AE25188 Conceptual Aircraft Design Spring 2017

TARGET MARKET AND TARGET DESIGN REQUIREMENTS

Awad Abdella Sano1, Dong-min Joo1, Eun-yoo Jeong1, Hyo-won Kim1
Pusan national university1

Abstract

This paper describes Quality Function Deployment(QFD) based on analysis of Africa aviation market. Recently,
to design aircraft with purpose of opening direct flight development, Engineering Characteristics and Customer
Characteristics are analyzed by 80-passengers interview. Also, Boeing 787 that operated most in Africa and A-380
is comparative analyzed. Thus, Factors of main design variable is selected and Medium-sized aircraft design is set
to fly only in Africa.

Key Words: Africa, Target market, Quality Function Deployment (QFD), Engineering characteristic, Customer
requirements, Direct flight
AE25188 Conceptual Aircraft Design Spring 2017

. Introduction 2.2.1 African-route analysis

This market survey, published by the students of A lot of direct flights are readily available in most of
Aerospace Engineering at PNU in association with European and Asian countries. For example, for a flight
Professor Lee; head of AIRCRAFT DESIGN course. from Athens to London (Figure 3), the journey will be
The market report is based on survey of more than 80 direct, take three and a half hours, Europeans dont need
passengers, person-to-person interviews and existing visa, flights are always available and the airfares are
records on African aviation markets. reasonably affordable as well [2].
Africas aviation and airline market has kept on Yet the situation when travelling across Africa is quite
struggling while the aviation industry flourished in other different. Travels with in Africa unusually require number
regions. Africas airline sector has continuously failed to of transit stops. The airfares are also exaggeratedly high.
achieve decent results over the last decade. The A trip from Algeria to Cameroon is a journey that has
continent has a huge potential market and can be
unlocked with careful analysis of market conditions and
make market corrections accordingly.
This survey analyzes the airline industry in Africa and
tries to explain the reasons behind the lack of
Fig. 1. Annual net profits/losses (in USD billion) for African airlines [1]
success. Furthermore, It gives an opinion on what an
airline industry should focus to tackle unprofitability
in this challenging market. It also translates the
survey findings in terms of Aircraft design parameters
that would improve profitability in a particular region. Fig. 3. London-Athens Fig. 4. Algeria-Cameroon

the same distance as London-Athens as shown in Figure

. Market research and
Interpretation
2.1 African position in global
aviation market
It has been observed that the airline sector in the Fig. 2. Africa vs global industry year over year RPK growth [1]
global market has improved significantly in the past years
and is expected to show a further improvement in 2016.
On the other hand, the African airline sector has
remained stagnant without any sign of progress. African
airline companies have faced a continuous loss in
Billions of dollars in the last consecutive years [1]. 3 and Figure 4. Surprisingly, there is no direct flight
between there tow African countries. The fastest route,
which is via Istanbul, takes 24 hours and involves three
Figure 2 represents Africa vs global industry year over
separate takeoffs and landings (Figure 5). The
year RPK growth from 2010 to 2016 [1]. The market
economical route can take up to 30 hours, half the time
comparison is notably clear in Figure 2 where the African
it took the Virgin Atlantic Global flyer to circulate the
RPK has fallen in the last 4 years.
whole earth. Adding to this irony, the Cameroon-Algeria
EgyptAir has suffered losses of almost two billion flight costs 80 percent more than London-Athens one.
dollars within the last five years. This happened due to This is truly a disturbing paradox [2].
that fact that Egypt had suffered from political insecurity.
As the majority of African population is low income
Kenya Airways had also faced a staggering consecutive
society, it is important to note that high ticket prices are
thee year loss. During 2008 and 2015 period, the rest of
highly discouraging for passengers to use air travel and
Africas airline sector (excluding ETH airlines) has
results in low ticket sales. This results in airline
suffered losses of about 1.5 billion dollars [1].
companies to avoid expanding in African routes.

2.2 Market condition

 AE25188 Conceptual Aircraft Design Spring 2017

Table 1. 2015 Boeing Aircraft deliveries to African

airline [3]

Airplane type Deliveries in Africa

Large Widebody -
Medium Widebody 40
Small Widebody 260
Single Aisle 830
Regional Jets 40
Total 1,170

2.2.2 Aircraft traffic delivery report

According to Boeings market outlook [3], medium
sized (Single Aisle) aircraft were the ones with the most
number of deliveries (830) in 2015 as shown in Table 1.

