Desperate times at B&H
B&H Airlines has been grounded again for the time being as the Hypo Alpe Adria Bank announces it has blocked all of the carrier’s accounts. All flights have been cancelled for today and tomorrow. Yesterday, the airline resumed operations after more than a week by carrying out its afternoon service to Istanbul. The airline has maintained it had suspended flights due to a technical issue with one of its ATR72s.
“Blocking B&H’s accounts was our last resort. The reason for such action was the accumulated debt B&H Airlines has towards Hypo Alpe Adria in Bosnia and the outstanding payments the airline has on its loan for the financial lease of the ATR aircraft”, Ana Jurković, from Hypo says. She adds the bank did not make the decision lightly but noted that it must treat B&H like all of its other clients. The bank’s representatives, including the country’s Minister for Transport and Communication, Enver Bijedić, met up on Monday in an attempt to resolve the issue which has grounded the Bosnian national carrier. “B&H Airlines has been offered several models to restructure its payments. Unblocking the accounts will depend on whether a common agreement can be reached. Hypo expects for B&H Airlines’ management to act responsibly and consider all of the options so the current situation can be resolved”, Ms. Jurković says. She adds, “It is not in our interest for B&H to declare bankruptcy”.
Last year, in February, B&H Airlines found itself in a similar situation when Turkish Airlines decided to pull out of the carrier’s ownership structure. One of its ATRs was in Germany for maintenance while the other was grounded in Sarajevo for some time. However, even then it was reported that the carrier was not making payments on the loans it took out for the financial lease and eventual purchase of the ATR72s. The latest grounding comes just three weeks prior to the 2013 summer season. B&H Airlines is providing alternative transport for all passengers which have been affected by the cancellations.
We strongly hope just for a short time till the management or owners sign the proposed unfair and unfavorable proposal by HYPO creditors.
ReplyDeleteOr this all is just a part of ''big game'', who knows ?
But for sure, high professional management of B&H Airlines is not guilty at all! They are so good, but Hypo, Turkish, Government, "big game" players... are against them. And that is to powerful even for those mega-professionals. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
DeleteClearly management at BH Ari lines is highly irresponsible, deeply corrupt and inept without any qualifications to perform their duties.
DeleteTo reach a point where a bank is pulling finical support i.e blocking accounts for the airline is a last straw, they Hypo Alpe Adria Bank knows they'll lose all the money invested (loans and guarantees) in BH Arline, but alternative are that Hypo continues to finance BH Airlines ever grater losses, financially for Hypo Alpe Adria it is a last straw, BH Airlines can go bankrupt in Hypo Alpe Adria Bank it won't matter they've already accepted the fact that money given to the BH Airlines will never be recuperated unless Bosnian State becomes guarantor.
Perhaps it's not nice to state this so directly, but BiH would be better off to cease with operations or let OU buy the company for a fair price. BiH market is so fragmented and small that it doesn't stand a chance to support and justify the existence of the national carrier (too expensive). I see OU increase their frequency to Sarajevo in order to accommodate the needs of the Bosnian transfer passengers.
ReplyDeletePerhaps Jat should do the same and work on connecting passengers who travel to the east.
As a Bosniak, I prefer OU thank you very much... ;)
DeleteYou as a Bosniak... (ha, ha ,ha)
DeleteMaybe diaspora Bosniak , aren't You ?
OU is most likely going to take over anyways, problem where i see is, OU with fleet of 12 aircraft, have they got any spare capacity?
DeleteUnless they keep all 13 aircraft, In 2017 I am sure with 17 aircraft OU will be able to cover Sarajevo and make it a focus city (like Split and Dubrovnik) and run 20-30 weekly flights from Sarajevo to European destinations, but at this point and with summer schedule not sure how that is possible with 12 aircraft.
Yeah right!
Deleteas if OU itself is doing so great, that they even think about acqusitions...
have you actually read some news at all about OU for the last couple of years?!
...or months.
