Assignment

Summer 1, 2014

Id: 1209167

Name: Mohammed Ali Salem

Subject: BUS202 Principal of Marketing

Supervisor: Mohd Nadeem Abbas

Introduction

Emirates Airline is one of the fastest growing airlines in the world and has received more than 200 international awards for excellence since its launch in 1985. Emirates Airline is one of the two divisions of the Emirates Group, the second being Dnata.In 2001, Emirates airlines announced the largest order in aviation industry valued USD 15 billion.in 2011, Emirates Airline ordered a total of 70 aircraft valued at USD 26 billion.

Etihad Airways Founded in 2003, Etihad Airways is the national carrier of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, based at Abu Dhabi International Airport. Operating a fleet of narrow and wide-body Airbus and Boeing aircraft, Etihad provides a rapidly expanding network of services within the Middle East and to Europe, Asia, North America, Canada and Australia. In addition to its core activity of passenger transportation, Etihad earns significant revenue from its cargo operation, Etihad Crystal Cargo. Etihad Airways forms part of the Etihad Aviation Group.

In this report we discuss marketing Strengths & weaknesses of two air-giants and show plan that the marketing division may adopt to generate higher customer growth in the GULF & international Travel market

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The marketing Strengths & weaknesses of Emirates Airlines

Strengths

Location- the Dubai city is the home Emirates Airlines. The City gives unique advantage in terms of ever increasing demand for passenger and cargo service. Dubai is the ideal connecting point between Asia, Europe and Africa.

Management Style - Unique decision making ability is strength. There is a unique way of decision making in Emirates Airlines. The airline established its market while most of the airlines reduced their gulf operations. This unique approach to decision making is the key strength of the Emirates Airlines. When Airbus A 380 was launched Emirates airlines was the second customer in the world. Today, Emirates has the largest fleet of Airbus A380 in the world.

Brand Reputation - Emirates Airlines has generated a strong brand reputation in the world. It provides premium service even in the economy class. The strict standards of passenger comfort, entertainment and flight schedules are unmatched in the industry.

Profitability and Resource Strength - Emirates airlines are the fastest growing airline. It consistently achieved 20% growth rate right from the first year. Emirates maintained its growth rate while the airline industry all over the world has been facing serious challenges and negative growth.

Government Ownership - Government ownership is generally considered a limitation due to excessive bureaucratic control. In case of Emirates Airlines, ownership by Dubai Government comes with freedom and managerial flexibility.

Tax Advantage- Tax free climate of Dubai gives unique competitive advantage to Emirates airlines. Employees of the company also receive generous benefits. Emirates have one of the best reward structures in the airline industry.

Weaknesses

Negative Reports - There is some negative reporting in electronic media regarding inconsistent service quality of Emirates Airlines. Emirates have the history of winning maximum quality awards. But number of awards achieved has reduced in recent years.

Effect of Global Crisis - Global economic crisis of 2008 had strong negative effect in every industry. Being a business city, Dubai was the worst affected. Emirates airlines are very much under stress due to Dubai financial crisis.

Large Fleet - Emirates are the largest customer of Airbus A380. It has 58 orders. The cash flow position and poor business in recent two years could further aggravate the financial pressure on the airline. Emirates have to utilize additional fleet strength. Unless there is faster economic recovery, there could be less demand for airline service. A fleet expansion could weaken the airlines further

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The marketing Strengths & weaknesses of Etihad Airlines

Strengths

Fast pace growing fleet, from 6 aircraft in 2003, to 57 modern aircraft in 2011, which needless time for service and maintenance, hence more time in the air, and more profit

Lower fares compared to main competitors in the region, such as Emirates Airlines, and Qatar Airways.

Headed by a creative, well known, and experienced CEO James Hogans, with a highly qualified management team.

Globally recognized sponsorships with sports clubs and events. One of the world’s leading airlines in 2009 and 2010, through the global

awards received. The great entertainment system on board (E-Box) with a USB plug and play

feature to connect personal devices to the system. The unique design of cabins, Diamond zone for first class, pearl zone for

business class, and coral zone for economy class. High service quality, more than 30 awards received for service by the World

Travel Awards(WTA) Successful partnerships to add new destinations, such as the partnership with

Virgin Blue

Weaknesses

Fewer destinations than major competitors, Emirates more than a hundred destinations, and Qatar Airlines more than ninety destinations.

Weak support by customer service centers, as many customers complained that they didn’t get the help they needed.

Delayed processing of compensations. Some customers complained about longer waiting time in connection flights

Plan to improve marketing in airline industry

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Design your network to compete effectively in the marketplace with our network planning solutions.

Identifying new markets that will generate incremental profitability can be a challenge. Whether you are adding new aircraft to your fleet or using available aircraft time, you need a solution that identifies the most profitable market and its impact on existing routes.

Increase your passenger connectivity by optimizing not just a flight, but an entire hub.

Determining the right markets for multimillion dollar assets is critical to your airline. There are so many factors that go into fleet assignment that using an inadequate tool makes the process frustrating and ineffective.

Pricing strategy is a crucial aspect to maximizing revenue. Improves customer service and reduces costs by enabling groups to book

directly online, Reduces turnaround time of group request processing and facilitates better

resource utilization by automating the request process. Commercial planning requires close coordination and smart decision making

across multiple functions to win in the marketplace. You can better utilize the seats you’re flying without the increased operating

costs of adding more flights or buying more aircraft Better revenue information drives better revenue decisions. Provides accurate and reliable data that supports key commercial decisions. Allows analysts to identify new market opportunities, monitor segments and

markets for the effects of competitive actions, and identify underperforming agencies and market.

Increased insight into competitors’ service offerings, traffic and market share.

Conclusion

Emirates airlines have marketing strengths such as the advantage of size, decision to focus on diversified market, entering the cargo shipping, top global brand, a strong

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corporate culture, continuously renew and improve their service in the airline and aviation and effectively managing the needs of their target audience

Emirates airlines have marketing weaknesses such as not all of diversification and approach have been successful, does not cater a lot of places in us.does not cater to middle class &budget travel and focusing too much on their high-end acquisitions and diversification

Etihad airlines have marketing strengths such as they have most lucrative &posh interior, the fare is less compared to emirates, their service quality is one of the best in recent market, and their career is more spacious

Etihad s airlines have marketing weaknesses such as they have very few destinations, their packages are not well defined, they are very new to market and as they are using boing bus they have more oil consumption & their cost is comparatively high

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