1. MARKETING PLAN FOR LAUNCHING A
NEW AIRLINE ROUTE
PROJECT REPORT
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Degree of
MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
MARKETING MANAGEMENT (MM),
ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY
VINISH BHASKARAN NAIR
ENROLLMENT NO. MBMKU10114828
Under the guidance of: Mr. Jomis V.John
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2. PROJECT REPORT
MARKETING PLAN FOR LAUNCHING A
NEW AIRLINE ROUTE
Submitted by:
Vinish Bhaskaran Nair
Enrollment No – MBMKU10114828
MBA – MM II YEAR, ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY
STUDY CENTRE: APACHE, KUWAIT
Under the guidance of: Mr. Jomis K. John
Submitted to the:
Faculty of Management Studies
in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Award of Degree of
Master of Business Administration – Marketing Management,
Annamalai University
July, 2012
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3. DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES
APACHE, KUWAIT
BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE
Certified that this project titled “Marketing Plan for Launching a new Airline
Route” is a bonafide work of Mr. Vinish Bhaskaran Nair who carried out this
project work under my supervision. Certified further that to the best of my
knowledge the work reported here does not form part of any other project report
or dissertation on the basis of which a Degree or reward was conferred on an
earlier occasion to this or any other candidate.
JOMIS V. JOHN VINISH VISWAN
SUPERVISOR COURSE DIRECTOR
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4. ABSTRACT
I propose to undertake a project on “MARKETING PLAN FOR LAUNCHING A NEW
AIRLINE ROUTE” in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of
Master of Business Administration by Annamalai University , Tamil Nadu.
This study is conducted on the very successful Middle Eastern Airline – Qatar Airways.
Qatar Airways is the first and largest national carrier of Qatar, born in 1993 & witnessed
its first flight on 20thJanuary,1994. Initially, they served a limited network of destinations
Abadan, Beirut, Damascus and Jerusalem. Originally owned by the Royal Family of
Qatar, three years later the government of Qatar took a 50% interest in the airline,
subsequently doubling the company's capital. The rest belongs to various private
investors.
Qatar Airways Corporation has always proved its ability to be competitive and distinct in
rendering services to all its passengers. This was substantiated when QA became the
first airline in the world to pass IATA’s new stringent IOSA rules of safety audit.
In recent times, Qatar Airways has always been trying to focus on introducing flights to
those destinations which normally have no flights / few flights operating from the Gulf
Region. As of 2012, Qatar Airways is ready to launch new flights to Kigali (Rwanda),
Gassim (Saudi Arabia), Zanzibar (Tanzania) & Bengaluru (India) . And as part of
Social Responsibility, the idea to launch these new destinations gave me the necessary
encouragement to prepare this project.
In this project, I will wish to take the reader through a detailed walkthrough of steps
involved in launching these new airline destinations in addition to the existing routes and
presenting the best industry practices of marketing new airline routes through the South-
India city of Bengaluru.
This project will be focusing on providing safe, cost-effective & value-based air-transport
service to all strata of society who wish to travel home which can only be offered by the
vast and ever growing national carrier of the Country- Qatar Airways
By its execution, the country would highlight its interest on potential residents / workers
of the country connecting to their media space and various rational triggers. In addition
through this project plan, we will see how Qatar Airways wishes to promote its launch
through a campaign.
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5. ACKNOWLDEGEMENT
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my family, who supported me at all times,
and now to complete my MBA. I wish to owe my special gratitude to God for helping me
see this through.
I would also like to express my gratefulness to Mr. Vintu P. Varghese, our Course
Director and Mr. Vinish AMU, Apachia, Kuwait for having graced me with the opportunity
to undertake this project and gave me constructive advice and assistance throughout the
duration of this work.
Vinish Bhaskaran Nair
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6. TABLE OF CONTENTS
Item # Description Page No.
