Montenegro Airlines on sale

30% share of Montenegro Airlines on offer

The Montenegrin Government has announced the sale of a 30% stake in Montenegro Airlines. On Monday, the Government said that the nominal total value of the Montenegrin carrier amounts to 25.7 million Euros. All interested parties can send in their bids until December 15, 2010. Those interested must have had at least 5 years of experience in the aviation industry, a fleet of 10 aircraft and must have carried at least 2 million passengers in 2009. Such conditions immediately oust not only investment banks from purchasing the airline but also other airlines in the region such as Adria, Croatia Airlines or Jat. The Montenegrin Government has not set a starting price for the offered package of shares.

Last year, when there was talk of Montenegro’s sale, El-Al Israel Airlines expressed the most interest carrier. However, the Israeli national airline also requested the ownership of Podgorica and Tivat airports as part of the purchase, which was unacceptable for the Montenegrin Government at the time.

51 million Euros for Jat

Jat investing into fleet, maintenance and “revitalisation”

After several months, the Serbian Government has finally given its backing for banks to issue a loan of up to 51.5 million Euros to Jat Airways. The Serbian national carrier will use 40 million Euros to “revitalise” itself, 9.5 million for fleet maintenance and 2 million for the lease of 2 Boeing B737-700 jets, the “Tanjug” news agency reports. Jat applied for the loan earlier this year but it took more than 6 months for the Government to give guarantees to the banks that are issuing the loan. The loan can be used within the next 6 years.

Jat will use part of the loan for some major changes it is planning to introduce, soon to be exclusively revealed on EX-YU Aviation News. Because the loan has just been approved by the Government, the arrival of the first Boeing B737-700 aircraft might be pushed back by several weeks. Furthermore, the Serbian carrier is once again turning to the prospect of transatlantic operations. The last time the airline had such plans was in 2006. It believes that the only way it can resume long haul flights is by strengthening its regional network which is why Jat is signing new code share agreements with both Adria Airways and B&H Airlines.

Ohrid Airport a construction zone

Ohrid Airport

Ohrid’s St. Paul the Apostle Airport is one big construction zone as work on the expansion of the airport and the reconstruction of its terminal building, which commenced at the beginning of September, continues. The airport’s operator, TAV, plans for the construction work to be completed by March 2011. The project’s chief engineer, Jurgen Kurtaj from Tirana, told the “Utrinski Vesnik” newspaper that Ohrid will have the capacity to handle many aircraft. “During the summer approximately 15 aircraft landed at Ohrid per week but when the reconstruction is completed we expect the number to be much greater”. TAV is also hoping that passenger numbers will triple and that Ohrid will manage to steal away airlines and customers from nearby Priština and Tirana.

Currently, a 1.000 square meter hanger and a 2.000 square meter VIP lounge are under construction at Ohrid. The airport has already received a 6.000 square meter parking lot. The main terminal building is next to go under the hammer. TAV is investing 200 million Euros into Skopje and Ohrid airports. Currently, at Skopje, foundations are being laid for the new terminal building while its runway is being extended.

In July, Ohrid handled 7.341 passengers, a decrease of 4.2% from last year while Skopje welcomed 90.269 passengers, a strong surge of 17%.

Race for the top

The battle for Ivan Mišetić’s successor begins

Ivan Mišetić, the CEO of Croatia Airlines, resigned a week ago with the managing board expected to approve his resignation within days. Meanwhile, the race for who becomes the new CEO has begun. “Nacional.hr” has named 35 year old Danijel Mileta as the front runner in the race. Mileta, who is currently working at the Ministry for Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, has a clean record and the backing of aviation experts. Mileta has worked on many projects in the field of transportation, his latest being the “Corridor X” project – a new, united, EX-YU rail company. Experts believe that Mileta has the energy to bring Croatia Airlines back onto the right path.

It is certain that whoever takes on Croatia Airlines has a difficult job ahead of them. In a recent nine page document, the Union of Croatian Pilots blasted Croatia Airlines and its managerial practices. The pilots are unhappy with the extremely low average cabin occupancy, the financial problems the airline has encountered and its decreasing share in the charter market. The document states that “While 102 charter companies operate to Croatia, the management of Croatia Airlines states that charter flights are not economically viable so it only operates 10 charters per week”. The document also reveals that Croatia Airlines only has a 2.4% share of flights from Croatia to Scandinavia, 7.7% to Spain and Portugal and no flights to Russia. Furthermore, lucrative ad-hoc charters operated for sports teams are decreasing rapidly as they flock towards other airlines. The document concludes that the only route Croatia Airlines dominates on is to Brussels.

Who should take on Croatia Airlines and which direction should the airline go in? Leave a comment with your thoughts.

