from cheaper airports, like flying out of Gatwick instead of Heathrow, though they do have a slot at New York's JFK.

該公司還從更便宜的機場營運部分班機，如從蓋特威克機場而不是希思羅機場起飛，雖然他們在紐約肯尼迪機場有一個機位。

And instead of flying out of and back to a fixed hub, Norse's planes fly onward from each destination.

而且 Norse 的飛機不是從一個固定的樞紐飛出再飛回，而是從每個目的地繼續飛行。

You don't have a lot of costs that is associated with a hub and spoke operation where you are into a much, much more complex operation straight away.

你不需要承擔與集散中心運營相關的很多成本，因為你不需要立刻進行更加複雜的運營。

Now, all of these factors have helped Norse get pricing down and achieve profitability for the first time this year.

所有這些因素都幫助 Norse 降低了定價，並在今年首次實現了盈利。

But here's the thing,

但問題是，

Norse isn't actually always that much cheaper than major legacy US carriers.

Norse 並不總是比我們的主要傳統航空公司便宜那麼多。

See, airline prices vary wildly depending on how far in advance you book, how long your stay is, and whether you plan on flying one-way or return.

機票價格因提前預訂時間的長短、停留時間的長短以及單程或往返機票的不同而千差萬別。

But if you compare the prices for this flight between Norse, Delta, and United, Norse averaged around $615 and United was 660.

但如果比較一下諾斯達美航空和美聯航之間的班機價格，諾斯平均價格約為 615 美元，美聯航為 660 美元。

Now if you include the fact that Delta and United's price includes a carry-on bag and a meal, which would cost you upwards of $50 on Norse, then that price gap soon starts to shrink.

如果再加上達美航空和美聯航的價格包含了一個隨身行李和一頓飯的費用，而這兩家公司的機票價格都在 50 美元以上，那麼價格差距很快就會縮小。

So how are these legacy carriers able to get their prices down?

那麼，這些傳統航空公司是如何憑藉其規模和運力降低價格的呢？

Because of the scale and the amount of capacity they have and that brings their unit cost down.

由於他們的規模和容量很大，這使得他們的單位成本降低。

That's John Grant, Chief Analyst at aviation data firm OAG.

航空數據公司 O A 的首席分析師約翰-格蘭特（John Grant）說。

If a legacy airline has got 1,500 economy seats spread across seven flights during the day then they're able to match that.

如果傳統航空公司有 1500 個經濟艙座位，分佈在白天的 7 個班機上，那麼我們就能與之匹敵。

Another reason is that economy seats only make up a small fraction of legacy airlines cabins, the rest being far more profitable premium economy, business, and first-class seats.

另一個原因是，經濟艙座位只佔傳統航空公司客艙的一小部分。其餘的則是利潤更高的高端經濟艙、商務艙和頭等艙座位。

And that kind of explains why when I search for tickets around Labor Day, Norse was more expensive than some major US rivals.

這也解釋了為什麼當我搜索勞動節前後的機票時，也不比美國的一些主要競爭對手貴。

Sometimes our prices are going up a little bit and that is basically because the cabin is being filled.

有時，我們的價格會上漲一些。這基本上是因為機艙被填滿了。

So the last passenger is actually paying quite a bit more than the first passenger.

是以，最後一位乘客實際上要比第一位乘客多付不少錢。

Now recently, demand has been so strong that there's been enough flyers for both low-cost carriers and legacy carriers to be able to profit.

現在，最近的需求如此強勁，以至於有足夠多的乘客讓低成本航空公司和傳統航空公司都能獲利。

The relative strength of the US dollar has encouraged a lot of North American visitors. And we've been blessed with just enough capacity.

美元的相對強勢吸引了大量北美遊客，我們也是以獲得了足夠的接待能力。

But as the summer season draws to a close, international demand is set to drop.

但隨著夏季的臨近，國際需求將有所下降。

And that's got some wondering whether these low-cost long haul carriers will be able to survive the winter.

這讓一些人懷疑，這些低成本的長途運輸公司能否熬過這個冬天。

Is it sustainable long term?

它是可持續的嗎？長期？

No.

不是。

After all, other airlines have in the past tried and failed to make low cost transatlantic flight commercially sustainable.

畢竟其他航空公司多年來一直在努力實現低成本跨大西洋班機的商業可持續性，但都以失敗告終。

For years Norwegian Air used to operate a budget-friendly route between Europe and America.

