easyJet becomes number 2 in Croatia

The Croatian Ministry of Tourism is hoping to sign contracts with a number of tour operators and airlines by January 2011 in a bid to increase UK arrivals to the country, the “Travel Weekly” reports. The Croatian Minister of Tourism, Damir Bajs, said that a strong working relationship with tour operators was the key to success on the British market. Bajs also added that he was hopeful that low cost airlines such as Ryanair and easyJet will add more flights to the country next year.

Low cost carriers are developing an increasing presence in Croatia. easyJet has now taken over Germanwings as the second busiest carrier in the country while Norwegian and Ryanair have all added capacity in 2010. Two more low cost airlines, Vueling and Wizz Air, also rank among the top 10 carriers in Croatia, according to “Anna Aero”. easyJet has gone from operating just 3 routes in the summer of 2008 to 18 routes (10 to Split and 8 to Dubrovnik) this summer. Earlier this month, it commenced flights to Zagreb from Paris, which are being followed by London Gatwick flights next March. During the summer, Norwegian operated 44 weekly departures on 18 routes from its bases in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Poland. In 2011 the airline will add flights to Croatia from its newest base in Finland. This summer saw Ryanair operate 14 routes to Croatia, 11 to Zadar, 1 to Pula and 1 to Osijek.

Most low cost airlines operating to Croatia on a seasonal summer basis are heavily subsidized which has led to anger on Croatia Airlines’ behalf. The national carrier had been content with low cost operations until recently when it was announced that low cost carriers are expanding towards its home turf in Zagreb with year round flights. With even more competition announced next summer, Croatia Airlines has a difficult battle to win.

Wind Jet dumps Niš

The low cost Italian airline Wind Jet will suspend flights from Forli to Serbia’s second international airport, Niš, with the final service operating this morning, city authorities announced yesterday. Poor loads have led the airline to cancel its two weekly service until, at least, the 2011 summer season, which begins on the very last Sunday in March. The City of Niš has been subsidising the Italian airline, providing 1.1 million Euros and purchasing 50 seats per flight. Unofficial sources claim that the city can no longer afford to subsidise the airline, thus explaining Wind Jet’s withdrawal. The “Novosti” newspaper reports that, on average, there were less than 25 passengers onboard the flights this summer.

Meanwhile, Montenegro Airlines will continue serving Niš with daily flights from Podgorica this winter, after the city managed to fork out a significant chunk of cash to the Montenegrin carrier. The city will purchase 40 seats per flight at a return ticket price of 199 Euros. It has also been reported that the airport is drowning in debt.

Wind Jet commenced flights from Forli to Niš on December 26, 2009. Flights were operated with an Airbus A319 every Monday and Friday. Forli is located in Northern Italy, close to Bologna. Montenegro Airlines will become the sole carrier operating out of Niš Constantine the Great Airport. Several weeks ago, the Kopaonik Tourist Board announced that the Belorussian national carrier, Belavia, would operate flights from Minsk to Niš during the winter. However, there is no evidence that the flights will go ahead.

Bye bye Belgrade

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

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

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

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

Korean Air B777-200 soon in Zagreb

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

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

B&H dumps Zagreb

Extremely poor loads have forced Bosnia and Herzegovina’s national carrier, B&H Airlines, to terminate services from Sarajevo to Zagreb starting September 1. The service, which commenced only several months ago, failed to interest many passengers and most flights until September 1 have already been cancelled. The six weekly service is operated by the regional ATR72 aircraft. The news will be more than welcomed by Croatia Airlines, which has been in direct competition with B&H. During the 2010/11 winter season, Croatia Airlines will continue to operate fourteen weekly flights between Zagreb and Sarajevo.

Meanwhile, the cancelation of the Zagreb route leaves B&H with more unutilised aircraft. It is believed that B&H will replace the Zagreb service with another regional destination, either Podgorica or Skopje, both of which were terminated last year due to low interest.

B&H will soon be getting a new CEO as Nudžeim Rečica, the now former CEO, has had his resignation formally approved by the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Mr. Rečica will now become the Ambassador to the State of Qatar.

Skopje from September

The reincarnated MAT Macedonian Airlines, will begin operations from Skopje in September, the airline reports. Mat Airways, which has been operating summer flights for the Serbian tour operator Kon Tiki Travel from Belgrade, plans to move to its new home in Skopje. The first scheduled charter destinations to be launched are Zurich, Prague, Rome and Barcelona. Flights to Germany, as well as Priština, are also expected to commence in the near future, the “Kanal 5” network reports.

