Daily Flights To Sukkur Faislabad Quetta Gwadar Multan Peshawar
MANAGEMENT TEAM Name/Title Previous Experience
Years In
Airline Industry Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Chairman & Chief Executive COO
Officer At PIA from ‘97-’99 3
Captain Morgan S. Felix Director Flight Operations, Senior Director Operations Line Captain And Flight Instructor at PIA and CAA inspector. 40+ Syed Nasir Nasir Ali Ali General Manager Marketing With Director Commercial Commercial Extensive International International And Domestic Experience At PIA. 31 Athar H. Ansari Director Engineering & Maintenance Director Engineering And Chief Engineer At PIA & CAA 40 Inspector.
PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE STRATEGIES The Product Life Cycle is a course of a product’ product’s s sales and profits over its lifetime. INTRODUCTION
After launching the new product, management wants the product to enjoy a long and happy life. Management is aware that each product will have a life-cycle, although the exact length and shape is not known in advance. PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE It involves five distinct stages: 1.
Product development
2.
Introduction
3.
Growth
4.
Maturity
5.
Decline
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: It begins when the company finds and develops a new product idea. During product development, sales are zero and the company’s investment costs months. INTRODUCTION: This is a period of slow sales growth as the product is introduces in the market. Profits are non-existent in this stage because of the heavy expenses of product introduction. introduction. GROWTH: This is a period of rapid market acceptance and increasing profits. MATURITY: Is a period of slowdown in sales growth because the product has achieved acceptance by most potential buyers. Profits level off or decline because of increased marketing outlays to defend the product against competition. DECLINE: It is the period when sales fall off and profits drop. Not all products follow this product life cycle. Some products are introduced and die quickly; others stay in the mature stage for a long, long time. Some enter the decline stage and are then cycled back into the growth stage through strong promotion or repositioning.
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT Behind the launch of AirBlue lie months and months of market research and knowledge. All the senior executives of AirBlue are well experienced in their field connecting them to the aviation industry. The launch of AirBlue partly is due to the major contribution of their knowledge and experience.
Basically a whole set of product and quality development and maintenance was carried out in the development stage. A complete analysis of market was done and an evaluation was made about the preferences of their customer. Then the whole a irline was developed on those attributes. The product, though in the introduction stage, is still going through the final stage of its development. Now, the PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE according to AIRBLUE is discussed below:
INTRODUCTION STAGE: Definition: It is the product life-cycle stage in which the new product is first distributed and mage available for purchase. Launch: Airblue was launched on 18 th June ‘2004. Airblue carried out a very soft launch strategy aiming at promoting the company mainly through word-of-mouth Sales growth: The sales are growing gradually as faced by any new product. It aims to focus on quality and service primarily at fares competitive with the national flag carrier PIA therefore those people who have been traveling in PIA consider it more reliable and prefer traveling in that. It will only be in the due course of time that people will be shifting to AirBlue and the sales will be growing then. Profits: At the moment Air Blue’s profits are going on an average as it has been launched only a month ago and due to the heavy trade promotions given by them in the form of discounted fares and concessions for students and senior citizens. Promotional Spending: Air blue has given an advertisement on television and FM 107 in the beginning but now they are mostly into travel agents. They are meeting travel agents and also held 3 sessions of seminars, 2 hours each in Sheraton hotel. There are no billboards on the streets but they do have some boards outside some travel agencies and their main promotional strategy is word of mouth. Competitors: As every other firm does not reveal the names of their competitors, same is the case with airblue. But they are mainly targeting to capture they customers of PIA. Though as obvious from survey the other two main domestic competitors at the moment are Shaheen air and Aeroasia.
GROWTH STAGE:
Definition: It is the product life-cycle stage in which a product’s sales start climbing quickly. Sales: As airblue is in its introduction stage, and everyday people are getting more and more aware of it, the sales are expected to increase as airblue is a very good airline which is totally e-based and has everything new. Profit: It is obvious that when the sales will increase their profits will also increase to an extent in the beginning but when they will expand this airline they’ll most probably have large amounts of profits as it has introduced introdu ced new technology in Pakistan like e-ticketing and all. Prices: Airblue offered their fares at 50% discounts on the first 3 days of their launch. And now they are offering 25% and 15% discounts on the available seats. Airblue aims to focus passenger comfort at prices that offer value for money and that explains its decision to have leather-upholstered seats in the Business class and offering in-flight entertainment entertainment not offered by any other airline, including the PIA, on the domestic sector. The airline has also made arrangements with quality quality caterer outside to serve what it calls "exquisite cuisine" to the travelers. Promotional spendings: Most probably the promotion strategies of airblue will be the same. Distribution network: After a month or so, airblue is going to launch itself in sukkar, Faisalabad, Quetta, gawadar, Multan and Peshawar. And most probably after 1 year they’ll introduce themselves internationally. Competitors: The competition will be heating up once again for the domestic market with the start of operations of three additional airlines airlines — a new one Royal Airlines and one old airline Safe Air. At present there are three airlines- PIA, Saheen and Aero Asia — are sharing the domestic market among themselves but soon there would be six carriers operating on the domestic sector.
MATURITY STAGE: Definition: It is the stage in the product life cycle in which sales growth slows or levels off. Sales:
As for the future, airblue is expecting their sales to be a t the peak. Profits: With the increasing sales, the profits are also expected to increase. Prices: It also has plans to offer heavy discounts for the senior citizens and students as well as operating night coach at discounted fares. Competitors: During the time when airblue will reach its maturity stage they will have to face many competitors. Many airlines will try to reach their level and it is also expected that new airlines will be launched here.
PRODUCT Levels Of The Product. The Core Product It is the most basic level of the product – the benefit that the product offers. The underlying need is the convenient, fast and high quality mode of traveling. The Actual Level of Product The actual product is Airblue airlines. The actual product has the following characteristics: Quality level They are maintaining their quality mainly through all the competitive advantages gaining strategies namely, their product differentiation, differentiation, service differentiat differentiation ion channel differenti differentiation, ation, image differentiati differentiation on and people differentiation. differentiation. These are discussed later in detail. Features The special features airblue offers are the airline’s attitude of the care they s how towards their customers, customers, their flexible fares, their aircrafts-new Generation Airbus A320 Aircraft, Drop Down Screens After Every 4 Rows, 2% Extra Discount On Self-Reservatio Self-Reservation, n, Leather Seats In Business Class and many other such features. Design The company plans to provide world-class service to passengers on domestic flights by making use of latest information technology and introduce products and services that will be the first of their kind in
Pakistan. They provide catering from Gate Gourmet, Change in Reservation According To Customer Convenience and Instant Computerized check-ins. All these are a part of the design of the whole product. Brand name The brand name is AIRBLUE. This name has been very appropriately selected pertaining to the product and its purpose. Packaging The tickets offered by them are in the form of e-ticket. E-ticketing is an electronic version of a paper ticket which no longer requires your ticket to be printed on paper. Instead, it is stored in Airblue’s reservation system as an electronic ticket or e-ticket. Its planes are New Generation Airbus A320 Aircraft. No further packaging can be discussed as it is mainly a service with a major hint of tangibility The Augmented Level of Product They provide high service augmentations to their product.
