Great People to Fly With

Topic:

Submitted To: Mr. Rashid Saeed

Submitted By: MUBESHRAH TAHSEEN

MB-09-10

MBA (Morning) 2nd Semester

(2009-12)

Tile of Course: MARKETING MANAGEMENT

BAHAUDDIN ZAKARIYA
UNIVERSITY MULTAN
BAHADUR SUB
CAMPUS, LAYYAH

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INTRODUCTION
Pakistan International Airlines (also referred to as PIA), is the national flag carrier of
Pakistan and the national airline operating passenger and cargo services around the world. Its
main hubs are Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, the Allama Iqbal International Airport,
Lahore and the Islamabad International Airport, Islamabad/Rawalpindi.

It also serves regional airports, including Peshawar International Airport, Peshawar,

Faisalabad International Airport, Faisalabad and Multan International Airport, Multan that
connect to the main hubs and have flights to the Middle East.

Pakistan International Airlines PIA can trace its beginnings to the days when Pakistan still
was not a nation. In 1946, Muhammed Ali Jinnah, also known as Quaid-e-Azam, realized the
need for an airline network for the forming country. He called upon the help of an
experienced industrialist Mirza Ahmad Ispahani. Orient Airways, registered in Calcutta, was
formed on October 23 1946, In February 1947, three DC-3 airplanes were bought from a
company in Texas, and in May of that year, the airline was granted a license to fly. Services
were started in June from Calcutta to Akyab and Rangoon. This was the first post war airline
flight by a South Asian registered airline company.

Two months after this service began, Pakistan as a nation was formed. Orient Airways began
relief flights to the new nation, and soon after, it moved operations to Karachi, where it began
the important route from Karachi to Dhaka. In addition, their initial domestic route in
Pakistan was established, from Karachi to Lahore to Peshawar, and from Karachi to Quetta to
Lahore.

The government of Pakistan, realizing the operation was failing economically, asked the
airline to merge into a new national airline that the government was planning. On March 11
of 1955, Orient Airways merged with the Government's proposed airline, becoming Pakistan
International Airlines Corporation. During the same year the airline opened its first
international service, under the PIA name, from Karachi to London Heathrow Airport in
London, United Kingdom, via Cairo International Airport in Cairo, Egypt and Leonardo Da
Vinci International Airport in Fiumicino, Italy using Lockheed Constellations. The DC-3s
continued operating the domestic services in Pakistan.

Logo:

Slogan: Great People to Fly With

Call sign: Pakistan

Official website: http://www.piac.com.pk/

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Main bases and hubs:

Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar.

Domestic Route Network:

Bahawalpur, Chitral, Dalbandin, Dera Ghazi Khan, Dera Ismail Khan, Faisalabad, Gilgit,
Gwadar, Hyderabad, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Moenjodaro, Multan, Nawabshah, Panjgur,
Peshawar, Quetta, Rahim Yar Khan, Sialkot, Skardu, Sukkur and Turbat.

International Route Network:

An Asian and Pacific Rim element to destinations including Bangkok, Beijing, Delhi,
Dhaka, Hong Kong, Kabul, Kathmandu, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai and Tokyo; a European
element to destinations such as Amsterdam, Barcelona, Birmingham, Copenhagen, Glasgow,
Istanbul, Leeds-Bradford, London, Manchester, Moscow, Oslo and Paris; a Middle Eastern
element to destinations such as Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Bahrain, Dammam, Doha, Dubai, Jeddah,
Kuwait, Muscat, Riyadh and Sharjah; and a North American element with destinations such
as New York and Toronto.

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SWOT analysis
SWOT analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the strengths, weakness,
opportunities and threats involved in a project or business venture. It involves the specifying
the objectives of business ventures or projects and identifying the internal and external
factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieving that objective. This technique is
credited to Albert Humphrey who led a convention at Stanford University in the 1960s and
1670s using data from Fortune 500 companies.

 Strengths: attributes of the person or company that is helpful to achieving the

objective(s).
 Weaknesses: attributes of the person or company that is harmful to achieving the
objective(s).
 Opportunities: external conditions that is helpful to achieving the objective(s).
 Threats: external conditions which could do damage to the objective(s).

1. SWOT Analysis-Internal Factor

 STRENGTHS
Strengths are found in the internal environment of the organization. They are the
backbone of an organization. Strengths of an organization can over come any kind of
weaknesses that the organization is facing. PIA has a number of strengths due to which it is
still one of the leading airline in Pakistan. These are as following:

1) PIA has status of being Flag Carrier of Pakistan.

2) Highest Market Share at domestic network.

3) Multilingual Staff on Board.

4) Booking Offices in all major cities both at domestic and International.

5) PIA has well established brand as it’s oldest airline in Pakistan.

6) Subsidized fares.

7) Halal meat available at all flights.

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8) Electronic ticketing by web and through SMS.

9) Highly Professional Staff.

10) Having Government’s protection.

 WEAKNESSES
Weaknesses are also found in the internal environment of the organization.
Weaknesses if more in quantity can break down an organization easily. They can over
come the strengths as well. PIA also faces a number of weaknesses which are as
following:

1) Old aging fleet of PIA causing higher operating cost.

2) Huge burden of Employees which cause financial burden.

3) Inadequate space on the aircraft.

4) Charging of higher fare as compared to competitors.

5) Lack of marketing activities as compared to competitors.

6) Poor quality of food/service on board especially in domestic flights.

2. SWOT Analysis-External Factor

 OPPORTUNITIES
Opportunities exist in the external environment. They need to be recognized and used
according to the business being run. An opportunity recognized and utilized at the right time
will be the strength of tomorrow. Such kind of opportunities also exists for PIA in its external
environment. Some of them are as following:

1) PIA has huge potential market in Middle East if PIA upgrades its fleet.

2) PIA has largest domestic network and by proper route planning PIA can generate
huge amount of Revenue with higher profit.

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3) PTDC provides favorable market for domestic as well as international sectors for
the airline.

4) PIA can generate more revenue by attracting customers through Web and Mobile
Reservations system.

 THREATS
Every organization faces external threats which could do damage to the business's
performance. These threats can damage the business and even could be the reason of
bankruptcy No doubt; PIAC is well established and seasoned organization. Yet there are
certain threats being posed by the external environment. Some of them are as under:

1) Negative rising perception about the country, regarding terrorism.

2) Political instability and law and order situation.

3) Rising fuel prices in the world.

4) Over staffing at all levels.

5) Frequently rising Airlines fare.

6) Fast growing domestic and international competitors.

7) Effective promotion strategies adopted by other competitors like Emirates and

Shaheen anr Airblue.

Conclusion of Using SWOT Analysis:

From the above SWOT analysis I came with certain Conclusion about PIA. No doubt
PIA has good market for further growth and it has many advantages over many others
airlines. But PIA should upgrade it’s old aging fleet as it is causing the PIA major financial
loss because fuel prices has risen in the international market and PIA has still old fleet, which
causes higher operating cost. Another burden on PIA is it has the highest number of
employees as compared to other airlines, as number of persons per aircraft is highest. PIA
should adopt a good marketing plan so that it will generate higher profit and business classes’
seats should be promoted in the market and passengers should be attracted toward that
segment too. Merit based promotion should be emphasized. PIA should adopt competitive
strategies both at domestic network and on certain international routes.