CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1
Civil aviation in India is estimate to be the third-largest commercial air industry in the
world by 2020. It is dated back to 1911 when the first civil aviation trade flight in
Allahabad started from a polo field carrying courier to Nain via the Yamuna. Air India
is India’s national carrier and plays a significant role in linking India to the rest of the
world. The leading players in the sector include Indigo, Spice jet, Air India, Go Air and
Vistara. These airlines are serving more than 80 cities in India. Also, even running
foreign travel routes after the liberalization of Indian aviation. Let’s talk about History
of Indian Aviation ahead.

A country‘s transportation sector plays an integral role in the growth and development
of an economy. According to the

1.Indian Aerospace Industry Analysis‖ report.

2. In terms of passenger traffic, India is currently the ninth largest aviation market in
the world. With regards to air cargo tonnage, India leads the South Asian region -
consisting of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan
and Sri Lanka.

3. Currently, India has 128 airports - including 15 international airports.

4. Over the past ten years the Indian civil aviation sector grew by 14.2% in terms of
domestic passengers and 7.8% in terms of air cargo (in CAGR - compound annual
growth rate).

5. In 2010- 11 six major Indian carriers with around 400 aircraft catered to 143 million
passengers, including 38 million passengers that originated abroad.

6. In 2010-11, Indian airlines carried approximately 1.6 million tons of air cargo.

7. Further growth of the aviation sector between 2011- 2013 is estimated at 15%.

8.India‘s civil aviation sector has evolved over time.

2
On February 18, 1911 India‘s first commercial airplane flew between Allahabad and
Naini. In 1912, India‘s first commercial international flight operated by the erstwhile
Imperial Airways took place and connected Delhi to Karachi and beyond.9 In 1932,
J.R.D. Tata flew an air mail service airplane, after which Tata Airlines ventured into
scheduled10 air transport services.11 At the time of India‘s independence in 1947, nine
air transport companies, carrying both air cargo and passengers, operated in the
country.12 To further strengthen the national aviation sector, the Government of India
and Air India - Tata Airlines was renamed Air India in 1946 - set up a joint sector
company, Air India International Ltd. In order to address the deteriorating financial
health of India‘s civil aviation sector, the Government of India passed the Air
Corporations Act of 1953, which nationalized all carriers providing services within
India‘s civil aviation industry. Up until the late 1980s, India‘s civil aviation sector
remained monopolized by India‘s government owned airlines. However in 1986, the
Indian government once again granted permission to private sector companies to
provide air taxi service. Additionally, India‘s Open Sky Policy of 199013 and the Air
Corporations (Transfer of Undertakings and Repeal) Act of 199414 further freed up
India‘s civil aviation industry and eradicated the government carrier monopoly. While
these policy changes led to a dramatic increase in the number of private airline carriers;
due to viability issues, by the end of the 20th century all private air carriers, except Jet
Airlines and Air Sahara, exited the market. In 2003 the introduction of a new type of
airline service called low cost carriers - LCCs or no frills air service - by Air Deccan,
reinvigorated India‘s civil aviation sector. By bringing competition into the Jet Airlines-
Air Sahara duopoly, Air Deccan brought a new competitive spirit to India‘s civil
aviation. Furthermore, introduction of low cost airlines also changed the perception that
air travel was reserved only for the elites. By 2007 mergers and acquisitions became
common in India‘s civil aviation sector. Within a span of two years Air India and Indian
Airlines merged, as did Jet Airways and Air Sahara, and Kingfisher Airlines and Air
Deccan. Currently, India maintains bilateral Air Service Agreements (ASAs) with 108
countries.15 While 72 foreign airlines fly in and out of India,16 four private domestic
carriers - Jet Air, IndiGo, SpiceJet17 and Kingfisher - fly to 35 destinations in 25
countries.18 Air India, the national carrier maintains a number of international routes:

3
seven destinations in North America, nine destinations in Europe, 12 destinations in the
Gulf, two destinations in the Middle East, two destinations in Africa, and 13
destinations in West and East Asia.19 Recently, India‘s Ministry of Civil Aviation
hosted 65 International Civil Aviation member nations (ICAO) at the 4th International
Civil Aviation Negotiation Conference (ICAN 2011) during the week of 17 October
2011. The conference provided a forum for nations to amend and modernize existing
ASAs. While India‘s international carriers lobbied the Indian government to allow them
to run more flights to Oman, Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong, representatives from the
Persian Gulf lobbied the Indian government for additional seats.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is the regulatory body in the field
of Civil Aviation, primarily dealing with safety issues. It is responsible for regulation
of air transport services to/from/within India and for enforcement of civil air
regulations, air safety, and airworthiness standards. The DGCA also co-ordinates all
regulatory functions with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
Private operators were allowed to provide air transport services. However, no foreign
airline could directly or indirectly hold equity in a domestic airline company. By 1995,
several private airlines had ventured into the aviation business and accounted for more
than 10 percent of the domestic air traffic. Today, Indian aviation industry is dominated
by private airlines and these include low cost carriers, who have made air travel
affordable. The Government nationalized nine airline companies vide the Air
Corporations Act, 1953. These government-owned airlines dominated Indian aviation
industry till the mid-1990s. In April 1990, the Government adopted open-sky policy
and allowed air taxi- operators to operate flights from any airport, both on a charter and
a non charter basis and to decide their own flight schedules, cargo and passenger fares.
As part of its open sky policy in 1994, the Indian Government ended the monopoly of
IA and AI in the air transport services. Private operators were allowed to provide air
transport services. However, no foreign airline could directly or indirectly hold equity
in a domestic airline company. By 1995, several private airlines had ventured into the
aviation business and accounted for more than 10 percent of the domestic air traffic.
Today, Indian aviation industry is dominated by private airlines and these include low
cost carriers, who have made air travel affordable.

4
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) was initially set up as a Cell in the
DGCA in January 1978 on the recommendation of the Pande Committee. The BCAS
was reorganized into an independent department under the Ministry of Civil Aviation
on 1st April, 1987. The main responsibilities of BCAS include laying down standards
and measures with respect to security of civil flights at international and domestic
airports in India. BCAS Head quarter is located at "A" Wing, I-III floor, Janpath
Bhavan, Janpath, New Delhi-110001. It has got four Regional Offices located at
International airports i.e. Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.

As India‘s civil aviation sector developed and evolved over time, in order to guide
market participants the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Government of India periodically
responded to new industry challenges by setting up and amending existing regulatory
frameworks. Until 1994 the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) controlled
every aspect of flying including the licensing of pilots, certifying aircraft and issuing
all rules and procedures governing Indian airports and airspace. However, in 1994 an
Act of Parliament established the Airports Authority of India (AAI).21 This Act gave
the AAI the power to manage all national and international airports and administer every
aspect of air transport operation through the air traffic control. In 2008, the Airports
Economic Regulatory Authority of India Act established the Airports Economic
Regulatory Authority (AERA) of India. AERA regulates tariffs and other aeronautical
charges, as well as monitors airports‘ performance standards. Within the Indian context
of airport regulation, AERA takes the following things into consideration: airports are
natural monopolies; airports are public goods, both in the case of Brownfield and
Greenfield airports the Government of India has made land available for acquisition,
often under the Land Acquisition Act, to airport developers at a very low cost.22 Lastly,
the same Act established the Appellate Tribunal which handles appeals from service
providers and consumer groups.

It goes without saying that there are some measures that would minimize the path ahead
for the sector. To start with, the present agreement on not having two airports within
150 Kilometers of each other can be reviewed especially where Bangalore and
Hyderabad are concerned.
5
In both these cities, the airports in operation earlier have been mothballed despite
massive investments in them mainly because the new airports and their owners specified
the agreement on distance.

By reopening the old airports, significant capacity can be added thereby both lessening
the load on the new airports as well as furthering the growth. To conclude, it can be said
that it is a mixed bag as far as the Indian Aviation Sector is concerned wherein it is
soaring high but also faces turbulence ahead.

Then Vs Now

Around 2020, India will become the world’s third-largest civil aviation industry. In
2016, it registered 131 million passengers, 100 million of whom were domestic
passengers. Jet Airways, which in 2016 transported 10 million passengers from and to
India, led by Air India and AI Express, is the main airline of foreign passenger traffic
(8.8 million). The third highest international carrier based in India was Emirates (5,46
million).

History of Civil Aviation

Early history of Indian Aviation in India dates back to 18 February 1911, when, about
6 miles (9.7 km), the first operational Civil Aviation flight to Allahabad took off for
Naini. Henri Pequet, a French aviator, took 6,500 mail on an aircraft Humber from the
show to the host’s office in Allahabad during the All-Ahabad Show. On 15 October
1932, J.R.D. Tata sent a mail shipment from Karachi to the Juhu airport. It is the world’s

6
first formal airmail operation. His airline later changes its identity into Air India. Also,
in 1987, after the fatal crash of Air India Flight 182, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Safety
was set up.

As an Associate Carrier of Air India from 1979 through 1983, Pushpaka Aviation
conducted international scheduled flights between Bombay and Sharjah. After the
government decommissioned civil aviation in 1991, Air Asiatic became the first
national private airline to operate in the world. The act was abolished and private
airlines may conduct scheduled flight. The government allowed private airlines to run
charter and unplanned flights under the ‘Air Taxi’ program. At this time domestic
transactions were regulate by private airlines such as Air Sahara, Damania Airways,
and NEPC Airlines. In 2006, Air India delivered more than 68 jets ordered from Boeing
at $7.5 billion, while Indians put $2.5 billion ordered 43 jets from Airbus in 2005.