Product classification It is a shopping product. Shopping product is a consumer good that the customer, in the process of selection and purchase, charastically compares on such basis as suitability, quality, price and style. INDIVIDUAL PRODUCT DESIGN In individual product design we will focus on decisions about the following: •
Product attributes
•
Branding
•
Packaging
•
Labeling and
•
Product support service.
PRODUCT ATTRIBUTES: Developing a product or service involves defining the benefits that it will offer such as, quality, features, and style and design. Product quality: It is the ability of a product to perform its function: it includes the products overall durability, reliability, precision, ease of operation and repair, and other valued attributes. Airblue aims to focus on quality and service primarily at fares competitive with the national flag carrier PIA. It also has plans to offer heavy discount discounts s for the senior citizens and students as well as operating night coach at discounted fares. The Airblue, thus, is looking forward to soon become the fourth [yet most popular] airline serving the domestic sector in a market, the bulk of which is served by the PIA and a
portion is enjoyed by Shaheen Air International and Aero Asia which promotes itself as the country's first low fare airline. AirBlue has acquired 3 new generation Airbus A-320 aircraft on dry lease each of it has 20 Business Class seats and 126 Economy class seats. The company plans to provide world-class world-class service to passengers on domestic flights by making use of latest information technology and introduce products and services that will be the first of their kind in Pakistan. Product features: it shows that how many versions a product has? A product can be offered with varying features. Product’s style and design: Another way to add customer value is through distinctive product style and design. Style simply describes the appearance of a product. Styles can be eye catching or yawn producin producing. g. AirBlue aims to focus passenger comfort at prices that offer value for money and that explains its decision to have leather-upholstered seats in the Business class and offering in-flight entertainment entertainment Unlike style, design is more than skin deep, it goes to the very heart of a product. Good design design contributes contribut es to a product’ product’s s usefulness as well as to its looks. AirBlue has introduced the concept of total e-ticketing for the convenience of passenger which would also help it to eradicate the back-dating system associated with manual ticketing that costs airlines.
BRANDING: It is a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of these, that identifies identifies the maker or seller of a product or service. Brand Equity: The value of a brand, based on the ex tent to which it has brand loyalty, name awareness, perceived quality, strong brand associates, and other assetssuch as patents, trademarks, and channel relationships. Brand Name Selection: The name consists of two words, air and blue. Air refers to the medium of their travel and blue refers to the sky where its planes belong. Besides the name consist of very simple but catchy words. The name airblue can also be referring to the destinations of the company, the heights of sky where the airline belongs.
PRODUCT SUPPORT SERVICE: Customer service is another element of product strategy. These are the services that augment actual products.
PRODUCT LINE DECISION PRODUCT LINE: It is a group of products products that are closely related because they function in a similar manner, are sold to the same customer groups, are marketed through the same types of outlets, or fall within given price ranges. PRODUCT MIX DECISION PRODUCT MIX: These are the sets of all the product lines and items that a particular seller offers for sale. Airblue, as it is in its introduction stage, has not taken any product mix or product line decisions. SERVICE MARKETING:
INTERNAL MARKETING: Marketing by a service fir to train and effectively motivate its customer-contact customer-contact employees and all the supporting supportin g service people to work as a team to provide customer satisfaction.
INTERACTIVE MARKETING: Marketing by a service s ervice firm that recognizes that perceived service quality depends heavily on the quality of buyer-seller interaction.
PRICE Factors To Consider When Setting Prices: Internal factors affecting pricing decisions
Marketing Objectives Marketing Mix Strategy Cost Organizational Organizatio nal consideratio consideration n Marketing Objectives: “Before setting price the company must decide on its strategy for the product. If the company has selected its target market and positioning carefully the price will be fairly simple. At the same time the company may seek addition additional al objectives such as survival, profit maximization, market share leader ship and product quality leadership.”
Air Blue is currently using product quality leadership as its pricing goal they are charging a higher price than other domestic (Private) airlines because of their excellent service quality which is evident in their food, cabin crew, seating comfort, and on board entertainment, But on the other hand their price is equivalent to PIA’s price which gives them an edge over other airlines and PIA itself. At the same time they are also striving for market share leadership by offering a price equal to PIA, but quality and services far better than PIA. Marketing Mix Strategy: “Price is only one of the marketing mix tools that a company uses to achieve its marketing objectives. Price decisions must be coordinated with product design, distribution and promotion decisions to form a consistent and effective marketing program”. For AirBlue price is a crucial product positioning factor that defines the product’s market, competition and design. AirBlue has set its price higher than other Domestic (private) airline because of their high standard quality quality and services. The main reason for their high price is because of their quality which is catering by world class on board caterers “Gate Gourmet” which is providing catering services to world class airlines like Emirates, SwissAir, Lufthansa Lufthansa etc. Overall seats in their aircraft are 146, 20 business class seats and 126 economy class seats. They have installed leather seats in business class with the latest in flight entertainment in business and economy class with drop LCD screens after every four rows. They justify their high price by giving travel agents a healthy amount of commission so that the travel agents suggest people to choose AirBlue to travel domestically rather than any other airline. Cost “Cost set the floor for the price that the company can charge for its product. The company wants to charge a price that both Covers all its costs for producing distribution and selling the product and delivers a fair rate of return for its effort and risk. A company’s cost may be an important element in its pricing strategy.” The Planes that AirBlue is using are all reconditioned so that helps reduce the cost much but on the other hand they have been providing high quality catering and efficient cabin crew with high language skills which tend to increase their costs. Other factor effecting their cost is the E-Ticketing System which is an online seat reservation service which needs a lot of high tech infrastructure and skilled employees which increases their cost. Organizational consideration: “Management must decide who within the organization should set prices companies handle pricing in a variety of ways. People who influence pricing includes includes top management, marketing or sales department product line managers, sales managers, finance managers, and many other people in the organization”. In AirBlue, the prices are set by Top Management with the help of the Pricing Department and with the consent of other Middle Managers. AirBlue has a Pricing Department to set the best prices. This department reports to the Top Management and to the Marketing Department.
