Qatar Airways and Onboard Transactions

“We are delighted with the success of this project as we have been working very closely with our partners DataFlight Europe for the past several months. When Visa and MasterCard had put restrictions on the limit on the acceptance of credit for their cards, there was a gradual decline in on board sales as customers were restricted to using cash or a combination of additional cards. As such, we were not in a position to offer a credible selection of products we had in mind to compliment our first- and business-class profile." - Senior Vice President of Qatar Airways In flight Duty Free and Qatar Duty Free.

A new handheld GPRS device is rolling out across Qatar Airways fleet in the coming months. I wonder how this will change the on board retail environment since there will be no limitations for card transactions. Personally I don't think about my duty free purchases beyond cologne or small retail items, however now that the technology is in place to remove any transaction size bottle neck there could be larger implications for the supply and demand dynamic between duty free products sold on board and consumer demand. In addition to this most flagship Asian carriers are rolling out services that will provide connectivity through smart phones, laptops and Blackberry's. 

Perhaps full communication/connectivity capability and unrestricted credit/debit card usage may bring about an evolution to the on board retail environment.

Below a picture of the The Onboard Trader technology that removes limitations on credit card transactions.

 

Emirates, Oman Air and mobile connectivity.

A growing number of airlines including  Emirates, Oman Air, Singapore Airlines, and Air Asia are rolling out services that will provide connectivity through smart phones, laptops and Blackberry's. Most airlines like Emirates, Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific are putting such systems on planes like the A380, A340 and B777 that fly on long haul routes. In addition, free airport Internet is available in many Eastern airports (for example Hong Kong and Bahrain). In addition, it is generally recognized that the flagship Middle Eastern and Asian carriers are advanced to their Western counterparts in regards to quality of service and to some degree general amenities. 

With Western, more specifically American, air transport being subjected to ever heightening airport security measures and inflight restrictions covering mobile connectivity and ruling out in some cases (Washington DC) a passenger relieving themselves during the last 15 Min's of travel - I wonder if the current gap in the overall air travel experience between East and West stands to widen further.

Below is an illustration of how the inflight hotspot connection process.

Emirates with Jet Blue, why not with Iran Air, Aseman and Mahan Air?

The below clip was released on Nov 15 at ( http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/11/15/04344/630/travel/Middle+East+A+Go-Go%3A+JetBlue+and+Emirates+Buddy+Up+for+Seamless+Travel ) :

"This morning, JetBlue announces that they are now totally tight with Dubai-based airline Emirates, via an interline agreement. What this means is, starting today, flyers will be able to purchase seamless flight itineraries that begin on JetBlue or Emirates and end on the other, making trips like the above ("Raleigh to Riyadh") possible, complete with one-stop check-in and baggage transfer between the airlines. Currently the bookings can be made by calling Emirates reservations, with a roll-out to Emirates.com soon." 

From a traditional standpoint, I would think this is great news. Expanded international reach for the carrier with the biggest A380 flight (on order) joining hands with a good (primarily) domestic US carrier. With that said, part of me finds this idea of bigger/better/global/international a bit old. Perhaps some of the more interesting and less cultivated opportunities lie in local complementary penetration of progressive emerging markets where generally about half the populations tend to be under the age of 30 and income levels + internet penetration + air traffic are growing at faster rates than developed countries.

If we take a snapshot of Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and Russia - Iran Air has more departure/arrival points than Emirates. Emirates relative advantage is on long haul international destinations, however Iran Aseman Airliens, Mahan Air (and to a lesser degree Iran Air), have established credible local/regional networks.  

    Carrier      Departure/Arrival Points

    Iran Air     19

    Emirates     16

    British Airways     13

    EgyptAir     13

    Iran Aseman Airlines     13

    Mahan Air     13

To further strengthen the complementary aspect of such a deal, the flow of passengers through Dubai International Airport (Listed on Wikipedia) indicates a similar opportunity. Perhaps Emirates and other carriers would do well to focus on bolstering the local region: there are complementary synergies to be made, the shareholders and the local end consumers would benefit.

Busiest International Routes from Dubai (2010)

Rank	Destination	Weekly Flights out of Dubai
1	Kuwait	186
2	Bahrain	181
3	Tehran-Imam Khomeini	172
4	Mumbai	134
5	Muscat	135
6	London-Heathrow	99

Expedia, Gulf Air and the right price

Strange for some reason the same ticket (Gul Air Dec 23 - Jan 3 London - Bahrain) is priced cheaper through an Online Travel Agent (Expedia) than buying the ticket from the actual airline site.  Which side of the chain is over pricing or under pricing? Perhaps Expedia is being honest when they claim an Expedia discount fare and are simply selling the gulf air ticket for slightly less margin. On the flip side that could mean that Gulf Air is charging the price to the end consumer that Online travel agents charge, so Gulf Air is increasing their original prices to make them the same with Online Travel Agents so that there isn't a big benefit for an end consumer to buy from them or an Online Travel Agent, in the long run this could help bolster multiple distribution channels. Or I could just be reading this all wrong.

Whats the least bad seat

http://www.seatguru.com/

An interesting site that lets you check per airline, per route, per aircraft.

