Trade unions slam Paris takeover

Unions unhappy with Zagreb concession

Trade unions at Zagreb Airport have angrily reacted to the government’s decision to award a concession for Croatia’s busiest airport to Aéroports de Paris. The French are to run Zagreb Airport for the next thirty years and build a multi million euro terminal. Unions say that the entire concession model is unsustainable. The head of the union representing Zagreb Airport employees, Ante Dujić, said at a press conference that workers expected the government to terminate the tender procedure because the concession will harm the airport and its employees. He added that Zagreb Airport has the means to fund the expansion project itself.

The union claims that estimates for Zagreb Airport to handle up to 8.5 million passengers annually, as outlined by Aérports de Paris, are inaccurate. They warn that during the past month two airlines operating flights to Zagreb have declared bankruptcy while Croatia Airlines itself is on shaky grounds. Unions are now requesting an urgent meeting with the government and warn that industrial action could be taken if their concerns are not acknowledged. “The commission which decided to award the concession had no time to review the documentation in order to bring a proper decision. There is a problem and our destinies depend on its resolution”, Dujić said.

Aéroports de Paris, which bid under the name Zagreb Airport International, will build the new terminal at Zagreb from scratch and pay 87 million euros in concession fees over the next three decades. The new terminal should be in use by 2015. The offer by Aéroports de Paris outlines that during the first phase of the project a new terminal will be built with the capacity to handle five million passengers.

Niki to Sarajevo

Soon in Sarajevo

The Austrian low cost airline Niki, now owned by Air Berlin, plans to introduce flights to Sarajevo, its Managing Director, Christian Lajsek says. The airline is in the process of evaluating the Bosnian market but also other countries in the Balkans, with Tirana mentioned as a possible addition to its network. Speaking to “ATW Daily News”, Lajsek says its network expansion will take place after Air Berlin enters the One World alliance on March 20. For the past year rumours have been circulating that Air Berlin is considering launching flights from Dusseldorf to Sarajevo.

A new service from Vienna would be warmly welcomed by passengers and would mark the end to Austrian Airlines’ monopoly on the route. When B&H Airlines announced its plans to resume services to Vienna this summer, Austrian was forced to reduce its ticket prices. After news broke last week that the Bosnian national carrier cancelled its planned summer expansion, Austrian inflated its prices. The Austrian national carrier will operate two daily flights between the two cities over the 2012 summer season. Niki’s arrival at Sarajevo would also see the return of a One World alliance airline, following British Airways’ pull out from the Bosnian capital. Currently, nearly all airlines operating to and from Sarajevo are members of Star Alliance.

Air Berlin and Niki are present in the region. The two airlines operate flights to Priština, Skopje and Belgrade and seasonal flights to the Croatian coast as well as Tivat in Montenegro. Lufthansa’s Germanwings is the only low cost airline operating all year round services to Sarajevo. During the summer Norwegian Air Shuttle operates flights from Stockholm and Oslo.

Air Vallée to Mostar

Soon in Mostar

The Italian airline Air Vallée will commence seasonal summer flights from Abruzzo Airport near Pescara, on Italy’s eastern coast to Mostar from April 1. The decision was reached after successful talks were held between the city of Mostar, Mostar Airport, tour operators and Abruzzo Airport. Services will operate twice per week, every Monday and Friday until the end of the summer season. As a result, a total 52 flights will be operated. A total of 54 seats per flights will be pre-booked by tour operators while the rest will go on sale.

Lucio Laureti, the head of SAGA, which operates Abruzzo Airport, told local media, “For the moment flights to Mostar will operate during the summer but there is already a pre-contract for flights to continue in the winter. Offcourse, everything depends on the response we get from passengers”. While pilgrims visiting Medjugorje will play an important role in making the flights a success, Laureti believes there is also room for other types of passengers. “There is commercial interest as well. Soon Mostar will host the International Economic Fair and Italy is Bosnia’s third largest trade partner”, Laureti says.

Flights between Mostar and Pescara operated for a short time last year by B&H Airlines although flights to Pescara ultimately went to Air Vallée this year. Late last year the Bosnian national carrier expressed interest to expand operations out of Mostar. While Mostar does not have scheduled flights, it enjoys numerous charters. In 2011, Mostar Airport handled 36.807 passengers, an increase of 107% compared to 2010, and secured its position as the second busiest airport in the country after Sarajevo.

Zagreb and Dubrovnik falter in January

Dubrovnik underperforms as other airports grow

In the first month of 2012, the airports in Zagreb and Dubrovnik saw passenger numbers slide after a record breaking 2011. Other airports in Croatia managed to record passenger growth.

Croatia’s busiest airport Zagreb welcomed 131.068 passengers, a decrease in of 5.6% compared to the same month last year. Zagreb’s slow start was followed by a significant fall in the number of transit passengers passing through the airport. Dubrovnik, which was Croatia’s second busiest airport in 2011 and the fifth busiest in the former Yugoslavia, saw an even bigger decline than its counterpart in Zagreb. Dubrovnik handled 17.843 compared to 21.288 passengers in 2011, a decrease of almost 20%.

Other airports in Croatia had better luck with Split, Pula, Zadar and Osijek all recording a passenger growth. Split’s numbers were better than those of Dubrovnik as the airport welcomed 24.678 passengers through its doors. Pula Airport will be content with its January performance as it recorded a passenger increase of 24.2%. Both Rijeka and Brač airports saw triple digit growth but together handled only 47 passengers.

