Etihad Airways Marketing Strategy

The demographic characteristics of customers can be broken down by the class they choose to fly. First Class is chiefly attracting high-income earners, who are concerned with a high level of service and enjoy an air of exclusivity. These are knows as “comfort seekers” and they can include business magnates, federal politicians, sporting stars and a-list celebrities. The First Class market is highly concentrated; less than 3% of passengers will choose to fly First Class but those customers make up close to 30% in revenue for the airline (Keen and Strand 2007). Because the focus is on service and

Cole 1 ~Intro~ Did you know that the fourth smokestack on the Titanic was fake, and that is was made just for looks? Thomas Andrews, the Titanic’s architect, thought instead of having three smokestacks that having four would raise public interest. But when the Titanic was sinking, the fake smokestack fell on people and instantly killed them. The Titanic was made for luxury and had succeeded but all of the effort was wasted when all of the items became dead weight at the bottom of the sea. All the work and effort was lost when the Titanic struck the iceberg.

Recently, United has shifted its focus to business class and first class passengers. Characteristics of these two target groups include: booking flights on short notice, traveling on weekdays, paying full fare, and opting for the premium class. These travelers place less importance on price and tend to purchase based on service, schedule, mileage awards, food, seat comfort, ease of connections, direct airport services, and relative distance to connecting flights.[v]

American Airlines is looking to expand its market to more wealthy consumers by offering an excusive line of aircraft consisting mostly of first class and business type seating. This new model will be labeled under the title “Elite” and would market routes to and from major city hubs during heavy business traveling hours. American Airlines will position this service as the, “Black Jet” since that would be the standout feature of the aircraft. American can take advantage of its existing market base along with its frequent fliers to sell the experience of a flight experience beyond maximizing passengers. The target motto would be a “flight redefined.” American Airlines Elite would target business, first class, and frequent flying travelers.

However, even though the facilities and accommodations for Third Class passengers were less luxurious as First and Second Class, they were much better than on any other ships at the time. On many North Atlantic ships, Third Class accommodation was little more than open dormitories were hundreds of people were confined without adequate food or toilet facilities. White Star Line vessels provided their Third Class passengers with small, but private and comfortable cabins accommodating two, four, six, eight and ten passengers.

One way companies have gotten people to travel is by adapting their services to fit people’s wants and needs. First Class is one way airlines have improved their service to meet basic wants of travelers.

On October 17, 2015 AA will complete the most important step and merge all flight reservations for US Airways to AA computer systems. AA offers many products such as cheap flights, same day flight change, group 1 boarding, and AAdvantage program. The AAdvantage program is a great market for American Airlines and millions of Americans take advantage of this program. This program offers flyer miles, nearly 1,000 destinations worldwide, vacations, car rentals, hotels, and upgrades. Customers can also have their 1st checked bag free, boarding privileges and they can also be qualified to save on purchasing tickets on board. Customers are now able to fly on latest plane called, Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Boeing 787 Dreamliner offers business class and main cab. Business class offers seats that convert into a bed, industry living and table space, Wi-Fi, AC power outlets, USB ports, Bose headphones, walk-up bar with snacks and refreshments, and touchscreen monitor that offers entertainment. While the main cab offers AC power outlets, USB ports, more room, Wi-Fi, and personal in-seat entertainment. With the upgrades and customer perks American Airlines is attracting business customers between the ages of 25-45. American Airlines has struggled but is continuing to be competitive with its competitors. They are striving to provide the most efficient and quality air

All the three classes have state of art features, which are combined with the highest quality services. Making the experience of a passenger a memorable one.

Ryanair is an Irish based airline company, headquartered in Dublin airport, Ireland. It was established in 1985, and since Ryanair has expanded from a small airline to serving 90.6 million passengers. It operates 1,800 flights a day connecting 200 destinations. (Ryanair Annual Report, 2015; (Ryanair)).

BA’s product in essence relates to the flights offered. However, the product can be drilled down into specific areas ranging from the airport lounges around the world, the ‘extras’ that you can buy on board such as model BA aeroplanes or even package holidays. Each of these has been specifically tailored to meet customer expectations (which are highlighted in the section of the report titled ‘target market’). This part of the marketing mix focuses on how BA’s products are managed and in the Guardian case study article titled ‘BA, Iberia and American Airlines tie-up heralds new era of transatlantic travel’ dated 06/10/2010 it shows how BA have made an executive decision to link their websites with other companies to have the possibility to offer a higher number of routes (products) to their potential customers.

Airline companies are becoming more and more competitive as the low budget discount airlines are becoming popular. It is key for airlines to differentiate themselves among the various airlines to choose from, and United Airlines wanted to ensure that it offered products and services for all marketing segments. “United realized that it needed to develop a customer-centric future strategy and galvanize its organization to improve the customer experience for its most valued customers” (Prophet, 2012, para. 1). This paper discusses the marketing plan for the newly merged

Upgrading the customer experience through the introduction of mobile application services for business class customers. Along with that the company is also experimenting with enabling texting and mobile services for business class customers during on-flight hours.

Qatar Airways is one of the youngest global airlines but have a high quality of service. It is one of the Qatar state-owned flag carriers. Its headquartered is in Doha, which is the capital of Qatar. The parent Company of Qatar Airways should be the government of Qatar. The airline operates as a hub-and-spoke network, serve all six continents, and link over 150 international destinations. According to the media release “The Qatar Airways Story”, the airway was a small regional carrier when it began to operate in 1994. After the airline re-launched in 1997, it now has become one of the fastest growing airlines through the history. Then, 14 years after Qatar Airways re-launched, it being named Airline of the Year 2011, 2012, and 2015. Nowadays, the airways have become one of the Oneworld members and become one of the leading airlines (1).

It has announced that 2011-2012 was a 24th consecutive year of profit for the Emirates Airline and the group. At present, the airline covers 72 countries with 122 destinations and has around 190 aircraft, while it network is escalating continuously. More than 1,200 flights leave to destinations into six continents.

Other core strategy is flying to win customer and by observing and studying the non-financial aspect during the implementation of BTP1, they succeed in maintaining the customers’ value. This resulted in MAS receiving 11 non financial-awards during this phase including 5-Star Airline Award, 2006 and 2007 from Skytrax, Best Airline to Asia, 2006, Travel Weekly Globe Award and numerous cabin service awards from Skytrax, Readers Digest