1927 Flight Route Planning: Qatar Airways Route Feasibility Report

This report presents a route planning study for Qatar Airways, evaluating the feasibility of three potential routes (DOH-MEX, DOH-MVD, and DOH-CWL) in anticipation of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. It begins with an introduction to Qatar Airways, including its history, hub location, and current route approach. The report then analyzes three potential destinations, considering factors such as travel and tourism competitiveness, air transport infrastructure, and tourist service infrastructure. It selects an appropriate aircraft type for each route based on factors like range, payload capacity, and airport characteristics. The report also discusses the service offerings for each route, considering cabin features, social and economic factors, and passenger preferences. Furthermore, the report estimates the frequency of flights per week based on flight times and aircraft availability. Finally, the report audit the different cabins that Qatar Airways currently offer on their long haul product, using the Qatar Airways’ website and any other relevant sources.

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
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.
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1927 Flight Route Planning Toolkit
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 was established in November 22, 1993 having headquarters in Doha, Qatar. It is state owned flag carrier of country Qatar. The company
operates hub and spoke network, that fly to over 150 global destinations across the Americas, Africa, Europe, Oceania, Asia, etc from central hub that is
Hamad International Airport. The enterprise operates with mission of Excellence in all the practices which it performs. The vision of QATAR AIRWAYS is to
strive for becoming an essential link in international economy as well as deliver world for better future. It works with strategy of devising a resilient
international brand through choosing highly-publicized events together with sponsorship opportunities.
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 Rank: 29 Score: 5.2 Rank: 24 Score: 5.3 Rank: 55 Score: 4.9
Air transport infrastructure Rank: 37 Score: 4.0 Rank: 92 Score: 2.3 Rank: 9 Score: 5.2
Tourist service infrastructure Rank: 46 Score: 4.8 Rank: 44 Score: 4.8 Rank: 7 Score: 6.1
International Openness Rank: 48 Score: 3.9 Rank: 88 Score: 3.0 Rank: 23 Score: 4.2
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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
Three potential destinations where QATAR AIRWAYS could fly are mentioned below:
1. Latvia
2. Panama
3. Peru
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 11,750 km or 6,350
nmi
15,000 km / 8,100
nautical miles
8,700 nmi or
16,100 km
5,845 nautical
miles or 10,820 km
7,305 nmi or
13,530 km
7,565 nm or
14,010 km
Max. take-off weight 242.00 tonnes 280.00 tonnes 319 tonnes 774,600 pounds 227,930 kg 254,011 kg
Max. ZFW 175.00 tonnes 195.70 tonnes 223 tonnes 237.682 Kg 161,000 kg
(355,000 lb)
181,000 kg
(400,000 lb)
Max. fuel capacity 139,000 litres 141,000 litres 159, 000 litres 171,176 Ltrs 126,206 Litres 126,372 Litres
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 13,869 km 13,088 km 5418 Km
Runway Lengths 05R/23L 12,795ft (3,900m) and 05L/23R
12,966ft (3,952m)
10000 x 148 feet / 3048 x 45
meters
2,392m long and 46m wide
Distance from DOH/OTHH 2,412 km 13,121 km 6,862.1 km
Flight time from DOH/OTHH 24 hours and 20 minutes 22 hours and 30 minutes 7 hours and 25 minutes.
Significant features nearby  Centurion Club.  Tourist information centre.  Principality Stadium.
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1927 Flight Route Planning Toolkit
 Exhibition Centers.
 Carlos Place.
 Aerotrén.
 Fondo de Cultura Económica (FCE)
Bookshops.
 Duty-free shops.
 Travel agencies.
 Rhondda Heritage Park.
 Cardiff Castle.
 National Museum Cardiff.
 Wales Millennium Centre.
 St Fagans National Museum of
History.
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].
Airbus A350-900 is the aircraft type that QATAR AIRWAYS can choose to fly at determined routes (Arabali, Sakhaeifar, and Borowiec, 2017). The aircraft
type has unique wing design which enables it to attain optimal aerodynamic efficiency that makes it light as well as fuel effective aircraft. The routes,
including Latvia, Panama and Peru are selected as these will help the company to make maximum returns. For example, Latvia is selected for QATAR
AIRWAYS as the distance between Latvia and Qatar is only 4096 kilometres that makes it less time-consuming to drop passengers. The shorter the
distance, the less fuel is used by the aircraft that results in saving money for the airline. Furthermore, shorter distance also leads to delays as well as
missed connections that help the company to take initiative in reducing emissions along with noise pollution.
The other route, Panama is chosen as the air travel distance between Panama and Qatar is around 8458 miles (Baum, and Auerbach, 2017). There are a
lesser number of the airline that provide services to the people of Panama. When lesser flights travel in the route, it creates low air traffic that benefits
an airline, specifically, QATAR AIRWAYS to schedule flights and offer attractive flight packages to customers. With this, the company will attract huge
number of target audiences to make purchase decisions which will contribute in enhancing business profitability.
