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| Rijeka Airport anticipates year-round Croatia Airlines service |
Rijeka Airport is hoping to benefit from Croatia Airlines' network expansion with the launch of year-long flights to Germany. The head of the Primorje-Gorski Kotar county, Zlatko Komadina, says the airport is in talks with the Croatian carrier over a three weekly service to Munich. "We are considering joining forces with Croatia Airlines and for Rijeka to get scheduled year-long flights to Munich, which would operate three times per week. At least that way, Rijeka would be linked with a major European hub throughout the year and passengers would have onward connections to the rest of the world", Mr Komadina said. Rijeka Airport has no scheduled flights during the winter with exception to the recently launched four weekly service to Ancona and Rab, operated by the sea-plane specialist European Coastal Airlines.
Croatia Airlines introduced seasonal three weekly services from Rijeka to Munich last summer, operated by the Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft. Furthermore, it maintains summer flights from the port city to London Heathrow Airport once per week. Rijeka Airport handled 133.564 passengers in 2015, an increase of 31% compared to the year before. Local authorities expect for figures to grow some 10% in 2016. The Croatian government has approved plans to subsidise low yielding domestic routes between March 27, 2016 and March 28, 2020. Among them are the Osijek - Rijeka - Osijek and Rijeka - Split - Dubrovnik - Split - Rijeka service. Croatia's Trade Air will make use of the subsidies and will introduce two weekly flights from both Osijek and Split to Rijeka. The airline will publish its official summer schedule next month.
Croatia Airlines will boost operations this winter with the arrival of a regional aircraft, which is expected to enter service in the coming months. As a result, along with the Rijeka - Munich route, the carrier plans to resume flights between Dubrovnik and Frankfurt next winter season following a three year hiatus. "Talks are currently being held between all interested parties regarding the resumption of flights between Dubrovnik and Frankfurt. We have reached an agreement in principle for the introduction of nonstop services between the two cities during the 2016/17 winter season. Negotiations regarding other conditions, such as frequencies, are ongoing". the airline said recently. This summer, Croatia Airlines will introduce seasonal flights from Pula to Zurich and Dubrovnik, from Dubrovnik to Tel Aviv and year-long services from Zagreb to Milan, with additional new routes planned from the Croatian capital.
Good they are not focusing only on Zagreb.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely agree with you! This is why I consider Croatia Airlines ¨national carrier¨ unlinke some airline in the region.
ReplyDeleteAgree...
DeleteThe only national carriers in EX-YU are Croatia Airlines and Montenegro Airlines.
Croatia routes
Deletefrom Pula:
Zadar, Zagreb, Amsterdam, Dubrovnik, Frankfurt, Zürich
from Rijeka:
London, Munich
from Zadar:
Pula, Zagreb, Frankfurt
from Split:
Frankfurt, Munich, Rome, Zagreb, Athens, Belgrade, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Erfurt/Weimar, London-Gatwick, London-Heathrow, Lyon, Osijek, Paris, Skopje, Vienna, Zürich, Cagliari, Erfurt, Harstad/Narvik, Kristiansund, Luleå, Örnsköldsvik, Östersund, Skellefteå, Sundsvall
from Brač:
Zagreb, Graz
from Dubrovnik:
Rome, Zagreb, Amsterdam, Athens, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Nice, Split, Osijek, Pula, Tel Aviv, Venice, Vienna, Zürich, Cork, Dublin,Harstad/Narvik, Knock, Shannon, Skellefteå
from Osijek:
Split, Dubrovnik
Osijek, Rijeka, Pula and Zadar are as near to Zagreb as Niš is to Belgrade!
And Wizz Air too. Although they paint Serbian and Macedonian flag on their A320 tails totally wrong!
Delete+1
DeleteOU despite belonging in a EU country and can not receive subsidies every year manages to serve all of Croatia.
It truly helps all regions of their country and not just the capital.
I would prefer if JU instead of concentrating everything in Belgrade to use some of these subsidies that it receives in order to develop the north and the south of Serbia as well.
Huh? Help develop northern Serbia? How so? By operating from the grass runways in Novi Sad and Zrenjanin?
DeleteYou have to understand that OU and JU have a different business model and because of that they can't be compared.
