Current market scenario
•Bangladesh’s domestic and regional international markets are
becoming competitive day by day as the country’s private
airline sector continues to expand rapidly
•There are now three privately owned airlines operating in
Bangladesh with two more preparing to launch operations
•Currently four airlines are operating in Bangladesh:
1.Bimaan Bangladesh
2.United Airways
3.Regent Airways
4.Novoair
•BIMAAN is the largest but is still a relatively small carrier, operating 10
aircraft (all jets) to 19 international and three domestic destinations
•UNITED AIRWAY’S is Bangladesh’s second largest carrier and the oldest
of the active airlines in the private sector, having been established in 2006;
Currently serves seven domestic and six international destinations with an
in-service fleet of nine aircraft (five jets and four turboprops)
•REGENT AIRWAYS and NOVOAIR are the two most recent new entrants
•Regent Airways launched in late 2010 and added international services in
mid-2013; It currently serves three domestic and four international
destinations with a fleet of five aircraft (two jets and three turboprops)
•Novoair launched in early 2013 and currently operates three regional jets
to five domestic destinations. It recently secured approval to
operate overseas routes and aims to launch international services by the
end of 2014
Bangladesh fleet size by operator
•Bimaan Bangladesh, United Airways, Regent Airways and Novoair
are the only carriers in Bangladesh currently operating scheduled
passenger services
Bangladesh international capacity share (% of seats) by carrier
•In the Bangladesh-Asia market , Bimaan competes with leading Asian full service
carriers;
•Bimaan is leading with 26% share
•Malaysia Airlines is the 2nd largest full service carrier in the international
Bangladesh market
Air traffic in Bangladesh
•Chittagong-Dhaka is particularly competitive with 31 weekly flights currently
from Novoair, 26 from United and 24 from Regent
•United primarily uses ATR 72s on the route (with some Dash 8-100 and MD82 frequencies), while Novoair uses 49-seat ERJ-145s and Regent uses 50seat Dash 8-300s
•As it is a business route frequency is critical
•Novoair, Regent and United all have four to five flights on weekdays on an
average with attractive timings in the early morning and evening
•All three carriers have roughly similar frequency and capacity shares on the
route
•Biman has a much smaller share of the frequencies but accounts for nearly
half of the total capacity as it mainly operates 777s on the route.
Dhaka-Chittagong frequency share (% of weekly
flights) by carrier
•Dhaka-Chittagong has become an intensely
competitive route
Challenges
•According to aviation experts, air traffic in Bangladesh has been increasing
steadily on domestic routes in recent years with the growth in business and
domestic tourism
•Lack of proper policy support, hike in aviation fuel prices, wrong selection of
aircraft, shortage of qualified professionals including pilots and technical
manpower, high tax rates and airport charges are learnt to be the main reasons
for many local airlines becoming financially sick
•The participation of too many airlines in a small niche market intensifies the
competition , leading to a price war
•The operation of old aircraft not only involves a high operational and
maintenance cost but also carries possibility of frequent breakdown
Learning
•While Bangladesh’s market has the potential is and growing
sufficiently (at approximately 10% per annum) to support multiple
private carriers, there is a risk some of the expansion could prove
to be overambitious
•There is room in the market for several carriers but only if most
stick to relatively small niches, primarily domestic and the handful
of short international routes where there is high demand
•Five or six airlines is however likely to be too many, especially
given the significant competition from foreign carriers on regional
international routes
•Biman would arguably be better off focusing on the international
market, in particular medium and long-haul routes which are
unlikely to see local competition
Competitor analysis of brands
BIMAAN BANGLADESH
•Biman Bangladesh Airlines was established on 4rth
January 1972 as Bangladesh’s national airline.
•National flag carrier airline of Bangladesh.
•Main hub is at Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka &
it also operates flights from its secondary hubs.
•It has air service agreements with 42 countries &
currently flies to 16 different countries.
•The airline was owned & managed by the government of
Bangladesh until 23rd July 2007, when it was transformed
into the country’s largest public limited company by the
Caretaker Government of Bangladesh.
