Despite global crisisMontenegro Airlines with good results

The Montenegrin national carrier, Montenegro Airlines, has transported more than 400.000 passengers during the last nine months, which is by one fifth more than it has been the case during the same period last year. It is expected that a Montenegro Airlines financial report, to be published within the following days, should show that the company has achieved positive business results during these nine months. The number of passengers on international flights has increased by 78%. The airline had 11 regular lines and serviced 20 charter destinations this summer. When statistics are broken down in more detail it can be seen that 39% of the total number of passengers transferred were tourists. The airline has recently introduced flights to London and Milan. The flights to London have proven profitable. Up until now 5.000 passengers have flown on this line. Use of capacities on these flights are 70% at the moment. The flights to Milan are somewhat weaker in terms of results. The current use of capacity on the flights is at disappointing 32%.

Good news for all passengers is that Montenegro Airlines will not change its ticket prices in the upcoming period, despite the developments at the global financial markets.

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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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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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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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Madonna sells out seatson Jat Airways and Montenegro Airlines

Both Jat Airways and Montenegro Airlines have been sold out on flights between their biggest markets – Serbia and Montenegro as the pop star Madonna prepares to hold her concert in Montenegro’s seaside town of Budva, near Tivat on Thursday September 25. A very large number of Serbian and Croatian fans are expected. During this week 52 return flights will be operated from Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport to Tivat Airport. On Wednesday and on Thursday all tickets have been sold between the two cities on the 19 flights that will be operated (14 by Jat and 5 by Montenegro Airlines) as well as for the 3 flights to Podgorica to be operated before midday. Belgrade Airport’s management expects that due to the concert 2.000 extra passengers will pass through its doors. Serbia’s national airline Jat Airways has sold 544 tickets for Thursday’s 5 Tivat flights, three of which will be operated by a Boeing 737-300 and 2 using an ATR72. For Wednesday’s 3 flights Jat has sold 198 seats. Jat has also increased its frequencies to Podgorica and sold 318 tickets for Thursday while only a handful of tickets to Montenegro remain. These tickets are to Podgorica on Wednesday. Jat will operate a total of 14 flights to Montenegro on Wednesday and Thursday. Due to the concert Jat is seeing an increase in passengers from Banja Luka and Sarajevo. Montenegro Airlines is also increasing its frequencies. Madonna will for the first time hold her concert in the region. It will be located at Budva’s Jaz Beach (pictured above) and has gained widespread media attention across the EX-YU region. Read more

Montenegro Airlines privatisationStrategic partner soon

By October 1 the government of Montenegro will prepare its national airline, Montenegro Airlines, for privatisation. It has been planned that 30% of the airline will be sold while the remaining 70% would stay in the government’s control. The expected cost of the 30% is at 38.5 million Euros with the cost of each share at 17.7 Euros. Currently, only the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is interested in the purchase, which is not surprising since air carriers usually purchase another only if they are the majority owners. The government has furthermore created a strategic plan for Montenegro Airlines’ development, although the government has been delaying this plan for months due to the changes in management in the airline. The new part owners will inherit new aircraft orders as well as an older Fokker fleet and a promising destination network. It will also inherit an impending law suit against the airline after its incident a few years ago at Podgorica Airport. Read more

Montenegro Airlines places order for new Embraer jet

On Tuesday, Embraer announced the sale of the first Embraer 195 jet to Montenegro Airlines. The agreement with the national airline of Montenegro also includes purchase rights for two more aircraft of the same model. Montenegro Airlines already operates an Embraer 195 under a leasing contract. The value of the deal, at list price, is US$39.5 million, and could total US$118.5 million, if all of the purchase rights are exercised. The Embraer 195 for Montenegro Airlines will comfortably seat 116 passengers in a single-class layout, and delivery is expected in 2009. The company plans to use the new airplane for key markets in Europe, including routes to cities like London and Moscow.

Last June, Embraer delivered the first E195 jet to Montenegro Airlines through a leasing operation carried out by GE Commercial Aviation Services. This leasing contract includes another aircraft of the same model for delivery next year that will increase the airline's fleet to three Embraer 195s by mid 2009. Andrija Lompar, the Minister of Transport, maritime affairs and telecommunications of the Republic of Montenegro, stated, "Next year, with three new Embraer E-Jets in the fleet of this national airline, it will continue the expected passenger growth trend, entering new markets and introducing more destinations, thus making a quality contribution to economic development". The Embraer 195 is the largest and newest aircraft of the modern four- member Embraer 170/190 family of E-Jets, and entered revenue service in September 2006. In June 2008, the E-Jets had logged 847 firm orders and 827 options. Today, over 400 aircraft in operation have surpassed 1.5 million flight hours.

