Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / Since the first democratic election in South Africa in 1994, considerable investment has gone into South Africa’s brand. However, this researcher could find no literature on the description of South Africa’s brand personality as perceived by visitors. The purpose of this study is to provide insight into South Africa’s brand personality and encourage researchers to undertake a more in depth study of South Africa’s brand personality. It ultimately aims to assist marketers in differentiating South Africa’s brand and making it more competitive on the world stage. This report also seeks to encourage research in the field of customer service personality frameworks for destinations, based on destination brand personality. The design of this report is qualitative and exploratory. Participants of this study included a group of 15 arbitrarily selected visitors at the International Departure Terminal of Cape Town International Airport. A semi-structured interview was the method used to collect the data. A qualitative analysis included categorising the data according to similar adjectives and descriptions and then determining where best it fits (if at all) with Aaker’s (1997:354) brand personality dimensions. The findings of the research reveal that South Africa’s brand personality can be described in terms of Aaker’s (1997:354) brand personality scale. However, a relatively large number of participants described the personality as immature, contradictory and damaged. The researcher also discovered that there is a weak relationship between the brand personality and the core values of South Africa’s brand as identified by Brand South Africa (Shepherd, 2010a).This led the researcher to conclude that there are deficiencies in South Africa’s brand personality and it is not robust enough to be a sustainable competitive advantage in its current state. This researcher concluded that South Africa’s brand personality has a perceived weakness of inconsistency, is in a developing phase and the perceived personality is not an effective medium through which the country’s core values are being communicated. This research was limited by the relatively low number of participants, the collection of data in one location only and the absence of triangulation. This impacts negatively on the robustness of this research. The data collection also lacked representation across nationalities that would have provided an opportunity to make comparisons of the same. This report is not generalisable and the isolated nature of the research implies that the personality identified cannot be compared with other destination brand personalities to determine its relative strength or weakness. The practical implication of this research is that in identifying visitors’ perceptions of South Africa’s brand personality, marketers can use this information to mitigate the negative perceptions that manifest in the personality and emphasise the positive. The identification of the ‘developing’ nature of South Africa’s brand personality points to an opportunity to shape the brand according to Brand South Africa’s strategic objectives. The finding that traits associated with some of the core values like Ubuntu, Competitiveness and Determination are absent from the personality provides valuable insight into the gap between how the brand is positioned and the perceptions of visitors. The finding of the stereotypical perceptions of African and Western manifesting in the brand personality can be used as valuable insight in a nation branding initiative that aims to change these perceptions. Finally, the brand personality can form the basis of a customer service personality that is unique to South Africa.

