Mind the Gap: Examining the Gap in International Passenger Expectations and Perceptions of Service Quality in Low-cost Carriers

Meeting or exceeding passengers' service quality expectations has become a critical factor for lowcost carriers (LCC). Still, only limited efforts have been made to date investigate the differences (gap) in LCC and perceptions. A comprehensive 25-item SERVQUAL framework was first developed through an extensive literature review insights obtained from exploratory interviews focus groups with passengers industry experts. Using survey data of passengers, validity reliability were established, then perceptions understood. The results indicate that none attributes LCCs met, let alone exceeded, expectations, most significant gaps found "reliability" "responsiveness" dimensions. With growing global demand budget travel new entering market, study provides timely narrow expectation–perception gap achieve competitive advantage.