Wizz Air opens Belgrade base

Wizz stations A320 at Belgrade Airport

Less than a year after it launched its first flights from Dortmund and London to Belgrade, Wizz Air opened its 13^th European base at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport on Tuesday. Wizz Air will become the second largest airline operating out of Belgrade, behind Jat Airways, in April. The airline has carried some 18.000 passengers on its Belgrade flights from June 20, 2010 until March 1, 2011 and has already sold 131.000 tickets from Belgrade. Starting tomorrow, 1 of the airline’s Airbus A320s will be based at the airport.

Wizz Air operates flights from Belgrade to Dortmund, London-Luton, Rome-Fiumicino, Malmo and Charleroi (Brussels). Tomorrow, the low cost airline will inaugurate flights to Stockholm-Skavsta, on Saturday to Memmingen and on Sunday to Gothenburg and Eindhoven. The CEO of Wizz Air, Jozsef Varadi, told a press conference in the Serbian capital on Tuesday that Wizz Air will employ 290 people in Serbia. “Wizz Air has come to Serbia to become the leading airline on the market”. Jat was quick to respond with the launch of a third successive discount fare sale. The airline has been reporting strong passenger growth so far this year but whether Wizz Air’s future expansion plans out of Belgrade will hurt the national carrier remains to be seen.

Wizz Air from Venice to Skopje

Wizz Air plans new Skopje flights

Low cost airline, Wizz Air, will commence 2 weekly flights from Venice to Skopje to compliment its new service from London Luton. Wizz Air is set to commence flights to the Macedonian capital on June 20 with the inauguration of the London Luton route, which will initially operate 4 times per week, decreasing to 2 from September 15.

The Macedonian Civil Aviation Agency has confirmed that Wizz will fly from Venice to Skopje 2 times per week, starting June 21 as flight W67751 and W67752. However, the airline is yet to officially confirm the new launch. Flights are set to operate every Tuesday and Saturday. The no frills airline will have competition from Belle Air Europe which is set to launch the same service from April 17, also twice per week. Furthermore, Mat Airways has announced that during the summer it will be operating flights from Skopje to Amsterdam, Brussels, Copenhagen, Vienna and Zurich.

Turkey issues new Jat offer

Turkey wants Belgrade Airport to sweeten the deal

Turkish Airlines has in the past year denied claims that it has any interest in purchasing the struggling Serbian carrier, Jat Airways. However, after the Serbian Prime Minister met with his counterpart in Turkey 2 weeks ago, an offer has been issued, sources close to the airline say. Turkish Airlines is interested in purchasing Jat only if Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport is part of the package. The Turks want Serbia’s main airport to be sold to a Turkish airport operator, strengthening Turkey’s position in the region.

The Turkish company TAV Holdings already runs both Skopje and Ohrid airports and has shown interest in bidding for the construction of Zagreb Airport’s new terminal. Furthermore, another Turkish company, Limak Holding, partly runs Priština Airport and has expressed interest to purchase Airports of Montenegro, which manages both Podgorica and Tivat. Turkey has also shown interest in investing into Serbia’s newest airport, under construction in Kraljevo. On the other hand, Turkish Airlines owns 49% of B&H Airlines with hopes to buy out the rest of the company.

Whether the Serbian government is keen on selling one of the country’s most successful, publically owned companies (Belgrade Airport), together with Jat remains to be seen. Airports are considered a key part of a country’s infrastructure and recent moves to privatise airports in Montenegro have been met with strong opposition. The Serbian Government has announced it will create a new national airline together with a strategic partner which will take over Jat’s aircraft, operations, employees and agreements, minus the debt. However, parties which make up the governing coalition in the country are still divided on Jat’s privatisation model. The government is determined to sell part of the airline by the end of the year.

Iran Air to Belgrade

A new frequent visitor for Belgrade Airport

The national carrier of Iran, Iran Air, has commenced flights to Belgrade, albeit as a technical stop only. Most of Iran Air’s services originating from Western Europe to Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport now land in Belgrade in order to refuel. This is because most companies at European airports have refused to sell fuel to the Iranian flag carrier, the latest being Austrian OMV which refused to renew its contract with Iran Air yesterday. Upon the request of Iran Air, Belgrade has cleared the airline to commence flights to the Serbian capital.

The technical stops commenced last Friday with 2 Iran Air Airbus A300s landing at Nikola Tesla Airport. Once an Iran Air aircraft lands in Belgrade they are parked at platform B, across from the Terminal 1 gates, where the refuelling is conducted. No passengers are allowed to enter or leave the aircraft. Following the refuelling, the flights continue to Tehran. Belgrade is an interesting choice as fuel at Belgrade Airport is far from cheap.

Recently, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said, “Unfortunately, some Western companies have adopted inappropriate policies”. Iran Air said that passengers could expect an additional 90 minutes to their flights due to the refuelling. Iran Air is having the biggest fuel supply problems at London Heathrow Airport. The European Union imposed sanctions against Iran last year due to controversies over the Iranian nuclear program. They have been described as the toughest sanctions ever to be imposed by the European Union onto another country.

Adria to Niš

Adria to step up Serbia bound flights

Slovenia’s Adria Airways is considering introducing services from Ljubljana to Niš Constantine the Great Airport, a press release issued to EX-YU Aviation News states. The Slovenian carrier is interested in starting services to Niš this summer. Similar intentions for this summer were announced back in November last year. Currently, Montenegro Airlines is the only airline to operate scheduled services to Niš with 1 daily flight from Podgorica.