IndiGo and others…

Therefore, in 2005, IndiGo reported the largest order of any Asian domestic carrier. The
order was for 100 Airbus A320s at its Paris Aeronautics show. The first Indian air
carrier to be acquire from Kingfisher Airlines on 15 June 2005 was the airline Airbus
A3, the first Indian air carrier. Also, from 2004-2005, nearly half a decade of low-cost
airlines joined the Indian industry. Air Deccan, Air Sahara, Kingfisher, SpiceJet, GoAir,

7
Paramount Airways, and IndiGo were big new entrants. But India’s aviation industry
has been suffering because of economic recession, growing prices for fuel and
operations. In the Indian airline industry that culminated in restructuring, buyouts and
discontinuations. In 2007, Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines respectively purchased
Air Sahara and Air Deccan. Kingfisher shut down in 2012. Also, Paramount Airways
ended operations in 2010.

Indian Aviation Industry is one of the fastest growing airline industries in the world.
The history of Indian Aviation Industry started in December 1912 with its first domestic
air route between Karachi and Delhi. It was opened by the Indian Air Services in
collaboration with the UK based Imperial Airways as an extension of London-Karachi
flight of the Imperial Airways. Tata Sons Ltd., the first Indian airline, started a regular
airmail service between Karachi and Madras three years later without any backing from
the Indian government.

The Indian aviation sector can be broadly divided into the following main categories:

• Scheduled air transport service includes domestic and international airlines.

• Non-scheduled air transport service consists of charter operators and air taxi
operators.
• Air cargo service, which includes air transportation of cargo and mail.

Scheduled air transport service: It is an air transport service undertaken between two or
more places and operated according to a published timetable. It includes:

Domestic airlines, which provide scheduled flights within India and to select
international destinations. Air Deccan, Spice Jet, Kingfisher Airline and IndiGo are
some of the domestic players in the industry.

International airlines operate from scheduled international air services to and from
India.

8
Non-scheduled air transport service: It is an air transport service other than the
scheduled one and may be on charter basis and/or non-scheduled basis. The operator is
not permitted to publish time schedule and issue tickets to passengers.

Air cargo services: It is an air transportation of cargo and mail. It may be on scheduled
or non-scheduled basis. These operations are to destinations within India. For operation
outside India, the operator has to take specific permission of Directorate General of
Civil Aviation demonstrating his capacity for conducting such an operation.

In 2009 with increase in traffic movement and increase in revenues by almost US$ 21.4
million, the Airports Authority of India seems set to accrue better margins in 2009-10,
as per the latest estimates released by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AERA) AERA, was established by

the Government of India vide notification No. GSR 317(E) dated 12th May 2009 as a
statutory body of Government of India. The Parliament of India enacted an Act called
“The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India Act, 2008” (hereinafter to be
referred as the “Act”). The said Act envisages the establishment of a statutory authority
called the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (hereinafter referred to as the
“AERA”) to regulate tariff for the aeronautical services, determine other airport charges
for services rendered at major airports and to monitor the performance standards of such
airports. The provisions of the said Act came into force w.e.f. 1st September, 2009.

Aviation in India

Aviation in India, broadly divided into military and civil aviation, is the fastest-growing
aviation market in the world according to the International Air Transport Association
(IATA). The hub of the nation's aviation manufacturing industry is at Bangalore which
has a 65% share of this economic sector since 1924. The government's UDAN (regional
connectivity scheme) is driving the growth of civil aviation and aviation infrastructure
in India. The first commercial aviation flight in India took place on 18 February 1911.
It was a brief demonstration flight of about 15 minutes from the United Provinces
Industrial and Agricultural Exhibition in Allahabad, across the Yamuna River to Naini,

9
a distance of 9.7 kilometres (6 mi). The aircraft, a Humber biplane shipped from
England specifically for the event, was flown by French aviator Henri Pequet and
carried 6,500 pieces of mail, making it the first official airmail service. Regular air mail
was not established until two decades later, notably by J. R. D. Tata, who was awarded
a contract to carry mail in 1932 and founded an airline which grew to become Air India.
Until 1990, international aviation was restricted to the four major metros of India, viz.,
New Delhi (Palam), Bombay (Santa Cruz), Madras (Meenambakkam), and Calcutta
(Dum Dum). With the Thiruvananthapuram Airport having upgraded to an international
airport on 1 January 1991, making it the fifth international airport of India, international
aviation was expanded to minor metros and non-metros across the country.

Infrastructure The primary civilian aviation hub is Indira Gandhi International Airport
in the National Capital Region of Delhi. Since 2009, it has been the busiest airport in
India in terms of passenger traffic and international traffic, and the second-busiest in
terms of cargo traffic (after Mumbai). Since 2010, it has had the capacity to handle more
than 40 million passengers per year, with a planned expansion for 100 million
passengers by 2030. UDAN is assessing 486 existing airports for potential
development. Phase I of UDAN helped to raise the number of operational civil aviation
airports to 131, a 34% increase over 20 months. In addition, the Airport Authority of
India (AAI) granted in-principal approval to 19 new airports in December 2017. In
September 2018, the Civil Aviation Minister said that as many as 100 new airports
would be built in the next 10 to 15 years to meet the growing domestic demand.

Military aviation

The President of India serves as the ex-officio commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed
Forces, with the Ministry of Defence responsible for policy. The air arms of the armed
forces are the Indian Air Force (IAF), commanded by the Chief of Air Staff, and the
Indian Naval Air Arm, Army Aviation Corps, and Indian Coast Guard aviation. The
IAF is the world's fourth-largest air force. In 2015, Flightglobal estimated that it had
1,820 aircraft in service: 905 combat planes, 595 fighters and 310 attackers. The defence
sector – consisting chiefly of IAF and state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited

10
(HAL) – are developing numerous indigenous fighter aircraft and new technologies for
the aviation industry. These efforts produced the HF-24 Marut and HAL
Tejassupersonic fighters

AIRLINE AS A BRAND

Building strong brands is one of the most important goals of product and brand
management as strong brands will result in the realization of higher long-term and short-
term returns for organizations (Davis, 2002b; Keller, 2002). Branding is now a key
component in the airline industry, just like any product. Deyes (2008), explains that the
growing need and importance for branding in this industry is because all flying
experiences are becoming similar, both boring and stressful with flights becoming a
commodity and flying losing all its magic. Furthermore, the launch of new budget
airlines in the past decade has made it even more crucial for airlines to differentiate
themselves in their respective markets and segments. According to research, 35 per cent
of passengers choose an airline on the basis of punctuality, while pricing comes second
at around 30 per cent (Deyes, 2008). This implies that the remaining 35 per cent of the
decision making is influenced by other factors which undeniably will include branding
(Deyes, 2008). Branding plays a key role in the industry as it helps airlines differentiate
themselves from the others. It also helps airlines showcase their strengths beyond the
expected basic requirement of taking a person from one point of departure to their
destination.

More importantly, differentiation has become a necessity ever since low-cost airlines
entered the market requiring airlines to improve the experience, because if the passenger
only made his decision based on price, low-cost airlines with the lowest fares would
always be chosen (Deyes, 2008). The last ten years have seen the emergence of about
twenty low cost carriers in the Asia Pacific region such as Lion Air and Tiger Airways
from Singapore; Air Deccan, Air One, Kingfisher Airlines, Air India Express, Alliance
Air and Spice Jet from India; Adam Air from Indonesia; One-to-go and Nok Air from
Thailand; Ozjet and Virgin Blue from Australia; Viva Macau from Macau and Jeju Air
from South Korea. Arguably, one of the most successful in this region is Malaysia’s
AirAsia. It is inevitable however, that as competition heats up, the low cost carriers have
11
to expand their use of marketing strategy that goes beyond low cost fares. This paper
investigates the branding strategy of AirAsia, to find how it has been able to maintain
itself as one of the most successful and innovative low cost airlines in the region.

AirAsia: Background

Prior to its take-over by Tune Air Sdn. Bhd. in 2001, AirAsia was owned by DRB-
Hicom, a government-linked company (AirAsia, 2008). Its airline had not been able to
take off and was eventually sold to Tune Air, literally for a song, for a token sum of
RM1.00 or US$0.26 together with an accumulated debt of RM40 million (AirAsia,
2008). Tune Air was formed by Tony Fernandes and four entrepreneurs, some of whom
had worked with the music industry which perhaps inspired the name of the company.
According to Fernandes , it is not easy to sell the idea of operating an airline particularly
to the government. In fact, his request for a license to operate from the government was
rejected on two previous attempts. Finally, with Pahamin A Rejab, the former Secretary
General of the Ministry of Transportation, they presented their case to the then Prime
Minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, who eventually gave the green light, not for a new
company, but to take over the ailing AirAsia from DRB-Hicom. Many were sceptical
that Fernandes could succeed in transforming the ailing, capital-intensive company
especially during the travel slump soon after the destruction of the World Trade Center
in New York in 2001. Within two years, Fernandes proved the critics wrong and was
able to turn AirAsia into a profit-making company modelled after the successful
operations of the United States-based Southwest Airlines, Dublin-based Ryanair and
United Kingdom-based Virgin Air. AirAsia was listed in the Kuala Lumpur bourse
within three years of operation, on 22 November 2004, with one of the largest IPO offer
of RM717.4 million (AirAsia, 2008). In addition, AirAsia won many accolades
including certification by Superbrands International. For his achievements, Fernandes
was awarded the Best Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Award
in 2006 (AirAsia, 2008). In March 2006, AirAsia’s passenger load expanded to such a
capacity that a new low-cost terminal (LCCT) was built for it. This LCCT can
accommodate 10 million passengers annually and has 30 parking bays for the aircrafts
(AirAsia, 2008).

