Airline Ticket Pricing The basis of airlines competition for passengers and a larger share of the market are based on:
i. Frequency of service and departure schedule on each route served ii. Price charged, relative to other airlines, to the extent that regulation allows for price competition iii. Quality of service and products offered ‐‐airport and in‐flight service amenities and/or restrictions on discount fare products Passengers on the other hand choose combination of prices, flight schedules and product quality that will maximize the utility of taking a flight. Therefore, it is in the interest of each passenger to have the best service for the lowest price possible on a flight that departs at the most convenient time (Peoples, 2012). Price elasticity is a measure of how responsive consumers are to price changes or consumers' price sensitivity to changes in price. From the law of Demand, we know for certain that an increase in the price of a product will always result in a decrease in the amount demanded and vice versa. That is, we know the direction of the change. Price Elasticity answers the question: When price goes up, how much does the quantity fall. Knowledge of price elasticity helps a firm to accurately forecast the impact of price changes on unit sales. Price elasticity also helps the firm determine an optimal pricing strategy to max profits. The understanding of the price elasticity of demand for a given company's services can guide the firm in making these decisions (Peoples, 2012). With pricing being one of the most critical and important decisions that a firm comes across, elasticity becomes the key to calculating the optimal pricing. The pricing strategy used in airline business is called price discrimination. Here firms charge different customers different prices for a service. This is dependent on the different customers' price