Ryanair is the airline that most consistently flies to alternative, or secondary, airports, such as Stockholm Skavsta Airport. It has worked out to be a brilliant way to reduce landing fees and other associated costs, and with that the cost of tickets.

Other airlines using this scheme include the Polish budget airline Wizz Air. Still however, many budget airlines, such as easyJet, fly to major airports.

It is often said budget airlines mislead you when they state their destinations. Ryanair has made this a habit. They say they fly to Stockholm, but actually fly to Stockholm Skavsta (Nykoping is the closest city) or Stockholm Vasteras (near Vasteras, 107 km from Stockholm), say Hamburg but fly to Lubeck, say Milan, but fly to Bergamo, etc.

True, it is false advertizing, but it is not all bad for the consumer.

For the leisure traveller, Paris Beauvais can be a much better stepping off point than Orly or Charles de Gaulle. It is for instance a better, faster, and more convenient starting point if you have a rental car. That's also true for Frankfurt Hahn and Milano Bergamo. And Lubeck can be a much more interesting destination than Hamburg.

It is somewhat of a myth that the alternative airports are further from the cities they serve. Some of them are actually closer. But they are almost without exception smaller airports. This translates to shorter lines, speedier check-in, fewer difficulties in finding your way around, and less risk of delays.

The advantages often outweigh the disadvantages.

To help you avoid unpleasant surprises, we provide you with important information about all these airports in our airport section.