Singapore Airlines Competitive Analysis

This assignment delves into the competitive landscape of Singapore Airlines. It analyzes the airline's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT), exploring its strategies for maintaining a competitive edge in the global market. The task involves examining various aspects of Singapore Airlines' operations, such as customer service, route network, fleet management, and financial performance. Recommendations are provided to enhance the airline's future growth and success.

Strategic Analysis of Singapore Airlines 1
Strategic
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Strategic Analysis of
Singapore Airlines

Strategic Analysis of Singapore Airlines 2
Table of Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
Background information of Singapore Airlines......................................................................................3
Macro Environment Analysis.................................................................................................................4
Competitive analysis..............................................................................................................................6
SWOT analysis.......................................................................................................................................7
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................9
Recommendations.................................................................................................................................9
References...........................................................................................................................................10

Strategic Analysis of Singapore Airlines 3
Introduction
Strategic management refers to the management of the strategies of the organisations in order
to achieve their targets, goals and objectives. It can also be referred as to the process of
implementing and evaluating the decisions which ultimately helps business in achieving its
aims (Hill, Jones and Schilling, 2014). This assignment will include the concepts and models
which will be linked to the business of Singapore airlines and therefore appropriate business
strategies are selected for the organisation. It covers the background analysis of the company,
macro environment analysis by using PESTLE analysis, competitive analysis by sing Porter’s
five forces model and new ideas are developed for the growth and development of the
business by using SWOT analysis. At last, the conclusion is given and recommendations are
given for improvements in the business.
A strategic discussion about the company helps in setting the priorities and using the
resources to work towards common goals. It also assist business in shaping its future as the
guidance is provided with the help of strategic planning and ultimately it contributes in the
success of the organisation.

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Background information of Singapore Airlines
Singapore Airlines Limited was formed with the incorporation of Malaysian Airlines in the
year 1947 but afterwards they got split in 1972 and a separate brand was formed named
Singapore Airlines. Since then the company is growing in the domestic and international
markets. The company ranks tenth in terms of the volume of international passenger it
carries. The company carries the sarong Kebaya uniform for its stewardesses and this gives
them special identity as they are called Singapore Girls (Singapore airlines, 2017).
The company is one of the dominant airlines of the world and the major stake is held by
government and Temasek Holdings which holds 54.5% of the stake. The company wholly
owns Silk Air, Singapore airlines cargo and Budget aviation holdings. The company partially
owns Vistara (49%) and Tigerair Taiwan (10%). The other subsidiaries of the company
include SIA Engineering Company (CAPA, 2017).
The group provides the services which enrich the experience of the customers. It has one of
the most comfortable and spacious aircrafts. The company owns around 106 aircrafts and the
average year of those is 7 years and 8 months. It has the modern aircrafts which are designed
to take care of the needs and requirements of the customers. It owns Airbus A330-300,
Airbus A380-800, Airbus A350-900, Boeing 777-200, Boeing 777-200 ER, and Boeing 777-
300 & Boeing 777-300 ER. With this, there are various inflight services provided to the
customers for enhancing their experiences like first class cabins, suits, First class features,
Business class, Premium economy class and economy class. The airlines focus on its other
services like Catering, entertainment, safety and security of the passengers (Singapore
Airlines, 2017).
The airlines move to more than 50 destinations in different countries. It covers five continents
and has strongest presence in the South East region. T covers countries like Australia, India,
Thailand, UAE, Bangkok, Dubai and many more. It is one of the most awarded airlines of the
world and has won the prestigious awards in this industry like Airline with best service by
Airhelp (Hong Kong), Top foreign Airline by Next Media Top Service Awards, Best airline
in Asia by Skytrax World Airline Awards (UK), Best Major Airline by Trip Advisor
Travellers Choice 2017 Awards (US) and many more.