Adria is also planning to introduce more flights to Belgrade, as the airline now has complete control over the route, being the only operating carrier. Starting April 05, the airline will introduce 2 additional frequencies, bringing the total number of weekly flights to 8. From September, the airline plans to introduce even more frequencies to the Serbian capital. Adria says that the flights have been scheduled so as to best suit business people from both countries.

Adria Airways has a strong EX-YU network serving Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Podgorica, Belgrade, Priština, Skopje and Split from this summer season.

Summer 2011Croatia Airlines

A look at Croatia Airlines' 2011 summer chages

The 2011 summer season starts tomorrow. Croatia Airlines has made some changes to its timetable, notably it has added more seasonal flights from secondary bases in Croatia. Croatia Airlines will introduce new scheduled flights from Zagreb to Istanbul. It will resume its summer services to Athens, although the flights will now operate via Dubrovnik, unlike last year. The airline will also operate 4 special charter flights to Damascus, the capital of Syria.

From Pula, Croatia Airlines will operate to Amsterdam (1X per week), Zadar (daily) and Zagreb (18X per week). From Osijek, the airline will fly to Split (1X per week) and Dubrovnik (1X per week). From Brač, Croatia Airlines will operate services to Ljubljana (1X per week) and Zagreb (1X per week).

From Zadar, the airline will operate to Pula (15X per week), Munich (2X per week), Zagreb (18X per week) and to Zurich (2X per week). Rijeka will see the Croatian national airline operate 1 weekly flight to London Heathrow.

The tables below display flights from Zagreb, Dubrovnik and Split – Croatia Airlines’ 3 bases. The tables display the peak weekly frequencies for each destination during the summer (keep this in mind especially for domestic flights within Croatia as some services operate only for several weeks).

Departing Zagreb

Destination	Frequency S2011	Frequency S2010	Change	Notes
Amsterdam	8	7	▲ 1	-
Athens	3	3	-	resumes April 21 via Dubrovnik
Barcelona	3	3	-	-
Brussels	6	9	▼ 3	-
Brač	1	1	-	-
Copenhagen	7	4	▲ 3	-
Dubrovnik	29	30	▼ 1	-
Frankfurt	21	21	-	-
Istanbul	3	0	▲ 3	starts May 17
London Gatwick	4	4	-	-
London Heathrow	9	8	▲ 1	1 flight via Rijeka
Munich	14	14	-	-
Paris	7	7	-	-
Podgorica	3	3	-	-
Priština	7	7	-	-
Pula	18	17	▲ 1	15 flights via Zadar
Rijeka	1	0	▲ 1	-
Rome	11	10	▲ 1	6 flights via Split 2 flights via Dubrovnik
Sarajevo	14	14	-	-
Skopje	10	7	▲ 3	-
Split	33	31	▲ 2	-
Tel Aviv	1	1	-	-
Vienna	14	14	-	-
Zadar	18	14	▲ 4	1 flight via Pula
Zurich	15	14	▲ 1	-
Stockholm	6	4	▲ 2	-

Departing Dubrovnik

Destination	Frequency S2011	Frequency S2010	Change	Notes
Athens	3	0	▲ 3	starts April 21
Belgrade	2	0	▲ 2	starts June 20
Berlin	1	0	▲ 1	starts May 01
Frankfurt	7	7	-	-
Osijek	1	1	-	-
Dusseldorf	1	1	-	-
Paris	2	2	-	-
Rome	3	3	-	-
Split	2	2	-	-
Tel Aviv	2	1	▲ 1	-
Venice	2	0	▲ 2	starts June 16
Vienna	3	2	▲ 1	-
Zagreb	29	30	▼ 1	-
Zurich	3	3	-	-

Departing Split

Destination	Frequency S2011	Frequency S2010	Change	Notes
Amsterdam	1	2	▼ 1	-
Berlin	1	0	▲ 1	starts May 07
Dubrovnik	2	2	-	-
Hamburg	2	0	▲ 2	starts April 16
Dusseldorf	2	2	-	-
Frankfurt	7	7	-	-
London Gatwick	2	2	-	-
London Heathrow	1	1	-	-
Lyon	1	1	-	-
Paris	3	3	-	-
Munich	7	7	-	-
Rome	7	7	-	-
Vienna	4	4	-	-
Osijek	1	1	-	-
Zurich	4	4	-	-

Summer 2011B&H Airlines

A look at B&H's 2011 summer chages

The 2011 summer season is just around the corner. B&H Airlines has made minimal changes to its schedule. Since there is still no official word of B&H’s schedule, this data has been provided by flights listed on the global travel distribution system.

The airline will keep all of its flights to Scandinavia, although all have sustained a 1 weekly frequency cut. Flights to Frankfurt are the only ones to see an increase in frequencies compared to last summer. From Banja Luka the airline will keep 3 weekly its flights to Zurich.

The table below displays flights from Sarajevo. The table displays the peak weakly frequency for each destination during the summer. Visit tomorrow to view Croatia Airlines’ 2011 summer changes.

Destination	Frequency S2011	Frequency S2010	Change	Notes
Amsterdam	3	0	▲ 3	-
Belgrade	0	6	▼ 6	cancelled
Copenhagen	2	3	▼ 1	-
Dusseldorf	0	2	▼ 2	cancelled
Frankfurt	5	4	▲ 1	-
Gothenburg	2	3	▼ 1	1 flight via Copenhagen
Istanbul	7	7	-	-
Stockholm	2	3	▼ 1	1 flight via Gothenburg
Vienna	6	6	-	-
Zurich	7	7	-	3 flights via Banja Luka
Zagreb	0	6	▼ 6	cancelled

Tripoli flights suspended

Tripoli, Libya

Jat Airways has suspended services to the Libyan capital, Tripoli, as a bombing campaign against the country continues. During the weekend a no fly zone was implemented over the North African nation. Jat carried out its last service to Tripoli last Thursday. The airline planned to introduce another weekly flight to the city from next week, which would have brought the total number of weekly services to the Libyan capital to 2. Jat, along with Air Malta, was the only European airline not to suspend scheduled services to the country until the implementation of the no fly zone, despite widespread violence.