De 1987 à 1997, le transport aérien intra-européen a connu un bouleversement institutionnel sans précé-dent avec sa libéralisation, c’est-à-dire le passage d’un environnement très régulé et contraint par les États à un environnement libéral. Au terme de ce processus, toute compagnie communautaire peut opérer n’importe quel vol intra-communautaire et les aides d’État sont interdites, obligeant les compagnies à être financière-ment rentables. La liberté d’accès au marché et l’impératif de rentabilité sont de nature à faire évoluer la géographie des réseaux et donc la desserte des ré-gions européennes par le biais de différentes dynami-ques (développement ou rationalisation des compagnies préexistantes, émergence de nouvelles compagnies, faillites, réorganisation des services publics,…). La libéralisation du ciel européen a effectivement conduit à soumettre l’essentiel de l’offre intra-européenne aux « lois du marché », les services publics étant devenus résiduels (moins de 5% des sièges intra-européens). Pour autant, la concurrence à l’échelle des lignes n’est pas devenue la norme. Elle a certes aug-menté, en particulier sur des grandes lignes domesti-ques jadis très protégées, sur les principales lignes européennes entre régions métropolitaines et sur les lignes nord – sud à vocation touristique. Cependant, le développement de nombreuses nouvelles lignes exploi-tées par une seule compagnie a paradoxalement aug-menté le nombre et la part des monopoles de fait. De nombreuses concurrences n’ont lieu qu’indirectement, soit au travers de filiales étrangères (par exemple Spa-nair appartenant à SAS), soit par des compagnies low-cost opérant depuis des aéroports secondaires plus éloignés des grandes agglomérations européennes (par exemple Hahn au lieu de Francfort). Entre 1991 et 2005, la desserte de l’espace européen libéralisé connaît d’importantes évolutions. D’une part, le volume de l’offre (en sièges) est presque multiplié par deux (+85%, +81% si l’on se limite aux vols intra-européens), soit un taux de croissance annuel moyen de 5,6%. Cette croissance concerne plus l’offre interna-tionale que nationale, qui l’emporte maintenant sur la seconde. D’autre part, la dynamique d’ouverture et de fermeture de lignes est spectaculaire : 1308 créations contre 459 disparitions, si bien que le nombre total de lignes a augmenté de moitié et que le réseau européen actuel est un réseau pour moitié renouvelé par rapport à celui de 1991. Cependant, le poids en sièges des lignes héritées est de 8/10. Le réseau européen actuel est donc quantitativement toujours dominé par les relations historiques, qui constituent l’armature de la desserte aérienne européenne. Les espaces touristiques balnéaires méridionaux ont capté une grande partie de cette croissance (3/10 des nouvelles liaisons, ¼ de l’augmentation générale du nombre de sièges). Si l’on y ajoute le tourisme urbain, on observe très clairement une banalisation du tou-risme aérien. Une typologie évolutive des réseaux à l’échelle des compagnies a révélé des stratégies différenciées et donc des impacts variés en termes de desserte des territoires. Les grandes compagnies nationales ont généralement fortement développé leur offre tout en la concentrant plus encore sur leurs bases aéroportuaires traditionnelles organisées en hubs. Parfois, un second hub a dû être créé pour contourner des problèmes de saturation (Munich en plus de Francfort) ou mieux coller à la demande (Milan en plus de Rome). Les compagnies classiques ont aussi pris des participations dans des petites compagnies afin de pénétrer plus facilement, et à moindre coût, des marchés étrangers. Ces filiales — et leurs réseaux — ont parfois été converties en opéra-teurs régionaux alimentant les grands hubs. Par ail-leurs, diverses petites compagnies ont pu se développer à l’échelle européenne, sortant souvent de leur cadre national classique. Ces développements se sont tantôt faits au bénéfice des villes « de province » (en particu-lier en Grande-Bretagne), tantôt par concentration sur la capitale (en particulier dans les pays où les villes de province ont peu de poids économique et démographi-que). Enfin, des compagnies charters ont transformé leur offre en offre régulière, la rendant plus ouverte au public, au profit des zones touristiques méridionales qui sont ainsi plus facilement accessibles. Mais la plus spectaculaire évolution est sans doute le développement des compagnies low-cost. Celles-ci sont responsables de 4/10 de la croissance de l’offre (en sièges) sur la période 1995-2004 ; elles sont aussi mêlées à 3/10 des nouvelles lignes européennes ouver-tes entre 1991 et 2005. Leurs réseaux renforcent les liaisons entre régions métropolitaines et entre celles-ci et les destinations touristiques. En outre, les régions subcentrales leur doivent la moitié de leur desserte et presque toute leur croissance. De nombreux petits aéroports leur doivent l’essentiel, voire la totalité, de leur desserte et de leur croissance, en particulier dans les régions subcentrales et intermédiaires. Ceci a consi-dérablement modifié les rapports entre compagnies et gestionnaires d’aéroports, plaçant ces derniers dans un rapport de forces qui ne leur est pas toujours favorable. Ces dynamiques viendraient presque faire oublier les décroissances. D’une part, des faillites ont parfois eu un effet négatif marqué sur la desserte des villes, comme nous l’avons en particulier montré pour Bruxelles avec la faillite de la Sabena. D’autre part, les services publics subventionnés semblent être en régression, bien que l’analyse détaillée du cas français montre que la géo-graphie des services publics antérieurs à la libéralisation découlait parfois plus d’exigences politiques locales que de besoins réels. A l’échelle régionale, l’analyse des évolutions par types économiques régionaux montre qu’au-delà de taux de croissance très variés et malgré toutes les dynamiques étudiées, la répartition de l’offre est demeurée assez constante : il n’y a pas de remise en cause de la hiérar-chisation de l’espace européen. Les régions métropoli-taines continuent en effet à polariser une très grande partie de l’offre et sont toujours les points de passage quasi-obligés pour les vols intercontinentaux. Un niveau en dessous, les régions centrales disposent toujours d’une offe honorable, quoique limitée à l’Europe et ses marges. Les régions subcentrales profitent d’une « décompression » des régions métropolitaines et cen-trales et de la dynamique low-cost. Les capitales des pays ex-communistes connaissent un rattrapage et sont repolarisées par l’Europe occidentale. Les périphéries touristiques connaissent un important développement mais pèsent peu globalement. Les autres périphéries et les espaces intermédiaires tendent à se marginaliser, victimes de trop faibles densités économiques et démo-graphiques et d’une contraction des services publics aériens. Enfin, si le développement de lignes transversales entre petites villes est une réalité, leur poids est avant tout local. Celles-ci pèsent en effet peu globalement.