“Our plan is to expand our fleet and purchase another aircraft. We aim to be the best in the airline industry, slowly but surely reaching the top”, Zoran Milevski, the president of the board of the Metropolitan Investment Group (one of Mat’s owners) said. Mat Airways currently owns a Boeing B737-500 which carries a hybrid livery comprising of the airline’s logo and bits and pieces of the Macedonian flag. Danijela Pusara, the airline’s PR manager, said that Mat is currently not seeking to become Macedonia’s national carrier but she did not rule out the possibility for the future.

Bye bye Belgrade

Despite surprising success on the Riga – Belgrade route, launched earlier this year, AirBaltic will suspend services to Serbia’s capital until at least January 2011, the “Aviokarta.net” portal reports. The airline has sighted a fleet shortage as the reason for the route’s suspension. During the summer, AirBaltic leased aircraft from other airlines in order to deal with its fleet shortage until new Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft arrive later this year. However, Belgrade will be the only route suspended from AirBaltic’s network this winter. According to “Aviokarta.net”, the average load factor from Belgrade to Riga amounts to 88%, with most passengers using Riga as a transit point for flights to Russia and Scandinavia.

AirBaltic operates four weekly flights from and to Belgrade. The airline will operate its last service to Belgrade on September 12.

B&H Airlines, Airbus A319

Earlier this morning, B&H Airlines finally welcomed its newest fleet member, an Airbus A319, which arrived in Sarajevo on a scheduled flight from Istanbul. The Turkish Airlines owned aircraft, which had previously been leased to Greece’s Olympic Air, touched down at around 06.30 as flight JA101. During the month, the Airbus will be exclusively used on flights to Istanbul, according to the Global Distribution System (GDS). The aircraft will be deployed once a week on the Sarajevo-Copenhagen-Stockholm service from August 29, Sarajevo-Gothenburg-Copenhagen from September 1, Sarajevo-Stockholm-Copenhagen from September 2, Sarajevo-Stockholm-Gothenburg from September 4 and Sarajevo-Copenhagen-Gothenburg from September 6.

As reported earlier in the week, the Airbus is the airline’s fourth aircraft. B&H's Boeing B737-400 will operate for the airline until late September, after which it will be decided whether it will remain with the airline until next year or returned to Turkish Airlines. B&H is the fourth national EX-YU airline to welcome a new aircraft to its fleet this year, following Adria Airways, Croatia Airlines and Montenegro Airlines.

More flights and more passengers from Croatia

Many low cost airlines have been reporting successful results this summer from various EX-YU airports. One of them is Germanwings, which expects to carry some 440.000 passengers from Croatia by the end of the year. Lufthansa’s low cost offspring anticipates that it will see a 10% passenger increase on flights heading to and from Croatia when compared to 2009. The airline explains that this is in part due to increased capacity. The German airline has increased its frequencies from Hannover to Zagreb and Split this summer. Germanwings’ Airbus A319 aircraft, operating to Croatia, have an average load factor of over 80% per flight and the airline believes that the same high numbers will continue throughout the year.

Germanwings operates flights to five Croatian cities during the summer months – Pula, Dubrovnik, Zadar, Split and Zagreb. The airline has been present in Croatia for several years. In the region, it operates flights to Belgrade, Priština and Sarajevo as well.

Adria now in Banja Luka

Slovenia’s Adria Airways has begun flights to Banja Luka, linking the two cities via the air with a scheduled service for the first time. The inaugural promotional flight was carried out on Tuesday, while the first revenue flight began on Wednesday. The service, operated by the Bombardier CRJ200, was originally planned to run four time per week but low interest and non existent marketing have forced Adria to reduce the flights to only two times per week. The CEO of Adria Airways, Tadej Tufek, said, “We hope that the new service will be used by relatives, friends and business partners from both countries”. Adria is hoping to attract transit passengers, which would fly via Ljubljana to elsewhere in Europe, in order to make the route successful.

The Government of the Republika Srpska, the entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina in which Banja Luka lies, is subsidising the flights with 900.000 Convertible Bosnian Marks (approximately 460.160 Euros). The Minister for Transport of Republika Srpska, Nedeljko Čubrilović, said that the Adria service is important as it will lead to the development of air travel from Banja Luka. He also announced that the Government is working hard on opening services from Banja Luka to Tivat.

Adria Airways recently signed a cooperation agreement with Sky Srpska, an airline to be based in Banja Luka and expected to fly from next year. Such an agreement has already been made with Montenegro Airlines, while Jat Airways would provide all the needed technical and logistical assistance.

Jat hopes for more Portorož passengers

Jat Airways will extend its seasonal summer service from Belgrade to Portorož until September 15. The flights, which commenced in April, were scheduled to terminate in mid July. Flights between the Serbian capital and the Slovenian coastal town resumed after 19 years. The service is operated in cooperation between Jat and the Piran Tourist Board, which is subsidising the flights.

