 |
| Zagreb grows as Split and Dubrovnik falter |
Croatia’s three largest airports recorded a mixed performance in November, with Zagreb seeing strong growth, while numbers at Split and Dubrovnik subtracted. The country’s busiest airport, Zagreb, handled 175.692 passengers, an increase of 15.8% compared to the same month last year. The result comes as the number of operated flights to and from Croatia’s capital surged from 2.610 last year to 2.974 flights this November, up 13.9%. Last November, Zagreb Airport was closed for two days and all flights cancelled as a result of strike action by employees, which has also helped fuel last month’s growth. A temporary court injunction last year ended further industrial action, which saw the cancellation of over sixty flights and 118.000 euros in losses. With less than a month left until the new year, Zagreb Airport has welcomed 2.267.141 travellers through its doors, an increase of 5.4%.
| Month | PAX | Change (%) |
|---|
| JAN | 135.758 | ▼ 2.6 |
| FEB | 128.410 | ▲ 1.3 |
| MAR | 165.336 | ▼ 5.7 |
| APR | 192.443 | ▲ 3.1 |
| MAY | 217.775 | ▲ 5.9 |
| JUN | 243.984 | ▲ 6.8 |
| JUL | 260.783 | ▲ 4.7 |
| AUG | 269.500 | ▲ 10.5 |
| SEP | 251.280 | ▲ 7.0 |
| OCT | 226.182 | ▲ 8.4 |
| NOV | 175.692 | ▲ 15.8 |
Over on the coast, Split Airport ended its seven month growth streak with figures dipping in November. The airport welcomed 28.485 passengers, down 2.5% on the same month last year. Despite the decline, Split Airport is heading for a record breaking year. So far in 2014, the airport has seen 1.720.550 travellers, an increase of 10.7% on 2013. During the week, budget airline easyJet announced the launch of twenty new summer destinations in 2015, three of which are to Split. easyJet will introduce three weekly flights from
London Luton, starting May 16, and two weekly flights each from
Newcastle, starting June 2, and
Manchester, commencing June 17. Services will operate on a seasonal summer basis and are already bookable through the airline's website.
| Month | PAX | Change (%) |
|---|
| JAN | 26.044 | ▼ 4.2 |
| FEB | 21.530 | ▼ 4.4 |
| MAR | 27.580 | ▼ 16.8 |
| APR | 79.284 | ▲ 19.6 |
| MAY | 159.485 | ▲ 14.2 |
| JUN | 236.921 | ▲ 3.5 |
| JUL | 388.899 | ▲ 15.8 |
| AUG | 392.075 | ▲ 13.8 |
| SEP | 243.761 | ▲ 9.6 |
| OCT | 116.037 | ▲ 12.0 |
| NOV | 28.485 | ▼ 2.5 |
Finally, Dubrovnik also put in a weaker performance during the second last month of the year. It saw 21.385 passengers, a decrease of 3.2% compared to last year’s 22.102 travellers. During the month, several carriers announced the lauch of new flights to the city for the upcoming summer season including
Brussels Airlines, which will inaugurate flights from the Belgian capital,
Aegean Airlines, which will run three weekly flights from Athens, and
airBaltic, which will operate services from Riga. So far this year, Dubrovnik Airport has welcomed 1.569.109 travellers, an increase of 4.3% compared to last year.
| Month | PAX | Change (%) |
|---|
| JAN | 15.950 | ▼ 15.5 |
| FEB | 14.423 | ▼ 15.9 |
| MAR | 21.963 | ▼ 29.6 |
| APR | 87.774 | ▲ 12.7 |
| MAY | 181.898 | ▲ 2.3 |
| JUN | 234.887 | ▲ 4.9 |
| JUL | 303.993 | ▲ 9.7 |
| AUG | 317.184 | ▲ 7.9 |
| SEP | 234.395 | ▲ 0.5 |
| OCT | 135.257 | ▲ 2.6 |
| NOV | 21.385 | ▼ 3.2 |
I have a question for our Croatian friends on here.I just saw on the webcam that Air Serbia's Atr is all closed up. Do you know where, in general, non-OU crew might be? Do they sit at a cafe, in some OU staff room or..?
