INTRODUCTION

Kingfisher Airline is a private airline based in Bangalore, India. The airline is owned by Vijay Mallya of United Beverages Group. Kingfisher Airlines started its operations on May 9, 2005 with a fleet of 4 Airbus A320 aircrafts. The airline currently operates on domestic routes. The destinations covered by Kingfisher Airlines are Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Goa, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Cochin, Guwahati, Kolkata, Pune, Agartala, Dibrugarh, Mangalore and Jaipur. In a short span of time Kingfisher Airline has carved a niche for itself. The airline offers several unique services to its customers. These include: personal valet at the airport to assist in baggage handling and boarding, accompanied with refreshments and music at the airport, audio and video on-demand, with extra-wide personalized screens in the aircraft and three-course gourmet cuisine. Kingfisher is one of only 6 airlines in the world to have a 5 star rating from Skytrax, along with Asian Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways. In a short span of time Kingfisher Airline has carved a niche for itself. The airline offers several unique services to its customers. These include

personal valet at the airport to assist in baggage handling and boarding, exclusive lounges with private space, accompanied with refreshments and music at the airport, audio and video on-demand, with extra-wide personalized screens in the aircraft, sleeperette seats with extendable footrests, and three-course gourmet cuisine.

History
Kingfisher Airlines is a subsidiary of the UB Group, one of the largest beverage companies in the world. The branding of the airline is linked to that of Kingfisher Beer, Indias largest brewery. The airline, which is headed by the charismatic Dr Vijay Mallya, took to the skies in May 2005, and attracted attention for its high quality product with personal inflight entertainment in every seat; custom interior designs for each aircraft; valet assistance at airports and complimentary hot food and beverages. The airline initially operated a single class service but subsequently introduced a highly acclaimed First Class, allowing it to compete with Jet Airways for the high yield corporate market. In addition to its A320 family aircraft used on domestic routes, Kingfisher Airlines also operates ATR-72 turboprops on regional sectors.

Under current Indian regulations, which require airlines to operate 5 years domestic service before being granted international rights, Kingfisher will not be permitted to operate overseas until 2010. However, the airline has very clear international ambitions, with an order book for 45 wide body aircraft, including A330s, A340s, A350s and A380s. In just over two years, Kingfisher Airlines has achieved a market share of 10% and has one of the most aggressive expansion plans of all Indian carriers during 2007. In Jun-07, it dramatically increased its influence in the market with the acquisition of a 26% shareholding in Indias largest LCC, Air Deccan, for approximately USD130 million, and an open offer for a further 20%. Through schedule coordination and joint operations in ground handling, training, and maintenance, the carriers are projecting annual cost savings of over USD70 million. There will also be greater coordination between the two brands, with Air Deccan to adopt the Kingfisher image in its logo and to switch to a red, rather than a blue colour scheme. The combined Kingfisher/Deccan group has a market share of just over 30% and a product range spanning from the price-sensitive, first-time flyer, to the

high yield business traveler, making it one of the key pillars of the airline industry. The airline started its operation on 9th May 2005, following the lease of 4 Airbus A320 aircraft. As of July 2007, Kingfisher operates only on domestic routes; however it has announced plans to start flights to the USA with Airbus A380 aircraft. The airline is owned by the United Beverages Group under the leadership of Vijay Mallya (which also owns the popular Indian beer of the same name). The airline promises to suit the needs of air travelers and to provide reasonable air fares. Kingfisher Airlines' main "luxury" component is its In-Flight Entertainment System, a first among Indian airlines. The airliners in-flight Mobile Phone and Internet Services will be provided by On-air starting 2008 for long haul flights.

Key Players in Indian Aviation Industry

Air India i s t h e n a t i o n al fl ag c ar r i e r ai r l i n e o f I n d i a w i t h a n e t w o r k o f passenger and cargo services worldwide. It is the merger of the erstwhile s t a t e - o w n e d ai r l i n e s i n t h e c o u n t r y, A i r In d i a a n d I n d i an A i r l i n e s n o w known as National Aviation Corporation of India Ltd (NACIL). Air India has44 worldwide destinations. The airline has been profitable in most

years since its inception, but is facing an acute resource crunch these days. The Airline has approached the Govt for a bail-out package.