Final A320 leaves fleet

Adria Airways A320, S5-AAA, 1989 - 2010

Adria Airways has farewelled its final Airbus A320 which operated its last revenue flight on September 11, 2010 from Tirana to its hub, Ljubljana. The 21 year old aircraft, registered S5-AAA, was delivered from Airbus to Adria on May 16, 1989 under the registration YU-AOA. It was the 43rd A320 to be made by Airbus and the first to be powered by the new IAE Engines. Over the years, the aircraft was leased to several airlines, most recently the Libyan Afriqiyah Airways. The aircraft returned to the Adria fleet for the last time in November 2009. The aircraft has now been stored at Ljubljana Airport and is waiting to be scrapped.

Adria now has a fleet of 13 aircraft (six CRJ200s, four CRJ900s, two A319s and one CRJ100), with one order each for the CRJ900 and Airbus A319, which have replaced the aging A320s. Adria chose the A319s as a replacement for the A320s because the aircraft belong to the same category as the Airbus A320, which means the pilots, the cabin crew and the technical personnel needed no additional training. Furthermore, Adria explains that the new aircraft are more economical and environmentally friendly and are consistent with the carbon dioxide emission standard that steps into force in 2011.

Rate your Jat

Passengers to mark flights

In the next ten days, all passengers flying on one of Jat’s 35 destinations will be asked to fill out a questionnaire and rate their onboard experience with the Serbian national carrier. The move comes as Jat looks to improve its onboard service. Jat says that the questionnaires will show passenger satisfaction with its product and will allow Jat to “continue to improve its service in line with passengers’ requirements, needs and desires”. The national carrier told local media that it is “constantly improving its product and, as a result, a string of new services have been introduced in the past few months".

EX-YU Aviation News can now exclusively reveal that the airline has recently allocated significant funds towards improving its in-flight service with new tableware, blankets and pillows ordered. Furthermore, the airline plans to upgrade toilet facilities on all of its aircraft. The airline justifies the spending, claiming it will better compete with low cost airlines. Jat has also announced that it will not be continuing its seasonal service to Portorož, Slovenia despite an offer from the Piran – Portorož tourist board for subsidised flights to carry on throughout the winter.

Finally, the CEO of Jat Airways, Srdjan Radovanović has been on a business trip to the United States for the past ten days. It is unclear who Radovanović will be meeting in the US although the Serbian Government has said that Radovanović will be seeking a category one rating from the Federal Aviation Administration which would allow a Serbian airline to operate flights to the United States. At a recent gala dinner in New York, dedicated to foreign investment in Serbia and attended by the Serbian president Boris Tadić, a delegation from Boeing was present.

Belgrade boom

Low cost airline increase passenger numbers at Belgrade Airport

Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport has reported a significant increase in passenger numbers handled last month. The biggest airport in the former Yugoslavia handled 358.750 passengers in August 2010, compared to 300.750 in August 2009, an increase of 19.3%. This makes August 2010 the most successful since 1991. So far, from January to August, the airport welcomed 1.823.330 passengers, an increase of 9.9%.

The arrival of low cost airlines is said to have had a direct impact on passenger numbers. The director of Belgrade Airport, Velimir Radosavljević, said that instead of taking passengers away from other airlines, low cost airlines have bought new customers to Belgrade. Since the low cost Wizz Air inaugurated flights from London Luton to Belgrade, the number of passengers travelling between the two cities rose by 27.1%. Wizz Air has a share of 27.8% of all passengers travelling to London. Other routes experiencing a boom from Belgrade include flights to Vienna, which have seen a 24.9% passenger surge and flights to Rome, Milan, Stockholm and Oslo. In 2009 the share of low cost airlines operating out of Belgrade stood at 4.5%. By September 2010 the number increased to 7%, while Radosavljević believes that by the end of the year the number will increase to 9%.

Half yearly report

B&H records biggest passenger surge

Passenger numbers carried by national EX-YU carriers for the third quarter are soon to be published. But how did they do in the first two quarters? Despite the fact that the global economic crisis is waning, most EX-YU carriers are reporting passenger slumps. B&H Airlines managed to see the biggest passenger increase in the first half of the year, Croatia Airlines the biggest decrease and Jat levelled with the same number of passenger.

B&H Airlines carried 54.191 passengers in the first two quarters, an increase of just over 200% compared to the same period last year. The increase coincides with the 50% jump in the number of operated flights. With visa restrictions to be abolished to most countries within the European Union for Bosnian citizens by the end of the year, the airline will hope to see an even further increase in passenger numbers.