According to the daily “Politika”, during the 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia, 4 of Jat’s aircraft were safe guarded at Tripoli Airport. The daily also reports that on Jat’s final service to Tripoli last Thursday there were few passengers on board. Jat operated 5 special evacuation flights several weeks ago for Serbian citizens.

Flights to Tripoli operated via Malta. Services to Malta have also been cancelled until May when they are expected to restart twice per week.

Recently, flights between Tunisia and Serbia resumed after several months. Tunisair has been forced to join its Vienna and Belgrade service due to poor loads. The airline currently operates flights to from Tunis to Belgrade via Vienna. Starting with the 2011 summer season, Tunisair will operate scheduled flights from Tunis and Enfidha to Belgrade, while Jat will operate service to Monastir.

Montenegro crisis continues

Montenegro Airlines owes millions to home base

Milovan Djuričković, the CEO of “Airports of Montenegro”, the public company running both Podgorica and Tivat airports has revealed that the national carrier, Montenegro Airlines, owes over 4.5 million Euros to the airports for the year 2010 alone. “Montenegro Airlines is the biggest debtor to Airports of Montenegro and, unfortunately, as this year progresses, the situation is getting worse. I hope that the company, and those that run it, will have the strength to find a way out of their problems, which would, in turn, allow our company to carry out our business plans”, Djuričković told the “Dan” newspaper.

Montenegro Airlines was forced to suspend services to Priština and Skopje due to mounting debt last month. Furthermore, the airline owes 40.000 Euros to Vienna Airport and a further 60.000 to Frankfurt International Airport. Montenegro Airlines has also failed to pay its pilots since November, while the airline is in urgent need of 2 million Euros to continue operating, the “Dan” reports. The airline’s CEO has warned that the announced low cost seasonal services to Montenegro will have a further negative impact on the carrier and adds that the airline hasn’t received state subsidies for the past 4 years.

This summer, Montenegro Airlines cut frequencies to many of its key destinations, in particular Belgrade, compared to last year. However, the airline does plan to introduce flights to Brussels and Milan. Despite using more modern equipment, the airline has lost many of its passengers on the Montenegro – Belgrade services to rival Jat, while suspensions to Skopje and Priština have seen the airline loose a significant share of transit passengers.

Waiting for Turkish

B&H awaits Turkish Airlines deal

B&H Airlines, which is partially owned by Turkish Airlines, is awaiting full privatisation. The national carrier of Turkey is willing to purchase 100% of B&H, however, political limbo in the country has stalled the process so far. The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina was formed last week, 5 months after citizens took to the polls. The government is now expected to sit down and negotiate with Turkish Airlines. The national carrier of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been at a standstill for several months as it awaits its future ownership status to be resolved. The airline is yet to finalise its 2011 summer timetable which begins in 6 days.

However, an unnamed source for the “Dnevni Avaz” newspaper said that Turkish is using B&H Airlines and is purposely waiting for the airline’s debt to pile up so it could inexpensively take over the company. Furthermore, Turkish is more interested in slots and the free sky agreement Bosnia and Herzegovina has with the European Union, then the Bosnian market itself. According to the source, B&H Airlines’ debt currently amounts to 8.1 million Euros.

From next week, passengers travelling with B&H from Sarajevo will be hit by an 18 Euro airport tax. Passengers will be forced to pay the tax in local currency at the airport check in desk prior to departure. The airline explains this is the result of a decision made by Sarajevo Airport. The tax only applies for B&H Airlines flights.

Jat makes another fleet promise

More ATRs to join the fleet

The acting CEO of Jat Airways, Vladimir Ognjenović, has told Radio Television of Serbia that the carrier will purchase 2 ATR72-500 aircraft in January 2012 in order to strengthen its regional fleet, currently made up of 4 ATR72-200s. He says that routes in the former Yugoslavia are made profitable when using this aircraft even with only 10 passengers onboard. He believes that by introducing newer generation ATR aircraft, the airline’s fleet will become more efficient. “The ATRs that we have now and the ATR72-500s that we plan to introduce into the fleet next year are extremely efficient for our regional market”, Ognjenović said. Jat has seen a big spike in bookings on regional flights for the upcoming summer months.

The ATR72-500 has the capacity to seat between 68 and 74 passengers. Jat currently operates the ATR72-200 model while in the early 1990s the airline also used ATR42s. Jat also hopes to finalise an outstanding order for 8 Airbus A319 jets, by refining the 13 year old agreement. Some have suggested the agreement could be finalised next month when Serbian President, Boris Tadić, visits France.

Meanwhile, the Serbian Ministry for Infrastructure has announced that Jat will be privatised by the end of the year. There are continual conflicting messages amongst members of the Serbian Government in regards to Jat’s future.

Summer 2011Montenegro Airlines

A look at Montenegro Airlines' 2011 summer changes

With a week to go before the start of the northern hemisphere 2011 summer season, Montenegro Airlines has made several changes to its timetable.