Not only entirely different business models, but Serbia and Croatia are entirely different in geography, economy, population distribution, wealth, etc.
DeleteTrue, true... and that could be excuse for Adriatic airports but what about Osijek:
DeletePSO routes subvent from Republic of Croatia:
- ZAG (Trade air)
- PUY (Trade air)
- RJK (Trade air)
- SPU (Croatia and Trade air)
- DBV (Croatia and Trade air)
all together 12 flights, 10 out of this all year
Subvent by Croatian tourist board and local government:
- STN (Ryanair)
Ok and most of those make sense because from Osijek to to Pula, Split, Dubrovnik takes 5,6,7 hours by car.
DeleteSerbia doesn't need domestic airline traffic because surface transport fills the need better given Serbia's geography and wealth.
The only real question is Niś, which I think would best be served by an LCC based there. The current scheme or €3 per departing pax is more than fair. Instead of giving money for subsidies, any money should be used to invest in the infrastructure of INI. Hopefully a third Wizz route from Niš will be launched this summer.
Domestic traffic would be okay only if we had something like Subotica airport, so that we have Nis-Subotica flights. We are more like Hungary type of the country. Our two most cities are at 80km proximity.
Deletetwo most important cities *
DeleteOsijek-Zagreb 268 km by brand new highway (less than 2 hours).
DeleteStill 6 times per week all year PSO route.
Yeah but isn't OSI-ZAG there so as to allow connections onto OU's network?
DeleteOf course, like INI-BEG should be, financed by PSO. Especially that Serbian subventions for air traffic is 22.000.000,00+ EUR.
DeleteI think neither OSI nor INI should base their business model on relying on government subsidies. Both airports should do all they can to make sure both Ryanair and Wizz Air expand there.
DeleteLook at the numbers at INI since W6 started flying there. That's the kind of business they need. Do you think that if JU launched INI-VIE/ZRH that fares would be below €180? Doubt it, especially for ZRH. On top of rather high fares the number of passengers would have been much more modest than what it is today.
Of course they should not base their business model on that, but Country should have this as obligation. Part of those 22 millions should go to other part of Serbia not just to Belgrade as other part of Serbia participate in budget too.
DeleteBut we all remember how things ended up the last time money was given to airlines to operate out of INI. Lowering fees and charges and then attracting Wizz Air was the best thing that happened to the airport. They should keep on doing this and I am sure W6 will keep on adding more flights and destinations.
DeleteThat is why Republic of Serbia should not give 22 millions for company but should make precise contract like:
Delete- INI-BEG flights with ATR 72 at least 2 flights per day
- BNX-BEG flights with ATR 72 at least 12 flights per week
- minimum of two routes with at least ATR 72 from BNX to VIE, MUC, FRA, SVO, ZRH and CDG at least 10 flights per week for combination of 2 routes or 12 flights per week for combination of 3 routes where one route must be at least 6 flights per week.
- the same deal from Morava airport with at least one route with 5 flights per week with ATR 72
Samo gde ce da navata tolike putnike iz BNX?
DeleteSvakog dana ima sigurno oko 30 autobusa koji saobracaju izmedju Beograda i Banja Luke. Trziste je tu, samo je potrebno malo marketinga da se otmu autobusima.
DeleteMali Marko L.
Delete+1000
Purger - i understand that English is not your native tongue, so let me please help help you out ... the word "subvent" does not exist. The word you are looking for is "subsidy", or "subsidise" or "subsidies"...
DeleteHope it puts you and others who post comments here, on the right road ....
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteDear Anonymous 6:30
DeletePlease open a dictionary BEFORE making such statements.
Here you go:
http://bfy.tw/4I1i
Coment signed as Purger at 6:45 is not mine!
Deletesubvent
Also found in: Thesaurus, Wikipedia.
sub·vent (səb-vĕnt′)
tr.v. sub·vent·ed, sub·vent·ing, sub·vents
To provide or support with a subvention.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/subvent
Judging by his English it's the same creep who used my nick to troll around. So admin, can you please delete the comment he wrote once again below about FR having big plans for Chania. Thanks and sorry for this.