Croatia Airlines transported 695.200 passengers, a decrease of 8.4%. The airline’s average cabin occupancy index stood at 56.6%. The airline decreased its capacity by almost 10% in the first six months. Croatia Airlines has publicly said that it hopes that a strong summer season will improve both its passenger numbers and finances. It should be noted that in the first six months Croatia Airlines was significantly impacted by the volcanic ash cloud and the cabin crew strike.

Slovenia’s Adria Airways handled 433.600 passengers, a decrease of 2.6% compared to last year. Its load factor stood at a respectable 62.2%. It, too, cut capacity in the first half of the year by 12.5%. Adria had to significantly reduce the number of flights earlier in the year after Ljubljana Airport closed its doors in favour of a runway reconstruction.

Jat Airways carried 418.300, the same amount it did in the first half of 2009. The number of flights barely increased, by 0.4%, while capacity was cut by 6%. Its average load factor stood at 56.2%, an increase of 3%. Jat has been hit by competition from Belgrade and local media doubt the airline will manage to transport over 1 million passengers by the end of the year.

Despite being a public company, Montenegro Airlines has not published its results for the first two quarters, although growth has been reported during the summer months. Among other legacy carriers in Europe, TAROM Romanian Airlines saw the greatest passenger increase (+ 31.4%), while KLM had the greatest cabin load factor (82.1%). On the other end of the spectrum, BMI International saw the biggest passenger decrease (- 23.8%).

Banja Luka becomes B&H base

New flights from Banja Luka to Vienna and Frankfurt

B&H Airlines has received rights to commence flights from Banja Luka to Vienna and Frankfurt. The two new destinations will accompany the Sarajevo – Zurich route, which will commence on October 31. Flights to both Vienna and Frankfurt will originate from Sarajevo with a technical stop in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s second largest city. Tickets between Sarajevo and Banja Luka are not for sale. Both services will operate twice per week with flights between Banja Luka and Vienna beginning on October 31 and flights to Frankfurt commencing on November 1. Both flights will be operated by the regional ATR72 aircraft. However, due to the new additions to the B&H network, the planned flights to Skopje have been suspended in favour of the Banja Luka flights.

Meanwhile, the CEO of Turkish Airlines, Temel Kotil, said he is happy with the way B&H is developing. “B&H is a young company and is trying to develop air travel in the country. I believe they have a bright future ahead of them and we will try and make the partnership as profitable as possible”, he said. Turkish Airlines owns 49% of B&H Airlines.

All flight details from Banja Luka can be viewed on the right hand side in the new route launches section.

Skywings to join EX-YU alliance

Skywings joining Jat and Montenegro Airlines

Macedonia’s largest charter airline, Skywings International, operating under the name Air Lift Service, has said it is joining Jat Airways and Montenegro Airlines in a regional EX-YU alliance. “This project plans to reduce ticket prices and establish new destinations to Western Europe”, a spokesperson from Skywings said. “We face the problem of high kerosene prices and taxes at both Skopje and Ohrid airports”. Skywings operates flights from Skopje to Dusseldorf, Zurich, Istanbul, Vienna, Rome, Brussels, Berlin and Hamburg. From Ohrid, the airline flies to Zurich and Skopje.

Last week there was confusion when the CEO of Montenegro Airlines, Zoran Djurišić, said there would be no unification of airlines or alliances. However, a few days later Montenegro’s Minister for Transportation, Andrija Lompar, told the media that Djurišić meant that there would be no takeover of airlines like some media suggested, rather, Jat and Montenegro Airlines would cooperate in order to decrease prices and jointly participate on certain routes.

The new EX-YU alliance will come into operation from October 31. Slovenia’s Adria Airways has also shown interest in joining the alliance while Croatia Airlines rejected its invitation.

Montenegro gets low cost flights

Air Berlin to Tivat from summer 2011

As was widely tipped in May, Air Berlin will become the first low cost airline to serve Montenegro. Germany’s second largest carrier will commence seasonal summer flights from four cities in Germany to Tivat after a deal was reached with the Montenegrin Government. “We have received an official confirmation that flights will begin next season. Air Berlin is currently holding negotiations with tour operators which, we hope, will use the services of this world renowned company”, Karlo Petelin, the director of Montenegro Tourism’s office in Frankfurt said. Although the exact destinations from which Air Berlin will serve Tivat are yet to be announced, in May 2010 Air Berlin suggested to the Montenegrin Government for flights to originate from Nuremberg, one of the airline’s hubs.

Currently, Montenegro Airlines is the sole carrier operating flights between Montenegro and Germany. Montenegro Airlines flies between Podgorica and Frankfurt. During the 1980s Montenegro saw a significant number of German tourists. There were approximately 250.000 Germans visiting Montenegro each year. Today, the number stands at jut 25.500.

