TAV ready for takeover

Skopje Airport

After numerous delays the Turkish company, Tepe Akfen Ventures, will take control over Macedonia’s 2 international airports, Skopje and Ohrid, on Monday March 1, the A1 network reports. TAV will control the airports until 2030 and will invest 200 million Euros for the upgrade of existing facilities and the construction of new ones. According to the deal signed between TAV and the Macedonian Government 2 years ago, TAV has to construct a completely new modern terminal at Skopje Alexander the Great Airport with the existing runway being enlarged while communal infrastructure, a car park and a cargo building would be built together with the main project. Meanwhile, Ohrid’s St. Paul the Apostle Airport would go under complete reconstruction and modernization with a new car park, cargo building and VIP section to be built. Finally, the project outlines that a cargo terminal would be built in Štip in Eastern Macedonia.

Speaking to the media, TAV said that Macedonia urgently needs a national carrier. Nearly a year after the collapse of MAT Macedonian Airlines several companies have tried and failed to create an airline in Macedonia. Jat’s Aeromak did not receive a license permit while Dubrovnik Airline’s Mont Air license request is still pending, despite the airline’s optimism with one aircraft already painted in Mont Air colours. Finally, Kontiki Travel, a tour operator in Serbia, announced that it was creating Mat Airways although there has been no fresh news on this project of late. TAV says that with fierce regional competition, Skopje and Ohrid airports can only grow if Macedonia has a national carrier. This, in turn, would lead to lower ticket prices for Macedonian travellers. TAV has said that it is trying to attract companies to set up an airline in Macedonia.

Tough start for Croatian airports

Rijeka Airport

In January, passenger numbers at Croatian airports declined significantly compared to the same month in 2009. All of the major airports, with the exception of Osijek and Rijeka saw passenger numbers slide. Zadar and Pula suffered the most with passenger numbers declining by 38.3%. Split saw 22.832 passengers, a decline of 15.7% compared to January 2009. The country’s largest airport, Zagreb, experienced a 10.4% decrease, handling 124.676 passengers last month. The reduction in passenger figures can be somewhat justified. In January 2009 Croatia hosted the World Handball Championships which caused an increase in passenger numbers. The cities that hosted the event were Split, Zadar, Osijek, Varaždin, Poreč, Zagreb and Pula.

On the other hand, Osijek and Rijeka, the two cities which did not host last year’s event managed to increase their passenger volume by 122.2% and 35% respectively. However, it should be noted that Osijek only handled a total of 80 passengers compared to 36 last year, explaining its remarkable growth.

Below you can view January’s 2010 results for Croatian airports:

Airport	Passengers JAN 2010	Passengers JAN 2009	Change (%)
Zagreb	124.676	139.119	▼ 10.4
Dubrovnik	17.957	18.053	▼ 0.5
Pula	1.239	2.009	▼ 38.3
Split	22.832	27.079	▼ 15.7
Zadar	1.769	2.867	▼ 34.9
Osijek	80	36	▲ 122.2
Rijeka	636	471	▲ 35.3

Jat / Airbus talks

Jat wants ATR instead of Airbus

The French Minister of State for foreign trade Anne-Marie Idrac has arrived in Belgrade for talks with Serbia’s Ministry for Infrastructure with the aim of resolving Jat’s 12 year old order for 8 Airbus A319s. Idrac, in contrast to statements made by East European Airbus vice president Andreas Kramer, said that Jat Airways can purchase regional aircraft from France in exchange for the 8 Airbuses. “The agreement in 1998 is still in force but is not active due to many reasons. One of the reasons I’m in Belgrade is in order for discussion to begin with the aim of resolving this issue”, Idrac was quoted by the Beta news agency. Idrac added that if Jat were to purchase smaller regional jets it would have to sign a new agreement, although she did not specify with whom.

Serbia’s Minister for Infrastructure, Milutin Mrkonjić, said that Serbia was interested in finalising the dispute between Jat and Airbus. He said that he hopes Airbus will be a new partner in Jat’s fleet renewal process.

