Table of Contents
Executive Summary
-
- The market
-
- Figure 1: Forecast of total airline passenger volume, China, 2010-20
- Companies and brands
- The consumer
- Who are likely to be the high-frequency flyers?
-
- Figure 2: Times of travelling by air in the past 12 months, May 2015
- Official website is the most popular purchasing channels for both airlines and travel agencies
-
- Figure 3: Channels used when buying plane tickets, May 2015
- Chinese consumers focus on travel efficiency, with on-time rate as their top consideration
-
- Figure 4: Consideration factors when choosing flights, May 2015
- Consumers most willing to pay for the commute from/to the airport
-
- Figure 5: Services that consumers are willing to pay more for, May 2015
- Full-service airlines also have opportunities to introduce “pay what you want” pricing structure
-
- Figure 6: Attitudes towards airlines and air travel, May 2015
- Consumers prefer international airlines for long-haul travel and family trips
-
- Figure 7: Preference of domestic and international airlines, May 2015
- Airlines have opportunities to offer more convenience via mobile apps
-
- Figure 8: Attitudes towards frequent flyer programmes, May 2015
- Meet the Mintropolitans
- Key issues
- How to make the frequent flyer programme more attractive?
- High efficiency becomes a key demand in air travel
- How can international airlines further compete with domestic airlines?
- What we think
Issues and Insights
-
- How to make the frequent flyer programme more attractive?
- The facts
- The implications
- High efficiency becomes a key demand in air travel
- The facts
- The implications
- How can international airlines further compete with domestic airlines?
- The facts
- The implications
Market Size and Forecast
-
- Key points
- Volume of airline passengers enjoys a healthy growth over 2010-15
-
- Figure 9: Volume of airline passengers, by segment, China, 2010-15
- Figure 10: Volume share of airline passengers, by segment, China, 2010-15
- More air traffic volume coming from the West of China
-
- Figure 11: Volume share of total airline passengers in China, by region, 2012-14
-
- Figure 12: Number of civil aviation airports in China, by region, 2012-14
- Forecast
-
- Figure 13: Forecast of total airline passenger volume, China, 2010-20
- Figure 14: Forecast of mainland airline passenger volume, China, 2010-20
- Figure 15: Forecast of Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan airline passenger volume, China, 2010-20
-
- Figure 16: Forecast of international airline passenger volume, China, 2010-20
- Forecast methodology
- Key market drivers
- Opportunities raised by “One Belt One Road” strategy
- Growing demand for leisure travel
- Further development in low-cost airlines
- Key challenges of growth
- The slowdown of Chinese economy
-
- Figure 17: GDP growth rate vs volume growth of airline passengers in China, 2010-15
- Even worse flight delay issues
Market Share
-
- Key points
- The “big three” lose shares under severe competition
-
- Figure 18: Market share of airline companies, by passenger volume, China, 2012-14
- China Southern Airlines is catching up in the international segment
-
- Figure 19: Volume share of airline passengers of the “big three”, by segment, 2014
- Figure 20: Volume share of airline passengers of the “big three”, international segment, 2012-14
- Hainan Airlines and Sichuan Airlines have witnessed the largest expansion
Companies and Brands
-
- China Southern Airlines
-
- Figure 21: Main subsidiaries of China Southern Airlines, by 31 December 2014
- China Eastern Airlines
- Air China
-
- Figure 22: Main subsidiaries of Air China, by 31 December 2014
- Hainan Airlines
- Spring Airlines
- Sichuan Airlines
- Juneyao Air
Who’s Innovating?
-
- Key points
- Launching themed safety videos to add fun to the flight
- Hainan Airlines has pioneered in using jet fuel made from gutter oil
- More efficient boarding processes launched by international airlines
- International airlines offer more in-flight entertainment through passengers’ mobile devices
The Consumer – Frequency of Flying
-
- Key points
- Definition of flying frequency
- Who are likely to be the high-frequency flyers?
