Greece's Aegean Airlines will continue to grow its network in the former Yugoslavia for a fifth consecutive year in 2019, with the carrier to introduce flights between Athens and Sarajevo. The Greek airline will maintain two weekly services between the two capitals starting June 13, with flights to operate each Thursday and Saturday with the 78-seat Dash 8 turboprop aircraft. Tickets are already on sale. Sarajevo becomes the airline's seventh destination in the former Yugoslavia. It currently serves Belgrade and Zagreb on a year-round basis, and Dubrovnik, Split, Zadar and Podgorica during the summer. The carrier has also reaffirmed it will introduce flights to Skopje following "the resolution of certain contentious issues".
The Greek carrier told EX-YU Aviation News, "The former Yugoslav region is an important market for Aegean Airlines. Demand for these routes remain strong as passengers are able to travel to Athens and beyond. Our performance is satisfactory on this market, as is the cooperation we have with partner airlines in the region. Almost all flights from the former Yugoslav republics to Athens offer very good point to point coverage, as well as access to thirty Greek domestic destinations, connections to Cyprus and destinations in the Middle East and Southern Italy, which have proved popular with passengers from the Balkan region. Aegean is considering increasing frequency on existing routes as well as adding further destinations in the region".
Aegean Airlines has so far been present on the Bosnian market through its codeshare agreement with Air Serbia. The airline has had its flight numbers and desingator code on the Serbian carrier's service between Belgrade and Sarajevo since 2015. "Our cooperation with Air Serbia continues to be satisfactory", Aegean said in a statement. Earlier this year, the Athens-based airline announced a $5.8 billion deal to purchase up to 42 new Airbus A320neo aircraft. “Aegean Airlines is a great example of a resilient and superbly managed airline. It has weathered the country’s financial crisis and come out of it much stronger than before. Moreover, Aegean’s customer focus and attention to service excellence have made the company one of the most awarded airlines in terms of customer satisfaction", Airbus said.
Aegean Airlines faces no direct competition on the route. Further flight details can be found here.
WOW! Finally a new route to Sarajevo and it's not from the Middle East!
ReplyDelete+1 I think it's the first European airline to launch flights to SJJ since Wizz Air started Budapest.
DeleteAnd that was back in April 2017 :/
Deletewell it will cater for transit Pax to the Middle East.
Delete:D
DeleteThey actually have quite a good Mid-east network which could connect Sarajevo to places like Beirut, Riyadh, Tehran, Cairo...
DeleteSAS to Copenhagen
DeleteYes, you are all forgetting SAS which started seasonal flights to Sarajevo from Copenhagen this year.
DeleteNice legacy airline for Sarajevo.
ReplyDeleteQuite a good split schedule for connections.
ReplyDeleteGreat news for Sarajevo!!! :)
ReplyDeleteGood to hear about Sarajevo. It's the only major city missing from their network in ex-yu.
ReplyDeleteThey don't fly to Pristina or Ljubljana.
DeleteThey flew to Ljubljana one summer couple of years ago but didn't have success and never came back unfortunately.
DeleteDon't forget about Skopje too, it will be their best route from ex yu once launched
DeleteYou forgot SKP
DeleteYes but Skopje will start soon.
DeleteHave there ever been flights between Sarajevo and Athens? Do Bosnians go to Greece for holidays?
ReplyDeleteI dont think there has been one before. But yes, we go more and more to Greece for holidays in the recent years :)
DeleteThere was a connection between two cities on 2015 with Bosnian Wand Airlines but few days later the airline was ordered by the Bosnian authorities to suspend operations
DeleteThat was like one flight lol
DeleteSerbian population in BiH naturally gravitate towards Greece but I'm sure portion of Bosnian population will choose Grece over Turkey for their vacation
DeleteKon Tiki said they will organise BNX charters to Greece and Turkey next year. Maybe Aviolet could operate some SJJ charters as well.
Delete@SM30 August 2018 at 17:06
DeleteAnd you reasoning is based on what???
Unless you have some concrete evidence to back your foolhardy statement, don't expose yourself to ridicule, unless you're right at home being ridiculous...
Turkish flies to Sarajevo how many times, which country has more cultural and social affinity for Bosniaks ? Oh yes. Even Croats prefer Turkey over Greece, where 40 000 Croats got for holiday. Greece was visited by less than 20 000 Croats last year. Bosniak barely go to Greece.
http://www.bhas.ba/index.php?option=com_publikacija&view=publikacija_pregled&ids=3&id=16&n=Tourism
I touched the nerve there, didn't I? Just don't understand what did I say that so personally bothered you so much to start calling me names. But I guess that's the level of communications you only know about. I on the other hand, will neve get to your level fortunately.