The national carrier of Montenegro will be introducing new flights to Brussels and Milan and increase services on routes to Frankfurt, Moscow and Paris. The airline is notably trimming down on its flights from Podgorica to Belgrade compared to last summer. Montenegro Airlines will not be operating flights to Skopje and Priština due to debt owed to both airports. Furthemore, the airline has cancelled last year’s seasonal summer flights from Podgorica to Dusseldorf and Copenhagen. Montenegro Airlines will operate summer charters from Podgorica to Napoli and Bari in Italy.

From its second base, Tivat, the airline is also cutting the number of flights to Belgrade but will significantly increase its offer to Moscow. Unlike last year, flights from Tivat to Paris will only operate once per week and are currently listed as charter flights.

The table below displays flights from Podgorica. Note that this is a provisional list of summer adjustments and changes to both destinations and frequencies may occur in the next few weeks. The table displays the peak weakly frequency for each destination during the summer.

Destination	Frequency S2011	Frequency S2010	Change	Notes
Belgrade	14	24	▼ 10	-
Brussels	3	0	▲ 3	starts April 15
Copenhagen	0	2	▼ 2	cancelled
Dusseldorf	0	3	▼ 3	cancelled
Frankfurt	7	5	▲ 2	-
Ljubljana	2	2	-	-
London Gatwick	3	3	-	-
Milan	3	0	▲ 3	starts April 08
Moscow	6	5	▲ 1	-
Niš	7	7	-	-
Paris	4	3	▲ 1	-
Priština	0	8	▼ 8	cancelled
Rome	3	4	▼ 1	-
Skopje	0	7	▼ 7	cancelled
Vienna	3	3	-	-
Zurich	14	7	▲ 7	-

The table below displays flights from Tivat.

Destination	Frequency S2011	Frequency S2010	Change	Notes
Belgrade	21	26	▼ 5	-
Moscow	20	5	▲ 15	-
Paris	1	4	▼ 3	operated as charter flights

Aeroflot dumps Dubrovnik

Aeroflot cancels Dubrovnik flights

Aeroflot has cancelled planned scheduled services from Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport to Dubrovnik, which were to be inaugurated on May 27. The new service was announced in January 2011 following a big increase of Russian tourists in Croatia last year.

Roko Tolić, the CEO of Dubrovnik Airport, confirmed the reports. Aeroflot’s decision has caught Dubrovnik Airport officials off guard and has left little room for negotiations as the company has not specified the reason behind the cancellation. "Dubrovnik’s tourism, travel agencies and hotel owners had great expectations from these flights", Tolić said. According to Tolić, Aeroflot will operate flights to Tivat this summer and he believes that Dubrovnik had offered Aeroflot better terms than its close rival. According to the local “Dubrovački Vjesnik”, the service is being cancelled due to rocky political relations between the two countries. However, Aeroflot will continue its summer flights from Moscow to Split which will operate on a daily basis.

The “Jutarnji List” reports that Transaero from Russia is considering introducing scheduled seasonal flights from Moscow to Dubrovnik.

Adria expands Priština offer

Adria to launch 4 new routes out of Priština

Slovenia’s Adria Airways will be introducing several new seasonal routes from its second base – Priština. Up until now Adria has operated direct flights from Priština to Ljubljana, Frankfurt and Munich. This summer the airline is introducing flights to Brussels, Dusseldorf, Copenhagen and Paris Charles De Gaulle.

On June 2 Adria will launch a 2 weekly service to Brussels (flight details) with its Airbus A319. Flights will operate until September 29. The service will be in direct competition with Jetairfly, which will launch its flights from Brussels to Priština a few days later, on June 10. Adria will also connect Priština with France’s main airport with a 1 weekly service from June 18 to September 17 (flight details), Copenhagen once per week from June 21 to August 9 (flight details) and Dusseldorf, also once per week, from July 16 to September 3 (flight details).

Priština Airport will see several other new seasonal services this summer. Norwegian Air Shuttle will launch flights from Gothenburg and Oslo (flight details), Helvetic Airways from Berne in Switzerland (flight details), while Belle Air Europe will launch a scheduled new service to Stuttgart.

Korean Air to Zagreb

Soon in Zagreb

Korean Air will resume its summer charters to the Croatian capital from April 30. The national carrier of South Korea will operate a total of five flights between Seoul’s Incheon Airport and Zagreb’s Pleso Airport until May 28. The service, which will operate every Saturday with the Boeing 777-200ER, will carry hundreds of South Korean tourists to Croatia. Korean Air operated 2 flights to Zagreb last summer. Flights are scheduled to depart Seoul in the evening, arriving in Zagreb in the evening hours of the same day. Flights will depart Zagreb on Saturday evening and arrive in Seoul on Sunday.

This summer, Zagreb will also see seasonal summer flights from Barcelona, to be operated by Spanair, Madrid by Iberia, Tel Aviv by Sun d’Or International Airlines and Copenhagen, to be operated by Norwegian Air Shuttle. Croatia Airlines will be introducing seasonal flights from Zagreb to Athens, Brač and Tel Aviv with a new all year round service to Istanbul set to begin on May 17.

From Belgrade to Majorca

Spanair to connect Palma de Mallorca and Belgrade

Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport will see several new seasonal summer flights to destinations such as Palma in Spain and Tunisia’s newest airport in Enfidha. Meanwhile, planned flights to Chicago and Toronto are treading on thin ice.

Spanair will be offering a one weekly service from Belgrade to the island of Majorca. The new seasonal flights will begin in June and last until mid August. The route will compliment the airline’s existing scheduled service between Barcelona and Belgrade. Last summer, Spanair offered flights between Madrid and Belgrade, however the service will not be resuming this year. Belgrade will now be connected with 3 Spanish cities. Besides Barcelona and Palma, Jat Airways will commence flights to Girona this summer.