DeleteOvo je upravu bilo mnogo lepse da se svi potpisu rasprave bi bile normalnije a ne ovako svako uzimam tudji nadimak i mlati.
DeleteINN-Ns
Thanks admin!
DeleteI think that Rijeka can mantain at least 2 weekly flights to Belgrade, filled with only p2p pax. Furthermore Munich flights should be done as SPU-RJK-MUC-RJK-SPU because there is a strong demand on that domestic route and this combination during the winter promises excellent loads on both sectors. Other markets can be covered with LCC.
ReplyDelete1. To travel from SPU to MUC with 1stop is not very smart idea. It will never work. And why on earth would someone do so if even now on summer season we have more than 7 flights per week on SPU-MUC route.
Delete2. Croatian government already decide to give PSO for Rijeka-Split route to Tradea air which will fly that route all year twice per week.
What I said works in winter schedule. If Split maintains 4 weekly flights during the winter schedule, it could maintain 7 if 3 would land at Rijeka. Regarding Rijeka-Split, I don't understand why they put 19-seater on the route which deserves at least Dash. We all have listened to stories about packed Brasilia last year.
DeleteBecause PSO obligation was:
Delete1. At least 19-seater
2. At least 2 frequencies per week all year.
I do agree that more frequencies with smaller plane should be goal of Republic of Croatia PSO. Trade air is just going on PSO obligation with smaller cost possible.
Why to make 1stop to MUC which is so short flight. Also there is option for 3-4 flights per day from SPU to MUC via ZAG what is much better than 3 per week via RJK. Let me remind you that in case of SPU-RJK-MUC passengers have to move out of plane to make passport control so it is the same as to go via ZAG (to change the plane).
In my opinion this is what small airline route should look like! Well done OU!
DeleteJOŠ JEDAN UDARAC NA EASYJET, WIZZ I EUROWINGS
ReplyDeleteRyanair je otvorio bazu u Hamburgu gdje je bazirao 2 aviona i otvorio 7 linija sa čak 53 tjedna leta. Na 3 linije je direktna kompeticija easyJetu, sa još tri Eurowingsu, a sa linijom za SOF je udario na Wizzair. Hamburg je i jedna od glavnih baza Eurowingsa, tako da ovaj rat postaju sve interesantniji.
today they announced SOF-ATH daily from October.
DeleteOT
ReplyDeleteI just read an article on Aegean's current performance and future plans, here are some points:
- In October 2015 new aircraft were ordered, the plan is to reach 60 aircraft and to carry 16 million passengers.
- Goal is to serve 145 destinations, they plan on expanding in another 6 to 7 countries.
- They plan on competing more fiercely with AF-KL and BA. They are currently the second carrier to London with a 30% share, BA is at 34%.
- Three weekly flights to IKA are not practical for business travellers, goal is to increase this route to 5 weekly as soon as possible.
- Aggressive media advertising policy, with discount offers of every type, positively promotes the company's product. Actually, for about a decade now, Aegean has been running phenomenal commercials.
- In 2016 they expect their turnover to reach 1 billion Euros, profit to be at around €70 million. Their stock value has remain high despite the situation in Greece.
- Since moving exclusively to LHR, the airline recorded improved numbers. In 2015 the airline carrier 1.2 million passengers on this route with an average LF of 81%.
- A3 holds a 52% marketshare on domestic flying, Ryanair is at 47%.
All in all, it's pretty impressive what they are doing down in Athens.
Here's one. I think this was their most famous one from a few years ago (I think it was 2010).
DeleteIt was to promote their newly launched flights to London. At the end of the commercial it writes:
'Now, thanks to Aegean, there will be even more Greeks in London. From 15 May, 2 daily flights, operated only by the A321.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H8RsYhZJYI
Kad se vec prica o A321 mislim da on hvali ASL i da bi trebali da ga nabave za otvaranje novih trzista.
DeleteINN-NS
Он би и имао смисла лети али не и ван сезоне када је и А320 превелики за већину дестинација. За отварање нових тржишта имају А319.
DeleteAegean is an airline that is doing great and exceeds all expectations despite all the problems that Greek economy has for years.
DeleteAll ex-yu airlines should look at their business model and decisions over the years. Those guys are truly great professionals.