ReplyDeleteThanks
Hard to say, but usually its a very private decision of every crew member. Most crews I know remain in the aircraft for the time of up to one and a half hours... gretings from ZAG.
ReplyDeleteThanks. My guess is that it's just easier to stay in the aircraft, especially since not much time left once the plane was serviced and ready. :)
DeleteBy the way, my friend flew this morning to ZAG and he said that they were 36. :)
By the way, in the Zagreb picture, shouldn't it write DepartureS as in plural?
ReplyDeleteNa hr je isto u jednini. Neznam.
DeleteDeparture sounds a bit awkward. Reminds me of Belgrade airport and their aircondition stickers 'do not seat.'
DeleteAlso Barcelona and Madrid to Dubrovnik (2x pw) on the summer schedule (april to october), operated by Norwegian.
ReplyDeleteGreat job for now, could be even better next year! I'm happy to see Air Serbia linking BEG and ZAG after all this time!
ReplyDeleteHow many air bridges will new Zagreb terminal initially have and how does that compare to other new terminals in the Ex Yu region (SKP, LJU, PRN, DBV)? Thanks!
ReplyDelete8
Deleteinitially only 8, but it'll expand t5o 16 once terminal hits certain number, i think 5.5 million or something, 200m expansion to each pier or around 4 bridges to each side of the terminal, expansion to 12 will happen when airport hits 5.5 million pax and another expansion when airport hits 8 million, all part of phase 2. Another 4 bridges will be added when terminal hits 10 million pax for total of 20, but there won't be expansion to the terminal just adding 4 bridges on the opposite side of the pier.
DeleteTerminal was designed to handle around 10 million pax once fully expanded. Terminal 1 will be able to handle 2.5 million pax for total airport capacity of around 12.5 million.
If and when these figures are reached airport than plans to add 3rd terminal and 2nd runway. But this won't happen any time soon, perhaps after 2030. .
For the time being 8 is more than enough. As times goes on and if numbers continue to grow, only then they should consider such a large, additional investment.
Delete@AnonymousDecember 13, 2014 at 4:07 PM
DeleteWell yes, that is how they plan to go about, when terminal needs expanding they'll expand it, this is not a race, it's a marathon.
Thanks, so it will start with two more bridges than what Skopje has now. Interesting, most airports decided to build new terminals while few like LJU and BEG keep using old but refreshed terminals.
DeleteZašto je moj komentar o broju kompanija u ZAG izbrisan?
ReplyDelete1. Danas se pište o broju putnika u ZAG i tema nije promašena
2. Nema ni jedne laži u podacima, isti su provjereni i točni.
3. Na ovom blogu se konstantno uspoređuje BEG i ZAG i po broju putnika, i po broju letova, i po broju linija, o usporedbi JU i OU da i ne pričamo, stalno se govori o kapacitetima, broju zrakoplova, putnika, linija, starosti zrakoplova, i ta rasprava se nikada nije brisala! No sada kada je jedan podatak na strani ZAG i to kao dokaz kako iz BEG odlaze kompanije (jer nikada, ali nikada prije ZAG nije imao više prijevoznika od BEG), onda se to izbriše?!?!?!?! Vrlo dvolično!
I sad neka mi netko i opet kaže da ovaj blog nema sklonosti samo prema jednom aerodromu i jednoj kompaniji.
Можда је избрисан јер је хтео да испровоцира свађу која је тренутно непотребна. Исто тако, на твојојој фабулозној листи ставио си неке компаније које још не лете или које још нису ни полетеле...
DeleteСа друге стране, са београдске листе си, вероватно намерно, изоставио Olympic, Naesma Airlines и сада се не сећам која беше трећа.
Jeste ima vise prevoznka ali i duplo manje putnika sto je malo cudno .
DeleteZAG ima toliko kompanija zbog loseg stanja CTN ne zbog bog zna cega drugog.
