Strong April from Skopje and Sarajevo

Skopje and Sarajevo grow while Ljubljana sees numbers decline

Both Skopje and Sarajevo recorded strong passenger growth in April, with numbers in both cities surging over 10%. Skopje Alexander the Great Airport handled 74.381 passengers, up 12.3% compared to the same month last year. Macedonia’s second international airport, Ohrid, also improved its figures by welcoming 2.272 passengers through its doors. In the first four month of the year, Skopje Airport handled 262.601 passengers. The airport could soon get a new customer as Bulgaria Air has announced plans to launch services from Sofia to the Macedonian capital. The airline had similar plans several years ago but in the end never launched flights.

Sarajevo Airport also recorded impressive numbers this April. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s busiest airport saw 56.918 passengers go through its doors, up a considerable 14.5% compared to the same month last year. So far in 2013, the airport has handled 165.385 passengers, an improvement of 13.3%. Banja Luka Airport also managed to improve its result by 6.5% as it handled 431 passengers. On the other hand, the airport in Tuzla once again did not handle a single passenger. However, this is about to change. In ten days Wizz Air is set to launch flights from Malmo, Gothenburg and Basel to Tuzla which is set to bring new life to the airport.

Meanwhile, Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport has published its first quarter results. The airport handled 211.843 passengers in the first three months of the year, a decrease of 2.7% compared to the same period in 2012. However, the airport is showing signs of slow recovery. In March it welcomed 81.785 passengers, which was down only 0.9%. With Adria Airways’ figures slowly improving, the airport is expected to have seen its first passenger increase for years in April. The airport’s management estimates it will end the year off with a 2% passenger increase. Numbers will improve in September as Slovenia hosts the European Basketball Championships.

Jat takeover offer by Sunday

Etihad’s takeover process of Jat progresses

Etihad Airways will submit its offer for a minority takeover of Jat Airways by the end of this week. The offer will be submitted to the Serbian government. It will outline the amount of shares the national carrier of the United Arab Emirates is willing to purchase and at what cost. The acting CEO of Jat Airways, Velibor Vukašinović, is in Abu Dhabi this week where he will meet up with key people from Etihad Airways. The timeframes set out for the takeover, as outlined in late April, are being upheld. The screening process was scheduled to be completed by mid May while an offer is expected to be sent, as initially planned, by the end of this month.

Etihad completed its screening process of Jat’s business last week. The airline’s team of experts scrutinised Jat’s sales, destination network and overall business operations. The team also payed attention to Jat’s most recent 2012/13 winter season. Etihad is currently in the process of opening its office in the Serbian capital.

Etihad Airways CEO, James Hogan will visit Belgrade in June where he will hold talks over the proposed takeover deal. As part of the takeover, Etihad is expected take complete control over Jat’s management, naming its own CEO, head of finance and operations. Etihad will also partially finance the 1998 order made by Yugoslav Airlines for eight Airbus A319s, which have never been delivered. The national carrier of the United Arab Emirates would provide the pre delivery payment, allowing the aircraft to begin arriving in Belgrade. Etihad and Jat are also set to integrate frequent flyer programs, airport lounges and handling at airports both airlines operate to. Furthermore, Etihad will codeshare on 23 Jat Airways destinations from Belgrade while Jat would place its flight numbers onto seventeen Etihad destinations as part of the deal.

Possible successor to Croatia Airlines

Difficult times for Croatia Airlines

The Croatian government has begun planning for the possibility of its national carrier declaring bankruptcy as the airline’s pilots and cabin crew enter a sixth consecutive day of industrial action. The airline is bleeding money at an alarming rate as it has been forced to lease foreign aircraft and crew to partially maintain its operations. In addition, a lot of passengers have requested compensation for their cancelled flights and many are now apprehensive of booking tickets with the Croatian carrier.

The Ministry for Sea, Transport and Infrastructure believes bankruptcy is imminent if the strike stretches through next week. It has devised a plan for such a scenario. In case Croatia Airlines does declare bankruptcy the government would create a successor national carrier which would take over Croatia Airlines’ fleet, slots and half of its employees. The government would immediately begin the search for a strategic partner and would maintain a 49% stake in the airline. Dan Simović, from the Ministry, says the government would prefer for the majority partner to be outside of Europe. He believes the entire process of setting up a new airline would last four months. However, he warns that such a scenario could impact on tourism and other businesses which rely on Croatia Airlines.