Imaju ali za IKA , ZRH, CDG , SVO preko cele godine i leti cartere mislim da bi bilo odlicno da nabave A321 posto mogli bi na linijama da spsuste cene .
DeleteINN-NS
Nemjee You have wrong number about Greek domestic market. Don't know where you have read A3 has 53%...
DeleteLast anonymous, it was mentioned in the article along with the rest of the numbers. I suppose that they got them from the relevant authorities.
DeleteINN-NS, I wouldn't put SVO on the list given that it was seriously downgraded this winter. Same goes goes for CDG which got the A319 this winter season. Until they start increasing their frequencies (both in summer and winter), they won't need anything bigger than an A320.
Nemjee I think those percentages refer only to the domestic routes that both airlines flew during 2015.
DeleteFR and A3 are both flying from ATH to SKG, CHQ, RHO and this year will start flying to Santorini and Mykonos too.
In all the other destinations A has pretty much the exclusivity.
Dimitris from Athens
Dimitri,
DeleteActually, I wouldn't be surprised if the 53% refers to the entire Greek market because most of the destinations that are exclusively served by Aegean (Olympic) are on a Q400. Furthermore, a great number of these are subsidized by the government so I do wonder if the loads are that great. If I remember correctly the early morning departures out of Athens to the islands are mostly there to carry the newspaper and so on. At least that was the case with Olympic back in the day- they had a bank that departed at around 05.30 in the morning.
As far as Ryanair goes, they are operating routes where they can make money and where there is enough demand to fill a high density B738. I mean, there is a reason why Aegean/Olympic flies to places like Astypalai and Kalymnos but not Ryanair, Volotea or Ellinair.
Xairetismata!
SKP?
DeleteStats refering to Aegean Vs Ryanair traffic that circulated a month ago were solely on head2head routes from ATH.
DeleteAs Im in good mood, here are the nrs:
1. ATH-SKG
pax: 1.500.000 / average load: 84,2
A3: 51,9% share, FR: 47,5%
EL: 0,6% (recently terminated)
2. ATH-JTR
pax: 695.000 / average load: 82,7
A3: 78% share, FR: 19,1%
EL: 1,5% , V7: 1,4 (EL,V7 seasonal)
3. ATH-CHQ
pax: 623.000 / average load: 84,4
A3: 51,7% share, FR: 48,3%
4. ATH-RHO
pax: 530.000 / average load: 79,8
A3: 77,5% share, FR: 22,5%
ATH-JMK
pax: 283.000 / average load: 74,8
A3: 98,3% share, EL: 1,7%
Thanks for providing us with the numbers, they are definitely interesting.
DeleteHowever, what's more interesting are the increases we will see this summer.
FR from ATH
Santorini (JTR) 2 -> 3 daily
Thessaloniki (SKG) 6 -> 7 daily
Rhodes (RHO) 1 -> 2 daily
Corfu (CFU) 2 weekly
Mykonos (JMK) 5 weekly
Mykonos will get a lot of love this summer with both Ryanair and Volotea launching flights from Athens. Same goes for Corfu as both Ellinair and Ryanair will be launching flights.
WOW!! SKG ATH is something like ZAG DBV! We also need Ryan Air here!
DeleteWell, FR is playing safe for now as they focus mostly on summer best sellers. A3 stills has the upper hand with multiple daily flights from ATH to most greek markets and they respond accordingly where necessary. Dont forget that A3 has a competitive advantage via their hub in ATH where they offer very good prices in connecting passengers with full protection.
DeleteFor now FR seems mostly to enlarge the pie, due to low prices travellers appear that wouldn't normally fly at all. But in a year or two things will get tougher, A3 needs scale to respond to FR aggressiveness. The Irish currently are "trolling" ATH-SKG with ridiculous prices, A3 is obliged to follow and the losers so far are buses, trains, road constructors via tolls.
True but at the same time Aegean has Olympic and its Q400 which makes it much easier to fly to the smaller Greek islands, both in terms of demand and airport infrastructure.
DeleteHowever, with its fifth aircraft in Athens, Ryanair will become a rather serious player and I am sure that eventually they will have to expand into riskier markets. I mean, they are still new at ATH and it kind of make sense that they will concentrate first on the bigger, more lucrative markets.
