The 2018/19 winter season begins today and will run until March 31 of next year, signalling changes for both the national carriers of the former Yugoslavia, as well as airports across the region.
Adria Airways will operate 163 weekly flights to eighteen destinations. Unlike last winter, the Slovenian carrier will be run flights to three new destination - Bucharest, Dusseldorf and Sofia - and will establish a new base in Paderborn, Germany with services to Zurich, Vienna and London Southend. In a statement, the carrier said, "Taking into account the long-term goals of the company, this year's winter season focuses more on the stability of operations in the segment of scheduled transport and the strengthening of international relations with other airlines". Ljubljana Airport will welcome Aeroflot today with a new daily service from Moscow, while easyJet will maintain its flights from Berlin launched this summer.
 |
| Aeroflot SSJ100 arrives in Ljubljana on inaugural flight |
Air Serbia will increase its frequencies to Zurich with an additional three weekly services for a total of seventeen, add an extra weekly rotation to Stockholm for a total of four per week and upgrade its seasonal Larnaca service to year-round operations this winter. In addition, numerous airlines will be increasing their offer from Belgrade Airport, including Austrian Airlines, Air Cairo, Aeroflot, Belavia, easyJet, Etihad Airways, Red Wings Airlines, LOT, Norwegian Air Shuttle, TAROM and Transavia. In sddition, Iran Air plans to resume its two weekly operation from Tehran on November 24. Overall, the airport will see a 5.4% increase in the number of scheduled flights when compared to last winter season. Wizz Air will introduce a new service from Niš Airport to Vienna, however, it will discontinue services from Malmo, with the last flight scheduled to operate on January 7, 2019.
Croatia Airlines will be offering more flights than last winter with services from Zagreb to Mostar, launched over the summer, to be maintained twice per week. Furthermore, the airline will add an additional weekly service from Split to Munich and will extend its seasonal flights between Rijeka Airport and the Bavarian capital to year-round operations. It marks the first time Croatia Airlines will be operating out of Rijeka throughout the entire year. Furthermore, Zagreb Airport is set for a strong winter season. Korean Air will serve the Croatian capital from Seoul with the return service to be maintained via Zurich, while Aegean Airlines has upgraded its seasonal summer flights between Athens and Zagreb to year-round operations. Similarly, Spain's Iberia has extended its operations from Madrid to the Croatian capital past the summer months, while Aeroflot will be adding more frequencies. Flydubai will resume operations to Zagreb from December, replacing its partner Emirates on the route from Dubai until the start of the summer season.
Montenegro Airlines will retain the same number of flights this winter season. Skopje Airport will be linked to Athens this winter for the first time in eleven years once Aegean Airlines resumes services between the two cities next Thursday. On the other hand, Wizz Air will discontinue its flights from Skopje to Barcelona and Vaxjo this winter, although the carrier could add new destinations, depending on the outcome of a planned tender by the Macedonian government to stimulate the introduction of new routes. Ohrid Airport will be linked to Vienna though a new service to be launched by Wizz Air on November 17.
Tuzla Airport will see a notable reduction in operations this winter as Wizz Air rests four of its routes including Billund, Baden Baden, Stockholm Skavsta and Vaxjo. All are expected to resume from April next year. In contrast, Banja Luka Airport is expected to see a surge in passenger numbers as Ryanair enters the Bosnian market next Tuesday with flights from Stockholm Skavsta, Charleroi and Memmigen to Banja Luka. Simmilarly, Pristina Airport is preparing for a busy winter season, which will see it handle more flights than ever before. A number of carriers have committed to increasing frequencies from the city when compared to last year. Among them are easyJet from Basel and Berlin, Edelweiss Air from Zurich, Adria Airways to Frankfurt, Pegasus Airlines from Istanbul, Wizz Air from London and Germania from Zurich. In addition, low cost carrier Wizz Air will expand its operations from Pristina with the introduction of three new routes. The airline will add three weekly flights from Memmingen next Tuesday, from Basel on November 20 and Dortmund on December 15.
