Velvet Sky Essay

Introduction
Velvet Sky Airline is a new low-cost South African Airline which initiated its operations on 18th March 2011. Velvet Sky is based in Durban and plans to accommodate for flights between Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town - “the golden triangle route.” Velvet Sky’s main objective is to provide consumers with good quality, low-cost flights around the country. This encompasses offering consumers the best value for their money and the all-important task of disintegrating the consumer loyalty toward the “stiff competition” already present in the South African airline market, such as 1Time, Kulula.com and Mango.
Competitor Reactions
In order to determine the likely reaction pattern of the competitors to Velvet Sky, a thorough understanding

Mango has reported growth of 71% in capacity growth between 2010 and 2014. 1Time had difficulty in competing with the two competitors, which lead to its ultimate liquidation.
Image and Positioning Strategy
In order to gain a comprehensive understanding of Velvet Sky’s positioning in relation to those of their competitors, the position of those respective competitors need to be assessed.
Kulula.com has adopted a fun, young and modern position that creates the impression that anyone can fly easily and conveniently. Mango claims that their core values entail the affordable and high-quality service provision toward their customers. Due to their prolonged participation in the airline market, these airlines have created the reputation of being safe and reliable. 1Time implemented a low-cost positioning strategy and then attempted to reposition themselves to implement more of a value-for-money strategy, which is depicted in their slogan “more nice, less price.”
Evidently, there is a great supply of “no-frills” airlines in South Africa and all of these airlines accommodate for flights to the same areas. Velvet Sky has little differentiating qualities that makes them stand out amongst their

The national regions of South African concerning the ‘golden triangle’ route is essential in breaking through the barrier into the airline industry. With the ever growing population of South African and the emerging middle class, the growing market size provides opportunities for new airlines to emerge such as Velvet Sky. Market density refers to the number of flights and air traffic through South Africa’s main airport mainly in the ‘golden triangle route’. It is important for Velvet Sky to compete with its competitors, providing sufficient number of flights across the ‘golden triangle’ route. This will benefit the geographic segmentation as it will provide a larger variety and more flight