Ivan Mišetić resigns

Ivan Mišetić

The long running CEO of Croatia Airlines, Ivan Mišetić, has resigned from his post. Mišetič has worked in Croatia Airlines since 1992 and became the CEO of the national carrier 13 and a half years ago. Under his leadership he has seen Croatia Airlines transform from a small struggling carrier into one of the biggest in the region with the most number of carried passengers out of all the former Yugoslav airlines. However, recently, Mišetić has come under fire for the way he has run the airline. Croatia Airlines continues to see sliding passenger numbers this year and is operating with a record financial loss. The airline also faced a cabin crew strike earlier this year. In June, Mišetić came under fire after it was revealed that he sits on the Lufthansa CityLine supervisory board as well.

Mišetić has taken on a new job with the Atlantic Group. He told the “vecernji.hr” portal that he is not leaving a sinking ship. “During my time at Croatia Airline we faced the bird flu, SARS, September 11 attacks, NATO bombing, oil crisis and a big increase in competition. Despite these crises we have managed to renew our fleet, increase capacity and revenue, receive international certificates, become a Star Alliance member and most important of all have no serious incidents. Croatia Airlines is not facing anything else then what other airline in the industry are facing. I thank everyone for what we have achieved in the past 13 years”, Mišetić said.

Ivan Mišetić’s replacement is expected to be announced soon.

British Airways dumps Belgrade

Bye bye Belgrade

After a decade of continual service, British Airways will cancel its daily flights from London Heathrow to Belgrade on November 30. In a press release issued by the airline yesterday, it says that British Airways can no longer operate the service because it is unprofitable. “We thank all passengers that have flown with us and have shown their support”, the press release reads. All passengers that have bought tickets for travel after November 30 will be given alternative arrangements.

So what went wrong? In the past several months British Airways has been struggling against its direct competitor on the route – Jat Airways. Jat operates daily flights to Heathrow and has managed to lure away British Airways’ main customer base on the route – transit passengers. Thanks to a new agreement with the Dutch KLM, Jat has managed to pinch away transit passengers to the United States and Canada from other airlines (primarily British Airways) and re-route them via Amsterdam. This August, Jat carried over 7.000 passengers on the Belgrade – London – Belgrade route. Its average cabin load factor stood at an impressive 82%, with an average of 110 passengers per flight. The route was made more successful by the fact that there were a significant number of business class passengers. Furthermore, the national carrier of the United Kingdom was hit by low cost competition from Wizz Air, which operates flights from London Luton.

British Airways is not the only airline bidding farewell to Belgrade this winter. It joins Greece’s Aegean Airlines which will end services soon. For the first time in almost a decade Jat will have no competition on the London Heathrow or Athens route. Latvia’s airBaltic will terminate its services from Riga to Belgrade this winter as well.

Meanwhile, without much fuss and advertising, Turkish airline Borajet launched two weekly flights between Turkey’s fourth largest city, Bursa, and Skopje on Thursday. The airline operates exclusively within Turkey with Skopje being its first international destination. All flight details can be found here.

easyJet confirms Belgrade plans

easyJet reveals Belgrade plans

After the Serbian Civil Aviation Directorate said that they have held talks with a popular and successful low cost airline interested in commencing services to Belgrade, easyJet has admitted it is the airline in question. An easyJet spokesperson told the “24 sata” newspaper that Belgrade could find itself in the airline’s timetable for the 2011 summer season. “All information regarding future flights to and from Serbia will be announced on our website in due course”, a spokesperson from the airline said. Katarina Andrić Milosavljević from the Serbian Civil Aviation Directorate says that easyJet is primarily interested in carrying tourists between Serbia and other countries.

The low cost easyJet is no stranger to the region. It operates scheduled flights to Ljubljana from London Stansted and will commence flights to the Slovenian capital from Paris and Milan this December. easyJet will begin flights to Zagreb from Paris in November and will introduce flights from London in February 2011. easyJet also operates flights from Basel and Geneva to Priština.

Jat sees passenger increase

Charter competition impacts Jat figures

In August, Serbia’s Jat Airways recorded a 4% passenger increase on scheduled flights when compared to the same month last year, according to company statistics. This is despite the fact that the number of operated flights decreased by 3%. However, Jat was hit badly by competition from charter airlines. If passengers on charter flight are included, the airline saw an overall 5% passenger decrease in August. In total, Jat carried 145.933 passengers, while its average cabin load factor stood at 74%, an increase of 3%. The airline carried 25.233 passengers to and from Montenegro, 6.525 passengers more than in August 2009. However, there was a 37% passenger decrease on charter flights. The number of charter operations plummeted by 49%. Jat faced competition from Aviogenex, Koral Blue Airlines, Lotus Air, Nouvelle Air and Atlasjet on charter flights out of Belgrade this summer.