1 INTRODUCTION 8
Beginning the Beginning 9 – 10
Company Vision and Goals 11
About the Airlines 12
Airline Product 12
Marketing in an Airline 13
2 METHODOLOGY 15
About Perception and Reality 16
Existing Destinations 16 – 18
Aims and Objectives 19
Market Analysis and Summary 20
Planning, organizing , Leading and Controlling 21
Meeting with Management 22
Market Segmentation 22
Purpose of the Trip 22
Duration of the Trip 23
Nationality of the Traveler 23
Competition Analysis 24 – 25
Market and Campaign Planning 26
What is a Marketing Plan? 27
Market and Campaign Planning – Media Magazines 27
Market and Campaign Planning – Media Newspapers 27
Market and Campaign Planning – Media TV 28
Market and Campaign Planning – Media Radio 28
Market and Campaign Planning – Event Maximizing Benefits
28
from Participation /Benefits
Market and Campaign Planning – Press Conferences 29
3 SELLING – E-COMMERCE 30 – 31
4 PROMOTION 32 – 33
5 FEASIBILITY STUDY 34
Proposed Route Structure and Schedule 35
6 FINANCIAL ANALYSIS 36
Income Statement Related to Expense 37
Income Statement Related to Revenue 38
Statistical Summary (KPI) 38
Returns on Investment 38
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7. 7 SALES AND PROMOTION STRATEGY 39
The Marketing Mix 40
Entry Strategy 41
Distribution 41
Exit Strategy 41
8 TRADE SHOWS 42
Evaluating Opportunities 43
Preparing for the Exhibition 44
Helpful Tips- Dos and Don’t s 45
After the Exhibition 45 – 46
9 CONCLUSION 47 – 48
10 BIBLIOGRAPHY 49 – 50
1
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8. INTRODUCTION
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9. BEGINNING THE BEGINNING
Qatar Airways was established on November 22, 1993. The airline started its operations
on January 20, 1994 using a wet-leased Boeing 767-200ER from Kuwait Airways. It was
originally owned by private members of the royal family of Qatar. However, it was re-
launched in 1997, under a new management team. Currently, the government of Qatar
holds 50% stake of Qatar Airways and the rest is held by private investors.
On March 24, 1997, Qatar Airways received their first Airbus A300-600 aircraft on lease
from AWAS in new Qatar Airways livery. On February 1, 1999, they took delivery of their
first new Airbus A320 aircraft (A7-ABR) on lease from Singapore Aircraft Leasing
Enterprise (SALE).
On May 2002, the Government of Qatar withdrew from Gulf Air. By that time Qatar
Airways was already a fast growing air service & had 21 airbuses.
Soon after on May 10, 2003, Qatar Airways took delivery of their first Airbus A330-200
aircraft (A7-ACA). On January 11, 2004, at the Dubai Air-show, Qatar Airways ordered
Airbus A380s and A340-600s. Their first A340 was delivered on September 8, 2006.
On June 18, 2007 Qatar Airways became the launch customer for the Airbus A350 when
it ordered 80 aircraft worth US$16 billion, at the Paris Air Show. [ On June 27, 2007,
Qatar Airways made its first flight to the US when it began service to New York.
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10. On November 11, 2007, Qatar Airways ordered 60 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners and 32
Boeing 777s. On November 29, 2007, the airline's first Boeing 777-300ER arrived at
Doha.
On February 3, 2009, the airline took delivery of its first Boeing 777-200LR. The "LR"
stands for "Long Range”.
On June 15, 2009, at the Paris Air Show, Qatar Airways ordered 20 Airbus A320 and 4
Airbus A321 aircraft worth $1.9bn.
On October 12, 2009, Qatar Airways completed the world’s first commercial passenger
flight powered by a fuel made from natural gas, and on December 1, 2009 Qatar
Airways' first scheduled flight to Australia arrived in Melbourne.
On May 18, 2010, the airline put its first Boeing 777F (A7-BFA) into service, with a flight
from Doha to Amsterdam. The aircraft had been delivered on May 14, 2010.
Qatar Airways is expanding. The airline has launched 22 new destinations since 2010,
with 9 more destinations announced. These new destinations which Qatar Airways has
already launched are Ankara, Aleppo, Bangalore, Barcelona, Brussels, Bucharest,
Budapest, Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, Hanoi, Montreal, Nice, Phuket, São Paulo,
Shiraz, Kolkata, Medina, Oslo, Sofia, Stuttgart and Venice, Tokyo, Baku, Tbilisi, and
Entebbe . These new routes will bring the number of destinations Qatar Airways serves
from 85 to 110 worldwide.
On June 22, 2011, Qatar Airways was recognized as the World's Best Airline at the 2011
World Airline Awards, in a ceremony held at the French Air and Space Museum as part
of the 2011 Paris Air Show.
In November 2011 at the Dubai Air show, the airline announced an order of 55 Airbus
planes: 50 A320neo and 5 A380, in addition to 2 Boeing 777 freighters.
On January 27, 2012 Qatar withdrew from negotiations to buy Spanish carrier Span air,
which later ceased operations on the same day.
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11. COMPANY VISION AND GOALS
Qatar Airways aims at setting the standard for customer orientation and become an
admired airline to fly, to invest in, and to work for.
