1. IntroductionTechnological change has a large impact on people living and transportation. Now a day for transportation purpose, people prefer air travel rather than other vehicle to save their time and energy. Population is increasing, at the same time business activity of people is also increasing. These business people need to travel different parts of the country for their business purposes. Now-a-days general people also prefer traveling by air individually or with family, so demand of this airlines service is a increasing. So, high growth is possible in this sector. Traveling by airbus is little bit costly, so only upper class and upper middle class people can afford this. In spite of little bit high cost, the demand of a traveling by air is increasing day by day. As a service oriented company this increasing demand has inspired to establish a new route.

2. Origin of the ReportAs a partial fulfillment of the requirement of final examination in the Strategic Marketing, the preparation of this study was started. Strategic Marketing is an important course in EMBA program. This reported has made as assignment of our course curriculum. In this study I concentrated on some particular topics like, Biamns new route in Dhaka-Sydney and their strategic plannig.

3. Objectives of the StudyThere are basically two objectives to prepare a report. One is primary objective and another is secondary. The objective is to observe the marketing plan of a new route in Biman Bangladesh Airlines. The secondary objective is to prepare this report to fulfill course requirement of Strategic Marketing.

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4. MethodologyIn this report both Primary and Secondary sources of data have been used. These are Primary sources- Information collected from the officials of Biman. Secondary Sources: Published report, Internet.

5. About the OrganizationBiman was formed on 4th January in 1972 and that time its name was Air Bangladesh International. Now its commercial name is Biman Bangladesh Airlines Ltd. Slogan of Biman: Your Home in the Sky Biman is now paying attention to making, the airline more attractive to the traveling people by fixing the priority on two objectives. One is to provide more comfort to the passengers and the other is to maintain schedule regularity. The airline has already brought some qualitative changes in its ground and in-flight services. Biman has built its own ancillary and maintenance facilities. Presently Biman does entire maintenance work on its F-28 aircraft. Biman is also doing its own C-check, D-check on DC-10-30s and Airbus A310-300 in its wide body hangar at Dhaka. Checks, repair and maintenance of one DC-10-30, one wide bodied Boeing and two F-28 aircraft can be done at a time in Biman's own wide body hangar. Biman Flight Catering Center (BFCC) - modern flight kitchen of the airlines, has the capacity of producing 8500 meals a day and is providing excellent cuisine not only to Biman but also to some other international airlines operating to and from Dhaka. To meet the growing needs of Biman's manpower, Biman Bangladesh Airlines Training Center (BATC) has been training its ground, flight service and technical personnel since its inception.

The airline's Reservation and Departure Control System and other communication systems have been fully computerized. Biman is continuously making effort for office automation in order to improve the traffic productivity. It is also making effort to introduce Computerized Revenue Accounting in order to raise real revenue. In addition to Biman's own aircraft, the

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experienced ground-handling units also providing support for number of foreign airlines at Zia International Airport (ZIA). Biman Poultry Complex, a potential subsidiary of Biman was formed in 1976 and was put into operation in November 1980 to create a profit earning concern to augment the cash flow of Biman. The complex is situated at Ganakbari, Savar, Dhaka, 40 km North-West of Dhaka City.

Keeping pace with trends and technology of the time coupled with a perspective plan for the future which embraces all aspects of an international airline and overall improvement in situation, the carrier is now confidently looking forward to the future.

Mission: To improve the quality of life of people by proving comforts and conveniences at affordable price.

Vision: To be most admired and respected family company in the country.

Value StatementTreating the employees with respect, in recognition of their contribution, as they are the assets of the company. They will ensure that high standards and quality are maintained in everything they do.

6. Market SituationBiman will become a secured home in the air for its passenger. Since 1972, it has no modern aircraft, well equipment, skilled office personals and efficient management team to provide best quality services to its customer. The main customer is the upper and middle class people. Biman has several flights at several times and dates to 8 districts of the country and 26 destinations in the world, so that their customer can enjoy their services easily.

