Soon in Podgorica
Montenegro is gearing up for several new arrivals next summer season. The Italian national carrier, Alitalia, will launch three weekly flights from Rome to the Montenegrin capital from April 2013. It is one of several new destinations the airline will be launching next summer season. Alitalia will be in direct competition with Montenegro Airlines, which operates the same route, also three times per week. Alitalia’s presence in the region has diminished significantly over the years. Within the former Yugoslavia it currently operates flights only to Belgrade. It once also served Sarajevo, Skopje, Dubrovnik and Split. Flight details for the new Rome - Podgorica service can be found here.
Meanwhile, Air Berlin will be launching flights to Tivat next summer. Services from Munich to the Montenegrin coast will be inaugurated on May 14 and will operate once per week. Flight details can be viewed here. The airline has previously run seasonal summer flights from Nuremberg to Tivat. Another German airline, Condor, will also be launching services to Tivat. It will operate flights from Frankfurt starting late March.
The airports in both Tivat and Podgorica have seen a strong year. By mid November, Tivat Airport welcomed 703.000 passengers, a 12% increase compared to the same period last year. The airport sees the majority of its traffic during the summer months, over 80%. Tivat has already surpassed its end of year 2011 result when it handled 647.184 passengers. On the other hand, Podgorica started the year off to a slow start seeing a significant drop in traffic. However, things picked up by March and the airport has been recording passenger growth ever since. Despite strong gains, Tivat and Podgorica are expected to retain their positions as the eighth and ninth busiest airports in the former Yugoslavia.
Congratulations! You have decent airlines flying to your country! Keep Ryanair out!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that keeping Ryanair out might be a good idea, but calling Alitalia a decent airline is quite a stretch.
DeleteKeep Ryanair out and keep the monopoly so you end up paying 3 times higher prices for a lousy free "meal" and some 20-23kg free luggage.
DeleteTypical comment of a Ryanair fan. Actually legacy carriers provide more than what you have listed above. Primarily they provide ensurance that if there is a cancellation or delay that you will be eventually brought to your final destination. In other words they have a functioning customer service.
DeleteSecond of all, legacy carriers (most of them) provide you with greater comfort and tend to be more convenient because through connecting flights they can bring you pretty much anywhere. Not to mention that they fly out of centrally located airports.
We all remember what happend that time when Ryanair's flight was cancelled in Croatia and the mess that occurred.
Nicely said! Ryanair don't have customer service or care about their passengers!
DeleteThat's because you probably never flew with Ryanair and not educated to do. Don't worry, EU will teach you a whole lot of new things. If I want to go to America, I won't fly Ryanair. If I want to go from Bosnia to Sweden I will pay 50 EUR and not 300 EUR. Very simple.
DeleteI flew on Ryanair so I know what I am talking about. I do not want to fly with them simply because I have enough respect for myself to fly on a decent carrier. When I fly with OU and the flight is cancelled/delayed I know I am in good hands and that I am not going to get screwed over. With Ryanair, the situation is far from different. So who wants to fly on this Greyhound with wings he can do so, I had my share of flights with them so...
DeleteAlso, the reason why you are paying €50 to fly on them is because their flights are subsidized by.... well, you.
You've probably flewn only once with Ryanair. Cancellation % is lower (I am not saying they never cancel flights) in comparison with regular carriers, because flights are usually full and because they are cheap. If you get your flight cancelled, you simply enter the website and manage your booking yourself - ask for a refund or FREE date change. You'll be in "safe hands" if you choose to fly from point A to Z - they are not intended for transfer/trans-continental flights. Period.
DeleteContinue flying with OU and pay 3 times more and get spoilt - there's nothing wrong with that.
Ryanair do not give refunds! You can only change the date.
DeleteEven if you get refund on day of flying or 2-3 days before you have to pay 900-1000 EUR for something you can buy for 200 EUR with legacy carirer in same time you buy Ryanari ticket.