Some major carriers are not on the list, but perhaps other people can contribute that information over time.

"There are significant differences when flying Pacific-based airlines and Atlantic-based ones," says the CEO of Seatguru.com. In addition the site has comparison charts that make it possible to compare not only seat pitch, but amenities on various carriers. Typically, Pacific-based carriers are superior in these categories.

From another website, not a big surprise, Singapore Airlines gets the highest remarks for service (even in economy class).

http://www.independenttraveler.com/resources/article.cfm?AID=681&category=1

Pakistan International Airlines and the Roosevelt Hotel

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), like many national carriers, has operated at a loss for years. To be more precise the carrier has consistently lost money every year since 2004. As a crowning achievement in 2007 its fleet was banned from traveling in the EU (except for 8 planes) due to safety issues, there was some controversy over the safety ban scope.

Fast forward to November 2010, AFP's headline today displays consistency "Pakistan airline seeks state bail out to survive."

There have been some positive milestones for PIA

• First Asian airline to land in Norway
• Owner of the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan

To be fair, probably more state owned carriers have been operating at a loss than haven't. This just puts such carriers in stark contrast to flagship carriers like Emirates and Singapore Airlines that have successfully developed on a commercial basis.

Iran Air, Aseman Airlines, Mahan Air and Market Relevance

Interestingly, if one looks at the consolidated air traffic footprint of the Gulf, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey and Russia - Iran Air ranks as the fourth busiest airline in the area (ranked by the number of departure/arrival points).

This puts Iran Air ahead of Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad (the three primary Gulf long haul carriers). Of course, these three long haul carriers have more international destinations, but from a regional standpoint Iran Air is more active.

The next highest ranked Irani carriers in the region, Iran Aseman Airlines and Mahan Air are tied with British Airways and EgyptAir for the number of arrival/departure points in the consolidated area (13 each).

I generated the above rankings from Wikipedia, the airports list out the airlines active and the destinations they travel to from the departure point. The results can be ranked/sorted in Excel.

With that said, it will be interesting to see what the repercussions are with refueling sanctions against the fourth most active civilian carrier of the region.

Below is a meal from Iran Air (The rice is green from Dill).

 

Expedia, Doha, Bahrain and Price Discrimination

Why do some online travel agents charge such blatantly bad deals.

There is a 100% (hidden?) markup on a Gulf Air flight from Doha to Bahrain, if you buy it through Expedia.co.uk.

Is this to take advantage of foreigners flying into the Gulf who are simply unaware?

For your convenience I've put the exchange rate as of Oct 31, 2010

780.00 Qatari Rial = 133.726 British Pound 

Expedia.co.uk charges £266 and the Gulf Air site £133

In addition, I've pasted in screen shots below.

Gulf Air, Emirates and the A380

Will keep this short.

I remember in the 80s and 90s when Gulf Air was, for the most part, the main carrier for the Gulf region. It was a great airline, and I was happy to use it and I remember the times when most people I knew (who weren't exposed to the area) didn't know any carriers from the area.

From then to 2010, things have changed.

As things stand now, Emirates has the largest order of A380's in the world out of any carrier, standing order at 90. Gulf Air has none and is aiming to hopefully break even by 2012. While Emirates (if you look at their financials) has more costs and more revenues then most carriers, and even during the worst of the 08 recession, revenues reduced but never did the financial position turn to a loss.

More recently, I read an article that stated Gulf Air has bowed out of the long haul carrier service and is now opting to fight within a smaller perimeter with under served markets in the middle east region like Azerbaijan. At the same time they have terminated their Hong Kong and Singapore routes and Emirates has established nonstop flights to New York and Los Angeles.

Anyhow, you get the picture. Lets see whats to come, but 90 A380s for a country with less humans than a suburb of Istanbul - paints an interesting slant.

Food/Service Qatar Airways/Turkish Airlines

Over the years I've traveled primarily in Asia and the US, less so in Europe. Some airlines have left memorable impressions over the years, that I'm surprised at the age of 29 to still remember from my early days pre teenager. Singapore Airlines was way ahead of its time (pre Nintendo Gameboy days) with these game consoles they have in the wall and give you in the flight to play in your seat later.

With that said, two very recent experiences stick out.

1. I met a friend in Istanbul during fall 2010, he had just come over from Croatia. I asked him how Turkish Airlines was as I was taking them on my next journey to London. He kept mentioning the food and how it was of a quality he would go to a restaurant for - and thats even the economy class. I took economy to London and was extremely surprised, I have never had such good food in economy class in my life, the aubergine with beef and rice was really excellent, certainly restaurant quality (err umm if I say so, better than many "interesting" restaurants I've been to in London).
2. During 2009 I had to travel between Singapore and Europe, Qatar Airways had been under pricing Emirates Etihad and Gulf Air, probably as a market penetration strategy. Everything was fine from Singapore to Doha. However I later had an experience in transit, that made me strongly believe that there was little organizational connection between the transit/check in desk and the actual crew on the aircraft. Somehow from them checking my boarding pass, to me walking to the aircraft - my seat became no longer available as another customer was seated in it. To top it off, I'm still chasing them for some of my mileage credit.  But they haven't heard the last of me.