INN-NS
Obrisali su verovatno zato sto je nastao haos u komentarima posle tvog. Isto su tako obrisali provokaciju INN-NS i isto su tako brisali kako Fly Dubai ukida letove za Zagreb zato sto je bila provokacija. A da su pristrasni ovde ne bi bilo vesti iz Hrvatske uopste, a ne secam se da sam u skorije vreme procitao bilo sto negativno ovde od strane autora o Hrvatskoj. Ali tebi nije problem to nego ti je problem nesto drugo ali nema veze necu da budem trol.
Delete@3:42
DeleteNemas pojma.
Secam se 2009-2010. Kompanije su bombardovale BEG, dolazio je Air France, British Airways, kasnije Wizz Air....Svi jer je Jat bio veoma, veoma slab, i na putu ka bankrotu. Wizz je dosao otprilike godinu dana pre nastanka Air Serbije ako se ne varam. Verovatno je cekao da Jat banktotira kako bi povecao frekvencije iz BEG-a i dobijao na putnicima, kao sto je to slucaj u Madjarskoj (kada je bankrotirao Malev, Wizz se naglo sirio) pa i u Makedoniji.
Medjutim, Etihad preuzima Air Serbiju, i Wizz nesto kasnije sece Brisel i Oslo iz BEG-a, i smanjuje frekvencije. Kompanije odlaze. Zasto odlaze?
-Jer su ranije mogle da dobijaju na putnicima iz BEG-a, dok je Jat verovatno gubio. Sada, Air Serbia preuzima stvar u svoje ruke, prosiruje mrezu itd. Pa naravno da u Zagrebu imas sve vise aviokompanija kad je OU slab toliko da je to smesno. To sto se sada desava u Zagrebu, desavalo se u Beogradu pre cetiri godine. Pa BEG je 2010. nominovan za nagradu za najvise 'novih' aviokompanija koje su dosle tamo, to mozes proveriti na Wikipediji (Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport).
Naravno da ce aviokompanije da odlaze kada ih Air Serbia nadmasuje. To je normalno, neko mora da ode ako mu ide lose. Vecina idiota ovde govori da ASL tera druge, ali oni SAMI ODLAZE. U tom slucaju, mogu kriviti samo putnike koji su izabrali Air Serbiju umesto Germanwings-a za Stutgart recimo. Germanwings je otisao jer putnika jedva da je bilo. Pa karta im je bila povratna 150 eura, alo! Naravno da ce putnici pre izabrati ASL.
Isto sa EasyJetom. Pa OU nije dovoljno jak da se suprotstavi KLM-u, British Airways-u, Air Franc-u ili Lufthansi u Zagrebu. Kada bi sl. godine neko preuzeo OU, verovatno bi nekoliko meseci kasnije kompanije pocele da odlaze i iz Zagreba. Ne mogu da budem siguran, ali mislim da bi se to zaista desilo.
Kao drugo, smucilo mi se vise ovo poredjenje Srbije i Hrvatske. Pa Srbija i Hrvatska nisu uopste na istom nivou da bi se poredile. Ne mozete da poredite zemlju u EU, koja ima more i razvijen turizam sa zemljom na ivici bankrota cija vlast nema pojma da iskoristi sve sto Srbija ima. Ne mozete. Da vidim kako bi Srbija funkcionisala da ima more. Da vidim kako bi Hrvatska funkcionisala da ga nema. Razumete? Jednostavno glupo je porediti.
Srbiju bi mogli mozda da poredimo sa Makedonijom, Madjarskom, Austrijom mozda i slicnima, ali ne sa Hrvatskom. Isto tako, video sam pre neki dan da je neka budala napisala da bi ASL bio nista bez Etihada. Pa i Hrvatska bi bila nista da nema more. Ovo je zvucalo sada glupo i Hrvatima i Srbima, zar ne? Potpuno je apsurdno pisati takve gluposti.
Bravo! +1
DeleteBravo I od mene! +1
Deletehttp://www.beg.aero/lat/vest/1811/aerodrom-quotnikola-teslaquot-dobio-prestiznu-evropsku-nagradu
DeleteSamo da potkrepimo komentar sa linkom.
