Adria Airways winter 2008/09Strengthening European services

Today on October 26, 2008 Adria Airways, the national airline of Slovenia will begin with its winter schedule. This winter season, which ends on March 28, 2009, Adria has increased frequencies to some popular services and hasn’t decreased frequencies on almost any other destinations. Seasonal flights have ended. This winter Adria will operate 234 weekly flights to 22 destinations from Ljubljana. It will operate flights using 12 aircraft (2 Airbus A320s, 1 Boeing 737-500, 7 Bombardiers CRJ200s and 2 CRJ900s) as it awaits the delivery of 2 new CRJ900 Next Generation aircraft and 2 Bombardier 1000NextGen planes.

Adria Airways will operate four daily flights to Frankfurt, Munich and Vienna which have all been increased from double daily flights operated during the summer. Furthermore the airline will operate three daily flights to Brussels and Zurich. Flights JP322 and JP342 to Paris will remain unchanged with double daily flights from Slovenia’s capital Ljubljana. Flights will be operated 9 times a week to Amsterdam, daily to London, Moscow and Istanbul, five weekly to Stockholm and Warsaw, four weekly to Kiev and Copenhagen and three weekly flights to Athens. Flights to Barcelona will operate twice a week and services will cease on January 4, 2009.

The airline is significantly strengthening its flights within the region including former YU republics. Flights JP700 and JP702 from Ljubljana to Sarajevo will operate 13 times a week, daily flights to Priština will remain unchanged, while Podgorica flights will also remain with the same level of operations it had during the summer – 3 times a week. In Macedonia, the airline will operate to Skopje with double daily flights. The airline also remains committed to Albania’s capital Tirana with 10 weekly flights. Flights to Bucharest will be operated 4 times a week. Adria does not serve any flights to Croatia or Serbia’s capital Belgrade.

The only flights Adria will end are to its 2 seasonal destinations Birmingham and Oslo. The airline will fly into the winter season with new uniforms (pictured above). Adria will also have to prepare to deal with its 2009 summer schedule when many flights from June will have to be redirected to Maribor due to the reconstruction of its hub in Ljubljana.

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Belgrade Nikola Teslawith strong winter schedule

The winter season at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport in Serbia begins on Sunday October 26, 2008 and will last 5 months until March 28, 2009. The airport is expecting a growth of 10% in air traffic when compared to last year, despite a few airlines ending certain services including the airport’s biggest user – Jat Airways. Although Jat will end its flights to Gothenburg, Munich, Prague, Tripoli and Malta it will increase frequencies to regional destinations – flights to Podgorica will operate 3 times a day while to Tivat twice daily. Flights to Skopje will be operated on a daily basis, Dusseldorf with 5 flights per week, Trieste 4 times weekly while Milan is newly introduced with 3 flights per week and Thessaloniki will feature in the winter schedule for the first time (twice a week). As a result Jat will operate 161 return flights weekly which is roughly the same as last year.

After Jat, Lufthansa and Montenegro Airlines will operate the largest amount of flights from Nikola Tesla Airport. Lufthansa will operate 3 daily flights to Munich and 2 daily flights to Frankfurt (although it will end services from Dusseldorf which will be taken over by Jat with 5 weekly flights). The Montenegrin national carrier will operate the identical amount of frequencies from Tivat and Podgorica as Jat. Alitalia will operate daily flights to Rome and Milan while Swiss will operate twice weekly flights to Basel (on top of its flights to Zurich). The airline will increase its capacity by upgrading its equipment to an Airbus A321. Meanwhile ČSA will operate daily flights to Prague and Turkish Airlines will increase from 3 to 5 weekly flights from Istanbul.

The airport expects it will have around 865.000 passengers in the 5 winter season months which would see an increase of 5% compared to that period last year when the airport had 824.000 passengers. In total the airport is poised to have more than 2.5 million passengers by December 31, 2008.

