Consulting Consulting
Consulting Finance General
Login Sign up for free Sign up for free
Consulting Finance General
Community
Meeting Board
Consulting Q&A
Interview Partner
Premium Membership
Coaching
Coaches
Coaching Packages
Consulting Q&A
Resources
Case Interview Basics
Case Library
AI Casebot
Tests & Guides
Mental Math Tool
Stress Questions
Drills
Video Tutorials
Brainteaser
Career
Employers
Career Events
Consulting Jobs
Consulting Blog
Sign up for free
Login
Community
Meeting Board
Consulting Q&A
Interview Partner
Premium Membership
Coaching
Coaches
Coaching Packages
Consulting Q&A
Resources
Case Interview Basics
Case Library
AI Casebot
Tests & Guides
Mental Math Tool
Stress Questions
Drills
Video Tutorials
Brainteaser
Career
Employers
Career Events
Consulting Jobs
Consulting Blog
Schedule mock interviews on the Meeting Board, join the latest community discussions in our Consulting Q&A and find like-minded Interview Partners to connect and practice with!
Meeting Board
Consulting Q&A
Interview Partner
Premium Membership
Back to overview
Kiga
on Aug 26, 2019
Global
I want to receive updates regarding this question via email.

market sizing: Avg price of flight ticket in a country? How to calculate?

3
4.5k
46
Write an answer
Be the first to answer!
Nobody has responded to this question yet.
Top answer
Ivan
on Aug 30, 2019

A few thoughts on this:

  • Price differs by airline: full service carrier vs. low cost airline
  • Price differs by flight duration: short flight vs. long-haul flight
  • Price differs by booking class: first class, business class, coach 
  • Price is dependent from available alternatives (trains etc.) and geography 
  • Price is connected to free disposable income and willingness-to-pay 

Calculation scheme:

  • Let's assume any European country.
  • Price indicated as round-trip tickets.
  • European flights:
    • Coach:
      • 50 EUR for low-cost airlines (Ryanair)  
      • 150 EUR for full service carriers (Lufthansa, BA)
    • Business:
      • Let's assume low-cost airlines do not have business class.
      • 300 EUR
    • No first class on European flights
  • Medium/long-haul flights:
    • Coach:
      • Low-cost airlines: 600 EUR
      • Full service carriers: 1,200 EUR 
    • Business:
      • Full service carriers: 5,000 EUR
    • First:
      • Full service carriers: 10,000 EUR
  • Let's talk about proportions:
    • Percentages by Coach/business/first:
      • European flights: Assume an average jumbo jet has 40 rows, 5-6 rows are dedicated for business travellers. Which leads to:
        • Economy: 85% 
        • Business 15% 
        • First 0%
      • Medium flights:
        • same as above
      • Long-haul flights: Consider 777,787,A380:  600 passengeer seat capacity on average per flight. 40-60 passengers in the business class (10%). 5% in the first class. Which leads to:
        • Economy: 85%
        • Business 10%
        • First 5%
  • European flights are dominated by low-cost airlines, therefore:
    • Average coach price will slightly above the price for the low-cost airlines, e.g. 80 EUR
    • Low cost carriers provide no business class, therefore the business class ticket will cost on average 300 EUR
    • The average price on European flights will be therefore: 80 * 0.85 + 300 * 0.15 = 68 + 45 = 113 EUR
    • Sanity check: average price on German railways is between 50-200 EUR
  • Medium and long-term flights are more dominated by full service carriers
    • Average coach price will be somewhere between 600 and 1,200 EUR. More on the upper bound: 1000 EUR
    • Business class ticket will cost on average 5000 EUR
    • First class: 10000 EUR
    • Which leads to 1000 * 0.85 + 5000 * 0.1 + 10000* 0.05 = 850 + 500 + 500 = 1850 EUR 
  • Consider now the split between European and medium/long-haul flights. Local flights have significantly higher frequency at the airports, therefore we assume 70% of flights are European flights. Which leads to 113 * 0.7 + 1850 * 0.3 = 79.1 + 555 = 634.1 EUR
4
0 comments
riiupw
edited on Dec 15, 2019

Hello! What is the best way to get from Turkey to the UK? Of course, I am going to fly by plane, but which is the best airline to choose? Do I need a visa there? By the way, where is it better to stop? renting an apartment or book a hotel? in any case, I will need a <a href=https://postcodefinder.net/england/london>London postcode map</a>, can anyone advise me a good one?