To become air service provider with global reach -
Qatar Airways aims to achieve this goal by focusing on 3 critical factors:
• Quality
• Reliability
• World-class Network
Qatar Airways today travels to over 100 destinations worldwide on 102 aircraft including
their own Airbus A300-600 and Boeing 777 freighters. The recent addition of B777
freighters boosted their cargo fleet, opening new routes while significantly increasing our
freighter capacity.
Qatar Airways network provides a global reach for customers in Africa, Europe, North
America, South America, the Middle East, South East Asia and North Asia. Their
services extend to multiple destinations within each of these countries, constantly
expanding in frequency and number of locations.
Qatar Airways has made substantial investment in its Doha HUB with staff and facilities
to ensure passengers who travel with Qatar Airways get the best facilities & treatment
ever. For the passenger, they provide specialized services such as ‘Disability
Assistance’ where ground staff attends to customers with special needs, services for
expectant mothers & young travelers.
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12. ABOUT THE AIRLINE
Airline Business discusses everything about transportation of people and goods from
one point to the other, communication that allows people to interact, leisure that takes us
on a holiday and logistics that transports our cargo from one point to other very fast.
AIRLINE PRODUCT
Airline business is all about promoting their services attracting passengers to use their
services through various constituents that make up an aircraft. These are Passenger
Seat (Passenger) and Cargo Space (freight). Both of these are perishables if left unsold
or unutilized they remain lost forever. Role of marketing is to promote the product,
educate the intended audience and assist sales. In other words, to get the passenger –
client-customer to purchase and repurchase an airline’s product.
Therefore marketing consists of finding out what our customers want , and developing a
strategy to satisfy those needs , agreeing on the plan to achieve the strategy and finally
to implement it with the customers as the main focus. Marketing strategies needs to be
constantly updated and re-evaluated to attract business and keep ahead of competitors.
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13. MARKETING MARKETING
STATEGY PLAN
MARKETING
CYCLE
MARKETING
ANALYSIS IMPLEMENTATION
MARKETING AN AIRLINE
Marketing is not a group of people, nor a department, but a way of doing business and
thinking. Marketing must flow through a whole organization and must be included in
everyday plans and operations. It is also a subset of the organization strategy and
assists in meeting objectives of an organization by ensuring that the products and
services are sold to the right market, meeting market needs and most importantly- at a
price that will yield profit.
A marketing strategy translates understanding the gap between visions (where we want
to be) and today (where we are) into a series of actions to get there.
Airlines have a very important role to understand the dynamic characteristics of the
industry, where they must sense change in advance and prepare for it. A real life
example of this can be seen in the “legacy” versus low-cost airline.
Legacy carriers are large, bureaucratic and complex where change does occur but takes
lot of time and effort - to get it through the system.
While, low-cost airlines, on the other hand are dynamic, proactive and tend to listen to
the market whole heartedly.
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14. Most important constituents of marketing are: -
1. Products (what is the airline product?)
2. Price (What is the price in the airline sector?)
3. Promotion (What do we promote in the airline business?)
4. Place (What is the place in the airline industry?)
But in an airline environment, in addition to all this there are other crucial decisions
/considerations that need to be considered as well.
5. The passenger –Need to know the passengers, their traits, habits, trends,
demographics, size etc who will be flying .They will also be having certain
decisions to make ahead of their selection:
a. Will I travel?
b. How will I get there (by plane, train, car, bus , ship etc.)
c. Am I prepared to transit or do I insist on direct journeys?
d. Which airline will I fly with?
e. What class of air will I travel in?
Cargo Customer is that consumer of the Cargo Airline product, in most cases is the
Freight forwarder –the intermediary. Unlike passenger travel, the consumer here simply
wants his or her cargo to get from one point to another, with no damage, as fast as
possible and for the lowest possible price. There are expectations though; valuable
cargo, live animals etc may dictate preference for one carrier over another but rarely in
the case of general goods transportation.
6. Marketing environment – Political conditions, economic situation, social trends,
technological and environmental aspects etc.
7. The Strategy this describes the overall plans and ambitions of the airline -
enterprise
8. Product Design and Development - What is the product?
9. Pricing and Revenue Management –What will the passengers pay?
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15. 10. Distribution and Control –How do we distribute the airlines products and service?
11. The Decision –What influences a Passenger’s / Consumer’s /Customer’s
decision?
a. Personal experience if he/ she has had
b. Opinion (of a close relative, friend or colleague)
c. Word-of-mouth –personal recommendation (from trusted sources)
d. Media (TV, newspapers, magazines, radio etc.)
e. Internet (probably one of the most influential tools in travel today)
f. Corporate guidelines (if business travel is involved)
g. Tour Package (little or no possible choice of airlines)
h. Air Miles –FFP points, self benefit programs etc.