Jat is keen on modifying the Airbus order to ATR aircraft. Its previous attempts to do so have been rejected by Airbus. Jat has a mixture of Boeing and ATR aircraft in its fleet. It has never had any Airbus aircraft in its ownership.

Strike cancelled

Normal flight operations on Friday

A strike by Croatia Airlines’ cabin crew has been cancelled after the airline’s management and cabin crew union came to a decision late on Wednesday evening after talks which lasted 12 hours. Thus, all flights will operate by their usual schedule on Friday when the strike was expected to begin. The two sides agree that they will commence new negotiations regarding the modification of the collective work agreement. Croatia Airlines’ management initially planned to introduce a 10% pay cut, a 30% per diem decrease and the loss of other benefits such as meals, annual bonuses and solidarity bonuses. The new terms will be known after talks between the 2 sides resume although the president of Croatia Airlines’ cabin crew union said that the two sides compromised and met half way.

The news will be welcomed by Croatia Airlines’ passengers. The Croatia Airlines cabin crew union said it was forced to go on strike due to unacceptable behaviour on the part of Croatia Airlines’ management.

Croatia Airlines heads for strike

Unhappy cabin crew to go on strike

It is a week of strikes in the aviation industry. First Lufthansa’s pilots launched a 4 day strike which was suspended late on Monday evening. On Tuesday, the air controller’s union in France began a strike creating delays at Paris airports. Furthermore, British Airways cabin crew voted in support of a strike and Greece’s air controllers are also heading towards a second strike in as many weeks. Croatia Airlines is the latest to be added to the ever expanding list. Cabin crew of Croatia’s national carrier will stop work on Friday, February 26, over a 10% salary decrease. Last ditch negotiations between the management and cabin crew failed, although it did better with 4 other unions which will not be striking.

The cabin crew are unhappy with a proposed 10% pay cut, a 30% per diem decrease and the loss of other benefits such as meals, annual bonuses and solidarity bonuses. The leader of the cabin crew union announced that the union has already agreed to a 5% pay decrease but will not agree to 10% or a per diem decrease of any kind. A total of 160 cabin crew members will be on strike on Friday although, due to law regulations, 20% of cabin crew will have to work which would allow 11 flights to be carried out, Croatian business magazine “Lider” reports. However, as each strike day continues a smaller amount of cabin crew will be required to work.

An airline statement reads that the strike will cost it 600.000 Euros per day, which the cabin crew have labelled as misleading. The airline’s modified schedule for this Friday can be viewed here. Croatia Airlines will publish Saturday’s schedule (February 27) today at 15.00 CET on its website.

Lufthansa dismisses Croatia Airlines

No deal with Croatia Airlines

Europe’s largest national carrier, Lufthansa, has dismissed media speculation that it will purchase Croatia Airlines, a fellow Star Alliance member. The Croatian website “Tportal” has been informed by Lufthansa that it has not been negotiating with Croatia Airlines about a possible acquisition. Lufthansa refused to comment on additional speculation surrounding the possible purchase. In a statement, the airline said: "We have very good cooperation with Croatia Airlines that we hope will continue. At present, we are concentrating on the integration of Austrian Airlines, British Midland Airways and Brussels Airlines into the Lufthansa Group". Croatian daily “Jutarnji List” reported that Lufthansa was interested in taking over Croatia Airlines after an interview with the CEO of the Croatian national carrier who said that his company had financial problems and could only be saved through privatization.

Meanwhile, about 4.000 Lufthansa pilots have gone on strike for 4 days in a dispute over job security. The carrier has cancelled about 3.000 flights and has warned of delays both domestically and internationally. The strike will also disrupt flights operated by low cost subsidiary Germanwings. Croatia Airlines announced that the strike would not affect the Croatian national carrier, although it will affect the airline’s passengers transiting through Germany to onward Lufthansa flights. Zagreb Airport said that only the Lufthansa flight from Zagreb to Frankfurt scheduled for 14.35 had been cancelled on Monday. Croatia Airlines said it would be willing to accept Lufthansa passengers on their routes between Germany and Croatia. The strike has since been suspended.