The airline recorded the biggest passenger increase on flights to Amsterdam and Podgorica, at 69% and 68% respectively. The greatest passenger decrease was reported on flights to Thessaloniki and Trieste. The biggest average load factor per flight was recorded on services to Stockholm (97%), Frankfurt (95%) and Zurich (92%).

Korean Air to Zagreb

Korean Air B777-200 soon in Zagreb

The national carrier of South Korea, Korean Air, will operate two charter flights from Seoul to Zagreb. Carrying a full load of tourists to the Croatian capital, Korean Air will treat the flights as a trial for a possible introduction of summer charters between Seoul and Zagreb in 2011. The flights will be carried out on Saturday, September 18 and 25. Both flights will be operated by the Boeing B777-200. If Zagreb manages to attract Korean Air for the 2011 summer season it would be another win for the airport. It will be the first time that Korean Air will operate flights to the Croatian capital.

Currently, JAL has been operating summer charters from Japan to Zagreb and Dubrovnik. The Japanese national carrier conducted a total of five charters to Zagreb this summer from Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Hiroshima and Sapporo with the Boeing B747-400. JAL has also operated flights from Japan to Ljubljana this summer, from the end of August to the beginning of September.

No low cost flights to Macedonia

New look Skopje Airport

Last December the European Union approved visa free travel to most Schengen Zone countries within the European Union for Macedonian, Serbian and Montenegrin passport holders. As a result, airports in the region have recorded an increase in passenger numbers, aircraft movement and profits. However, both Skopje and Ohrid airports in Macedonia have recorded a minimal passenger increase and no low cost airline has begun operations to and from the country.

Since the visa liberalisation and TAV’s takeover of Skopje and Ohrid airports, the number of flights from Macedonia has increased 10%, even though the management projected an increase of around 30 to 40%, the ”Utrinski Vesnik” newspaper reports. There are still no low cost flights to and from the country either, and Macedonians find it cheaper to travel to Belgrade, Sofia, Priština or Thessaloniki, from where they can use no frills airlines. The publication cites examples of ticket prices from Skopje to some destinations in Western Europe and compares them to the prices of budget airlines in the region. For example, a return ticket from Skopje to Vienna costs around 400 Euros, while from Sofia, it is only around 70 Euros. A return ticket from Skopje to Vienna on Austrian Airlines amounts to approximately 259 Euro. On the other hand, a return ticket between Montenegro’s capital Podgorica and Vienna amounts to approximately 100 Euros.

Experts believe that low cost airlines will commence flights to Skopje after the new terminal at Alexander the Great Airport in Skopje is completed. Construction of the terminal building began 3 months ago and it is that it will be completed by the end of next year. Another reason for the absence of low cost airlines on the Macedonian market is that it is too small, the newspaper noted.

Skopje Airport is currently served by nine scheduled airlines. B&H Airlines will commence flights to the Macedonian capital in November.

More low cost interest

Another low cost airline interested in Belgrade flights

The Serbian Civil Aviation Directorate has said that it has held meetings with an extremely successful and popular low cost airline which is interested in commencing flights to Belgrade. Spokeswomen, Katarina Andrić Milosavljević, told the national newspaper “Politika” that the airline is interested in what Serbia has to offer to tourists. “They inquired about the facilities at Belgrade Airport and the most popular destinations from the Serbian capital. Every airline conducts detailed research before commencing flights to a certain destination”, Andrić Milosavljević said. She also said that no new airline has applied for a license to fly to Serbia during the 2010/2011 winter season but expects applications to be handed in during this month and October. The spokeswomen also revealed that the low cost airline Niki is interested in expanding its flights out of Belgrade. The airline currently operates flights from Vienna but it is being beaten by Jat Airways and Austrian on the route.

Meanwhile, the director of Serbia’s second airport, Niš Constantine the Great, says that he is “in contact” with low cost airlines interested in commencing flights to the city. Currently, Wind Jet operates low cost flights between Forli and Niš. Montenegro Airlines CEO recently stated that the new alliance between his airline and Jat Airways will allow them to expand services from Niš. During the 2010/11 winter season, the national carrier of Belarus, Belavia, will commence charter flights from Minsk to Niš in order to transport tourists to the nearby Kopaonik Mountain resort.

Dubrovnik breaks 1987 record

Dubrovnik Airport

Yesterday, Dubrovnik Airport handled its millionth passenger for the year, 26 days earlier than in 2009. The airport registered a record breaking August, beating the record set during the golden year of Yugoslav aviation in 1987. September is also expected to be extremely successful with a 20% passenger increase already recorded in the first 10 days.

