Etihad Airways

Etihad Airways is considered as one of the youngest airlines in the world, yet it managed to seize a leading place within the aviation industry. Etihad Airways received the 2008 Marketing Award of the “Airline Strategy Awards”, one of the most recognized awards in the industry, just five years after starting commercial operations, followed by many international awards. This early success can be attributed to the marketing strategy employed by Etihad, which resulted in creating a strong brand associated with a high quality service. Etihad’s marketing strategy focused on creating new innovative services in every touch point with the customers. This report will focus on Etihad’s marketing strategy, which enabled the airlines …show more content…

Their ground services include airport pickup and private chauffer with its fleet of unbranded luxury cars for safety purposes, with the same quality they used to on board, whereas, they are optional for coral class, and free for the diamond and pearl tickets holder. It is important to sustain performance while providing the service in a timely manner, so Etihad focused on these important criteria. It can be noted by ratings the airline received by the Flight stats website on its overall performance since January 1st, 2011 till February 28, 2011, which was 72% for on-time departure and arrival. Etihad can differentiate its products by adding more services and options, such as adding lounges in more destinations, creating programs for un-accompanied minor travelers, and an “at door baggage pick up” service for passengers.

Prices: Etihad uses a penetration pricing strategy, through offering lower prices compared to competitors, in order to gain more market share, at the same time providing services similar or even better than competitors. Many factors helped Etihad in offering lower prices, oil price is one of these factors, knowing that the government of Abu Dhabi owns a big share of Etihad; this gave the opportunity to get a preferential oil price. According to the CEO of Etihad Airways “Our next goal