@4:31
DeletePlus od mene, sve odlicno receno! Zacepimo usta tim glupanima!
I would like to see that list/comment again.
Delete@8:07
DeleteWell, it's deleted.
I would like to see the number of airlines at BEG and ZAG in 2009-2010, and at ZAG and BEG now. I think that ZAG is a loser here ;)
Was it funny?
Delete@8:19
DeleteWhat's funny?
Ako tako nastavi se dolazak novih kompanija u ZAG CTN ce propasti.
DeleteINN-NS
Mozda bi Hrvatska bolje funkcionisala bez OUa? Vise aviokompanija bi dolazilo, pogotovo low cost, pogledaj Madjarsku, Makedoniju...
DeleteZasto je moj komentar obrisan da je K2 otkazao let za ZAG:
ReplyDeleteINN-NS
Had a chat with someone I know in Zagreb Airport management and interesting information came my way.
ReplyDeleteZagreb airport management is holding talks with several European airlines to start flights to Zagreb this year.
airBaltic - twice weekly starting either in May or later on in the year, full service
Alitalia - return, with daily service out of Rome and potentially also out of Milan with three flights, if service out of Rome proves successful service will go twice daily and out of Milan single daily service.
Brussels Air - with daily service starting in October 2015, talks are still being held, but one problem is that airline is in transition atm and they might have too few aircraft to Serve Zagreb, one of the reasons why airline didn't initiate any flights to Zagreb so far.
Czech Airlines - three weekly service from October 2015, linking Prague and Zagreb for the first time since 2010.
SAS - almost daily service out from Stockholm, initially 5 weekly flights to Zagreb and hopefully if service proves popular daily service to Zagreb,
Korean Air - serious talks are being held to initiate 3 weekly flights to Zagreb year round, Koreans are interested and it might happen but not in 2015, but talks are very promising and might end up with full service from 2016 or 2017.
Unnamed Chinese airlines - also talks with Chinese carrier (China Southern Airlines - most likely) for twice weekly seasonal service to Zagreb, initially, if proven popular year round service in 2016 or 2017.
Eurowings - to initiate flights out of Dusseldorf and Hamburg, talks are in advanced stage with potential flights as early as May 2015, however October is more likely.
Talks with few other Low Cost carriers are also being held, (not Wizz air), to initiate flights to Zagreb. EasyJet might return to Zagreb is more than likely but out of Luton not Gatwick.
This will be the end of OU.
DeleteI think ZAG could work much better without OU. And more carriers would came to ZAG- which means more passengers.
DeleteCroatia Airlines Fail
DeleteTomorrow Zagreb-Belgrade in the morning has 62/66 passengers!
DeleteOh My God that is just insane! They should add third flight during the summer!
DeleteRegarding ZAG BEG loads, it would be better to wait for some time to make some proper evaluation or have some more relevant feedback on load factors. I mean, we can expect high loads now due entering holiday season but also heavy promotional activities making JU basically absolutely cheapest travel solution to just about anywhere. I presume they might do well, at least in terms of load factors (not to be confused with financial 'load factor' so to speak) but I would wait for more than couple of days of operations to conclude it is 'insane' (and capacity is also not that big yet). Cheers!
DeleteTrue. However, Sofia has been operating for six months now and the fares have not been that crazy there yet the Atr has had solid bookings throughout the year. For example today it went with 61 and returned with 49.
DeleteJust saying...anyway, I hope for every new carrier in ZAG to thrive, without exception. It just brings more options for us and for anybody traveling to Croatia. General interest is anyway more important than OU as it is highly likely that they will not eb able to survive increasing overall competition in ZAG....
DeleteUnnamed Chinese airlines ce imati codeshare sa ASL .
DeleteINN-NS
Unnamed airlines se zove Air China kao sto je Kondic i rekao...
