{"id":65239,"date":"2017-10-09T10:02:36","date_gmt":"2017-10-09T08:02:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/?p=65239"},"modified":"2017-10-10T15:32:49","modified_gmt":"2017-10-10T13:32:49","slug":"winning-back-european-companies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/winning-back-european-companies","title":{"rendered":"The winning spirit of the major airlines"},"content":{"rendered":"

It's 2010 and British Airways has noticed that its image as an innovative player, which had largely characterised it in the 90s, is beginning to fade. The airline felt that it needed a serious marketing overhaul, and that year it revived the slogan that had long accompanied its image: \"To Fly. To Serve\". This tarnished aura<\/strong> had more to do with the dual competition of the low-cost air transport<\/a> on its short-haul routes and premium foreign airlines, particularly from the Middle East<\/a> and Asia on intercontinental routes than to possible weaknesses in a company considered to be the embodiment of British excellence in air transport.<\/p>\n

\"British<\/a>
The Union Flag, a symbol that British Airways plays on to highlight its identity.<\/p>\n

<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So we've got a marketing battle on our hands! And it paid off. British Airways, official sponsor of the London 2012 Olympic Games, has at the same time become a benchmark once again, relying on three concepts to win back its public: the tradition of excellent travel unrivalled in the United Kingdom, a well-designed and personalised service and So British\" style<\/strong>. The British Airways crest has been used in everything from tableware and uniforms to airport lounges.<\/p>\n

British Airways' move is symptomatic of the challenges facing Europe's incumbent carriers in an extremely complex economic environment. Who are they? By \"incumbents\", we mean the major national airlines, symbols of an entire country<\/strong> like Air France, SAS, Lufthansa or Iberia. And therein lies the challenge of today's strategies. In 2017, identity enhancement has become the best way of seducing passengers. Passengers who are often lost as the differences between traditional scheduled airlines and low-cost carriers become increasingly blurred.<\/p>\n

It is often said that the differences between airlines are now merely cosmetic. This is probably true, since the essence of the airline product is still basically the same: transporting a passenger from point A to point B. Hence the idea of striking a chord, particularly in Europe where travellers are very attached to their national carrier.<\/p>\n

We all remember the shock caused by the disappearance of Swissair in the local psyche and the swift action taken by the Swiss Confederation to recreate a Swiss carrier. So it's hardly surprising that, since 2015, Air France's advertising campaign has been playing up the elegance and French glamour<\/strong>Finnair's new Airbus A350s have been designed in the Scandinavian style, associating the Ch\u00e2teau de Versailles, fashion and gastronomy with its aircraft. At Finnair, it's the cool, Scandinavian feel that has influenced the style of the new Airbus A350s, with leading local designers working on the product and the overall ambience, such as Marimekko, which has created tableware, pillows and blankets, while the cabin lighting evokes the northern lights.<\/p>\n

\"Finnair\"<\/a>
Reflecting your country. Finnair is partnering with a leading name in Scandinavian design, Marimekko, which has designed the tableware as well as the pillows and blankets offered to passengers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

End of the golden age<\/h2>\n

The other strength of the 'historic' airlines lies in their network. For decades, Air France, Lufthansa, British Airways, Alitalia, Iberia, as well as Austrian, Swiss, SAS and TAP Portugal, have each cultivated their own specific characteristics through promoting their niche markets<\/strong>Austrian, for example, championed routes to Central and Eastern Europe, while British Airways chose North America and English-speaking Africa as its preferred destinations. Austrian, for example, championed routes to Central and Eastern Europe, while British Airways chose North America and English-speaking Africa as its preferred destinations. For their part, TAP Portugal and Iberia cultivated their relationships, the former with the Portuguese-speaking world, particularly Brazil, and the latter with Spanish-speaking America. Finally, Air France was vying with Sabena, then Brussels Airlines, for the position of leading European airline to the vastness of Africa.<\/p>\n

\"iberia-Business\"<\/a>
Iberia's historical tropism has naturally led it to focus on services to Latin America.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This positioning still works today in the choice of business travellers, particularly on long-haul routes. At the annual conference of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Fernando Pinto, CEO of TAP Portugal, pointed out that \"Our base in Lisbon has helped us in our development strategy. Our location in Western Europe means we can serve new markets in Brazil and the United States with a low-capacity aircraft like the long-range Airbus A321neo.<\/em>\"<\/p>\n

But what about the rest? European deregulation has buried the golden age of national operators<\/strong> in Europe, the very ones who controlled seat capacity, frequencies and prices. And it was low-cost air travel that first shook up this comfortable world by making price the reference paradigm for many passengers. From a marginal position in the mid-1980s - with a few routes mainly between the UK and Ireland - low-cost air travel has grown steadily and today accounts for more than 32 % of air travel across the continent, compared with 13 % in 2007. Some experts even predict that by 2025, more than 50 % of intra-European routes will be operated by low-cost carriers!<\/p>\n

\"austrian\"<\/a>
Competition has restricted the profitability of airlines to small national markets. Taken over by Lufthansa in 2009, Austrian has become the key carrier in Central Europe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After low-cost airlines, it was the Gulf carriers that began destabilising European air transport a little more at the end of the 1990s. The excellence of their services<\/strong>As a result, the major European hubs - Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London and Paris - have seen their share of the market to destinations in the Americas, Asia and Africa eroded in favour of the new airports. As a result, the major European hubs - Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London and Paris - have seen their market share to the Americas, Asia and Africa eroded in favour of the Gulf airports. According to an OAG publication analysing airline capacity and frequencies, Gulf carriers increased their capacity each year by an average of 4 % between 2011 and 2015. The Association of European Airports also notes that between 2007 and 2017, the market share of Middle Eastern airports, including Istanbul on connecting routes from Europe, rose from 2.1 % to 10 %.<\/p>\n

The competition is therefore total for Europe's traditional carriers, with low-cost airlines being the most formidable of competitors, going so far as to call into question the very existence of the Old Continent's historic airlines. Many have lost their lives in the process.<\/p>\n

\"air-france-2\"<\/a>
How do you stand up to competition from low-cost carriers and Gulf carriers? The incumbents have found the answer with multi-brand strategies like Air France-KLM. In addition to their two national flagships, the group has added the low-cost carrier Transavia and Joon, a hybrid airline \u00a9 Air France<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While Sabena and Swissair have been resurrected under new identities, others have not been so lucky. In the space of two decades, Greece's Olympic Airways, Hungary's Malev, Britain's Air Atlanta Europe, Air UK and British Midland, and more recently Cyprus Airways and Estonian Air have all disappeared. And then some, the threat of extinction<\/strong> The catastrophic situation in which Alitalia finds itself is a textbook case (see below).<\/p>\n