-
- Figure 23: Times of travelling by air in the past 12 months, by age, May 2015
-
- Figure 24: Times of travelling by air in the past 12 months, by demographics, May 2015
- Women are taking more flights than before
-
- Figure 25: Times of travelling by air in the past 12 months, by gender, May 2015
The Consumer – Channels Used When Buying Plane Tickets
-
- Key points
- More consumers are buying directly from airlines than travel agencies
-
- Figure 26: Channels used when buying plane tickets, May 2015
- Most purchases still take place on websites
-
- Figure 27: Channels used when buying plane tickets, May 2015
- High-frequency flyers buy more plane tickets via apps
-
- Figure 28: Channels used when buying plane tickets, by flying frequency, May 2015
-
- Figure 29: Purchase channels of buying plane tickets, “via mobile apps”, by gender, May 2015
- Consumers from tier one cities rely more on travel agencies
-
- Figure 30: Channels used when buying plane tickets, by city tier, May 2015
The Consumer – Consideration Factors when Choosing Flights
-
- Key points
- On-time rate is the top consideration factor
-
- Figure 31: Consideration factors when choosing flights, May 2015
- Chinese consumers are efficiency-driven
- Opportunity to trade up low earners with more flexible refund conditions
-
- Figure 32: Consideration factors when choosing flights, “The ticket is refundable/changeable”, by monthly household income, May 2015
- Younger consumers value more in-flight catering
-
- Figure 33: Consideration factors when choosing flights, in-flight catering and entertainment-related, by demographics, May 2015
The Consumer – Services that Consumers Are Willing to Pay More for
-
- Key points
- Consumers are most willing to pay for the commute from/to the airport
-
- Figure 34: Services that consumers are willing to pay more for, May 2015
- Leverage in-flight Wi-Fi to show the brand as a standard setter
- Introduce more ‘local food’ in-flight to entice passengers
- Keep consumers most updated when there is a delay
- Theme flights may be a good “surprise” for mid- to low-frequency flyers
-
- Figure 35: Services that consumers are willing to pay more for, “Theme flights”, by flying frequency, May 2015
The Consumer – Attitudes towards Airlines and Air Travel
-
- Key points
- Opportunities for airlines to introduce “pay what you want” pricing structure
-
- Figure 36: Attitudes towards airlines and air travel, May 2015
- Consumers are paying more attention to in-flight experiences
-
- Figure 37: Attitudes towards airlines and air travel, May 2015
- Make more affluent consumers part of the marketing force
-
- Figure 38: Attitudes towards airlines and air travel, “I like sharing my flight experience on social networks”, by monthly personal income, May 2015
- Consumers from the South are more willing to pay for refundable tickets
-
- Figure 39: Attitudes towards airlines and air travel, “I prefer to buy the tickets that are a bit more expensive but refundable/changeable”, by region, May 2015
The Consumer – Preferences of Domestic Airlines or International Airlines on Different Occasions
-
- Key points
- Consumers prefer international airlines for long-haul travel and family trips
-
- Figure 40: Preference of domestic and international airlines, May 2015
- Low-frequency flyers are more likely to be indifferent to the airlines
-
- Figure 41: Domestic airlines vs international airlines, “No difference”, by flying frequency, May 2015
The Consumer – Attitudes towards Frequent Flyer Programmes
-
- Key points
- Airlines have opportunities to offer more convenience via mobile apps
-
- Figure 42: Attitudes towards frequent flyer programmes, by flying frequency, May 2015
- The need to reward medium-frequency flyers
-
- Figure 43: Attitudes towards frequent flyer programmes, by flying frequency, May 2015
The Consumer – Meet the Mintropolitans
-
- Why Mintropolitans?
- Who are they?
-
- Figure 44: Demographic profile of Mintropolitans vs Non-Mintropolitans, by gender, age and personal income
-
- Figure 45: Demographic profile of Mintropolitans vs Non-Mintropolitans, by marital status, city tier and education level
- Mintropolitans take more flights than non-MinT
-
- Figure 46: Times of travelling by air in the past 12 months, by consumer classification, May 2015
-
- Figure 47: Channels of buying plane tickets, by consumer classification, May 2015
- Mintropolitans wants to know more culture background in-flight
-
- Figure 48: Services that consumers are willing to pay more for, by consumer classification, May 2015
- Offer unique experiences to attract Mintropolitans
-
- Figure 49: Selected attitudes towards airlines and air travel, by consumer classification, May 2015
Back to top