Even if they park at an airport gate, they may will not use the installed jet bridge.

As with many things in the low cost world.

This comes down to saving money both from the higher of the jet bridge and in operations.

But let's take a closer look at the finer details of this.

The jet bridge was a great innovation in aviation, bringing many advantages for passengers and airlines, passengers could board from and disembark straight to the terminal, sheltered from potentially bad weather.

Jet bridges may have brought many conveniences, but they come at a price.

Airports charge usage fees for many facilities which are not included in the standard airport landing fees.

This usually includes jet bridges.

Things have changed since the introduction of jet bridges, firstly increasing traffic at most airports has caused the price of services such as this to increase.

More and more airports have remote stands and other gates available as competition increases for better gates.

Alongside this, the number of low cost airlines has risen.

While legacy carriers may be focused on offering convenient services to passengers, low cost carriers are more concerned about driving down the cost of their operations.

To put costs into perspective, consider London Gatwick Airport, This charge is a departing passenger charge of £14.95 or $20.46 per passenger.

This is reduced by £3.48 if using a remote stand without the jet bridge, daytime parking charges are also tripled if using a jet bridge stand, It's not just the cost of using the jet bridge.

That is a consideration here.

The whole process and infrastructure come into play as well as paying to use the bridge.

Jet bridge operators are required and staff must be located at the bridge area.

Boarding via the bridge could mean operating in different parts of the airport.

If the airline is set up to operate with busses, then it is likely simpler to use this method for all flights.

This is why you will sometimes see aircraft parked at a gate with a jet bridge but not using it.

We've seen other changes recently from low-cost carriers along the same lines of cost reduction, loading and unloading with two sets of stairs,

one at the front and one at the back of the aircraft will drastically speed up turnaround times and maximize aircraft utilization, better yet adding built in stairs to the aircraft is another such change.

This is common in smaller aircraft, but not on standard commercial narrow bodies adding stairs though allows for independent operation.

There is certainly no need to use the jet bridge, but no need to hire stairs either.

You also do not have to wait for stairs to be available.

The common delay at busy airports, speeding aircraft turnaround is a significant consideration for low cost airlines with tight schedules that maximize the number of flights and aircraft can make each day.

Does the avoidance of jet bridges annoy you when flying with low cost airlines?

Or do you support them in saving costs wherever they can?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

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