Below you can review the performance of Croatia’s airports in January 2012. Overall, Croatian airports handled 176.929 passengers, a decrease of 5.6% compared to January 2011. The statistics have been provided by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics.

Airport	Passengers JAN 2012	Passengers JAN 2011	Change (%)
Zagreb	131.068	138.370	▼ 5.6
Dubrovnik	17.843	21.288	▼ 19.3
Split	24.678	24.428	▲ 1.1
Zadar	2.216	1.848	▲ 16.6
Pula	995	754	▲ 24.2
Rijeka	31	11	▲ 64.5
Osijek	56	35	▲ 60.0
Brač	16	1	▲ 1500.0
Mali Lošinj	26	72	▼ 63.9

Adria to Split

Adria soon to Split as government plans to save Tehnika

Adria Airways will be operating charter flights out of Split this summer. The Slovenian carrier will operate a one weekly service from Split to the city of Lulea, on Sweden’s northern coast. Adria will launch the service on May 12 with a CRJ900. Flights will operate until September 29. Dubrovnik Airline was supposed to operate the route to Luela as it was selected by the tour operator last year, however, the airline ceased operations at the end of 2011. Flight details for the Lulea service can be found here. Adria Airways operated charter flights out Split to Kristiansand in Norway last summer, although the service is not set to resume this summer season.

Meanwhile, the new Slovenian government is planning to provide a cash injection to Adria Airways Tehnika, which was left reeling after the collapse of its second largest customer Spanair. According to the “Finance” portal, the Slovenian government will provide between two and three million Euros to the maintenance company owned by Ljubljana Airport and the government run asset management firm PDP.

Recently, employees at Adria Tehnika agreed to a 20% reduction in salaries as the company battles with debt, made worse by Spanair’s bankruptcy. Tehnika is hoping to replace Spanair through new contracts with Wizz Air and Air Berlin. The company was previously an Adria Airways subsidiary but was separated from the airline as a part of the carrier’s financial restructuring process.

Paris wins Zagreb Airport concession

New beginnings

The Croatian Deputy Prime Minister, Radimir Čačić, has said that the government will accept an offer from Aeroports de Paris to run Zagreb Airport and build the long awaited new terminal. The French group, which bid under the name Zagreb Airport International, will build the new terminal from scratch and pay 87 million Euros in concession fees over the next thirty years. The new terminal should be in use by 2015.

Speaking to the press, Čačić said the new terminal will help boost tourism and will also provide a chance for Croatia to become a regional hub in the Balkans. “Construction work will start by the end of the year”, Čačić added. The offer by Aeroports de Paris outlines that during the first phase of the project a new terminal will be built with the capacity to handle five million passengers. The price tag of the project will amount to approximately 190 million Euros, although the exact expenses will be finalised within 180 days after the bid is officially accepted by the government. A further 29 million Euros will be invested after passenger traffic through the airport exceeds five million travellers.

The French offer was the only one received after a controversial year-long tender in 2011. Plans to build a new terminal at Zagreb Airport have been floating around for more than a decade. In 2011, Zagreb Airport handled 2.319.098 passengers, an increase of almost 12% on 2010.

B&H continues flight cancellations

B&H Airlines has today cancelled all of its scheduled departures from Sarajevo. They include two flights to Istanbul and its service to Zurich via Banja Luka. B&H will operate one single flight as its A319, which left Sarajevo for Istanbul on Thursday morning, will return on Friday evening. On Wednesday the government approved a cash injection to cover the carrier’s operational costs.

B&H minimises operations

Many flights cancelled

Since Tuesday, B&H Airlines has operated only one return flight to Istanbul, cancelling its services to Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Banja Luka and Zurich, which were scheduled to operate over the past two days. It follows B&H’s decision to cut down on flights until the start of the summer season. Despite several attempts to contact B&H Airlines, there has been no response from the carrier. Today, the airline is only operating its morning service to Istanbul cancelling its other two flights for the day - one to Amsterdam and the other being the afternoon service to Istanbul. The return flight on the morning Istanbul service has also been cancelled.

B&H Airlines’ network wide cuts were scheduled to begin in March. As it stands now, over the next month all flights to Amsterdam and Copenhagen will be cancelled. Services to Zurich will operate only once per week while many flights to Istanbul, the carrier’s signature route, will also see cancelations. In November 2011 the airline similarly suspended flights to Amsterdam and Copenhagen for a month. In December it launched services from Banja Luka to the Danish capital, however, they were suspended after only four flights.

In late 2011, the CEO of B&H Airlines, Altan Buyukyilmaz, said the carrier was looking to stretch its wings in 2012 and open new routes. However, as of Monday the airline’s planned new flights to Vienna, Skopje and Dusseldorf have been removed from global reservation systems while ticket sales have been blocked since early February. Meanwhile, the government of the Bosnian Federation approved a 1.3 million Euro cash injection for B&H Airlines yesterday. The bulk of the money will go to covering airport fees, purchasing jet fuel and to Euroctonrol.

Serbia to obtain category one rating by FAA

USA to give all clear

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States is to grant Serbia a “category one” rating this year, paving way for scheduled flights between the United States and Serbia. As part of the FAA’s International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) program, the agency assesses the civil aviation authorities of all countries with air carriers that operate or wish to operate to the United States and makes that information available to the public. The assessments also determine whether or not foreign civil aviation authorities are meeting international safety standards. Specifically, the FAA determines whether a foreign civil aviation authority has the adequate infrastructure for international aviation safety oversight as defined by international standards.