0
0 comments
Ian
Coach
on Dec 31, 2021
Top US BCG / MBB Coach - 5,000 sessions |Tech, Platinion, Big 4 | 9/9 personal interviews passed | 95% candidate success

Hi there,

Providing some market sizing thinking for anyone revisiting this Q&A:

Remember that there's rarely a "best" answer with market sizing. What's important is that you break down the problem the way it makes sense to you. Importantly, break it down so that the assumptions you make are the ones you're most comfortable in.

For example, do you know all the major brands? Great go with that. Do you understand all the segments of that country's population (either age or wealth or job breakdown)? Go with that. Do you know the total market size of the tourism (or hotel) industry? Then break it down that way.

Some tips:

  1. Just like in a case, make sure you understand the question - what are you really being asked to calculate
  2. Decide whether a top-down or bottom-up approach is best
  3. Figure out what you know you know, and what you know you don't know, but could estimate
    1. This helps you determine how to split out buckets
  4. Stay flexible - you can start with a "high-level" market sizing, but gauge your interviewers reaction....if it looks like they want you to do more...then go along level deeper in terms of your splits
0
Contact coach
0 comments
Similar Questions
Consulting
I got a take-home case from a company. It is so generic. How should I approach this?
on Sep 28, 2024
Global
6
2.0k
Top answer by
Florian
Coach
1400 5-star reviews across platforms | 600+ offers | Highest-rated case book on Amazon | Uni lecturer in US, Asia, EU
58
6 Answers
2.0k Views
+3
Consulting
How to avoid excessive detail when market sizing?
on Apr 24, 2025
Global
5
400+
Top answer by
Daniel
Coach
Ex-McKinsey, Bain & Kearney | 5+ yrs consulting, coaching & interviewing | 95%+ candidate success
11
5 Answers
400+ Views
+2
Consulting
How many primary teachers are there per 28 students
on Jun 06, 2024
Global
6
1.1k
Top answer by
Pedro
Coach
Bain | EY-Parthenon | Former Principal | 1.5h session | 30% discount 1st session
32
6 Answers
1.1k Views
+3
Related Article
Market Sizing
Questions about market size are frequently asked in case interviews in consulting because they require a blend of logic, mathematics, and common sense. They can be asked as standalone questions or as part of a larger case. Applicants who are familiar with market sizing questions can really perform here. What Are Market Sizing Cases?If you're applying to top consulting firms like McKinsey, BCG, or Bain, you're unlikely to escape a market estimation case. Market sizing cases are considered "back-of-the-envelope" calculations because they can be done on the back of an envelope. Despite the name, it's not just about estimating market sizes; other estimations may also be asked for.For example, if you're discussing a British clothing retailer's growth strategy, you could calculate on an envelope how large the online clothing market is and what percentage of the market the retailer already penetrates. If you perform these calculations quickly, the conversation with the client stays fluid, leaving a good impression.You can receive the question about market size as a standalone case (although this is less common) or as part of a more comprehensive problem, such as market entry. The good news: There's no right or wrong answer when it comes to the question of market size. The interviewer is less concerned about the specific number you come up with for the market than the approach you took to arrive at that number. Why Are Market Sizing Cases Commonly Used in Consulting Interviews?Market Sizing Cases are used to test your quantitative and logical abilities. The interviewer wants to ascertain whether you work well with numbers and if you can make informed assumptions and deal with ambiguities. Questions about market size aren't just about the size of markets; they also involve other types of estimations, such as the number of golf balls in a jumbo jet. As you may have noticed, math is crucial in tackling these questions since you don't have a calculator to rely on. Most importantly, you need to be comfortable dealing with large numbers like millions and billions as