DeleteBut if you really liked to know, I said two things:
"Serbian population in BiH naturally gravitate towards Greece" - you might not agree with it but cultural, historical religious connections between Serbs and Greeks are well known and similar to the ones between Bosniaks and Turks. So, myself as well as many of my family members visit Greece and now it's going to be even easier. This is not to say that Bosnian Serbs don't go to Turkey as well
"portion of Bosnian population will choose Greece over Turkey for their vacation" - I never said tha tMuslims or Croats prefer Greece. I'm purely speculating that some of them might change the destination and decide to see what Greece is all about. You can say this is not true, but at least in the case of three of my Muslim friends from Sarajevo this is not the case because we talked about organizing a private trip next year, driving to Belgrade and taking the plane/package from there.
So again, I don't understand what was so offensive in my comment that provoked your reaction but I hope I did my good deed for the day and provide you with the satisfactory explanation.
SM is right, charters out of BEG are filled with Serbs from the autonomous entity of Republika Srpska. That's why the offer will be expanded from BNX next year so that it's more convenient for these people.
DeleteAegean is a really interesting airline that has been growing like crazy. It was only a matter of time before they added Sarajevo.
ReplyDeleteIt's time for them to start TATL flights.
DeleteI'm wondering why Aegean is not interested in flying to the US and Canada. Besides Greeks they would get a lot of transfer traffic.
DeleteApparently they prefer to run the company commercially sustainable, instead of losing $20M+ every year to operate prestigious TATL flights.
Deleteby your logic TATL flights shouldn't exist. genius.
DeleteSo only Ljubljana didn't work out for them -.-
ReplyDeleteIt's surprising that their flights from Athens to Ljubljana didn't work out yet Podgorica does.
DeleteAthens didn't work out for Adria either. Obviously not enough demand.
DeleteThey also no longer fly charters to Maribor from Rhodes and Corfu like they used to.
DeleteThey have flown to lju with a319/320 so it is hard to fill all seats... maybe they could try with dash 8 which is a lot smaller
DeleteI flew from MBX to CFU (Corfu) and i must admit that it was a pleasant experience from both MBX and Aegean. More charter flights would also be a blessing for MBX.
Delete"Southern Italy, which have proved popular with passengers from the Balkan region. "
ReplyDeleteNow that's interesting. Wonder which countries from the Balkans?
A3 is really doing well in BEG, SOF & OTP. They used to send the OA smaller props, now they upgraded their service with A320 and yes, their service, planes & service are amazing.
DeleteIf we do not include Turkey, for me, Aegean is really the best airline in the Balkans.
This could have an impact on Air Serbia. We read that 50% of all passengers from Zagreb to Athens in 2017 flew with Air Serbia. They now have a nonstop connection. So I'm assuming Air Serbia was also getting some feed from Sarajevo to Athens too.
ReplyDeleteAegean signed a codeshare with Air Serbia and started introducing all of the routes they codeshare on one by one :D
DeleteAegean will fly seasonal with just two weekly frequencies while JU will offer daily connections.
DeleteDo Air Serbia's flights from Sarajevo even connect to Athens?
DeleteNot really. So I doubt they will loosing passengers because of Aagean.
DeleteOS and TK will lose much more than JU.
DeleteJU will lose passengers to Greece, Cyprus, TLV and Beirut.
DeleteBut TK and even OS will be more affected.
No. JU will not be affected here as they are after SJJ-Western Europe and JFK. Completely different market, Turkish and Pegasus are affected here.
DeleteBig kudos to BiH. BNX, TZL, OMO and now SJJ. Heheh, I still remember that poor guy always fed up of Middle Eastern carriers and praying for a legacy - well, now your prayers have been answered. Lol. Enjoy! :o) <3
ReplyDeleteGenerally a very good year for most BiH airports. Mostar still struggling passenger wise though.
DeleteCongrats to Sarajevo!
ReplyDeleteBtw. Flights to Zagreb are also year-round. You can also buy a ticket for january and february.
Actually, Belgrade is the only destination served year-round as ZAG gets discontinued for two months in winter.
Delete@Anonymous30 August 2018 at 09:26
DeleteWhich two months ?
Flight is not in the system from around December 15 to February 15.