Emma Day, who arrived on an easyJet flight from London, was Dubrovnik’s millionth passenger. The airport has been served from 44 destinations this summer. In May, Dubrovnik opened its multi million Euro terminal, stretching over 13.700 square metres. Thanks to the new terminal, the airport can now handle 2 million passengers per year. It is the most modern airport in Croatia. Dubrovnik has already secured some new routes and airlines for the 2011 summer season. Jet2.com announced that it will commence seasonal flights from Belfast to the Croatian city during the 2011 summer season. Although Croatia reported a disastrous pre tourist season, things dramatically changed during the summer and the Croatian tourism industry staged an impressive comeback which has impacted the performance of most airports across the country.

No interest in Maribor

Maribor Airport

The Slovenian Transport Ministry received no bids for the offered 30 year lease of the state owned Maribor Edvard Rusjan Airport, as the deadline ran out on Tuesday. Therefore, the call for bids will be repeated. If the call fails again, the ministry might enter direct negotiations with potential lease holders. The winning bidder was offered a 30 year lease of the airport’s infrastructure. The tenant would also have become the new manager of the airport which is currently not served by any airline (with exception to the odd charter flight). Maribor Airport is currently leased to the Aerodrom Maribor company, owned by the troubled car seat cover maker “Pervent”.

It is believed that interest was low because potential buyers were unhappy with the terms and conditions of the tender. The national postal service “Pošta Slovenije” was most interested in the lease, although Adria Airways also expressed interest.

Maribor is Slovenia’s second largest airport, behind Ljubljana but ahead of Portorož. Maribor Airport opened to commercial traffic in 1976 and upgraded its runway in 1999. In 2007, the airport reported 1.480 flight operations, 31.936 passengers and over 19 tonnes of transported cargo. The airport was, for several months, served by the low cost Ryanair, between 2007 and 2008. In 2010, Adria Airways and several other airlines relocated to Maribor during Ljubljana’s runway overhaul.

Adria interested in EX-YU alliance

Adria interested in joining Jat and Montenegro

A day after Croatia Airlines announced that it would not join Jat Airways and Montenegro Airlines in a regional EX-YU alliance because it was already a member of Star Alliance, Adria Airways says it is considering joining. “We are still considering the invitation. We have held meetings with interested parties but we are yet to come to an agreement. If we join we expect a leading role in the company”, Adria Airways said. Jat Airways has sent an invitation to all national carriers of the former Yugoslavia to join a new regional alliance in order to counter increasing competition in the region.

Adria Airways is a member of Star Alliance and has a strong regional network. Montenegro Airlines and Adria have a code share agreement on routes between Podgorica and Ljubljana. If the three national carriers of Serbia, Slovenia and Montenegro were to join, the united company (as of this moment) would have a fleet of twenty six aircraft and would operate scheduled flights to forty eight destinations.

EX-YU airline alliance

Croatia Airlines wants no part in EX-YU alliance

Jat Airways and Montenegro Airlines have formed a new regional alliance which will see the rationalisation of routes and schedules. The new partnership between Jat and Montenegro Airlines is set to commence on October 31 and details behind what the deal entails are set to be revealed in the following weeks. The two airlines have called on all national carriers of the former Yugoslav republics to unite, despite the fact that both Adria Airways and Croatia Airlines are part of Star Alliance. The proposal came after the railway companies of Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro and Macedonia decided to join forces and create a united company.

However, the aviation unification proposal won’t go too far. Croatia Airlines has rejected the offer to team up with Jat and Montenegro Airlines in a joint regional company. Air travel experts from Zagreb do not support the idea of Croatia Airlines entering such a deal, because it is unclear what kind of cooperation would be required in the joint company, the “B92” network reports. Croatia Airlines stated that they have already decided on a strategic partnership with Star Alliance, the largest air travel association in the world, which Croatia Airlines has been a member of since 2004. On the other hand, Belgrade believes that the deal would be useful for all companies involved, because money would be saved and capacity would be used more efficiently, with reduced airport taxes that would make the companies more competitive with other airlines around the world. B&H Airlines, which is not tied up to an alliance and whose fleet would fit into the new regional venture has not commented on the proposal. Previously, it had been suggested that Adria Airways and Croatia Airlines should unite.

In 2009, all national carriers of the former Yugoslav republics ended the year with a multi million Euro loss, except for Montenegro Airlines which just broke even.

B&H to start Banja Luka flights

Banja Luka - Zurich

B&H Airlines is close to receiving approval to commence flights from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s second largest city, Banja Luka, to Zurich, the “Seebiz.eu” portal reports. Flight details are yet to be revealed although services between the two cities is expected to commence on November 1. B&H used to operate three weekly flights from Sarajevo to Zurich via Banja Luka with the ATR72. It is believed that the new flights will also originate from Sarajevo. B&H applied for eleven weekly flights between Sarajevo and Banja Luka for the 2010 summer season but were rejected.