This thesis expands on the literature in the under-researched field of airline risk management by exploring organisational structures and practices of airline risk management systems and their technical and institutional drivers. In particular, it focuses on the phenomenon of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) and its alignment to the requirements of airline business contexts. The theoretical framework informing this study combines structural contingency theory with two strands of institutional theory, namely old institutional economics and new institutional sociology. In this thesis, the phenomenon of risk management is investigated in situ as an organisational practice through a two-stage empirical study. Firstly, an exploratory field study was undertaken in a panel of ten international airlines. Secondly, the field study was complemented with findings from two explanatory case studies. This study explains how in developing risk management systems airlines balance the sometimes conflicting technical and institutional demands of their respective task and institutional environments. The adoption and implementation of ERM in airlines are found to be driven primarily by coercive and normative pressures, and expectations of improved organisational effectiveness and efficiency. This study additionally improves general understanding of the nature of ERM and its coupling and fluidity in the organisational settings of airlines. It lends evidence for systematic variations in roles, uses, and organisational design choices of ERM systems. It shows the interdependent nature of airlines’ ERM systems and other management systems. The study also demonstrates that the adoption of ERM in airlines drives development of new institutions, rules, and routines for comprehensive management of risks. Consistent with the tenets of contingency theory, this study conveys lack of a universally appropriate design of an airline ERM system. The main contribution of this thesis is to assess airline risk management systems, identify core drivers of effective risk management practice, and provide a framework with the aim of guiding airlines in the development of enterprise-wide risk management approaches aligned with the requirements of their institutional and technical contexts. Furthermore, this research overcomes the limitations of previous, mostly quantitative studies of ERM coupling and dynamics in organisations, as it explores and explains the structures, practices, and rationales of airline risk management systems within wider organisational contexts through the use of qualitative methodologies.

There exists no predefined framework for aviation policy making and development. While aviation policy planning in most developed countries comes as a result of institutional and industry coordination and is embedded within other national policies addressing the welfare and growth of the country, it is found that in many cases in less developed countries (LDCs), aviation policy planning is often influenced by political pressures and the interests of fund donors. The complexity of this situation in the developing countries results in aviation plans that represent stand alone studies and attempt to find solutions to specific problems rather than comprehensive aviation plans which fit well the country‘s competitiveness profile and are properly coordinated with other national policies for achieving medium and long-term objectives. This study provides a three-stage policy development framework for aviation strategic planning based on situational analysis and performance benchmarking practices in order to assemble policy elements and produce a best-fit aviation strategy. The framework builds on study results that indicate an association between air transport sector performance and aviation policy strategies, arguing that it is not sufficient to simply describe performance but also to be able to assess it and understand how policymakers can use strategic planning tools to affect the air transport industry efficiency levels. This can be achieved by recognizing the level of the country‘s stage of development and working on enhancing the policy elements that produce better output and induce more contributions by aviation to the national economic development and connectivity levels. The proposed aviation policy development framework is systematic and continuous. It helps policymakers in LDC to manage uncertainty in complex situations by allowing them to defend, correct and re-examine the policy actions based on a forward thinking approach which incorporates the contingency elements of the policy and tracks the developments that can affect the odds of its success. The framework‘s elements and its flow of process are explained by providing an illustrative example applied to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

This thesis deals with those issues in regulation of international air carriage, which are in the centre of interest of passengers. Author focuses on two key legal instruments establishing different regimes of air carrier's liability. The first one is the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air, also known as the Montreal Convention. The second is European regulation no. 261/2004, also known as the Air Passengers' Rights Regulation. The key question is whether these liability regimes are completely separate or they overlap. After introductory chapter, Chapter 2 follows, dealing with historical development of legal regulation in the field of air carriage liability. Evolution of the so called Warsaw system is described and the Montreal Convention and some of the most important European regulations are presented. Next chapter focuses on theoretical aspects of air carrier's liability in the light of Czech civil law jurisprudence. These findings are applied both to the Montreal Convention and to the regulation no. 261/2004. Provisions of the Montreal Convention are examined in Chapter 4. Scope of application as well as the most problematic terms such as "accident" or "bodily injury" are discussed. Some well known courts' findings are presented to demonstrate how...

At the beginning the thesis deals with the financial crisis 2007 which has lead to the economic recession. It introduces the impact of the economic crisis on the travel and tourim industry in general with the focus on the air transport industry. It mentions the particular measures of the airlines against the economic crisis and characterises the important role of IATA during the economic crisis. At the end of this thesis there is a forecast of the further development of the air transport industry.