DeleteThat's bizzare. I guess Aegean's loss
DeleteFlights won't be operated between January 16 - February 25, for a total of 40 days.
Delete@11:04
DeleteYou mean they should loose money by flying to Zagreb in winter?
Would they really lose money? I mean they would operate two weekly turboprop. How hard can it be to full 30 seats per flight to have a 50% LF.
DeleteI would love if they came back to Ljubljana. Congrats Sarajevo.
ReplyDeleteVery happy for Sarajevo. Finally a true legacy airline.
ReplyDeleteHopefully the route becomes year round.
ReplyDeleteAgree. Hopefully the route to Sarajevo will do well and they will keep it for winter even with a reduced schedule.
DeleteA reduced schedule would be 1 per week :D
DeleteThey will either extend it and keep it with the same frequencies or keep it seasonal.
DeleteAegean is a great airline and I'm really happy they are spreading their wings across ex-Yu.
ReplyDeleteBut it's a shame that during winter they are almost non existent on ex-Yu market.
DeleteLets hope that they will keep the SJJ flight all year.
DeleteThat is really good news for Bosnian passengers. TK will finally have some real competition.
ReplyDeleteAre you serious?
DeleteTK will have almost triple daily flights and Aeagen just 2 weekly with a turboprop. So no competition.
DeleteVery good news for customers from Sarajevo - they will have more choice and hopefully even better fares!
ReplyDeleteRT fares Sarajevo-Athens on Aegean are 200 euros at the moment.
DeleteOnly the most expensive fare classes are available this early.
DeleteRandom dates in July are 400 euros RT for the basic (Go Light) fare, 460 for FLex. Not cheap but expected for the high season.
DeleteI hope Sarajevo based travel agencies start offering packaged deals to Greece now.
They still haven't loaded the prices yet. If you compare the rest of the destinations, you will see that the prices are very high too. Don't panic.
DeleteMeanwhile, they have launched their summer 2019 for other cities in the region:
ReplyDeleteBEG-ATH 5 weekly A320
DBV-ATH 3 weekly A320
ZAG-ATH 3 weekly DH8
SOF-ATH Daily A320
OTP-ATH 11 weekly A320
TIA-ATH 8 weekly A320
Is there a change compared to this year on any of them?
DeleteBelgrade was three weekly.
DeleteThat's a nice increase
DeleteThis is just a preliminary timetable:
DeleteSPU and ZAD will also be resumed, DBV will be daily as this year.
Yes, Belgrade indeed got a nice increase. If they code share with JU then they can even upgrade to A321.
DeleteThat is bad news for JU.
DeleteI think they do codeshare with JU.
DeleteZagreb is only three weekly in summer?
DeleteZAG:
Delete2 weekly Apr - May
3 weekly June
4 weekly Jul - Aug
JU and A3 are after a different market, A3 is more affected by JU growing in ATH than JU is with A3 growing in BEG.
DeleteStar Alliance dominance at Sarajevo continues.
ReplyDeleteTrue. Very Star oriented airport
Delete- Adria
- Aegean
- Croatia Airlines
- Eurowings
- Lufthansa
- SAS
- Swiss
- Turkish Airlines
And they carry the most passengers from SJJ.
Eurowings is not part of Star Alliance.
DeleteInterestingly no Sky Team at SJJ. Oneworld is represented through Qatar Airways.
DeleteAt this point, the only possible Sky Team airline I see entering Sarajevo is either TAROM or Aeroflot.
DeleteSkyTeam has generally low presence across ex-Yu.
DeleteIf you count code-shares then they are not that bad in BEG.
Delete-Triple daily on SU
- Nine weekly on RO
- Five weekly on HV
- Daily on Alitalia
Plus code-shares:
- 14 weekly on JU to CDG
- 10 weekly on JU from AMS
- JU to SVO
- AZ on JU to FCO, VCE and MXP.
I think LOT will be the next legacy to start flights to Sarajevo. LOT and Aegean have been expanding really nicely in ex-Yu.
ReplyDeleteAeroflot is a possibility too.
DeleteUnlikely with JU around. They codeshare to Tirana as well.
DeleteLOT will probably eventually start Sarajevo with their Dash.
DeleteAs for Aeroflot, possibly. Could be a good alternative from Turkish for Chinese passengers considering they no longer need visas to travel to Bosnia so I'm sure number of visitors will only grow.
I think SJJ needs Pobeda unless INI is not faster.