12
THE FRAMEWORK

It is widely known that brands are a company’s prime asset. Consumers select one
company over another because of brands. By creating consumer preference, brands
provide added value, both to the company as well as the consumer. For the consumer,
brands reduce perceived risk. A brand can signify product quality. From the company’s
perspective, successful brands promote loyalty, generate price premium, form the
platform for longterm growth and have a positive effect on share performance.
According to Fombrun (1996) brands closely reflect the true value of a firm and a source
of competitive advantage. Blackett (2004:18), in quoting the Pocket Oxford Dictionary
of Current English, said that the word brand which originated from an old Norwegian
name of brandr, means a piece of smouldering wood, torch, sword or iron stamp used
red-hot to leave an indelible mark. It was of course used by farmers to distinguish their
livestock. Regardless of the context of usage, the word ‘brand’ means a distinctive mark
to differentiate one product from another. As the marketplace becomes more
competitive and crowded, brand becomes increasingly more significant to cut through
the clutter and differentiate from the rest of the crowd. A review of literature shows that
there are differences in the definition of brands. Some defined it in terms of name, logo
or any form of visual identifications given to a product or service (Temporal, 2000).
According to Noble (2006), while trade marks are important to protect those aspects of
the communication that trigger stored memory, brand is the “sum of understanding” in
the individual’s mind. Individuals express their thoughts by their actions, to buy or not
to buy the product/service. Hence, successful branding wins trust and creates a
preference in the mind of the consumer (Noble, 2006). From the company’s point of
view, brand, as mentioned by Landor (www. buildingbrands.com), is a promise that it
makes to its customers. Defined in this manner it implies that brand comes with
responsibilities and the inability to fulfil the promise can have severe negative effects.
A brand must be able to deliver and make a positive contribution to be able to sustain
itself. The challenge to brands is to remain relevant with changing expectations of
consumers due to changes in lifestyle, access to technology and proliferation of product
choice. As such even successful brands have to constantly innovate and improve in
order to remain relevant to the market. One of the indicators of successful branding is
13
when consumers use the name of a brand synonymously to refer to a product, such as
Pampers for diapers or Kleenex for tissue papers, Colgate for toothpaste. Keller (2002)
suggested that there are four stages to follow in planning a branding strategy. First,
undertake a review of the product in order to identify and strengthen its value which
can be used to position its branding. This includes an effort to maximise the branding
value of the product by convincing the consumers the ‘extras’ that can be found in the
product as opposed to its competitors. Second, plan for a comprehensive marketing
approach of the product by promoting the branding value through a combination and
integration of brand elements and aggressive marketing activities. Third, assess and
interpret the brand performance as a result of the earlier steps. Finally, promote and
sustain the brand equity, that is, the asset and strengths linked to the brand that can add
value to the product.

According to Davis (2002a) the best branding strategy which has garnered a large
market share for a product is when an organisation treats its brand as the most important
asset for the company’s long term survival. In other words, the organisation must be
active in promoting the brand and is willing to make substantial investment in
promoting, strengthening and sustaining the brand in the market place (Aaker, 1998).
Such investment should include the task of ensuring that the whole organisation
understands its brand and uses this understanding to channel its value directly or
indirectly to the consumers (de Chernatony, 1996). In his book on brand asset
management, Davis (2002a) proposed a model on how an organisation can manage its
brand investment and asset through four major phases: development of brand vision,
determining the brand picture, developing brand strategy, and measuring the brand asset
management culture.

Brand Asset Management

First Phase Second Phase Third Phase Fourth Phase

Developing Brand Determining Your Developing Brand Measuring Brand
Vision Brand Picture Asset Asset
Management Management
Strategy Culture

14
Branding of AirAsia

Phase 1: Brand Vision How does the company seeks to identify itself? What is its value
to the consumers and the other stakeholders? A company’s identity can be seen through
its vision, values and logo. AirAsia’s vision is to be the leading low cost carrier in the
region, through “offering the lowest airfares at a profit” (AirAsia, 2008).The tagline
that encapsulates the brand vision is “Now everyone can fly”. The word ‘now’
emphasises that if in the past, air travel was considered a luxury, nowadays with the
availability of AirAsia, money will not be a hindrance to travelling. The other crucial
word ‘everyone’ denotes that AirAsia enables everyone regardless of class and status
to fly.

The AirAsia logo is written in big red cursive letterings against a white background.
The colour and font used denote boldness, simplicity and fun. Located next to the brand
name is the tagline “Now everyone can fly” which clearly captures the company’s
vision of offering the lowest fare to everyone. As a comparison, the new logo of AirAsia
is more vivid and dynamic as compared to its previous logo.

The corporate values that AirAsia holds are to be efficient and prudent, maintain
simplicity, safety and transparency (AirAsia, 2008). AirAsia needs to be efficient and
prudent in order to maintain a lean cost structure. Some measures implemented to

15
reduce costs are the no-frills flights which do not include meals and lounge facility, a
lean ground staff, an online reservation system and high aircraft utilization as the airline
practices a quick turnaround time of 25 minutes between flights (AirAsia, 2008).

AirAsia’s Chief Executive Officer, Tony Fernandes, believes that every aspect of the
business must be simplified so that the whole philosophy, vision, mission and objectives
can be understood by all the stakeholders, especially the staff and customers (AirAsia,
2008). His management style upholds transparency on decision-making and high
accessibility to media and investor community. In addition, he reiterates that
management must keep talking to the staff about the brand. In his daily interactions with
the staff, he tries to promote a sense of loyalty, dedication and commitment of the staff
to the company and the need to be vigilant at all times to protect its image. This
sentiment is promoted through (i) a good staff and customer relations

(ii) available and approachable for consultations at any time and

(iii) an air of friendly atmosphere.

Safety is another significant value to long-term success. As a new airline, the safety
issue poses a big challenge. Given that low cost flying is a new concept in this region
and that AirAsia is a new enterprise, the question that is uppermost in the mind of the
public is, is it safe? Whilst people want to pay less, they would also like to be assured
that the planes meet aviation standards and the pilots are trained and experienced.
Measures to boost its credibility include the setting up of its own pilot training simulator
facilities and the purchase of new aircrafts so that by year 2009, all its carriers flying
out of Malaysia will be new.

16
 CHAPTER 2

COMPANY PROFILE

17
AirAsia India is an airline in India headquartered
in Bangalore (Bengaluru), Karnataka. The airline is a joint venture with Tata
Sons holding 83.67% stake in the airline and AirAsia Investment Limited (Malaysia)
holding 16.33% stake. AirAsia India commenced operations on 12 June 2014
with Bengaluru as its primary hub.

AirAsia is the first foreign airline to set up a subsidiary in India and the company marked
the Tata Group's return to the aviation industry after 60 years, having ceded Air India in
1946 however Air India return to its home in January 2022. As of June 2020, AirAsia
India was the fourth largest carrier in India, after IndiGo, SpiceJet and Air India, with a
market share of 7.2%.

AirAsia India

IATA I5

ICAO IAD

Founded 28 March 2013

Operating bases Kempegowda International Airport (Bengaluru)

Indira Gandhi International Airport(Delhi)
Dabolim Airport(Goa)
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport (Kolkata)
Chtrapathi Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (Mumbai)
Frequent Flyer Tata NeuPass
Program
Fleet Size 33

Destinations 18

18
Parent Company Tata Group

Headquarters Kemepegowda International Airport, Bangalore, Karnataka , India

Key people Banmali Agrawala (Chairman)

Sunil Bhaskaran (CEO)

AirAsia India Organizational Structure

AirAsia India Board of Directors

• Mr. Banmali Agrawala(President - Infrastructure and Defence &

Aerospace, Tata Sons)

• Mr. Anajuk Chareonwongsak (Director)

19
 • Mr. Sunil Bhaskaran (Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer)

AirAsia India Shareholders

VISION AND MISSION OF THE COMPANY

Vision statement:

Their vision, under the slogan “Now Everyone Can Fly”, is “To be the largest low cost
airline in Asia and serving the 3 billion people who are currently underserved with poor
connectivity and high fares

Mission statement:

Their mission is, under the banner of ‘Affordable Airfares’, “To attain the lowest cost
so that everyone can fly with AirAsia,” without any compromise to Flight Safety

20
Standards, as well as, creating a world wide recognizable brand with a ‘family’
atmosphere within working conditions for employees. AirAsia’s mission statement is
to be the “Asia leading low fare no frills airline and first to introduce “ticketless”
traveling, Air Asia will be unveiling more incentives in the future to encourage more
air travel among Malaysians.” Now everyone can fly clearly describes AirAsia’s value.
Cost advantages created by Air Asia through operational effectiveness and efficiency
go directly to the customers. The customer now enjoy much more surplus than before
as the fare falls dramatically and Air Asia captures some of the dead weight losses by
capturing segments of customers that previously cannot afford the airlines’ fare.

AirAsia India Sustainability

The global aviation industry produces around 2% of all human-induced carbon dioxide
(CO2) emissions. As a young organisation, we embarked on our sustainability journey
early on. By embedding sustainability principles at the core of our business, we are
preparing ourselves to manage ESG risks and are poised to leverage opportunities
emanating from ESG trends.
We have various sources of CO2 emissions across our value chain - operations and
inbound logistics, ground and airside operations, flight operations, and a corporate
office. Under the able guidance of Tata Sustainability Group, we identified material
sustainability issues for the airline, enabling long-term success in identifying the right
metrics for each issue, setting the relevant targets based on industry analysis and
arriving at action-based plans to achieve targets based on good practices from the
aviation industry.
Emissions Offsetting

Given the technology choices we have at our disposal, we can reduce considerable
amounts of our CO2 emissions by deploying various emission reduction levers such as
use of a modern fleet, efficient flying and emission offsetting.