One thing that worries me is ATH as it's becoming clear that they need to expand. This summer it used look like a jungle during the rush-hour times, especially the non-Schengen zone.
With FR launching BRU-LCA, I am still hoping that they will enter the LCA-ATH market.
One player that has managed to do rather well in Greece is Volotea. Would be fun if they eventually open a base in Athens. :D
Impessive! I think ATH might have 20+ million pax this year.
Delete+1 they did have over 1 million passengers in January!
DeleteFresh news from todays FR presentation of ATH 2016 winter schedule (MOL was there ;))
Delete- 6 a/c in ATH (now 5)
- new routes daily to OTP, SOF, JMK, 4w BLQ, 3w MLA, 2w DUB
- CIA & RHO increase to 3 daily
- 19 routes totally
- 3,4 million pax (25% increase)
Overall,
- FR holds 16% of traffic in Greece, 2nd to A3 and followed by EZY
- New base in CFU
- 6,5 million passengers
Interesting, thanks for sharing it with us.
DeleteI remember during their previous presentation of S16 there was no mention of a sixth aircraft in Athens. Seems like they are upping their game.
There is going to be a real war in the Balkans now.
FR could easily start ATH-BEG and ATH-SKP
DeleteI think that Ryanair with only 5 aircraft based in Greece last year covering both domestic an international routes in unlikely to had 47% of the domestic market when it only flies to 3-4 airports.
DeleteA3 announced 5.5 million domestic passengers for the year, FR can not have served 5 million plus domestic plus the international passengers with only 5 aircraft.
And even in these airports with the exception of CHQ Aegean has higher frequencies AND is using A320s exclusively for the ATH to SKG, RHO routes.
That is correct. I will to find figures but FR already mentioned today they have 16% of the market, most probably combined domestic & international and of course including seasonal routes except ATH.
DeleteALso, don't forget that FR still does not touch HER. When they go there, then u know that war has begun.
FR has 16% of the ATH market. For 2015 that meant 16% of 18 million plus passengers which works to about 2.88 million. With 25% capacity increase for 2016 plus the non ATH originating International routes they will reach the 3,4 million total pacs for the year.
DeleteAs someone already wrote they are expanding the market instead of "steeling" passengers from A3.
At 9.99€ and 12.99€ tickets they are competing with buses, boats and trains.
FR already flies to Chania so they are kind of present already in Crete.
DeleteCHQ is not HER for those who know. A3 handled 1,5 millon pax in HER, 1/3 of these were from HER base.
DeleteYes but for FR Chania is an alternative to Heraklion. Same as they think Beauvais is same like Paris.
DeleteHER serves 3x more pax and there's a reason for this. CHQ is perfect for FR indeed but geographical as well road infrustructure reasons make HER more attractive. This is quite obvious from numbers and airlines that serve HER although aware of super tough conditions as HER is saturated, by far worst airport of its kind in Europe, while CHQ have still room.
DeleteActually, airport infrastructure in Greece is quite bad. Besides Athens, most airports are like giant warehouses, even Thessaloniki is overcrowded and it generally feels claustrophobic. But you are right, Heraklion is absolutely filthy and disgusting. The only great thing about is the scenery if you are landing from the West.
DeleteWell, profits of the public airports system were offered as a collateral to loans that filthy politicians agreed on.
DeleteHopefully -good case scenario- Fraport will invest asap. SKG should get a new terminal, rest need serious upgrades. New HER airport is anotheer story, if we are lucky we can get a bidder for it by end of 2016 but in best case scenario its gonna be 2019 before it opens...
I was in HER only once, on a LCA-HER-RHO flight and from what I can remember is that there isn't much space around the airport. I wonder where they would expand? Wouldn't they have to tear down the current building and replace it with a new one? Wasn't there some space to the west of the current terminal?
DeleteI flew 5 times in total from HER during summer, never left on time; it was horrible, airport packed with ontime and delayed flights, usual delay was 1.5 to 2 hrs but I once had 5.
DeleteAirport cant be expanded, its a military installation and surrounded by rocks, sea and blocks of flats. Thats why a new airport is on the way.
So they are building a whole new airport? Not just a terminal?
