AirAsia: How it Became a Market Leader and Marketing Concepts Used

Running head: AirAsia 1
Marketing Management
Student Name
Institution Affiliation

AirAsia 2
How did AirAsia become a market leader? What marketing concepts were used well?
AirAsia began as a Malaysian government controlled and full-service regional airline.
After its establishment, the company charged customers favorable fares that were slightly lower
than the one charged by its main competitor, Malaysia Airlines. Due to airline layoff of
employees, experienced and competent staffs were readily available to AirAsia (AirAsia.com
2008). The company hired competent and experienced employees and this enhanced its
competitiveness in the industry. Also, the leasing costs had sharply dropped and a great potential
for no-frills was unleashed. The company was restructured. Fully ticketless travel and free sitting
policy were introduced. Also, value added services such as online check in and check outs were
introduced (AirAsia.com 2008). The company further partnered with various companies that
offered online booking services for hostels, cruises, hotels, car rentals and medical care. As a
result, AirAsia becomes Malaysia airline market leader.
Becoming a market leader by AirAsia was not easy. This competitiveness is attributed to
various marketing concepts that the management used, and these include:
Use of company website: AirAsia updated its web to offer regular fare promotional
campaigns to customers at different booking times. Travelers could easily purchase their air
tickets on its website, and this encouraged early booking by the customers.
Use of social media: While AirAsia’s key competitors wanted to stay corporate and
wrongfully use social media with no marketing purpose, AirAsia did it differently (Azleen,
2015). Chatting with the customer with customer support was encouraged and this made the
company directly stay in touch with its clients via online marketing.