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Good result and new aircraft order for Montenegro Airlines

In the first 8 months of 2008 Montenegro Airlines (MGX) transported 345.000 passengers which is a 7% improvement compared to last year. The airline’s management expects that this year it will transport half a million passenger. Yesterday Montenegro Airlines also transported its third millionth passenger since operation began in 1994. The lucky passenger, Tatjana Marinović, purchased a ticket from Podgorica to Belgrade and gained a special present ticket for two people from Podgorica to Paris. The management of the airline states that it had problems this summer with operations due to the high price of fuel. A total of 10.8 million Euros was spent on fuel. The expenditure for fuel makes up 43% of all funds spent. The total number of flights in the first 8 months was increased by 17%, thanks to new lines to Paris, Moscow and London. The overall cabin occupancy rate rose by 2% to 68%.

The Montenegro Airlines board as well as the government are holding talks about a possible purchase of another Embraer 195 jet. Talks should conclude next week and a new order is imminent. This would mean that during the 2009 summer season Montenegro Airlines will have three Embraer aircraft in its fleet, with one already in operation and a second one arriving in May next year. Therefore the MGX fleet would consist of 3 Embraer aircraft and 5 Fokker 100’s.

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Montenegro Airlines and Sky Srpska hold talks on future cooperation

The new found airline of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s entity Republika Srpska, Sky Srpska, is expected to launch flight next year with the help of the government and Serbia’s Jat Airways. Montenegro Airlines will now join the two. Following a meeting between ministers from Republika Sprska and Montenegro Airlines’ CEO the two agreed that flights between Banja Luka and Tivat should be established which would operate at least 4 months per year, since there was satisfactory aircraft occupancy between the two cities when flights were operated on a continual basis in 1999 and 2000. The management of Sky Srpska also spoke with Jat Airways a few days ago regarding potential flights to Tivat, if all necessary licenses could be received. Currently Sky Srpska, with its base in Banja Luka, plans to open services to Belgrade, Pula and Tivat – all of which would be in code share opeartion (once operated by Sky Srpska the other time by a partner airline). It is expected that Sky Srpska would bring back life to Banja Luka Airport. For a few years Republika Srpska had its own airline under the name of Air Srpska, operated by Jat Airways. However when Jat decided to return the two aircraft given to Srpska back to its own base in Belgrade, operations ceased. Read more

Montenegro Airlines privatisation: EBRD most serious candidate

The Montenegrin ministry of transportation is preparing to sell shares and therefore privatise the country’s national airline – Montenegro Airline. Currently the most serious candidate for the privatisation of Montenegro Airlines is the European Bank for Rebuilding and Development (EBRD). This bank has hired a US consultancy company, which will provide forecasts on the dynamics on the company’s privatisation by October. According to the “CG Economist”, the ministry has chosen a US company “SH&E”, which will provide analysis of business strategy for the needs of this privatisation.

The privatisation of Montenegro Airlines will be conducted in three stages, first being the selloff of 5% of shares, second being recapitalization and the third one being the selling of a majority share-package. “The 5% of shares, which will be sold at the market, are ‘a test balloon’, which will be used to estimate the value of the company’s shares. This experience would serve as the basis for the company’s recapitalization, for which the EBRD has expressed interest”, said an official in the ministry of transportation. EBRD is also interested in the privatisation of companies “Aerodromi Crne Gore” (Airports of Montenegro) and “Luka Bar” (Port of Bar), which are also to be restructured and privatized in the near future.

Montenegro Airlines is the only airline in Montenegro. 99.97% of the company is owned by the state. With recapitalization, EBRD would become the owner of, at most, one third of the airline’s property. Montenegro Airlines recently purchased a new Embraer aircraft, the first one in its fleet of Fokker’s.

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Jat Airways: We will improve 3 star ranking

Serbian media have responded to the website airlinequality.com which ranks airlines from 1 to 5 stars depending on levels of service and other factors influencing the airlines operations. Although the rankings have been available for more than 4 years, as a Serbian tabloid discovered the website, which is well known amongst aviation fans (website), other more distinguished newspapers picked up the story.