Deleteit's more likely that OU will follow JA and go bust, than to takeover
DeleteManagement of B&H Airlines actually does not need planes. As they get money directly from every passengers flying to Sarajevo with other companies (Austrian, Croatia, Jat, Lufthansa, Adria, Germanwings, Turkish, Pegasus...) they earn much more money if they don't have planes and don't fly at all. So, now when they don’t fly they earn much more money!
ReplyDeleteSo, maybe the best idea for profitability would be to rent Trade Air for one flight to IST per day and to charge those "taxes" from others.
Disaster!
Is this blog just like a cheap copy-paste from Aviokarta.net? Now when we're even not able to comment and discuss subjects at will, i see less and less reason in visiting this amateur story-telling blog without any analysis or inside information.
ReplyDeleteWhat are you talking about?
DeleteI think that he is trying to say that your posts are not enough analytic, they merely display news that was previously posted on Aviokarta, without displaying your opinions and ideas on them, thus lacking quality. Kind of "it would be more usefull to put more effort into the articles, instead of deleting users comment who dare to scratch and put into debate the reputation of Aviokarta.net".
DeleteActually, ex yu was the first one to publish this not aviokarta.net
DeleteIf you don't like this blog do not come again. I think there is more than enough of us who like it so much to came every day.
DeleteSo leave us to enjoy it hard work admin do every day. For free and for us who appreciate that!
Bravo Purger
Delete+1
Even if the blog is quite nice, people like you are a real reason for not to visit it.
DeleteOT: Wizz Air launches Skopje - Stockholm Skavsta, twice weekly, starting from May 3rd.
ReplyDeleteCan someone in the world explain me what's the fuss of all those new airlines wanting to fly to Skopje (even the stupid B&H), is it for the subsidies or what?!
DeleteWell, let me tell you that even if it's a capital of a much smaller country, Skopje is actually the size of Zagreb, thus it not a matter of overcapacity but that it was largely underserved until now.
DeleteWell Macedonia is pretty much cut off from the rest of the world, only quick way of getting in to Macedonia is via Air, TBH, I'm surprised Skopje hasn't done better in terms of air traffic.
DeleteAlso size of a city is totally irrelevant, example Copenhagen similar size to Skopje has more passengers than Warsaw, a city 4 times its size.
Zagreb with 800 000 inhabitants isn't great or a very large city, its a decent mid sized city that has very good rail and road connection with the rest of the world, so air traffic at lest up to now wasn't well developed aspect of transport infrastructure, but as with everything else Zagreb traffic figures will pick up as Croatians start to use air transport more often for their internal and foreign travel. Right now car dominates all holiday journeys in Croatia, with 80-85% of all travel done by a car, by 2020 that ratio should be improved in favor of train and air travel, currently air travel represents less than 3% of all internal holiday/business journeys.
increasing this to 5% will double the traffic at Zagreb airport, putting it to EU level (top 12 EU states) Zagreb airport would easily handle 10-12 million passengers were this to happen.
Norway fine example, Finland, Sweden, all similarly sized (population wise) counties with well developed internal networks.
Zagreb metro area has 1.1 million inhabitants (1700sqkm) and wider metro area 1.25 million (3200sqm) Imagine if all these people made 2.5 journeys by air, as it is average for Helsinki (on internal flights only) Zagreb would handle 3.75 million on that alone and coupled with 5.5 journeys on international flights, you'd have 10 million passengers.
all these figures are from wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helsinki_airport - so take this comment with a pinch of salt, but think about it.
SKP is below size of ZAG and regarding standard of living it is running at 25-30% of Zagreb. The only reason for some air demand is the landlock position of FYROM and the huge Albanian community that prefers to fly rather then bus via Serbia.
DeleteFrustrated much, anon @ 3:08?
DeleteDon't you worry, we'll keep on launching new routes from Macedonia. Maybe even base another aircraft. It's good business.
Well FYROM, Macedonia, BJRM or whatever it is suitable for you is probably the only ex-yu country that has some GDP growth at the moment.. It has the only state of art airport and the most Important with it-proper non corrupted and political untied management!! No airline refusals, no protectionism, permissions are granted to every airline within 48h! That's the answer why are there so many successful routes to SKP!
