1.0 Introduction and Background information
Dart Group PLC, by its own description is ?an aviation services and distribution group' . It works in three specialised sectors;
1. Cargo and passenger air transport/travel, on both charter contracts and scheduled services in a ?budget', or low cost market. The cargo company ?Benair Freight International', the airline ?Channel Express (Air Services)'*, and budget airline ?Jet2.com' (a trading name of ?Channel Express') are all owned by Dart Group PLC.
2. Haulage of fresh produce and items with specific temperature controlled needs to supermarkets and wholesale markets within the United Kingdom, via ?Fowler Welch ? Coolchain' and ?Channel Express (channel Islands)'*.
3. Freight forwarding. This takes place at London Heathrow, Manchester, East Midlands and Newcastle airports as well as from locations in the Far East.
The Dart Group has been in operation (under different names) for over 30 years. Over the years it has grown significantly in land, sea and airfreight as well as in air passenger travel. It has formed the ?Channel Express' companies, named so due to the nature of their business; the group also acquired some rival companies to better profits and strengthen their position in the Channel Island, and UK market.
The Dart Group can be seen in today's market by the diagram below
1.1 Rivals
Being in four main sectors (special freight, international freight/freight management, low cost passenger air travel and charter air travel), Dart Groups subsidiaries have many competitors. I will briefly attempt look at these individually, although due to the ...