A Competitive Analysis Of Kingfisher Airlines Tourism Essay

To research and analyze how kingfisher airlines has retained one of the top position in a highly competitive market like India. To find out what makes them special from all other airlines in India. To find out how kingfisher airlines compete with leading airlines like Air Indian and Jet. To find out what customer tactics they used to bring more customers to the organization.

Content summary

To approach by doing SWOT and PEST analysis of the company by looking through the magazines and websites available on company.

In order to analyze the company’s strategy I will be doing 7p analysis.

In order to make my objectives a true I will be carrying out an interview with father’s friend who is working in kingfisher airlines.

I will be doing a case study on how kingfisher airline is different from and India Airlines.

I will be also proposing some new strategies which can help the organization to improve their performance more

Table of contents

Page

Table of Content 3&4

Objective 2

Content summary 2

Introduction 3

About the Company 5

History 5

Achievements 6

Marketing strategy 7

PESTEL Analysis 8

Political 8

Economical 8

Social 8

Technological 8

Environmental 9

Local 9

7 P’s Analysis 9

Product 9

Promotions 10

Price 10

People 10

Place 10

Physical evidence 11

Process 11

SWOT Analysis 11

Strengths 11

Weakness 12

Opportunities 12

Threats 12

Comparison Kingfisher VS Indian Airlines 12&13

Suggestion and recommendation 14

Appendix 14

Questionnaire

References 15

Introduction

Kingfisher Airlines Limited is a major Indian airline. Kingfisher operates more than 400 flights a day and has a network of 72 destinations, with regional and long-haul international services. Kingfisher Airlines, through one of its holding companies United Breweries Group, has a 50 percent stake in low-cost carrier Kingfisher Red, formerly known as Air Deccan.

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Kingfisher Airlines is one of six airlines in the world to have a five-star rating from Skytrax, along with Asian Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways. In May 2009, Kingfisher Airlines carried more than a million passengers, giving it the highest market share among airlines in India.

Kingfisher has its registered office in the UB Tower in Bangalore and its head office in the Kingfisher House in Mumbai.

History

The airline started operations on 9 May 2005, following the dry lease of four brand new Airbus A320-200 aircraft. Its first flight was from Mumbai to Delhi. At the launch of the airline, Dr. Mallya said that he is “committed to achieving our ambition of making Kingfisher Airlines India’s largest private airline both in capacity and market share by 2010.”

The airline ushered in a new era of luxury in India’s domestic aviation sector with its brand new aircraft with stylish red interiors, and smartly dressed crew and ground staff. Kingfisher was the first Indian airline to have in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems on every seat even on domestic flights. All passengers were given a “welcome kit” consisting goodies such as a pen, facial tissue and headphones to use with the IFE system. Initially, passengers were able to watch only recorded TV programming on the IFE system, but later an alliance was formed with Dish TV to provide live TV in-flight. And in a marked departure from tradition, Kingfisher Airlines decided to have an on-screen safety demonstration using the IFE system.

On 14 July 2008, Kingfisher unveiled its first ever Wide-body aircraft, a Airbus A330-200 at the 46th Farnborough Air show held in July 2008. Kingfisher’s first Airbus A330-200 was widely billed as the best A330-200 ever built by Airbus. On 3 September 2008, Kingfisher started its international operations by connecting Bangalore with London.

Achievements

Kingfisher Airlines has received three global awards at the SKYTRAX World Airline Awards 

Named Best Airline In India / Central Asia; Best Cabin Crew – Central Asia

Kingfisher RED named Best Low Cost Airline in India / Central Asia

NDTV Profit Business Leadership Award for Aviation 

awarded to Kingfisher Airlines by NDTV twice in two years

India’s only 5 Star airline, rated by Skytrax and 6th airline in the world 

to be certified as 5 star airline by Skytrax

Ranked amongst India’s Top Service Brands of 2008

ranking by Pitch magazine

Voted as India’s Favourite Airline

in a survey conducted by an independent research firm with 46% votes compared to others

Rated as Asia Pacific’s Top Airline Brand

in a survey conducted by TNS on Asia Pacific’s Top 1,000 Brands for 2008

Brand Leadership Award

in the service and hospitality segment against several acclaimed hotels, leading banks and other airlines

Economic Times Avaya Award 2006 for Excellence in Customer Responsiveness

award is presented by the highly acclaimed Business Daily, Economic Times

India’s No. 1 Airline in customer satisfaction

Business World

Rated amongst India’s most respected companies

Business World

Rated amongst India’s 25 Innovative Companies

in a survey conducted by Plan man Media in 2006

The Best Airline and India’s Favourite Carrier

in a Survey conducted by The Times of India

Service Excellence 2005-2006 for a New Airline

 by Skytrax, a UK based specialist global air transport advisor

Ranked Third in the survey on India’s Most Successful Brand launch of 2005

Under the Brand Derby Survey conducted by India’s leading business daily – Business Standard

Busiest Brands of 2005

ranked amongst the Top Ten busiest brands of 2005 and 2006 across product categories, in the survey conducted by agency faqs and The Brand Reporter

Best New Airline of the Year Award for 2005 

Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) Award in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East region

Marketing strategies

Kingfisher Airlines has a clearly defined target audience- SEC A, SEC B+ (socio-economic class) in the age group of 25-45 years of age.

Kingfisher Airlines offers brand new aircraft, designer interiors, gourmet cuisine and in flight-entertainment (there are five channels of FUN TV and 10 channels of Kingfisher Radio, which are personalized).