DeleteNew Alitalia is more than a decent. Maybe you are reffering old alitalia. Fly with them and than talk.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Drustvo/358681/Sto-hiljada-katolika-dolazi-u-Nis-na-proslavu-Milanskog-edikta
ReplyDeleteIndeed, new Alitalia is more than decent. Affordable prices (even for connecting flights), their punctuality and comfort (leather seats) attracted me. Inflight entertainment and the choice of drinks on board (really nice wines) are also excellent. I only did not like the food served on their short routes (pretzels or cookies).
ReplyDeleteAnybody knows why Pegasus website isn't working for days, we just can't book any ticket.
ReplyDeleteRumours about EK starting BEG in 2013 are wrong, there is not such an intention whatsoever. The reality is that FZ has 50/50 O&D/transit passengers ratio, which is very good. Their loads are 20% up in this period compared to the same period last year. The most popular destinations are Australia (with EK) then MLE, CMB and KTM.
ReplyDeleteDo people transiting FZ-EK need a visa for Dubai?
DeleteNo, they don't. Same airport.
DeleteIt would be nice, though, if you guys with inside info from EK would just hint at your sources, if you can't quote them. I'm really dazzled by CMB and KTM, even though former is Air Asia focus city... But Kathmandu? Seriously?
There are lot of tourists from the whole region for who FZ from BEG is the most direct and cheapest way to reach both KTM and CMB, which are great tourist hotspots and important cities in Asia.
DeleteSorry we can't give info on our sources, this is really the maximum of what we're allowed to reveal.
Admin, please, can you delete the post at 1.40 PM, that is not the real Aэrologic. I didn't write such message. Thanks.
DeleteI don't know who that troll (right above) is but the post in question was definitely written by myself, sorry.
DeleteI wouldnt care if EK skips Belgrade again.
ReplyDeleteThey should give Qatar time enough next year to
get them a customer base.QR already has enough competition in TK.
Although i think EK and QR are both good airlines i prefer QRs nine abreast row before EKs 10 abreast in the 777!
QR definitely is better for transfer pax thus
and if i want to fly to Dubai O&D i am more then satisfied with FlyDubai.
Even if TKs economy is better than FZs...
if destination is the UAE of course nonstop is
the way to go for me.TK is best suited for Kuwait.
The airline i would love to see in Belgrade is Air Arabia because they would be a nice alternative to FZ! Twice a week woud be good for the beginning.
Great point, Air Arabia would be perfect but i doubt it, there is too much competition at the moment.
DeleteOnly reason why I would love to see EK is more competition - FZ/EK has really bad pricing for SE Asia. 800+ euro for a destination that is hardly above 500 with others, LH included. Plus, it would put more pressure at QR and TK. And until NDIA is complete, it would be a nice alternative to hellhole Doha is now.
DeleteBtw, I don't think BEG would suffer with 10-abreast B777, at least not right away :)
Alitalia flew to Zagreb connection Milan with Zagreb 5 times per week. Article forgot that little fact, and Alitalia will most likely return to Zagreb in 2014.
ReplyDelete2013 is a crucial year for Zagreb Airport, construction of new terminal should commence in May and Croatia is joning the EU as 28th member, thus it'll open Zagreb to major EU Airline competition.
2014 is the year I see massive growth for Zagreb Airport, passenger and traffic figures, i expect Zagreb Airport will handle 3.25 million passengers in 2014, 2.55 million in 2013 and longer term 2015 might also be really good year for Zagreb Airport, perhaps 4.0 million barrier might be broken.
Zagreb airport capacity is only around 2 million.
DeleteI think it is rather the Zagreb terminal that will be broken if it experiences a significant rise of passengers instead of the 4.0 mil. barrier.
DeleteZagreb's current terminal has capacity of 2.5 million but could easily handle 3 million passengers. Also terminal was expanded a bit with addition of 5500sqm of additional space of international arrivals and departures.
DeleteCurrent Zagreb terminal is around 22500sqm sufficient enough to handle up to 5 million passengers if need arises.
In 2015 new 70 000sqm terminal should be completed and that would alleviate any congestion, new terminal will have 12 boarding bridges, with additional 50€ million this can be increased to 20 boarding bridges. So Zagreb Airport will by all means be able to handle 12-15 million passengers by 2020 with relative ease, not that these figures will be achieved any time soon. I predict Zagreb airport will handle around 5.7 million passengers.