Save Our Souls

Union blasts Government exploits

The independent Serbian aviation union has called upon the Serbian Government to help Jat Airways in its time of need. The union states that the Government has acted irresponsibly towards the airline and its employees. “Somehow foreign carriers in Serbia receive better slots, slashed handling prices and discounted fuel. Unlike other Government owned companies, Jat has never had the right to control its own finances”, the statement from the union reads. “The Serbian Government should only look at the way their British and Austrian counterparts have acted by bailing out their respective carriers numerous times. Everyone wants to take something from Jat but nobody wants to give something back. It’s time that the management of the carrier is not chosen purely on the basis of their political affiliation and privatisation is a must”, the statement reads.

Meanwhile, Jat’s CEO Srdjan Radovanović has admitted that his optimistic 2010 recovery plan is unlikely to be carried out in full due to “unforseen circumstances”. Radovanvić states that Jat’s Macedonian subsidiary Aeromak has failed to receive necessary permits from the Macedonian Government, despite being guaranteed such rights in 2009 from the Macedonian Minister for Transport and Communication himself. The Sky Srpska project in Banja Luka, in which Jat will play a part of, has also been delayed. The CEO states that the airline will probably finish the year with a loss and should be happy with anything over 1.2 million passengers.

Despite its troubles, the airline is said to have had a better than expected February with passenger number anticipated to rise. In March, the airline will launch its summer timetable and select a new company to provide its on board catering service. Despite the lack of information, the lease of 2 Boeing B737-700 aircraft has not been cancelled and has so far not been delayed.

Spanair to Belgrade and Zagreb

Soon in Belgrade and Zagreb

Spain’s Spanair will commence services from its hub in Barcelona to Belgrade and thus reinstate flights between the 2 cities after almost 20 years. The 3 weekly service will commence on April 15. The airline originally planned to commence flights from Madrid as well, however these plans have been put on hold. The airline is still to receive an operating license from the Serbian Civil Aviation Directorate although this formality is expected to be finalized within the next 2 weeks.

JAT Yugoslav Airlines’ services to Spain were one of the last European destination expansions it carried out. Flights to Barcelona commenced on March 28, 1986 and were terminated in December 1991. JAT also operated flights to Madrid.

Spanair will conduct the new service using its Airbus A320 aircraft. The airline also announced that it will introduce 3 weekly flights from Barcelona to Zagreb from April 19. It will be in direct competition with Croatia Airlines on the route. All flight details can be found on the right hand side in the new route launches section.

Skopje and Ohrid on the rise

Crisis over for Skopje and Ohrid

The Macedonian capital Skopje and the lakeside resort Ohrid registered an increase in both the number of flights and passenger traffic in January 2010, when compared to the same month in 2009. A total of 953 flights were operated out of Skopje’s Alexander the Great Airport and Ohrid’s St, Paul the Apostle. This is in comparison to last year when the total number of January flights stood at 905. The number of passengers at both airports amounted to 47.355, an increase of 13.5% compared to last year when the 2 airports boasted a total figure of 41.723 passengers. Thanks to Skywings International (operating under the name Air Lift Service), the airports saw a 156% increase in the number of charter flights.

Despite the void left by the collapse of MAT Macedonian Airlines, the 2 airports are recovering from the global financial crisis which hit passenger figures in March 2009. While Macedonian airports did not see an immediate increase in passenger numbers following the visa liberalisation for Macedonian citizen, the effects are now starting to be felt. The following table displays the current share of flights each scheduled airline holds out of Skopje:

Airline	Share (%)
Adria Airways	17.7
Austrian Airlines	17.7
Malév	12.9
Jat Airways	11.2
Montenegro Airlines	11.2
Turkish Airlines	11.2
Croatia Airlines	9.6
Czech Airlines	8