Another route chosen for QATAR AIRWAYS is Peru. The route is selected as paperwork required to fly at the route are low which can make it beneficial
for the enterprise to travel. It is because less paperwork results in lower costs to the company and generating more revenues. Moreover, the route can
offer the airline to improve operations for carry more payload, that includes passengers and freights (Warinsko, 2018).
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]
Airbus A350-900 is large commercial aircraft that operates on route at many times. In context to Mexico, the company operate around 401 times per
week. Similarly, QATAR AIRWAYS operates 5 times per week from destination of Cardiff to Qatar. Likewise, it is determined that the airline operates
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1927 Flight Route Planning Toolkit
times per week between Montevideo and Qatar around 21 times per week.
On the new route that is Latvia, QATAR AIRWAYS will operate around 15 times per week with flight timings of 10 hours and 25 minutes. Moreover, on the
route between Peru and Qatar, the aircraft will operate approximately to 10 times per week having flight timings of 15 hours and 32 minutes.
Furthermore, the aircraft will operate on the route to Panama around 8 times per week with timings of 17 hours and 45 minutes (Bouyakoub, Belkhir,
and Guebli, 2017)
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  Fully recline to flat beds that measure
81 inches long addition to 33 inches
wide.
 First class seats of QATAR AIRWAYS
are 23 inches wide between armrests.
 It is more comfort and service than
other seats, with amenities ranging
from private suites to access to on-
board showers.
 Business class seats of
QATAR AIRWAYS are
thoughtfully dressed in the
latest and finest fabrics for
optimise the comfort.
It offers aft as well as forward-
facing seats that takes cabin
innovation to an entirely new level
with the help of quad configuration
(Gu, 2017).
 Economy class seats of the
airways are fitted with
a 13.3-in inflight
entertainment interface
with 4K display resolution.
 fast-charging USB outlets
with the help of which
travellers enjoy content of
their personal
entertainment devices on
board.
Features in the airport
 Private car service to the airport.
 Private lounge at the terminal, caviar
and champagne on flight.
 lie-flat seat, or private compartment
with a sitting area and a bed.
 Facilities to enjoy direct
aisle access or rejuvenate
with our exclusive Bric's
amenity bags featuring skin
care products
 Priority Check-In.
 Relax in comfort with
reclining seats
 Charges according to
passenger and per flight.
 adjustable personal
entertainment screens on
airports.
 Recline along with have a
fold-down table (Atkinson,
2020).
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1927 Flight Route Planning Toolkit
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 61940.00 USD till end of
2021.
9900.00 USD till end of
2021.
13600.00 USD till end of
2021.
41100.00 USD till end of
2021
Attitude to Money Prestige attitude Money management
attitude
Power Attitude Goal-oriented attitude
Lifestyle & Aspirations  Modernised and
progressive (Thelle,
and la Cour Sonne,
2018)
 Traditional values.
 The Islamic culture
as well as calendar
dictate daily life.
 Sunshine,
 Rich cultural
traditions
 Historical heritage,
 a slower pace of life.
 Lower living costs
(Kumari, and Aithal
2020).
 Low perception of
corruption.
 Democracy.
 Peace and
prosperity.
 Positive and upward
connotation.
 Career aspirations.
 Maintain good
health for all family
members.
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]
In the route to Mexico, best suited service approach is flight entertainment approach wherein huge number of entertainment facilities are offered to
passengers during the long flight. In this route, entertainment offered by the company to passengers includes hassle free internet browsing, video
streaming and so on on devices of passengers. The service approach is appropriate as most of passenger favour their own devices while traveling on
flight. With this approach, the company will permit travellers to watch movies, follow social media, play online games, check up on TV shows and check
emails (Yilmaz, and Flouris, 2017).
On the another route that is UK, best suited service approach is Food and Beverage service in which various kinds of dishes and beverages would be
offered to customers while traveling on flight. The cost of food and beverage will be included in ticket charges. With this, a huge number of passengers
will book the ticket as they will be served with food and beverages free of cost. Food and beverages will be served on trays at seats of passengers. The
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1927 Flight Route Planning Toolkit
approach is appropriate as it has potential to build unique selling point of the company.
Full service approach is best suited for Uruguay by QATAR AIRWAYS as the service approach comprises offering of passenger’s inflight entertainment,
beverages and comforts, blankets and pillows, meals and checked baggage in ticket price. It is appropriate service approach for the route as it provides all
of reasonable needs and desires of passengers while travelling at flight. It involves going beyond the basic expectations of providing a single service and
offering greater options for customers (Bongo, and Ocampo, 2017).