DeleteOne question regarding these talks: how an airport generally talks/negotiates with airlines on them starting to fly there? I mean, airlines scan the market all the time and if they see an opportunity or a gamble somewhere they go for it. If they don't see it, they don't go. So what is it that an airport can contribute to their decision? I only see some incentives i.e. tailored price list that could attract airlines. It's not like airport approaching them saying: 'Hey guys, we are an ambitious airport, how about you start flying here?'. They must offer something tangible and incentives are the only option, right? Anything else an airport could do?
DeleteThe airport can help with marketing or advertising the route.
Delete@AnonymousDecember 14, 2014 at 7:21 AM
DeleteIn the past airlines would approach Zagreb airport for starting a route, but due to what ever reasons route never materialized due to what ever set of circumstances.
Airport can than contact airlines that have shown interest and initiate discussion on possible new route to be served. Airport would provide all the marketing and analytic data for proposed route and than it would be up to airline to decide if they wish to proceed.
Airport can throw few incentives to encourage the route success in conjunction with the local tourist authority and few financial incentives, such as 50% cut in airport landing fees for first 12 months, or 25% discount in airport handling charges, there are EU rules as to how many incentives airports can give and for what duration, often it is only 1 year and only to help out new route and new airline establish itself.
Reason why talks can last years sometimes. But with Zagreb being a capitol of an EU country, and a growing tourist and business destination with in the EU, things are easier and new airlines are more than willing to look at adding Zagreb to their list of destinations.
I wonder how much longer before Wizz Air decides to return to Zagreb.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you think so?
DeleteWell, Zagreb airport is eager to bring in more airlines and W6 has been expanding aggressively in the region. I am sure the new management has already contacted them.
DeleteHowever, if W6 does launch flights then OU will have a lot of problems. Like the anonymous poster wrote, the current situation in Zagreb is identical to the one we saw in Belgrade back in 2010. Even though we were happy with the arrivals it only speeded up Jat Airways' demise. I hope OU can compete more efficiently than JU did.
Why doesn't Wizz have more routes from Croatia like in other Ex Yu countries?
DeleteDo you think that there is a tacit agreement between zag managment and OU not to allow low budget airlines?
DeleteMaybe with the previous one but I highly doubt it's the case with the current one. Actually, if you think about it, Air Serbia is one of the least dangerous airlines for OU in Zagreb.
DeleteThe worst are KL and BA. Not only are they taking away O&D passengers but also potential transatlantic pax that could have travelled with OU via any of the Star hubs.
@6:44
Deletebecause other ex-Yu countries have Wizz only, or in the best situation (Serbia) up to 5 low cost airlines, unlike Croatia which is served by some 30 LCC's, so Wizz in Croatia has 10 times more difficult job and 10 times more competition, result of whic is their presence on Split-Luton only
@NemjeeDecember 13, 2014 at 6:25 PM
DeleteThey need to pay for the investments and also for lease, it ain't cheap, so new operator is under pressure to secure high profits..
French operator must generate at least 50 million kuna profits next year to ensure it is able to pay for lease which won't be cheap, as per contract I think they're paying like 3$ per passenger or around 15 kuna, and they need to ensure traffic is there, if operator doesn't hit 3.0 million by 2016 they'll be paying penalties which again push airport operator to increase number of airlines operating to Zagreb, and there's another penalty in place if 5.0 million isn't reached by 2020, and its substantial, around 1$ per passenger.
Operator must make money and must bring new carriers fast. last year Zagreb airport handled 145000 in December, we can kind of guess this December airport will handle around 170 000 passengers.
January is going to be also very busy cause of snow Queen event which brings in 20 000 foreign visitors to Zagreb over 3 weeks period. This year Zagreb has seen major increase in number of visitors, and has passed 1 million foreign visitors and 1.75 million nights, Advent in Zagreb is very popular with foreign visitors and this year almost all hotels are registering increased bookings and overnights, early reports suggest 20% growth on December 2013, reason why most likely Zagreb airport will be very busy in December as well as January.
2015 looks great, projected pax of 2.85 million will be achieved with relative ease, OU also plans to increase number of flights out of Zagreb, although no new routes, OU plans to carry 2.0 million passengers in 2015, up on projected 1.91 million this year, and in 2016 OU has great plans, adding 4-5 new routes and increase number of operations, so 2015 and 2016 & 2017 look really great for Zagreb.