External Factors affecting Pricing Decisions
•
Nature of the Market and Demand
•
Competition
•
Other External Factors
Nature Of Market and Demand “Whereas costs set the lower limit of prices, the market and demand set the upper limit. Both consumer and industrial buyers balance balance the price of a product with the value they are extracting from it. Before setting the prices, the marketer must understand the relationship between price and demand for its product.” AirBlue has set it’s prices keeping the demand of a high quality Airline which is demanded by people it has set it’s price according to the quality and services it is providing and according to the needs of the consumers and also keeping in mind the competitors. Pricing In different Types of Markets The sellers pricing freedom varies with different types of markets, there are four types of markets each presenting a different pricing challenge. The types of markets are: Pure Competition Markets Monopolistic Competition Markets Oligopolistic Competition Markets Pure Monopoly Markets AirBlue is operating under Oligopolistic Competition where the market consists of a few sellers (PIA, Aero Asia, Shaheen Airways) who are highly sensitive to others pricing and marketing strategies. The prices of AirBlue are more or less the same as that of it’s competitors because if they would have kept their price higher they would have gained nothing even if they were providing high quality services.
Consumer perception Of Price and Value: The consumer decides whether a products price is right. Pricing decisions decisions like other marketing mix decision, must be buyer oriented. When consumers buy a product they exchange something of value (the price) to get some thing of value (the benefits). According to our survey the consumers a re satisfied with the price of AirBlue as compared to PIA because of the services and benefits. If AirBlue’s price was the same as PIA’s and the services too the consumer would not have preferred to switch to AirBlue because of their to the National Airline and they would not risk their money to experiment a new airline. “Another external factor affecting pricing decision is competitors cost and prices and possible competitor reactions to the company’s own pricing moves. A consumer when purchasing a product carefully evaluates a company’s product’s price and v alue against its competitors price and value.” When a consumer buys a product he carefully evaluates the product price with its comparable products. Airblue has carefully set its prices seeing it’s competitors and the cost of its own services it is turning out
to be a strong competitor of PIA by charging the same price and providing higher quality and service standards to its customers. External Factors are as follows:
General Pricing Approaches The price the company charges will be somewhere between one that is too low to produce a profit and one that is too high to produce any demand. AirBlue has set its prices according to the value it is providing to its customers for e.g. catering, seating capacity, comfort, entertainment, entertainment, etc. it has also set its price according to its competitor’s price i.e. PIA. It has kept its price similar to that of PIA so that it can attract a large market share of PIA. Therefore it is using a combination of Value Based Pricing Approach and Competition Based Approach. New-Product Pricing Strategies Companies bringing out a new product face the challenge of setting prices for the first time. They can choose between two broad categories: Market Skimming Pricing and Market Penetration Pricing. AirBlue has set higher prices to obtain maximum revenues by targeting small segments who are willing to pay higher prices. So now they have the chance to attract more customers by lowering the prices, as it will attract many new customers, which are rated in the lower segments. •
Product Mix Pricing Strategies
The strategy for setting a product’s price often has to be changed when the product is a part of a product mix. In this case, the firm looks for a set of prices that maximizes the profits on the total product mix. Product Line Pricing Setting the price steps between various products in a product line based on cost differences between the products, customer evaluations of different features, and competitors’ prices. Airblue has also developed a product line, for example, it offers its customers two types of travel classes i.e. Economy Class and Business Class priced at around 4500 and 6500 respectively. Each successive class offers more features and more services, for example, Business Class offer leather seats, 38” leg pitch, personal LCD screen, more choice of food as compared to Economy Class which offers normal seats, 32” leg pitch and an LCD screen after every 3 rows. PRICE- ADJUSTMENT STRATEGIES o
Segmented Pricing
Selling a product or service at two or more prices, where the difference in prices is not based on differences in costs.
Customer-segment Customer-segm ent pricing
Different customers pay different prices for the same product or service. AirBlue charges 50% less for children under 12 years of age and no charges for infants.
Time pricing
A firm varies its price by the season, the month, the day and even the hour. AirBlue gives seasonal discounts, discount s, low fare rates on special occasions and 15%-25% discount on early booking bookings. s. o
Psychological Psychologi cal Pricing
Reference prices
Prices that buyers carry in their minds and refer to when they look at a given product. Airblue has kept the same pricing charges as that of PIA to imply that it belongs in the same category. PIA is assumed to be the best and largest airline in Pakistan. So, to match their services with PIA, Airblue is using this strategy of charging same price and providing better quality than PIA. o
Promotional Pricing
Temporarily pricing pricing products below the list price, and sometimes even below cost, to increase short-run sales.
Special-event pricing
AirBlue gave special discounts to its customers on the occasion of 14th August charging 50% of its list price from customers for 3 days. It also gave 50% discount to customers when they book tickets 15 days before the flight, when it started its operations.
Place AirBlue is currently operating in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore. And in the near future their expansion programs includes starting daily flights to Sukkur, Faisalabad, Quetta, Gwadar, Multan and Peshawar. After the completion of the initial requirement of domestic flights, they will start their regular international flights next year.
“A distribution channel is a set of inter dependent organization involved in the process of making a product or a service available for consumption by the final consumer.” Like other organizations AirBlue also uses intermediaries (TRAVEL AGENTS) to bring their products to the market. Running an Airline is a kind of business which also needs a distribution channel Number of Channel Levels: “A layer of intermediaries that performs some work in bringing the product closer to the final buyer.” AirBlue is using direct Marketing Channels as well as Indirect Marketing Channels “A marketing channel that has no intermediary levels” “Channel containing one or more intermediary levels.”
AirBlue uses an indirect marketing channel to reach its customers. It sells its products to its consumer directly as well as through Travel Agents in all the three major cities that it is operating in. DIRECT MARKETING CHANNEL Consumer Manufacturer In-Direct Marketing Channel Retailer Manufacturer Consumer TYPES OF INTERMEDIARIES: “A firm should identify the types of channel members available to carry out its channel work. The following channel alternatives might emerge from management discussion”. 1.
Company Sales Force
2.
Manufacturers Agency
3.
Industrial Distributors
Manufacturers Manufacturer s Agency Independent Independ ent firms whose sales forces handle related products from many companies in different regions or industries. AirBlue is a manufacturer’s agency because it is giving the travel agents the rights to sell their airline tickets as the travel agents a gents are also selling other airline tickets. So the travel agents are independent firms.
NUMBER OF INTERMEDIARIES Companies must also determine the number number of channel members to use a t each level. Three strategies are available: Intensive Distributio Distribution n Exclusive Distribution Selective Distributio Distribution n AirBlue Uses Exclusive Distribution: “Giving a limited number of dealers the exclusive rights to distribute the c ompany’s products products in their territories.”
