The assurance of customer satisfaction is an increasing challenge for airline companies.

Bridging the gap between passenger expectations and the perceived image of service quality

is a permanent problem that is in the need to be optimized. Therefore, it is indispensable for

the company to identify these gaps and develop strategies to increase customer satisfaction.

Thus, the purpose of this study is to identify gaps between perceived and required service

quality, and strategies to increase customer satisfaction. Consequently, the customer as well as

the company perspective shall be considered carefully. The theoretical foundation for this

dissertation can be referred to the service quality model of Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry

(1985). To illustrate the coherencies and provide actual data from the reality, the cases of the

airline companies Air Berlin, TUIfly and Lufthansa are chosen. By conducting a survey,

quantitative data was collected from the customer. In order to collect data about the company

perspective, qualitative methods like an interview and secondary information from the

companies’ homepages are used.

Based on the cases of the three airlines, specific gaps are identified. From this, concrete needs

for action and strategies on the part of the companies can be derived. The findings of this

study show that core and secondary service quality attributes can be identified. Consequently,

the improvement of certain attributes can be more important than the improvement of other

attributes to increase customer satisfaction. These priorities depend also on the size of a

service quality gap and on the access to company resources.