Airline Strategy (Pt. 1): Passenger Preferences
It is perfectly possible to completely ignore this tip, however doing so will probably cause some trial and error. In this tutorial we will address a first step into deciding what airline strategy we're going to use. We're going to take a look at different passenger types and their preferences. There are 2 ways you can divide passengers in this game: per class, or based on whether they are tourists or business passengers. Their preferences are based on what combination they are.
Tourists or Business?
You can try to satisfy both, but that probably won't be very succesful as their preferences don't overlap that well.
Tourists often prefer cheaper flights and don't care as much about in-flight services. Still, there is a minimum set of needs. You won't have many tourists flying long haul if you don't give them food and some entertainment. Tourists fly to holiday destinations, which are often (not always!) smaller and cheaper airports. Also, the amount of tourists and what destinations they fly to vary based on the season. Be sure to check the demand page. Tourists preferably take off in the afternoon and land in the afternoon or (late) evening. Early morning departures should be avoided, unless it's the only way to land during day time. Tourists aren't that difficult when it comes to frequency, a once weekly flight is already enough to satisfy them. A second weekly flight is already a big plus. Tourists that go on a city trip are slightly thougher. They want at least 2 weekly flights that are evenly spaced out (preferably friday evening and sunday evening).
Business passengers on the other hand are much less price sensitive. However, they request a better in-flight service. Business passengers often fly to bigger and more expensive airports. The demand throughout the year is more stable, which makes it easier to schedule flights for them. Business passengers have different departure/arrival and frequency preferences based on the length of the flight. Business passengers usually don't fly on weekends. The busiest days are Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. On short haul flights, most of them prefer to fly during rush hours (morning: 06:00-10:00; evening: 17:00-20:00). On these short flights, they prefer to fly out in the morning and fly back home in the evening. If that's not possible, most of them are willing to put up with a frequency as low as every 2 days, everything less becomes very risky. For long haul flights, they are more than happy with a daily frequency. They still prefer to land or take off during the morning or evening. Like I said, business passengers are less price sensitive. This also means that they are willing to pay a lot more for flights leaving and arriving at convenient times.
Economy, Premium Economy, Business and First Class
The differences are easier and more obvious. The higher the class, the better service seat and seat pitch they want. The longer the flight, the more passengers are willing to fly in a higher class. The classes you choose also have to do with what kind of passengers you attract. Business passengers are more likely to end up in higher classes than tourists.
