Croatia Airlines plans to resume flights between Zagreb and Mostar next summer, linking the two cities for the first time following a twelve-year hiatus. Earlier this week, the Federal government of Bosnia and Herzegovina approved over half a million euros in funding to subsidise the service. In a statement, it said, "The subsidies for the launch of this route will exclusively cover the costs incurred by the airline operator, in order to make the service profitable on a long-term basis". Talks between Croatia Airlines and the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton in Bosnia and Herzegovina concerning the route's resumption began in September. Although the scheduling is yet to be finalised, services are expected to commence in June and run at least twice per week.
Flights between Zagreb and Mostar were last operated in the summer of 2006. The now defunct B&H Airlines launched the service three times per week with an ATR 72 aircraft on January 2006. The flights were codeshared by Croatia Airlines. However, the route was short-lived and was terminated at the end of the 2006 summer season, after the Croatian carrier pulled out of its arrangement with B&H Airlines. At the time, B&H cited poor loads for the suspension. In 2015, start-up Air Croatia announced plans to resume flights between the two cities and put tickets on sale but the airline terminated all operations prior to the planned launch. The carrier was to run the service three times per week with a 52-seat ATR 42 turboprop.
Mostar Airport sees a range of seasonal and charter flights during the summer, primarily catering for pilgrims visiting the Medjugorje site, as well as tourists. However, its passenger numbers have been in free fall over the past eleven months, during which it handled 42.723 travellers, down 20.3% on last year. In contrast, 2018 promises to be a year of growth, with Eurowings to launch flights from Dusseldorf and Stuttgart in May, in addition to Croatia Airlines' planned new service. The Federal government has allocated a further 1.8 million euros in funding for Mostar Airport next year in order for it to build a cargo centre, expand the apron, install new lighting and purchase a self check-in kiosk.
So OU has been retreating left and right, suspending many flights from the coast over the year and now they are down to operating these subsidized flights. Couldn't they find a better use for the Q400?
ReplyDeleteIf they are being paid to fly a route then I don't see why they would not start it.
DeleteBecause they could make more money elsewhere like from to coast to anywhere in Europe?
DeleteIt's a very short rotation and the idea is to get transfer passengers.
DeleteThey need to have more rotation to brac.
DeleteYeah, OMO is famous for its passenger number potential. lol
DeleteNot Q400. Service to Mostar will fly with 19 seat J32 in cooperation with Trade Air
DeleteRoutes like Mostar-Zagreb and Banja Luka-Belgrade can only survive if they are subsidized.
ReplyDeleteBEG-BNX could actually work if fares are around €60 like they are today. That's why this route would be ideal for W6 or FR, not JU. Also the market from BNX to BEG is much larger than from OMO to ZAG.
DeleteI'm not so sure. Even with the low fares, flights are down to 2 per week.
DeleteIt's Air Serbia we are talking about, they are not really famous for making markets work.
DeleteJat could not make Banja Luka work either and it tried several times. It's more about the market than the airline itself. What do you expect, for them to sell 10 euro tickets? Even with that fare I doubt people would go by plane.
DeleteJat used to charge €120 for a return flight so it's not like they were trying.
DeleteAlso, these days BNX has around 45 passengers so loads are not bad. I think it has to do with JU not having enough aircraft. It will go to five weekly in March.
BNX can not survive with 45 pax per flight, neither three nor five times a week. That's a pocket money. The debt has pilled up to 15 milion KM.
DeleteOf course BNX can't, not one said otherwise.
DeleteHowever, with low fares JU can make BEG-BNX work. They have been recording good loads on the route. I am sure if they had more planes they would have increased the number of frequencies.
That said, BNX management should encourage Wizz Air to launch flights from their two new bases: LTN and EIN.
Both could attract a great number of passengers from Croatia especially since ZAG lacks lowcost links to either one of the two cities.
To je jedina taktika ici protiv ZAG sa LCC kompanijama. Lepeti je zagorje zelene. Jedine dobre taktike za BNX i MBX.
DeleteThis won't work. The market is not that big and I doubt OU will be cheap... at least not as cheap as buses. Let's not talk about the amount of luggage these people carry with them when taking the bus.
ReplyDeleteJa sam graficki dizajner u PR agenciji u Zagrebu i jucer nas je jedan nas njemacki partner kontaktirao o stvaranju promotivnog materijala za americku zrakoplovnu tvrtu koja leti od ZAG-a i koja krece od ovog ljeta. Necu kazati koja ali vec se prije suskalo o tome.