21
Affiliate airline

In October 2012, AirAsia's management said that they were keen to have more presence
in India if the aviation environment and tax structure were conducive and friendly for
low-cost airline operations. With the new Indian Government allowing a foreign direct
investment of up to 49% in aviation sector, the airline CEO Tony Fernandes tweeted
"Fantastic news that India has opened up investments to foreign airlines." He said that
it was now easier for him to set up an airline in India. Tony Fernandes called the joint
venture with Tata Sons. He said that the Tatas know India very well and have a good
reputation. A tie-up wite efficiently. Fernandes said that he would concentrate mainly
on the one million south Indians who travel by rail. AirAsia announced its Indian low-
cost affiliate airline on 19 February 2013. The airline would be operated as a joint
venture, with AirAsia holding 49% of the airline. Arun Bhatia took up 21% and Tata
Sons the remaining 30% stake in the airline. The joint venture would also mark Tata
Sons' return to aviation industry after 60 years. AirAsia is the first foreign airline to set
up an affiliate airline in India. The airline is headquartered in Chennai [45] and planned
to make Chennai International Airport as its hub. Later, the primary hub of the airlines
was shifted to Kempegowda International Airport, Bangalore. The maiden flight of
AirAsia's India venture on BangaloreGoa route took off on 12 June 2014. The airline
announced that Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi will be its hub for North
Indian operations. In November 2020, AirAsia reviewing its India operations run in
partnership with Tata Sons signalling a possible exit from the world's fifth largest
economy. On 29 December 2020, the Tata Group announced it would increase its
holdings in the Indian-based joint venture with AirAsia from 51% to 84%.

Fleet renewal

Previously operating the Boeing 737-300, AirAsia has now completely converted to
the Airbus A320 family. In June 2011 AirAsia ordered 200 Airbus A320neos at the
Paris Air Show. The planes were originally due to become available in 2015, and the
deal was one of the largest ever for commercial aircraft in a single order. The deal was
worth US$18 billion at list prices, although AirAsia will have obtained a substantial
discount from those prices. The deal makes AirAsia Airbus' single biggest customer.

22
On 13 December 2012, AirAsia placed an order for an additional 100 Airbus A320 jets,
splitting it between 64 A320neo and 36 A320ceo. At the Farnborough International Air
Show in 2016, Air Asia ordered 100 A321neos at an estimated cost of US$12.6 Billion
dollars at list prices. Air Asia plans to fly these larger aircraft to airports that have
infrastructure constraints. AirAsia received its first A320neo in September 2016. At the
2019 Farnborough Air Show, AirAsia further increased its orders for A320 aircraft, in
the process also becoming Airbus' largest customerforthe A321neo variant. With this,
the total number of orders that AirAsia had placed for the Airbus A320 family climbed
to 592, reaffirming the carrier's position also as the largest airline customer for the
Airbus single aisle product line. However, as a consequence of the COVID-19
pandemic on aviation, the orders for the new A320 family of aircraft were reworked by
mutual agreement between AirAsia and Airbus in October 2021, with deliveries now
scheduled to extend to 2035, among other undisclosed changes in purchase terms.

23
2.1 Various Services provided by the company

2.1.1 AirAsia Advantage Add-on Packs:

It is divided into value pack, premium pack, VIP pack which includes the following
with respect to their pack

• Any standard seat of our choice

• A Lite Bite (Herb Roast Vegetable Roll or Chicken Junglee Sandwich)
• A choice of Premium coffee or tea or Juice
• 50% off Hot Seats or any Standard Seat of our choice
• A choice of Hot Meals from our delectable dining menu
• A choice of Premium coffee or Tea or Juice
• Red carpet priority, check-in boarding and baggage delivery
• Any Hot Seat or standard seat of our choice
• A choice of Hot Meals from our delectable dining menu or a lite bite of (Paneer
or Chicken Junglee Sandwich)

2.1.2 AirAsia Extra Seat

Sometimes a little more personal space is what we need. Increase our comfort and enjoy
more freedom with our option to choose Extra Seat(s). Extra Seat(s) service is suited to
complement any additional seating needs to carry bulky, valuable, fragile baggage,
musical instruments or simply rejoice in some extra ‘ME’ time.

24
2.1.3 AirAsia FlyAhead

Introducing ‘FlyAhead’, a service that promises convenience, flexibility and comfort.

With the ‘FlyAhead’ service, guests wishing to take an earlier flight will be able to
seamlessly opt for this facility on direct flights by contacting the AirAsia Airport
Counters. Guests who reach the airport six hours or more prior to their scheduled flight
departure, can opt for the AirAsia FlyAhead service, subject to the flight load.

2.1.3 AirAsia India Cargo

Cargo Services

Need something shipped? They’ve got us covered. They offer safe and on-time delivery
of shipments across India. Their cargo flights cover an array of items that can be shipped
to our destination.

Their products are classified into six main categories:

General Cargo
Send cargo anywhere with our reliable, transparent, and efficient air transportation
services under general cargo services. General cargo includes documents, samples,
consolidations, ready-made garments, auto parts, machine parts, fabrics, personal
effects, household goods, footwear, carpets, etc.45

25
Dangerous Goods
Send cargo anywhere with our reliable, transparent, and efficient air transportation
services under general cargo services. General cargo includes documents, samples,
consolidations, ready-made garments, auto parts, machine parts, fabrics, personal
effects, household goods, footwear, carpets, etc.45

Perishable Cargo
We handle perishables such as fish (link to wet cargo), meat, dairy, fruits, and
vegetables with extra care. Non-maintained temperatures and storage facilities are
handled by professionally trained staff to ensure that perishables reach you in the best
condition.

Valuable Cargo
We provide maximum security for valuable commodities such as banknotes, jewellery,
and gemstones from acceptance through to final delivery at the destination. Specially
developed valuable boxes, highly secured storage areas, and constant surveillance
guarantees the highest level of security for your valuables.

Vulnerable Cargo
Vulnerable items receive infinite care when transported by us. Mobile phones,
camcorders or semi-precious goods are handled by trained cargo personnel to ensure
safe movement in the network. We provide secure storage areas, high security measures,
and 24-hour monitoring for items that fit this description.

Postal Mail
We have the most economical all-India distribution cargo service for postal mail. This
service is available on all our flights. Contact one of our cargo offices for further details.

26
Wet Cargo
Shipments containing liquids or shipments by nature that produce liquids, and which
are not subject to the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations will be classified as ‘wet
cargo' Purpose: Special handling is required to prevent or to contain spillage of any
liquids inside the aircraft. This is because the danger of spillage or leakage during air
carriage could lead to corrosion or damages to the aircraft structure or its components
or to another load. Please refer to the latest edition of IATA Live Animal Regulations
for more details.

Human Remains / Cremated Ashes

Rest assured your loved ones will be treated with dignity and respect, and will be given
the highest priority with our human remains cargo service.

2.1.4. AirAsia X Avis

Air Asia India has partnered with Avis India to offer premium car rental services
to travellers who are flying with the airline.
Air Asia India guests can opt to hire airport transfers, chauffeur -driven vehicles,
long term car rentals or self-drive cars from Avis fleet of mid, premium, luxury
and SUV cars.

27
2.1.5 Baggage
Carry-On-Xtra

Want to travel with only a cabin baggage but wish we could carry more stuff onboard?
we can turn our travels into a smooth experience by purchasing their Carry-On-Xtra
offering to bring onboard an additional 3kg or 5kg. Say goodbye to the waiting time at
the baggage pick-up belt.

28
2.1.6 FlyBiz
FlyBiz for Small and Medium Enterprises
Focus on taking your business to newer heights while they take care of your business
travel needs! Introducing FlyBiz for Small and Medium Enterprises, with exciting
benefits for smooth and hassle-free travels.

2.1.7 FlyPorter
As an airline that has consistently embraced technology to deliver operational efficiency
and enhance guest experiences, AirAsia India has introduced services to facilitate
contactless travel like AirAsia Flyporter door to door baggage delivery services in
Bengaluru, New Delhi, and Hyderabad and Red Carpet Priority Check-In, Boarding,
and Baggage services along with other exclusive benefits on airasia.co.in

29
2.1.8 International Connecting Baggage
Guests can now pre-book excess baggage when travelling on a domestic AirAsia India
flight and connecting to or from another international airline. The excess baggage
booked will be in addition to the standard check-in baggage allowance of 15 kg on
Economy Fares. Students traveling internationally can also pre-book excess baggage
at these special rates in addition to their 25 kg baggage allowance.

Book International Connecting Baggage when booking your flight, or later through
Manage My Booking or during Check-in, upto 2 hours before your flight departure.

2.1.9 Lounge
AirAsia India Lounge Services
Enjoy exclusive access to our lounges around the country. These services are designed
to help you relax and unwind between lengthy flight interludes. Choose from several
options in terms of dining, shopping, internet access, and media entertainment.

