NEWS FLASH
Niš Constantine the Great Airport has recorded growth in passengers originating from neighbouring areas, in particular from Kosovo and Macedonia. General Manager Vladica Djurdjanović noted that over 14% of all travellers using Niš Airport are now from Kosovo and a further 5% from Macedonia, despite similar routes being served from Skopje Alexander the Great Airport. A third of all passengers departing Niš previously used car transport to reach their final destination, while another 12% went by bus. Furthermore, a half of all passengers previously used other airports in the region. Niš Airport recently launched an advertising campaign across southern Serbia, as well as Kosovo in a bid to attract more travellers from the area. The airport estimates handling over 300.000 passengers this year, with Swiss International Air Lines and Germania Flug to launch flights from Zurich this summer, complementing existing services operated by Wizz Air and Ryanair.
Great news. Seems like they are taking away some passengers from both SKP and PRN. INI's costs are much, much lower which means they could always offer a sweeter deal.
ReplyDeleteI think that is a lie. Kosovars use Skopje airport for same destinations with Nish.
ReplyDeleteOf course. It's one big conspiracy by Nis Airport against the "Kosovars". lol. Calm your enthusiasm.
DeleteHahaha yeah because the CEO really has a reason to lie. INI's fares are lower than SKP's. Deal with it.
DeleteSo Kosovars are flying from INI with RKS passports?
ReplyDeleteWell since 2015 Serbia allows for RKS passports to be used from Belgrade and Nis.
Delete*Belgrade and Nis airports.
DeleteNo, RKS Aviator. I think this is Kosovan diaspora with foreign passports. This diaspora includes Serbs from Gracanica or Brezovica, Croats from Janjeva, Gorani from Dragash, etc.
DeleteBut 14% sounds a surprisingly high number.
I was just teasing @Anon 12:33 for his outburst :)
DeleteMany, many Albanians from Kosovo have Serbian passports.
DeleteINI is advertising W6 flights in the centre of Prishtina. It's not surprising that they attract a number of passengers, but 14% sounds an impressive figure. If that's true then last year ~17,500 passengers whose destination or origin was Kosovo flew via INI.
ReplyDeleteAlso worth mentioning that there are always a number of cars with Serbian car plates at PRN from south Serbia and almost every time I fly I hear people speak Serbian. So, it's a two-way traffic, which is healthy.
I highly doubt this number, but Wizz fares from SKP have skyrocketed so much so who knows ...
ReplyDeleteAre you implying INI management would lie about their numbers? Why on earth would they do it?
DeleteTo pretend to be a factor in the region.
DeleteI can imagine some pax from PRN but SKP is definitely a lie.
Who would on earth travel to NIS to catch the same flight, maybe 10 euros less. SOF, BEG and SKG still steal some numbers from SKP but INI definitely not.
He said Macedonia not Skopje. There are actually people who go by minibus from Belgradw to Skopje just to go on a flight. Before accusing others try to contain your hate for Serbia.
DeleteLol....some people may need to fly on a specific day which is not offered via SKP thats why they go to INI, easy as that...
DeleteMy friend from Skopje flew from Niš airport few times already. She said that the reason was that it suited her better at the time price and comfort vise.
DeleteWhat is the point of local airline subsidies if passengers are aiming neighbouring countries? Translated into economic impact, this phenomenon means serbian taxpayers are financing tourism development to Kosovo and Macedonia. It doesn't make sense.
ReplyDeleteIt makes sense for two reasons:
Delete1. Adding a percentage to the load factor, i.e. without those passengers the flights would be 14% less full and Nis might lose them. So the 14% makes a world of difference.
2. Travelers spend money. Even if it is just by buying a coffee and paying for parking and highway tolls traveling onwards.
Finally I don't see why it would be a problem to have a healthy mix of travellers, including from Kosovo and MKD. Happens everywhere. It shows that the people from the region have much less issues with their neighbours that some like to believe.