For today, the Croatian national carrier has cancelled its flights from Zagreb to Skopje, Sarajevo, Zadar, Dubrovnik, Split, Copenhagen, Pula, Frankfurt and Munich. Furthermore, the airline has cancelled its services from Dubrovnik to Athens, Berlin, Venice, Zurich and Dusseldorf, while flights between Pula and Zadar have also been cancelled. Adria Airways, Trade Air, Cello Aviation, SkyWork Airlines, Bingo Airways, Enter Air and WDL Aviation will be operating some of the national carrier’s flights. Yesterday, Lufthansa and Brussels Airlines temporarily suspended all of their codeshare agreements with Croatia Airlines. Currently, there is no end in sight to the ongoing industrial dispute which began on Tuesday.

Catastrophic April for Jat

Passengers desert Jat

Jat Airways’ outgoing management will crown its three year reign at the airline with catastrophic passenger numbers in April brought on by the ongoing fleet shortage at the carrier. Last month, the Serbian national airline handled only 90.844 passengers, down 16% compared to the same month last year. The number of operated flights plummeted by 10%. The airline’s average cabin load factor stood at 67%, which is also down by ten points compared to April of 2012. Hardest hit were operations to Montenegro with figures tumbling by 22%, though the number of operated flights was decreased by 26%. Passenger numbers on Euro Mediterranean services were down 16% with 7% less flights while charters were the only highlight for the Serbian airline with numbers surging 83%.

In the first four months of 2013 Jat Airways has welcomed 312.476 passengers onboard its aircraft, down 5%. The average cabin load factor stood at 65%, a decrease from 68% during the same period last year. Jat’s aircraft spent 8.178 hours in the air over the past four months, which is 9% down on last year.

Jat Airways’ former management, headed by Vladimir Ognjenović, will officially be relinquished of all duties on Monday when the new acting CEO Velibor Vukašinović and his team are to takeover. Jat’s fleet shortage has hit the airline hard. However, Mr. Ognjenović and his team were aware of the impending problems since they faced a similar crisis during the summer of 2012 but did little to plan ahead for the 2013 summer season. The Serbian carrier will hope that numbers will improve in May since a week long public holiday was observed at the start of the month. Recently, an Aviogenex Boeing 737-200 joined Jat’s fleet with a further two Airbus A319s to arrive next month.

Month	PAX	Change (%)	Average load factor (%)
JAN	77.962	▲ 4	63
FEB	61.275	▼ 2	59
MAR	82.395	▼ 1	70
APR	90.844	▼ 16	67

Serbia and Australia ink air agreement

New opportunities following bilateral air agreement

The Serbian Minister for Transport, Milutin Mrkonjić, and the Australian Ambassador to Serbia, Helena Studdert, signed a treaty level agreement on air services between Australia and Serbia this week. This agreement will allow airlines from both Serbia and Australia to start air services between the two countries either using their own aircraft or via cooperative arrangements with other airlines. Ambassador Studdert noted that “the Agreement should lead to our own airlines being able to properly serve the market between our two countries, rather than all traffic being carried by third country airlines”.

The agreement has now cleared all bureaucratic obstacles for the implementation of the Jat - Etihad codesharing agreement on flights from Abu Dhabi to/from Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. Jat’s flight numbers will be added onto Etihad flights to Australia from June 15. Furthermore, Virgin Australia International Airlines will add its own code on Etihad Airways’ service between Abu Dhabi and Belgrade, which is to be inaugurated in less than a month. “Aviation links tend to act as catalysts for other economic links, stimulating trade and tourism. I expect this agreement will do just that, and will grow bilateral trade and tourism between Australia and Serbia. The agreement we are signing today is the first air services agreement between our countries, bringing the bilateral relations between our countries to a new level”, Ambassador Studdert said.

Meanwhile, Jat Tehnika, which maintains Jat aircraft, was yesterday granted a license to begin servicing Airbus A320 family jets for the first time in its long history. “After checks which lasted for six months and preparations which lasted for over a year, the Serbian Civil Aviation Directorate has found that Jat Tehnika is now fully equipped to service both domestic and foreign airlines operating this aircraft type”. The license is recognised by the European Aviation Safety Agency. Two Airbus A319s are set to join Jat’s fleet in a few weeks.