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Biman Bangladesh Airlines is the largest one. It is a public ltd. company but autonomous which is a domestic and international flight service provider. Biman is trying to provide high quality service to its customers but sometimes it has been failed due to inefficient management and insufficient aircraft and government involvement. As Biman is the market leader in our country, the sales of the industry is increasing day by day, because population is increasing and at the same time demand of airline service is also increasing. For international transport, the market share of the Biman and others airlines industries in the country are given below. Company Biman Bangladesh Airlines GMG United Ltd. Royal Airlines Ltd Best air Ltd Airlines Bengal Share 80% 13% 3% 2% 2%

The sales of the industry are not remarkable increasing day by day.

Year2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Sales in BDT Million19400 21500 23400 24800 26600

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It has 39 stations in which 10 stations in Bangladesh and 29 stations in abroad. All activities of the company have been maintained by skilled, experienced and professional stuff. Biman has following aircraft. Type of Aircraft Number DC-10 A 310 F-28 Boeing-737 Boeing-747 4 2 2 2 (Wet leased) 2 (Wet leased)

7. SWOT AnalysisSWOT analysis is important for making strategy. It helps the organization to identify how to evaluate its performance.The elaboration of SWOT is strength, weakness, opportunity and threat. The SWOT analysis of Biman Bangladesh Airlines Ltd. is given below.

Strength:o o

Biman is a well known brand name I Bangladesh and world wide. Geographically Bangladesh is in good position for airlines business. It is the earliest organization of airlines industry of this country and for international transportation. Price is comparatively lower that others airlines At present it has 10sales centers and above 2000sales agents.

o o

Weakness:o

Insufficient aircraft causes the delay flight schedule and sometimes they cant have to cancel the flight schedule. We did not see any effective and creative advertisement on behalf of Biman so that people can rank the Biman as first choice in transport.

o

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o

We have seen in the past year that Government and staff union made problem in establishing corporate strategy.

Opportunity:o o

Biman has an opportunity to find new destination alongside existing route. Recently management has taken decision to by new generation aircraft for Biman. In that case, they will overcome the flight schedule problem.

Threat:o

The airlines of South East Asians like Singapore Airlines, Malaysian Airlines, and Australian Airlines etc are the competitors of Biman. Lack of the Air craft is the major threat of this industry.

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8. Competitive Analysis8.1 Competitive ReviewThe purpose of a competitive review is to identify key competitors, describe their market position and briefly describe their strategies. GMG: GMG Airlines provides domestic, regional and international services to their customers. They also provide quality service to their customers in small extent. GMG Airlines operates on three domestic, three regional and two international routes. They have feet of three aircraft connecting five countries, regional and international. Since the commencement of operation GMG has operated over 8000flights with 90% dispatch reliability and flown over 220,000 passengers to their destination. United Airways Ltd.: United Airways (BD) Ltd., a leading private sector airlines founded by Non-resident Bangladeshis. United Airways currently operates from Dhaka to Chittagong, Jessore, Sylhet, Coxs Bazar and Kolkata. The airlines plan to start flight operation on Dhaka-Katmandu, Dhaka-Kuala Lumpur, Dhaka-Dubai and Chittagong Bahrain routes shortly. The united feet

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is equipped with two modern, State-of-the- art Dagh 8 aircraft for operation within the country and regional routes. The company plan to induct two mid haul aircraft by end of this year.

8.2 Analysis of Competitors Strategies: They have well equipments, skilled personnel, and efficient management team to provide best quality service to their customers.

They used one type of aircraft which lower in cost because of the fuel efficiency ofthe aircraft. All the aircrafts are combined with the ability to standardize maintained and operational procedures.

Both GMG and United Airways Ltd. have managed to be the low cost provider anda preferred employer. They are enjoying high leveled of customer satisfaction and strong customer loyalty.

9. Objective and Marketing Strategies9.1 Objectives: To provide best quality services to the customers. To become one of the most successful airlines companies in the world. To attract new customers to make our airlines more profitable one.

