Thursday, March 3, 2011

Attention-seeking airlines: they want your business



Airline innovations - Air New Zealand's "cuddle class" Skycouch, for instance - are often a clever and effective form of attention-seeking, suggests a savvy expert on industry trends.

"It's a way for an airline to be noticed in a cluttered marketplace," says Raymond Kollau, founder of website airlinetrends.com, which monitors new developments in the aviation industry.

"You may never use the particular service that's being written about but you'll probably remember the airline and think of it as innovative - and, therefore, perhaps decide to travel on it."

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Kollau cites the example of Emirates, which garnered plentiful publicity globally when it introduced showers for first class passengers aboard its A380s. Very few passengers can afford to travel first class, he points out - but they nevertheless view Emirates positively because of such developments.

Most passengers use ticket price as their main criterion when picking an airline. Low-cost carriers - such as Australia's Jetstar and Tiger Airways, Europe's Ryanair and Asia's Air Asia (with long-haul arm Air Asia X flying to Australia) - win abundant publicity through announcements of deep discounts, $1 fares and even "free" seats.

Airlines are remembered even by passengers who miss out on these deals or who are aware that "free" flights aren't actually free when taxes, charges and ancillary fees are factored in.

In this highly competitive climate, other traditional airlines - known in the aviation industry as "legacy carriers" - are compelled to try harder to win media coverage.

"It's about differentiation," says Amsterdam-based Kollau. "Fierce competition... is forcing airlines to think of ways to stand out.

This especially, but not exclusively, applies to relatively small airlines such as Air New Zealand, All Nippon Airways and Finnair. They don't have the vast networks of the likes of Lufthansa, Delta or Emirates and have to offer something extra."

While Air New Zealand is important in Australia, in world terms it's "a small airline in a small country at the end of the world". At least, that's how airlinetrends.com defines it. What's more, many of its flights are long-haul - such as services to London.










By

NEHA JAIN

      

   

     



            
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