Low-cost travel pioneer Freddie Laker dies

AIRLINE tycoons have paid tribute to the “pioneer of low-cost travel” Freddie Laker, who has died at the age of 83. Mr Laker, whose cheap fares opened up a new era in air travel in the 1970s, died of undisclosed causes in Miami.

Virgin founder Richard Branson led tributes to the entrepreneur, saying he had enabled thousands of people to fly “who had never had the chance before him”.

Mr Laker set up the Laker Skytrain in 1977, charging €173 (£118) for a ticket from London to New York.