Tunisair, which continues to offer scheduled flights from Tunis to the Serbian capital, will be adding flights from the city of Enfidha, the country’s newest airport. Services from Enfidha to Nikola Tesla Airport will operate 3 times per week and will replace the seasonal Monastir – Belgrade service, which the airline has offered in the past few years.

The small Thessaloniki based Astra Airlines will commence seasonal flights to Belgrade. Flights will operate once per week.

Tickets for all of the abovementioned flights will be sold exclusively through tour operators. The planned services from Chicago and Toronto to Belgrade by Ryan International Airlines are doubtful at this point in time, a spokesperson from the airline confirmed to EX-YU Aviation News.

In the following week you will be able to read more about what airlines have in store at other EX-YU airports this summer.

Good start for EX-YU airlines

Croatia, Adria and Jat record passenger growth

In January 2011, EX-YU’s 3 largest airlines reported passenger growth compared to the same month last year.

Slovenia’s Adria Airways carried 65.600 passengers, an increase of 2.4%. The airline’s load factor was the best of the three, standing at 60.9%. Adria also recorded more flights and more capacity compared to January 2010. However, financially, Adria is still struggling. Last week, the national carrier completed its financial restricting plan and distributed it to banks in hope of securing more loans. The airline had a 12 million Euro loss in 2010.

Croatia Airlines reported the largest passenger increase in January. It handled 95.500 passengers, an increase of 4.8%. Its average cabin occupancy stood at 56.5%. The number of operated flights was up, although capacity was down.

Finally, Jat Airways reported a 2.9% increase in January. However, its February results were more notable, handling 67.635 passengers, an increase of 24%, as was reported here last week.

UAE inks Montenegro open air deal

Door open for UAE airlines to fly to Montenegro

The United Arab Emirates General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) said it has signed an open air services agreement and also initialed an air services agreement with Montenegro. The agreement was initialled by Saif Al Suwaidi, director general of GCAA and Mirel Radić Ljubisavljević, deputy minister for Air and Road Transport of Montenegro in Podgorica last week. Representatives from Abu Dhabi Department of Transport, Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Etihad Airways and Emirates Airline took part in the negotiations. The two delegations later agreed that any number of designated airlines of both parties will have the right to perform scheduled air services, said a GCAA statement. Under the agreement, The UAE team designated Emirates, Etihad, Air Arabia, RAK Airways and FlyDubai as the national airlines, while the Montenegro delegation named Montenegro Airlines as its designated airline.

The memorandum of understanding allows full flexibility on the routes, capacity, number of frequencies and types of aircraft, in any type of service (passenger or cargo). The signed memorandum also includes the exercise of fifth freedom traffic rights. In addition, both parties agreed to allow unrestricted non scheduled operations between the two countries.

In 2010 there were reports that Etihad Airways was interested in purchasing Montenegro Airlines. However, the 30% sale of Montenegro Airlines shares ultimately failed with no bidders. In 2009, Serbia and the UAE signed a similar agreement while last year Macedonia signed an air transport agreement with Qatar. Currently, Belgrade is the only EX-YU city connected to the United Arab Emirates with flights to Dubai, operated by Jat Airways.

Zagreb continues impressive run

Bumper month for Dubrovnik Airport

For a second consecutive month, Zagreb Airport reported a strong passenger increase. In February the airport handled 125.871 passengers, an increase of 11.4%. Zagreb was not alone in reporting passenger growth. Similar statistics were recorded by Split and Pula. Dubrovnik did particularly well, seeing its numbers rise by 25.1%. It handled 17.157 passengers. Although the airports in Rijeka and Mali Lošinj saw their figures increase by over 100%, the small number of passengers the two handled should be taken into consideration.

Last year’s star performer, Zadar, saw its passenger numbers slip for a second month in a row. The airport also saw the number of flight operations drop by 8.2%. Osijek remained steady with 80 passengers.

Below you can review the performance of Croatia’s airports in February 2011. Overall, it was a good month for Croatian airports with 167.112 passengers handled and a 11.5% increase compared to February 2010. The statistics have been provided by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics.

Airport	Passengers FEB 2011	Passengers FEB 2010	Change (%)
Zagreb	125.871	113.042	▲ 11.4
Dubrovnik	17.157	13.725	▲ 25.1
Pula	1.167	998	▲ 16.9
Split	21.442	20.387	▲ 5.2
Zadar	1.190	1.516	▼ 21.5
Osijek	80	80	-
Rijeka	73	26	▲ 180.7
Mali Lošinj	132	65	▲ 103.1

Summer 2011Jat Airways

A look at Jat’s 2011 summer changes

As the 2011 summer season begins on March 27, Serbia’s Jat Airways will be making several changes to its list of destinations.

This summer, Jat will be increasing flights across its network. Substantial increases will be seen on services to Athens, Ohrid, Tivat and Paris. The airline will launch 2 weekly flights to Girona in Spain. Despite earlier announcements that the airline will be resuming several services to Croatia, at the time this post is published, Jat is so far only returning to Dubrovnik. On the other hand, unlike last summer, Jat won’t be flying to Ljubljana and Portorož, at the same time slashing the number of flights to Monastir in Tunisia with almost no travel agencies selling packages to the country which was recently gripped by an uprising. Jat will operate charter flights to Greece, Turkey and Egypt throughout the summer.