Advertisements
•Ads are talking about discount offers during festive seasons
Findings
•It is the Bangladesh’s government owned airline
•It is planning to expand in the near term
•They are focusing on the domestic market for the time being
•Bimaan is the largest but is still a relatively small carrier, operating 10 aircraft (all
jets) to nineteen international and three domestic destinations
•Biman for some time has been planning to acquire two 70-seat turboprops which
it intends to use to resume services to more domestic destinations as well as add
frequencies to Chittagong and Sylhet
UNITED AIRWAYS BANGLADESH
•Founded : 28th June, 2005
•Commenced operations: 10th July, 2007
•Hubs: Shahjalal International Airport (Dhaka)
•Secondary Hubs: Shah Amanat International Airport
(Chittagong)
•Fleet size: 11
•Destinations: 15
•Company Slogan: Fly Your Own Airline
UNITED AIRWAYS-INTERNATIONAL SCHEDULE
UNITED AIRWAYS-DOMESTIC SCHEDULE
Advertisements
•All the ads talk about their offers and exclusive services
Findings
•United Airways is Bangladesh’s second largest carrier and the
oldest of the active airlines in the private sector, having been
established in 2006
•Currently serves seven domestic and six international
destinations with an in-service fleet of nine aircraft (five jets and
four turboprops)
•United Airways has the largest domestic network as it also
serves Rajshahi and Saidpur, each with one daily flight
•It has also previously served Barisal and Ishwardi but its current
schedule does not have any service to these domestic
destinations
•United Airways also launched Singapore in late 2013 but has
since dropped the service
•It has also dropped Dhaka-Kolkata but operates ChittagongKolkata, a route not served non-stop by any other carrier
NOVOAIR
•Founded: 2012
•Commenced operations: 9th January 2013
•Fleet size: 3
•Destinations: 5
•Company slogan: The Art of Aviation
•Key people: Faiz Khan(Chairman & CEO)
Mofizur Rahman(Managing Director)
NOVOAIR-DOMESTIC SCHEDULE
Advertisements
•Ads are mostly talking about offers
•Novoair has tried to differentiate its product by
offering an all-jet schedule with leather seats, a
high standard of service and a consistently
reliable operation
Findings
•Novoair launched in early 2013 and currently operates three regional jets to five domestic
destinations
•It recently got approval to operate overseas routes and aims to launch international
services by the end of 2014
•Novoair has also been looking at Kathmandu and Kolkata as possible destinations in its
initial international network
•Service to both destinations will likely be launched within the next few months.
•Novoair is planning to join Biman on the Dhaka-Yangon route
•Being the latest new entrant Novoair has tried to differentiate its product by offering an
all-jet schedule with leather seats, a high standard of service and a consistently reliable
operation
•The market seems to have responded well to the Novoair proposition as the carrier has
reported solid initial traffic figures and recently acquired its third ERJ-145
REGENT AIRWAYS
•Founded: 2010
•Commenced operations: 10th Novembor,2010
•Hubs: Shahjalal International Airport(Dhaka)
•Secondary Hubs: Shah Amanat International Airport(Chittagong)
•Fleet Size: 5
•Destinations : 9
•Campaign Slogan: Every little thing counts
International & Domestic
•Parent company: HG Aviation Ltd
•Headquarters: Siaam Tower,15,dhaka-mymensingh
Highway,Sector 3,Uttara ,Dhaka1230
CE0: Dr. Abdul Momen
Managing director: Mashruf Habib
COO: Ashish Rai Choudhury
Website: www.flyregent.com
Seating configuration
•The Bombardier Dash-8-Q300’s accomodates 50
passengers in an all economy layout.
•The seating configuration is in a 2-2 layout, with all seats
having a pitch of 32”
•The Boing 737-700’s seats,126 passengers, with 12
business class and 14 economy class seats.
•Business class is set out in 3-3 configuration with 33” seat
pitch.