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Macro Environment Analysis
Macro Environment Analysis can also be referred as external analysis which helps the
companies in scanning the external environment of the company which includes Political,
economic, social, technological, legal and environmental factors (Freeman, 2010). This
analysis helps in taking the strategic decisions of the company and in implementing those
strategies. Below given Macro environmental analysis of Singapore Airlines will help the
company to identify possible opportunities and threats which impact the whole airline
industry and outside the con troll of Singapore airlines.
Political analysis
Political factors include the government actions and political activities which affect the
success of the business. These factors also affect the operations of Singapore Airlines. The
political risk of Singapore airlines is relatively lower than some of the other countries. The
country is democratic and has low political conflicts. But the National Political Frameworks
affect the airlines a lot. There is political stability and it provides opportunities to the business
of Singapore Airlines (Heracleous & Wirtz, 2012). Airline industry rests heavily on the
political changes and factors which affect the operations of the industry. The government
policies may impact the growth and development of the industry and also the profitability of
the company ultimately. Like, the changes in the prices of oil, the airline industry have faced
the pressure from the government to unwind the surcharges on fuel. It also depends on the
relationship between different countries that how well the flights may move from one country
to another. There are different organisations which regulate that how much freedom will be
given to the flights of different countries which ultimately affect the airline companies and
also increase the competition (Peppard and Ward, 2016).
Economic analysis
Singapore airlines are affected to a great extent by the economic factors because it flies
through the national and international boundaries. The economic factors like the Gross
Domestic product (GDP), interest rates or economic cycles of different nations affect the
business of the company. For e.g. if the GDP of a country increases, it will increase the per
capita income and this will bring an increase in the demands of airline travel. There may be
some uncertain economic elements which affects the business of the company. Singapore has

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increased in terms of growth and this has attracted more number of tourists in the nation
(Sengupta & Sengupta, 2014).
Socio- cultural analysis
The socio cultural environment includes traditions, backgrounds, thoughts, culture, society
and other factors which differs in every country and affects the business of the organisations.
The social environment of the country Singapore also plays an important part in the industry
of airlines. The population of the country is ageing which reduces the demand of airlines
because aged population prefers less travelling. Also, the young generation prefers to take
their studies aboard which are helping airlines to grow. Also, the development and growth of
tourism is helping airlines to increase their revenues. The company has to categorize their
potential customers into different generations, sociological attributes and income status which
will help it in providing the services as per the needs and requirements of the customers
(Chen, HE & Wong, 2013).
Technological analysis
Technology plays a main role in improving the efficiency of the airline company. It lowers
down the costs and helps in enhancing the overall experience of the customers which further
helps in alluring the customers. In Singapore, the number of internet users have been
increased which also benefitted the company to provide online services of booking tickets
and checking the status of flights online. The company has one of the youngest fleets in the
industry which shows that it believes in innovations and invests a huge amount on Research
and Development (David, 2011).
Legal analysis
These refer to the legal laws and regulations which impacts the business of airlines. The
aviation industry has to follow different regulations in the country. Singapore airlines have to
follow the legislations and policy given by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore. It
includes Air navigation Act, carriage by Air Act and many more which helps the company to
operate without any hindrances and with safety. The changes in regulatory framework affect
the operations of the business (Wheelen and Hunger, 2011).
Environmental analysis

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This is related to the environment. Singapore airlines have to take care of the environment
because the passengers demand the environment friendly services nowadays. The company is
making environmental efforts by reducing the emissions in the environment. For this, the
company has joined the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to bring efficiency in
fuel and to reduce carbon emissions. The company like this get an opportunity to make a
place in the society and builds up its image in front of consumers of services (Singapore
airlines, 2017)
Competitive analysis
The competitive analysis can be done for Singapore Airlines with the tool Porter’s five forces
model. It contains the analysis of the company on the basis of five factors which shows how
they are connected to the macro environment of the company and how it impacts the
company overall.
The five forces of the tool are discussed below:
Bargaining Power of the customers: the bargaining power of the customers is moderate. It
is because the customers have choices for the airlines but Singapore airlines provide high
quality services. The switching costs are low which is why the customers find easy to choose
one company over other. The company could develop unique features which help in holding
the customers with the company (Rahman, Azad & Mostari, 2015).
Bargaining Power of the suppliers: the bargaining power of the suppliers is high because
there are few suppliers of airline products and services and the consumers are many which
provide the power to the suppliers. The fleets are mainly supplied by Boeing and Airbus
which holds the power to bargain (Hesterly and Barney, 2010).
Threat of Substitute products: the threat of substitute products is high. With the advent of
globalisation, more forms of transportation and links have been made between different
countries which affect the demand of the services of Singapore Airlines. These substitutes
include Mass Rapid Transit, buses and Taxis which are used by the users (Crook, et al.,
2008).
Threat of New entrants: The threat of new entrants is low because of high capital
investments and high need of the legal and regulatory requirements. It is a saturated industry