The table below displays flights from Belgrade. Note that this is a provisional list of summer adjustments and changes to both destinations and frequencies may occur in the next few weeks. The table displays the peak weakly frequency for each destination during the summer.

Destination	Frequency S2011	Frequency S2010	Change	Notes
Amsterdam	7	5	▲ 2	-
Athens	7	3	▲ 4	-
Berlin	4	4	-	-
Brussels	3	2	▲ 1	via Amsterdam
Copenhagen	4	4	-	1 flight via Stockholm
Dubrovnik	2	0	▲ 2	starts June 17
Dubai	4	3	▲ 1	-
Dusseldorf	7	5	▲ 2	-
Frankfurt	7	7	-	-
Gothenburg	3	2	▲ 1	1 flight via Stockholm
Girona	2	0	▲ 2	starts April 23
Istanbul	5	4	▲ 1	-
Larnaca	6	5	▲ 1	-
Ljubljana	0	6	▼ 6	canceled
London - Heathrow	9	9	-	-
Malta	2	2	-	-
Milan	4	4	-	-
Monastir	1	3	▼ 2	-
Moscow	7	7	-	-
Ohrid	5	2	▲ 3	starts May 01 1 flight via Skopje
Paris	11	7	▲ 4	-
Podgorica	21	21	-	-
Portorož	0	2	▼ 2	canceled
Rome	5	5	-	-
Sarajevo	7	7	-	-
Skopje	15	14	▲ 1	3 flights via Ohrid
Stockholm	6	4	▲ 2	-
Stuttgart	3	3	-	-
Tel Aviv	2	2	-	-
Tivat	35	28	▲ 7	-
Thessaloniki	3	3	-	-
Tripoli	2	2	-	via Malta
Trieste	3	3	-	-
Vienna	14	14	-	-
Zurich	10	8	▲ 2	-

Low cost onslaught

Heading to Montenegro

Montenegro could see a flurry of new airlines operating to its airports this summer. The Montenegrin Government has successfully completed preliminary talks with no frills airlines Ryanair, Wizz Air and easyJet, the portal Analitika reports. The Ministry for Sustainable Development and Tourism said talks were held in Dublin, Geneva and London. According to them, all of the abovementioned airlines are interested in commencing flights to Montenegro this summer from the United Kingdom and Germany. The Ministry said the list of airlines and destinations will significantly increase next summer. The arrival of any of these airlines would mark the first true low cost flights to Montenegro.

However, Montenegro Airlines is less than happy with the upcoming competition. Recently, CEO Zoran Djurišić said that if low cost airlines were to come to Montenegro they should operate an all year round service and as a result, struggle. “Montenegro Airlines struggles for 8 months while low cost airlines will operate for 3 months and fill their aircraft to London, Paris and Moscow, services which we have nurtured for 8 months”.

The semi low cost airline Air Berlin has already confirmed that it will commence flights to Tivat on May 18. Flight details for the service can be found here. In the first 2 months of 2011, Montenegro’s two airports handled 95.175 passengers, an increase of 6% compared to the same period last year.

Tripoli flights resume

In unrelated news, Jat Airways has resumed scheduled services to the Libyan capital Tripoli, only the second European airline after Air Malta to do so. The service was suspended when violence broke out in the country a few weeks ago. However, the future of the service is uncertain as the Libyan crisis continues. Tomorrow, visitors of the blog will be able to review Jat Airways’ 2011 summer changes.

September opening for Morava Airport

Morava Airport

Serbia’s newest airport, based in Kraljevo, will see its first passenger aircraft land in late September, the Serbian Defence Minister Dragan Šutanovac announced yesterday. Work is ongoing on the construction of the civilian part of the airport. The other part, known as Ladjevci, is a military air base and was mostly destroyed in 1999. Minister Šutanovac said that the construction of Morava Airport is one of the top infrastructure priorities of the year, stating that aircraft with a capacity to carry 100 passengers will be able to land there. He also noted that the airport will have a lot of potential since some 2 million people live within a 70 kilometre radius. Furthermore, many Bosniaks living in the area often travel to Turkey and use Priština Airport instead. The Minister says that the idea is to get passengers to use Morava Airport. Serbia’s Prime Minister is set to discuss about future investments into the airport with his Turkish counterpart on a visit to the country today. Meanwhile, the Serbian Minister for Public Administration and Local Self-Government talked up Morava Airport’s cargo potential, since a lot of industry is located in the area.

The price tag of the project amounts to 22.2 million Euros, not including the control tower equipment which will be provided by the Serbia and Montenegro Air Traffic Services Agency. Construction of the airport’s terminal building will begin in April and will be partly financed by the government and partly by Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport.

Priština Airport project delayed

New Priština Airport terminal postponed

The takeover of Priština Airport by the Turkish-French consortium Limak Holding and Aeroport de Lyon has once again been delayed upon the request of the consortium itself, the daily “Koha Ditore” reports. A 30 day delay has been requested by the consortium. The airport’s new owners were supposed to begin the construction of a brand new terminal in late January, to be completed by June 2012. However, no work on the new terminal has begun. The price tag for the new terminal is estimated at 140 million Euros, together with supporting infrastructure. The planned investments foresee a 27.000 square meter terminal building, a 77.000 square meter apron and runway, a new traffic control tower, car park facilities with a capacity for 1.750 vehicles and fuel tanks and the refurbishment of airport access roads.

Meanwhile, low cost Albanian airline Belle Air, faced with mounting debt, has suspended services to Priština. As a result, Priština no longer has a scheduled service to the Albanian capital. Montenegro Airlines also suspended flights to Priština recently as it faces its own financial problems. However, it’s not all bad news. Jetairfly will commence 2 weekly flights from Brussels to Priština on June 10. Flight details can be found here.