I don't believe in bubbles. SKP and INI growth is artifical and not sustainable in the long run. It takes just a single aggressive initiative of PRN to match the airline incentives and both airports will become history. You can't grow an airport by "stealing" traffic with lower airport charges from an airport of similar category. In addition, PRN is modern airport and it can easily reverse this trend by matching the prices.
DeleteTotally agree, bubbles won't last.
DeleteBut I don't see why PRN would hurt INI or the other way around. It's 14%, not 51%. And travellers seek what's the best deal (distance, price, quality).
Smaller, regional alternatives have proven successful all over Europe. More options = better for travellers. And it forces the bigger airports like BGD and PRN to become more competitive as well.
It's great to have choice in life!
But what do you mean by local airline subsidies? Wizz Air and Ryanair are not getting any funds from Serbian authorities. What everyone gets is a €3 charge per departing passenger.
DeleteINI was dead, it barely had any flights and it was a massive drain on the city's budget. At least with a charge of €3 per passenger these loses will be reduced until the airport can handle enough traffic to come close to a break-even figure.
As someone mentioned on here a few times, PRN and SKP are far more expensive to maintain. Both invested in new infrastructure and their investors will want to make some money off of it- which is why PRN is keeping such high charges.
PRN can enter a price war with INI but the latter would come out triumphant simply because it's catchment area is greater.
I read yesterday that the Turks are still interested in KVO which would be yet another airport which would steal passengers from PRN.
At the end of the day we have to ask ourselves if the 14% who came from the province of Kosovo would have flown from PRN or SKP.
Kosovo is a parliamentary republic first of all and has its own CAA (caa-ks.org). I sugggest you read about our legal framework. It is in your language too. Second I don't believe that LCCs have any interest to fly to secondary airports other than lower cost. There are different ways to support airlines if you want to do so. Of course there are subsidies in SKP as well, where are you living? Finally, I'm not saying it is wrong to invest in passenger growth but not in those passengers that end up in a different country. Revenues from parking and coffee alone are a joke as they represent just a small portion of indirect income generated by incoming tourists. In my opionion our government should introduce a program to attract LCCs and legacy airlines alike to settle in PRN and so regain and increase all the traffic aiming Kosovo. We have all we need 1) state of the art airport, 2) ILS II runway kmof 2500m and 3) modern intramodual transportation system.
DeleteI(Albion Idrizi) wrote the above comment. Somehow my name is not showing.
DeleteIf you read the Serbian constitution then you will see that Kosovo is part of Serbia.
DeleteI never mentioned SKP or any subsidies handed out by their government. I was pointing out that Serbian authorities are not directly subsidizing airlines in Nis. They have just adapted their price-list to market realities.
You might have all the infrastructure you need but if there is no initiative among the airport owners then nothing will change. Just look at Zagreb.
At the end of the day, PRN's inactivity will benefit both INI and SKP.
I agree with your last statement.
DeleteNis je primer i uzor za buduci LCC saobracaj sa Kraljevacke Morave i Uzicke ponikve. Nisko budzetni vazdusni transport je jedini nacin da se obavlja avio transport u centralnoj, istocnoj i zapadnoj Srbiji. Nis potvrdjuje tu istinu i opravdava aktiviranje aerodroma Morave i Ponikve. Za samo godinu dana Niski aerodrom ima gotovo hiljadu putnika na ban. Taj trend ce se nastaviti i udvostrucice se. Beogradski aerodrom ce se povecavati u svakom smislu dolaskom koncesionara, od druge polovine ove godine.
ReplyDeleteSrbskim aerodromima, putnickom i kargo saobracaju, od ove godine pocinje pun razvoj. Posle mnogo tegoba, promene su dosle. Vreme je!
Rodney,
Kraljevo
i dont care were or when ,price ant nothing als
ReplyDeletegoverment from kosova dont help me about prices
i think it is the same for serb from serbia or another ex yu.
we must self to buy tickest
bye bye