Jat commented on the rankings saying it has motivated them to improve services. The Serbian national airline joins airlines such as SAS, Canadian Airlines, and Iberia and also EX-YU airlines Croatia Airlines and Adria Airways in the 3 star ranking. Jat Airways released a statement saying that “the airline feels proud of its ranking having in mind the extreme difficulties it had faced in the past 17 years. Because of the rankings we will particularly focus on improving customer service”. Jat’s rankings in detail can be seen here.

MAT Macedonian Airlines has received a 2 star rankings while B&H Airlines and Montenegro Airlines have not received rankings as yet. According to the website rankings are reviewed annually. For a full rankings review click here.

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Montenegro Airlines still offline

Weeks after the web presentation of the national airline of Montenegro was attacked by hackers from Kosovo leaving messages in Albanian and images of the Albanian flag the airlines web presentation is still offline leaving a statement for passengers to come back later. Montenegro Airlines is today the only national European airline without a web presentation. The airline was supposed to change its previous design to a new look this October which would include online ticket purchase but, due to the new circumstances, it is expected that the new web site will be online in late August even though the airline was running a competition for a new web design which was to be online in October.

This morning the site of the Montenegro's Parliament was attacked and so far along with Montenegro Airlines the web presentation of news portal Dnevnik and various Montenegro government ministry websites have been attacked.

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Montenegro Airlines privatisation: 3 companies interested

Representatives of the Montenegrin national airline have announced that a total of 3 companies are interested in its purchase, one of which is the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). “Talks with EBRD have been going well” says a Montenegro Airlines official. American consulting group SH&E have been chosen to assist Montenegro Airlines with its analysis of interested airlines. Last Friday the airline’s board agreed that 30% of Montenegro Airlines shares should be sold. The airline has not revealed details on the other two companies interested in its purchase. A board of advisers have been selected which will monitor the progress of the airline’s privatisation.

Montenegro Airlines has been flying for 14 years. It has 6 aircraft in its fleet (one of which is leased to another airline). It recently decreased the age of its fleet by introducing a brand new Embraer 195 jet. A second is also on order. The airline operates to 12 destinations, recently opening services to London and Milan. The airline’s most negative aspect which may divert potential buyers is a corruption scandal involving the airlines CEO, its short lived sister airline Master Airways and an Albanian carrier. Furthermore Montenegro Airlines still has a case against it by passengers of a 2005 January flight from Belgrade when Montenegro Airlines was the only airline not to cancel its flight to a snow covered Podgorica thus landing on a frozen runway in the process experiencing a nose collapse. Some passengers were injured.

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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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montenegroairlines.com under attack

The official internet website of the Montenegrin national airline has been under attack for the last 24 hours (and is still under attack as this news is written) by ethnic Albanian hackers from Kosovo. The attack commenced yesterday in the late afternoon hours when the Montenegro Airlines web page was covered with Albanian flags. There were a few lines written in English all reading “United Albania”. The group of hackers signed with “Kosova Hackers Group”. In the evening hours Montenegro Airlines “cleaned out” its website however attacks are still taking place. As this news article is written one can enter montenegroairlines.com and come across material such as “Republika e Kosoves”, “Albanian hackers 4 ever” and a message written in Albanian.

The hacking group has become famous in the Balkans as they have already hacked into the rock internet portal “Balkanrock” when they wrote messages such as “United States of Albania”. Three years ago the Serbia’s mobile company “Mobiklik” web presentation was attacked with messages “063 never again in Kosovo) with 063 being the calling number of the mobile operator.
However this is a first time that a website of an airline company has been attacked this way. Montenegro Airlines has recently announced they are developing a new webpage which will be online by late September/early October 2008. The new website will include Internet booking and a much clearer and interesting web presentation. We hope security will also be updated.

UPDATE: montenegroairlines.com has now been taken off line

UPDATE 2: Hackers have now attacked the web presentation of Montenegro’s daily newspapers

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New destination and good passenger figures for Montenegro Airlines

Montenegro Airlines has announced that it will be commencing flights to Milan, Italy from July 20. This destination will operate year round. Tickets are already on sale with the return ticket price at 100 Euros. Flights will be operated 2 times a week on Thursday and Friday. Destination wise Montenegro Airlines has also introduced daily traffic to Frankfurt. From September the airline will start flights from Podgorica to London Gatwick. The already existing Tivat – London flights are on each 80% full which is a good result.