Azerbaijan Airlines to Belgrade

Soon in Belgrade?

The President of the Serbian-Azerbaijani Chamber of Commerce, Mirko Barać, led a delegation of Serbian businessmen to the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, where he proposed for Azerbaijan Airlines to commence flights to Belgrade, the Tanjug news agency reports. Following its offer, Barać and representatives of Jat Airways met with the management of Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL). Barać said, “We are aware that the Baku – Belgrade service won’t be profitable”. Therefore, the Serbian delegation proposed for the Azerbaijani carrier to operate flights to Zurich via Belgrade. “We believe that by continuing to Zurich, the flights will be more efficient”. This proposal is believed to be a joint project between Jat and Azerbaijan Airlines, as the governments of Serbia and Azerbaijan have proposed the initiation of joint projects.

Azerbaijan Airlines has a large fleet of Boeing and Airbus aircraft with orders for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Azerbaijan Airlines currently does not operate flights to Zurich although Serbia would grant it full rights to operate the Belgrade – Zurich sector.

Relations between Serbia and Azerbaijan have been strong in recent times with both countries opening embassies in each other’s capital and the Azeri Government donating 2 million Euros for the redevelopment of a central park in Belgrade.

Jat returns to Spain

From April in Spain

Jat Airways will commence scheduled seasonal summer flights to Costa Brava in Spain, resuming services to the country after 14 years. Jat will inaugurate services to Girona - Costa Brava Airport on Spain’s North-Eastern coast on April 23, the airline’s acting CEO, Vladimir Ognjenović announced. Flights will operate twice per week, every Tuesday and Saturday. Ognjenović says that return ticket prices will amount to just under 200 Euros. Spain has been an increasingly popular destination with Serbian holiday makers in recent years. In the past few summers Jat operated one off charter flights to Girona. All the flight details for the new service can be found here.

With turmoil in Northern Africa, Jat is set to heavily reduce flights to Monastir, Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada this summer. The airline has also suspended flights to Tripoli in Libya as battles rage in the country.

Jat has also announced its results for 2011 so far. In the first two months of the year the airline handled 136.385 passengers, up by 11% on the same period last year. The average cabin load factor stood at 56%, an increase of 6%. In February alone, Jat handled 67.635 passengers, an increase of 24%. If the evacuation flights from Libya were to be added, passenger numbers increased by 28%. Flights to Montenegro continued to see an increase in passengers, with figures rising 18% compared to February last year. The number of passengers on charter flights, on the other hand, continues to plummet.

Strike threat for Croatia Airlines

Croatia Airlines union unhappy

Last year, unhappy Croatia Airlines cabin crew launched industrial action which affected the carrier’s operations for 48 hours. The crew protested against lower pay, increased work hours, slashed holiday leave and discontinued bonuses, which were outlined in the new collective agreement. During this week, a peace meeting between the management and the union was held but ended without the peace being achieved. Despite lowering their demands, the union doesn’t want to sign a new collective agreement with the management. “Workers are aware of the difficult position our national airline finds itself in”, the union says, adding it has dropped demands for a 5% pay increase, increased holiday leave and annual bonuses and awards, all of which it gave up last year. However, the union insists that its workers are in a constant fear of losing their jobs and that Croatia Airlines employees have the worst terms and conditions out of all the government owned companies in the country.

The union is now threatening with a new strike if the airline’s management doesn’t offer severance pay packages. The management has stayed quiet on the issue. Last year it suspended crew pay which led to a strike 24 hours later.

Summer 2011Adria Airways

A look at Adria’s 2011 summer changes

With exactly 3 weeks to go until the 2011 summer season, it’s time to focus on what the national carriers in the former Yugoslavia will be offering their passengers.

Slovenia’s Adria Airways has made several changes, mostly in the form of cutting frequencies to several destinations when compared to the 2010 summer season. In the table below you can view the frequencies for the 2011 summer season and compare them to what was offered last summer. Adria will resume its seasonal flights to Athens, Barcelona, Dublin, Kiev, Manchester, Marseille and Stockholm but will not return to Madrid. Brussels, Munich and Vienna have sustained greater frequency cuts than others. Split will be a new destination Adria will operate to this summer.

From Adria’s second base in Priština, the airline will operate flights to Munich (7X per week), Frankfurt (3X), Dusseldorf (2X per week) and Ljubljana (as listed in the table below).

The table below displays flights from Ljubljana. Note that this is a provisional list of summer adjustments and changes to both destinations and frequencies may occur in the next few weeks. The table displays the peak weakly frequency for each destination during the summer.

Destination	Frequency S2011	Frequency S2010	Change	Notes
Amsterdam	7	9	▼ 2	-
Athens	3	3	-	starts April 21
Banja Luka	4	4	-	-
Barcelona	3	2	▲ 1	starts April 24
Belgrade	6	6	-	-
Brussels	13	19	▼ 6	-
Copenhagen	5	5	-	-
Dublin	1	1	-	starts May 21
Frankfrut	25	25	-	-
Istanbul	10	11	▼ 1	-
Kiev	2	4	▼ 2	starts June 05
London-Gatwick	5	7	▼ 2	-
Madrid	0	2	▼ 2	canceled
Manchester	2	2	-	starts May 04
Marseille	4	2	▲ 2	starts March 27
Moscow	9	8	▲ 1	-
Munich	21	26	▼ 5	-
Paris	10	14	▼ 4	-
Podgorica	3	4	▼ 1	-
Priština	12	14	▼ 2	-
Sarajevo	6	7	▼ 1	-
Split	1	0	▲ 1	flight times yet to be announced
Skopje	14	14	-	-
Stockholm	2	3	▼ 1	starts April 07
Tirana	11	12	▼ 1	-
Vienna	21	28	▼ 7	-
Warsaw	4	5	▼ 1	-
Zurich	20	20	-	-