AirBlue is using Exclusive distribution by giving rights to only those travel agents who are certified by the International Agents Transport Association (IATA). They have also given rights only to IATA agents in other cities of Pakistan where AirBlue is operating. In this case other agents have to book tickets from IATA agents or they will have to contact AirBlue directly for their customer’s ticket.
Promotion THE MARKETING COMMUNICATION MIX (PROMOTION MIX) It consists of the specific blend of advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing tools that the company uses to pursue its advertising and marketing objectives. Advertising: Any paid form of nonpersonal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor. AirBlue promoted its airline by showing commercials on major television channels like GEO TV, ARY TV which was for a very short time and extensive advertising in major newspapers like Dawn, The News, and Daily Jang. Sales Promotion: Short-term incentives incentives to encourage the purchase or sale of a product or service. AirBlue gave special discounts to its customers up to 50% when it started its operations, they also gave special discounts on the occasion of 14th August up to 50% and they are also giving a regular discount on certain proportion of seats in every flight ranging from 15-25%. Direct Marketing: Direct connections with carefully targeted individual consumers to both obtain an immediate response and cultivate lasting customer relationships. They are distributing catalogs to other airline passengers at airports. Integrated Marketing Communicat Communications ions Diagram Advertising Sales Promotion Direct Marketing SETTING THE TOTAL PROMOTION BUDGET AND MIX How does a company decide on its promotion budget? There are four common methods used to set the total budget for advertising: the affordable method, the percentage-of-sales method, the competitiveparity method, and the objective-and objective-and-task -task method.
Competitive-parity Competiti ve-parity method: Setting the promotion budget to match competitors’ outlays. AirBlue is using a competitivec ompetitive-parity parity method. AirBlue’s main competitor in the market is PIA. Keeping in view the PIA’s low advertising and promotion spending, AirBlue has also set the same type of budget for its promotion without any heavy spending on advertising. PROMOTION MIX STRATEGIES Two types of promotion strategies: Push Promotion Pull Promotion. Push Strategy A promotion strategy that calls for using the sales force and trade promotion to push the product through channels. Pull Strategy A promotion strategy that calls for spending a lot on advertising and consumer promotion to build up consumer demand, which pulls the product through the channels. AirBlue is using some combination of both. AirBlue uses a media advertising to pull its products and trade promotions to push its products through the channels. ADVERTISING Setting Advertising Objectives Advertising Objective A specific communication task to be accomplished with a specific target audience during a specific period of time. There are three types of advertising objectives objectives Informative, Persuasive and Reminder. Persuasive Advertising: It is basically used to build brand preference, to encourage switching of brand and to change customer perceptions of product attributes. AirBlue is using Persuasive advertising because there are already other airlines established and AirBlue is convincing its customers to travel in their airline because they are promising best quality and services that other airlines are not. SELECTING ADVERTISING MEDIA AirBlue has Newspapers, Television and Radio as its major advertising media.
Newspapers vehicles include: Dawn, The News and Daily Jang Television vehicles include: GEO TV and ARY TV Radio vehicles include: Apna Karachi FM 107 SALES PROMOTION Major Sales Promotion Tools Cash Refund Offer (Rebates) Offer to refund part of the purchase price of a product to consumers who send a “proof of purchase” to the manufacturer. AirBlue offers a complete cash refund on cancellation of tickets prior to 24 hours of departure, the refund will be shown in full as a separate item in passenger sales history report. And within 24 hours of flight departures, a penalty of Rs. 300 applies. Advertising specialties Useful article imprinted with an advertiser’s advertiser’s name, given as a gift to consumers. Airblue gives key chains and toys as souvenirs to their passengers during the flight. Patronage rewards Cash or other award for the regular use of a certain company’s products products or services. Airblue offers its Blue Miles Frequent Flier programs, awarding awarding points for miles traveled that can be turned in for free airline trips. For example, On every 10,000 miles traveled, a customer is eligible for a free domestic ticket to any city.
SWOT ANALYSIS A Situational Analysis Tool That Helps Managers Identify Internal Strengths And Weaknesses, External Opportunities And Threats And The Potential Impact Of These Factors On Organizational Performance.
STRENGTHS Strength is an internal characteristic that has the potential of improving the organization’s organization’s competitive position. Latest And Technologically Equipped Aircrafts The AirBlue is aiming to provide world-class world-class service on new generation aircrafts, which are comparatively newer than those used by the other private airlines. AirBlue's aircraft are just about 5-year-old, without
compromising compromisin g on quality, service or fare. Its most significan significantt features, beside other minor ones, are as follows: •
New Generation Airbus A320 Aircraft
•
Aircraft Seat Configuration Of 20 Business Class + 126 Economy Class
•
Leather Seats In Business Class
•
Seat Pitch Of 38” In Business Class, And 32” In Economy Class.
•
Drop Down Screens After Every 4 Rows
Blue Miles Frequent Flyer Program As an airblue Frequent Flyer, you earn BlueMiles™ with every flight you make. Fly often, and you may earn enough to take your whole family on holiday. The possibilities are endless with airblue. Unlike other airlines that require upwards of 50,000 miles for redemption,, you may redeem your BlueMiles™ in as little as five round trip flights. redemption It works in the following way when you attain blue miles: •
The trip mileage from each of your traveled fares to your BlueMiles account.
•
Redemption requires requires a minimum accrual of 7,500 Miles.
•
Use your BlueMiles to purchase economy or business class tickets.