The head of the Serbian Civil Aviation Directorate, Nebojša Starčević, has told the media that Serbia has applied for an assessment by the FAA, with the review set to take place by August. “Serbia meets all international safety standards and there is no doubt that American authorities will confirm this”, Starčević said. He noted that obtaining the category one rating would be much quicker if an airline were to apply to launch flights between the two countries. Serbia held a category one rating until 2002 when it was downgraded to category two. It has since been reviewed twice when there was both the will and political backing for Jat Airways to launch flights to the United States, in 2004 and 2006. While it is highly unlikely for the Serbian carrier to be able to launch flights to the United States now, a category one rating would give it rights to code share on flights operated by airlines from the United States. However, Starčević remains optimistic, saying that Jat could be ready to launch flights to the US by 2014.

The announcement coincides with the opening of a tender by Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport for interested parties to work on the development of a feasibility study for flights between the Serbian capital and the United States. The last commercial flight betwen Belgrade to the United States was operated by JAT Yugoslav Airlines on May 19, 1992 from New York. Recently, on January 27, 2011 the FAA granted Croatia a category one rating.

Montenegro Airlines on sale

Government approves Montenegro Airlines privatisation

The Montenegrin government decided yesterday that Montenegro Airlines will be privatised during 2012. It follows a difficult year for the national carrier in 2011. Montenegrin Prime Minister Igor Lukšić said that the airline will be offered to investors through a public tender. Montenegro Airlines has become a costly business to keep running after the government agreed to provide 400.000 Euros to the carrier each month to cover operational costs and write off the airline’s debt to Podgorica and Tivat airports. In order to cover the debt owed to the Serbia and Montenegro Air Services Agency the government has offered them ownership of the Park Hotel in Bijela on the Montenegrin coast. Earlier in 2011, the government wrote off a further 3.2 million Euros in debt and ordered the country’s two international airports to lower its fees to the national carrier. Recently, there has been discontent amongst pilots unhappy with late wages. Unlike its regional rivals, the global economic gloom did not have an effect on Montenegro Airlines in either 2008 or 2009.

The Montenegrin carrier has faced sliding passenger numbers, handling under 600.000 passengers last year, although is reported to have had strong growth in January 2012. This summer the national airline will introduce flights to London from both Podgorica and Tivat and has announced plans to purchase another Embraer jet.

It will be the second time the government has attempted to privatise Montenegro Airlines. In 2010, it unsuccessfully tried to sell a 30% share in the airline. Although El Al Israel Airlines, Etihad Airways and Arkia Israel Airlines all purchased the tender documentation, none of them made an offer. The CEO of the airline, Zoran Djurišić, is firmly against the sale. Late last year he told the media, “The government knows my stance regarding the privatisation which is why I have been completely excluded from the process”. He added that privatising the airline will have long term negative effects on the country. Instead, Djurišić says the government should cover the airline’s losses and pressure Montenegro’s largest petroleum company, Jugopetrol, to reduce its unreasonably high costs.

B&H cancels Skopje, Dusseldorf and Vienna

B&H cancels expansion and temporarily suspends Amsterdam and Copenhagen

B&H Airlines has cancelled its planned new flights to Skopje, Dusseldorf and Vienna which were due to be launched during the 2012 summer season. Ticket sales were first suspended in early February and flights have now been completely removed from global reservation systems. Services to the Macedonian and Austrian capitals were to be inaugurated on March 25 with five weekly flights each. B&H suspended flights to Vienna back in May 2011 due to poor passenger figures. Austrian will operate two daily flights from Vienna to Sarajevo this summer season. Services to Dusseldorf were planned to launch on June 2 twice per week.

Since yesterday, B&H Airlines has begun cancelling flights to Amsterdam. All flights will be temporarily suspended from March 4 until early April. Furthermore, the Bosnian national carrier will see cancelations on its flights to Istanbul throughout February and March, Copenhagen has been temporarily suspended until April (for a second time this winter season) while Zurich will operate only once per week until the start of the summer season.

The cancellation of planned flights to Skopje, Dusseldorf and Vienna won’t affect the airline’s seasonal services to Gothenburg and Stockholm set to launch this June.

Jat cancels Tripoli resumption

No Tripoli comeback for Jat

Jat Airways has cancelled plans to resume services to the Libyan capital Tripoli this summer. Flights were to launch on March 26, more than a year after they were suspended due to the implementation of a no fly zone over Libya which eventually led to war. The Serbian carrier planned to operate flights to Tripoli as a triangle service via Malta (Belgrade - Malta - Tripoli - Belgrade), as it has done so in the past few years.

Most European airlines will resume flights to the Libyan capital this summer, including Austrian, British Airways, KLM and Air France. Recently, sporadic gun fighting between rival clans has been reported near Tripoli Airport. Before the fall of the Gaddafi regime several Serbian engineering and construction companies worked in Libya with Jat flights mostly being used by workers. With all investments now stalled there is little need for the planned two weekly flights to resume.

Despite the cancellation of its Tripoli service Jat will go ahead and launch flights to Malta which were suspended when services to Tripoli were dumped. The airline has pushed back the launch date for the Malta service to June 18 and has slightly revised its flight times. Details can be found here.

Macedonian airports surge in 2012

Strong start for Skopje and Ohrid

Skopje and Ohrid airports have continued their impressive growth in 2012. The two Macedonian airports handled 64.394 passengers in January, an increase of 24%. The figures were aided by 923 flights operated to and from the airports, thus representing an increase of 17% compared to the same month last year. The two airports experienced particularly strong growth during the holiday New Year season. Skopje Alexander the Great Airport handled 5.458 passengers in the first two days of 2012, representing an increase of 140% on last year. Similarly, Ohrid Airport recorded a boost of 86% during the two days by handling 643 passengers.