The new service would help Banja Luka Airport which is currently only being served by Adria Airways from Ljubljana. Together with Banja Luka, B&H Airlines is set to introduce flights to Skopje and Amsterdam during the 2010/11 winter season.

Incident on Montenegro Airlines flight

Panic attack forces Montenegro flight to return to the airport

Yesterday morning, Montenegro Airlines flight YM160 departed from Podgorica to Frankfurt just after 11.40 CET only to return to the airport several minutes later. The captain decided to return to Podgorica after a twenty seven year old female passenger tried to enter the cockpit claiming that other passengers had firearms on board. Upon landing, the police arrested three men from the aircraft, one Montenegrin and two Macedonian citizens, on the suspicion of carrying weapons. The passenger that claimed the three had firearms told the police that she heard the three men saying that they had guns and would put the flight at risk. She informed one of the crew members, pushed her away and ran towards the cockpit to warn the pilot.

Following detailed checks, the Montenegrin police concluded that the three accused passengers had no weapons and the flight to Frankfurt resumed at 13.30, together with the three passengers in question. The twenty seven year old who made the claims is from Stuttgart but is of Montenegrin descent. The prosecutor said that no charges would be laid against her. However, the police later found out that she had spent time in Montenegro without reporting her stay in the country. The police will begin court proceedings against her.

Yesterday’s flight was operated by the airline’s Fokker F100.

easyJet causes feud

Croatia Airlines unhappy with Zagreb Airport

A feud has erupted between the management of Zagreb Airport and its main customer Croatia Airlines. Angered by the recent news that easyJet will commence services from Paris and London to Zagreb, Croatia Airlines says that it may be forced to reduce frequencies or terminate the routes during the winter months. “This way Zagreb would lose flights to certain European cities, which would lead to its isolation as an airport and would negatively impact on Croatian tourism”, a spokesperson from Croatia Airlines told the “Buisness.hr” portal. Furthermore, the national Croatian carrier says that the arrival of low cost airlines won’t offer passengers anything new from Zagreb and will increase competition on the market, which is still recovering from the economic crisis. The airline says that easyJet’s flights to Paris and London and Norwegian Air Shuttle’s service to Copenhagen will see passenger numbers decline. The airline warns that Zagreb is becoming a low cost airport. “This is against European standards because low cost airlines do not fly to major hubs, instead they use secondary airports”, a spokesperson from the airline said.

“We believe that Croatia Airlines’ announcement regarding the suspension of some services shows the airline’s inability to face up to competition”, a spokesperson from Zagreb Airport said. He continued by stating that low cost airlines do not only operate from secondary airports. During the winter season a total of four low cost airlines will operate flights out of Croatia’s main hub – Germanwings, Wizz Air, easyJet and Norwegian Air Shuttle.

Meanwhile, Split is reporting record traffic. When statistics for July and August are combined, Split Airport handeled more passengers than any other airport in Croatia. A total of 502.100 passengers used Split in the past two months, comapred to 486.400 in Dubrovnik and 465.700 in Zagreb. Split is benifiting from a sucsesfull tourist season in Croatia and an influx of Russian tourists.

Jat reacts to Wizz Air

Jat launching new marketing campaign

Serbia’s Jat is beginning to react to the recent news that Wizz Air will open a base at its hub Belgrade. Jat’s advertising department has been working hard since December last year when visa free travel to the European Union for Serbian citizens came into effect. Under the slogan “Europe for all of us”, Jat launched an intensive sales campaign after both Niki and AirBaltic announced that they were to begin flights to Serbia. Since January 2010, the airline has been broadcasting “Jat News”, shown on several television networks and thirteen radio stations across the country which sees Jat’s PR manager advertising flights and services several times a day. Recently, the airline launched “The new charm of Jat” campaign. Jat’s new cabin crew smiles from eighty nine billboards in Belgrade in order to silence critics that the airline’s crew is old. Now, the airline is launching yet another advertising campaign. Entitled “In safe hands”, filming of the new commercials took place last week at Jat’s hangers in Belgrade with fifteen pilots participating. The new campaign puts the emphasis on Jat’s relatively sound safety record. The airline has also been undertaking other marketing moves this year such as handing out its summer schedule at key sporting and music events, advertising on the Belgrade Arena, advertisements on Serbia’s most popular websites and newspapers and sponsoring the Exit music festival, the Jat Media Centre reports.