In the first 6 months of this year the Montenegrin national carrier transported just over 206.000 passengers, a 20% increase compared to last year while its cabin occupancy was increased by 6%. June saw the largest amount of passengers with 52.000 flying Montenegro Airlines, which is an increase of 18% compared to June 2007. The airline’s goal for this year is to transport just over half a million passengers.

Currently the 6 monthly EX-YU passenger figure leader board looks like this:
1. Croatia Airlines
2. Adria Airways
3. Jat Airways
4. MAT Macedonian Airlines
5. Montenegro Airlines
6. BH Airlines

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New plane arrivals for Montenegro Airlines

After the successful start of the Tivat to London service last week with its brand new Embraer 195 jet, Montenegro Airlines management is announcing new plane arrivals. A second E195 is expected to arrive in May next year while two additional E195’s are expected to be purchase following the airline’s privatisation. The airline’s CEO Zoran Đurišić said: “An Assembly of our Shareholders is scheduled to take place on 22 July. At this session, Montenegro Airlines would change its’ structure and become a share-holding company. After this, we shall offer 30 percent of shares for sale, while the majority package would remain under the control of the government”. As he said, funds obtained through selling of these shares would be used for the purchase of two additional “Embrearer” planes to add to the two already purchased. Although it was originally planned for services to the UK to originate from Podgorica the airline, together with the government of Montenegro, decided to move the origin to Tivat as this way tourists from the UK could be attracted to Montenegro’s coast. However flights from Podgorica to London will now start in September 2008. Read more

Montenegro Airlines and Jat Airwaysstart new flights

Montenegro Airlines from today, 16 of June, is commencing regular service from the Serbian city of Niš to the Montenegrin town of Tivat. The flights will operate two times a week using a Fokker F100. The flights will last until September 5. Meanwhile Serbia’s national carrier Jat Airways is also starting services on the same destination. The flights will operate from June 20 to September 5. Therefore Montenegro Airlines will operate flights on Monday and Friday while Jat will operate on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (using an ATR72). In total this summer Jat Airways services flights to Zuirch. Tivat, Corfu and Heraklion from Niš while Montenegro Airlines will fly to Tivat. Yesterday Montenegro Airlines operated its inaugural flight to London Gatwick using its brand new Embraer 100. Read more

Montenegro E195 arrives in Podgorica

Today Montenegro Airlines received its first new plane in many years. The Embraer 195 started its delivery journey from Cabral International Airport in Cape Verde on route to Rome’s Ciampino Airport yesterday arriving at 22.15CET. It departed from Ciampino at 12.00CET.

Live report

13.00 - The MGX E195 is set to arrive within the next few minutes.

13.10 - The delivery flight from Rome is numbered MGX 7503. Upon arrival in a few minutes a special ceremony will begin where politicians as well as MGX workers should be attending.

13.16 - The aircraft has arrived to Podgorica.

The new aircraft will begin regular service on June 15 operating from Podgorica to London Gatwick. Congratulations to the airline and there are high hopes there will be various deliveries for various airlines around ex-Yu this year. Croatia Airlines started a few weeks ago. Read more

E195 makes debut in Balkan skies

Montenegro Airlines starts new chapter in its history

Embraer delivered the first Embraer 195 jet, today, to the Montenegro Republic flag carrier, Montenegro Airlines in São José dos Campos (Brasil). The plane now starts its 24 hour journey to Podgorica where it will be greeted by a special ceremony organised by the airline. Under the current schedule the plane should touch down in Podogirca at 13.15CET arriving from Rome Ciampino Airport with the plane registration being 40-AOA. The company will begin revenue service with its first E195 under a lease agreement with GE Commercial Aviation Services(GECAS), and will be the first E-Jets operator in the Balkans. The aircraft is configured with adual-class interior, seating up to 116 passengers. The Embraer 195 will be used by Montenegro Airlines to support the airline’s network in Europe, complementing its existing jet fleet, and will enable the carrier to open more destinations, primarily in Russia, but in the United Kingdom and Scandinavia, as well.

The current MGX fleet consists of 4 Fokker 100's one of which is leased to the Albanian Belle Air. Stay tuned for live reports tomorrow from 13.00CET.

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