75 Resume in English Name of the thesis: Rights of passengers in air transport The thesis deals with the legal regulation regarding the rights of the passenger in air transport, including the general regulation of the concluded contract of carriage and the practical possibilities of a passengers to apply their rights in specific situations. In addition to the legal regulation, a significant part of this work represents the judicature not only of Czech courts, but also of the Court of Justice of the European Union, and to a lesser extent, of German courts. In terms of the thesis, the legal regulation is analyzed and identified (in the rage of contract of carriage also comparised with the German legal order), and its problematic aspects are determined and de lege ferenda are presented possibilities for their solution. The main aim of the thesis is to elaborate the current practical and theoretical themes of "transport law" with emphasis on the person's air transport and then to analyze and systematically include concrete rights of a passenger in individual contexts. The thesis is split into four chapters, divided into other subchapters, whereat the first chapter defines basic terms for "transport law", categorizes the transport itself and defines the legal regulation for national, international and European...

Este trabalho propõe modelos matemáticos e heurísticas para a definição da malha de voos de uma empresa aérea, como parte de seu planejamento operacional, visando à maior eficiência de operação frente às restrições relacionadas aos aeroportos, a equipamentos e à demanda. Em especial, é proposta uma função objetivo, baseada no momento de transporte, para a modelagem integrada dos problemas de Programação de Voos e Alocação de Frotas que inclui elementos específicos para a consideração de slots de pouso e decolagem. A abordagem tem aplicação especialmente relevante no âmbito de empresas aéreas de pequeno e médio porte atuando em mercados regionais, cuja malha é composta principalmente por voos de curta duração, em geral operando com aeronaves de pequeno e médio porte. Nestas condições, tais empresas trabalham com margens de lucro limitadas e, portanto, podem-se beneficiar sensivelmente da definição de uma malha mais eficiente e eficaz. Os modelos desenvolvidos, baseados em programação linear inteira e na meta-heurística Ant Colony Optimization, foram aplicados com sucesso ao caso de uma empresa aérea regional, com atuação no mercado brasileiro, possibilitando a definição de malhas alternativas, bem como fornecendo subsídos para a avaliação dos impactos na malha oriundos da utilização de novas aeronaves. / This research proposes mathematical models and heuristics to define the flight mesh of an airline, as part of its operational planning, considering restrictions related to airports, equipment and demand. In particular, an objective function is formulated, based on transport momentum, proposed for the integrated modeling of Flight Scheduling and Fleet Assignment problems that includes specific elements to consider landing and takeoff slots at airports. The approach is especially relevant for small and medium airlines operating in regional markets, with short-haul flights, in general operating with small or medium size aircraft. Accordingly, these companies work with limited profit margins, and, therefore, they can take great benefit from a more efficient and effective flight mesh. The models proposed, based on integer linear programming and on the Ant Colony Optimization meta-heuristic, were successfully applied to the case of a regional airline with operations in Brazil, enabling the definition of mesh alternatives as well as providing information for the assessment of impacts in its flight network arising from the utilization of new aircraft.

A presente pesquisa visa mostrar como a instalação e edificação de um empreendimento urbano, no caso o Aeroporto Internacional de São Paulo/Guarulhos - Governador André Franco Montoro, inaugurado em 1985, induziu a expansão territorial da rede hoteleira e possibiltou a (re) produção de centralidades no Município de Guarulhos. Analisado a partir da Capital São Paulo e no espaço urbano de Guarulhos, como estas transformações espaciais e estruturais implicam no surgimento e expansão dos hotéis, bem como, a concentração de serviços atrelados ao funcionamento e manutenção destes equipamentos, fomentam a (re) produção de centralidades no município de Guarulhos / The present study aims show how the installation and construction of an enterprise urban, on case international airport of Sao Paulo/Guarulhos - governor Andre Franco Montoro, opened in 1985, induced expansion territorial network hotel and enabled the (re) production of centralities in Guarulhos (SP) Passed from the Capital - Sao Paulo and urban space in Guarulhos, how these transformations imply the emergence and expansion of hotels, and the concentrations of services linked to the operation and maintenance of such equipament, foster the (re) production of centralities in the county of Guarulhos

The Master's thesis aims to introduce importance and specifics of emergency airfreight transportation. It focuses on the automotive industry as an industry affected by lean production trends and indicates high requirements on logistics systems. Breach of delivery conditions threatens the continuity of production and can cause heavy financial losses. The thesis analyzes air transport as a solution for such critical situations. From the perspective of a forwarding company specialized in emergency transportation, air transport options and process of organization are described. Research focuses on transport possibilities for a particular route, with emphasis on analysis and comparison of air accessibility and transportation expenses. The obtained knowledge leads to evaluation of effectiveness and the proposal of optimal solutions.