2.2.3 Market size and potential

Table 3. 2015 Boeing Traffic and market figures
Right after South Africa opened its doors to Kenyan [3]
airlines, the number of passengers increased by 70%.
When South Africa established traffic rights with Zambian
airlines, flight tickets reduced by 40% and passenger
World Economy (GDP %) 4.5% 3.1%
numbers increased as much [2].
According to a study by the International Air Transport Airline Traffic (RPK %) 5.7% 4.9%
Association (IATA) forecast, if just 12 of Africas Cargo Traffic (RTK %) 6.9% 4.7%
economies opened flight routes to each another (showed Airplane Fleet (%) 4.5% 3.6%
in Figure 6), fares would drop by up to 35% and an extra Table 4. 2015 Boeing RPK data in Africa [3]
5 million Africans could afford to fly [2]. An additional
155,000 new jobs would be created and 1.3 billion RPKS in billions
Year Africa-Africa flight RPKs
Fig. 5. Current Algeria-
2007 37.3
Cameroon flight Path 2008 41.6
2009 43.9
dollars would be added to the GDP. These are staggering 2010 48.7
numbers for an industry that currently supports around 7 2011 51.1
million jobs and more than 80 billion dollars in GDP 2012 54.5
across Africa [2]. 2013 53.7
2014 56.6
Table 2. 2015 Boeing market size in Africa [3]
2034 206.4
2014-2034 6.7%
Market Size in Africa
As inferred from Table 2-4 [3], there is a lucrative
Deliveries 1,170
market for the aviation industry in Africa. It simply
Market Value ($B) 160
requires the choosing the right investment options. As a
Average Value ($M) 140 result niche marketing (to adjust flight conditions and
Unit Share 3% airfares to suite specific customer group-African
Value Share 3% passengers) is recommended for African aviation sector
as it results in profit by low prices and high sales.

2.2.4 Target market

Fig. 6. Map of total economic impact on 12

countries stimulated by liberalization [2]
AE25188 Conceptual Aircraft Design Spring 2017

As mention in the first section, African position in

Global market, firms may ask themselves if they should
avoid Africa as a Target market. Avoiding African market
might sound plausible except for Ethiopian airlines, which
has emerged as the largest airline group in Africa
following consistent profitability and growth. Ethiopian
Airlines is the largest African airline with revenue more
than $2.3 billion in 2013. It has generated average net
profits of about $ 800 million while other African airlines
had a continuous loss of $ 1.5 billion from 2008 to
2013 [1].
The Airlines both revenue passenger kilometer (RPK)
and capacity availed (ASK) grew almost by 100% for the
last five years as shown in Figure 7. It showed 15%
capacity and 14% passenger kilometer (RPK) increase
from the previous year [4].
 AE25188 Conceptual Aircraft Design
Fig. 7. Revenue passenger kilometer (RPK)
and capacity availed (ASK) grew [4]
Fig. 2 Africa vs global industry year over year RPK
growth [1]
Figure 7 and Figure 2 shows the sheer magnitude of
success difference between Ethiopian airlines and other
African airline carriers.
Operating revenue generated in this fiscal year has
shown a 14% increase and 18% passenger revenue
increase compared to previous year (Figure 9 and Figure
10) [4].
Fig. 9. Operating revenue & net profit (ETB
millions) [4]
Spring 2017
Fig. 10. Revenue by business segment [4]
How did Ethiopian airlines become
the most profitable airlines
company in Africa? (Quora)
customers voice
Fig. 11. Customer voice 1: Jamal Bradley (Quora)
[5]
Fig. 12. Customer voice 2: Daniel Gerber (Quora)
[5]
The customer voice shows the satisfaction level of the
passengers with Ethiopian airlines. They have mentioned
that its affordability and high route network made it a
favorable choice [5].
Target route and reason behind
choice
Ethiopian has been focusing most of its
Table 5. Airline passenger requirement survey
expansion on Asia.
Ethiopian airlines is planning to make Addis
Ababa a transit hub for the rest of African
countries.
AE25188 Conceptual Aircraft Design Spring 2017

AIRLINE PASSENGER REQUIREMENT SURVEY

Addis Ababa hub to meet growing demand for IMPORTANCE

PASSANGER REQUIRMENTS
RATING (1-5)
Asia-Africa traffic, particularly from China as
shown in Figure 8. The Ethiopia-Asia market is Quality of services - in-flight services
relatively small but Ethiopians Addis Ababa hub
Responsiveness - Provide promptly services
is ideally positioned for connecting traffic from
to passengers
Asia to Africa.