Airport lounge facilities

• Snacks
• Hot food and beverages
• Lounge bar (chargeable)
• Free internet stations/ high speed Wi-Fi
• Newspapers/magazines

30
 • Charging stations for laptops / mobiles / tablets
• TV and music entertainment
• Flight info/announcements
• Business centre facilities*

*Business centre facilities such as access to printer, copier, workstation, or meeting

rooms are chargeable. Also, all the above-mentioned lounge services may vary from
one lounge to another and are subject to availability. These services are available only
at select domestic airports in India.

2.1.10 AirAsia Premium Flex

1. Change Your Plans Hassle-Free

Change your flight up to 2 hours before the scheduled departure, unlimited times,
without any additional charges.

2. Choose Your Favourite Seat

Select your favourite standard seat from any of our premium upholstered leather seats,
free of cost, or pick a hot seat at 50% off.

31
2.1.11 Red Carpet

Red Carpet - Quick Boarding, the AirAsia India Way

Say goodbye to queues and wait time at the airport!
At AirAsia India, we believe our guests should be treated with priority and a sense of
belonging. Which is why we have introduced Red Carpet - an innovative solution that
makes your pre-board and post-flight experience seamless. Do away with prolonged
queues and wait time at the baggage carousel.

What do Red Carpet guests get?

• Priority check-in
Avoid queues for baggage, boarding passes

• Priority boarding
Board our flights before everyone else

• Priority baggage
Eliminate wait time after touch down

32
2.1.12 AirAsia India Charter Flights

Whether it’s on business, a destination wedding, or a much-awaited family vacay,

quality time away from the monotony of everyday life is a great reason to start planning.
At AirAsia India, we provide an excellent guest experience from the time you get in
touch with us to the time you reach your destination. And yes, we cover everything in
between.
Do the heavy lifting
This includes paperwork, liaising with regulatory authorities, and addressing any other
queries you have about your journey.
Love special occasions
Birthdays, weddings, or anything under the sun. We can help plan fun, tailormade
requests that match your expectations.

Create a ‘wow’ experience

We personally attend to guests. Be it meet-and-assist service at departure /arrival or
special baggage handling, we go the extra mile to make you happy.

Fly where you want to go

We are not bound by a network and can make any domestic destination of your choice
happen (subject to government regulations of course!).

33
Believe in being flexible
Last minute change in plans? Unforeseeable circumstances may hamper travel plans.
Whether it’s substituting a guest or another hurdle, we’re amenable.

2.2 SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis of Air Asia

Air Asia is a low-cost airline headquartered in Malaysia. In Kuala Lumpur. The largest
airline in Malaysia the business is known to be highly employee centric. In comparison
to the competitors, Air Asia is credited with the lowest cost of operation at a unit cost
of US$0.023 per available seat kilometer (ASK) and a passenger breakeven load factor
of 52%.

Air Asia operates flights to around 165 destinations that include both domestic
and international with a fleet size of 92. The airline has four subsidiaries including Air
Asia X, Indonesia Air Asia X, Indonesia Air Asia and Thai Air Asia.

The airline which was set up in the year 1993 started operations in the year 1996 and is
thus a fairly new airline. A recipient of numerous awards Air Asia has been
consecutively designated as the leading low-cost carrier in the Asian region. The
company registered an annual turnover of USD 1.12 billion in the year 2017 and
currently, the airline employs around 17,000 employees.

Strengths in the SWOT analysis of Air Asia

Strengths are defined as what each business does best in its gamut of operations which
can give it an upper hand over its competitors. The following are the strengths of Air
Asia :

• Steady and Consistent positioning: Air Asia has been positioned as a

low-cost airline The airline has been successful in ensuring that they
consistently keep their operating costs as low as possible and this means
that the benefits of this trickle into the pricing.

34
• Weekly flights: Through customer research, Air Asia realized that many
customers travel from Trichy to Chennai and then onward to Kuala
Lumpur, Singapore, and Bangkok which was proving to be expensive. This
made the airlines start weekly flights to Kuala Lumpur priced as low as Rs
12000 as return fare in comparison to Rs 21,000 of other airlines.
• Extensive coverage in India: Air Asia was quick to realize the huge
prospect that India offered and thus moved into the region. The airline
operates around 120 flights to India connecting various key destinations
and ensuring that economic travel option is offered to customers.
• Innovation in service: Air Asia has been using cutting-edge technologies
for innovation. Some of their service innovation include online ticket
reservation printing and even e-check-in. The airline has also been
streamlining costs by replacing human effort with technology through
online services.
• Successful cost-cutting: Air Asia is a low-cost airline and they have taken
all possible measures to cut down on costs. One strategy that has been
followed by the airline is to transfer the onus of service to the customer
making most of the work as self-service.

35
Weaknesses in the SWOT analysis of Air Asia

Weaknesses are used to refer to areas where the business or

the brand needs improvement. Some of the key weaknesses of Air Asia are:

• Sustaining costs: Air Asia is a low-cost airline and thus it is critical that
the airlines keep its operating costs as low as possible. With fluctuations in
fuel costs and increase in service costs, the airlines find it immensely
challenging to keep their costs as low as possible.
• Low Profits: In order to keep their positioning of a low-cost carrier Air
Asia keeps their pricing as low as possible and thus rely completely on
volumes for their profits which in turn has resulted in lowering the profits
as well as reduced continuous revenue inflows.
• Challenges in balancing service quality with pricing: The USP of Air
Asia is the low-cost carrier image it carries. However, customers are not
willing to compromise on quality just because they charge low and
satisfaction is based on the quality of services. The airline thus finds it
challenging to balance the quality with pricing and it has been alleged that
compromise on quality.

Opportunities in the SWOT analysis of Air Asia

Opportunities refer to those avenues in the environment that surrounds the business on
which it can capitalize to increase its returns. Some of the opportunities include:

• Surge in overseas travel: In Asia where Air Asia is based out of there has
been a surge in business travel. Destinations like Singapore, Malaysia, and
Bangkok are popular in the world tourist map and vacation seasons also
see a surge in pleasure travel. These are opportunities that the airline can
capitalize on.

36
Threats in the SWOT analysis of Air Asia

Threats are those factors in the environment which can be detrimental to the growth of
the business. Some of the threats include:

• Competition: The company faces a lot of competition from brands such

as Air India, Singapore Airlines, Virgin Airlines etc.
• Management of costs: Air Asia is finding it immensely difficult to
manage the fluctuations in costs of fuel and also to maintain its vast fleet
of aircraft. The management of costs across time is the most critical
challenge that the airline faces.

37
 CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH DESIGN

38
3.1 Literature Review
Service Quality
Tjiptono & Chandra, service quality services are defined as a high level of services
provided to customers to be able to meet customer expectations. This service is provided
to meet customer needs and requests according to expectations from customers.
There are five dimensions of quality in accordance with the level of interest of
consumers, namely Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, Empathy, and Tangible.

Price
Kotler & Keller , prices are defined as the amount of value issued by customers to get
benefit from owning or using a product or service. Price is one of the important elements
for the company in gaining profits and also becomes one of the factors that are taken
into consideration for buyers in purchasing products or services. Price has four
indicators for customers are affordability, price compatibility with product quality, price
competitiveness, and price and benefit conformity.

Customer Satisfaction
The word "satisfaction" comes from the Latin word "satis" which means good enough
and "facio" which means to do or make. In short, it can be interpreted as an effort to
fulfill something. Kotler & Keller , satisfaction is a feeling of someone both satisfied
and unsatisfied which resulting from the performance of a product or service
accordingly expectations. Customers will feel satisfied if the performance of a product
or service is accordingly expectations, and customer will feel unsatisfied if the
performance of a product or service is not accordingly expectations. Customer
satisfaction has five indicators are namely product quality, service quality, customer
emotional factors, prices, and costs or ease of obtaining products.

Customer Loyalty
Bendapudi & Berry in Tjiptono, customer loyalty is a response related to commitment
in a supported relationship and is usually marked by a repurchase of a product. In short,
customer loyalty can be called loyalty from customer to repurchase a product. With

39
customer loyalty was created, it can help company to exist in marketing their products
to customers.
Customer loyalty have four indicators are makes regular repeat purchases, purchases
across product and servicelines, refers other, demonstrates an immunity to the full of
the competition.

Conceptual Framework of Research Customer loyalty is one of the keys for companies
to continue to operate. With the loyalty of customers, customers will make repeat
purchases of same product. Factors that can make customer loyalty are service quality,
price, and customer satisfaction.

According to Fernandes, AirAsia’s brand objectives is considered a success based on

the fact that the company is able to maintain its competitive edge, in terms of airfares,
number of routes and destinations and the number of new large capacity aircraft. As
mentioned earlier, the company is undergoing tremendous expansion especially for
long-haul budget travel and budget hotels. The target date for the operations of long-
haul destinations is September 2007 and over the next two years, it will jointly open 30
budget hotels in Southeast Asia (The Star, 27 June 2007).
In terms of the return on financial arrangements and objectives, the company is able to
show a positive balance sheet within two years of operations. In the second quarter of
2006, the company made a healthy profit of RM93.3 million (AirAsia, 2008).
Air Asia has successfully managed to develop a brand-based culture that is supported
and embraced by all levels of the organisation. Fernandes explains that the top
management dresses down as he believes that if managers wear a suit, they will put a
distance between themselves and the employees (AirAsia, 2008). Furthermore,
everyone at Air Asia goes on a first-name basis and Fernandes believes that instilling
the Air Asia culture needs to come deep down from the heart and not from memos or
top-down directives (AirAsia, 2008).
According to Fernandes, ‘Once a month, I carry bags with the ramp boys, or I'm cabin
crew, or at the check-in. I do this to get close to the operation. I also want to know my
people’ (AirAsia, 2008). Air Asia also believes in developing human capital to motivate

40
employees further. A befitting example would be its Cadet Pilot programme which saw
11 out of 19 cadets in the pilot programme coming from within the company. In
addition, some of these ‘home-grown’ cadets got the highest marks ever in the flying
academy. ‘There was one kid who joined us to carry bags, and 18 months later he was
a First Officer of a 737’adds Fernandes (AirAsia, 2008).
Over a short period of time since taking over Air Asia, Fernandes has been able to instill
a strong brand-based culture that is practised by the entire organisation and is definitely
the envy of other airlines.

