What you'll study
The course encourages students with an enthusiasm for commercial aviation, to develop and expand their understanding and engagement, and to raise aspirations for management and positions of leadership that will shape the future of the industry. The course offers an opportunity for individuals from a broad range of subject interests, experiences and backgrounds to immerse themselves and to develop the knowledge, skills and capabilities required to chart a successful career within the aviation industry.
Drawing on the expertise of the teaching team, the course brings together management and transport systems theory, economics, aerospace engineering, logistics, transport geography, regulation and safety, to provide a progressive learning journey culminating in a holistic appreciation of the complexities of the global aviation ecosystem. Our course team offer academic expertise and practical industry experience and seek to immerse the student in applied learning, utilising simulation, practical activities and exposure to industry.
This innovative course threads together the aviation ecosystem with business awareness, strategic thinking, technical understanding, and operational application, by embedding research and current practitioner inspired teaching and industrial engagement. Students are guided through the foundations of aviation management towards a focused and applied business and operational appreciation, and the course is actively supported by guest lectures from expert industry practitioners and leaders. Visits to airports and airlines operations provide opportunities for students to bring their learning to life.
Year one
Your first year aims to provide you with a fundamental understanding of the aviation ecosystem, a foundation of business management, economics, finance and data analytics, airport planning and design and an introduction to aeronautical engineering.
Modules
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Foundations of Aviation Business Economics and Data Analysis
This module aims to introduce you to the functional aspects of business organisations with a fundamental understanding of financial and economic aspects of aviation management. It examines how demand and supply for aviation services is generated, and considers airline and airport costs, revenues, pricing; alongside an investigation of key economic and financial performance, trends and developments in aviation management.
Compulsory
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Introduction to Aviation Ecosystem and Project Management
This module offers a holistic introduction to the aviation industry as a complex system comprising a large number of components and stakeholders, all interconnected by the need to comply with global and national regulations, and interdependent on each other to operate safely, efficiently and sustainably. This module also aims to introduce you to fundamental concepts of project management, applied within the context of the aviation industry.
Compulsory
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Airport Planning and Design
This module aims to provide you with an understanding of the airport as a complex entity, comprised of multiple stakeholders and components, and subject to both numerous regulatory requirements and to pressures essential for sustainable development. Via interaction in a group-based project resulting in two in-class presentations, you will also have the opportunity to develop effective project management skills.
Compulsory
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Fundamentals of Aeronautical Engineering and Flight Theory
The aim of this module is to give you a broad introduction to the fundamental concepts and approaches of aeronautical engineering. It covers the principal characteristics of modern aircraft propulsion, hydraulic and avionics systems together with the essentials of aircraft structures and aerodynamics. The connections between theory and practice are realised with emphasis being on the application of knowledge rather than on exposure to advanced science and mathematics.
Compulsory
Year two
In the second year we focus on airport operations, maintenance management, aviation safety, logistics, marketing and air service development and predictive analytics
Modules
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Global Logistics and MRO Management
This module considers the nature of Global Logistics and Maintenance Repair and Overhaul operations and investigates how they are managed. Drawing upon concepts of integrated logistic support, this module examines how strategic and tactical decisions of stakeholders (logistics and forwarding companies, suppliers, maintenance and engineering organisations, airlines, etc.) can be optimised to meet the current and future changing demands of the air transport industry.
Compulsory
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Aviation Safety, Security and Airport Operations
This module conducts an in-depth analysis of the major components comprising an airport, and how each contributes to the efficient operation of the airport as a complex system. It will introduce you to the critical operational functions of safety, security and emergency planning within the aviation industry, and how these requirements have evolved as the industry has developed and confronted new threats.
Compulsory
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Airline Marketing and Air Service Development
Marketing is a core business function in any industry. Airlines operate in a highly competitive environment and marketing and route development is considered vital for the wellbeing of the airline industry and the commercial air transport system. This module seeks to evaluate and apply marketing theory to an industry specific context using specialised software to support management decision making.
Compulsory
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Predictive Analytics for Aviation
This module aims to enable you to effectively deploy contemporary approaches to predictive analytics to support pricing and revenue management; demand estimation and behaviour analysis for revenue optimisation and offer end-to-end customer solutions. It will also develop the competence needed to effectively apply forecasting and econometric tools in business planning and decision making for aviation stakeholders.
Compulsory
Final year
During your final year, we will take a strategic and global approach to the aviation industry and focus on developing critical thinking, research and innovation skills culminating in the completion of a dissertation project. The skills of project management are taught and practised as part of a team, as well as within the context of individual research and development. We place particular emphasis on developing your skills in the use of IT systems, analytical techniques and the application of all taught aviation knowledge, which are progressively developed throughout your studies. The course culminates with your individual research project. Past students on this course in the UK have examined the sustainability of long-haul low-cost carriers, the rise and development of all-business-class airlines, and the usefulness nowadays of the in-flight safety demonstration.
Modules
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Aviation Strategy and Finance
The future of the aviation industry depends on sustainable strategic and policy decisions by all stakeholders in the industry to meet the contemporary challenges facing the global aviation industry. Within this theme, you will be introduced to advanced strategic and financial management decision analysis tools that aim to enable you to evaluate and develop sound and financially feasible corporate, business and functional level strategies.
Compulsory
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Airline Scheduling and Operations
This module will introduce you to the strategic challenges associated with managing the complex and unpredictable airline operational environment. Maintaining the network schedule lies at the heart of all airline operations management decisions, alongside ensuring that service quality standards are maintained and revenue is retained and maximised. As well as examining how airline schedules are constructed and the operation maintained, the module introduces simulation to demonstrate how planning and logic can be tested to support optimised operational decision making.
Compulsory
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Strategic People Management in Aviation
This module introduces you to the strategic challenges associated with the management of people in the aviation industry. The role of the Human Resource function within an organisation is considered and contextualised to address some of the issues posed by the global and regulatory frameworks that govern the nature of the aviation industry. This module provides an overview of some theoretical perspectives of Human Resource Management (HRM) and explores current areas of debate to demonstrate how the effective management of people is a crucial component in enabling airlines in particular, to seek sustained competitive advantage.
Compulsory
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Aviation Management Dissertation
This module aims to provide you with an opportunity to apply and develop your research skills and to extend your knowledge, understanding and critical thinking. You will choose an appropriate academic topic or an applied aviation industry problem and utilise your independent learning skills to research this area in-depth and provide recommendations with relevance for practitioners. As part of this module you are required to submit an online ethics application and to obtain ethical approval for the research project that you are proposing to undertake. Support and guidance will be provided by a project supervisor who will be the primary point of contact for this module.
Compulsory
