An investigation on the factors influencing passengers' loyalty in the North Cyprus national airline

Abstract

PurposeThe aim of this study is twofold: first to diagnose service quality perceptions of airline passengers and then links these perceptions to their satisfaction and repurchase intentions, specifically in a new emerging market in the Mediterranean region, North Cyprus. Airline transportation is a major and the most extensively used way to reach North Cyprus, as it is an island state; thus it is important to know passengers' quality perception regarding any quality improvement.Design/methodology/approachA recently developed, industry‐specific, 43‐item scale (AIRQUAL) based on eight distinct dimensions: airline tangibles, terminal tangibles, personnel, empathy, image, customer satisfaction, repurchase intention, and word‐of‐mouth communication fit well in this study, maintaining its reliability, validity and dimensionality issues. The sample of the study consisted of customers using the national airline company of North Cyprus, who were selected through the non‐probability judgmental sampling technique. A total of 583 questionnaires were found to be useful and data from these questionnaires were tested through SPSS and LISREL statistical software.FindingsA rigorous statistical test indicates a reasonable fit of the eight‐factor model to the data on the basis of a number of fit statistics. Results revealed that, among the quality dimensions, “airline tangibles” was found to be the most significant to affect both customer satisfaction and repurchase intention. Findings also showed that customer satisfaction is positively related to repurchase and word‐of‐mouth intensions.Originality/valueSince airline transportation is a major and the most important way of reaching North Cyprus, the results of this study provide important insights to practitioners and the tourism ministry about how marketing strategies can be designed to manage service quality perceptions and how the airline industry can use the service quality concept to formulate marketing strategies effectively.