Brand Awareness
Brand Awareness is a concept that represents the level of consumer satisfaction in a
brand that is different from other brands (Shocker, Allan D. 2020). According to
Seo et al., (2020) explained that brand awareness is the ability of customers who
have the potential to recognize and remember certain brands in a product, while
according to Keller (1993) brand awareness can represent the presence of a brand
in the minds of consumers. When the brand image is considered strong and unique,
it has a greater impact on consumers' purchase intentions.

Brand Image
According to Wang & Yang, (2010)Brand Image is defined as a set of brands
that exist in consumers' memories of that brand. Meanwhile, according to Cretu
and Brodie (2007),Brand Image is an important determinant for consumer habits in
buying an item or product especially where consumers find that it is difficult to
differentiate products or services based on intangible attributes. Brand image is a
representation of the overall perception of the brand and is formed from information
and experience of the brand. Brand Image relates to attitudes in the form of
beliefs and preferences towards a brand, consumers who have a positive image of a
brand, will be more likely to make a purchase (Utomo 2017).

41
Brand Trust
According to Mudzakkir & Nurfarida, (2015) explained that Brand Trust consists
of viability dimension and dimension of intentionality, where the dimension of
viability is a product that can meet consumer needs, while the dimension of
intentionality is a feeling of trust from
consumers to a brand. Some studies explained that Trust aims to explain loyalty,
such as the theory of Abdullah, (2015)which explained
that the relationship between trust and consumer loyalty. Whereas Rauyruen &
Miller, (2007) argued that to get customer loyalty, a product must first get customer
rust.E-WOME-WOM activities can create negative or positive statements made
by potential consumers or consumers who already know the product or company
through the internet media (Hennig-Thurau et al., 2004). Whereas, according to Seo
et al., (2020) E-WOM has been long considered an influential marketing tool and social
media and has been recognized as the best platform. E-WOM is a different concept
from conventional WOM in many ways and can be defined as a service evaluation
exchange between people who meet on the internet and share opinions.

The effect of Brand Awareness on Brand Trust

Brand awareness is the earliest stage of communication in building a strong
brand, when someone is aware of a brand, it will form consumer trust in a brand.
Therefore, the introduction of a brand is very important for consumer confidence to
assess whether a brand has a positive value for consumers or not (Sandra and
Haryanto 2010).

Image on Brand Trust

In the absence of a strong and positive brand image, it is very difficult for companies to
attract
new customers and retain existing ones. Image is an important factor in purchasing
decisions
and sometimes not only relates to the image that consumers want to have or expect but
also with a set of values that they believe (Ermawati 2018). Trust is a conjecture or hope

42
that the brand is reliable and responsive to one's needs (Park, Macinnis, and Priester
2006).
Consumers can also believe in certain brands when consumers have experienced the use
of these brands, or in other words, brand trust is the result of experience.

Brand Awareness has an influence on e-wom .The effect of Brand Image -WOMA
positive brand image is more often remembered by consumers if spoken positively,
on the contrary, it is less remembered if spoken negatively by word of mouth, (Herr,
Kardes, and Kim 1991). Also, a higher brand image leads to a perception of higher
quality and lower quality causes a perceived decrease in quality. The e-WOM
message is a very important message for consumers when they want to obtain
information about the quality of the product or service, and be an important reference
in decision-making process (Chevalier and Mayzlin 2003).
Terminologies in Airline Industry

Cargo Goods carried on an airplane.

Hiring an airplane. Business and high-profile clients may often charter a private
Charterjet.

3.2 Statement of the Problem

The global airline industry is full of challenges and the range of issues present directly
affects the operations of the companies operating in the airline industry. In the modern
era, competition is one of the main barriers faced where a large number of airline
companies are operating at a global level and this has somehow harmed the operations
carried out by every company in the market. Every company operating in the market is
offering the same type of services.
Especially in the case of small companies, they are not able to survive in the market
due to the presence of tough competition and, in turn, survival of the companies has
become a little bit difficult. In order to deal with the issue of high competition, airline
companies are focusing on developing corporate strategies so that their long-term
survival can take place easily through this Rising competition in the airline industry is
directly preventing small and medium sized companies to carry out their operations and
43
sometimes many companies have to shut down their operations due to the presence of
high competition in the market.
The low cost carriers operating in the market are adversely affected due to competition
prevailing in the market. The direct impact of competition is on market share and
revenue level where companies are not able to operate as per their real need. Sometimes,
the challenge associated with high competition is unmanageable by the companies and
due to this reason, they have to shut down their operations. Like in the case of Air India,
it is ranked as the third worst performing airline in the world where its service quality
is below the expectation level of the consumers.
While studying the literature, it was found that there is not much research about the
effect of brand awareness on choice. Most research is focused on more complicated
knowledge structures such as attitude and brand image. Therefore , we wanted to do
research on brand awareness and how it affects consumers choice.

3.3 Need of the study

The point of this target is to measure the view of AirAsia Airline by the people. It centres
around the potential outcomes of estimation of Air travelling. It recommend the
intellectual methods to improve the present dimension of target. The following factor
required a brand awareness and perception survey:
• How does customer opinion about the AirAsia service
• To learn the AirAsia brand awareness among the respondents
• To learn how to increase the sales
• To know the brand perception towards AirAsia
• To know how the sales can be helped
• To know adequacy of ad on making brand picture
• To know whether the brand is increasing the value of items or not
• To know whether individuals know about brand ambassadors of AirAsia or not.

44
3.4 Objectives
• To understand the brand awareness and brand perception
• To gauge or measure brand picture, perception, attitude, and behaviour of the
target audience with respect to the AirAsia brand as well as products.
• To assess the esteem drivers for the intended interest group when purchasing the
tickets.

3.5 Scope of the study

The study is limited to AirAsia airline services. The study goes for estimating the
consciousness, impression, perception and awareness of customer towards the AirAsia
airline.
The study also helps to find the effect of brand image among the customer with
reference to:
• To know and attract towards the brand name of AirAsia airline.
• Find the connection between the quality of service and brand name of AirAsia
airline.
• Find the fulfilment dimension of the customers in various ways towards the
AirAsia airline.
• It helps to take effective step to attract and/or retain customers.

3.6 Research Methodology

The chosen research methodology for this study is quantitative research in order to
collect sufficient sample of relevant data. According to Keller (2008) quantitative
research gives more definitive assessment of the depth and breadth of brand awareness.
Quantitative research can be defined as a method where the data is analysed
numerically. It answers to questions like how many, how much and how often. The
most common quantitative data analysis techniques are charts, graphs and statistics and
they help when exploring, presenting and examining relationships and trends within our
data. Quantitative data is something that can be easily quantified to help answer the
research questions and to meet the objectives. I chose quantitative research method
since the research questions of this study are corresponding to the ones used in

45
quantitative research method. Quantitative research gives a general picture from
relations and differentials of variables.

3.6.1 Research Design

Research design is the framework or plan for a study which guides the selection of
sources and types of information. It outlines procedures for every research activity. A
research design ensures that the study will be relevant to the research problem and will
use economical procedures. It is the general plan of how you will go about answering
the research questions. Research designs are classified into three traditional categories:
descriptive, exploratory or explanatory. The choice of the most appropriate design
depends on the research problem and the research objectives.

In this study, a descriptive research design is applied. Descriptive research is a type of

conclusive research that has its significant object the description of something, usually
market functions or characteristics. The characteristics of descriptive research are that
it makes a clear statement of the problem, defines clearly the information needed and
that the research is pre-planned and structured. This study applies descriptive research
since it tries to describe an accurate profile of persons, events or situations.

3.6.2 Sample Design

A sample is a subgroup of the population selected for the participation in the study.
Sampling saves time and therefore it is an important consideration when there are tight
deadline.

Sampling design starts by specifying the target population. The target population is the
collection of objectives and elements that possess the information sought by the
researcher and about which inferences are to be made. It should be defined in terms of
sampling units, elements, extent and time. An element is the object from which or about
which the information is desired. Usually, in survey research, the respondent is the
element. An element or a unit containing the element is called sampling unit. Target
population must be accurately determined before the presentable sample can be chosen
from it. The research can be ineffective and misleading if the definition of the target
population is imprecise.

46
The primary intention is to receive information from the potential target audience of
the case company, meaning people over 18-year-old who travel or are interested in
travelling. In this research the whole population is the case company’s target audience
and the target population consist of Finnish over 18-year-old male or female, head of
household who is mostly responsible of making travel bookings. Target population is
divided into two smaller groups, people who knows the case company and people who
are not familiar with it.

After the target group of the study has been determined, a sample frame has to be
constructed. A sample frame is a representation of the elements of the target group. It
consists of a list or set of direction for identifying the target group. In this study the
sample frame is difficult to determine from the target population since there do not exist
a list of the company’s potential customers.