If more carriers come to Zagreb, it only ensures better connection with the rest of the EU and many more visitors visiting Zagreb, all is good.
Jel vi stvarno mislite da ce CTN postojati do 2017-18 pa sve vise kompanija ce preko leta doci a CTN nezna da se brani .
DeleteVec sledece leto ce im biti slab uticaj iz DBV.
INN-S
@AnonymousDecember 13, 2014 at 6:44 PM
DeleteWizzAir is hated in Croatia, they might have burnt all their bridges in Croatia, sale of tickets in Croatia towards the end almost halted for no one was buying tickets for wizzair flights, despite being cheaper than OU on London route.
WizzAir might be able to come back, but won't have much of the success it has had in Macedonia, Bosnia or Serbia, so they're going where they can make money.
BTW GermanWings has massive plans for Zagreb and Croatian market, they plan to add extra flights in 2015 and 2016, Wizz Air might have difficulty barging in.
@NemjeeDecember 13, 2014 at 6:58 PM
DeleteYes, BA, KLM, AF are far more important players at Zagreb, AS poses no serious threat, it only adds to Zagreb's offer, not much else.
OU knows that, but they can't do much cause of EU rullings, OU must operate with reduced schedule till end of 2015 and no new routes out of Zagreb.
OU's share at Zagreb airport is down to 58.5%, this really should go down to 50%, and EU might impose a ruling to this effect, OU, we'll see how 2015 pans out, but if Zagreb does hit 2.85 million, than OU mustn't increase number of operations from present level, OU is expected to handle 2.0 million in 2015, but it can't exceed 1.425 million out of Zagreb, so they'll still have growth just not at Zagreb s per 50% EU ruling.
2016 we can expect OU opening new routes out of Zagreb and considerable growth on 2015 and 2014, but again it'll be touch on go cause of EU 50% competition rule. Zagreb is expected to handle around 3.25 million in 2016, so OU will see substantial growth there, 200 000 pax out of Zagreb on 2015 figure. I am kind of sure OU will do fine what ever may come, but current management must go, they must be replaced by more competent people who know how to run an airline. A privatization won't be likely in 2015 cause of Eu ruling, no operator wants to take on EU legal burdens, but OU should use this time to restructure and ensure long term profitability of the airline, remember OU has been profitable airline now for 3 years in a row, and with 2015 this will be 4 years, any would be investor would be mad not to take 49% chunk of what is a successful company.
AS poses no serious threat, it only adds to Zagreb's offer, not much else.
Delete---------------------------------------------------------------
Actually, if you think about it, JU does play an important role in Zagreb. It has opened the market to the Balkans and has provided the passengers with an alternative when heading to Tel Aviv, Beirut or whatever destination is offered via Abu Dhabi.
The thing is since OU does not fly almost anywhere east of Zagreb, these two airlines do not compete with each other. If anything, JU's flights have become one of the better things to happen to Zagreb.
As far as Croatia Airlines go, actually the EU mechanism could be what it brings them down. We have all witnessed all these airlines launching flights to Zagreb. Since OU can't do much to fight them, they will have to engage in a price war. Like I said, strong presence of Air France, KLM and British Airways will eventually hurt them really badly. Not only have they taken away the p2p passengers but they are taking away potential passengers to north America which would be funnelled by OU via Star hubs. We all know how important flights such as Munich or Frankfurt are for OU.
Finally, as far as W6 goes. I am sure they would do great in Croatia. They are not the same airline they were back in 2009. Plus, I am sure many Croats have flown on them since their debacle in Zagreb.
Finally, I am not too optimistic about OU's future. You said it yourself, Lufthansa has great plans for Germanwings in Croatia. That can only mean one thing: Lufthansa is slowly giving up on OU and is slowly replacing it.