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MAT Macedonian Airlines winter 2008/09Farewelling three destinations

On October 25, 2008 MAT Macedonian Airlines, the national airline of Macedonia will begin with its winter schedule. As usual for this time of the year MAT will be decreasing its regular frequencies. This winter it will operate flights using 3 aircraft (2 newly leased Boeing B737-500 aircraft and a CRJ-900).

From Skopje MAT will be ending its flights to Amsterdam, Berlin and Hamburg. Flight IN451 was operated once a week to Amsterdam while flight IN320 to Berlin was operated twice a week. Flights to Hamburg were also operated twice a week. Despite this, MAT will continue flights to Germany by continuing services to Dusseldorf which will operate twice a week using a B737-500. Services to Istanbul which were operated 6 times a week will now be operated twice a week using the CRJ-900. Flights to Rome will continue to be operated twice a week using the airline’s both aircraft types. Flights to Vienna will continue operating 5 times a week with a daily code share flight serviced by Austrian Airlines. There will be 11 weekly flights to Zurich with another 2 flights operated in a code share by Helvetic.

From Ohrid the Sunday flight to Vienna will continue to run via Skopje. Flights to Zurich will be maintained once a week while the flight to Amsterdam which was operated via Skopje ends as mentioned above. Currently in the preliminary schedule there is no news of new destinations.

Any related updates will be posted. Any question our readers might have regarding the new schedule can be posted by using the “comments” option or contacting us using our e-mail address. Soon Adria Airways’ 2008/09 winter schedule will be published on the blog.

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British Airwayshappy with Dubrovnik results

During the winter season 2008/09 British Airways will be flying to Dubrovnik 4 times a week – Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday, which is an increase compared to the previous winter season when flights were operated 3 times a week. This is because the airline has been recording good results to Dubrovnik. During the summer season, when flights were operated on a daily basis from London-Gatwick, British Airways transported 24.000 passengers to Dubrovnik while the load factor amounted to 90%, an extremely good result for an inter-European holiday destination. British Airways’ representative for Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina stated that the airline is extremely happy with the amount of passengers on the line mentioned above which is becoming more popular every season. The airline plans to introduce more frequencies from the 2009 summer season. British Airways does not operate to the country’s capital Zagreb or any other city in Croatia.

Flights from Dubrovnik this winter season will depart on Tuesday and Sunday at 16.40 while on Thursday and Friday they will depart at 14.40. Flights are operated using a Boeing B737-400 and last 2 hours and 45 minutes.

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Montenegro Airlines winter 2008/09New flight to London

From October 20 to 26, 2008 Montenegro Airlines, will begin with its winter schedule. For Montenegro Airlines this usually includes the decrease in frequencies as the tourist season in the country comes to an end although despite cutting frequencies the airline will also introduce a new flight and cease operations to a few lines. The airline will be operating this winter with 6 aircraft (4 Fokker 100’s and 1 Embraer 195 jet) as the airline awaits the arrival of its new 2 new Embraers, although it is uncertain if the deliveries will be made before the 2009 summer season begins in late March.

From its base in Podgorica to its most important market, Serbia, Montenegro Airlines will increase its currently operated 19 weekly flights to 21. This has been done in accordance with Jat Airways as the both airlines agreed to evenly distribute their flights so they no longer have clashing departure times. The equipment used will be a mix of the airline’s both aircraft types. Flight YM500 from Podgorica to Vienna will decrease in frequency however the airline has secured a code share agreement with Austrian. Frequencies to Frankfurt, Rome, Paris and Zurich will all decrease while flights to Moscow will remain unchanged. From the EX-YU region Montenegro Airlines will end its seasonal flights to Niš and increase its frequency on flight YM180 to Ljubljana from 1 to 2 per week (with another 2 flights operated in a code share by Adria Airways). Montenegro Airlines will also be introducing flights to London-Gatwick to be operated every Friday.