DeleteIn summer, LOT would get a lot of transfer pax from NA if they start flying to SJJ for sure. However, outside of hte summer months, it would be tough to maintain these any flights.
Delete2 weekly on a Q400 is very cautious. They could have started with at least 3 flights per week.
ReplyDeleteThis is their tactic, should there be demand they will immediately upgrade to A319 or A320.
DeleteAnd it is a smart one.
DeleteWell done Sarajevo. Slowly but surely more and more airlines are coming to Bosnia :)
ReplyDeleteNice to see.
DeleteIs Aegean a profitable company.
ReplyDeleteIt is, unlike ex-Yu carriers.
DeleteDespite constantly growing their flight schedule and destinations are profitable and with good margins.
DeleteIt is interesting that despite being an airline 5 times larger than ASL they have the same number for employees.
Really?? Then they must have a brilliant and efficient management.
DeleteI think they borrowed experience from Kondić, Kučko and Hogan! ;) ;) ;)
They should form a boyband :)
It is because as a 100% private company can operate properly and fly only the routes that are profitable and without having to hire the cousins and girlfriends of politicians like the old Olympic Airways did.
DeleteI still really wonder why A3 has no widebodies to operate to JFK or inherit the previous Olympic routes such as JNB.
DeleteI think their policy to focus on the region only. After all, they won the prestigious "Best Regional Airline" award:
https://en.about.aegeanair.com/media-center/press-releases/2017/h-aegean-brabeyetai-apo-ta-world-travel-awards-2017/
This is the reason why JU and OU are struggling for the award too, which is understandable.
+1
DeleteSMFH how overstaffed our national airline is for the number of passengers it carries...
They have very impressive growth in ex-Yu. Believe it or not back in time (Dec.2003) Aegean's only ex-yu destination was Skopje :)
ReplyDeleteJust noticed that JU charges 150+ euros for BEG-SJJ r/t. I was thinking of taking the trip in October, but the price put me off. This is probably the shortest flight in the network. Not sure what the
DeleteWith or without luggage?
DeleteEUR 169 to be exact in october 15-17.
DeleteNo luggage
118 euros are JU charges, the rest are taxes. This is 104nm segment on ATR72. A bit expensive proposition. What are the average loads on these flights?
DeleteFor such a short flight less than 50min, it's extremely expensive and this without luggage and food included. Such a pity.
DeleteAegean will destroy JU on the future SJJ route.
Only JU operates BEG-SJJ. Aegean will not be able to compete with JU on that route. Thank you for asinine comment.
DeleteItsI SJJ taxes that are making it so expensive. Compare it to BNX.
DeleteHope much is the current SJJ airport tax?
DeleteThis must be the one of the most expensive fares (i.e. ex taxes) in the world per miles flown. No hold luggage, no food, no jet, smallest carry-on...
DeleteWow!
It is simple - alternative ways to travel between cities are not so good, too much time to go by car...
Delete"This must be the one of the most expensive fares (i.e. ex taxes) in the world per miles flown. No hold luggage, no food, no jet, smallest carry-on... "
DeleteMany flights are shorter and way more expensive. For example, check Cape Air on short Boston-Nantucket route (79nm, propeller plane), they charge between 300-400 eur return. Stop hatin' on BEG/JU, you always end up looking dumb.
It's not just about passenger taxes, it's other charges JU has to pay in SJJ, those are the problem.
Delete@anon 02:37
DeleteWow, you dug up an example. Good for you! BTW, nobody mentioned BEG here. This is the new normal, pointing out the facts is branded as hate.
BEG is mentioned as one side of that route. They are not facts if they are not true, that's why calling JU BEG-SJJ route as one of the most expensive in the world per mile flown is not a fact, it's a lie. Same as saying Aegean will destroy JU on that route, when in fact A3 does not fly that route. No facts, all hate in a repeatable pattern every time topic is BEG/JU.
DeleteFact: BEG-SJJ eur 169 Oct 15-17th
DeleteFact 2: BEG is one leg, (great observation, btw), but it is your interpretation that I took a swipe at BEG. I even stripped the taxes to expose pure airline fare only.
Fact 3. Please note the qualifier 'one of' in my comment. I haven't searched the entire universe of fares around the globe. The fact that you found one fare in Nantucket (i had to Google it) doesn't change the fact that JU'S BEG-SJJ is still 'one of' the most expensive.
Fact 4. I didn't make the comment about Aegean so please do not assume things
Delete