Task 3: Discuss legal requirements for flying each of the routes in the departure country, arrival country and any airspaces flown (15%)
3.1 Using SkyVector (this will be discussed in a Student Based Activity), identify all airspaces that will be overflown in the three potential new routes for
Qatar Airways
DOH-MEX DOH-MVD DOH-CWL
Airspaces Overflown Total flight duration from Doha,
Qatar to Mexico City, Mexico is 18
hours, 4 minutes.
Total flight duration between Doha,
Qatar (DOH) to Montevideo,
Uruguay is 21h 20m duration.
Flight timings between Doha, Qatar
(DOH) to Cardiff, United Kingdom is
13h 25m duration.
3.2 In order to operate to certain countries, we need to understand the Aviation Law that governs the area – using the relevant aviation authority websites
fill out what you feel are the key headlines of their governing law (This will also be a Student Based Activity).
Mexico Uruguay United Kingdom
Key relevant information from
aviation law in each potential new
route
 Civil Aviation Law, 2021.
 Data protection regulation,
2009
 Equality Act, 2005.
 Safety and health Act, 1970.
 Civil Aviation Act, 2019.
 Aviation and Maritime Security
Act, 1990.
 Civil Aviation Act 1982.
 Air Carrier Liability (No 2)
Regulations 2004.
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1927 Flight Route Planning Toolkit
3.3 Using the information that you have gathered in Task 3.1 and 3.2, now analyse any potential legal risks there may be in launching the new routes from
DOH [450 words]
Some of the potential legal risks that could be faced by QATAR AIRWAYS while launching new routes from DOH are as mentioned:
Compliance risk: It is termed to a legal risk that could be faced by a company due to noncompliance with statutes and internal policies that are essential
to be applied. Because of the risk, QATAR AIRWAYS can face financial losses as well as legal penalties while launching new routes from DOH. The risks
often result in potential exposure to financial forfeiture, legal penalties addition to material loss causes by failure to act as per laws of the nation and
prescribed industrial practices (Khadonova, Ufimtsev, and Dymkova, 2020). Common kinds of compliance risks that may implicates the business against
launching the practice or route includes privacy breaches, illegal practices, process risks and environment concerns.
Reputational risk: It is another potential legal risk that QATAR AIRWAYS can face at the time of launching a new route from DOH. The risk can impact loss
of brand name as well as standing of venture in new nation. If the potential risk will arise then the company has high chance to face damage in aspect to
failure in meeting expectations of key stakeholder and people perceive its facilities in a negative manner. It can harm clients along with investor trust as
well as erodes target customer base resulting to hindering business sales in determined route.
Dispute risk: It is said to legal risk arising in case of disputes that causes among partners, stakeholders and customers of company. In aspect to QATAR
AIRWAYS, dispute risk can result in litigations as well as can put the venture into bed of thorns prior to launching the new route from DOH. In case, if the
risk arises it can result in damaging business relationships, reputations along with cost the business valuable time addition to resources. In a business,
dispute risks denote any disagreement that hasn't yet resulted in litigation
Non contractual obligations: It is potential legal risk which can be faced by managers of QATAR AIRWAYS while launching new route from DOH. Herein,
certain damages are caused to rivals because of infringement of trademark or copyright done by the corporation in due course of proceedings. Another
damages, for example, negligence, misrepresentation along with claims for unjust enrichment at the time of carrying out practices of launching new
routes at cross-border leads to non-contractual obligation. It is an internally coherent element of the law of obligation that causes damage of
compensation which is not bound by the contractual relationship.
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1927 Flight Route Planning Toolkit
Task 4: Create a draft marketing plan for the promotion and sale of these three routes (20%)
4.1 Before we can put a route on sale, we need to decide how much to sell our tickets for. Using Skyscanner or a price comparison tool of your choice, find
three other airlines that operate this route (this will most likely be with connections) and find out how much they are marketing tickets for on this route.
DOH-MEX DOH-MVD DOH-CWL
Economy Option 1 5365 7715 10, 072
Economy Option 2 4275 6475 11, 999
Economy Option 3 4275 5865 15, 465
Business Option 1 15099 26425 17, 800
Business Option 2 18599 22095 20, 500
Business Option 3 20777 22095 20, 700
First Option 1 25565 37095 21, 700
First Option 2 24585 35800 25, 500
First Option 3 21399 30500 30, 485
4.2 Based on information gathered in Country Navigator as well as your own research, fill out the following table as to who you are going to target
marketing your new routes to. Remember that this is predominantly for the 2022 World Cup.
DOH-MEX DOH-MVD DOH-CWL
Key target market Tourist, religious, business, and in-
transit passengers of Mexico.