The service to Portorož is operated twice per week using the ATR72 aircraft. In June, Jat carried 174 passengers to Portorož and 128 passengers from Portorož to Belgrade. However, it should be noted that there are restrictions on the number of passengers per flight due the runway length at Portorož Airport. As a result of the summer flights, services to Trieste have suffered. Trieste is located on the border between Italy and Slovenia and is only some 20 kilometres from Portorož.

Mat’s B737-500 ready for takeoff

Macedonia’s newest charter airline, Mat Airways, will be operating its flights under the Aviogenex code (AGX). Darko Milačić, one of the founders of Mat Airways, revealed the news in a recent interview to the “Kielo” agency. The inauguration of services has been pushed back to August when the airline plans to commence flights from Skopje (although Mat’s aircraft will be operating charters from Belgrade to other destinations in the meantime). Milačić revealed that the airline is currently not interested in becoming the national carrier of Macedonia, rather it plans to develop scheduled charter flights. However, Milačić does not exclude the possibility of the airline eventually becoming a national carrier.

“We are in the process of acquiring an IATA certificate and we expect the process to be complete within the next 5 months. We will be using Aviogenex’s code for our flights”, Milačić said. He also disclosed that Kon Tiki Travel, the founder of the new Mat, is interested in setting up an airline in Serbia and purchasing Aviogenex, a Serbian charter airline. Furthermore, the company plans to purchase a Boeing B737-300 jet by the end of the year, although this purchase would depend on the outcome of Aviogenex’s takeover.

For starters, Mat plans to operate the service Belgrade – Ohrid – Tel Aviv. Darko Milačić believes that the service would be popular and said that an Israeli tour operator is also interested in cooperating on the route.

On the left hand side you can register your vote whether you believe that Mat Airways will be successful or a disaster waiting to happen.

Photo published with the approval of the author, the “aviokarta.net” portal

Banja Luka awaits Adria

Adria Airways has delivered on its promise to begin scheduled flights to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s second largest city. Flights from the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana, to Banja Luka will commence on Wednesday, July 14. The 45 minute flight will be served four times per week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. The airline will use its Bombardier CRJ200 aircraft, which can carry up to 48 passengers.

The start of the new service is good news for Banja Luka Airport which is not being served by any airline. Adria hopes to cash in on passengers which would use Ljubljana as a transit point for onward destinations. Most passengers from Banja Luka travel by car or bus to Belgrade or Sarajevo in order to catch their flights. It is unknown whether Adria’s service is being subsidised by the Government of the Republika Srpska, as was the case with previous airlines which once operated flights to Banja Luka.

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

In Podgorica from July 8

As was reported several weeks ago, Turkish Airlines plans to commence flights to the Montenegrin capital, Podgorica, in yet another expansion into the former YU market. With the Montenegrin Civil Aviation Agency just recently giving the all clear to Turkish, the airline will inaugurate service between Istanbul and Podgorica on July 8. Flights will operate three times per week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. It will be the first time that Turkish Airlines has operated scheduled flights to Montenegro with Podgorica becoming the airline’s 162nd destination. There is no denying that Turkish has a strong position in the region, operating scheduled flights to all former Yugoslav capitals. The airline has a 49% stake in B&H Airlines and has confirmed its interest in purchasing Serbia’s Jat Airways.

In a press release the Montenegrin Civil Aviation Agency said hat the new service will connect Montenegro with the world. “This is the first step in Turkish- Montenegrin cooperation”, the Agency points out.

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

Belgrade route a success

The low cost airline Wizz Air, which this month commenced flights to the Serbian capital from Dortmund and London, has been reporting extremely good loads, the “Aviokarta.net” portal reports. On Monday, June 20, the airline commenced flights from London Luton Airport, carrying 139 passengers to Belgrade and 128 on the return leg. This means that the load factor on flights to London (for the first inaugural service) amounted to 77%. For comparison sake, Jat Airways’ average load factor on the Belgrade - London Heathrow – Belgrade service amounted to 68% in May. Wizz Air initially planned to commence flights from London to Belgrade in July. However, flights were brought forward upon the request of the director of Belgrade Airport. The airline is hoping to profit from the upcoming EXIT music festival, held in Serbia’s second largest city Novi Sad, which is extremely popular with younger Brits. EXIT is one of Europe’s most popular music festivals and together, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance, Jat will be increasing frequency numbers to key Western European and regional destinations prior to and during the EXIT festival.

Meanwhile, Wizz Air flights from Dortmund to Belgrade are going from strength to strength. The average load factor climbed from 70% last week to 85% this week.