@NemjeeDecember 13, 2014 at 9:48 PM
DeleteWe'll see, I am not that pessimistic when it comes to OU, Zagreb is very much undeserved destination, it has been since 2007, don't forget in 1979 Zagreb had 1.9 million passengers, as per statistics someone posted here, I have data for 1980 when Zagreb handled 1.79 million pax. And 70% of that pax was by foreign carriers, or 1.25 million in 1979, imagine now 2014, the market is really untouched with higher incomes across the board.
Zagreb is fast becoming a major city brake destination in Europe but in Asia and north America as well, reason why FlyDubai is coming to Zagreb, why Qatar airways is going for direct flights to Zagreb and why Korean air and Japanese airlines have direct season flights for Zagreb.
Zagreb is becoming a major travel destination hit, riding on success that is Croatia bran, which is now recognized world over as place to go or be.
next few years we'll see how things develop but from what I see, there's a plenty of room in Croatia and Zagreb, OU must switch from serving only Zagreb and move and do more routes out of other cities, Rijeka, Split and Osijek should be connected with the EU year round, sooner or later OU will recognize that fact, Dubrovnik, Zadar, Pula are summer destinations only, but this doesn't mean that there can't be internal flights eg. Pula Osijek, Dubrovnik Rijeka or Zadar Osijek, I am sure there demand for such flights, reason why ?OU must keep Dash 8s no matter what, these are perfect aircraft for domestic network.
So I wouldn't bury OU just yet, plenty of kick left in old horse, as long as 2016 OU is privatized and decent company takes over OU, one with the vision, ideally Korean air, although Lufthansa might be the one that will take over OU if it comes to privatization in 2016, I am quite sure of it now, they want to control traditionally central European markets, this includes Croatia, Hungary, Czech R, Austria, Switzerland and Germany. OU is a small airline and investing in to OU would be a peanuts for them, LOT another airline in this sphere is too big of an airline to take a chunk at, too many bad deals and too much debt.
We'll se how everything pans out, OU no matter what won't be privatized in 2015, I am 99.999% sure of that, primarily cause of EU stigma attached to it, once OU exits EU imposed restructuring than OU will be very attractive purchase who ever decides to buy them, Lufthansa imho would be mad not to, an airline that actually makes money, and has little or no debt left, with assets valued at $400 million, Any investor would be mad not to take the chunk.
I am not doubting Croatia's or Zagreb's potential, I am just sceptical of how Croatia Airlines will deal with increased competition. It's the EU imposed ban that could be problematic for the carrier. I think 2014 will be decisive for the airline.
DeleteAs fas as future investors go, I doubt Korean will get involved with OU. They have enough troubles with OK which is still struggling.
If I am not mistaken, Lufthansa stated that they are not interested in purchasing new carriers. The thing is that Croatia Airlines is too close to Austrian Airlines. Furthermore, OU is located in a region which has seen a lot of changes in recent times.
Turkish Airlines keeps on being aggressive. Aegean is growing in the south. Air Serbia, despite being a small carrier, is a nuisance. Austrian Airlines just north of Croatia and finally, west of Croatia there is Etihad powered Alitalia. So even if the situation within Croatia is good, any future investor will look at the broader picture.
Like I said, let's wait and see what happens in 2015. That's when everything will become crystal clear. New airlines will keep on adding Zagreb flights and those are going to be the biggest problem for OU.
I meant that 2015 will be decisive.
Delete@NemjeeDecember 13, 2014 at 10:42 PM
DeleteOU is just an airline Lufthansa wold go for, it is what Lufthansa wants, due to deep recession in the EU, now 6th year and counting, things haven't moved in terms of major acquisitions, but come 2016 when I think the EU will be out of the recession and resurgent, the market buoyant and expanding, I see Lufthansa taking over OU.
My preference however is for Korean air to take over, but as you pointed out they've taken over OK and that' has proven to be a silly move, OK has lost half of its passenger and revenue. one thing that has benefited OK was addition one A330 to UK's fleet.
And yes, 2015 might be crucial for OU, but not detrimental, OU is making good profits and they've expect $17 million after tax profits in 2015 with around 10$ million in 2014, all this is important to show OU can operate as a profitable business.
