SWISS International
Air Lines has made
several changes to
its commercial strategy,
with the aim of offering
customers a more
personalised, premium
service.
“Today, we cannot serve
our customers with a ‘one
size fits all’ strategy. We
have to offer our customers
more transparency in
relation to our offers and
products,” Peter Pullem,
SWISS vp of international
sales and marketing, told
TNW in a recent interview
when visiting South Africa.
This forms part of the
Lufthansa Group’s plans to
restructure its sales and
marketing strategy in each
market. “Our strategy in
the B2B space has been
to appoint one sales lead
carrier – for example in
the South African market
it would be Lufthansa – to
represent all five brands;
therefore only one sales
person, representing all the
airline brands, would go out
and call on travel agents.
With regard to B2C
business, SWISS has a
different strategy: each
airline takes care of
its own marketing and
sales for direct bookings
within a market. The core
team is focused on a
particular brand suited to
the different needs of the
traveller. “Our strategy is
to focus on the premium
customer, offering them
a seamless, hassle-free
experience throughout the
value chain, from beginning
to end.
“With these two different
directions, we’re able
to service both our
agency customers and
direct customers more
effectively,” Peter said.
SWISS introduced a
new fare concept for
its European network in
June, aiming to address
the individual needs of
travellers with more fare
options. “Historically,
people travelling in Europe
would use legacy carriers
to connect to different
destinations but with the
rise of low-cost carriers,
things have changed.
People are able to fly pointto-point,
one-way for less.
Today’s travellers have
different needs – some
don’t require luggage
because they’re going on a
short trip and they want to
pay less. With implementing
the new fares Light, Classic
and Flex we want to give
the traveller the option
to book exactly the fare
that meets their specific
needs and to pay only for
the services they actually
require,” he said. The new
fare concept, which doesn’t
apply to intercontinental
passengers, is a good
option for travellers
who want to purchase a
separate ticket for travel
within Europe.
The airline’s commercial
strategy also separated
it from the competition,
particularly with regard to
Middle Eastern carriers,
Peter said. “SWISS is
facing pressure from Middle
Eastern carrier competition,
particularly as Switzerland
has a liberal agreement
with the UAE and Qatar.
We’ve made a conscious
decision to focus on our
unique selling points – our
‘Swissness’, our premium
service – for travellers who
prefer to fly directly from
and to Switzerland.”
SWISS will usher in a
new era in the history of
its long-haul fleet next
January with the arrival of
the first of its nine new
Boeing 777-300ERs, which
will be deployed primarily
on services to Hong Kong,
Bangkok and Los Angeles
from the 2016 summer
schedules. San Francisco,
São Paulo and Tel Aviv
will also receive Boeing
777 service several times
a week. The new aircraft
will seat 340 passengers
(eight in first class, 62 in
business class and 270 in
economy)