The new look Mat

Kon Tiki Travel, the owner of Mat Airways, has revealed that its start up charter airline will be called Mat, ending speculation about a possible name change. Originally, the Macedonian Civil Aviation Agency expressed concern about the airline’s name, as it could suggest that it has links with the management of the defunct national carrier MAT Macedonian Airlines, which is still being sued for unlawful ticket sales and debt. However, the new Mat does carry a new logo.

Mat hopes to begin flights by July 20 with the inaugural service taking place from Ohrid to Belgrade. The airline is currently selling most of its tour packages to holiday makers via Belgrade. Mat Airways owns a Boeing B737-500, which is currently located in Skopje. It sports a Macedonian flag on its tail and red coloured engines.

In Dubrovnik and Zagreb

The Spanish national carrier, Iberia, has resumed flights to Dubrovnik. The seasonal summer flights will operate from Madrid until September 28, three times per week – on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. All flights will be operated by the Airbus A320, the “Financial” reports. As was the case last summer, Iberia has scheduled its operations to Dubrovnik to offer its customers connecting flights to its entire network, especially in Spain and America. It expects to carry more than 14.000 passengers to one of the most beautiful cities in the Adriatic. On Tuesdays and Saturdays, flights will leave Madrid Barajas Airport at 10.30 and will land at Dubrovnik at 13.15. On Sundays, the departure time will be at 13.45, while the arrival time will be at 16.30. Return flights from the Croatian city will be 14.05 on Tuesdays and Saturdays, landing at Madrid airport at 16.55. On Sundays, flights will leave at 17.20 and will arrive at the Spanish capital at 20.10.

On July 3, Iberia will resume seasonal summer flights to Zagreb. It has schedule two flights every week – on Saturdays and Sundays until September 19. All flight details can be found in the new route launches section on the right hand side.

Mat gets the green light

Mat Airways has received the all clear from the Macedonian Civil Aviation Agency late last week to commence charter flights from Skopje and Ohrid. “The Agency has recognised our airline’s potential. With this certificate we will be able to commence operations, provide superior service to world class destinations and organise tour arraignments”, Darko Miličić, form the Metropolitan Investment Group (part owner of the airline with Kon Tiki Travel), said. Earlier last week it was announced that Mat would begin services by July 20 with the inaugural service to take place between Ohrid and Belgrade.

Mat’s Boeing B737-500 arrived in Skopje last week but it is still uncertain whether the airline will be called Mat Airways. Concerns have been raised that the new Mat might be in connection to the old MAT and as a result Kon Tiki might decide to change the airline’s name. It is suggested that the airline could be called Kon Tiki Sky.

Soon in Banja Luka

Slovenia’s Adria Airways will commence services to the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Banja Luka, in July, the airline’s CEO, Tadej Tufek announced on Wednesday. Flights should operate 4 times per week but no other information was revealed. The news comes as a big boost for Banja Luka, which currently isn’t being served by any other airline, after the airport rejected proposed 11 weekly flights from Sarajevo which were to be operated by B&H Airlines.

Meanwhile, Adria Airways also signed a memorandum of understanding with Sky Srpska. Sky Srpska is the pet project of the Government of Republika Srpska that still hasn’t taken off from the ground. There are plans for the airline to be launched in early 2011. Montenegro Airlines and Jat Airways also have a memorandum of understanding signed with Sky Srpska.

Whether the new service to Banja Luka will be profitable remains to be seen. Adria hopes to transport transit passengers from Banja Luka through Ljubljana and onwards to other European destinations. The airline recently launched flights to Belgrade but the service is not as successful as was hoped it would be.

This B737-800 is currently flying for B&H

The arrival of B&H Airlines’ Airbus A319 has once again been delayed. Originally, the aircraft was expected to arrive on June 4 but was delayed until June 15. The aircraft has now, once again, been delayed and the arrival date of the aircraft is unknown. However, Turkish Airlines, the airline’s part owner, has sent a Boeing B737-800 for a short period of time, until the A319 arrives. The B737-800, in Turkish Airlines colours, has been deployed on charter flights while the B&H B737-400 continues to operate on regular services.

The expected Airbus will replace B&H’s Boeing on all of its services. The airline’s sole B737-400 will remain in the fleet until the end of the 2010 summer season, serving mostly on charter flights and flights to Turkey. With the arrival of a second A319, at the start of the 2010/2011 winter season, the airline will phase out the B737-400. According to current plans, a third Airbus will be introduced during the 2011 summer season. One of the Airbuses will be provided by Turkish Airlines while the other two will be owned by B&H itself, as the Bosnian Government had ordered the aircraft for Air Bosna several years ago. The order will now be taken over by Air Bosna’s successor B&H Airlines.