B&H considering Skopje comeback

Soon in Skopje?
A source at B&H Airlines has confirmed to EX-YU aviation news that the Bosnian carrier is considering resuming flights to the Macedonian capital Skopje. Services to the city would be launched midway through the winter season, close to the New Year holiday period. The arrival of B&H’s second ATR 72 has given the airline more space to manoeuvre and plan for new routes. Ticket sales for the new service would begin well in advance and there will be a focus on marketing in an attempt to familiarise potential passengers with the new route.

Earlier in the year, before Turkish Airlines withdrew from its stake in B&H Airlines, the carrier announced plans to launch flights to Skopje. Five weekly flights were meant to be inaugurated at the start of the 2012 summer season. Plans were made for the service to depart Sarajevo in the evening with the return flight to leave Skopje early next morning, so as to connect onto B&H’s services to Europe. B&H has previously flown to the Macedonian capital via Podgorica. However, the national carrier suspended the flights citing low interest.

While the flights are still not set in stone, B&H’s return will be welcomed news for Skopje Airport which is already anticipating a busy winter season. If B&H resumes services to Skopje, the city will be served by four national carriers of the former Yugoslavia - Adria Airways, B&H Airlines, Croatia Airlines and Jat Airways. All of the EX-YU airlines rely on Macedonian transit passengers to Western Europe, with B&H now ready to enter the game as well.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:09

    Great so now that TK is out of the picture we are back to reading about megalomanic and unsustainable ideas of Air B&H's management. Don't they know that you need more than two destinations to be considered as a serious transit hub?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous10:02

    ^
    This better propaganda then ;"when zagreb becomes" Hahaha.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:07

      You are right, I do not know what is a bigger joke, Air B&H's route expansion, Jat's fleet renewal, Zagreb's terminal construction, Adria's return to profitability and successful privatization or Montenegro...well, anything with Montenegro.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:08

      Postao si naporan s tim...

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:10

      Са чим је постао напоран?

      Delete
    4. Zrak22:49

      @first Anonymous

      Great observation.

      How many failed routes & how much money do you need to loose to understand that to be able to start new route you need proper marketing, you need to stop canceling flights at random, you need to be able to sell transfer tickets, you need to start selling goods onboard to increase profitability, you need proper reward programme, you need code-shares.

      BH Airlines management is a joke and the worst thing is that our government and general public does not understand this.

      Delete
  3. Purger14:28

    The only chance for that route would be

    SKP-TGD-SJJ in morning
    SJJ-TGD-SKP evening

    but only if Montenegro put code-share on SKP-TGD leg with connection to all YM flights and TGD-SJJ leg + connections to flights via TGD for JA and via SJJ for YM.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous15:11

    Completely insane!
    As it stands now Skopje has twice as many destinations as SJJ so it's non sense of SJJ being a transfer hub for SKP pax..
    And btw. Bosnia is to Macednia the country with less developed ties and connections (business, commercial, touristic, political, relatives) so there is really no big demand for SJJ-SKP flights!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Zrak22:54

      Well for SJJ to be any kind of hub BH Airlines would first need to understand concept of connecting pax and transfers. Last time I tried to buy ticket through SJJ their staff did not understand & urged me to buy 2 different (point to point) tickets. They could not actually understand reason why I wouldn't buy 2 un-related tickets.

      Otherwise just because SJJ has less passengers than SKP does, it does not mean that it cannot act as hub for particular destination. When flying to Ukraine I frequently transfer at Warsaw & Riga although both of these airports have less than 30% of pax at my home airport.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous21:59

      Hi Zrak, can we know which is your home airport?

      Delete
  5. Anonymous15:15

    If they are going to consider year round flights to an ex-yu they should start up SJJ-BEG

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:25

      They tried and failed

      Delete
    2. Anonymous16:27

      They failed beause Jat didn't codeshare on that flight.

      Belgrade will attract even more passengers now that hotel Metropol will open. They are sold out in October.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous17:33

      ...and Jat would love to codeshare on that flight.A lot of their flights are codeshare.
      So they could use their ac on another route.
      But i think the people at BH simply to refuse to talk with Jat.
      The reason for considering flights to Skopje might not be pax but more the subsidies they can get.

      Delete
    4. Zrak23:00

      @last anon

      I would say that both JAT & BHA management are extremely incompetent. It does not have to do with them not wanting to talk with each other (because of strategic reasons or whatever). Rather both companies are run by people that do not have any clue about airline industry, got their positions due to their political ties and more or less do not care about companies they run. Otherwise we wouldn't see all these stupid moves. I would say that average member of this forum has more knowledge of airline industry than some of the people in management of airlines based in former Yugoslavia

      Delete
    5. Anonymous23:35

      You are right Zrak...
      But that is politics today!
      (Not only Ex Yu but also rest of the world for example Air France)
      The simply reason why those government owned airlines and other businesses exist is to reward members of the ruling party with overpaid jobs and privileges!

      You even could imagine a state owned
      candy shop with 20 square meters ,
      one salesperson ,one baker and ten directors who earn each month ten thousand dollars for administrative work.

      I know its a joke but not so far from reality.
      I even go so far that i would not call a state owned airline a business.
      They are only for show...they only simulate being a company ...it is like those fake companies run by the mafia
      to disguise their illegal activities !

      Delete
  6. Anonymous16:42

    Today again AN-124 landing in BEG !
    Estimated landing time 17:40 !
    So be there early...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous16:52

    Explain Metropol and more pax?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:13

      Until now there was only one 5 star hotel in Belgrade, Hyatt, that used to rip people off with their fares. They charge €250 per night. With Metropol opening up the fares will go down and Belgrade will become more attractive because its hotel offer has diversified. Do not forget that Hote Jugoslavija was bought by Kempinski.
      Hyatt is mostly full and as of October Metropol is seeing extremly strong numbers. Most of these people are tourists and business people according to my source. And these people sure as Hell do not come by car to Belgrade.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous23:28

    Belgrade has just one 5***** hotel? For example Zagreb have 4 hotels with 5***** (Hilton which is just opend included) and 21 with 4****. And you still speak of Belgrade tourisam and how it is center of universe?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous23:40

      My dick is very short but longer then yours...

      Delete
    2. Anonymous00:29

      Even though this hotel issue is highly off topic, once it's started it needs to be clarified.
      For anyone interested in Belgrade's hotel capacity offering a quick visit to the official site of Belgrade tourist association will learn that at the moment 5 hotels are ranked as 5 stars not including recently opened Metropol palace, but including ex Inter Continental which is to join Crown Plaza brand as soon as the overhaul is over. At the same time construction of another 4 hotels in this category is due to be completed within next 18 months 3 of them are to join renowned hotel chains

      Delete
    3. Anonymous02:56

      Btw kaže se Zagreb HAS, ne Zagreb HAVE :). I TOURISM, ne TOURISAM, i kaže se of THE universe, i OPENED (ne opend), i which HAS just opened (ne IS)..

      Reading this person's english, proves a lot :)

      and i still don't know why we always compare cities to towns..

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:30

      And I still don't know why we always compare West and East..

      Delete
  9. Doot16:14

    I'm surprised neither Montenegro Airlines nor Bosnian Airlines have tried a BEG-PRN connection. NGO workers alone could fill a 2x/week flight.

    They could do it via SJJ or TGD to avoid issues with Serbia

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous23:22

    They all fly from SKP.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Doot19:54

      right... so proof that there's a market.

      Delete

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