Low cost airlines not interestedin Montenegro?

Since the independence of the small republic of Montenegro from its state union 2 years ago, the government has not received any request from low cost airlines to commence services despite the country seeing an increase in tourism each year and having 2 international airports. The Government of Montenegro says that low cost will commence flights to the country when they see that they will be able to make a profit and when the government gives them approval. The Montenegrin government is requesting low cost airlines to fly to its airports throughout the year, which many airlines such as Ryan Air, Easy Jet and Jet2.com see as unprofitable as they believe their flights could only make money during the summer season. This is in contrast to neighbouring Croatia where the government has put no ultimatums to low cost airlines and as result many operate to cities such as Split and Dubrovnik on a seasonal basis.

Meanwhile the national airline, Montenegro Airlines, is announcing that it will, in the following few months introduce a “low cost scheme”. This will offer 15 seats on each flight at low-cost airline prices. However there have been suggestions that the Montenegrin Government is protecting its national airline, as the company begins to grow and enter new markets, as well as order new aircraft. Despite this, Tivat and Podgorica have seen a rise in passenger numbers this year. This news is particularly surprising for Tivat Airport which has been left out from the schedules of airlines that operate charters to Tivat during the summer as these airliners have moved to Podgorica due to a noise curfew imposed at Tivat from this year.

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New arrival for Dubrovnik in 2009

Jet2.com, a popular British low-cost airline, has today announced the launch of four new routes starting May 20, 2009 with one of them including the Croatian Adriatic town of Dubrovnik, to be operated from their base in Leeds Bradford.Speaking about the announcement, Philip Meeson, boss of Jet2.com, commented: "At Jet2.com we are committed to ensuring that holidaymakers in the UK have unprecedented choice when it comes to their holiday destination. These new route launches really underline this commitment to our customers and we are confident that they will be an extremely successful addition to our schedule. Dubrovnik is an especially exciting addition for us as it is the first time that we have flown into Croatia. With its Italian influences and miles of clean, sandy beaches, it is a destination which is fast becoming one of Europe’s leading holiday hot spots".

With this addition a total of 16 scheduled airlines now operate to Dubrovnik Airport. Croatia Airlines and Dubrovnik Airlines are the only airlines from the EX-YU region to operate flights to the holiday town. Jet2.com does not operate any flights to any former Yugoslav republic.

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Big plans for Banja Luka as flights to Salzburg begin

On Thursday (August 21) from Banja Luka Airport in Bosnia and Herzegovina (pictured above) the first flights to Salzburg, Austria began, operated by Austrojet flying Banja Luka – Salzburg – Stuttgart. The line will operate 3 times weekly on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday using a Bombardier Dash 8 while the price of a one way ticket is 175 Euros (excluding taxes). The airport management is currently in talks with the world’s largest low cost airline Ryanair. It hopes that on October 2, when formal negotiations are held they will manage to attract the low cost airline to start flights to Banja Luka from Frankfurt. This line would be made possible by the Open Sky Agreement which Bosnia and Herzegovina is a part of, giving airlines from the European Union limitless access to European aviation markets outside of the union. The airport’s management is also in talks with Serbia’s Jat Airways about the commencement of double daily traffic between Belgrade and Banja Luka. Austrojet’s line from Banja Luka to Tivat, Montenegro will conclude by the end of August as the tourist season comes to a close.

Banja Luka recently received an international license of operation which enables the airport to attract more international airlines. The airport is served B&H Airlines (to Sarajevo and Zurich) and Jat Airways and Austrojet to the lines mentioned above.

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New flights from Sarajevo

The first passengers yesterday arrived from Cologne/Bonn to Sarajevo on the low cost airline Germanwings with many passengers able to buy tickets for the first flight for only 19 Euros making it currently the first scheduled low cost airline to operate to the Bosnian capital. Flights from Cologne to Sarajevo will operate twice a week – Wednesday and Saturday. Officials from the airline said one way tickets will average the price of 70 Euros (including taxes) while one tenth of the tickets will be sold at the lowest price of only 19 Euros. All tickets can be purchased via the Internet however officials from the airline state that since the Internet is in its development stages in Bosnia and Herzegovina tickets will also be able to be purchased at the airport.