ReplyDeleteIt can only be Delta.
DeleteThe timing though is strange. US carriers have already announced their plans for Summer 2018 transatlantic flights. They like to have many months of advance sales for these routes.
Well it's not unheard of for American airlines to introduce last minute changes to their network.
DeleteI think it will be UA in the end, it was already reported on here.
I'm sure a US major would hire an American company to do there marketing, and who could also keep an industrial campaign secret until the official launch. I'll believe it when I see it.
DeleteUS airlines have European companies do their marketing over here.
DeleteI am sorry to say, but this is not true. No U.S. airline requested anything. There is no way. I have an access to first hand sources at ZAG airport. If they don't know about it, then it's not happening. This is a maliciois information you are placing. I wish it was true. But it is not.
DeleteUghhhhhh I knew it was too good to be true. :( Why can't ZAG secure these flights? Tourism is booming, Croats are getting wealthier every day... ughhh
DeleteI’m just wondering how does one decide to belive Petar and not e.g. OP? Because he has a nickname and said he has first hand source?
Deleteanonymous@11:33 pm, please explain. I know my source and it's someone with first hand information. Unless a US company decided to do something on its own without comunicating with ZAG. It is possible but 99% not likely. I wish it was the opposite.
DeletePetar was also silent when it came to EK so I am sure he is purposely speaking like this now. :)
DeleteGreat news for ZAG, Croatia and the ex-YU region!
I can vouch for Petar regarding what he is claiming because I was there to witness what was said. I would just have to say that the earlier poster prove his claim a US major hired his company to do the graphics/marketing. He already revealed a so called secret so how much more harm could he do be revealing what company, and some visual proof of the campaign???
DeleteSo, Petar, since you have first hand informations from ZAG, could we expect any new announcements in the next few weeks? Not necessarily regarding US, but in general?
DeleteYes there will be new announcements! British 2 flights daily, Croatia to Dublin, Mostar and two more lines, easyJet lines to Zagreb.
DeleteI can agree partly with the last anonymous, but come on...we need to be discrete. Final stages of closing the deals.
DeleteOk, Petar, could you at least tell us anything about flights to the US? On another forum someone mentioned that Turkish was interested (and they still are), and they also think of putting the 3rd daily flight to ZAG, but no one contacted them!
DeleteYup. All true.
DeleteGreat, thanks! Hope something happens out of it, but knowing our politicians...
DeleteAnyway, happy holidays and do keep us informed ;)
Good luck to OU. I'm happy to see that Mostar Airport will finally get some scheduled flights and airlines.
ReplyDeleteOh and BTW does anyone know why have the number of passengers decreased so much from Mostar?
DeleteFewer tourists from Italy.
DeleteBecause pope has said that Virgen Mary is not a postman to deliver messages every single day in Međugorje.
DeleteLove it!!! :-D
DeleteSo how many passengers can we expect at OMO next year?
Delete100,000 probably.
DeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeletePrije da je "bravo korumpirana vlada Federacije BiH, i seljacka politika HDZ BiH kojoj su bitniji interesi Hrvatske nego sopstvene drzave i naroda", Koji su progurali da se ovo desi bez ikakvog konkursa ili bilo kojeg transparentnog natjecaja.
Delete+100
DeleteZbog takvih "urbanih" političara kao tebe BiH nikada ni neće zaživjeti kako treba, a konkurs i natječaj su ti jedno te isto, a i pojasni nam kakav to je natječaj trebalo napraviti? Let za ZG može samo biti sa OU. Niti je vlada u ovome slučaju bila zakonski obvezna napraviti natječaj. Zato ne lupetaj o seljačkom HDZu. I sve da je seljački - šta imaš protiv seljaka? Treba i seljake pustit da žive. I sad idi, placi za nekim prošlim vremenima, a pusti nas Mostarske seljake da letimo i mi malo.
DeleteSa seljačkim pozdravima!
