PROJECT REPORT ON AVIATION INDUSTRY ( kingfisher airlines ) TOPIC: INTRODUCTION, SERVICE MARKETING MIX, SERVICE PRODUCTS, CRM. INTRODUCTION Kingfisher Airlines Limited is an airline group based in India. Its head office is in Andheri (East), Mumbai and Registered Office in UB City, Bangalore. Kingfisher Airlines, through its parent company United Breweries Group, has a 50% stake in low-cost carrier Kingfisher Red. The airline has been facing financial issues for many years. Until December 2011, Kingfisher Airlines had the second largest share in India's domestic air travel market. However due to a severe financial crisis faced by the airline at the beginning of 2012, it has the lowest market share since April 2012. The airline has temporarily shut down its operations when on October 20, 2012 the DGCA suspended its flying license. This suspension had been due to failure to give an effective response to the show-cause notice issued by DGCA. However, The airline had locked out its employees for several days before this suspension. On 25 October 2012, the employees agreed to return to work. SERVICE MARKETING MIX 1. Product: Kingfisher First (International & domestic routes) Kingfisher Class (International & domestic routes) Kingfisher Red – formerly known as Air Deccan (Domestic routes) Flying Chef . 2. Price Kingfisher Airlines being a premium airline adopts a premium pricing strategy Kingfisher Red its low fare arm adopts a low fare pricing The pricing strategy aviation industry is highly dependent on the behaviour of the crude oil prices, dollar rates and competition. Fuel at present accounts for 45 per cent of an airline’s total operating cost. 3. Place Kingfisher Airlines operates services to 80 destinations domestic as well as international. International operations started on 3 September 2008, with a flight from Bangalore to London. One of the reasons to acquire Air Deccan was to gain entry on to the international circuit, by gaining advantage on Air Deccan`s eligibility to fly international (as per DGCA rules) It also has plans to add several international destinations such as Bangkok, Hong Kong, Karachi, Kuala Lumpur, Lahore, Malé and Singapore in 2009 4. Promotion Kingfisher Airlines as a brand is promoted in many ways When it was launched Yana Gupta was the brand ambassador Hoardings/ Press Release Kingfisher Airlines sponsors Mumbai ATP Open KF First sponsors Mtv Style Awards 06 Kingfisher kicks off Rs 1 billion campaign (On Launch of its international flight to London) Formula 1 team (Force India) IPL team (Royal Challengers) Red Pouch The colour “RED” King Club frequent flier programme Vijay Mallya himself is a brand ambassador for all his brands including Kingfisher Airlines 5. Physical Evidence Kingfisher Airlines started its operations on May 9, 2005 with a fleet of 4 Airbus A320 aircrafts. Kingfisher Airlines was the first airline in India to operate with all new aircraft. On June 15 2005 Kingfisher Airlines became the first Indian airline to order the Airbus A380, to be delivered by 2014 Fleet size of 73 and 137 orders placed The planes have the best in-flight facilities that match world class standards 6. Process KFs Tickets through ATMs The Roving Agent Web Check-In FlyBuy SMS Flight Updates Mobile Ticketing 7. People Being a service industry it has two types of customers: External Customers (Passengers) Internal Customers (Employees) Kingfisher Airlines uses the term “Guests” for its external customers. Dr Mallya tells his crew to treat every guest “In the same way as if they have visited his home.” In an airline, Cabin Crew play an important role because they are the ones who deliver the service and therefore they are termed as The Walking Billboards of an organization. SERVICE PRODUCTS Cabin classes Domestic “Kingfisher Airlines” (Kingfisher) is one of the renowned airlines of India. It involved in the operation of diverse flights to connecting the numbers of cities and towns. Kingfisher flights are operated from New Delhi to Bangalore, Bangalore to New Delhi, Mumbai to Bangalore, New Delhi to Mumbai, Mumbai to Goa, New Delhi to Goa and many more. One can book the flight of Kingfisher Airlines to fly from makemytrip.com where you will also get some attractive offers on every booking. The Airlines is very popular among the travelers and passengers for offering excellent services. The airfare of this Kingfisher is quite reasonable and one needs not to worry about it. The Kingfisher Flights provide a world of luxury during travel and offers a lot of comfort so that the passengers can enjoy their journey. The flight booking is quite simple and easy and you can book your desired seat through online flight booking service. The Kingfisher airlines have 69 aircrafts including ATR 42-500 (4 airplanes), ATR 72-500 (27 airplanes), Airbus A319-100 (3 airplanes), Airbus A320-200 (22 airplanes), Airbus A321-200 (8 airplanes) and Airbus A330-200 (5 airplanes). People can book the flights from anywhere to travel major Indian cities such as Chennai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Mumbai