Personal and people looking for no
frills connectivity between cities at
low ticket prices of Montevideo
Travellers of Cardiff which are
ambitious, positive and open-
minded
Main marketing channel Selling through intermediaries Social Media marketing Referral Marketing
Marketing strapline Fly the friendly skies Low fares. Nothing to hide which is
TransFarency.
Traveling across globe by making
dreams coming true.
4.3 In order to attract a new audience to your flights, it is often the case to link up with a partner when starting a new route. Suggest a marketing partner
for each of these new routes and justify a reason as to why you have chosen each of these partners
DOH-MEX DOH-MVD DOH-CWL
Marketing partner and reason why Other airlines as it enhances Social media platforms, including Media partners as they broadens
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1927 Flight Route Planning Toolkit
chosen flexibility and potential value of
company miles considerably
(Abeyratne, 2017).
Facebook, Instagram and others as
they spread information fastly to far
distant audiences.
reach of organisational customer
base, saves money and increase
market exposure.
4.4 Using 200 words per route, using the elements from 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 create a marketing plan including tag lines and the pricing of your key cabin in the
route – the beginnings of this will be in a Student Based Activity.
DOH-MEX
Marketing plan for the route DOH-MEX of QATAR AIRWAYS is as follows:
Executive summary: It provides a quick overview of key points of the plan, a synopsis of organisational working, what it plans to do as well as how it
plans reach there.
Goal of the route: With DOH-MEX, goal of QATAR AIRWAYS is to offer special interline tickets along with often engage population of Mexico in extensive
code sharing.
Tag lines: For the route, tag line of the company is “Nonstop You”.
Target customers: QATAR AIRLINES with route of DOH-MEX targets customers are male and female of different age group who prefers to travel distinct
destinations.
Pricing of key cabin route: For the route, prices set by the company is 3,759.06 United Arab Emirates Dirham. For this, skimming pricing strategy is
selected as to charge higher prices at the initial stages and then lower them with time.
Marketing strategy: To promote the route, the company can opt PR and affiliate marketing for monetize good word-of-mouth.
Budget allocation: For the route of DOH-MEX, QATAR AIRWAYS has allocated budget of 522687.08 United Arab Emirates Dirham
Control: To control the overall marketing plan, benchmarking is the tool for controlling. It is the practice of comparing processes as well as performance
metrics of business to industry bests together with best practices from other companies (Brown Jr, 2017).
DOH-MVD
Marketing plan for the route DOH-MVD of QATAR AIRWAYS is as follows:
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1927 Flight Route Planning Toolkit
Executive summary: It is the document prepared for business purposes. Managers of QATAR AIRWAYS prepares it for devising marketing plan for route
that is DOH-MVD.
Goal of the route: With DOH-MVD, goal of QATAR AIRWAYS is to provide best international connectivity for people of customers of Montevideo.
Tag lines: For the route, tag line of the company is “To the globe of an unbelievable vacation”.
Target customers: QATAR AIRLINES with route of DOH-MVD are people of Montevideo preferring more travel and have high usage rate.
Pricing of key cabin route: For the route, prices set by the company is 1,09,627.20 Uruguayan Peso. For this, penetration marketing strategy is opted for
attracting target customers to a new route by offering at lower price.
Marketing strategy: To promote the route, public relations is used by the airways to develop positive brand image in the media.
Budget allocation: For the route of DOH-MEX, QATAR AIRWAYS has allocated a budget of 547891.25 United Arab Emirates Dirham.
Control: To control the overall marketing plan, key performance indicators is effective as it gauges organisational performance against a set of targets,
objectives and competitors in industry.
DOH-CWL
Marketing plan for the route DOH-CWL of QATAR AIRWAYS is as follows:
Executive summary: In QATAR AIRWAYS, the purpose of Executive summary is to provide a condensed version of the main document that is the
marketing plan.
Goal of the route: For DOH-CWL, Goal of QATAR AIRWAYS is to enhance market share even as demand for air travel has all but disappeared.
Tag lines: For DOH-CWL, tag line of QATAR AIRWAYS is “Where will tomorrow take you”.
Target customers: For the route, target customers are younger customers, specifically people between 18 and 44,
Pricing of key cabin route: QATAR AIRWAYS has set pricing for the route of DOH-CWL that is 1,027.57 Pound. Economy pricing strategy is effective to set
price for the route as in this, the route will gain revenues on the basis of number of customers purchasing the tickets for the route.
Marketing strategy: Referral Programs is considered marketing strategy for the route DOH-CWL of QATAR AIRWAYS as it helps in leveraging
recommendations of happy customers and recognize brand loyalty of customers.
Budget allocation: For the route of DOH-CWL, QATAR AIRWAYS has allocated a budget of 875469.25 United Arab Emirates Dirham.
Control: For controlling the marketing plan of the route DOH-CWL, QATAR AIRWAYS opts for customer feedback so to monitor the experiences of
customers with the route.
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