Qatar Airways Route Planning: Feasibility Study for New Routes

This report presents a route planning feasibility study conducted for Qatar Airways, focusing on potential new routes in anticipation of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The study assesses three proposed routes: Doha to Mexico City, Doha to Montevideo, and Doha to Cardiff. It includes an introduction to Qatar Airways, an analysis of the WEF Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2019 for each destination country, and a discussion of suitable aircraft types for each route based on factors like range, runway length, and airport features. The report also details the proposed frequency of flights per week, an audit of Qatar Airways' cabin classes (First, Business, and Economy), and a social and economic status assessment of Qatar, Mexico, Uruguay, and the United Kingdom. The study concludes by recommending a service approach for each route based on customer demographics and economic factors, ensuring optimal service delivery and profitability. This resource is available for students looking for solved assignments and past papers on Desklib.

1927 Flight Route Planning Toolkit
Task
You are required to complete a Route Planning study to propose one new route, based on a feasibility study of 3 proposed routes for an airline.
This is based on the case study of QATAR AIRWAYS and potential routes they may implement in the lead up to the 2022 FIFA WORLD CUP.
The task is split into 5 different areas that you will be required to complete on a week-by-week basis throughout the module using a toolkit given
to you in the first week of the module. You will be required to:
o Introduce the airline and the three routes being studied within the report
o Choose an aircraft type for each of the given routes, as well as the service offering that will be provided on board for customers
o Discuss legal requirements for flying each of the routes in the departure country, arrival country and any airspaces flown
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1927 Flight Route Planning Toolkit
o Create a draft marketing plan for the promotion and sale of these three routes
o Choose a route - giving justification as to why this route has been chosen - and investigate how to the performance of the route
will be monitored
Learning Outcomes
1. Explain the process involved in route planning.
2. Investigate the feasibility of new routes for an airline.
3. Justify the selected new route for an airline.
Task 1: Introduce the airline and the three routes being studied within the report (5%)
1.1 To help contextualise your report, it is beneficial to research the airline QATAR AIRWAYS and basic information around the airline such as
history, hub location and current route approach [100 words]
Qatar Airways company is state owned flag carrier of Qatar which has its headquarters in Doha. This airline operated a hub and spoke network
for flying over 150 international destinations across Africa, Asia, Europe, America and Oceania. This organization employee more than 43000
people. As the FIFA world cup is being held in Qatar the new routes which this Airways will be starting are going to be to Mexico, Uruguay
and UK. These are going to be busy routes during the FIFA World Cup 2022 due to the amount of football fans in this country. Currently, it
have taken all the precaution related to health and safety of the passengers so that they can travel with more ease and comfort(Seo and et.al.,
2018).
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1.2 Using the WEF Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2019, complete the following table to give the scores and rankings of the
different countries that Qatar Airways could fly to as a result of this study
Mexico (Mexico City) Uruguay (Montevideo) United Kingdom (Cardiff)
Prioritization of Travel &
Tourism
5.2 5.3 4.9
Air transport infrastructure 4.0 2.3 5.2
Tourist service infrastructure 4.8 4.8 6.1
International Openness 3.9 3.0 4.2
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1927 Flight Route Planning Toolkit
1.3 Using the following world map, locate the three potential destinations that Qatar Airways could fly to as a result of the report:
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1927 Flight Route Planning Toolkit
Qatar Airways could fly three potential destinations such as Mexico (Mexico City), United Kingdom (Cardiff) and Uruguay
(Montevideo) to attract more number of passenger or individual that are ready to visit and enjoy the World Cup 2022.
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Task 2: Choose an aircraft type for each of the given routes, as well as the service offering that will be provided on board for customers
(30%)
2.1 Firstly, we need to make the decision as to which aircraft type is the most suitable within Qatar Airways’ fleet to operate the three proposed routes.
Using the manufacturers websites, fill out the following details regarding each of Qatar’s Long Haul fleet.
Airbus A330-300 Airbus A350-900 Airbus A350-
1000
Boeing 777-300 Boeing 787-8 Boeing 787-9
Maximum Range 11300 15000 16100 11165 14200 13950
Max. take-off
weight
242000 248000 319900 247200 227930 250836
Max. ZFW 385.80 lb x 1000 431.40 lb x 1000 223 lb x 1000 224 530 161 000 181,000
Max. fuel
capacity 36 750 USG
37 248 USG 159 000 litres 181 200 126 200 126,372
No. in Qatar fleet 8 34 19 48 30 7
2.2 Now using FlightRadar24 or SkyVector, fill out the following details regarding the three potential airports we may fly to as a result of this report
Mexico (MEX/MMMX) Montevideo (MVD/SUMU) Cardiff (CWL/EGFF)
Elevation 2238m 105 ft 67m
Runway Lengths 3985 3048m 2392m
Distance from DOH/OTHH 14104km 13100km 5430Km
Flight time from DOH/OTHH 18 hours 40 minutes 22 hours 30mins 10 hours 25 Mins
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Significant features nearby Lack of Features Medium Features Full of features
2.3 Based on the above data, decide on an aircraft type for each route and discuss why you have chosen each of these routes [300 words].
On the basis of the data these three routes needs to have different Aircraft.
MMMX to DOH
For Mexico which has he most distance and even has a longer runway. Air Bus A 350- 1000 will be the best due to its capacity for travelling
long distances and also its capacity to carry weight. Qatar also has 19 of such flights for starting this new route (Seanyen and et.al., 2021). This
aircraft will allow the long distance travel and will be able to carry more passengers which as in Mexico the Features are less and the Qatar
will have more economy class passengers.