I'm interested to see how Aeroflot will perform on its flights to Ljubljana and whether it has some impact on Adria.
ReplyDeleteThis has been their initial reaction
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2018/10/adria-responds-to-aeroflot-competition.html
So I guess these new flights are having an impact on them.
Anyone know what the load was like on the first flight?
DeleteAny introductory special fares promo ex Ljubljana via Moscow further on (e.g. to asian destinations)?
Delete67 v Lju , 70 v Svo
Delete"Overall, the airport will see a 5.4% increase in the number of flights"
ReplyDeleteNot bad for BEG. Hopefully this translates in more passengers.
Last year's increase in flights was 3.6%.
DeleteSo 9% increase in two years, not bad but not great either.
DeleteNot bad, but still room for improvement. September results were really disappointing. More work is needed by Vinci.
DeleteMore than 10% cumulative growth over two winters is not bad.
Delete@anon 09:38
DeleteAny clue/updates when they will (finally) take over and start (re)developing airport?
There doesn't need to be any clues. They are waiting for the final loan to be approved from EBRD which is planned from 31st October.
DeleteThey will take the airport over in December. VINCI guys are already at the airport monitoring how things are being run.
Would be cool to have interview with them.
DeletePristina and Banja Luka will be the two star airports this winter season.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteIf we didn't get KE, this winter season in ZAG would be rather dull. I hope the airport does a better job for next summer.
ReplyDeleteWhat are you talking about? New flights from Athens, Seoul and Madrid this winter.
DeleteYou do realize those Athens flights won't operate for almost two months and are on a crappy, loud turboprop? Seoul is the only real and impressive addition that impacts the airport numbers.
DeleteMadrid is a very good addition as well.
DeleteAthens flights won't operate for just 5 weeks from middle of January until the end of February.
DeleteIt really isn't that bad and the Q400 is far from crappy. It is much more quiet and faster than an ATR. It will also allow ZAG to keep the flight without having the burden of feeling up a 170 seat A320.
My point is that Aegean can't impact the numbers at the airport. IteIlike they are not there. They might carry 200 passengers per week.
DeleteZagreb looking good this winter. Has CSA cancelled plans to operate all winter?
ReplyDeleteBy looking good I suppose you mean the Christmas decoration they are going to put up? Yes, there are no OK flights in the system. Also for a brief period Aegean and British Airways will reduce flights.
DeleteNo, I mean traffic wise as there will be more flights and destinations then last year.
DeleteYes but the only real addition is KE. Aegean is nice but it can't impact the numbers with 2 weekly Q400 flights and a 1.5 month break.
DeleteI still hope for 10% because of Advent in December but let's see.
There are five flights to SVO today because of the season switch so SU has a flight at both 00.50 and 23.35 in addition to their brand new departure at 18.45. :D
ReplyDeleteFrom where?
DeleteWhat do you think? From Belgrade of course, that's where they have the most flights in the region.
DeleteMaybe, but Moscow is traditionally linked to 4 Bulgarian airports each winter.
DeleteStill surprised that Pobeda never launched INI. This route is needed.
Tricky winter ahead for Skopje. Fewer flights from Wizz and reduction from QR.
ReplyDeleteThey will be fine since Wizz is operating two A321s out of Skopje this winter. The QR reduction will have no imoact. They were flying half empty last winter anyway.
DeleteAnd nothing new for Sarajevo :(
ReplyDeleteAt least they started construction of the new terminal
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2018/10/sarajevo-airport-begins-terminal.html
Does anyone know what's the capacity difference on ZAG DXB this winter compared to last?
ReplyDeleteI would say 3 times less. The EK 773 has around 360 seats vs 170 flydubai.
DeleteSerious downgrade.
That route is just not working. Why?
Delete170 instead of 360 is much closer to 2 times less seats instead of 3.
DeleteAlso if the route didn't work they would have just abandoned it. They wouldn't have put daily flyDubai flights to keep it going during the slow season.