DeleteYep. Just google kasteli airport...
DeleteEvharistw!
Delete+1000
DeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteSorry for OT, but I just heard that JET's A330 will come to BEG in a few days, and it will stay there like day or two.
ReplyDeleteDELTA / CSA Czech Airlines Adds New Codeshare Routes from Feb 2016
ReplyDeleteDELTA this week further expands codeshare coverage in Europe, operated by CSA Czech Airlines. From 15FEB16, DL code appears on following routes. Note certain routes will begin operation in summer 2016 season.
DELTA operated by CSA Czech Airlines
Prague – Bratislava
Prague – Copenhagen
Prague – Skopje
Prague – Zagreb
Source: http://airlineroute.net/2016/02/16/dlok-codeshare-feb16/
Tako ce i Air Serbia da napravi codeshare sa Amerikancima.
DeleteThe Prague – Skopje and Prague – Zagreb DL codeshares are a direct threat to ASL's flights to JFK.
DeleteOS, TK and AZ too.
DeleteDelta already codeshares on Aitalia's FCO-SKP
DeleteOS and TK have size, multiple destinations in the US and Star Alliance on their side.
DeleteJU has none of the above.
So AZ is already creating a problem for JU in SKP? Not to mention that they have their own flights. AZ should cancel the codeshare with DL for JU, they are same family.
DeleteAnonymous February 16, 2016 at 2:28 PM
DeleteWhat you say is logical and it is what should have happened but AZ probably cares more about covering better the USA to Italy market than being a good partner of the Etihad alliance.
It's all about competition. Even if AZ is under the Etihad group, they still have to look for themselves. Who knows what will happen in the next few years? Which airlines will still be in this group? Etihad can get more of a return on their investment than with Air Serbia. Only the strongest players will remain with Etihad in the future. The ones which don't give them a high rate of return, even with a small profit, will be set loose. Pure business.
DeleteOT: Ryanair's 12th destination from SOF will be ATH! That's a hit for A3 and FB! No fares and schedule yet, just appeared on the destination's menu.
ReplyDeleteAegean will be also increasing ATH-SOF from 10 to 12 weekly starting from 25.03.2016.
DeleteI think FB is the weakest link here but they seem to have done an ok job fighting the lowcost invasion.
SOF and ATH passengers are the big winners here.
DeleteGreat increase in traffic between these two cities.
Could we see FR in BEG from ATH?
DeleteDon't think that the market is that big.
DeleteI could see FR being interested in starting BEG if Sofia turns out to be successful. FR operates now in Budapest, Bucharest, Sofia, Athens, Zadar, and so on. Zagreb and Belgrade must be on their list and realistically we will see FR there before we see EK lol.
DeleteFR can not fly ATH-BEG but they can fly ATH-ZAG. I think balkans expansion is not far away, firstly FR will keep bringinging new metal so availability will be high and secondly this should stop a bit Wizz Air...
DeleteWut? Of course they can fly ATH-BEG, what are you going on about? FR is an EU based airline and Serbia has an Open Skies agreement with them so... they sure as Hell can.
DeleteIf FR entered the BEG-ATH market I think JU would be the most hurt by it.
Delete@ Nemjee,
DeleteBulgaira Air will be totally scre...
Greetings from Sofia :)
Anon. from Sofia,
DeleteBut you know what's interesting, Bulgaria Air seems to be doing fine on the LCA-SOF route. They even did well when Cyprus Airways was around and when they had three to four weekly flights. Today they seem to be fighting quite well against Wizz Air. I know that during summer they even send their A319/A320 down there.
Do you know how they are performing as far as their finances go?
Hi Nemjee,
DeleteSo far there are no official results for 2015, but in December the CEO said that the LF is over 80%. To be honest despite that I don't like the company they are giving a lot of times much better prices than Wizz. For example you can have a round trip with them to Heathrow for 100-120 euro. I don't know how they will compete Ryan on Athens, Madrid and Barcelona routes. Forsure they will have problems. According to the CEO they will get 3 a321's this year in order to have lower cost per seat.
Thanks for that. Why don't you like them? What kind of service do they have? Do they function like a lowcost or are they a legacy?