Other Airlines on Domestic Routes

a) Spice Jet i s a l o w - c o s t airline. Their marketing theme "offering low 'everyday spicey fares' and great guest services to priceconscioust r a v e l l e r s " T h e i r a i m i s t o c ompete with the Indian Railways passengers travelling in AC coaches. b) Air Deccan (Kingfisher Red) is an airline based in Bangalore, India. It was India's first low-cost carrier. Air Deccan grew rapidly since it first started air operations in 2003, and despite its almost disastrous maiden inaugural flight (which caught fire), it continued to grow. The growing Indian economy and the increasing number of middle-class people in India have greatly helped its growth. The Airline changed its brand name to Kingfisher Red after association with the Kingfisher Airline. c) Go Air: The Peoples Airline, a low cost carrier promoted by The W a d i a G r o u p i s a d o m e s t i c b u d g e t airline b a s e d i n Mumbai, India established in June 2004.

Its a relatively small player as compared to other low cost airlines. d) Kingfisher Airlines i s a n airline b a s e d i n Bangalore, India. Services started on9 May 2005, following the lease of 4 AirbusA320 a i r c r a f t . It initially operates only on domestic route s . T h e a i r l i n e promises to suit the needs of air travelers and to provide reasonable air fares. e) Indigo Airlines is a new and a private domestic airline based in India. Indigo placed an order for 100Airbus A320aircraft during the2005 Paris Air Show. The total order was worth US $6 billion; one of the highest by any domestic carrier during the show. The low-fare carrier has started operations from 04 Aug 06. f) Jet Airways a regular airline which offers normal economy and b u s i n e s s c l as s s e at s . Je t A i r wa ys , al o n g w i t h A i r S a h a r a, i s t h e o n l y airline which survived the dismal period of 1990s when many private ai r l i n es i n In d i a w e r e fo r c e d t o c l o s e d o w n . Je t A i r w ays i s an ai r l i n e based in India serving domestic and international routes. The airline operates over 300 flights to 43 destinations across the. Air Sahara has now merged with Jet Airways and changed the brand name to Jetlite.

Market Share The is: market share of the major airlines

King fisher: 26.08% Jet airways: 16.72% Jetlite: 7.39% Air India 17.66% Indigo: 13.75% Spice jet: 11.72% Go Air: 4.29% Paramount: 2.27%

Services 1.Domestic Kingfisher First The domestic Kingfisher First seats have a 48 inch seat pitch and a 125 degree seat recline. There are laptop and mobile phone chargers on every seat. Passengers can avail of the latest international newspapers and magazines. There is also a steam ironing service on board Kingfisher First cabins. Every seat is equipped with a personalized IFE system with AVOD which offers a wide

range of Hollywood and Bollywood movies, English and Hindi TV programs, 16 live TV channels and 10 channels of Kingfisher Radio. Passengers also get BOSE noise cancellation headphones. Kingfisher Class The domestic Kingfisher Class has 32-34 inch seat pitch with footrests. Every seat is equipped with personal IFE systems with AVOD on-board the Airbus A320 family aircraft. As in Kingfisher First, passengers can access the latest movies, English and Hindi TV programmes, live TV and Kingfisher Radio. On-board the ATR 72-500s there are 17 colour LCD dropdown screens mounted along with loudspeakers for audio in the cabin overhead, a head-end unit to handle CDs and DVDs, and a crew control panel. The screens measure 12.7 cm by 9.3 cm, weigh 0.2 kg each and are spaced every two or three seat rows along both sides of the cabin. Kingfisher Red After Kingfisher Airlines acquired Air Deccan, its name was changed to Simplifly Deccan and subsequently to Kingfisher Red. Kingfisher Red is Kingfisher Airline's lowcost class on domestic routes. Passengers are given