SUMU to DOH
This route does not have the high elevation of airport and the runway length is also low. The distance which the flight needs to cover is high
thus, it will require a fuel efficient aircraft. Airbus A350-900 will be the perfect Aircraft for this route as Qatar has 34 of it and its maximum
range is also high along with its fuel capacity for fulfilling the requirements of this journey. Its capacity of weight is also impressive making it
an all-rounder for this job(Rotondo and et.al., 2019).
EGFF to DOH
This is the shortest route in comparison to others which are discussed thus, it can be completed with Boeing 777-300. This aircraft is one of the
best for the short to medium distance flights and Qatar has 48 such aircraft (Westermann, 2018). Its capacity is also decent and has all the
potential assets which can be used for the flight of this distance. This flight will be provide the customers safe and sound experience in their
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travel from UK Cardiff to DOH. Out of the others this is the one route which will be the busiest due to the number of football fans in UK.
2.4 Following on from this, how many times per week will you operate this route considering flight time to and from the destinations and the
number of that type of aircraft that Qatar Airways are currently operating [150 words]s
The distance from Mexico to Qatar is around 14119 KM and around 20 hour is taken to reach destination. While, is too long for UK Cardiff -
5442 kilometres I.,e 6 hours 54 minutes total time is being consumed to travel and went to specific destination. Whereas, to go from
Montevideo to Qatar is 13120 kilometres and around 22 hours 30 minutes is consumed. Therefore, maximum flight will travel from UK to
Qatar that is around 10 flight in week, while 5 flight from Montevideo to Qatar and remaining 3 flight from Mexico to Qatar. The aircraft used
for Mexico to Qatar is MMMX to DOH as it is suitable for long journey. SUMU to DOH- will be used for Montevideo to Qatar destination as
it have fuel efficient and capacity to take maximum number of passengers. At last EGFF to DOH is best suitable for shortest destination so it
will be used for destination from UK Cardiff to Qatar(Samotolkova, 2019).
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2.5 It is now time to complete a brief audit on the different cabins that Qatar Airways currently offer on their long haul product, using the Qatar Airways’
website and any other relevant sources.
First Class Business Class Economy Class
Features of the seat The first class seat at Qatar
flights are 23 inches wide
between the armrests. They are
totally reclined to flat beds which
measure 81 inches in length and
33 inches in width. There are
only 8 such seats on the Airbus-
A380 which have their direct
aisle access.
The business class seat has extra
room for spreading the legs
which make them more
comfortable. They are much
wider than the first class seats
(Schütte and et.al., 2019). These
seats are partially partition for
providing some privacy. They
have the room to recline and
some lie flat for long haul flights.
The seats in economy class are
usually reclined and have folded
down table. These seats are
general seat which have a 19
degree recline angle, additional
legroom and dual trays. They also
have a 13.3 inch 4k in-flight
entertainment(IFE) screen and
also a type C fast charging USB
port.
Features in the airport The first class passengers are
allowed to bring two carry on
bags with a total of 33 pounds of
weight. For boarding the first
class passengers receive priority.
These passengers have the access
After first class the business class
passengers get the priority which
makes their procedure easier and
more convenient. They are also
allowed with additional baggage
in the flight. The Business class
These passengers get
complimentary refreshments
which depends on their orders.
Other than that they have to enjoy
all the general services provided
by the Qatar Airport(Upadhaya
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to all the first and business class
lounges offered by Qatar. Most
first class lounge of Qatar are
work renowned for their excellent
services.
lounge are also very efficient in
its features and services. They
can also enjoy amenities and
Facilities. They are also the first
to leave the aircraft.
and et.al., 2018).
2.6 Using the Country Navigator Tool, complete research on Qatar and the three potential destination countries to determine their social and economic
status.
Qatar Mexico Uruguay United Kingdom
GDP per Capita 50805.46 8346.7 15438.41 40284.64
Attitude to Money High spending Do not spend Spends efficiently Prefers to show-off
Lifestyle & Aspirations Luxurious lifestyle Poor lifestyle Mediocre Lifestyle Mixed lifestyle
2.7 Based on the information gathered in section 2.5 and 2.6 as well as information gathered in lectures, discuss which service approach is best
suited to each of these routes and why it is the most appropriate [300 words]
On the basis of the above discussed data about the seats and the social and economic status of these countries follows services will be best for
these routes,
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1927 Flight Route Planning Toolkit
MMMX to DOH
This route needs to have more seats and with cheaper rates as the customers in are from a low per capita income country and would not wanna
spend on costly seats and services. Thus, the Aircraft needs to be big with high number of seats that are of Economic nature (Márquez-Molina
and et.al., 2019). The price of the seats needs to kept according to the flight's capacity to the number of passengers it can board. These
customers can be provided with refreshments which will be an easy way of making them loyal to the Qatar Airways and its services.
SUMU to DOH
This route will need to have both business and economy class tickets which the customers can choose from according to their style of living.
Customers in Uruguay are also not so keen on spending so much on travelling thus, there needs to be more economy class seats in comparison
to business class and the services which are going to be provided needs to be given accordingly. The business class seats are going to have to
different aisle such that they can be separated from the economy class passengers(Khudhair and et.al., 2019).
EGFF to DOH
The service approach that is good for EGFF to DOH is that first it must lay efforts on understanding the type of customers airline is planning to
attract to delivered the services. Make use of online platform to inform passengers about the flight timing and other detailed so that they can
take right decision to influence the individual. The condition of seat and other facilities must be improved with an motive that passengers may
have more flexibility and ease to seat and enjoy their travel. Necessary changes must also be made in the type of food and beverage offered to
the customer's as helps in making them satisfied and happy to selected specific airline route(Lewis, 2021).
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