A hajde me ti to molim prosvijetli zasto nece zazivjeti, i zasto ce zazivjeti samo protkana tim imaginarnim i debilnim nacionalnim interesima? Koji je argument sto su se pare dale Croatiji da leti za Zagreb, a ne Austrianu da leti za Bec npr? Jesu radili neke analize? I naravno da je trebao konkurs/natjecaj (bila je ironija gore na dva termina), kao sto je Wizz imao konkurs za linije ka Balkanu ranije ove godine, subvencionisan novcima madjarskih poreskih obveznika. A zamisli jos ovdje ironije, Croatijin let iz Mostara za ZG, je finansiram parama SARAJEVSKOG AERODROMA, da bi se udovoljilo seljackim zahtjevima HDZ-a? Niko sretniji od mene da funkcionise mostarski aerodrom, pa i sa subvencijama Federalne Vlade, ali tamo gdje ima smisla i koja ce donijeti boljitak narodu tu u regionu i samoj Hercegovini, a ne bijedni pokusaj ionako bijedne linije Banja Luka - Beograd, zbog nekih jadnih i nepostojecih nacionalnih interesa, i to ovaj put novcem SARAJEVSKOG aerodroma, znaci cak ni HDZovim parama. Toliko, ugodan let, vidjet cemo kakva ce popunjenost biti.
DeleteČuj sarajevske pare... kao 1.: ja kao Hrvat iz Mostara letim 15x godišnje preko SJJ i još tisuće drugih hrvata. Pa to su ona moje isto moje pare, koje ja ostavljam. Da se razumijemo, ja ne smatram da je nacionalno bitno, pogotovo ne u avijaciji, nego samo ukazujem na tvoju logiku. Jer po njoj Hercegovačka poduzeća i pravni subjekti bi trebali kukati kako "hercegovačke" porezi idu u federalni budžet i financira se ovo, ono po Bosni. Nidje veze. Osim toga nisi se pobunio što će "sarajevske" pare dobit i Tuzlanski i (nepostojeći!) bihacki aerodrom... kakva je analiza tu rađena? Pa jarane, ispada malo prozirno protiv koga ti je taj argument o tenderu u biti usmjeren i iz kojih pobuda... možda se varam al tako izgleda. Osim toga, glavni grad, pa i aerodrom glavnog grada treba da nosi razvoj cijele zemlje (kod nas i u sličnim zemljama) pa to ovdje ukljucuje ne samo TZL nego i OMO. Osim toga, evo i kratka analiza: Uz njemačku, iz koje će sad bit linije, zapadna Hercegovina je iseljena u Zagreb. Tako da linija ima smisla. A što se mene tiče, nitko sretniji od mene da OMO dobije linije i za Švedsku, Norvešku... Što više to bolje. Ali te linije idu preko SJJ (uz konekciju) i TZL. A TZL je dobio isto "sarajevske" pare. Tako da...
DeleteA to o "seljačkim" zahtjevima govori o tvom političkom stavu, a ne o situaciji na terenu...al dobro. Možeš osporavat liniju, al hajd objasni po čemu su "seljački"?
DeleteDa me ne shvatis pogresno, da ne mislis da sam se nesto obrusio na Hrvate, jednaku seljacku politiku mi vodi i SDA kao i HDZ, odnosno mafijasku politiku obojenu "odbranom nacionalnih interesa", koja veze sa zivotom niti dobrobitom tog istog naroda za koji se kao zalazu, nema. I naravno da mi je debilno sto se ulazu tolike pare u nepostojeci bihacki aerodrom, ali je tema bila ova debilna infuzija milion maraka u Croatia Airlines. Kad si vec spomenuo Bihac, to mi je jos gore sto tu bacaju pare, jer su te pare trebale biti preusmjerene na razvoj postojecih aerodroma, odnosno Tuzle i Mostara. I opet, da me ne shvatis pogresno, drago mi je sto se investira u mostarski aerodrom, i radije bih sva 4 miliona za nepostojeci Bihac preusmjerio u postojeci mostarski aerodrom, ali mi ovakvo bezvezno poklanjanje para nacionalnoj aviokompaniji susjedne drzave prosto nema smisla. Ok, mozda ima smisla zbog broja Hercegovaca u Zagrebu, ali su iz federalne Vlade to pravdali da je "Zagreb veliko prometno zracno cvoriste", a ne time da je lakse Hercegovcima iz Zagreba doci kuci za Bozic npr. Kako moze Zagreb sa svojih jedva 3 miliona putnika biti veliko cvoriste u poredjenju s jednim Becom npr ili Istanbulom, koji su takodjer mogli dobiti subvencije da dovode turiste u Mostar i Hercegovinu (sto je po meni iskreno korisnije za isti taj region, nego da Hercegovce prevozi kuci iz Zagreba parama poreskih obveznika). Samo pogledaj Banja Luku (koja je dosta vece trziste od Mostara i Hercegovine), i pogledaj Tuzlu, i sve ce ti biti jasno. Daj Boze da to zazivi, ali po meni ce to biti milion bacenih u nista. Jos jednom, nista licno, i nista protiv Hrvata naravno. Sretan ti Bozic.