In 2011, Skopje Airport welcomed 759.928 passengers, while Ohrid saw 74.345 passengers pass through its doors. As a result, Macedonia recorded the eighth biggest passenger increase by country in Europe in 2011. The only country in the former Yugoslavia ahead of Macedonia was Serbia, by one place, while others fell behind. Estonia saw the biggest increase in passengers in 2011, while Slovenia and Slovakia were the rare ones to detract. Macedonia was ahead of much larger markets such as the United Kingdom, Germany, Turkey, Spain and France.

Confirmed new arrivals to Skopje Airport this summer will be B&H Airlines from Sarajevo and Jetairfly from Brussels. Ohrid will also enjoy Jetairfly flights, while Jat Airways resumes its seasonal service from Belgrade. Sky Express, which operated flights from Moscow to Ohrid last year, has since gone bankrupt.

easyJet to suspend Dortmund - Zagreb

easyjet dumps Dortmund service

The low cost airline easyJet will suspend its flights from Dortmund to Zagreb from May 20, leaving the no frills carrier only with services from London Gatwick to the Croatian capital. The flights from Dortmund in western Germany operated twice per week over the winter and will increase to three weekly flights from March 25 until their suspension two months later. It follows a decision made by easyJet in December last year to terminate flights from Paris to both Zagreb and Ljubljana. Germany has the most flights and seat capacity out of Zagreb.

It will be the second time Zagreb has lost a link to Dortmund. Previously, in 2010, Wizz Air scheduled flights from Dortmund to Zagreb but cancelled the route. The news will be warmly welcomed by Croatia Airlines which has previously accused Zagreb Airport of giving special waivers to low cost airlines operating to the airport. It even threatened to suspend routes on which it competed with low cost airlines. In late 2010 Tonči Peović, the head of Zagreb Airport, told the press that he offered easyJet to operate flights to Zagreb out of six different cities, although the airline settled only for Paris and London and later introduced Dortmund. easyJet will maintain five weekly flights between London Gatwick and Zagreb over the coming summer.

Despite pulling out on the Dortmund - Zagreb service, easyJet will launch several seasonal flights to both Dubrovnik and Split. They include flights to Dubrovnik from Berlin, Madrid, Milan, Rome, Geneva, Paris and London as well as flights to Split from Amsterdam, Berlin, Bristol, Geneva, London, Milan, Paris and Rome.

Air One to Belgrade

Soon in Belgrade

Alitalia’s low cost subsidiary Air One will launch flights from Milan to the Serbian capital, ending Jat Airways’ monopoly on the service. Flights from Milan Malpensa Airport to Belgrade will launch on September 18 and will operate three times per week with an Airbus A320. Flight details can be found here. Air One’s new service will compete directly against Jat Airways, which plans to operate six weekly flights onboard its Boeing 737-300 this coming summer season. Alitalia will continue to code share on Jat Airways’ services to both Milan and Rome.

Air One does not operate flights to other former Yugoslav republics. Last September the airline scheduled services to Zagreb, however, due to poor ticket sales, the planned flights were cancelled. Air One will expand this summer as it add new destinations to its route network besides Belgrade such as Munich, Sofia, Brussels, Warsaw, Amsterdam, Bucharest, Saint Petersburg, Barcelona, Istanbul, Kiev and London Gatwick.

Air One merged with national carrier Alitalia in January 2009, though it continues to operate as a separate brand. The two use an integrated booking system. Air One operates a fleet of seven Airbus A320s, with a further three arriving soon. Some of its aircraft have a high density cabin layout of up to 180 seats while others have a somewhat smaller capacity.

Slow start for Zagreb Airport

Passenger numbers slide at Zagreb Airport

Zagreb Airport has recorded a second consecutive month of declining passenger numbers, on the back of a weaker performance by its main customer Croatia Airlines. While the passenger slump in December 2011 was only slight, standing at 0.2%, the gap widened in January when Zagreb handled 131.068 passengers. Therefore, the airport saw a decrease of 5.3% compared to last January when it welcomed 138.370 passengers. The number of flights operating to and from the Croatian capital increased marginally, by 0.4%, in the first month of 2012.

Other airports in Croatia also underperformed in January with numbers significantly down at Dubrovnik, which handled only 17.843 passengers, a decrease of 16.2% compared to last year making it its worst January performance since 2008. Full January results for all of Croatia’s airports will be published by the end of the month.

Zagreb Airport will hope to overturn its results soon. This summer, Croatia’s busiest airport will enjoy new seasonal summer services and charters by Croatia Airlines. The airport will also see Lufthansa inaugurate flights from Berlin while Qatar Airways introduces daily flights from Doha via Budapest.

Discontent grows at Priština Airport

Authorities unhappy with Limak

The Franco-Turkish consortium Limak Holding and Aeroport de Lyon, which run Priština Airport, are reported to be having problems with local authorities over a range of issues. The public broadcaster, Radio Television of Kosovo, says that authorities are unhappy with various managerial decisions made by the consortium so far. Problems first appeared late last year when authorities accused Limak of violating the concession agreement in respect to the asking price for rent of commercial space at the airport. Furthermore, the airport has recently significantly increased handling fees for carriers using Priština, much to the displeasure of airlines. British Airways, which operates three weekly flights to the city from London Gatwick, has been one of the most vocal in its dissatisfaction with the consortium. The head of Priština Airport, Ferda Yakar from Turkey, resigned from his post in October last year.