From its secondary base in Tivat the 23 weekly operated flights to Belgrade will be reduced to 14 using the Fokker 100. Flights to London that have been operated twice a week will end and will be rerouted via Podgorica as mentioned above. Flights to Moscow will be decreased by one flight. Flights to Paris will also cease operations from Tivat.

Any related updates will be posted. Any question our readers might have regarding the new schedule can be posted by using the “comments” option or contacting us using our e-mail address.

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B&H Airlines winter 2008/09More flights to Turkey

On October 25, 2008 B&H Airlines, the national airline of Bosnia and Herzegovina will begin with its winter schedule. With as small amount of destinations and a fleet of only two aircraft (ATR72’s) there won’t be many changes however some lines have been rerouted and some reduced while others increased.

B&H Airline has recently been purchased by Turkish Airlines. The exact amount of shares purchased is still uncertain (49% or 51% - to be announced in the following days) however B&H Airlines is increasing its frequencies to Turkish Airlines’ base – Istanbul. Flights will be increased from 4 per week to 6 flights per week. The Sarajevo to Frankfurt service will increase from 2 weekly to 3 weekly flights.

Furthermore B&H will replace the nonstop Sarajevo – Stuttgart service with a stop via Mostar from October 26. Flight JA214 will be operated twice a week. Frequencies to Zurich will remain as they have been operated during the summer – 4 times per week and the same goes for Cologne which will continue to be operated twice times a week. B&H’s only destination within the EX-YU region, to Skopje, Macedonia, will be decreased from 2 flights to 1 flight per week. The airline will maintain its code share agreements with Jat Airways from Sarajevo to Belgrade and Croatia Airlines from Sarajevo to Zagreb. B&H Airlines will continue operating from Banja Luka to Zurich via Sarajevo.

This is BH Airlines’ last timetable before the privatisation process is officially completed. The 2009 summer season should offer a greater variety of services with new aircraft expected.

Any related updates will be posted. Any question our readers might have regarding the new schedule can be posted by using the “comments” option or contacting us using our e-mail address. Soon the Adria Airways, Montenegro Airlines and MAT Macedonian Airlines 2008/09 winter schedule will be published on the blog. Read more

Croatia Airlines winter 2008/09 Mass reduction of service from Split

On October 25, 2008 Croatia Airlines, the national airline of Croatia will begin with its winter schedule. As usual for this time of the year Croatia Airlines will be decreasing its regular frequencies however there are a few surprises.

Regionally Croatia Airlines is increasing its 3 weekly flights to Priština to 4 times a week. Flights OU310 will be operated 3 times a week by an Airbus A319 and once by an Airbus A320. Flights from Zagreb to Sarajevo will decrease from 18 weekly flights to 14 with the ATR42 completely removed from the line. Flights to Skopje will decrease only by one to daily flights using the Airbus A319. Other regional destinations will remain with the same number of flights although the ATR42 will be removed from the Podgorica line and replaced with the Dash 400.

Croatia Airlines is cancelling its services from Zagreb to Tel Aviv while it will also see large reductions of services from Split, Pula and Dubrovnik. From Dubrovnik, Croatia Airlines is ending flights to Amsterdam, Dusseldorf (only a seasonal destination), London-Gatwick, Paris, Tel Aviv and Zurich while it will keep flights Dubrovnik-Rome and Dubrovnik-Frankfurt. Similarly, Split will see a major reduction of destinations with flights to Amsterdam, Brussels, Dusseldorf, London-Gatwick, London-Heathrow, Lyon, Munich, Paris, Vienna and Zurich all edning while flights to Frankfurt will be operated on a daily basis and Rome will be operated 5 times per week. The big withdrawal of services from Croatian airports (outside of Zagreb) continue with flight to Amsterdam and London-Gatwick also cut from the schedule from Pula leaving the city only with flights to Zagreb, Zadar and Zurich operated by Croatian Airlines.