It would be impractical and time consuming to survey the entire population and that is
why a sampling technique was applied. Sampling techniques offers a range of methods
that enable you to reduce the amount of data that needs to be collected. Instead of
collecting data from all the possible cases or elements, in this case, only the data from
a sub-group is considered. Sampling techniques can be divided into two groups:
probability sampling and non-probability sampling. When using probability sampling,
each case being selected from the population is known and is normally equal for all
cases. Survey and experimental research strategies are often associated with probability
sampling. In contrast, non-probability sampling is subjective and arbitrary. Each
member does not have a known non-zero chance of being included. In this study
probability sampling is applied because the respondents will be chosen randomly.

Sample size: Total number of respondents are only 20.

Sample Technique: The technique used for the project is simple random sampling.

3.6.3 Tools for Data Collection

In this study, structured questionnaire as a research design is applied. Questions are

presented with exact same wording and in the same order to all respondents. In this
research, the reason for standardizing the questions is to ensure that all respondents are

47
replying to the same questions and the replies are comparable. The questionnaire used
in this research is designed by defining the information needed to answer the research
objectives and questions. In addition, the questionnaire is structured, designed, formed
and modified based on the theory about measuring brand awareness and previous brand
awareness researches. The questionnaire type chosen for this quantitative research is
multiple choice. In this type of questionnaire, it is important to design it the way that it
is easy for everybody to answer.

The respondents are given multiple-choice options, list questions, one open question
and like-style rating questions with options from 1 to 4. Rating questions are often used
when collecting opinion data. In these type of questions, the respondent is asked how
strongly he or she agrees or disagrees with the presented statement. I used the same
adjectives through the whole questionnaire to make it easier for the respondent to
answer.

3.6.4 Primary Data

Primary data is gathered as survey through the questionnaire which comprises of

various questions in printed in definite order on a lot of structures, the respondents
replied upon the questions and understand enquiries itself. The respondent need to reply
the question on their own and asper their perception.

• Questionnaire
• Opinion Collection
• Face to Face interview

3.6.5 Secondary Data

Secondary data comprises of data that as of now exist. Some place, have been collected
for specific reason in the study. The secondary data for the study was gathered from
different books, journals, websites, broachers and so on.

The methodology embraced to gather a primary data was start with time table which
incorporates an organized questionnaire to be given to the respondents, the respondent

48
would be guided by the questioner to fill the questionnaire and direct perception
technique was like wise embraced.

• Online Resources
• Reports and feedbacks
• Company information
• Research papers
• Management Information System

3.7 Limitations of the study

• Customers shared a limited information.

• There was less time to collect all the information since it was time consuming.
• Detailed discussion was not possible, due to customers busy work schedule.
• It is difficult to collect competitor data and information.
• Unable to travel to rural areas.

There were various limitations concerning this study. The biggest limitation was the
geographical location of the sample group: it was rather difficult to reach the sample
group efficiently and be sure that all the respondents fulfill the intended requirements.
Since, the sample group was hard to reach the time to collect primary data was
comparably short. Due to this, the time sequence left for analysis was also short which
can have an effect to the findings of the research. In addition, the lack of experience and
knowledge of the researchers concerning the composition of an empirical study limits
the depth of the insight of this study. One major limitation concerns the scope of the
sample group: we were able to obtain 20 responses to the questionnaire all 20
respondents fulfilled the desired requirements. This decreases the reliability of the study
results. A factor that also limits the results of the research is the incident with question
number five in the online questionnaire that resulted in a procedure of deleting this
question. Due to this procedure, the questionnaire consisted only of 20 questions and I
lost one important question that would have assumably provided significant information
about brand preference.

49
 CHAPTER 4
DATA ANALYSIS & INTREPRETATION

50
GENDER CLASSIFICATION
Gender Responses
Male 16
Female 04
Total 20

ANALYSIS :

GENDER

24%
Males
76% Females

INTREPRETATION

Survey was conducted randomly for 20 respondents out of 16 (76%)were males and
rest 4 (24%) were females

51
AGE

Age Group Responses

Above 15-Below 20 01

Above 20-Below 30 14

Above 30\-Below 40 5

Above 50 0

ANALYSIS:

AGE GROUP

20
18
16
14
14
RESPONSES

12
10
8
6 5
4
2 1
0
0
15-20 20-30 30-40 Above 50
AGE GROUP

INTREPRETATION

Most repondents are aged between 20-30 i,e 14 respondents 30-40 5 respondents 15-
20 1 respondent.

52
OCCUPATIONAL STATUS

SECTOR NO. OF RESPONDENTS

Students 6
Government 4
Private 5
Business 5

ANALYSIS:

OCCUPATIONAL STATUS

5, 25% 6, 30% Students

Govt.Employee
Business

5, 25% Private co. Employee

4, 20%

INTREPRETATION

Coming to occupational status of respondents Most respondents were working and

few where students leaving them , 15 were employed in government sector and few
were doing business and working in private companies.

53
1.Air Travel Preference

AIR TRAVEL NO. OF

PREFERENCE RESPONDENTS
YES 20

NO 0

ANALYSIS:

Air Travel Preference

NO
0

YES
20

0 5 10 15 20 25

NO PREFERENCE AIR TRAVEL PREFERANCE

INTREPRETATION

Nowadays air travel became cheaper and everyone can be affordable, Respondents
were 20 and all the Respondents preference Air Travel.

54
2.Respondents, when they think of airline which they will get first in their mind?

AIRLINES RESPONSES

INDIGO 8

AIRASIA 5

SPICEJET 4

VISTARA 3

ANALYSIS :

INTREPRETATION

From the analysis of the above graph Indigo airline is more recognized than any other
airlines in India by 8 respondents. AirAsia comes 2nd with 5 respondents next to
Indigo followed by SpiceJet with 4 respondents and Vistara Airlines with 3
respondents.

55
3.Respondents were asked that they have heard of AirAsia Airline before ?

AWARE RESPONSE

YES 18

NO 2

ANALYSIS:

Awareness

10%

90%

Yes No

INTREPRETATION

From the above matrix, 90% of the respondents was aware of AirAsia airline and rest
10% were no aware of the AirAsia Airline.

56
4. How they get to know about the AirAsia Airline?

KNOWING SOURCE RESPONSES

Ads 8
Family 2
Friends 8

ANALYSIS:

RESPONSE
RESPONSE

20
18
16
14
12
10
8 8
8
6
4
2
2
0
Ads Family Friends

INTREPRETATION

From above from the above interpretation most of the respondents get to know about
By the reference airasia airline by seeing Ads (8) and from friends(8). 2 respondents
from by their family.

57
5. Respondents were asked that how many times they have travelled by air ?

TIMES OF AIR RESPONSES

TRAVEL
1–2 16

3–4 1

5 Or above 3

ANALYSIS:

Travelled by air

3, 15%

1, 5%
1 to 2
3 to 4
5 or above

16, 80%

INTREPRETATION

From the above chart, it is determined that most of the respondents travelled once or
twice by air 16 respondents , thrice or four times by 1 respondent , 5 respondents
travelled more than 5 times.

58
6.Airlines that respondents travelled mostly.

AIRLINES RESPONSES
AIRASIA 8
VISTARA 3
INDIGO 9
OTHERS 3

ANALYSIS:

others
3

Indigo
9
AIRLINES

Vistara
3

AirAsia
8

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

INTREPRETATION

From the above interpretation we can analyse that the most respondents travelled by
air in Indigo airlines 9 respondents out of 20 , 8 respondents by AirAsia , and 3
respondents from Vistara and others. Some of the respondents mentioned other
Airlines like AirIndia and Spicejet.

59
7. Service of an airline that makes them feel that airline is a brand .

SERVICES RESPOSES
Fare of a Ticket 8
Offers by that 4
airline
Relationship with 6
customers
CSR Activities 2

ANALYSIS:

INTREPRETATION

By the reference from above data most of the respondents believe that according to
them Fare of a ticket of an airline makes them feel brand with respect to 8 respondents
out of 20. 4 respondents looks for offers provided by that airline company , according
to 6 respondents Relationship with customers make them feel airline as a brand 2
respondents believe CSR activities as main service .

60
8.Advertisement of AirAsia.

SEEN RESPONSES

YES 16

NO 4

ANALYSIS:

ADVERTISEMENT

No
20%

Yes
No

Yes
80%

INTREPRETATION

From the above Pie Chart we can conclude that out of 20 respondents only 4 doesn’t
saw the ads of AirAsia airlines rest 16 of them seen the ads. Some respondents know
the airline but haven’t seen the ads anywhere.

61
9. Where they had seen the ads ?

SOURCE OF AN Ad RESPONSES
NO RESPONSE 4
OTHERS 2
NEWSPAPER 1
MAGAZINE 2
ONLINE 11

ANALYSIS :

Series 1

No response 4

others 2
SOURCE OF AN AD

NewsPaper 1

Magazine 2

Online 11

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
NO. OF RESPONSE

INTREPRETATION

From the above plotted graph 11 out of the 20 respondents seen the ads in online
platform it can be in any social medias 1 respondent from news paper 2 from
magazines. 4 respondents haven’t given any response as they said they were not seen
the ads any where.

62
10. What respondents like in that Ad?

LIKE THING IN Ad RESPONSES

Ad location 8
Actor in that Ad 3
Headline of the Ad 5
No response 4

ANALYSIS :

20

18

16

14
NO. OF RESPONSE

12

10
8
8

6 5
4
4 3

0
Ad location Actor in that AD Headline of the Ad No response
LIKE THING

INTREPRETATION

As mentioned above there was no response from 4 respondents for this question
because they haven’t seen the Ad any where else.

63
11.Logo identification .