Latest In-Flight Entertainment Airblue offers in-flight entertainment not offered by any other airline, including the PIA, on the domestic sector. Airblue provide the facility of dropdown screen after every four rows in business and economy classes. They also play a variety show produced by ARY on their flights. This is the first of its kind service not provided by any other airline in Pakistan. Pioneers Of E-Ticketing In Pakistan AirBlue has introduced the concept of total e-ticketing for the convenience of passenger which would also help it to eradicate the back-dating system associated with manual ticketing that costs airlines, including includin g its competito competitors, rs, millions in losses every year. The absence of manual ticketing and the introduction of computerized check-ins by hand-held computers would help AirBlue offer qualityconscious travelers value for their money by offering quality product. E-ticketing is an electronic version of a paper ticket which no longer requires your ticket to be printed on paper. Instead, it is stored in Airblue’s reservation system as an electronic ticket or e-ticket. When customers make reservations online, a confirmatio confirmation n number is displayed on the itinerary and confirmation confirmatio n screen. You have to note 5that. A printer-fri printer-friendly endly version of the ticket receipt is provided. You must print this with the bar code to get your boarding pass at the airport. Introducers Of E-Commerce In Pakistani Aviation Industry The new entity, Airblue, has given special emphasis on a highly sophisticated IT network to compete effectively with the existing airlines in the market. The AirBlue website “www.airblu “www.airblue.com” e.com” offers considerable considerabl e insight into the company's c ompany's philosophy philosophy and vision. There are a number of online services
offered by Airblue, which are a giant leap for the aviation industry towards E-commerce. Among these are complete online reservation systems, online reservation hold/in person payment at various location locations, s, and mobile airport check in procedures. AirBlue has unveiled its website, emphasizing high-quality high-quality service and posting career opportunities for professional crew and aviation personnel. Highly Trained Staff From Renowned Agencies Airblue is the first airline in private sector to have Pakistani pilots and engineering staff trained according to international standards. The airline has experienced staff, which has further been trained with the British Airways. •
Flight Crew Training At Airbus
•
Maintenance Crew Training At Airbus
•
Cabin Crew Training At Airbus And PIA
•
Ground Crew Training At Sabre, USA
•
Reservations Crew Training At Sabre, USA
High Quality Services Augmentation They are focused on services, which matters the most in airline business. To differentiate from other competing airlines, Airblue besides offering high standard in ticketing procedures is focusing on special care in providing quality services on board as well as on the ground to the travellers. AirBlue AirBlue aims to focus passenger comfort at prices that offer value for money and that explains its decision to have leather-upholstered leather-uph olstered seats in the Business class and offering in-flight entertainment not offered by any other airline, including the PIA, on the domestic sector. •
Catering From Gate Gourmet
The airline has also made arrangements with quality caterer outside to serve what it calls "exquisite cuisine" to the travelers. Gate Gourmet also provides catering to international airlines such as Emirates and Lufthana. Therefore Airblue is benchmarking itself to the standards of leading international airlines. •
Change in Reservation According To Customer Convenience
You may not make changes to your reservation online at this time after purchasing travel on the Airblue web site. For example, you can change your seat to a desired one in the flight map supplied online. •
2% Extra Discount On Self-Reservation
Those eager for a still lower fare even after the discount or couldn’t avail the discount can get an extra 2% discount they register for their flight themselves on the airline self-reservation computer systems. •
Airblue Internet Specials
They are always announced on the Airblue web site. When Airblue is running a special that is only available on the Internet, people can v iew this information on the special offers page. Pioneers Of Instant Computerized check-ins They have started the practice of instant computerized check-ins. Those customers with nil baggage may simply approach the AirBlue’s representative at the airport and obtain their boarding passes instantly
providing them the needed information. This convenience saves them from the hassle of standing in long ques and waiting for a lengthy periods of time. It saves their time a nd energy. Auto Cancellation Of Tickets According to this, if customer reserves a seat through the Airblue website, your reservation will be held for up to 24 hours. You will need to visit any Airblue sales office or participating payment payment center to make your payment in person. Just in case the customer changes his mind then they don’t have to go to the office for cancellation. The ticket will be auto cancelled after 24 hours. This saves the time a nd efforts of the customer. High Schedule Reliability Unlike other domestically flying airlines, Airblue is very particular about its flight schedules. Airblue operates 3 daily flights each on the Karachi-Lahore and Karachi-Islamabad sectors. AirBlue also has plans to operate one circular Karachi-Sukkur-Multan-Karachi Karachi-Sukkur-Multan-Karachi flight daily. The total frequency of which adds up to 15 flights a day. The flights never miss their schedule and stay tightly stuck to their schedule to prevent customer inconvenience, which they face due to rescheduling of flights and flights delays. Web Based Reservation System Airblue provides the ability to search for available flights, view fares, make reservations and purchase etickets through this system. Operation of the AirBlue is paperless, any person who has access to Internet can get reservation from their web-site with PNR numbers and get out the print, which is acceptable even in the airport restricted area. The customers can save up to Rs.300 every time you purchase your AirBlue ticket through Airblue’s Airblue’s website. Convenience Convenien ce Of Payment You may pay for Airblue travel by credit card online. Payments Payments can also be made at the participating payment center, which currently are the participating branches branches of Abn-Amro or they may also be made at the city sales office. They are also making arrangements with FedEx FedEx to be included in their payments centers in future. Efficient Feedback Program Adopted The have a separate section on their web site reserved for feedbacks. Through this this they remain connected to their customers all the time. The biggest advantage this provides the company is that they get first hand knowledge of the problems faced by their customers and s trive to rectify them. Secondly, the attitude of the company makes the customers feel special and that the company care about them. This is a very efficient mode of establishing relationship relationship with their customers and carry out relationship marketing. The approach of having direct interaction with the customers, increase brand loyalty of the company. Flexible Fare Structure Though the fares are not cheap, Airblue has a flexible fare structure. It aims to focus on quality and service primarily at fares competitive with the national flag carrier PIA. It also has plans to offer heavy
discounts for the senior citizens and students as well as operating night coach at discounted fares. Those eager for a still lower fare even after the discount or couldn’t avail the discount can get an extra 2% discount they register for their flight themselves on the airline self-reservation computer systems. AirBlue online flight reservations system automatically rewards you for planning ahead. 14-day advance and 7day advance fares will be reflected in the fares presented when you book online. You can save up to Rs.300 every time you purchase your AirBlue ticket through our website.