Flight routes
International flight:
•Dhaka to Kualalumpur (Return)
•Dhaka to Bangkok (Return)
•Dhaka to Singapore (Return)
•Dhaka to Kolkata (Return)
•Chitagong to (Kolkata Return)
•Dhaka to Bangkok via Chittagong (Return)
Domestic flight:
•Dhaka to Chittagong (Return)
•Dhaka to Cox’s Bazaar (Return)
•All the ads are about their offers and discounts on tickets as well as their exclusive service
Advertisements
•Ads talking about flight schedule and their exclusive service
Findings
• Regent launched in late 2010 and added international services in mid-2013
•It currently serves three domestic and four international destinations with a fleet of five
aircraft (two jets and three turboprops)
•Regent also previously served Sylhet but its current schedule does not include any flights
to Sylhet or Jessore, another secondary city in Bangladesh it had been serving until
relatively recently
•Regent's only other current domestic route is Dhaka-Cox’s Bazar, which it serves with four
weekly flights
•Regent Airways became the second Bangladeshi private carrier in the international
market in mid-2013 when it took delivery of a 737-700 in two-class configuration and
launched services to Kulala Lumpur
•Regent has since added services to Singapore, Kolkata and Bangkok and now operates
two 737-700s
Digital Media
SEO
This slide has the SEO ranking, for identified keywords, of all the competitors in the study
•In most of the cases top search result is always Bimaan Bangladesh
PPC
PPC
•When searched with keywords like Bangladesh airlines list/Bangladesh top airlines-Bimaan
Bangladesh is there in the search results
PPC
•When searched with keywords like Bangladesh airlines/Flights from
Bangladesh, Bimaan Bangladesh is coming repeatedly in the search results
Bimaan Bangladesh
•Bimaan Bangladesh is not running any ads
•Online booking portals like Goibibo/Makemytrip are running the PPC ads
United Airways of Bangladesh
•Not running any PPC
Novoair
•Not running any PPC
Regent Airways
•Not running any PPC
PPC
Keyword
Website Performance
Bimaan Bangladesh
United Airways
Bangladesh
Novoair
Regent Airways
Bangladesh Top
Airlines
Advertising
NA
NA
NA
Bangladesh Airlines
Advertising
NA
NA
NA
Bangladesh Airlines
List
Adverting
NA
NA
NA
Bimaan Bangladesh
Advertising
NA
NA
NA
United Airways
Bangladesh
NA
NA
NA
NA
Novoair
NA
NA
NA
NA
Regent Airways
NA
NA
NA
NA
•Apart from Bimaan Bangladesh, nobody is advertising
Findings
Regent airways needs more expo
•‘’Regent Airways’ search result doesn’t pull up the website or the ad
words ad, which is a significant drawback
•Bimaan Bangladesh is in all the search results
•Noveair and Regent Airways can be rarely seen in the search results
Social Media
BIMAAN BANGLADESH
Facebook
•Joined facebook:10/30/2009
•No. of likes: 12,149
•493 people talking about this
•Posts are vague
•Even though they have their own airlines, they are sharing links like ‘Pilot
future in darkness’ which is very weird
Post trends – They post once in a blue moon
•They only share links
Post frequency – No consistency in posts
• Last post was on 9th August 2013
Twitter
•514 followers
•Tweets are much more better than their posts in facebook
•Tweets are based on recruiting pilots/new CEO
•They only share news; most of them do not serve any purpose
Findings
•Being one of the leading brands, their twitter and facebook account is
below average
•They are sharing irrelevant and vague posts in facebook; Most of the
content is talking about airplane clashes/future of pilots
•Engagement is nil
•They have quite a large fan base who are willing to engage
UNITED AIRWAYS
NO SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE
NOVOAIR
Facebook
•7,431 likes
•54 People talking about this
•Last activity: Changed cover photo on 5th of August
Post trends – Wishing their customers Eid Mubarak/Fifa
World Cup/Joining of new members in their team
Post frequency – No consistency in posts
July 28th: 1 post
July 27th : 1 post
July 26th: 1 post
June 12th: 2 posts
June 5th : 1 post
May 18th: 1 post
April 17th: 1 post
•Festival/Ritual related posts
•Pictures are getting good amount of ‘likes’ but nobody is taking an initiative
to comment
•FIFA world cup posts
•They use their own creatives which is a good sign
•Engagement is average
•They are sharing their flight schedule on Facebook which is helping them