complimentary in-flight meals and bottled water. A special edition of Cini Blitz magazine is the only reading material provided. Kingfisher Airlines is the first airline in India to extend its King Club frequent flyer program to its low-cost carrier as well. Passengers can earn King Miles even when they fly Kingfisher Red, which they can redeem for free tickets to travel on Kingfisher Airlines or partner airlines. 2. International Kingfisher First The international Kingfisher First has full flat-bed seats with a 180 degree recline, with a seat pitch of 78 inches, and a seat width of 20-24.54 inches.[16] Passengers are given Merino wool blankets, a Salvatore Ferragamo toiletry kit, a pyjama to change into, five-course meals and alcoholic beverages. Also available are in-seat massagers, chargers and USB connectors. Every Kingfisher First seat has a 17 inch widescreen personal television with AVOD touch screen controls and offers 357 hours of programming content spread over 36 channels, including Hollywood and Bollywood movies along with 16 channels of live TV, so passengers can

watch their favorite TV programs live. There is also a collection of interactive games, a jukebox with customizable playlists and Kingfisher Radio. Passengers are given BOSE noise cancellation headphones. The service on board the Kingfisher First cabins includes a social area comprising a full-fledged bar staffed with a bartender, a break-out seating area just nearby fitted with two couches and bar stools, a full-fledged chef on board the aircraft and any-time dining. A turn-down service includes the conversion of the seat into a fully-flat bed and an air-hostess making the bed when the passenger is ready to sleep. Both Kingfisher First and Kingfisher classes feature mood lighting on the Airbus A330-200 with light schemes corresponding to the time of day and flight position. Kingfisher Class The international Kingfisher Class seats offer a seat pitch of 34 inches, a seat width of 18 inches and a seat recline of 25 degrees (6 inches). Passengers get full length modacrylic blankets, full size pillows and business class meals. There are in-seat chargers and USB connectors.

Each Kingfisher Class seat has a 10.6 inch widescreen personal television with AVOD touch screen controls. The IFE is similar to that of the international Kingfisher First class. 3.In-flight entertainment Kingfisher's IFE system is the Thales Top Series

i3000/i4000 on-board the Airbus A320 family aircraft, and Thales Top Series i5000 on-board the Airbus A330 family aircraft provided by the France-based Thales Group. 4. Kingfisher Lounge Kingfisher Lounges are offered to Kingfisher First

passengers, along with King Club Silver and King Club Gold members. Lounges are located in: Bangalore Chennai Delhi Hyderabad Mumbai

4. King Club The Frequent-flyer program of Kingfisher Airlines is called the King Club in which members earn King Miles every time they fly with Kingfisher or its partner airlines, hotels, car rental, finance and lifestyle businesses. There are four levels in the scheme: Red, Silver, Gold and Platinum levels. Members can redeem points for over a number of schemes. Platinum, Gold and Silver members enjoy access to the Kingfisher Lounge, priority check-in, excess baggage allowance, bonus miles, and 3 Kingfisher First upgrade vouchers for Gold membership. Platinum members get 5 upgrade vouchers. STRATEGIES OF KINGFISHER AIRLINES The business and services mentioned above reflect three types of major strategies employed by the organization at various levels. Namely they are:

CORPORATE LEVEL STRATEGY At Corporate level KINGFISHER takes special care of the thrust areas of the organization such as acquisition, earnings. BUSINESS LEVEL STRATEGY At Business Level the KINGFISHER concentrates on Strategic Business Unit of the group which includes air lines, research, training, fertilizers, engineering, and infrastructure management. FUNCTIONAL LEVEL STRATEGY At Functional Level special attention is given to different departments Secretarial. which involves Technical, Marketing, Finance, H.R., Research, Corporate affairs, Legal & proper management of resource and mobilization, effective use of resources, mergers & investment

KEY STEPS TOWARDS STRATEGIC PLANNING

VISION

MISSION OBJECTIVES GOALS VALUES STRATEGIES PROGRAMMES

Our Vision The Kingfisher Airlines family will consistently deliver a safe, value-based and enjoyable travel experience to all our guests. OUR MISSION "Kingfisher Airlines will have 'Fly the Good Times' approach and this will reflect in the experience we will offer to passengers." Our Values

Safety This is our overriding value. In our line of business, there is no compromise. Service We are all in the hospitality business; we must always seek to serve our guests and gain their trust, goodwill and loyalty. Happiness We seek to build an organization with people who choose to be happy, and will Endeavour to influence our guests and co-workers to be happy too. Teamwork We will succeed or fail as a team. Each one of us must respect our colleagues regardless of their rank, and we must work together to ensure our mutual success. Accountability Each one of us will be held accountable for the successful execution of our duties, commitments and obligations, and we will strive to lead by example.