I think it works in summer but not so much in winter. For EK that is.
DeleteSome serious advanced math perfeormed by Anon 9:47. How is 5*360 three times greater than 7*170? That’s not even two times less, 34% reduction, though roughly 1 in 4 flights last winter were performed by 77L instead of 77W.
Delete@11.25
DeleteYou still don't understand : It hurts so much EK is flying to ZAG that lies must be written in order to feel better. As simple as that. But who cares : Daily DXB continues from ZAG year-round, winter on ultramodern 737MAX, from April back to best - service-every 777, and it's only that matters, and haters can hate as much as they want
Attack is the best defense. I guess you are still in shock ZAG failed as a year-round destination for EK. There is nothing to be jealous of really and as for that state of the art MAX, it has been flying to SKP for ages now, nothing new for this region.
DeleteExcept the route hasn't failed. EK didn't have smaller planes when they first started flying to ZAG, so they had to send 77Ws and 77Ls even during winter which made the schedule really awkward as they had to fly 4-5pw while their competition, QR and TK, both fly daily with multiple frequencies. Once they signed the cooperation with FZ, they had more appropriate planes for winter months with which they can fly 7pw and be much more competitive.
DeleteAs for 737MAX, I could not fly any airline currently regularly flying 737MAX to SKP. TK announced they will be using their 737MAX-8 on IST-SKP route only from Winter 2018, the same time as FZ will start flying with it regularly to ZAG. TK has been operating 737MAX-8 to SJJ, though not for "ages", but since August. Not a single airport has seen 737MAX-8 "for ages" since it's only been little less than a year and a half since it entered into service, which makes it pretty much a state-of-the-art plane.
Flydubai has been flying the 737MAX8 since March every day to Belgrade.
DeleteTK and QR are very agressive lately and EK is starting to struggle.
DeleteNew ISL airport will officially begin in January 2019 and TK are now offering super good prices and connectiones.
ZAG will most likely increase to 3 or 4 daily and also LJU.
Anon 12:46, good catch, I focused on TK so I forgot that FZ also flies to BEG.
DeleteAn. 11.55
DeleteIf you think lie repeated will become truth because it's told again, so sorry : EK did not fail in ZAG as they increased winter operations from 5 weekly to daily
It's a downgrade because there are less seats on sale.
DeletePassengers will have better connection options with 7 instead of 5 flights, and DXB is all about connections, company will have better load factor and better financial results. Win Win for both sides except for haters who cannot accept the fact both EK and FZ fly to ZAG
DeleteSmaller plane, worse service, less seats available...no, it is not downgrade.;-)
DeleteIf it was a B777 last winter while its a B737 this then it can only be a downgrade. That's like switching from a horse to a donkey and saying it's not a downgrade because both have four legs.
DeleteAnon 14:51, it is a downgrade and it is a donkey, but we'll get the horse back! :)
DeleteDowngrading from legacy to low-cost is nothing to be ashamed of. The passenger is price sensitive and it´s a 5h hour flight anyway. Any Croat can just buy that sandwich and survive but he doesn´t want to pay for a more expensive service in winter.
DeleteJust take JU as a reference. The Serb today doesn´t want metal cutlery and chic menu but wants to travel for less money.
No problems at all. I hope FZ always fly to ZAG from now on.
"but he doesn´t want to pay for a more expensive service in winter."
DeleteBut in the summer he is happy to pay for more expensive service :-))
I like so much all these attempts to belitlle ZAG and its EK service, the only in the "region". Shows how right I was when I said it hurts so much. LOL. But as I consider myself being civilized and rational person, I accept your arguments and hereby I confirm that there is downgrade in ZAG with EK in terms of seats offerred. I also expect you to admit there is no downgrade when we talk about connectivity and profits. But even if you don't want to admit it and continue claiming it's downgrade only, I don't mind it as well. It will just confirm my haters theory. And I am pretty sure that 3 weekly wide body Korean this winter will be more than enough to compensate for this EK's "serious downgrade" LOL!
