EVALUATION OF AIR PASSENGER SERVICE QUALITY IN BANGLADESH Tahmina Sultana MASTER OF SCIENCE IN CIVIL ENGINEERING (TRANSPORTATION) Department of Civil Engineering BANGLADESH UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY DHAKA, BANGLADESH, , j 1111111111111111111111111111111111 , #107393# September 2009 f \ 1_~,..~ . .._~__;."..~~:... :~.i: • EVALUATION OF AIR PASSENGER SERVICE QUALITY IN BANGLADESH by Tahmina Sultana A Thesis submitted to the Department of Civil Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka. - in partial fulfIllment of the requirement of the degree of Master of Science in Civil and Transportation Engineering September 2009 The thesis titled "EVALUA nON OF AIR PASSENGER SERVICE QUALITY IN BANGLADESH" Submitted by Tahmina Sultana, Roll No.: 040504416 (P), Session: April 2005 has been accepted as satisfactory in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Science in Civil and Transportation Engineering. BOARD OF EXAMINERS Dr."KId:ManurRahllllll1v Chairman Associate Professor Department of Civil Engineering BUET, Dhaka-1000 (Supervisor) Dr. Md. Zoynul Abedin Member Professor and Head (Ex-officio) Department of Civil Engineering BUET, Dhaka-1000 ~C-.Dr. Tanweer Hasan Member Professor Department of Civil Engineering BUET, Dhaka-1000 dM~ Member Asma Sultana Deputy Project Manager, RNIMP-l (External) Sub-Divisional Engineer Roads and Highways Department Ramna, Dhaka-1000. CANDIDATE'S DECLARATION It is hereby declared that this thesis or any part of it has not been submitted elsewhere for the award of any degree or diploma. Tahmian Sultana September 2009 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT At first the authoress would like to express her wholehearted gratefulness to the Almighty Allah for each and every achievement of her life. May Allah lead every individual to the way which is best suited for the individual. The authoress becomes delighted to state that this study was supervised by Dr. Md. Mizanur Rahman, Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka. The authoress wishes to express her sincerest gratitude to Dr. Md. Mizanur Rahman for his continued guidance, generous help, invaluable suggestions and enthusiastic encouragement throughout the process of successful completion of the research. The authoress would like to express her deepest appreciation to the Department of Civil Engineering, BUET for giving the honor to perform the thesis as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science in Civil and Transportation Engineering. She would like to thank the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) to allow her to conduct the research work by providing valuable information. She would also like to thank all the people who provided with information or pointed towards sources of information used to help to assimilate this study. Lastly, the authoress pays deepest homage to her parents as cardinal source of inspiration for all her achievements. Their constant moral support was phenomenal and exemplary through out the course of the study. iii ABSTRACT The air transport is required high professional in work to ensure safety, exactly and fast which are outstanding advantages of traveling passenger by air. Service quality then becomes significantly important factor to achieve a genuine and sustainable competitive advantage and the question for civil aviation industries in Bangladesh which need to solve imperatively. Bangladesh has three international airports including ZIA in capital Dhaka, one in the southeastern port city Chittagong and another in the northeastern city of Sylhet. The objective of this study is to identify passenger characteristics and passenger movement in three Bangladeshi international airports. This research is also evaluated the service quality of passengers in ZIA International Airport and Biman Bangladesh Airlines Limited. Excellent and reliable customer service is one of the greatest aspects for an airport and airlines in today's competitive environment. There are many factors that can help an airport to build its customer base and customer service can be a determining factor in the success of an entire operation. In the year 2002 total number of passenger movement through ZIA International Airport in international route was 2298 thousand and it changed in the next 4 years at the rates of 1.19,7.7,3.91 and 0.65 percent in the year of 2003,2004,2005 & 2006 respectively. In the year 2002 total number of passenger movement in ZIA in domestic route was 603 thousand and it changed in the next 4 years at the rate of -0.32, 0.11, - 6.64 and -18.68 percent in the year of 2003, 2004,2005 respectively. In the first five years of the new millennium, cargo registered a cumulative growth of 5.07 percent and an average annual growth of 1.01 percent in ZIA. In the year 2002 total number of passenger movement through Shah Amanat International Airport in international route was 148 thousand and it changed in the next 4 years at the rates of 3.55,46.72,2.97, and 3.77 in the year of 2003, 2004, 2005 percent respectively. In the year 2002 total number of passenger movement through Osmani International Airport in international route was 158 thousand and it changed in the next 4 years at the rates 0[-0.63, +0.2,. 