Flying Off Course Airline economics and marketing

Subtitled, "Airline Economics & Marketing". Largely rewritten and updated, with two new chapters which discuss the rise of low cost, no frills carriers and the future prospects for the industry.

The airline industry presents an enigma. High growth rates in recent decades have produced only marginal profitability. This book sets out to explain, in clear and simple terms, why this should be so. It provides a unique insight into the economics and marketing of international airlines.

Flying Off Course has established itself over the years as the indispensable guide to the inner workings of this exciting industry. This enlarged fourth edition, largely re-written and completely updated, takes into account the sweeping changes which have affected airlines in recent years. It includes much new material on many key topics such as airline costs, ‘open skies’ , air cargo economics, charters and new trends in airline pricing.

It also contains two exciting new chapters on the economics of the low-cost no frills carriers and on the future prospects of the industry.

The book provides a practical insight into key aspects of airline operations, planning and marketing within the conceptual framework of economics . It is given added force by the author’s hands-on former experiences as a Chairman and CEO of Olympic Airways and as a non-executive Director of South African Airways while he is currently a non-executive Director of easyJet.

Introduction  1. Characteristics and Trends in Airline Operations  2. Traditional Bilateralism: A Highly Regulated Industry  3. Liberalisation: Open Markets and Open Skies  4. The Structure of Airline Costs  5. Determinants of Airline Costs  6. The Low-Cost No-Frills Model  7. The Economics of Passenger Charters: The Other Low-Cost Model  8. Airline Marketing: The Role of Passenger Demand  9. Forecasting Demand  10. Product Planning  11. Pricing Policies and Fare Structures  12. The Economics of Air Freight  13. Future Challenges.  Appendix A: Freedoms of the Air.  Appendix B: Glossary of Common Air Transport Terms

Rigas Doganis is a Consultant to Airline Industry and sits on the board of directors of easyJet. He is the author of The Airline Business and The Airport Business, also published by Routledge.