WEAKNESSES Weakness is an internal characteristic that leaves the organization potentially vulnerable to strategic moves by competitor competitors. s. Early Cancellations Required The customers are required to place their cancellation requests within 24 hours of flight departure due to procedural limitations limitations of the computer based reservation system. The other airlines that follow the traditional, manual system of reservation do not have any such limitations as faced by AirBlue following a web-based reservations system. If the requests are not placed within 24 hours of flight departure then the ticket fare will not be refunded on account of missing the flight. Early Check-In Required Compared To Other Airlines Due to the strict schedule followed by AirBlue, a check in prior to at least half an hour of flight departure is required due to the reason that the need to feed it into their computers before flight departure unlike other domestic airlines who take-in passengers till the last minute. Un-guaranteed Fares The fares on which you make reservations are un-guaranteed. In case you cancel your reservation and need to make it again, you have to start the procedure all over again and will be offered a completely new set of fares in accordance a ccordance with the flexible fare system. A person getting a 25% discounted seat may get a 15% discounted seat if he tries to make a re-reservation past 5 min of the earlier reservation. High Traffic – Slow Service On Website Due to the bandwidth limitations offered by ISPs in Pakistan, the Airblue’s web site open at a very slow speed and the reservation processing time become slower then usual. There is high traffic on website and with the rate at which the sales are expected to grow, there will be extremely heavy traffic load on the website. This inconvenience inconvenience sometimes tests the patience of the customers bringing down the customer satisfaction level. Minimum Amount Of Advertising Airblue carried out a very soft launch strategy aiming at promoting the company mainly through word-ofmouth. But word-of-mouth is a very gradual mode of promotion and takes a lot of time to spread around. Airblue carried out a minimal amount of advertising with its ad placement on different television channels only a week prior to its official launch, on major newspaper for a very short time and placing its logos outside participating participating agents’ offices. Due to this, there is a very low volume of awareness created and
there are so many potential customers who do not stay up-to-date with the current affairs are not aware of Airblue’s presence. OPPERTUNITIES Opportunity is an environmental condition that offers significant prospects for improving an organization’s situation relative to competitor. Low Schedule Reliability Of Competitors The other airlines competing in Pakistan aviation industry have very unreliable schedules with flight timing changing recurrently accompanied by frequent flight delays. This tempts and makes time and schedule conscious people to switch to AirBlue due to its flight reliability and high frequency of flights available on daily basis. Increasing Technological Awareness In Pakistan The technological technological advancements are gaining roots in especially in the major cities of Pakistan moving on to the smaller ones gradually. With the technological technological awareness increasing, people will find it easier and safer to adapt to the system put forward by Airblue. Among the features offered by the Airblue system are complete online reservation systems, online reservation hold/in person payment at various location locations, s, and mobile airport check in procedures. People People do not any more feel alienated when they come across certain practices in any industry, which are different from the traditional methods. Very Few Competitors There are a very few number is existing airlines in Pakistan aviation industry. Though they maintain a monopoly monopo ly in Pakistan’s domestic aviation industry industry but due to the presence of very few airlines in aviation industry there exists a niche in the market for a new airline and Airblue is trying to tap that potential. The state-owned carrier PIA possesses over 75 percent of market share, the rest is held by two private airlines, Aero Asia and Shaheen Air. Competitors Offering High Penalty For Flight Cancellation The other competitors in the field are offering a penalty of, generally, 15% of the total fare for cancellation of seats outside given time limit. But AirBlue charges a penalty of a standard Rs. 300 for seats cancellation within 24 hours of flight departure on any kind of ticket to any destination. So those people who are not so sure about their flight conformance may find it as an advantage and will be attracted towards the airline. Travel Agent’s Inclination The AirBlue management had planned eight workshops, four in Karachi, two in Lahore and two in twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The objective of these workshops is to build understanding among all stakeholders of the airline. The care and concern AirBlue shows towards its agents also is playing a positive role in increasing agents’ inclination towards AirBlue. Due to these efforts carried on by Airblue in addition to high commissions and enormous incentives the inclination of travel agents towards AirBlue is increasing at a tremendous rate. Beside the increase in customers’ loyalty towards AirBlue has also tempted the travel agents towards AirBlue.
People Recommendation – Word-Of-Mouth With the growing brand equity and loyalty of the company, the company is being publicized through the word-of-mouth, without the company putting in much effort in advertising. This is what the company aimed at when they diverted the expenses required for advertising in sales promotio promotion n and providing incentives for its customers along with superior services compared to the domestic airlines operating in this region. Improvement In Economy Pakistan’s air traffic market is tiny but it can grow following in an improvement in the economy, which is expected to grow more than 5% in the year to June. Airblue can tap into rising passenger traffic as the country’s economy expands. The country is heading towards growth path that would definitely create room for more business activity in Pakistan increasing the trend towards air traveling. Development Of Airports In Pakistan The government decided to upgrade the Gwadar International Airport at a cost of 480 million rupees last year. Once upgraded, the airport will be able to handle wide-body aircraft such as Airbus and Boeing 747 aircraft. Similarly, the construction for the new runway of Sialkot International Airport was in full swing in May last year. The new Lahore Airport, the Allama Iqbal International, & its terminal building were opened for domestic and internation international al traffic. High Existing Air Fares The cost of travel especially on the domestic route is not affordable even by the middle-in middle-income come group, which means a huge market still remains untapped only because of high tariffs of the airline. Actually, while fixing the tariff we usually compare it with international standards but unfortunately ignore that low GNP level in the country. The flexible fare structure of Airblue enables them to tap this potential market in which people are willing to travel by air but are not able to do so due to their low-income level and high fares offered by airlines. Due to their flexible fares structure and discounts offered by them, Airblue has an opportunity opportunity to expand in this market thereby increasing their market share. Their fare structure gives them a competitive edge over other competitors. competitors.
THREATS Threat is an environmental condition that offers significant prospects for undermining an organization’s competitive competitiv e situation. Basic Knowledge Of Computer And Internet Required A basic knowledge of computer is required for the use or understanding of their services. Those people who feel alienated with the new technolo technological gical developments, as is the case with many people in Pakistan, do not feel comfortable of safe with the services. They fall under the laggards and only follow the things when rhey become a part of their culture and such technological advancements are nor yet a part of our culture. Uneducated Customers
It is taking a deal of time and effort by airblue to make people aware of their working and reservation system. The customer cannot just adopt their services and they first have to be educated. This is standing as a curse along with being a blessing to them. Because though if makes the working faster and convenient bur it is taking great effort to educate their customers too. Low Amount Awareness Among Travel Agents In Pakistan The travel agents, like the end-users are not familiar with the technologies used by Airblue and thus feel alien while using their system. This reason may cause them to hesitate while using air blue’s facilities. To over come this difficulty the AirBlue management had planned eight workshops, four in Karachi, two in Lahore and two in twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The objective of these workshops is to build understanding understand ing among all stakeholder stakeholders s of the airline. Flights To Limited Areas Only At the moment Airblue is operating only domestically on the routes of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. Though they plan to extend their flights to Sukkar, Faislabad, Quetta, Gwadar, Multan and Peshawar but they are not in operation yet and it will take sometime to work out the program. Meanwhile, the other competing airlines will hold their market domination in those areas. No International Routes Airblue has not been issued an international license license as yet and it is required to operate domestically domestically for at least one year before the acquisition of international license to prove its eligibility according to the rules. Therefore, airblue will be missing an opportunity to tap into its potential market internationally for one year and will be missing its potential revenues from that source. Though, AirBlue AirBlue leased ex-Thomas Cook Belgium A320 (394) with V2500s from Jetscape for startup [three-time daily Karachi-Laho Karachi-Lahore/-Islamabad re/-Islamabad]] in late April. It expects later to add service to the Middle East and Asia Pacific. Loss Making Sectors Limitations One of the major failures for a private airline has been its inability to operate flights of the less lucrative sectors due mainly to reason of economy thereby leaving only PIA to serve what are called the “ loss making sectors” as public service. So due to low traffic in this area Airblue may be limited to expanding their services to these areas leaving the larger share of the market to PIA. Domination Of Three Major Airlines At present, the commercial air traffic in Pakistan is shared by three airlines — the state-owned PIA and private Shaheen Air International and Aero Asia. The bulk of the domestic commercial traffic is dominated by the PIA a portion of which is also shared by the two other private airlines, both of which are also operating international flights on a number of routes in the Gulf. Hence, Airblue will be facing the difficulty of dealing with two direct and close competitors - Shaheen Air International and Aero Asia and one direct competitor which is also a market leader a present – PIA.