Another major disagreement between the airport operator and local authorities is the airport’s controversial name “Adem Jashari” - a guerrilla fighter regarded as a hero by some but a villain amongst minority groups. The name was given in 2010 based on a government decision, however, Limak is said to be unhappy with it. The operator did not want to comment on the name issue to local media. Limak Holding and Aeroport de Lyon are to run Priština Airport for twenty years under the concession agreement.

Priština saw historic passenger figures in 2011 making it the third busiest airport in the former Yugoslavia for the first time in its history. The airport is likely to hold onto its position in 2012 with several frequency increases and new services announced by various airlines for the upcoming summer season and a number of other additions introduced over the 2011/2012 winter period.

Belgrade Airport overhaul in full force

Construction work at Belgrade Airport

Construction work on the modernisation and expansion of Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport is in full swing. Currently, work is being carried out on the A gate departure lounges and transit areas. By mid summer the airport will have completed the expansion and reconstruction of its C1-2 and A1 to A6 gates. As a result, an extra 2.750 square metres will be added. After the summer rush, expansion work will begin on gates C3-4 and C5-6, the airport says. Air bridges at the A gates, which belong to terminal one, are also to be replaced. An additional new floor stretching over 4.900 square metres will be built above the current terminal two building with construction to begin next year so as to separate arriving and departing passengers.

Construction work at terminal two

Work has also begun on the expansion of the terminal two security and passport control area. Due to a big increase in passenger numbers, long queues are now a constant at the airport, especially during the morning rush hour period. The “Aviokarta.net” portal reports that new x-ray and body scanner machines will be added to cut waiting time, with Belgrade becoming the first airport in the former Yugoslavia to use specialised shoe scanners. The new technology was first rolled out in the United States in 2010. They should cut down on queuing times as the machines do not require passengers to take their shoes off for security checks. Work on the security and passport control area will be completed by the start of the 2012 summer season, on March 25. This has resulted in Jat Airways having to temporarily move its check in operations to terminal one.

Visualisation of Belgrade Airport after expansion completion

Within the next three years 52.985.000 Euros will be invested into the airport. Belgrade is not the only airport in the former Yugoslavia being modernised. Soon it will be known whether a new terminal will be built in Zagreb, while a new terminal is already under construction in Priština. Last September, Skopje Airport opened its new terminal building while Ljubljana Airport will begin construction on a new terminal later this year. Work on the expansion of Sarajevo's terminal is expected to begin this year as well.

Strong start for Jat

Passenger numbers up in 2012

Jat Airways has had a solid start to the year, by handling 74.908 passengers in January, an increase of 8% compared to the same month last year. This is despite a drop in the number of operated flights by 7%. The average cabin load factor stood at 66% a big 10 point increase on last year.

Despite persistent media speculation regarding Jat’s future and increased competition, results show passengers are returning to the Serbian carrier. In January, on flights heading to and from Podgorica and Tivat, Jat recorded a 23% passenger increase. On Euro Mediterranean services numbers were up 5% while charter flights saw a 410% passenger increase, although it should be noted that the number of operated charters increased by 100%. Last year they were mostly inexistent during the winter months.

Jat ended 2011 as the second busiest airline in the former Yugoslavia by welcoming 1.219.703 passengers. Its revenues were also significantly up although its actual profits and losses will be known once the official financial results are published. A total of nine promotional ticket sales last year could hit the airline’s finances despite them leading to passenger growth.

Sarajevo on the rise

Passenger boost for Sarajevo Airport

Sarajevo Airport has started the year off on a positive note by handling 33.063 passengers, an increase of 9.1% compared to the same month last year when it saw 30.292 passengers pass through its doors. The number of operated flights to and from the Bosnian capital stayed almost the same with 371 operations compared to 376 in January last year. B&H Airlines remains the dominant carrier at the airport with a 33% share of all scheduled arrivals and departures followed by Croatia Airlines and Austrian with a 17.5% share each.

Numbers at Bosnia and Herzegovina’s main airport could suffer in February due to many cancellations and diversions throughout the month, which are still ongoing, due to thick fog and record snow fall. This summer the airport will benefit from new services to be introduced by B&H Airlines as well as the resumption of seasonal summer flights from Oslo and Stockholm (to be operated by Norwegian Air Shuttle) and Stuttgart (by Germanwings).

Proposed future look of Sarajevo Airport terminal

This year there are plans for the much awaited expansion of Sarajevo Airport to begin. The head of the airport, Ivica Veličan, said last year that the 32 million Euro project should commence in 2012 with 7.000 square metres to added to the terminal building, a new apron to be built and existing jetways to be overhauled. “The expansion of the terminal building will allow better quality service for our passengers and will improve our country’s image”, Veličan said.

Croatia Airlines to launch new flights

Croatia Airlines launches new seasonal and summer flights

Croatia Airlines will launch new seasonal flights from Rijeka to Barcelona and Zadar to Frankfurt. The flights from Rijeka to Barcelona will launch on June 5, becoming Croatia Airlines’ second destination from the city. It will accompany the existing seasonal service to London Heathrow Airport. Flights to Barcelona will operate once per week with an Airbus A319 until October 23. Details can be found here. Croatia Airlines will also inaugurate flights from Zadar to Frankfurt on April 27. However, the Croatian carrier will have to compete on the line with Ryanair, although the no frills airline offers flights to the distant Hahn Airport. Flights to Frankfurt will run until the end of the summer season twice per week. All flight information can be found here.

