British Airways: Overview

The 4 Ps «Marketing Mix» Of British Airways Content: 1) Introduction: * History of the company * Marketing Mix 2) Applying theory * Product * Place * Price * Promotion 3) Conclusion British Airways was established in 1971. In 31 march 1984 it was including 2 national airline companies (BOAC, BEA) and 2 regional airline companies (Cambrian airways, Northeast airlines). BA which is for British Airlines is one of the members of Oneworld airline alliance with such companies as American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas and Canadian Airlines.
Also it is member of International Airlines Group. Nowadays British Airways is using strategy of Marketing Mix including 4p’s. First of all, what is it Marketing Mix of 4 p’s? “Marketing Mix” is said for different performances which companies have to choose to bring a product or service to market. Marketing Mix 4 p’s: * Product: characteristics and features * Price: pricing strategies * Place: location, distribution channels * Promotion: advertising, promoting to the customers
Going into more deep and applying this theory to such company as British Airways I can say that Product strategy is the main strategy of Marketing Mix (4 P’S). Without Product strategy there is no Place, Price and Promotion. Speaking about BA it is transporting industry its product is not physical and cannot be touched. British Airways product strategy includes flight services, quality of flights, various destinations across Europe and the world, executive class, business class, speed, security, support facilities and years of experience.

Nowadays, the main aircrafts which BA uses to transport people are Airbus A318-100, Airbus A319-100, Airbus A320-200, Airbus A321-200, Airbus A380-800, Boeing 737–400, Boeing 747-400, Boeing 767-300ER, Boeing 777–200, Boeing 777-200ER, Boeing 777-300ER, Boeing 787–8, Boeing 787–9. Most of the airplanes which are 77% use either Rolls-Royce or IAE alliance engines. Another 23% is divided between General Electric and the CFM International consortium. To the year 2012 BA operates over 400 aircraft, carries over 62 million passengers annually, and serves more than 200 destinations.
British Airways is not only Airline Company it also has its own engineering branch to exploit its aircraft fleet, this includes line maintenance at over 70 airports around the world. One more vital option of 4 p’s is Place. The main “place” were customers can consume services of British Airways is situated in Waterside, close to its main airport at London Heathrow Airport. However BA is international company and you can also find it in main airports all over the world. Also there are two important service centers in Glasgow and Cardiff Airports.
Turning to the third option which is Price the organization should set the price relative with the value delivered and perceived by the customer. British Airways has set its services in the way that customers can chose how much they want to pay for this service. Comparing with other Airline Companies BA poses four types of services economy class, premium economy class, business class, premium business class. The difference is in quality of “product which are you consuming” and the price. So price of the tickets are varied from ? 00 to ? 400. Main success of the company depends on its promotion. People in the promotional team of British Airways know their. First slogan “The World’s Favourite Airline” was established in 1989 with the song of “The Flower Duet” by Leo Delibes. After this there were a lot of changes like “Upgrade to British Airways”, “The World’s Favourite Airline”, “The World’s Best Airline”, “We’ll Take More Care Of You”, and “Fly the Flag”. One of the latest tricks was “Christmas gift voucher” which is promotional prices.
This works during the Christmas holidays and offers lowest prices for their customers. For example flying to 14 travel zones from ? 59 return on UK and Europe destinations and from ? 269 return on the rest of the world In the end I would like to say that British Airlines is one of the biggest companies in this area and one of the best companies. For a long time it provides its clients with high level services and security which is the most important things in this business. Meanwhile, price is responsible to the quality. Service is easily available and well promoted.