Communicate with guests at multiple touch points. They use all media of communication television, print, radio, outdoor, malls, multiplexes, clubs, pubs, in-flight etc. The guests are constantly informed of their new offers.

 They offer tickets to theatre screenings, fashion shows, sports screenings etc to their frequent travellers (club members).

Their Partners Program has been very successful. They have tied up with the best of brands across industries. Tata Tetley, Pepsi, Microsoft, Inox, Kenzo , IFB, Taj, Park Hotels and Oxford book stores have been some of leading partners.

PESTEL Analysis

Political

Foreign airlines are not allowed to buy a stake in domestic airlines.

International route regulations

Closing down of domestic airports

Open sky policy

Economical

Contribution to the Indian economy

Rising cost of fuel

Investment in the sector of aviation

The growth of the middle income group family affects the aviation sector.

Shortage of the infrastructure capacity

Social

Development of cities leads to better services and airports

Employment opportunities

Safety regulations

The status symbol attached to a plane travel.

Technological

The growth of e-commerce and e-ticketing

Satellite based navigation system

Modernisation and privatisation of the airports

Developing green filed airports with private sector for example in Bangalore the airport corporation limited.

Environmental

The increase in global warming

The sudden and the unexpected behaviour of the atmosphere and the dependency on whether

Shortage of the infrastructural capacity

Tourism saturation

Legal

Bilateral treaties

Airlines acquisitions and the leasing cost

In the United States, low-cost airlines often operated from small airports that charge lower fees and that did not suffer from the congestion at large airports

In India, however, government policy did not allow the creation of airports closer than 150KM from each other, and the old airports at Bangalore and Hyderabad were closed down when the new one started.

7 P’s

Product

Fleet size

Aircrafts

International foray

Promotions

Advertisements

Magazines and newspaper ads

Exposure at non-corporate events

Participation at international airs hows

Endorsing celebrities like Katrina Kaif and Deepika padukone

Price

Dynamic pricing model – multiple fare levels

Uniform rules

No hidden restrictions

Pricing models – eight different levels

Discounts provided from time to time

People

Backbone of the brand

Extensive trainings

Hospitality industry and consider their customer as guest

Interpersonal skills, aptitude, and service knowledge

Place

Online booking (official site)

Online booking – Yatro.com, make my trip.com, ezeego1.com

Credit cards and debit cards payment

SMS/call

Outlets in every major city and at every airport across the country

Physical evidence

Personal valets

Exclusive lounge space

Hi! Blitz

Gourmet cuisine

World class cabin crew

Kingfisher radio

Process

Booking the ticket – online booking or telephone – booking or from any of the kingfisher outlets and private agencies.

SWOT Analysis

Strength

First airline with full new fleet of aircraft

Quality hospitality provided to customers.

Route rationalization.

Already having training academy.

Weaknesses

Service delivery to metros and other big cities

Yet not in a high profit.

High ticket pricing

Opportunities

Under penetrated domestic market

Chances International market

Untapped air cargo market

Expanding tourism industry

Threats

Existing operators

Infrastructure issue

Fuel price hike

Economic slowdown

Kingfisher VS Indian Airlines

Areas

Indian airlines

Kingfisher Airlines

Reservation

Ticket can be booked by ringing or visiting the office.

As soon as waiting list ticket get confirmed they will call the customers on the given contact number

Passengers can make the booking first and purchase the ticket later

Ticket can be cancelled over phone or through fax 24hr before the journey

By the help of user friendly websites

Kingfisher airline office

Authorized agents

Payment can be made by the debit card, credit card, payment at kingfisher airlines office, credit note

Kingfisher airline provides the home delivery of tickets and maintains direct relation with the customers.

Fares

Special fares offered for army forces, war disabled officers, war widows, blind persons, cancer patients, person suffering from 80% and above locomotive disability.

Concessional fare to senior citizens, students etc.

Fare apply only for carriage from airport at the point of origin to the airport at the point of destination

It has 30 to 40 % lower ticket coast compared to other carrier operating in the country

Meals

Indicate the personal meal preference at the time of booking to ensure correct meal on board the flight

Special meals: provided to passengers Indian vegetarian, western vegetarian, Hindu non- vegetarian, children food items etc.

On board

Choose from the readymade food

Business class and economic class

Order what you like – freshly made on board

Equality in class , no differentiation

Low cost

On ground

More waiting time

Satisfactory handling of delays

Less waiting time

Efficient handling of delays

Suggestions and recommendation

Reduce labour cost

Simplify the flight operations

Offer more transparent pricing

Get smart on fuel

The process of acquiring spice jet if complete would make kingfisher the larget player in the aviation industry

Different modes of pricing should be taken care of

Needs to change brand perceptions

Gain optional efficiencies through alliances as with Jet Airways

Fleet size expansion

Partnering with Jet Airways and some depending brands.

Appendix

As part of the report preparation I visited my dad’s friend who is working in kingfisher and I had an interview with him. I went through many magazines who wrote articles about kingfisher’s and Dr. Mallya’s success. I have talked with some of my friends who got chance to fly in kingfisher. They explained to me the facilities they got and their rating to the flight travel.

Questionnaire

As a supplier, what major trends have you witnessed in the manner consumers in India buy travel especially air ticket?

How would you describe your target audience? How do you assess the current positioning of Kingfisher Airlines?

Companies are going about brand activation at multiple consumer touch-points. How are you balancing your offline and online marketing initiatives?

How tough is it in the current environment to build connect with consumers?

How successful has been your Partners Program, a forum where like-minded brands to Kingfisher Airlines can come on the same platform and achieve respective marketing objectives?