2
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16. METHODOLOGY
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17. ABOUT PERCEPTION AND REALITY
In reality, working class constitutes the largest portion of flight seats. The Middle East
has offered a great amount of working opportunities for all classes of labor and hence
the largest consumers in air tickets in the country. But in perception, Qatar Airways are
placed in a much higher position from where they promise to provide highest customer
satisfaction. It has always tried to control pricing keeping in view the growing demands
and requirements of its trusted customers.
EXISTING DESITNATIONS
Qatar Airways presently operates for the following destinations namely categorized as
per continents:-
MIDDLE
ASIA AFRICA The AMERICAS EUROPE AUSTRALIA
EAST
Ahmedabad Benghazi Atlanta Amsterdam Abu Dhabi Melbourne
Aleppo Cape Town Chicago Ankara Aleppo Perth
Alexandria Casablanca Houston Athens Alexandria
Amman Dar Salaam Montreal Barcelona Algiers
Amritsar Entebbe Newark Berlin Amman
Ankara Khartoum New York City Berlin Baghdad
Baghdad Kigali Sao Paulo Brussels Bahrain
Bahrain Lagos Toronto Bucharest Beirut
Baku Luxor Washington, D.C. Budapest Cairo
Bangalore Malé Buenos Aires Dammam
Bangkok Mashhad Copenhagen Damascus
Beijing Mombasa Frankfurt Doha
Beirut Nairobi Geneva Dubai
Benghazi Sana'a Hahn Erbil
Cairo Tbilisi Hambantota Gassim
Cebu Tripoli Helsinki Jeddah
Chongqing Tunis Johannesburg Kuwait
Colombo Zanzibar Kiev Medina
Damascus London Riyadh
Dammam London Muscat
Dar es Salaam Luxembourg Sharjah
Delhi Madrid Shiraz
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18. MIDDLE
ASIA EUROPE
EAST
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19. Denpasar Manchester Tehran
Dhaka Milan
Doha Moscow
Dubai Munich
Goa Nice
Guangzhou Oslo
Hambantota Paris
Hanoi Rome
Ho Chi Minh
City Sofia
Hong Kong Stockholm
St.
Hyderabad Petersburg
Islamabad Stuttgart
Istanbul Venice
Jakarta Vienna
Jeddah Zaragoza
Johor Bahru Zagreb
Karachi Zurich
Kathmandu
Kigali
Kilimanjaro
Kochi
Kolkata
Kozhikode
Kuala Lumpur
Kuwait
Lahore
Luxor
Madrid
Mahé
Malé
Manila
Mashhad
Medina
REQUIREMENTS
As a company Qatar Airways has always tried to aim at setting standards for customer
orientation and become admired airlines to fly in, to invest in and to work for. In reality
working class of the society constituted the largest portion of the flight seats. As
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20. mentioned earlier the Middle East has always been a dream destination for huge
working opportunities for the middle and lower class residents.
However there are a number of technical marketing required to implement this step for
profit making which is part of corporate responsibility.
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21. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The aim of this project would be to extract and understand the current consumer market,
being sensitive to their needs and providing facilities and services that would cater to all
classes and levels of the resident society in the country. In addition following are a brief
of what I would like to achieve by presenting this project:-
1- Identify and prepare a survey / analysis of the actual wants of the common
class
2- Create a unique value proposition
3- Defining the market strategy and tactics
4- Test the concept and marketing approach
5- Roll out the campaign
6- Know the product lifecycle.
Once these have been identified, process will quickly shift itself from implementation to
the execution stage.
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22. MARKET ANALYSIS SUMMARY
A market survey teams up to understand the pulse of the expatriate community
belonging the Indian City of Bengaluru . It also understands the frequency of travel
carried out by the passengers in a year and the amount of luggage carried ,the nearest
airport accessible etc. From this analysis carried out, strategies and market plans are
prepared to proceed with implementing the maiden flights to Bengaluru from Doha.
In addition it tries to compare the pricing and promotional strategies set forth by its
regional heavy weight competitors such as Etihad & Emirates. The marketing analysis
team is also responsible in filtering space usage by all other major airlines in media,
other communication sources etc.
A great portion of an airline’s marketing plan’s success depends on a thorough analysis
of the market demand through the use of expectations, predictions and projections. Such
analysis is dependant on forecasting techniques. Forecasting is the attempt to quantify
the demand in a future time period. Quantification can be in terms of revenue or some
physical volume such as revenue passengers kilometer (RPK) or passengers
enplanement. Planning for the future cannot be made without forecasting the demand.