DeletePa dobro, to je onda već argumentirano mišljenje, malo se mimoilazimo, oke, al sve u svemu slažem se, a ukoliko je oprecno poštujem, imaš naravno par argumenata koji se sigurno mogu tako zastupati.
DeleteHvala puno na čestitkama.
Sarajevskim parama! Gdje je tu problem? Mostarski aerodrom mora dobiti sansu. Ja kao Bosnjak nevidim neki problem... cak vidim dalju mogucnost razvoja turizma. Sretno OMO!
DeleteAnyone know by how much the BEG-BNX routes is subsidised?
ReplyDeleteIt's a ground handling agreement. They cover the cost of Air Serbia's airport costs and fees at BNX. They never mentioned what the price is.
DeleteNice, so one new route for OU. People have been saying there will be more so let's see what they start.
ReplyDeleteApparently Dublin and Istanbul.
DeleteApparently.
DeleteIstanbul? Compete with Turkish?
DeleteNo. If that will happen it will be in cooperation with Turkish. Proposal is on table, there was meeting with Turkish about this, if Turkish will say "no" there will be no Croatia Airlines flights to Istanbul.
DeleteHalf a million € subsidy? Wow, must be a wealthy Canton.
ReplyDeleteActually it says it's being provided by the Federation.
DeleteSame diff, in this case.
DeleteDidn't Mostar already expand their apron last year? Why are they doing it again?
ReplyDeleteNo, they just expanded the terminal last year.
DeleteDoes Mostar seriously need a self check-in kiosk? o.O
ReplyDeletehaha my thought too. What the hell?!
DeleteIf they were any smarter then they would fly:
ReplyDeleteZAG-OMO-BWK-OMO-ZAG.
I evo opet BWK hahhhahaha
DeleteAll roads lead to BWK :D
DeleteHaahahahahahaha. Bit će fontana
ReplyDeletein related news, Federation ob BiH allocated 11M BAM: 4M to Bihać, 3,57M to TZL and OMO each (including 1M to OU). The money comes from SJJ 20 BAM departing pax tax.
ReplyDeleteWhat a joke.
DeleteWhat will TZL do with the funds? Improve its facilities or cover its losses?
DeletePut it in their pockets like they do every year.
DeleteBosnia. <3
DeleteTuzla started terminal expansion during the summer, it was even reported here, and since that first day not a single thing has been done or a brick laid. No workers and nothing is being done.
Deletehere is the article (in Bosnian, though): https://www.klix.ba/vijesti/bih/vlada-fbih-donijela-odluku-o-subvencioniranju-aerodroma-u-iznosu-7-miliona-km/171221067
DeleteGood for OMO and Mostar. While the routes as OMO or BNX are not money spinners, it's important for Zagreb and Belgrade to maintain good transport links with them. I'd say that ZAD should be linked with BEG, even if it's p2p traffic only.
ReplyDeleteUkine London, kaze neisplativo - par mjeseci iza toga uvede Mostar. Jadna majko...
ReplyDeleteDa su Londonci odrešili kesu ko Mostarci ne bi ga ukinuli
DeleteNisu Mostarci odrijesili kesu vec vlada Federacije BiH. Da je do Mostaraca polovina grada bi dala sve sto moze za ovaj let a ona druga polovina nebi dala jednog eura.
DeleteKako glup i primitivan komentar.
Delete"Druga polovina" je isto zastupljena u Vladi Federacije. Odrijesivanje kese nisu sprijecili jer, zamisli, i njima se putuje!!!
Da ali njima se ne ljeti za Zagreb vec vise tamo... istocnije.
DeleteJa kao Hrvat bih želio i liniju za BEG jer bih imao više mogućnosti na službeni put idem iz Mostara. Gdje presjedam mi je nebitno. Samo da više ne vozim do SPU SJJ ZAG...
DeleteZasto je komentar glup? To je fakticno stanje u Mostaru, naravno da vecina ljudi sa istocne strane tog grada radije zeli let za Bec, Minhen ili Istanbul prije nego za Zagreb, za opsirnije informacije zasto proucite blisku proslost 1992-1995.
Delete1990 sam letio iz Zagreba u Dubrovnik sa međuslijetanjem u Mostaru. Adria sa DH7.
ReplyDeleteThe Pope has just lifted a ban on Official Pilgrimages to Medjugorje, so 2018 could be a very busy year for the area, like it was when I operated ju199/8 in JAT days LHR/OMO so keep an eye on development
ReplyDelete