From October the airline plans to introduce flights from Stuttgart, Germany to Sarajevo while the line Sarajevo – Berlin will open in March 2009. The Germanwings jet was yesterday welcomed by a water cannon solute at Sarajevo organised by Sarajevo Airport’s firemen. The first flight from Cologne to Sarajevo was sold out.

Germanwings becomes the 11th scheduled operator to Sarajevo although this will decrease to 10 once British Airways withdraws from the Bosnian market in October. In the Ex-Yugoslav nations Germanwings currently operates flights to Duborvnik, Osijek, Pula, Split, Zadar and Zagreb in Croatia and Priština in Kosovo/Serbia and Belgrade in Serbia.

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New flights and new rules in Montenegro

The Montenegrin government has passed a new law regarding air transportation within the country. This is the first time laws have been changed since the 90’s following the collapse of Yugoslavia. It outlines that every low cost airline which requests slots at Montenegrin airports will gain licenses if they have all necessary security certificates. This is to respond to growing criticism that Montenegro’s government has not been allowing low cost airlines to commence services in order to protect the national airline. However the minister of transportation Andrija Lompar states that low cost airlines are now analysing the Montenegrin market and are making their decisions at a very slow pace. Currently there are no scheduled destinations by low cost airline to Montenegro’s two international airports Tivat and Podgorica.

Meanwhile Montenegro Airlines has started services to Milan, Italy. Flights began on Sunday and the flight occupancy for the two operated flights stands at 47%. Montenegro Airline CEO expects that the occupancy will reach 70 to 75% within the next month. Montenegro Airlines expect that 45% of passengers will be tourists, 15 to 20% transit passengers and business passengers should make up for 3 to 5%. The lowest ticket price for flights between Tivat and Milan is 89 Euros which does not include taxes which are 114 Euros. Flights between Tivat and Milan operate every Thursday and Sunday and from October 26, when the winter timetable starts, the flights will be modified so they depart from Podgorica instead of Tivat.

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Ryanair rejects Serbian offer

The Serbian government has often been criticised for not providing enough competition in the airline industry in order for it to protect its airline Jat Airways. Although one can debate this as the Serbian government provides minimal funding for its national airline, Jat has claimed for the last few years that it has no special status and that it is unlikely for low cost airlines to begin services to Serbia as the market has not developed yet. Lately low cost airline such as Germanwings and Norwegian Air Shuttle have begun services to Belgrade with lines to Cologne/Bonn, Stuttgart, Oslo and Stockholm. The Serbian Civil Aviation Board recently offered the worlds largest low cost airline Ryanair slots at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport however the low cost airline rejected the offer saying the market does not have enough potential yet. The airline requested that if it were to start services the Serbian government would have to invest thousands of Euros in its promotion. The biggest problem, which is keeping low cost airline away from Serbia, are visa restrictions for travel to EU nations imposed on Serbian citizens. Citizens often have to wait months before their visa applications are approved. When this obstacle is overcome (expected to occur in late 2008) it is expected that the Serbian aviation industry will grow by at least 30%.

Best examples that the Serbian aviation industry is not ready for a low cost airline are previous unsuccessful attempts. The first Serbian low cost airline Centavia lasted only a month before it went bankrupt. Air Maxi, which planned to establish itself in Serbia as a low cost airline and begin operations decided not to midway through its processes of gaining a license. The national airline, Jat Airways, also planned a creation of its own low cost subsidiary to have been name Interlink however it also decided not to. Belgrade Airport is currently served by 19 scheduled airlines with 2 scheduled low cost airlines operating flights.

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