Kingfisher Airlines: SWOT Analysis
Kingfisher Airlines is owned by a multi millionaire Mr. Vijay Malaya. Organizations core business strategy was to produce drinking bear but entering into the airline industry is a part of their expansion strategy. The organization entered the airline business which was facing stiff competition and have managed to enter it in a novel approach.
Strengths
The brand of kingfisher was experiencing growth day by day and from 6% market share in the first six months the airlines achieved 7. 6% market share in 2006. Kingfisher Airlines was getting recognized and in the first two years the airline company received awards like “Best New Airline of the year 2005” and “Service excellence award for a new airline” in 2006. KFA posses the element of change in its strategy and its owner Vijay Malaya changed the positioning of the brand by targeting the youth and mobile customers. The brand was successfully marketed as a ‘FUNLINER’ (Fernando, 2006). The crew of Kingfisher Airlines is well organized and they are fully equipped technically. The posses the best management team that’s manages the entire staff and devises strategies for them.
Weaknesses
KFA’s share was round about 8% in the Indian market and their biggest flaw was that they keep on changing the strategies. They didn’t stick to single strategy and that’s why results are not viable enough. The company is doing well but they are not presenting good numbers. In the beginning the airline was established as a single class airline but after the changing trends of the business Kingfisher Airlines changed its strategy when they focused on the business class.
Opportunities
Competition is increasing in the country and new markets are opening up for entrants like Kingfisher Airlines. People in India are changing their preferences and because of the low rates people are adopting airlines as their mode of traveling. Domestic customers of India for have increased from 26. 36million to 40. 09million (Fernando, 2006). Promoting fun might be a viable option because it’s an unconventional method in the airline industry. Similarly, targeting film starts, models and sportsmen can also be a viable option for the company. Selling the tickets and relating the entire flight as a fun oriented activity can bring more customers in the short run.
Threats
The biggest threat to the company was the entry of low cost carriers (LCC) in the Indian markets. LCC’s of Spice Jet and Go Air entered the domestic arena. 10000 free tickets were offered by Go Air on a certain route and in order to compete in the market Go Air was opening up subsidiaries in India (Fernando, 2006). Air Sahara although was a small player in the market but has a market share of 11%. Jet Airways acquired Air Sahara and the market share of Jet Airways becomes 45%. They are currently the leaders of the market. It’s one of the biggest threats to KFA because Jet Airways through their low price strategy can penetrate more in the market. Other players in the market were targeting “common man through their airlines”.
Reference
- Fernando, R. (2006). Kingfisher Airlines The ‘Funliner’ Experience. ICFAI.