How to analyze market demand levels?
Each forecast performed for market analysis serves a particular purpose;
 Short term forecasts ( from one month to max. 1 year) covers the day-to-day
operations such as staffing stations, evaluating current competitive situations in
the market and projecting short term equipment needs.
 Medium term forecasts (one to five years) includes inputs as route planning
decisions
 Long term forecasts (five to ten years) include fleet planning decisions and long
term financial commitments
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23. These forecasts should be used by Qatar Airways to carry out three important
management functions: -
PLANNING, ORGANIZING, LEADING AND CONTROLLING
Planning –This includes market identification, segmentation, service levels, aircraft and
fleet selection.
Organizing – Every airline must effectively organize and plan its limited resources.
Leading – Provides the desired direction towards the objectives.
Controlling – The measurement and subsequent adjustment of the airlines actual
performance (physical volume or revenue) against the prevailing market as well as
internal forecasts.
o Availability of data
o Accuracy of available data
o Management sophistication
o Intended forecast application
o Availability of electronic data processing
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24. MEETING WITH MANAGEMENT
A high level meeting is first organized between various departments involved in
implementing the thought and the executors who will be involved in inviting the general
public to absorb their thoughts.
MARKET SEGEMENTATION
To begin marketing a new route, marketing begins with market segmentation. Market
segmentation is done based on the following factors: -
1- The purpose of the Trip – can be for business or leisure or religious or
medical reasons
2- Duration of the Trip – Can be short or long or haul.
3- Nationality of the traveler – Based on culture, norms, requirements or
practices.
PURPOSE OF THE TRIP
Purpose of the trip can vary between businesses, personal or leisure travel. Business
has two subcategories corporate and independent business travel. Corporate trips are
those that are less price sensitive with passengers most likely to travel business or first
class and independent are those which are more price sensitive and likely to travel on
special deals or economy class.
Leisure makers are again distinguished as holidaymakers and VFR traffic.
Holidaymakers count the entire trip as a cost which includes both the hotel and air fare.
VFR includes just the ticket cost , accommodation and food is usually free at the
destination.
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25. DURATION OF THE TRIP
Duration explains whether the trip is short or a long haul travel. For shorter flights the
airport experience is equally important as the flight, while for longer duration flights the
flight and on-board service is more important.
NATIONALITY OF THE TRAVELLER
There is usually a lot of difference existing between travelers from different parts of the
country. And hence their individual requirements may also vary accordingly. A traveler
from the Middle East is one who would opt to travel an F or a J Class with minimum
luggage, while a traveler from Africa is usually a trader flying economy with a lot of
excessive luggage.
A business traveler generally considers the following factors before making his/her trip :-
 Convenience – schedule and time table
 On-time performance
 Airport location and proximity
 Seat preference and ticket flexibility – online checking
 Generous loyalty programs
 Airport features and services
 In-flight services and comfort
 Airport transfers and limo services.
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26. COMPETITION ANALYSIS
Before analysis oneself, Qatar Airways should analyze the regional heavyweights who
have been in market as much as they have such as Etihad, Gulf Air, Emirates etc. This
will then require an analysis study to be prepared and presented to the management and
heads of various departments to further analyze and prepare our strategies before
setting out.
Competition takes place any one or many respects such as pricing, facilities provided,
media coverage, market positioning, presence and expenditures related to them all.
Emirates as of now spends the most in media communication, and then comes Etihad
Airways. The next positions vary, as the airlines generally come into media when any
sales campaigns come up.
Competition analysis is the assessment of strengths and weaknesses of the existing and
future growing airliners. This analysis provides both offensive and a defensive strategic
decisions / plans to defend own market position. A competitor profiling unites all the
relevant sources of competitor analysis into one framework –to support an efficient and
effective strategy and subsequent implementation.
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27. Page | 27

28. MARKET & CAMPAIGN PLANNING
Overview
Successful campaigns tend to be carefully researched, well-thought-out and focused on
details and execution, rather than resting on a single, grand idea.
Planning a marketing campaign starts with understanding your position in the
marketplace and ends with details such as the wording of an advertisement. You may
also want to include decisions about uniforms, stationery, office décor and the like in
your marketing plan.
Keep in mind that your plan is not supposed to be a prison. You have to leave room to
make changes as you go along because no plan can perfectly capture reality. But you
should also be able to commit fully to implementing your plan-or some future version of
it-if you want to take a strong step toward
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