DeleteI agree that SKP was/is cut off from the rest of the world but in the means of direct flight connections.
Delete(I have to change planes in BGD, ZG or LJU to go e.g. to Frankfurt, let alone other European destinations).
But, this is obviously changing-might also coincide with the news about passenger reduction of Adria for example, because I suppose they have many transit passengers from SKP.
And it is also true-for the time being at least:SKP hast the most modern airport in ex-yu-whether you like to hear/read that or not.
Yes and it takes "only" 6 months to obtain a simple airport pass. Outstanding!
DeleteA responce to anonimous March 6, 2013 at 3:08 PM:
Deletea link about the fairy tale how the living standard in Croatia is better than Macedonia (btw, from a Croatian Daily and the title of it says it all):
http://www.vecernji.hr/biznis/danac-radi-25-bugarin-1-5-a-hrvat-4-8-eura-satu-clanak-508407
And as for the argument that SKP Airport is used mainly by Albanians who prefer to fly: even if it were true - wheres the problem here? If Albanians prefer to fly and can afford it im sure the owners of SKP airport are happy to provide this service and make money out of it, instead of supporting doomed carriers with 10 propeller planes who make loses since they were established.
GDP Croatia: 63,8 billion USD
DeleteGBP Macedonia: 18,8 billion USD
GDP per capita Croatia: 14.457 USD
GDP per capita Macedonia: 9.157 USD
Average salary Croatia: 1.018 USD
Average salary Macedonia: 493 USD
PPS GDP per capita Croatia: 61% of the EU average
PPS GDP per capita Macedonia: 36% of the EU average
Unemployment rate Croatia: 20,5%
Unemployment rate Macedonia: 31,2%
In CNN top 5 worst Worlds' economies in 2012 Macedonia was one of those 5 countries (including Sudan, Belarus and Congo).
Belarus is much more developped than Croatia is a far shot from Congo or Macedonia.
DeleteThe point is not how much u earn but what u can buy with waht u earn which is called purchasing power - and that is the same:
DeleteThe value of eur 4.8 or whatever you can buy for it in Croatia is the same as the value eur 2.8 im Macedonia. So even though u earn $1000 a month, you can buy as much as a Macedonian who earns $500 a month. Plain language: Croatia is much more expensive to live in than Macedonia, so the higher salaries in Croatia do not compensate.
The source is Eurostat.
Belarus much more developed than Croatia? Any chance we share stuff you take?
DeleteYou can buy much more in Macedonia for salary Macedonians have? You could tell me that if I was not in JNA there, and I don't have friends that I visit every few year. Macedonia stops in early 1980.
DeleteAnd now read about BDP. That is something air traffic is directly connected to. It is not connected to how much you can pay from your salary. But how many people can buy tickets (which are almost same in all Europe), how many investments, businessman and trade you have. And BDP is very good measurement of that.
Macedonia is 60% as big as Croatia. Her air traffic is on some 17% of Croatian. Skopje is just 25% smaller than Zagreb but Zagreb air traffic is 200% bigger. Those are the facts.
I am doing business in many Balkan states and I'm min. once a month in both Skopje and Zagreb. I can tell you some facts: Except for the ultra modern highways (which are yet to be paid from the highly indebted budget) I am asking myself what does Croatia do with all those billions of euros which are cashed in from tourism?? You don't need to be an expert to conclude about its level of corruption and the lack of foreign investments. Everything (ZAG airport, coastal hotel chains, service quality) is below what could have been considering the potential of the country and its position. Instead Macedonia, which was among poorest in ex-yu stands now much better in business framework conditions and changes are constantly happening. P.S. I'm an Austrian
DeleteHow can you even compare Belarus to Condo?
DeleteBelarus is a highly industrialized and self-sufficient country. It is very clean, organized and life is very cheap there. It has even higher HDI than Croatia.
Belarus: 0.693
Croatia: 0.675
So get over your pre-conceptions.