DeleteWhy do you immediately call people haters? Don't you think that it's silly to insist that it is not a downgrade when you have a B777 one day and then a B737 the next? Isn't it a downgrade to have a legacy carrier one day and then an LCC the other? You attack others who point out these things and they are supposedly haters but you are not delusional for claiming otherwise? Just because an ostrich puts its head in the sand doesn't mean others don't see it.
DeleteAnd by the way, there is nothing to hurt here. Some other airports in the region have had a connection to DXB long before you had airbridges at your airport.
Finally, you called us haters when we said there is no demand for year-round flights. Shouldn't you apologize now when we were proven right?!
"Ljubljana Airport will welcome Aeroflot today with a new daily service from Moscow"
ReplyDeleteBye, bye Adria, it was nice knowing you.
Very possible scenario. According to LJU airport timetable there is no more JP flights to Warsaw during the winter, just LO 7 times per week.
DeleteUnfortunately Dubrovnik sees a lot of cuts this winter - British Airways, Turkish and Vueling.
ReplyDeleteTuzla Airport will have the most cuts this winter.
DeleteShame. Dubrovnik really needs to start working harder to develop as year round destination. 4 months of bathing season and 6 months of cruisers are not sufficient.
DeleteI just noticed OS is flying nonstop to DBV also beginning of November. I couldn't find direct flights for Dec but at least some improvement, however when it comes to new destinations on the Balkans or at least extending seasonal flights OS is usually really conservative.
DeleteGood luck to all airlines/airports. Hope some records will be broken.
ReplyDeleteAny idea why the delays at OU today??
ReplyDeleteTechnical problem with one of the aircraft I think.
DeleteSeems like there were issues with two aircraft, a Q400 and A319.
DeleteOU 460 ZAG-ZRH dep. 08.30 act 11.55
OU 480 ZAG-CPH dep. 08.45 act 11.06
OU 450 to AMS was late 30 minutes but that's not too bad.
My guess is that the two aircraft above had technical issues.
Horrible for the passengers and it's unbelievable OU isn't managing to fix these issues with delays. Yesterday FRA was late by 5 hours, ZAD an hour, MUC cancelled, SKP almost three hours...
DeleteReally unbelievable!!! Airline to have 6 flights delayed out of 100. In winter. Absolutely intolerable. It can happen only in Croatia Airlines. LOL
DeleteIt's not just today and not just during winter. It was a major problem in August. Just look at Skytrax or Tripadvisor or you can read a trip report published on this page today. And I'm not speaking about delays up to an hour. Due to technical problems with aircrafts flights were delayed for several hours, several in a row in a single day. On the top of that OU in lots of occasions opted to leave the passengers in the aircrafts for several hours just with a glass of water. It's really a pity that both JP and OU turned into a very unreliable companies due to cancelations (OU in spring, JP in last few months) and constant (long) delays.
DeleteAnon 13.59
DeleteWhat has winter got to do with anything? It's not like there is a massive snow storm in Zagreb. This is clearly a technical issue with OU's fleet. These delays are going on for a while now.
I think there is a neck to neck, healthy competition between JAT, OU and JP.
DeleteAll 3 airlines are trying to attract as many transfer passengers as possible. The regional title is very hard to achieve and needs decades sometimes.
JAT does not exist since 1991 (not speaking formal but factical). It died together with Yugoslavia
Deletebe prepared for dangerous ice conditions and fly safe and responsible in good weather,avoid bad weather airports.
ReplyDeleteI hope JU's extra flights to ZRH are performing well, today's flight is on an A320. :)
ReplyDeleteAny cancelled flights today from Adria?
ReplyDeleteNope, none today.
Delete+100
DeleteAt the end of RTV SLO tv segment about Aeroflot flying to Ljubljana, there was an interview with Fraport representatives; construction of new terminal should start in spring ‘19 and to be opened for public at the start of spring ‘21
ReplyDeleteSo it's delayed. They promised opening in 2020.
Delete