18.35, -12.4 percent in the year of2003, 2004,2005 respectively. iv The analysis of passenger service quality of ZIA International Airport was reviewed by questionnaire survey on 232 passengers who used this airport and the information of the airport was analyzed by score method to measure the evaluation level from passengers. The questionnaire was designed simply and focused mainly on general information of passenger and passenger evaluation through check in facilities, security, staff attitude and other facilities which are supposed to arrange for passengers. Check . in facilities at ZIA is considered best with 60% "fair" comments but internet availability is considered poor with only 21% of 'poor' comments. The average score for internet availability is 1.94. The average score level is also low in case of telephone, fax service and service due to delay, divert and cancelled flight. The analysis of passenger service quality of Biman Bangladesh Airlines Limited is also reviewed by questionnaire survey on 1SOpassengers who used this airlines and the information of the airlines is analyzed by score method. Comfort in flight that seat size is considered 21% "good" comments whereas flight schedule maintain 70% "very poor" comments and average score level for maintain flight schedule is only 1.43. The average score level are also low for cleanliness of cabin and toilet, cabin safety procedure, supply of pillow, blankets, and towels, assisting parents with children and entertainment. The thesis presents systematic method to examine the quality of passenger service through the average score method analysis. This technique helps decision makers and marketing in air transport field to upgrade passenger service quality to attract more passengers traveling by ZTA International Airport and Biman Bangladesh Airlines Limited. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page No. CANDIDATE'S DECLARATION ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iii ABSTRACT iv TABLE OF CONTENTS vi LIST OF TABLES x LIST OF FIGURES xii CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Introduction I 1.2 Research Purpose and Rationale 2 1.3 Significance of the Research 3 1.4 Research Aim and Objectives 5 1.5 Thesis Structure 6 CHAPTER 2 - AN OVERVIEW OF AIR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM 7 2.1 The Origin of Air Transportation 7 2.2. Role of Air Transport 7 2.3 Aircraft Characteristics 8 2.3.1. Rapidly changing technology 8 2.3.2. Aircraft characteristics that govern airport design 9 2.4 Airport 10 2.5 Airport Planning and Location II 2.5.1 Types of airports 11 2.6. Complexities of Airport Planning 12 vi Page No. 2.6.1 Elements of airport planning 12 2.7 Airport Size and Capacity 13 2.8Airport Layout 14 2.8.1 Airport layout components 14 2.9 Conclusion 15 CHAPTER 3 - AN OVERVIEW OF WORLD AIR TRANSPORT AnON 16 3.1 Air Transportation Scenario in the World 16 3.1.1 Air transportation in Europe 16 3.1.2 African air transport 17 3.1.3 Air transportation in Vietnam 19 3.1.4 Air transportation in China 20 3.1.5 Air transportation in the United States 21 3.1.6 Air transportation in Canada 24 3.1.7 Air travel in India 25 3.1.8 Air transportation in Germany 27 3.2 An Overview of Transportation in Bangladesh 29 3.2.1 Transport sector policy in Bangladesh 30 3.2.2 Transportation network and services in Bangladesh 34 3.2.3 Air transport in Bangladesh 36 3.2.4 Air route network 39 3.2.5 International civil aviation organization airport code 42 3.2.6 International air transport association airport code 44 3.2.7 Different airports in Bangladesh 45 3.2.7.1 ZIA international airport 45 3.2.7.2 Shah Arnanat international airport 48 VII Page No. 3.2.7.3 Osmani International Airport 50 3.2.8 Different airlines in Bangladesh 52 3.2.8.1 Biman Bangladesh airlines limited 52 3.2.8.2 Private airlines in Bangladesh 59 67 3.3 Conclusion CHAPTER 4-DATA COLLECTION AND METHODOLOGY 68 4. IResearch Design and Methodology 68 69 4.2 The Research Methods 4.2.1 Data collection methodology 69 4.2.2 Implementing the research methods 69 4.2.2.1 Survey design 70 4.2.2.2 Interview design 71 4.2.3 Testing the questionnaire design 71 4.2.4 IdentifYing the respondents 72 4.3 Analysis of the Questionnaire and Interview 73 73 4.4 Conclusions CHAPTER 5- DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS 74 5.1 Introduction 74 5.2 Trend Analysis of Air Passenger Movement in 75 5.2.1 ZIA international airport 76 5.2.1.1 Passenger movement in ZIA international airport 76 5.2.1.2 Trend analysis of freight movement in ZIA international airport 79 5.2.2 Shah Amanat International Airport, Chittagong (COP) 83 5.2.3 Osmani international airport, Sylhet 86 5.3 Analysis of Airlines Data 92 5.3.1 Biman Bangladesh airlines limited 92 5.5 Passenger Service Quality of Biman Bangladesh Airlines Limited 107 viii Pa~eNo.