Jat’s latest push to counter the Wizz Air invasion is to reduce prices on select routes and introduce the long awaited free taxi service. In an interview to Tanjug given after Wizz Air's announcment, Jat’s CEO Srdjan Radovanović, said that Jat is not backing down from the implementation of the free taxi service for all of its passengers with a return ticket. Passengers will have the ability to hitch a free ride from Belgrade Airport to anywhere in the city and vice versa. The free taxi shuttle would compliment other new services the airline has introduced recently such as new catering, free health insurance and free plastic wrapping for baggage, he outlined. Radovanović said that new competition is healthy and standard for a European country. He says that Jat’s main competitors are well established world carriers operating to Belgrade such as Lufthansa. He outlines that low cost airlines have their own market and have made Jat improve its own services which allows passengers to get much more than what’s on offer at low cost airlines.

Numbers decline at Ljubljana and Adria

Adria records passenger decrease

Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport announced last week that the number of passengers using Slovenia’s largest airport in the first half of the year decreased by 8.9% compared to last year. The airport handled 558.00 passengers. Similarly, the airport’s revenue has tumbled. Ljubljana Airport managed to record revenue of up to 14.7 million Euros, which is 5% less compared to the same period last year, while profits halved to 1.5 million Euros. The less than perfect economic performance has forced the airport’s operator to revise its budget for the year. Ljubljana Airport is served by eight scheduled airlines with the low cost easyJet to launch new flights this winter.

Meanwhile, Adria Airways’ shareholders and partners have passed a motion to inject 2.5 million Euros into the airline. In the first half of the year, Adria Airways transported 433.600 passengers, a decrease of 2.6% compared to 2009. However, the airline’s average cabin load factor stood at nearly 63%.

B&H to Skopje

B&H to launch new winter flights

As expected, B&H Airlines will launch flights to the Macedonian capital, Skopje, from November 1. Flights will operate three times per week using the ATR72 aircraft. Rumours regarding a possible Skopje relaunch surfaced after B&H terminated its flights to Zagreb earlier this week. B&H is no stranger to Skopje. Last year the airline terminated flights to the Macedonian capital due to low interest. At one point, flights from Sarajevo to Skopje operated via Podgorica. With more transit flights to offer this time around, B&H hopes it will be able to lure more passengers to the service.

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s national carrier is also expected to launch flights to Amsterdam this November. The new service is being primarily introduced for the Bosnian diaspora in the United States, which would have a quick transfer through Amsterdam onwards to Sarajevo.

Skopje becomes the only airport in the former Yugoslavia to have direct flights to all of the EX-YU capitals from November. All flight details for the Sarajevo – Skopje service can be found on the right hand side, in the new route launches section.

Wizz Air to open Belgrade base

Wizz Air to base aircraft in Belgrade

Eastern Europe’s largest low cost airline, Wizz Air, will open its thirteenth base at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport on April 1, 2011, the airline’s CEO, Jozsef Varadi, announced yesterday in Belgrade. One of the airline’s Airbus A320s will be based at Serbia’s main airport operating flights to Dortmund, London-Luton, Rome, Malmo, Memmingen, Eindhoven and Stockholm-Skavsta. Flights to Dortmund and London, which commenced this summer, have been extremely successful with cabin loads exceeding 90% per flight. The no frills airline will commence flights to Belgrade from Rome and Malmo in Sweden from December. These flights will originate from Belgrade once the A320 is based at the airport in April. Flights to Stockholm, Memmingen and Eindhoven in the Netherlands will begin between April 1 and 3.

At a press conference in Belgrade, Varadi announced that between thirty to forty workers from Serbia will be employed by the airline. “It is our goal to become the leading airline in Serbia”, he said. He also believes the new move will have a positive impact on the Serbian economy. It is anticipated that Wizz Air will carry some 300.000 passengers to and from Serbia in 2011.

All flight details for the new services can be found on the right hand side in the new route launches section.

Croatia’s first low cost airline

More competition for Croatia Airlines?

Croatia could soon get its first low cost airline. Plans are being put in motion for a new low cost carrier to be created by the end of the year, the daily “24 sata” reports. The project is being headed by Željko Romić, a Croat from Australia. He plans for his low cost airline to operate a mixed fleet of short haul Airbus and Boeing aircraft, an unorthodox move for a low cost carrier. Furthermore, Romić plans for his airline to operate seasonal long haul flights to the United States with Airbus A330 and A340 aircraft. Local media report that Romić has found vital financial backing for his ambitious project. The airline would also operate domestic flights and could be a rival to Croatia Airlines.

Croatia is served by many low cost airlines but none are local. There have been numerous plans for a Croatian low cost carrier to be created but none have ever materialised. Do you think Croatia needs a low cost airline? Will the abovementioned airline ever see the light of day? Post a comment.