BreezyAir has decided to develop a group of companies beginning with the BreezyCafé concept in 2018: Sustainable Business Strategy, Report, University of Roehampton Business School, Singapore

BreezyAir

BreezyAir is a low fare airline that operates a number of routes within the Asian market. Founded as an independent airline in 2008, BreezyAir currently operates services to regional destinations in Asia and India. The airline was founded based on the belief that reduced prices would lead to more people flying. BreezyAir’s prices are low, for instance, a return flight from Singapore to Phuket costs between $65 to $120.  Flights, with an airline offering a full customer service package, could cost around $250 upwards.

The organisation’s main base is at Singapore Seletar Airport from where flights to Asian destinations such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Tokyo, Chennai and a few destinations in China are available. The airline also flies Malaysian domestic routes from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu and Kuching.

In 2018, BreezyAir operated on over 100 routes in 15 countries throughout Asia and have 42 aircrafts. According to figures published by the Civil Aviation Authority in 2018, BreezyAir was the third largest budget airline in South East Asia, measured by the number of passengers flown for the second year in a row. Serving over 20 million passengers in 2018, BreezyAir was truly set to turn the whole of Asia ‘breezy’.

Connecting flights are not part of BreezyAir’s product offering. The airline merely carries passengers to and from single destinations. This allows the airline to eliminate costly ticketing processes as well as intermediaries, such as travel agents. The company operates a paperless office policy and non- ticket flights. Simply by ringing the company’s telephone number or using the company’s Internet site customers can book a seat immediately by credit card. In December 2018, 85% of bookings for a major promotion were via the Internet. Although a confirmation of the booking will be sent if requested, customers only have to produce identification at the airport and quote the booking reference number to be given a boarding pass for their flight.

BreezyAir flights are ‘free seating’. Passengers are not allocated a specific seat when they check-in, instead they are given a boarding card that carries a priority number. The first person to check-in gets boarding card No. 1, the next passenger, boarding card No. 2, and so on. Customers are then asked to board according to the order in which they checked-in occupying whichever seat they wish. The result is that passengers board the plane faster and tend to sit down faster than is the case when they have to search for an allocated seat, as is the situation in the more traditional airline operations. The faster passengers board an aircraft, the quicker the plane can take off and the less time it spends on the tarmac. This results in reduced airport fees.

Question

BreezyAir has decided to develop a group of companies beginning with the BreezyCafé concept in 2018. The company decided to keep the brand name ‘Breezy’ for its café business. The company has undertaken a strategic review and one of the strategic areas is to look for opportunities to grow the business further through diversification.

You have been asked to provide advice on issues that need to be considered when making decisions on the organisation’s branding strategy for the group as a whole as it diversifies into other businesses over the next 10 years.
KIE