well as percentages. More on that later. How Do You Best Approach Market Sizing Cases?Now that we understand the theory behind Market Sizing Cases and their relevance to your case interview, let's take a closer look at the process.Segmentation – The Key to Market Sizing CasesIf you've done some reading on case interviews before delving into market sizing questions, you might have come across areas where segmentation is necessary. Segmenting data is a crucial skill you must master as both a candidate in a case interview and in your later career as a consultant. Segmentation generally refers to dividing a larger whole into smaller parts or segments. The principle you need to understand to do this correctly is the MECE principle.MECE stands for "mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive." Simply put, segmenting a group of data according to the MECE principle means forming subgroups that do not overlap but collectively cover the entirety of the data, meaning no data is missing. An example useful for market sizing questions is dividing a country's population into age groups (as different age groups often behave differently).Below is a breakdown into Group 1 in the age range 0 to 14, Group 2 in the age range 15 to 64, and Group 3 for everyone over 65: Note that none of the groups overlap, so no age is counted twice, but also no age is overlooked. Now that the population is correctly segmented, we can treat each group differently. If we had divided the population of the United Kingdom into the aforementioned groups, we could estimate clothing expenditures per person in these groups in online retail. Common sense suggests that expenditures per person in the 0-14 age group are lower than in the 15-64 age group. We can justify this estimation by noting that the majority of 0-14-year-olds do not purchase their clothing online. 
View article
Related Case
Expert case by
Ian
Based on Bain 1st Round Case (2023): Last Mile Delivery
5.0
4.1k times solved
Advanced
Interviewer-led
Open case
Similar Questions
Consulting
I got a take-home case from a company. It is so generic. How should I approach this?
on Sep 28, 2024
58
6
2.0k
Consulting
How to avoid excessive detail when market sizing?
on Apr 24, 2025
11
5
400+
Consulting
How many primary teachers are there per 28 students
on Jun 06, 2024
32
6
1.1k
Everything for Your Career
  • Interview Coaching
  • Q&A
  • Interview Partner
  • Mental Math Tool
  • Interview Drills
  • Stress Questions
  • Blog
Everything for Your Career
  • Interview Coaching
  • Q&A
  • Interview Partner
  • Mental Math Tool
  • Interview Drills
  • Stress Questions
  • Blog
Popular in Consulting
  • Case Library
  • Meeting Board
  • Case Partner
  • Case Interview Basics
  • Case Interview
  • Consulting Q&A
Popular in Finance
  • Finance Q&A
  • Interview in Investment Banking
  • Investment Banking Salaries
Popular in Consulting
  • Case Library
  • Meeting Board
  • Case Partner
  • Case Interview Basics
  • Case Interview
  • Consulting Q&A
Popular in Finance
  • Finance Q&A
  • Interview in Investment Banking
  • Investment Banking Salaries
Consulting and Finance Employers
  • RWE Consulting
  • Whiteshield Advisory
  • All Employers »
About PrepLounge
  • For Companies
  • For Universities
  • For Coaches
  • About Us
  • Career
  • FAQ
© 2012 PrepLounge
Our servers are powered by electricity from renewable sources.
  • Cookies & Privacy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Imprint
  • Sitemap
  • Contact
How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or fellow student?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
0 = Not likely
10 = Very likely
Submit feedback
Thanks for your feedback! Your opinion helps us make PrepLounge even better.
Close Close and keep on prepping
Want to leave already?
After your registration you have free access to:
12 mock interviews with peers
360.000+ peers in our community
36 exercises (incl. structuring drills, mental math, brainteasers and more)
Video tutorials
Video case solutions
Sign up for free
Questions or Feedback?
Select category
  • Select category
  • General Feedback
  • Case Interview Preparation
  • Coaching
  • Technical Problems
  • Other
Your name
Your email address
Cancel