Ethiopian airlines has displayed outstanding
success rate.
There is a high demand of low cost flight
among developing African countries.
Comfort Seat comfort and boot space
Quality of food and beverage meals on
board

According to International Air Transport The punctuality of flights and ground services
Association (IATA) forecast, if just 12 of Africas
economies opened flight routes to each
Airfares price - Is the price reasonable?
another (showed in Figure 6), fares would drop
by up to 35% and an extra 5 million Africans
Ticket flexibility
could afford to fly [2].
Decoration - Interior design of a aircraft and
air-hostess

Onboard entertainment services

Flight safety

Speed of flight preference of quick flights

Amount of allowed baggage

No of transit stops
IF YOU DO RETURN TO AN AIRLINE, WHY WOULD
Fig. 13. Target route [2] YOU SO? (CHOOSE ONE)
In-flight and ground services
2.2.5 Customer behavior and
Airfares price
attitude
Flight safety
2.2.5.1 Customer survey Onboard entertainment Services

To analyze the customer voice and translate to Speed of flight

engineering requirements we prepared a survey No of Transit stops
questionnaire and collected data from 80 customers IF THE AIRFARE IS HIGHER THAN THE OTHERS,
from African passenger market pool. We used Google- WOULD YOU CHOOSE THE AIRLINE STILL
Form to survey passengers from all over the continent. BECAUSE OF THE IMPRESSED SERVICES BEING
PROVIDED?
The survey was taken in March, 2017. The survey format
Yes
is shown in Table 5.
No
2.2.5.2 Survey data ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
AE25188 Conceptual Aircraft Design Spring 2017

Fig. 11 Survey result

2.2.5.3 Analysis of the survey result Fig. 15 Relation b/n Passenger Rq. and Airline Rq.
63% of the customers said they would return to an
airline just for price reasons. 79.9% of the customers
said they wouldnt choose an airline just due to the fact
that it provides better service. For these figures, it can be
inferred that the most significant parameter for African
travelers is price and not comfort (see Fig.14).
The survey shows that airline passengers from Africa
prefer lower airfare rather than choosing better services
with higher airfare. This can mean for aircraft designers
need to sacrifice comfort parameters (boot space, seat
size, luggage space, etc..) of a plane and stack more
passengers in an aircraft to reduce the cost of plane
tickets and promote sales.

2.2.5.4 Conversion of passenger

customer requirements to airline
customer requirement
AE25188 Conceptual Aircraft Design Spring 2017

2.2.6 Quality function

deployment(QFD)

Fig. 12. Quality function deployment [6]