February growth

Strong growth in February as Olympic announces its return

Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport has continued to report significant passenger growth. Last month, Serbia’s main airport handled 162.813 passengers, an increase of 19.1% compared to the same month last year. Belgrade’s most popular route in February was Rome, which is seeing up to 60% more passengers. The route is served by Jat Airways, Alitalia and most recently, Wizz Air. Despite low cost competition both Jat and Alitalia saw their numbers on the service increase by 20%. Both airlines have slashed prices on the route. The continuing good results put the airport on track to handle 3 million passengers by the end of the year. The value of the airport’s shares on the stock exchange has risen by 20% since they first appeared, less than a month ago.

Meanwhile, Greece’s national carrier, Olympic Air, is set to return to Belgrade. The airline terminated flights to the Serbian capital following its restructuring in 2009. Its rival, Aegean Airlines took over but suspended flights in 2010. Jat Airways is currently the only airline operating the service with daily flights to commence this summer. Olympic Air said it will discontinue flights to London, Paris, Brussels and Vienna and add flights to Belgrade, according to a statement on its website. Flights are set to begin on March 27. Details can be found here.

Bidding for Zagreb begins

Construction of new terminal to begin in 2012

The Croatian Government has begun accepting bids for the construction of a second terminal at Zagreb’s Pleso Airport. The deadline for the offer submissions is April 4, 2011. The government will decide on a contractor by September and construction of the terminal should begin in 2012, Transport Minister Božidar Kalmeta said. Aeroports de Paris and Houston Airport System have expressed interest in bidding contract, as well as the companies that manage the airports in Frankfurt, Munich, Istanbul, Zurich, Vienna and Singapore, Lidija Capković, a spokeswoman for Zagreb Airport said on February 8.

Zagreb Airport will remain in the hands of the state, the cities of Zagreb and neighbouring Velika Gorica, as well as the local government, Kalmeta said. As much as 10% of the airport may become property of its employees, he added. In 2010, Zagreb handled 2.067.646 passengers. In January 2010, the airport recorded a 10% passenger increase compared to the same month last year. The airport hopes to handle 5 million passengers in the years to come. The new terminal is planned to be built in 3 phases, with the first set to be completed in 2014. The current terminal will undergo a smaller expansion and face lift to accommodate the rising number of passengers until the new terminal is completed.

Belgrade - Rijeka

Strong interest to resume Belgrade – Rijeka flights

Jat Airways is interested in commencing flights between Belgrade and Rijeka this summer. Jat has also expressed interest to commence flights from Belgrade to Dubrovnik, as was reported a few days ago. However, the airline still hasn’t given the final approval for the flights as it puts the final touches to its 2011 summer season timetable. The Primorje-Gorski Kotar County’s vice mayor, Vidoje Vujić, held talks with Jat representatives this weekend at the Belgrade International Tourism Fair, where Croatia was the special guest country. “Rijeka and Belgrade used to be connected 14 times per week”, Vujić told the “Novi list” newspaper. So far, Croatia Airlines is the only airline to have confirmed flights between Croatia and Belgrade, with the 2 weekly Belgrade – Dubrovnik service commencing June 20. Despite an earlier promise from both Jat and Croatia Airlines that they will reveal their cooperation plans over the weekend, this did not occur. Below you can view the map with the planned services between Belgrade and Croatia set to commence this year. Whether they will become more than just promises remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, Croatia Airlines has pushed back the launch of its Zagreb – Istanbul service, which was originally planned to commence on March 27. The flights are now set to be inaugurated on May 17. There have also been some time changes. You can view the flight details here.

Honeymoon over for Montenegro Airlines

Problems mount for Montenegro Airlines

Montenegro Airlines has, up until now, been associated with increasing passenger numbers, new modern aircraft and destinations. However, the honeymoon seems to be over for the Montenegrin flag carrier after it was revealed the airline is in debt to various European airports, its pilots haven’t been paid since November and the airline’s CEO announced that Montenegro Airlines is financially struggling. Politicians say that Montenegro Airlines has been pulling the wool over people’s eyes about its financial performance.

Speaking to the radio station “Slobodna Evropa” this weekend, Montenegro Airlines CEO, Zoran Djurišić, said, “We haven’t received state subsidies for the past 4 years and we are struggling financially”. The Montenegrin Government was swift to reply. “Following recent revelations in regards to Montenegro Airlines, the Ministry of Transportation and Maritime Affairs has written to the airline’s management for an immediate explanation of what is happening. After we receive their answer we will act in line with the law”, the Montenegrin Ministry of Transportation and Maritime Affairs said.

Opposition politicians were quick to blame the government for the state in which the national carrier finds itself in. “We have no idea what is going on there besides the fact that members of the ruling oligarchy are in management positions”, Radojica Živković, a politician and member of the Parliament's Committee for the Economy, said. Other politicians say that Montenegro Airlines has kept its bad financial performance out of the public's eye, presenting itself instead as a successful company. “If we analyse the state in which Montenegro Airlines is in, we come to the conclusion that time is up for the terrible, state sponsored, management”, Zarija Pejović, another state politician told “Slobodna Evropa”.