We'll see how things pan out, but I am confident OU will do fine, they'll be getting 4 brand new A319s in 2016/17 and this should give OU plenty of space to expand its network in 2016 and 17, with very likely they'll be adding 7-8 routes in that period, Berlin, Gothenburg, Budapest, Madrid, Lyon and Milan being most likely choices in 2016, Athens, Istanbul, Prague and Warsaw in 2017.
If they don't expand in 2017 and stay as it is, than yes I'd agree with you, OU is doomed to fail and remain a holiday company.
" plenty of kick left in old horse"
DeleteHahaha, what is this that you write man, the English version of French-quebecois? :D
Anyway, jokes aside, i hope you realize that Budapest alone is a much bigger tourist destination than Zagreb (and Hungarian economy much larger than Croatian one despite the tourism) and yet look where is Malev and where is where is Wizz Air now. To add to the negative balance, besides Skopje, Sarajevo and internal routes, OU sees literally no transfer passengers by now which puts it almost side by side with the low-costs albeit with a much higher cost-structure.
My bet is a Hungarian scenario for Zagreb where Germanwings or some other airline will replace OU, while OU, after selling its assets following bankruptcy will get re-privatized albeit as a small scale leisure airline, flying mostly out/to the cost during the summer season, while foreign airlines will start to rule in Zagreb.
Last but not least, i really don't see the rationale behind the panicked reaction of the Croatian authorities trying to deny transfer-licenses to ASL, as if it will take any pax from OU, all while it posed no problem to AF/KLM who are really hurting it.
Air Serbia send it's A319 to Vienna today! Hope Vienna and Prague will get some real airplane soon!
ReplyDeleteda ja letim u skorije vreme sa air serbia na liniji VIE-BEG-VIE za beograd 737-300 a za bec sa a319! Lepo videti ovo, verovatno odgovor na ukidanje par linija od strane austrian airlines!
DeleteРазлог што је Беч добио А319 је зато што немају довољно Атрова. Попуњеност је далеко од задовољавајуће.
DeleteTrebalo bi da uzmu jos 3-4 ATRa na lizing, i 4-5 A319tica, nece jos dugo moci ovako, vidim B733 se koriste skoro svaki dan, sta ce tek leti?
DeleteIran Air A300 seen today over Avala.
ReplyDeleteWut?
DeleteThey have been refuelling at BEG for the past 8 months.
DeleteAhaa I guess I am a little bit late..
DeleteAko vec prave refuelling-a zasto ne naprave liniju THR-BEG-FRA taman bi ASL mogao da ima codeshare sa njima.
DeleteINN-NS
Zbog sankcija ne mogu.
DeleteAli moze ASL da otvori liniju Beograd - Teheran.
DeleteNe verujem da im je to prioritet trenutno, prvo treba da dodaju jos 4-5 A319-tica, dokle ce ove 733 da zadrzavaju, mislim da su zasluzili penziju!
DeleteАјде што су матори, то и није тако страшно. Оно што је страшно је то што је конфигурација као да летиш са Рајанером!
Delete@10:53
DeleteBas tako! Ja sam leteo za Berlin juce, moje sediste je bilo iscepano u jednom delu, alo, iscepano! Stocic za jelo se klimao, kao da ce da ispadne, i svo vreme se culo neko tandrcenje ispod, gde je prtljag. Nekako mi je bilo cudno, mislio sam da su ih mnogo bolje uredili.
Iscepana sedista sam video i u Emiratesu, pa?
DeleteДа, али и код Емирата се та исцепана седишта виде само на архаичним А330. Чињеница је да боинзи морају што пре да се пензионишу јер стварно нису више компатибилни са сликом коју жели да представи Ер Србија.
DeleteVideo sam na B777 na liniji DXB - BKK.
DeleteNe vidim Germanwings STU-BEG na listi novih linija desno? Kad smo vec kod toga, moze da brise BEG-ZAG to je vec proslo.
ReplyDeleteNe azurira se to svaki dan.
DeleteAdmin,
ReplyDeleteyou forgot to update that Air Croatia is starting flights to Milano as well. Check that.