COMP CO MPET ETA ATI TIVE VE MA MARK RKET ETIN ING G ST STRA RATE TEGI GIES ES
Strategies That Strongly Position The Company Against Competitors And That Give The Company The Strongest Possible Strategic Advantage. INTRODUCTION As the competition exists in the very market, the first task of a company c ompany is to analyze who the actual competitor is and who would be challenging it in the market. AirBlue, it seems, has carefully analyzed its market and its competitor competitors. s. AirBlue has ventured into a market which is heavily dominated by PIA (Pakistan International), International), and a couple of other minor competitors. PIA has a very strong base in the airline industry because of its vast experience and occupies a huge market share. Facing such a huge threat from PIA. BENCHMARKING There is a term in marketing called Benchmarking which means ‘the process of comparing the company’s products and processes to those of competitors or leading firms in other industries to find way to improve quality and performance. performance. We would like to put forward that Air Blue has set its own standard of quality rather benchmarking it on the leading airline PIA.
COMPETITIV COMPE TITIVE E MARKE MARKETING TING STRATE STRATEGIES GIES AirBlue has efficiently implemented the two out of the three winning competitive strategies, which are: Overall Cost Leadership Leadership:: Under this strategy the companies work hard to achieve the lowest costs of production and distribution so that it can price lower than its competitors and win a large market share. Even though, AirBlue at its launch gave the passengers up to fifty percent discount, the regular fare is exactly similar to what PIA charges. Nonetheless, Nonetheless, AirBlue has a certain number of seats offering 25 percent and 15 percent discounts on all flights as already mentioned. This gives AirBlue an edge over its competitor PIA Differentiation: Here the company concentrates on creating a highly differentiated differentiated product line and marketing programs so that it comes across as the class leader in the industry. This is an area where AirBlue has taken a very calculated step and we believe, AirBlue has completely differentiated its airline from PIA and other competitors.. AirBlue has a fleet of airbuses which all have a greater seat space and a far better catering competitors service. Apart from differentiating its product, its services are also distinguished distinguished from the other airlines in the market. It employs well-trained staffs who communicate very effectively and in a very polite manner to give the customer a sense of superiorit superiority y unlike other airlines’ staff that is not properly trained to interact with customers and passengers.
All of these services have differentiated this new airline from the rest of the airlines in the industry. Focus: Here the company focuses on its effort on serving a few market segments well rather going after the whole market. AirBlue, even though caters to e very segments’ needs and tries to supply the best product and services to them, has focused its effort on passengers who travel a lot and carry light luggage. It has started a free-flyer scheme under which the travelers gain points the more they travel and these points yield them free tickets. Air Blue also has focused on passengers who carry light luggage. They realized that passengers, carrying little or no luggage, had to stand in long queues to get their boarding done. To overcome this problem Air Blue came up with the idea of mobile boarding (explained (explained earlier) through which these passengers get their boarding pass instantly from the Air Blue staff roaming in the boarding lounge. All these strategies have put Air Blue ahead of its competitor competitors; s; even the system of e-ticket is first of its kind in Pakistan.
COMPETITIVE POSITION OF AIRBLUE IN THE MARKET Firms competing in a market, at any point in time, differ in their objectives and resources. Some firms are large, others are small. Some have many resources, others are strapped for funds. Some are old and established and others are new and fresh. Basically, the firms occupy different competitive positions positions in the target market. Air Blue occupies the competitive position of market challenger. Market challenger Market challenger is a runner-up firm in an industry that is fighting hard to increase its market share. A market challenger can adopt one of the two competitive strategies: either it can challenge its competitor aggressively for more market share or it can play along with the competitor. Air Blue has launched a full frontal attack, by offering the better product than its competitor and by matching the price. PIA had better carriers than Aero Asia and Shaheen (the other two airlines in the industry) before the advent of Air Blue, but Air Blue explicitly attacked this strength of PIA by bringing carriers equivalent to that of PIA but with more spacious seats than PIA. Air Blue also provides better service on-board and off-board than does PIA On the whole Air Blue has implemented their strategies very tactically and it seems that these strategies have started paying-off very early as was e vident from the positive response that we received from the regional manager of Air Blue when asked how Air Blue has performed since its launch. It has neither become competitor-centered competitor-centered nor customer-center customer-centered ed company but it is market-centered company- a company which pays balance attention to both its customers and competitors in designing its marketing strategies and not focusing profusely either on customers or competitors.
Suggestions and Recommendations Airblue should consider the following suggestions:
They should start their flights to more routes domestically. They should increase their daily flights. They should include more aircrafts in their fleet like Boeing 111 and Boeing 747. They should spend more on advertising and promotion because mostly business class people know about this airline. They should maintain their current standards of service and catering. They should build awareness and educate the people about e-ticketing system. They should make plans to cover international countries countries after their first year. HIGH LOW MARKET GROWTH RATE HIGH LOW BCG Matrix
RELATIVE MARKET SHARE
GENDER CLASSIFICATION
NUMERICAL DATA Male
Female
Total
33
17
50
Analysis: AirBlue survey was conducted among 50 people who were given separate questionnaires to write their views about AirBlue. Out of 50 individuals, there were 33 (66%) male respondents and 17 (34%) female respondent respondents. s.
PROFESSION
NUMERICAL DATA Govt
Businessman
Professional
Student
Retired
Other
Total
20
5
16
3
3
50
Official 3
Among male and female respondents, there were 3 (6%) Government Official, 20 (40%) Businessmen, 5 (10%) Professional, 16 (32%) Students, 3 (6%) Retired and 3 (6%) Others. AGE GROUP
NUMERICAL DATA below 18
18-25
26-35
36-45
46-55
56+
Total
2
16
17
8
4
3
50
The survey results showed the age group as: Below18: 2 (4%), 18-25: 16 (32%), 26-35: 17 (34%), 36-45: 8 (16%), 46-55: 4 (8%) and 56+: 3 (6%). Major respondents of the survey were y oung businessmen businessmen and students, which accounted for more than 60% of the total respondents.