to grab their TG’s attention
•They are promoting facilities like ‘free Wifi internet access’ which is a
brilliant idea
Twitter
•Novoair provided this link in their website as their Twitter account
•Their twitter handle is a big disappointment
•No picture
•Only 74 followers
•Not active
Findings
•Considering the fact that they have recently entered the market, they are
using their facebook account quite well
•They are promoting their services
•They need to be more active though; Posts are not that very frequent
•They are using their own creatives which is good but the content is not
that great
•Engagement is very poor
•They need to be active in Twitter
REGENT AIRWAYS
Facebook
•55,000 likes
•249 People talking about this
Latest post trends – News/Deals and Offers
Post frequency – 1 post per day
•No consistency in posts
August 23rd: 1 post
August 5th : 1 post
July 18th: 1 post
June 29th: 1 post
June 26th : 1 post
June 17th: 1 post
June 7th: 1 post
Regent replies to queries, which is a good practice
They have a steady engagement rate which can be intensified with
good content and accompanying visuals
Print ads are also shared on social platforms
Pretty good strategy to bring people in
Deals - Visuals could be a little more interesting
Trivia- Did not gather as much response, probably
because of the presentation
Wrong placement of cover picture
Vague reply
No relevant picture
Twitter
Regent provided this link in their website as their Twitter account
Twitter
But they use this account. It’s connected to the Facebook account.
They provide Facebook links on Twitter. They do not upload the
images but just post the link that will redirect people to Facebook.
As a result, less engagement.
Findings
•Profile Photo – The original logo should have been used as the display photo
•Cover Photo – Cover photo needs to set the tone of the whole page; the image is not adapted properly
•
•
•
There is nothing wrong with the content that they post
Images are uploaded directly whereas a personalized template can make it look even more attractive
They need to be regular in their social media platforms and provide more scopes for engagement. They do not have
an individual personality yet, which is a huge drawback
•
Content is sometimes too lengthy, which should be avoided
.
Findings
•Twitter is an untouched domain for Regent; The account isn’t official, the page lacks
identity and activity; And then there’s the confusion regarding the original page;
•Follower count needs to improve, there should be more Twitter-specific content
•Regent has the necessary ammunitions needed for a successful post
•Fans are active, They like, comment, share the content. With good quality visuals
and regular posts the engagement can be intensified. Micro campaigns are
needed to ensure constant interaction
•Regent lacks an identity when it comes to its social media presence
•The social networking pages are active but they lacks direction and proper planning
Proposed Campaign
•A Facebook app where people can upload pictures of their trip
•To upload the same they, will have to enter a valid regent Airways ticket number
•They can upload up to 10 pictures & write a caption on them
•There will be an option to share the same, which will be like a flip through book
•Three lucky winners every month will be chosen, who will receive a coffee table
book with the pictures they uploaded
Proposed Content
•In-flight services
•Services exclusive to different flying classes
•The kind of cuisine that is being served on board
•Why is Regent a safe choice to fly
•Tourist destinations in places Regent flies to
• Things to do/no to do when travelling
•Redirect traffic to their website to promote online booking
•Travel essentials
•Loyalty programs for frequent fliers
Proposed Content
•In-flight services
•Services exclusive to different flying classes
•The kind of cuisine that is being served on board
•Why is Regent a safe choice to fly
•Tourist destinations in places Regent flies to
• Things to do/no to do when travelling
•Redirect traffic to their website to promote online booking
•Travel essentials
•Loyalty programs for frequent fliers
Proposed Digital Activities
• Better SEO to ensure higher organic search results
• Ads on the deals they offer
• Display network ads to target potential travellers
• Remarketing ads to continually target people