挪威航空公司曾在歐洲和美洲之間營運一條經濟實惠的航線，

But the company faced a whole bunch of headwinds, from operating Boeing planes that were grounded during the MAX crisis to trying to juggle a wide array of roots.

但該公司面臨了許多困難，從運營在MAX危機期間被停飛的波音飛機到嘗試應對多條不同的航線。

They had embarked on rapid growth. They had a short-haul network and a long-haul network. They spread themselves too thinly too quickly.

他們已經展開了快速增長。他們擁有短程網絡和長程網絡。他們太快地將自己分散開來。

During the pandemic, the company filed for bankruptcy protection, restructured, reduced its fleet from 156 aircraft to 51, and crucially, discontinued long-haul operations.

在大流行病期間，該公司申請了破產保護，進行了重組，將機隊規模從 156 架飛機減少到 51 架，更重要的是停止了長途運輸業務。

What's not certain is how sustainable this is long term. What are your views?

目前還不能確定的是，這種情況能否長期持續下去。你有什麼看法？

You're absolutely right. It's yet to be proven and it has not a great history.

你說得太對了。這一點尚未得到證實，而且它的歷史並不悠久，

But here's the thing, many of Norse's planes are actually old Norwegian planes.

但事情是這樣的。 Norse 的許多飛機實際上都是挪威的老飛機。

So is the company set to suffer the same fate?

那麼，該公司是否也將遭受同樣的命運呢？

I don't totally agree that we are born out of the ashes, because we are a brand new airline.

我不完全同意我們是從灰燼中誕生的說法，因為我們是一家全新的航空公司。

We have no hub and spoke operations, we don't own, you know, short-haul operations trying to put everything together.

我們沒有樞紐和輻條業務。我們不擁有，你知道的，試圖把所有東西都放在一起的短途運輸業務。

It's very different.

這是非常不同的。

You still have winter coming, and you've said yourself, you know, demand fluctuates.

你自己也說過，需求是波動的。

Are you worried about some of the winter months?

您是否擔心冬季的某些月份？

I'm always worried, that's my job, you know, I'm born worried. And we really have to be very careful.

我總是很擔心。這是我的工作。 我生來就很擔心，我們必須非常小心。

It's easy to burn a lot of money if you get things wrong.

如果弄錯了，很容易燒掉很多錢。

So how can these low-cost carriers survive winter?

那麼，這些低成本航空公司如何才能度過寒冬呢？

Well, one option is to chase the warmer weather and adjust your routes.

那麼，一種選擇就是追逐溫暖的天氣，調整航線，

And Norse plan on doing just that.

而 Norse 也計劃這樣做，

Opening up winter routes to Barbados, Jamaica, and even adding a new route to Bangkok in Asia.

開闢前往巴貝多、牙買加的冬季航線，甚至增加一條前往亞洲曼谷的新航線。

But shifting key routes when you don't have many planes can create another headache.

但在飛機數量不多的情況下，轉移關鍵航線又會讓人頭疼。

Dipping in and dipping out of markets is a relatively high-risk strategy because your brand awareness and your presence is not as large as the other carriers who are there year-round.

貿然進入和退出市場是一種風險相對較高的策略，因為你的品牌知名度和市場佔有率不如其他全年都在市場上的承運商高。

So another tactic is to try and carry more cargo, providing there's more cargo to be carried.

是以，另一種策略是嘗試運載更多的貨物，因為有更多的貨物需要運載。

We are definitely seeing a better cargo market typically during the winter, but you don't know. So you can't take that for granted.

冬季的貨運市場肯定會更好，但你不知道，不能認為這是理所當然的。

And if those fail, well, hunker down for the cold months and conduct your scheduled maintenance while your fleet is out of use.

如果失敗，就會在寒冷的幾個月裡躲起來，並在車隊停止使用時進行定期維護。

Norse told me that they'd try all of these tactics, but the aviation industry can be pretty cutthroat.

Norse 告訴我，他們會嘗試所有這些策略，但航空業的競爭非常激烈，

And while low-cost carriers brace for the winter, legacy carriers will capture every advantage.

當低成本航空公司準備過冬時，傳統航空公司會抓住一切優勢。

If the market becomes a little bit tougher those legacy carriers are not gonna say, "The market's yours."

如果市場變得有點艱難，那些傳統運營商就不會說市場是你們的了。

They're gonna compete for every seat with you, and that's a challenge.

他們會和你爭奪每一個座位。這就是挑戰。