and Pune. Kingfisher First The domestic Kingfisher First seats have a 48 inch seat pitch and a 126 degree seat recline. There are laptop and mobile phone chargers on every seat. Passengers can avail of the latest international newspapers and magazines. There is also a steam ironing service on board Kingfisher First cabins. Every seat is equipped with a personalised IFE system with AVOD which offers a wide range of Hollywood and Bollywood movies, English and Hindi TV programmes, 16 live TV channels and 10 channels of Kingfisher Radio. Passengers also get BOSE noise cancellation headphones.Domestic Kingfisher First is only available on selected Airbus A320 family aircraft. Kingfisher Class The domestic Kingfisher Class has 32-34 inch seat pitch. Every seat is equipped with personal IFE systems with AVOD on board the Airbus A320 family aircraft. As in Kingfisher First, passengers can access movies, English and Hindi TV programmes, a few live TV channels powered by DishTV, and Kingfisher Radio. The screen is controlled by a controller-console on the seat armrest. Earcup headphones are provided free of cost to all passengers. The default channel shows, alternating every few seconds, the aeroplane's ground speed, outside temperature, altitude, distance and time to destination, the position of the aircraft on a graphical map, and one or more advertisements. Passengers are served meals on most flights. Before take-off, passengers are served bottled lemonade. Kingfisher Red Kingfisher Airlines acquired Bangalore based low cost carrier Air Deccan in 2007, changed its name to Simplifly Deccan and subsequently converted it to Kingfisher Red, Kingfisher Airline's low-cost class on domestic routes. A special edition of Cine Blitz magazine was the only reading material provided. Passengers could earn King Miles even when they flew Kingfisher Red, which they could redeem for free tickets to travel on Kingfisher Airlines or partner airlines. On 28 September 2011, Vijay Mallya announced that the company would soon stop operations of Kingfisher Red as it did not believe in low-cost operations any longer. International Kingfisher First Prior to losing its A330 fleet, Kingfisher offered an international business/first product called Kingfisher First which featured full flat-bed seats with a 180 degree recline, with a seat pitch of 78 inches, and a seat width of 20-24.54 inches.Passengers were given Merino wool blankets, a Salvatore Ferragamo toiletry kit, a pyjama to change into, five-course meals and alcoholic beverages. Also available were in-seat massagers, chargers and USB connectors. Every Kingfisher First seat had a 17 inch widescreen personal television with AVOD touchscreen controls and offers 357 hours of programming content spread over 36 channels, includingHollywood and Bollywood movies along with 16 channels of live TV, so passengers can watch their favorite TV programmes live. There was also a collection of interactive games, a jukebox with customisable playlists and Kingfisher Radio. Passengers are given BOSE noise cancellation headphones. The service on board the Kingfisher First cabins included a social area comprising a full-fledged bar staffed with a bartender, a break-out seating area just nearby fitted with two couches and bar stools, a full- fledged chef on board the aircraft and any-time dining. A turn-down service included the conversion of the seat into a fully flat bed and an air-hostess making the bed when the passenger is ready to sleep. Both Kingfisher First and Kingfisher classes featured mood lighting on the Airbus A330-200 with light schemes corresponding to the time of day and flight position. Kingfisher Class The international Kingfisher Class (no longer available since Kingfisher lost its A330 long-haul fleet) seats offered a seat pitch of 34 inches, a seat width of 18 inches and a seat recline of 25 degrees (6 inches). Passengers received full length modacrylic blankets, full size pillows and meals. Each Kingfisher Class seat had a 10.6 inch widescreen personal television with AVOD touchscreen controls. The IFE was similar to that of the international Kingfisher First class. It could also be controlled by a detachable remote-control console fitted in the armrest. This device could be used to control the IFE, reading-lights, play games and even has a credit-card swipe for shopping on Kingfisher's 'Air Boutique'. It also had a facility for sending text-messages, though the service wasn't provided by Kingfisher. Cargo Kingfisher Xpress Kingfisher Xpress is a new Door-to-Door cargo delivery service from Kingfisher Airlines. Kingfisher Xpress same day service will be India's first and only same day delivery by air service. In-flight entertainment Kingfisher's IFE system is the Thales Top Series i3000/i4000 on board the Airbus A320 family aircraft, and Thales Top Series i5000 on board the Airbus A330 family aircraft provided by the France- based Thales Group Kingfisher was the first Indian airline to have in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems on every seat even on domestic flights.