DeleteI don't see how getting some A321s will make it easier to compete against the LCCs. Sure, in theory their CASM will drop but you still have to fill all those seats.
@ Nemjee
DeleteThey operate as legacy carrier forsure. But a lot of times they have delays, etc. To be honest their service isn't that bad. Because they are owned by one of the big banks, you can have co-branded credit card which gives you a numerous of advantages, even more than the frequent flyer program. Their big problem is that they are very inert and have no desire to develop. Quite often try to interfere with BH Air in order not to became their competitors. Their managment is from the old school which always leaves some bitter taste in the end.
I see. Actually, Aegean and Piraeus Bank have the same deal in Cyprus (maybe Greece too). I think each Euro spent equals to one mile.
DeleteIt would be nice if they manage to pull through but with both Ryanair and Wizz Air aggressively fighting for each passenger at SOF, it will become increasingly difficult for them to survive. I mean, look at Athens, the market is not THAT big and they will compete against Ryanair's daily flight and Aegean's 12 weekly flights!
@ Nemjee,
Deleteeven they are allowing on nomerous routes to have up to x2 23kg bags as checked luggage. This is a privilage also to the co-branded credit card holders and to the frequent fleyer program.
@ Nemjee,
Deleteyes, it would be very hard, but believe me the market is really big. There are over 300 000 bulgarians working in Greece. A lot of them used to use busses, but with Ryan's entry a lot of them will prefer to user a plane rather than a bus. The bus tickets are with similar prices to ryan's...
I see but the real question is how many of these 300.000 are in Athens and how many are on the islands and around Thessaloniki?
DeleteImagine if there was a way for Ryanair to operate Thessaloniki-Bansko flights. They could fly tripe daily flights throughout the winter. :D
Bulgarians are everywhere, in the mainland, in the islands, in mountains, in valleys... Where there are jobs you now find Bulgarians. Never knew exact figure but 300K may double during summer...
Delete@ Nemjee
Deletetotally right! If they had the chance they would do it. Actually unil 1 year ago there were plans for an airport near Bansko which thanks God didn't materialize due to Tsvetan Vasilev's problems with the justice... BTW he had plans to start his own airlines. So, back to the greek market. Yes, a lot of the Bulgarians are in Solun and on the islands, but most of them are around Athens (due to the higher salaries and standard over there). 2016 will be a very interesting year indeed for the aviation in Bulgaria and the Balkans.
Yes, with all the announcements and developments it will be indeed! Who knows what else Ryanair will announce both in Greece and in Sofia. One route that is missing and that I am sure will come soon is Athens-Tirana.
Delete@ Nemjee,
DeleteI believe so - probably Tirana will be topping their list due to the enormous amount of albanians in Greece. From Sofia I expect Stockholm, Nurnber, Varna & Glasgow or Edinburgh. Regarding Athens don't forget that until 1 year ago also Air Malta was flying the route MLT-ATH-SOF-ATH-MLT.
Actually, there is something that will be interesting to see and that's what Ryanair does about Turkey. No doubt that it's a large market from both Greece and Bulgaria but the question is how long will they wait before entering it.
DeleteHowever, this might prove to be a bit tricky because, at least as far as Greece goes, they wouldn't be creating a new group of passengers, they would be fighting for the already existing ones. Their primary competitors would be Pegasus and Aegean. My guess is that they won't enter Turkey until they have consolidated their position throughout the Balkans.
The real question is what comes next. Will Ryanair rush into Albania before anyone else does? Will they enter Yugoslavia? How aggressive will they be in both Romania and Bulgaria and how will Wizz Air respond to all this.
Nadam se da FR nece skoro doci u ex yu sa nekim vecim planovima.
DeleteINN-NS
@ Nemjee,
DeleteWizz so far are quite. No real response. Turkey indeed is a very interesting market. If they will go there for sure this will be a quaker market.
All eyes should be on Wizz Air now to see how they respond. Do keep us informed if they announce something in Sofia!
Delete@ Nemjee,
DeleteWizz are adding Kutaisi from Sofia
"Hellenic and EX-YU Aviation News" comments are very good today.
ReplyDeleteI like when we get some wider Balkan avio news perspective thrown into the mix.
DeleteAnon 6:36
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