After intense criticism from the airline’s pilots union for suspending summer charters in the past few years, the airline’s management has decided to resume them in 2012. Croatia Airlines plans to operate summer charters from Split to both Kristiansand and Kristiansund in Norway and Erfurt in Germany. Furthermore, the airline will also inaugurate charters from Zagreb and Osijek to Antalya in Turkey.

In 2011, Croatia Airlines saw record passenger numbers and is hoping to maintain the growth in 2012. However, in December the airline saw a surprising slump in passenger numbers. The carrier welcomed 98.800 passengers onboard, down 4.3% on December 2010. January 2012 results are yet to be announced.

Adria’s decline continues

Passenger slump at Adria

Adria Airways has continued to see a large decline in passenger numbers in 2012. In the first month of the year the Slovenian carrier handled only 56.214 passengers, its lowest January result in years. The airline’s numbers were down 14.3% on January 2011 when it welcomed 65.635 passengers. However, it should be noted that Adria has significantly decreased the number of flight operations compared to last year. In December, Adria saw similar results as the airline recorded a passenger slump 14.5% accompanied by a 18% reduction in flights and a load factor of only 57%.

In an attempt to offset the worrying figures Adria is offering special fares for stranded Malev passengers, following the collapse of the Hungarian national carrier. Passengers holding a Malev ticket have been offered special prices for Adria’s direct scheduled flights. The price for one flight coupon in economy class is 60 Euros, except for Moscow (200 Euros) Brussels (80), Frankfurt to Priština (120) and Munich to Priština (100). The offer is valid for travel until February 29. The Centre for Aviation believes that Adria, along with Austrian and Croatia Airlines, will absorb a portion of the transit traffic previously carried by Malev.

Meanwhile, Adria Airways Tehnika, which is struggling following the collapse of Spanair has said that staff has agreed to 20% reduction in wages. Spanair was Tehnika’s second largest client after Adria itself. On a brighter note, Adria Tehnika’s new hanger at Ljubljana Airport is nearing completion.

Decision time for Zagreb terminal

Will the French build Zagreb’s dream terminal?

There is just over a month left for an expert commission to decide whether to award Aeroports de Paris a concession to run Zagreb Airport and build a new multi million Euro terminal. The French offer, the only one received after a controversial year-long tender in 2011, has the support of Tomislav Mihotić, the State Secretary for Infrastructure. He believes the offer is good and would benefit Croatia as it would pump millions into the local economy.

While details of the French bid have not been disclosed to the public it is believed that they have offered to build, in the first phase of the project, a terminal with the capacity to handle five million passengers, a major strong point of the bid. During the tender, the government requested for a terminal with a capacity to handle 3.5 passengers to be built in the first stage. The French have outlined their plans to make Zagreb a regional hub and believe strong passenger growth would be seen in the first few years since being granted the concession. As a result, they also believe Croatia Airlines would benefit since the airport would become transit point in South East Europe.

On the other hand there is also staunch opposition to the French offer and there have been calls for the entire tender procedure to be repeated. Recently, GMR Infrastructure, one of the ten tender bidders said, “We evaluated, then we decided not to go ahead. Looking at the project's economics, they were not working out". Some consortiums participating in the tender claimed it was mismanaged and that participants were misguided. During the tender process, bidders found out that the government had already chosen a design for the new terminal, despite not specifying so in the original tender documentation. Furthermore, the cost of the project was also reported to be too high for many of the bidders. This ultimately led the government to delay the final tender deadline three times.

Turkish Airlines privileged in Macedonia

Turkish Airlines Macedonia’s only regular carrier

The Macedonian Civil Aviation Agency has confirmed that Turkish Airlines has been given the status of a “regular carrier”, thus granting it numerous privileges over other airlines operating to the country. Experts believe that the regular carrier status is another step towards Turkish becoming Macedonia’s national carrier. Turkish Airlines, which operates daily flights to Skopje, will now have exclusivity over other airlines in selecting destinations as well as landing and handling fee exemptions at Skopje and Ohrid airports. Turkish Airlines is the only to have been granted the status of a regular carrier in Macedonia, with Mat Airways having the status of charter airline until June. TAV has been lobbying since 2010 for Turkish to become Macedonia's national airline.

The former head of Macedonia’s two airports says that the country must have a national carrier because every serious state does. Macedonia has so far had two national airlines, Palair Macedonia and MAT Macedonian Airlines which replaced Palair following its bankruptcy. MAT ceased operations in 2009 upon the order of the Macedonian Civil Aviation Agency under the pretext of a faulty aircraft. However, the airline was also high in debt. Skopje Airport handled the most passengers in 2000 when it saw over one million passengers and in 1999 when it handled 970.000 passengers. This summer B&H Airlines will launch flights from Sarajevo to the Macedonian capital while Jetairfly will operate seasonal flights from Brussels to both Skopje and Ohrid. The Civil Aviation Agency says there have been no other applications for new flights this summer. ČSA Czech Airlines will terminate flights from Prague on March 24.

Meanwhile, the former head of the Macedonian Civil Aviation Agency, Zoran Krstevski, who was instrumental in the grounding of MAT, is under investigation on suspicion of corruption. It is believed that Krstevski misused the Agency’s funds and is accused of reckless spending on mobile phone bills and car petrol.