IDENTIFY RESPONSES

YES 16

NO 4

ANALYSIS :

IDENTIFICATION OF LOGO
Yes No

20%

80%

INTREPRETATION

Among the 20 respondents only 80% of them identify the AirAsia airline logo i,e 16
members rest 20% doesn’t identify as per my though its because they haven’t seen the
Ad ,they can’t identify the logo if they had seen every Ad uses its logo in it .

64
12.More familiar airline in India

AIRLINES RESPONSES
INDIGO 14
SPICEJET 0
GOFIRST 0
AIRASIA 6

ANALYSIS:

INTREPRETATION

Respondents were asked about the Airline that is more recognized in travel mod in India
14 respondents responded Indigo rest 6 responded AirAsia.

65
14. Emotion about AirAsia Airline

EMOTIONS RESPONSES
BEST 1
VERYGOOD 3
GOOD 1
BETTER 15

ANALYSIS :

1, 5%
3, 15%

1, 5%

15, 75%

Best VeryGood Good Better

INTREPRETATION

Respondents emotion towards AirAsia airline 1 responded best, 3 responded Very Good
, 1 responded good and rest 15 responded better airline.

66
15. Market Leader

AIRLINES RESPONSES

AIRASIA 5

GOFIRST 0

VISTARA 2

INDIGO 13

ANALYSIS:

AIRASIA

GOFIRST
Airlines

VISTARA

INDIGO

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
No. of Response

INTREPRETATION

Respondents were asked to give their perspective of Market Leader, 13 respondents

gave Indigo as the market leader among the given options of airlines 2nd most chosen
option is AirAsia by 5 respondents 2 respondents choose Vistara as market leader.
GoFirst airline got no responses in this question.

67
16. About the offers provided by AirAsia

LIKE OF OFFERS RESPONSES

PROVIDED
YES 15

NO 5

ANALYSIS :

Offers

5, 25%

15, 75%

Yes No

INTREPRETATION

Respondents were asked about offers provided by AirAsia airline that they like the
offers or not 15 responded that they do like the offers and rest 5 responded no.

68
17. Media helpful to promote awareness

TYPE OF MEDIA RESPONSES

Print Media 0

Radio 0

Television 2

Web/Internet 18

ANALYSIS :

INTREPRETATION

As nowadays social media is growing and spreading more facts and news to all over
the world except 2 respondents who choose television over internet or web rest all opted
or suggested web/internet to promote awareness about airlines .
69
18.Attribites associate with AirAsia Airline.

ATTRIBUTES RESPONSES

Affordable 5

Dependable 3

Branding 8

Essential 4

ANALYSIS :

20

18

16

14

12
Responses

10

4 8
5
2 4
3
0 0
AFFORDABLE DEPENDABLE BRANDING ESSENTIAL
Attributes

INTREPRETATION

From the above graph AirAsia associates Branding other than affordable, dependable
& essential.8 respondents choose the airline as a brand others 5 choose as it is affordable
3 choose upon depending and at last 4 choose as it is essential.

70
19.Competitors for AirAsia

AIRLINE RESPONSES

INDIGO 11

VISTARA 4

AIRINDIA 2

SPICEJET 3

ANALYSIS:

Competitiors

SpiceJet
15%
AirIndia
10%
Indigo Indigo
55% Vistara
Vistara
AirIndia
20%
SpiceJet

INTREPRETATION

As per the perspective of the respondents Indigo airline is the main competitor for
AirAsia next comes Vistara thirdly SpiceJet and at last AirIndia . out of 20 respondents
11 choose Indigo , 4 choose Vistara,3 choose SpiceJet and 2 choose AirIndia as AirAsia
airline’s competitor.

71
20. Rating for AirAsia

RATING RESPONSES

1 TO 5 5

6 TO 8 9

8 TO 9 5

10 1

ANALYSIS:

20

18

16

14

12
Responses

10 9

6 5 5

2 1

0
1 to 5 6 to 8 8 to 9 10
Rating out of 10

INTREPRETATION

From the above graph it is concluded that AirAsia airline has 6 to 8 rating in the present
market it has to be improved to get at least 9 out of 10 in the future. 9 responses are
rated 6 to 8 , 5 rated 1 to 5 , 5 rated 8 to 9 and 1 rated 10 .

72
 UNIT 5

FINDINGS SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

73
5.1 Findings

From the study on Brand Awareness of AirAsia airline it is worked out from the
above graphs and charts

• Most people prefer Air travel as it is luxury and also affordable nowadays.
• Most of respondents were in between age group of 20 to 30 years
• People look not only for fare of a ticket but also for services offered by that
airlines in that ticket fare
• Most of them are aware of AirAsia airline as it is already a brand.
• Most people prefer Indigo airline as it provides ticket at less fare
• Indigo airline is the main competitor for AirAsia in India.

74
5.2 Suggestions

• AirAsia airline is slight poor in promotions so I surest them to increase

their promotional activities to attract the new customers.
• As AirAsia is existing from past almost all are aware about its brand,
except few.
• In the promotion and advertisement of the service company should
incorporate once VIP as a brand envoy with goal this add can end up more
progressively successful and eye catching
• Organisation must support important occasion like World-cup, IPL and any
occasion identifies with films awards and available projects.
• Company ought to promote great and heart felt trademarks or slogans.

75
5.3 Conclusion

In this chapter the conclusion of the research is presented including the answer to
the research question and suggestions for the case company, as well as, for further
researching of this topic. The purpose of this study was to analyze the importance
of brand image and brand awareness from the perspective of airline companies.

The aim was to determine what kind of image consumers have and how aware
they are of airline companies. Specifically, the goal was to find out the brand
image and brand awareness of the case company AirAsia ; whether the airline
name is known in the Indian market. The approach of this thesis has been both
exploratory and descriptive, as explained accurately in the methodology chapter.
The perspective of this study has mainly been quantitative in a form of a Simple
random Sampling. In order to answer to the research question (How do consumers
perceive airline companies?) we can observe that the airlines that were the most-
known in this study were big airline companies. Due to this finding we can state
that consumers have a good perception of generally known, big airline companies
that possess high publicity. We cannot find out the broader perception that
consumers have of the brand image of other airlines used in this study since the
study was a case study about AirAsia.

Thus, the answer to the research question is that consumers have a good
perception of generally known, big airline companies that possess high publicity
which depends mainly on their level of awareness, of a certain airline company.
In conclusion, we can say that consumers may tend to perceive those airline
companies of which they are aware of more positively than those of which they
are not aware of. We also assume that in case of purchase, the consumers prefer
to purchase brands that they are able to recognize.

Aaker (1991) supports this notion since he argues that purchase decision of
buyers does not happen often without brand recognition. This is why it is

76
important for airlines to find out whether consumers are aware of them what kind
of image consumers have about them.

Conclusion concerning the case company AirAsia

According to the research of this study, consumers in the Indian market are
somewhat aware of the airline company AirAsia. In addition, the consumers who
replied to be aware of AirAsia have a relatively positive image of the airline
company.

77
5.4 Bibliography

• https://www.airfinancejournal.com
• https://www.researchgate.net
• https://www.airasia.co.in
• https://www.google.com/search?q=airasia+company+profile8
• https://www.mybestwriter.com
• https://www.academia.edu/32504908
• https://brandconsultantasia.com/tag/air-asia/
• https://www.scribd.com/document/74874254/Brand-Awareness
• https://www.startquestion.com/survey-examples/608952/brand-
awareness-survey

78
 ANNEXURE

QUESTIONNAIRE
(A Study of Brand Awareness of Air Asia airline)
Name: Location:
Age:
Above 15-Below20 Gender: Male Marital Status: Married
Above 20-Below 30 Female Unmarried
Above 30-Below 40
Above 40-Below 50 Occupational Status:

Above 50<

1. Do you prefer Air travel?

Yes
No
2. When you think of Travelling Via Air which of the one following airline comes first to
your mind as your top choice?
Indigo SpiceJet
Vistara AirAsia

3. Have you heard about AirAsia airline before?

Yes
No
4. If yes, where did you first hear about AirAsia from?
by friends
by family
by seeing Ads
5. How many times do you travelled by air?
1 to 2
3 to 4

5 or above

6. Which are those airlines?

AirAsia Vistara Indigo Others

79
7. What service or features of an airline that can make you feel that airline is a brand?
Fare of a Ticket offers by that airline
Relationship with Customers CSR activities
8. Have you seen the advertisement of AirAsia?

Yes
No
9. Where have you seen the advertisements of AirAsia?
Online Others
Magazines
Newspapers
10. What stood out the most from the ads you have seen? Ad
location
Actor in that ad
Headline of the Ad
11. Can you Identify the AirAsia logo and that is an airline?
Yes
No
12. Which airline is more recognized in this Air Travel mode in India?
Air Asia
GoFirst
SpiceJet
Indigo
13. Have you travelled in AirAsia airline?
Yes
No
14. Which of the following emotions do you feel when you think about AirAsia airline?
Best
Verygood
Good
Better

80
15. Of all these brands, which do you feel is the market leader?
Indigo
Vistara
GoFirst

AirAsia
16. Did you like the offers provided by AirAsia?
Yes
No
17. Which media is more effective to generate Brand Awareness?
Press (Newspapers, Magazines, Classifieds)
Radio
Television
Web/Internet
18.Which of the following attributes do you associate with AirAsia ?
Affordable
Dependable
Branding
Essential
19. Whom do you think the competitors are from the following for AirAsia?
Indigo
Vistara
AirIndia
SpiceJet
20. Rate AirAsia out of 10.
1-5
6-8
8-9
10

81