The purpose of this paper is to analyze the international development of the low cost airline model. The paper examines and seeks to characterize the factors which have encouraged and inhibited the spatial and temporal spread of low cost carriers. A typology of low cost carriers is developed to illustrate the diversity of practices identifiable under the generic low cost banner. The authors of this paper identify stages of development with respect to time and compare the development of low cost operations in different countries of the world. The economic and political impacts of the spread of the low cost model are examined and the sustainability and future patterns of growth considered.