To make people know about our safety, convenience measures.9.2 Marketing Strategies9.2.1 Positioning: Biman Bangladesh Airlines occupied a solid position in the minds of upper-middle class, middle class and lower class Bangladeshis air travelers as a reliable, convenient, fair and lowcost airline.

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9.2.2 Product Strategy:The marketing strategy of Biman Bangladesh Airlines is to attract customers of all level with the best quality service. They emphasize on their branded product strategy-offering the most reliable and convenient on time services. The brand name on the product gives it a unique identification in the market place. A successful brand develops strong customer loyalty over time. The brand and logo will be displayed on the product and its packaging and reinforce by its prominence in the introductory marketing campaign.

9.2.3 Pricing StrategyBiman Bangladesh provides the best quality service at the lowest possible cost. So that people of all classes in the society can enjoy their services. For customer convenience Biman Bangladesh offers business and economy class fares. Their fair is lower than other private and international airlines. Biman Bangladesh offers group fare, agent commission to encourage agent for issuing new route.

9.2.4 Distribution StrategyBiman has several booking offices at many districts in the country, so that customers can easily manage ticket from their own district. It has about 300 travel agents all over the country who sell Biman tickets.

9.2.5 Marketing communication strategyBiman Bangladesh gives emphasis on advertising and public relation process. The PR & Communication Department of Biman Bangladesh plays the key role of advertisement, public communication, promotion, event management sponsorship and others. With the coordination of other departments this department also covers many things like public affairs, community relation, press conference, internal communication and a lot of behind the scenes, no-public activity

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9.2.6 Action programs

Advertisement

Newspaper

Billboard

Television

Radio

Biman Bangladesh Airlines publish colander, diary and distribute these products to their individual customers and corporative customers. Biman Bangladesh has 39 booking offices and including Sydney office it will be 40 offices all over the world. It offers 7% commission to their agencies for selling tickets. Customer can make urgent reservation if necessary with little bit higher fare but no penalty will be given to the customer for canceling the reservation before two hour before the departure of the plane. Features One year validity f tickets No minimum stay. No flight restrictions. Priority in wait listing.

Choice of payment through cash or credit card (Visa and Master card only) No blackout period Reservation can change without penalty. Free baggage charge is 20kg for each person.

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10. Financial ProjectionsBiman Bangladesh will have three flights in a week in their new route. First year it will give some promotion to their customers. Next year its sales volume will increase above 20%. According to the demand Biman will increase its flight services to Dhaka-Sydney route. On that route it will be used the wide-boded aircraft which consists of 380 passengers. First year the fare of an adult will be USD 1200.00 for return trip and USD 650.00 for one way. After one year it will be increased according to its demand. Children, Infant and Student will get 25%, 90%, 25% discount respectively on the adult fare. With this flight schedule Biman will carry approximately 75,000 after one month and that will earn revenue of USD 60 million. In cargo business it is generally assumed that the revenue of cargo is of passengers revenue. So the total revenue of that route will become USD 90 million.

11. Implementation ControlsFor implementing the marketing plan it has been include a budget schedule and provide a managerial assignment for every action program. The monthly comparison of the sales volume and other functions will be analyzed through action programs. For better functioning a temporary plan will be provided and will be looking forward for future modifications.

12. ConclusionBiman has been carrying passenger through it has a lot of problem and limitation. The rate of carrying passengers is reasonable despite being broken down of the schedule frequently. In the long term, which would be very harmful because this schedule problem deteriorating the image and goodwill of Biman. Biman has to be very is careful about flight schedule and marketing strategies then the passenger flow will be increased and Biman will be profitable organization.

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ReferencesBooks:

Strategic Marketing By David W. Cravens & Nigel F. Piercy, 8th Edition Principles Of Marketing By Philip Kotler & Gary Armstrong, 4th Edition

Web Resource:

www.bimanair.com

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