Beiruting News

Fifteen bucks might be all you need to live out your wild, "Lizzie McGuire"-inspired European dreams. Low-cost Irish airline Ryanair recently announced their plans to launch transatlantic flights within the next three to five years, The Irish Times reported yesterday (March 16).

One-way tickets could cost as little as £10, which translates to around $15 at current conversion rates. Ryanair hopes to offer transatlantic flights from places like London, Berlin and Dublin to up to 14 U.S. cities, including New York, Boston and Chicago.

"European consumers want lower cost travel to the USA and the same for Americans coming to Europe. We see it as a logical development in the European market," a Ryanair spokesman told BBC.

So what's the hold up? Ryanair needs bigger planes to, ya know, transport all you travel-hungry adventurers across the pond.

"We would need a fleet of long haul aircraft," Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said last November at the Deloitte Enterprise Ireland CEO Forum. "There is a historical shortage. We can't get the aircraft we need for three or four years." Meanwhile, the Ryanair spokesman the BBC spoke to estimated finding and purchasing the appropriate aircraft might take up to four to five years.

Not every seat will go for a mere $15, though. Ryanair marketing chief Kenny Jacobs told The Financial Times that while some fares will dip as low as £10, others will be £99 - around $146, which is still super cheap compared to other airlines' transatlantic flights - or more. Up to half of the flights will likely carry a higher price tag.

To me, this game plan sounds similar to brands like Megabus and BoltBus. The two companies offer some bus fares for as low as $1, but generally the tickets fall somewhere between $10 to $20. Costs also increase during rush hour or on holidays.

Ryanair may operate the same way, with certain flights or seats being more expensive than others. And even if you nab a dirt cheap ticket, this cost doesn't include baggage fees or in-flight meals. You're paying for the bare minimum. But since Ryanair is a low-cost airline to begin with, you'll still be saving big bucks even with the additional fees.