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and one or two companies rule the markets. Rest of them just back of the economy (Warren,
2008).
Industry and competitive rivalry: The rivalry in airline industry is intense which is why the
businesses need to make changes in their products and services to meet the requirements of
the customers. The rivalry also depends on routes to routes. The rivalry will be intense when
there will be more companies providing services and vice versa. The competitors of the
company in Singapore includes Air Asia, Jet Star, Malaysia Airlines, Emirates and more on
International and domestic levels.
The key opportunities with the company are identified that it can customise its services in a
well-defined manner in order to take advantage of its dominant position in the country. The
company also have good international connections which help in it establishing its services
well in the foreign countries and to be in competition with the international airline brands like
Emirates and Air New Zealand. The threats which are identified by the analysis done through
different models are such that the legal requirements are many and the political relationships
of the country may fluctuate which hampers the operations of the company. Also, the threats
identified are the fluctuating oil prices and economic conditions of the nations (Rothaermel,
2015).
SWOT analysis
To evaluate different internal and external forces of the company which affects its operations
and performance, SWOT model can be used. The strengths, weaknesses, Threats and
opportunities of the company are evaluated below:
Strength
The biggest strength of the company is its brand name and its history. The company has rich
history and is operating since 1972 after the split with Malaysia Airlines. Since then, the
company has positioned itself well and has been able to increase its passengers year after
year. It is one of the best airline companies in the world and has won several awards which
prove its capabilities. The company has good reputation in the international markets as well.
The company provides premium services at a budgeted cost. The company also have
diversified itself into various subsidiaries. There is skilled workforce in the company which

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increases the quality of its services. Also, the company has strong support from the
government of Singapore (Riwo-Abudho, Njanja & Ochieng, 2013).
Weaknesses
The company has some weaknesses as well. The company lacks in the presence of social
media which is one of the most important platform for promoting the brand nowadays. There
is a low cost carrier of the company, TigerAir, which is reducing its overall profitability. The
company is failing in adding the passengers on a continuous basis at a good rate. The
company is also shrinking its markets because of its low performance in some North
American countries. The company also have restricted access on some of the routes (Kew
and Stredwick, 2017).
Opportunities
The biggest opportunity of the company is that because of globalisation, the people travels
from one place to another for the purpose of trade, education, tourism ,etc. which increases
the demand of the airlines. The company can collaborate with the Tourism department to
enhance the number of customers. The increase of online business has also created an
opportunity for the airline company. The company has made alliance with many other
companies which increased its operations excellence (Aaker and McLoughlin, 2009).
Threats
The company can be exposed to many types of threats which might affect the operations of
the business. The emergence of other companies and innovative services by them increases
the competition. The price fluctuations of fuel might affect the overall cost of the flights.
Fluctuating government regulations can pose a threat or the economic conditions could also
hamper the business of the company (Hitt, Ireland and Hoskisson, 2012).

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Conclusion
It can be concluded that the company is a star performer in the sector and it has many
opportunities to grow and expand in the domestic as well as international markets. The
strategic analysis of Singapore airlines has been done with the help of models and tools like
SWOT analysis, PESTLE analysis and Porter’s Five Forces Model. The analysis concludes
that the company is performing excellent by using the available resources but the merging
competitors and the fluctuating situations in the economy and in the political and legal
requirements may affect the business of the same. The company can grab the opportunities
available to increase its value in the industry and to enhance its performance by using its
strengths.
Recommendations
After the strategic analysis of the company, it is recommended to Singapore Airlines that it
should differentiate its services from the competitors so that it can allure customers for using
its services. This can be done after analysing the weaknesses and strengths of the company.
The company lacks in the coverage of flights in some of the areas. The company should focus
on its relationships with the government of these areas and start its services to maximise its
coverage. Also, the company should focus on its digital presence as most of the customers
nowadays are available on the digital platform. This would help the company in positioning
itself and making its strong presence in the market. The company can also work on its loss
making units so that the overall performance of the company does not get affected. The
company could also focus on customising the services for its customers in different countries
to meet their requirements and needs in a better way than the competitors. Service industries
are all about caring for the customers so they should make the customers feel that the
company acre for them. This could be done by training the staff and employees to deal with
the customers well and assist them in every way possible. These suggestions can assist
Singapore Airlines in gaining competitive advantage.

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References
Aaker, D A and McLoughlin, D 2009, Strategic market management: global perspectives.
John Wiley & Sons.
CAAS, 2017, ‘Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore Act’. Retrieved from .
Chen, Z H, HE, M & Wong, K C 2013, ‘A Case-based Analytical Study on the Strategic
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Freeman, R E 2010. Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Cambridge university
press.
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Page Publishers.

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