الفهرس 
Research ProblemOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 188 |  |  |
| | | from | 188 | | |
Abstract
The aviation sector has become the most important segment in the economic development of a nation. It plays a vital role in moving people or products from one place to another, whether domestic or international, especially when the distances involved are far. In a highly competitive environment the provision of high quality services to passengers is the core competitive advantage for an airline’s profitability and sustained growth (Archanan, 2012). In the past decade, as the air transportation market has become even more challenging, many airlines have turned to focus on airline service quality to increase service satisfaction. Service quality conditions influences airline’s competitive advantage by retaining passenger patronage, and with this comes market share. Delivering high-quality service to passengers is essential for airline survival, so airlines need to understand what passengers expect from their services. Service quality can be defined as a passenger’s overall impression of the relative efficiency of the airline and its services. Understanding exactly what passengers expect is the most crucial step in defining and delivering high-quality service. Service quality is one of the best models for evaluating passengers expectations and perceptions (Jones, 2004).
Passenger satisfaction service arises when a company can provide passengers with benefits that exceed passengers expectation and this is considered value-added. If customers are satisfied with the product or service, they will buy more, and do so more often. Passenger gratification is an essential goal for each airline providing passenger services. The on board experience is still something special for the customer. The customer has a wide choice to select the suitable airline product according to their requirements. Therefore, airlines are continuously working on the in-flight product development and innovation to differentiate themselves from competitors. During the last few years a variety of in-flight product innovations have entered into the market. This includes the aircraft seat on long haul flights as an important product element which is continuously being improved and renewed according to its life cycle and changing customer requirements. The current development of business class seat roll-outs shows the significance of this product element which influences the buying decision of the passenger especially on long haul flights. If the passenger is not satisfied, due to the negative experience, the client will reconsider the buying decision for further flights and will probably switch to another airline. This kind of situation belongs to the daily business in the passenger airline industry (Chang and Keller, 2002).