No decision on Jat successor

Without a clue what to do…

The Serbian Prime Minister has denied claims that businessmen will invest millions into Jat Airways and take a 50% share in the airline. This is despite the fact that during last week the Serbian Minister for Infrastructure, which oversees the aviation portfolio and is known for various gaffes, claimed that businessmen, together with the government, would create a successor to Jat by May. The Prime Minister says that a decision whether Jat will continue to operate in its current form or whether a new national carrier would be created hasn’t even been made yet, although he remains adamant that Serbia needs a national carrier. Some of the mentioned businessmen interested in Jat spoke out last week saying they are willing to invest.

EX-YU aviation news has since learned that Jat’s management is due to submit a revival plan to the government. The plan entails a solution to Jat’s future as well as a fleet plan. Furthermore, the Serbian government has approved arrangements for Jat to take out a 10 million Euro loan from the banks to be paid off within the next three years. It has not been disclosed to the public as to how the money will be spent. Jat is gearing up for one of its busiest summer operations in years, which it plans to carry out with 13 aircraft.

Meanwhile, a delegation from the Russian plane manufacturer Sukhoi will be visiting Belgrade in the coming weeks in an attempt to sell its Superjet 100 model to the Serbian national carrier. The aircraft has the capacity to seat between 75 to 95 people depending on class structure. Jat still has an unsettled order for 8 Airbus A319 jets from 1998.

In your opinion, what is the way forward for Jat? Send a comment.

EX-YU without Budapest link

EX-YU cities loose Budapest flights after Malev collapse

Following Malev’s demise on Friday, EX-YU cities have been left without direct air links to Hungary’s capital Budapest, which, amongst other things, attracted many transit passengers. None of the national carriers of the former Yugoslavia have attempted to introduce flights to Budapest and try to scoop stranded passengers. On Friday Lufthansa, easyJet, Wizz Air and Air Berlin were quick to react and increase frequencies while Ryanair announced over thirty new destinations to the Hungarian capital.

Malev had an extensive network in the former Yugoslavia operating flights to Belgrade, Priština, Podgorica, Sarajevo, Skopje and Zagreb. The Hungarian national carrier operated nine weekly flights to Belgrade. Recently, the airline had seen sliding passenger numbers on the route as more competition saw fewer transit passengers. The airline planed to reduce the service to one daily flight from the 2012 summer season. Malev operated two daily flights to Priština and thirteen weekly to Skopje, from which it saw numerous transit passengers. There were no plans to either increase or reduce flights over the coming summer. Sarajevo enjoyed daily flights and Podgorica six weekly while nearby Zagreb saw 18 weekly services between the two cities this winter. None of the former Yugoslav national carriers operate flights to the Hungarian capital and none have jumped at the opportunity to inaugurate services between the two cities since Malev’s demise. While the Hungarian low cost airline Wizz Air is based in Belgrade, it is unlikely it will be tempted to launch flights between the two cities as its aircraft are too big and inter Eastern European flights have proved unsuccessful for the airline in the past.

Officials at Budapest Airport, one of the biggest losers of Malev’s grounding, said it doubts the flights will ever be reinstated. "There are some estimates that over 20 or 23 routes of Malev will never be served by other airlines", airport spokesmen Mihaly Hardy said. It is believed that the Hungarian government will work to set up a new national carrier by the start of the 2012 summer season, which begins in over a month. It remains to be seen whether EX-YU destinations, on which Malev had a complete monopoly, will be resumed.

UPDATEDWinter freeze disrupts air traffic

Flight delays and cancelations across EX-YU

UPDATED 21.00 CET

Snowstorms, fog and freezing weather have disrupted flight operations across the former Yugoslavia. Podgorica has been closed on and off for the past three days while Sarajevo Airport closed its doors this morning until 20.00 CET. In Belgrade meanwhile, the airport was evacuated when an anonymous call came that there was a bomb on board Air France's jet, which turned out to be false.

Both snow and fog are proving to be a problem at Sarajevo Airport. Sarajevo closed this morning with all departures cancelled for the day. Nearly all flights from Sarajevo were cancelled yesterday as well. Only early morning departures and B&H Airlines’ flights to Zurich and Istanbul were unaffected. Austrian was forced to divert its evening Sarajevo service to Belgrade. Operations resumed in the evening hours with Austrian, Jat and Croatia Airlines performing their flights as normal.

Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport saw short delays throughout the day however there was some panic after an anonymous phone caller said there was a bomb onboard an Air France jet which was being prepared for its return flight to Paris. The airport was forced to evacuate and the flight cancelled although no bomb was found. The caller, a 62 year old from Bor, was later arrested. He said he was “only having some fun”. It was later disclosed that the man in question is mentally challenged.

In Montenegro, most flights to and from Podgorica Airport have been cancelled for the last three days due to heavy snowfall. There is now a big backlog of passengers on the Podgorica - Belgrade - Podgorica service with both Montenegro Airlines and Jat Airways cancelling most flights between the two cities. The two airlines attempted to operate flights to Tivat yesterday but before making their descent into the coastal city were forced to turn back to Belgrade. In order to clear the backlog of passengers Jat planned to operate an early morning service to the Montenegrin capital at 4.40 today but has cancelled the flight.

In Skopje, Priština and Ljubljana, flights have been operating normally (other than those to Montenegro) although all with an average forty minute delay. Out of all the airports in the former Yugoslav region, Zagreb was operating most smoothly with nearly all flights taking off from the airport yesterday, registering only minor delays. Split Airport has been closed due to snow and extreme winds reaching up to 180 kilometres per hour.

All of Eastern Europe is grappling with a Siberian freeze which is spreading westwards. Freezing conditions, which have claimed hundreds of lives across the continent, are set to persist for days to come.