How can you even compare Belarus to Congo*?
DeleteBelarus is a highly industrialized and self-sufficient country. It is very clean, organized and life is very cheap there. It has even higher HDI than Croatia.
Belarus: 0.693
Croatia: 0.675
So get over your pre-conceptions.
I am not, CNN did that! And I will never dare to think I can make better economic analysis than CNN...
DeleteIn 5 worst economies Macedonia and Belarus are counted.
Croatian HDI is 0.796, not 0.675!!!!
...and Croatia is ranking 46th in World HDI list, in list of Very high human development. Belarus HDI is 0.756, it is on 66th position in list of High human development. Even Serbia is ranking better than Belarus, 59th (0.766). On that list Macedonia is 79th with HDI just 7.280
Belarus is a 3rd world shithole, Croatia is a first world country, Croatian HDI is 0.828, so don't talk nonsense.
Deletehttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/2011_UN_Human_Development_Report_Quartiles.svg/2000px-2011_UN_Human_Development_Report_Quartiles.svg.png
Not that it matter how da'fook did Belarus come in to this equation????
Been there though guy?
DeleteBeen there tuff guy?
Deletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_inequality-adjusted_HDI
DeleteBelarus 35th, Croatia 38th.
"Belarus is a 3rd world shithole" - Been there seriously to know what you're talking about? It is more Croatia that looks like a shithole compared to Belarus and i've been to both countries.
"I am not, CNN did that! And I will never dare to think I can make better economic analysis than CNN...
DeleteIn 5 worst economies Macedonia and Belarus are counted"
Oh, right, and CNN is known for their objectiveness?
U're talking nonsense, inequality index plz give me a fooking brake, in Belarus everyone is shit poor, reason why inequalities do not precipitate so much, cause you're all in deep shit, and lushennko was everything else.
DeleteAnd no you've never been to Croatia I can guarantee you that, if you were you'd know you're full of shit.
Croatia is a first world country by all indicators, across the board, about to join the EU on equal footing without any restrictions imposed on Croatia by the EU, that should indicate something to you as to development levels of Croatia.
in short Belarus is a 3rd world shithole no one goes to, and that is a fact, so when you start to compare your real economic data and real achievements and not make believe nonsenses than you come back to me.
BTW data HDI inequality adjusted *(2013) Croatia scores high 700s, not that that data matters, as what matters is real GDP and real economic data.
LOL Skopje-Skavsta promotional offer tickets (with no luggage included) starting £ 7.50 :-) one way
ReplyDeleteAmidst fierce competition, Jat recently raised the prices and is currently the most expensive airline to fly to/from IST. How would you explain that?
ReplyDeleteNow is the moment for both BH Air & JAT to merge!
ReplyDeleteThat would be a company... The only benefit would be for Jat, because B&H Airlines ATR's are 10 year younger than Jat fleet, so in that case Jat fleet would be just 25,0 instead of 25,3 years old (average)! hahahaha....
DeleteHow old are they?
Delete17 yars old
DeleteE7-AAD June 1995
A7-AAE October 1995
...so 10 years younger than Jat's planes
AnonymousMarch 6, 2013 at 9:44 PM CONGRATULATIONS YOU ARE TODAYS WINNER OF THE ' LETS TALK SHIT ABOUT JAT EVEN THOUGH THE ARTICLE HAS NOTHING TO DO ABOUT THEM AWARD' This award now entitles you to freely tell everyone your the F*#KWIT of the day :D
ReplyDeleteNo, winner definitely is parody of sentence:
Delete"Now is the moment for both BH Air & JAT to merge!"
To so stupid sentence answer can not be better.
Anonymous 9:44
+1
But why? It's a good idea. I don't find anything wrong with such a merge. B&H needs a stable partner.
Deletestable partner??? hahahahaha...
Deleteyou are joking, right?
I judged according to talking shit about them but we can always give an award for 'FIrst person that makes a stupid statements with no logical thought about it award' But then i think the OU merger would come in first
ReplyDelete