KEY STEPS TOWARDS BUSINESS STRATEGIES A scan of the internal and external environments forms an important part of the strategic planning process. Environmental factors internally affecting the firm can be classified as Strengths or Weaknesses and those externally affecting to the firm can be classified as Opportunities and Threats. This is referred to as SWOT Analysis. STRENGHTS Large Fleets Experienced Staff Dedicated Departure terminal at Delhi Connectivity with the reservation centers and agents are good Adequate infrastructure and large network People are loyal towards the national carrier Kingfisher Airlines has a modern and complete in house training facility

WEAKNESSES High overheads and huge workforce resulting in lower output

 Preconceived image of PSUs Attitude of the staff Ageing workforce ( cabin crew ) Kingfisher Airlines has its socio economic responsibility of catering to the inaccessibility areas at subsidized rate affecting operational expenses Being a dedicated terminal all services rendered at the airport is presumed by passengers to be done by Kingfisher Airlines Inaccessibility of the staff over phone. MARKETING STRATEGIES Kingfisher Airlines is the first carrier in the country to offer live in-flight entertainment. Kingfisher Airlines Ltd and Dish TV have joined hands to provide live in-flight entertainment on Kingfisher aircraft. The service would enable airlines customers to book air travel ticketa f t e r s e c u r i n g n g p a y a p p l i c a t i o n o n t h e i r G P R S - e n a b l e d m o b i l e handsets.On the promotional front, Kingfisher has signed up the latest diva of Bollywood Ms. Deepika Padukone as the Brand Ambassador. Product: Premium class seats (a) Sleeperette seats with extendable footrests. 48" seat pitch and a125 recline with fully-adjustable headrests.

(b) Laptop and mobile phone chargers available in each seat. (c) Comfortable pillows and snug blankets. Price: Initially kingfisher did not differentiate between business class and economy class. But eventually they decreased the prices of business class and called those seats as premium seats. Fares were very average as it had to target middle class as well as premium class people. The introduction of Kingfisher Red services has given the airline a Low - Cost option to compete with other No -fril ls airlines. It is important to note that the Kingfisher Red serves complementary meals on board, thereby increasing the perception of More Value for Money for the passengers. Promotion: Various Promotional strategies h a v e b e e n a d o p t e d Kingfisher airlines like the following: (a) (b) The 'Power Flyer ' a consumer incentive offer targeted at the corporate traveler Passengers are offered in flight entertainme n t o p t i o n s a n d contests like Kingfisher Flying

Face of the Month ' and attractive discounts of branded merchandise. (c) O ffe r i n - fl i g h t s i l e n t au c t i o n s f o r l i fe s t yl e p r o d u c t s a n d i n - f l i g h t sales of dry packaged food and beverages. (d) (e) The marketing department showcased the airlines as The new flying experience. Kingfisher Airlines has announced special fares for all personnel serving in the Indian Armed Forces, the Uni o n G o v e r n m e n t , S t a t e governments, and employees of all public sector units in the country. The immediate families of these personnel are also eligible for these concessions. (f) The company has just launched Kingfisher First, which is a printcampaign to promote its first class service. It is a personalizedcampaign, w hich has Vijay Mallya, signing off by say i n g , " I h a v e created a product which is better than what I would have created for myself."

BCG MATRIX The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Matrix is a simple tool to assess a companys position in terms of its product range. It helps a company think About its products and services and make decisions about which it should keep which it should let go and which it should invest in further. In 1970s, BCG experience curve work led to inside that has a significant impact on business thinking i.e. of rapid growth in market share was the important as the curve suggested then the usual approach resource allocation in which each business unit funded in on growth seems to be recipe for it failure. Business with low market share but high potential would never generate enough cash to win the race down the experience curve. Those with the high market share but few changes of growth would generate far more cash than those would use productivity. The BCG matrix can be diagrammatically represented as follow