Any related updates will be posted. Any question our readers might have regarding the new schedule can be posted by using the “comments” option or contacting us using our e-mail address. Soon B&H Airlines’ 2008/09 winter schedule will be published on the blog.

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Jat Airways to introduce flights to Milanas Rome stays in network

Jat Airways will, despite earlier financial troubles, commence flights to a new destination from October 26 to Milan Malpensa Airport. The destination which was just added into the reservation system will be operated using an ATR72. Flight JU416 will be operated three times a week on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. The flights on Tuesday and Sunday will depart from Belgrade at 13.10 while they will return from Milan at 16.25. Friday will provide a morning flight for passengers, departing Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport at 8.30 and departing back to Belgrade at 11.45. The price of tickets will range from 99 to 259 Euros.

Alitalia operates flights from Milan to Belgrade however the airline is already bankrupt and could lose its license to fly in a matter of days, giving Jat Airways an opportunity to capitalise on its new destination. Jat already operates flights to Rome and Trieste in Italy although Rome was planned to be cut from Jat’s network it has now been decided for it to stay until firther notice.. For now, Milan will be the only newly introduced service in the winter 2008/09 schedule together with Thessaloniki which has been in operation since summer and will continue through winter. All changes to Jat’s winter schedule can be read here.

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UPDATE: Jat Airways winter 2008/09Farewelling four destinations

On October 25, 2008 Jat Airways, the national airline of Serbia will begin with its winter schedule. For Jat this usually includes the decrease in frequencies which will occur this year as well however the main difference is that the airline will farewell 5 cities from its destination network as it will decrease its fleet to 9 (6 Boeing 737-300’s and 3 ATR-72’s). Two Boeing 737-300 will be leased to an African airline which is a practice Jat commonly employs during the winter although it is unknown what will occur with the other aircraft, however it is expected they will be returned to their original owners since these aircraft are leased.

Jat will after many years cease flights to the Albanian capital Tirana. Flight JU412 was operated using an ATR72 twice a week. Another line operated for many years, Malta (Luqa) will also cease and effectively flights to Tripoli will end which were operated via Malta. Flight JU454 to Tripoli via Malta was operated twice a week using a Boeing 737-300. Jat will not return to Oslo this winter. Flight JU394 to the Norwegian capital was operated twice a week however was only planned as a summer destination and was not expected to return to the schedule in the winter. Finally Jat will also farewell another city in Scandinavia - Goteborg will no longer be served.

Jat will also no longer fly to Prague and Munich. These flights will not be pulled out of Jat’s scheduling. It will be operated by partner airlines ČSA and Lufthansa in a strong codeshare collaboration agreement where the flights will be treated as if operated by Jat. Belgrade – Prague JU8170 will be operated with a B737-500, Belgrade - Munich JU8344 will be operated using an Avro RJ85.

The new addition to this year’s winter schedule will be Thessaloniki which was originally planned to be operated only as summer destination however it will continue throughout the winter. Jat Airways will, despite earlier financial troubles, commence flights to a new destination from October 26 to Milano Malpensa Airport. The destination which was just added into the reservation system will be operated using an ATR72. Flight JU416 will be operated three times a week on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. The flights on Tuesday and Sunday will depart from Belgrade at 13.10 while they will return from Milano at 16.25. Friday will provide a morning flight for passengers, departing Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport at 8.30 and departing back to Belgrade at 11.45. The price of tickets will range from 99 to 259 Euros. All other destinations operated by Jat Airways, including Dubai, Larnaca, western European destinations, Moscow and North African destinations will continue throughout the year. All destinations within the EX-YU will remain in the schedule (Podgorica, Tivat, Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Ljubljana and Skopje).

Any related updates will be posted. Any question our readers might have regarding the new schedule can be posted by using the “comments” option or contacting us using our e-mail address. Soon Croatia Airlines’ 2008/09 winter schedule will be published on the blog.

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