TRAVELLING RATIO
NUMERICAL DATA Once On ce in a Week Week On Once ce In A Month 5
10
Once In A
Other
Total
12
50
Year 23
According to the survey, number of people who travel once in a week are 5 which is 10% of the total, number of people who travel once in a month are 10 (20%), number of people who travel once in a year
are 23 (46%) and Others who travel, for instance, twice or thrice a year, or 3, 4 times a month etc. accounts for 24% (12) of the total.
AIRLINE PREFERENCE
NUMERICAL DATA PIA
AeroAsia
Shaheen
AirBlue
Total
23
7
3
17
50
23 respondents (46%) preferred PIA over others, 7 respondents (14%) preferred AeroAsia, 3 (6%) preferred Shaheen and 17 (34%) people preferred the new AirBlue over others. As it is evident from the above pie diagram that AirBlue despite being a new airline, has captured a 34% market share and now ranks 2nd after PIA according to our survey.
CABIN PREFERENCE
NUMERICAL DATA Firs Fi rstt Cl Clas ass s 5
Busi Bu sine ness ss
Economy
Class
Class
11
34
Total 50
Survey analysis shows that 68% (34) people prefer to travel in Economy Class, 22% (11) people in Business Class and 10% (5) people prefer to travel in First Class. Corporate Executives and Government Officials travel mostly in Business Class but the majority of population travel in Economy Class specially those who travel frequently on domestic routes because of low fares. People who traveled with AirBlue in Economy Class were more satisfied with the service than other domestic Airlines. Airlines.
SOURCE OF AWARNESS
NUMERICAL DATA Newspaper/Ad
Friend
Internet
Other
Total
25
13
4
8
50
AirBlue did not involve in huge advertising and promotion efforts, rather it conducted a very small advertising in Newspapers and Television. And according to the survey, 50% (25) respondents heard about AirBlue in Television and Newspapers, 26% (13) people were told by their friends about the airline, 8% (4) people learned about Airblue on Internet and 16% (8) people heard from other sources .
PURPOSE OF TRAVELLING
NUMERICAL DATA Business/Professional
Personal/Pleasure
Other
Total
23
20
7
50
This diagram shows that out of 50 people, 23 (46%) traveled mainly for Business purpose and 20 (40%) people traveled mainly for Personal and Pleasure Purpose where a s only 7 (14%) people traveled for some other purposes.
TRAVELLING DECISION
NUMERICAL DATA Own
Travel
Friend's
Agent's 22
12
Tour
Total
Package 9
7
50
In the survey 44% (22) people made their own decision for traveling in AirBlue after hearing about AirBlue’s amazing recent hype, 24% (12) people complied with Travel Agents’ decision, 18% (9) people were suggested by their Friends, and 14% (7) people traveled in AirBlue because it was included in their Tour Package. MODE OF RESERVATION
NUMERICAL DATA Calling
Travel
Direct
Agency
9
26
Internet
Total
15
50
As it is shown in the above diagram, 52% (26) people made reservations for AirBlue through Travel Agency, 30% (15) people used Internet for reservation of tickets and 18% (9) people made reservations by calling directly to AirBlue.
VALUE FOR MONEY
NUMERICAL DATA Excellent
Good
Satisfactory
Poor
Total
14
22
12
2
50
The analysis of the survey shows that 28% (14) people rated the value for the money of the transportatio transportation n and service “Excellent”, 44% (22) people rated it as “Good”, 24% (12) people chose “Satisfactory” and only 4% (2) people rated the value for money “Poor .” “Poor .”
OVERALL EXPERIENCE
NUMERICAL DATA Excellent
Good
Satisfactory
Poor
Total
14
27
8
1
50
The Overall Experience was rated “Excellent” by 28% (14) people, “Good” by 54% (27) people, “Satisfactory” by 16% (8) people and “Poor” by only 2% people.
RECOMMENDATION TO A FRIEND
NUMERICAL DATA YES
NO
Total
38
12
50
According to the survey, 76% (38) respondents would recommend this service to their friends and 24% (12) respondents would not recommend it to a friend. Products
And
Services
Excellent
Fair
Poor
Total
Online Booking Service
24
25
1
50
Airline Lounges-Staff Service
21
29
0
50
Flight Boarding procedures
34
16
0
50
Cabin Cleanliness on aircraft
21
25
4
50
Cabin Seating Comfort
16
29
5
50
Standard of onboard reading materials
11
37
2
50
Standard of Onboard Catering
36
14
0
50
Language Skills of Cabin Staff
10
33
2
45
In-flight Entertainment
12
34
4
50
Efficiency of Cabin Staff Service
18
30
2
50
Friendliness/Attitude of Cabin Staff
16
27
7
50
Overall Flight Rating
15
35
0
50
SERVICES ANALYSIS NUMERICAL DATA
According to the survey we conducted Air Blue services have been appreciated by passengers a lot specially the onboard catering service was rated excellent by 80% passengers and 20% rated it fair and none rated the service as poor because the service was being provided by world class airline caterers GATE GOURMET. GOURMET. The online booking service was also rated as excellent by majority of passengers as it has proved to be a very convenient and efficient efficient way of booking airline tickets of AirBlue without any hassle of going to the travel agents. The overall flight boarding procedures have also turned out to be very efficient and convenient for elder people and children because they don’t have to stand in long queues to obtain their boarding pass. 32% people rated cabin-seatin cabin-seating g comfort excellent, fair by 58% and poor by 10%. The friendliness attitude and the language skills of the onboard crew were highly appreciated by the passengers because it was way better than other private airlines that don’t care about these little things that matter a lot. In flight entertainment and reading material was rated fair by most of the passengers and suggested that they can increase the number of LCD screens in the aircraft a nd can improve the variety of magazines for all age groups. The overall response was good from the passengers and rated it as a far better airline than other private carriers ever launched in Pakistan. After extensive research and analysis we came to a conclusion that the airline has a bright future and attracts a large number of Business Professionals who want a quick and hassle free service with all their needs fulfilled, AirBlue has introduced the concept of total e-ticketing for the convenience of passengers which would also help it to eradicate the back-dating system associated with manual ticketing that costs airlines, including including its competitors, millions in losses every year. The absence of manual ticketing and the introduction of computerized check-ins by hand-held computers would help AirBlue offer qualityconscious travelers value for their money by offering quality product and consistent scheduling. scheduling. It aims to focus on quality and service primarily at fares competitive with the national flag carrier PIA. It also has plans to offer heavy discounts for the senior citizens and students as well as operating night coach at discounted fares. The AirBlue, thus, is looking forward to soon become the fourth [yet most popular] airline airline serving the domestic sector in a market, the bulk of which is served by the PIA and a portion is enjoyed by Shaheen Air International and Aero Asia which promotes itself as the country's first low-fare airline