Question Marks Question marks are products that grow rapidly and as a result consume large amounts of cash, but because they have low market shares they dont generate much cash. The result is large net cash consumption. A question mark has the potential to gain market share and become a star, and eventually a cash cow when the market growth slows. If it doesnt become a market leader it will become a dog when market growth declines. Question marks need to be analyzed carefully to determine if they are worth the investment required to grow market share. Dogs Dogs have a low market share and a low growth rate and neither generates nor consumes a large amount of cash. However, dogs are cash traps because of the money tied up in a business that has little potential. Such businesses are candidates for divestiture. Stars Stars generate large sums of cash because of their strong relative market share, but also consume large amounts of cash because of their high growth rate. So the cash being spent and brought in approximately nets out. If a star

can maintain its large market share it will become a cash cow when the market growth rate declines. Cash Cows As leaders in a mature market, cash cows exhibit a return on assets that is greater than the market growth rate so they generate more cash than they consume. These units should be milked extracting the profits and investing as little as possible. They provide the cash required to turn question marks into market leaders. GE GROWTH MATRIX The GE Matrix is a model to perform business portfolio analysis on the Strategic Business Units of a corporation. The General Electronics of USA with the support of consulting firm Mckinsey and Co. developed a more complicated matrix as a technique of portfolio analysis.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF KINGFISHER AIRLINES Kingfisher Airlines is led by a dynamic,

extremely talented and experienced team:

Board of Directors Dr. Vijay Mallya, Chairman & CEO Mr. Subhash Gupte, ViceChairman, The UB Group Mr. Piyush Mankad Mr. A.K. Ravi Nedungadi Diwan Arun Nanda Mr. V.K. Rekhi Dr. Naresh Trehan Mr. Rup Pillai

STRATEGIES FOR KINGFISHER AIRLINES

Market Strategy Market Strategy

Penetration

Product Development

Development

Diversification

Market Penetration Strategy (1st Quarter)

Encouraging existing Customer to buy more Showing benefits for using more (associating freebies/extra service/membership with primary offering).

Try to look for foreign entrant's weakness (Virgin Atlantic is lacking in Indian values & tastes).

Product Development (2nd Quarter)

Seek additional distribution channels (More tie ups & collaboration: Try seeking collaboration with international carriers, bilateral discussions over seats and code-sharing between the carriers). New product development.

 Market Development Strategy (3rd Quarter)

Try to find out new customer group (Old-retired persons). Special offering for first time fliers.

Diversification (4th Quarter)

May go for other services like international flights etc. (concentric diversification). May go for arrangement fashion shows (horizontal

diversification).

May go for other things, which can lure the youth.

RECOMMENDATIONS In this extremely competitive environment suggestions are extreme importance. Kingfisher Airlines with rich Human Resource should look forward to such suggestion and reward individual whose suggestion were actually beneficial for the organization Kingfisher Airlines can introduce Late bird / Night bird flights between metros Kingfisher Airlines should schedule more number of flights to and from station like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Collate, Bangalore as these sectors account for high payload Kingfisher Marketing Kingfisher Airlines should undertake customers satisfaction survey Kingfisher Airlines should make provisions to add up more financial benefits for its passenger Flight status should be made available through SMS New approaches should be identified and rewarded so that it serves as example for others Airlines needs to undertake aggressive

Conclusion After doing a study of this project representing on Kingfisher Airlines, I have come to a conclusion that Kingfisher Airlines is one of the largest and most widespread airlines of the country providing its services not only in India as well as outside India also. It has alliance with many other airlines in this sector. Kingfisher Airlines offers world class services to the customer at a nominal rate. The national carrier takes immense pride in having successfully played a pivotal role in making various facets of India popular with the people of the world and acting as the countrys cultural ambassador. The airline uses the services of one of the advanced plans been operated in the world. To sum up I would like to say that Kingfisher Airlines is serving its customer in an appreciated way and going to be in the list of best services providers in coming years.

Bibliography Books & Magazines 1. Kothari, C.R., Research Methodology, Wishwa

Prakashan, Delhi, 2004 2. King of Good Times, Outlook Business, December 20, 2006

Websites 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. www.google.co.in www.flykingfisher.com www.theubgroup.com www.kingfisherair.in www.wikipedia.com