AE25188 Conceptual Aircraft Design
2.2.7 QFD data analysis
Relationship among engineering
characteristics
2.2.7.1 Stall speed
Stall Speed is a speed when maximum lift is less than
weight of an aircraft. When an angle of attack(AOA) is
larger than that wing can bear, stall occurs and the
aircraft falls. Stall speed is also affected by the
conditions of air and Gross Weight. Reducing the gross
weight can lessen the minimum lift required to keep the
plane on air but is unfavorable for higher Payload. When
Stall speed is slow, the aircraft can take off and landing
with lower speed and it makes minimize Take off run and
Landing Distance. We should increase Maximum Lift
Coefficient to decrease Stall Speed [7].
2.2.7.2 Thrust
In constant flight speed, the minimum amount thrust is
equal to Drag. Minimizing the drag makes aircraft fly with
less fuel and improves Fuel efficiency. On the other
hand, Gross Weight negatively influences the effect of
thrust on the plane. Therefore, it is advantageous to
reduce Gross Weight but not necessarily the payload.
Keeping all the parameters same, increasing the thrust
will result in a higher speed [8].
2.2.7.3 Smoothness of Surface
Smoothness of Surface highly affects drag, so it is a
determining factor of fuselage drag and lift to drag Ratio.
When the surface texture of an aircraft gets smooth, the
fuselage drag is lessened. That makes aerodynamic
efficiency better. This characteristic can be a help to
reduce Take off run and landing distance [9].
2.2.7.4 Lift to Drag Ratio (L/D)
Lift to Drag Ratio L/D is a criterion of aerodynamic
efficiency. The larger L/D means lesser drag when lift is
same. Induced drag caused by lift has a functional
relation to Aspect Ratio and Area of Wing. That means it
also has a relevance to Smoothness of Surface. When
we increase L/D ratio, we improve fuel efficiency and
increase Payload [10][11].
2.2.7.5 Mobility
Spring 2017
Maneuverability of an aircraft is measured by its
centrifugal inertial resistance while making a round turn.
The lift generated by wing acts as a centripetal force
during turn. At this moment, to maintain turn ratio, the
aircraft should keep velocity and maintain altitude during
turn. The constant n multiplied by weight(W) for turn
ratio is optimized when the aircraft flies at the Lift
Coefficient of Maximum Lift to Drag Ratio. This
relationship is described in Equation 1.
Equation 1
From the equation, it is advantageous to less Gross
Weight but not to Payload. Meanwhile, large Aspect Ratio
that makes larger rolling moment to overcome affects
bad effect to Mobility [12][13].
2.2.7.6 Wingspan
Wing span is distance between two wingtips. The span
is determined by shape of wing and sweep back angle.
That is why Wingspan is dependent to Aspect Ratio. Also,
proper sweep back angle makes better lateral stability
and it means they have positive relevant. Meanwhile
large wingspan makes large lift that corresponds to low
cruise speed. The negative aspect of a large wingspan is
that it adds to the gross weight [14][15].
2.2.7.7 Gross weight
Gross weight of aircraft is the total aircraft weight at
ground. This include that fuel, engines, wings, body, tail
vertical tail and horizontal tail. Gross Weight has positive
relation with Wing Span, Safety Factor, Thrust Specific
Fuel Consumption (TSFC). But Max Lift Coefficient, Initial
Drag Coefficient and Stall Speed are negative related
with Gross Weight. Gross weight is important factor of
flight. so, Aviation will consider associate Gross weight
with Cruise Speed, Maximum Speed, Payload, Range and
Space Utilization [16].
2.2.7.8 Initial Drag coefficient
It is same as Parasite Drag coefficient and composed
of form, friction and interference drag [17]. When the
Initial Drag coefficient reduce, its easy to go out with
less mount of thrust. Thus, efficiency of fuel will be
better with lower Initial Drag coefficient. In a same
manner, cruise speed, maximum speed and range will be
increased.
AE25188 Conceptual Aircraft Design
2.2.7.9 Strength
It is strongly related to Safety Factor. It's decided by
its material characteristic. The strong airplane can
endure fracture and fatigue. Considering the general
material such as metal or aluminum, duralumin is lighter
but it has higher hardness [18]. But its more expensive.
So, it causes purchasing cost higher. However due to its
hardness, life span will be longer.
2.2.8 Competitor investigation
In Africa, Ethiopian airline is the largest company. That
is why we choose them as our customer. The most used
airplane in Ethiopian airline is Boeing 787-Dreamline due
to its efficiency. The second most used aircraft is Airbus
A380. Both aircrafts are very comfortable, and we
marked 5 points. AS fare price is our priority, our aircraft
is assumed to sacrifice comfort to provide more space
for additional passengers and will set restriction to the
personal space in the cabin. Although the payload and
cruse speed of A380 is larger, the 787-Dreamliner is
better at fuel efficiency. Africa market is relatively small,
and thus it does not require large aircraft like A380.
Therefore, we chose Dreamliner as our design model
[19].
. Conclusion
After analyzing all the data and survey reports, we have
come to understand that the need of direct route flights
that interlink African countries is crucial to the
profitability of African aviation market. Africa aviation
market has untapped potential and results in huge
profits if the aircraft is designed according to the needs
of African passenger requirements. The information we
collected has signified that an aircraft with the most fuel-
efficient design and high payload would be the best
option for this lucrative market because it lowers airfare
suiting the African economic standard. Cutting comfort
and personal space can be a viable option to increase no
of passenger per aircraft. Our design requirement will
reflect on bringing this necessity into reality.
. Reference
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Spring 2017
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AE25188 Conceptual Aircraft Design Spring 2017

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