Adria Tehnika reeling after Spanair collapse

Adria Tehnika counts its losses after Spanair collapse

The owner of Adria Airways Tehnika has announced that the aircraft maintenance company is in serious trouble following the bankruptcy of Spainair, its second largest client. Adria Airways Tehnika, the maintenance division of national carrier Adria Airways, was separated from the airline in January last year and sold to the government owned asset management firm PDP. It owns the company jointly with Ljubljana Airport which took a share in the company in return to writing off Adria’s debt to the airport. Adria Airways Tehnika has already reported poor financial results, which are set to be aggravated by the loss of its second biggest customer after Adria Airways. Spainair accounted for 25 to 30% of the company's revenues.

Spanair ceased operations last week in a surprise move after takeover talks with Qatar Airways failed and the Catalan government, which owns the majority of the Barcelona based airline, refused to come to its aid once again. On Monday the airline filed for bankruptcy. Currently, two of Spanair’s Airbus A320s are in Ljubljana. They were being serviced when the airline announced it was suspending operations. The maintenance work done on the jets has not been paid for. Adria Airways Tehnika is now negotiating with the owner of the Spanair aircraft, ILFC Leasing, to resolve the matter.

Spanair’s bankruptcy will prove as another blow to the already struggling maintenance company. Two years ago Adria Airways Tehnika posted a loss of five million Euros while the loss amounted to one million in 2011. However, this does not include millions of Euros owed by Adria Airways to its maintenance division. As a result, Adria Airways Tehnika plans to sue it main customer. Furthermore, its employees have been receiving only 90% of their pay recently and have not received social security payments. The management of Adria Airways Tehnika has put forward a restructuring plan, the details of which remain unknown.

Photo © Sierra5.net

Farewell Malev

Hungarian national carrier, Malev, has ceased all operations, ending with it services to Belgrade, Zagreb, Priština, Skopje, Sarajevo and Podgorica.

Belgrade dream run continues

Even more passengers lining up at Belgrade Airport

Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport is continuing to record impressive growth in the new year. Serbia’s main hub welcomed 214.579 passengers, an increase of 20.1% compared to last year’s 178.732. January also saw the end to the decline in the number of flight operations. Since October the airport has been recording a slide in the number of flights being operated to and from Serbia’s capital. Last month, however, Belgrade handled a total of 3.304 flights, an increase of 5.4% compared to last year. The airport’s busiest route is Vienna with 49 weekly flights followed by Podgorica and Frankfurt.

Meanwhile, the airport is continuing construction work on the overhaul of its departures area. Yesterday, Jat Airways moved all of its operations to terminal one. The airline says that all check in procedures will now be carried out at the old terminal due to construction work taking place at the airport. However, some are suggesting that Jat has decided to move because of lower costs at terminal one, which is currently used by Wizz Air and charter airlines. Still the airline insists that it will move back to terminal two after construction work is completed, which it says will take at least a month.

Belgrade Airport was recently left without a customer as Spanair suspended all of its operations. Nevertheless, the airport will hope to materialise on Jat’s summer expansion as well as frequency increases from many airlines. In 2012 the airport hopes to handle more passenger than in its record breaking 1987, when it welcomed 3.3 million travellers.

Priština takes bronze

Priština overtakes Ljubljana as third busiest airport in the former Yugoslavia

Priština has finished 2011 as the third busiest airport in the former Yugoslavia, for the first time since it opened its doors in 1965. The dethroned Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport fell into fourth place with Dubrovnik Airport hot on its heels. A total of six airports managed to handle more than one million passengers.

Ljubljana Airport was affected by Adria Airways’ crisis last year and its significant reduction of flights, which were felt during the months of August, November and December. Since January the airport has recorded declining or break even numbers compared to those from 2010, with the exception of April when the airport saw significant growth. As a result, Slovenia’s capital city airport welcomed just under 1.370.000 passengers, a decrease of 1.3% compared to 2010. It should be taken into account that Ljubljana was closed for almost an entire month in 2010. Since 2008, when Ljubljana saw record traffic by handling 1.673.050 passengers, its figures have steadily decreased each year. Ljubljana Airport expects lower traffic volumes and revenue in 2012. Still, the airport says that Adria’s decline should be substituted by foreign airlines and charter flights this year.

Priština Airport handled 1.422.302 passengers, an increase of almost 9%. The three busiest airlines operating out of Priština were Edelweiss, Adria Airways and Belle Air. The most popular destinations out of the city were Zurich, Vienna and Dusseldorf. As has previously been reported, Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport is well ahead of its competition and in 2011 strengthened its position as the busiest airport in the former Yugoslavia. Other notable achievements were recorded by Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Skopje, Ohrid and Tivat. Joining Ljubljana as the only EX-YU capital city airport to see its figures decline in 2011 was Podgorica.

Below you can review the number of handled passengers by the ten busiest airports in the former Yugoslavia in 2011:

Airport	Passengers 2011	Passengers 2010	Change (%)
Belgrade	3.124.633	2.698.730	▲ 15.8
Zagreb	2.319.098	2.071.561	▲ 11.9
Priština	1.422.302	1.305.532	▲ 8.9
Ljubljana	1.370.000	1.388.651	▼ 1.3
Dubrovnik	1.349.501	1.270.062	▲ 6.3
Split	1.300.381	1.219.741	▲ 8.1
Skopje	759.928	681.080	▲ 11.6
Tivat	647.169	542.000	▲ 19.4
Podgorica	611.666	651.478	▼ 6.1
Sarajevo	599.996	563.266	▲ 6.5