Wizz Air's CEO, Jozsef Varadi, has described as "unfortunate" the carrier's limited presence in Croatia, noting that high costs at Zagreb Airport and the coastline, as well as seasonality, are deterring the carrier from expanding its operations in the country. Speaking to EX-YU Aviation News, Mr Varadi said, "Unfortunately, if you look at the Croatian coastline it is a very seasonal business. It is intact for a few months and then sort of dies out for the rest of the year. Zagreb Airport is quite in a similar situation as Belgrade Airport in terms of costs, so I think it is a high-priced airport environment with fluctuating demand. Should the costs come down, I think they would attract us".
Wizz Air maintains limited services to Split, with flights from London Luton, Warsaw and Katowice, but is well behind other low cost competitors on the Croatian market, such as easyJet, Eurowings, Ryanair, Norwegian Air Shuttle and Volotea. Over the years, Wizz has also operated a number of other services into Croatia including Dubrovnik and Zagreb. The airline initially launched operations to the Croatian capital in 2009 with flights from Dortmund but later suspended the service. This winter season, only one low cost carrier, Eurowings, is maintaining flights to Zagreb. However, it too noted last year that the airport's charges are "significantly higher than most major European airports, making it less appealing for low cost carriers". Croatia's busiest airport hiked its fees following the opening of its new passenger terminal in 2017 by two euros per each international passenger for a total of seventeen euros. Wizz Air also ran flights from London to Dubrovnik, which were terminated in 2012.
Mr Varadi noted that overpriced airports are a problem throughout the former Yugoslavia. "For whatever reason, it is still kind of an inherited issue in the region to price airports very high and this is not the recipe for success. The recipe for success is take down airport costs. As a result, you are attracting a lot more capacity into the airport and that capacity will stimulate the marketplace and you will recoup that investment through volume". He added, "I think there is still a lot of legacy thinking with regards to airport management and airport costs. If you look even at some of the privatised airports, not in the former Yugoslavia, but for example in Tirana, it is a privatised airport but we have the same issue in Tirana. To some extent, Skopje is a privatised airport and the development of Skopje is not aided because of the airport, it is more aided by the government's intervention. I think those strategies have to be thought through. But clearly, you have millions of examples in mainland Europe what recipes to follow if you really want drive your aviation and airline industry and, I think, in the former Yugoslavia it revolves around airport costs and the airport operating environment".
Are high costs also a reason why Eurowings is cutting Berlin-Zagreb? This could be an opportunity for LJU and easyJet.
ReplyDeleteBtw does anyone know how much cheaper LJU is compared to ZAG?
+100
DeleteThis is excellent opportunity for LJU.
ZAG has considerably small LCC presence comparing the other European capitals. Hope this gets sorted out. Croatian coast needs more traffic during the off seasons as well.
ReplyDeleteIt's ok, airlines that operate in ZAG are constantly adding flights so it seems the market is adjusting to these new realities.
DeleteConstantly adding flights? British Airways, Qatar Airways, Norwegian Air Shuttle and KLM have all cut flights compared to last year.
DeleteNo, it was only for two months during the slowest period. All airlines do that in the world not just in Croatia.
DeleteNorwegian Air Shuttle is not here just for two months? What are you talking about? No need for excuses. If everyone says the airport is expensive, they are probably not making it up.
DeleteNorwegian is going bankrupt so they need to cut some routes to return to proftability. I am sure they will be back.
DeleteYes and they choose to cut ZAG of all destinations. Excuses.
Deleteyou mean the same way Hainan cut Belgrade? ;)
DeleteAlso why is Eurowings cutting Hamburg? Also because of financial issues?
DeleteAre they cutting Hamburg or Berlin?!
Delete@9.15 I'm talking about Zagreb here. If you run out of excuses and start talking about Belgrade then there is no point discussing anymore. That usually seems to be the norm here. Whenever someone runs out of arguments they start turning to some "arch enemy" airport. Childrens play.
Delete@ 9.17 No, I meant to write Berlin.
DeleteExplain to me then how come Iberia has a market in winter but not Norwegian which is cutting so many flights from BCN as well. ZAG isn't the issue here, DY is.
DeleteExplain to me how come Eurowings is cutting a destination to Zagreb in high season. Why Aegean is completely disappear for 2 months (they don't do this anywhere) - they either fly seasonally or year round.
DeleteEW has many issues and cancelations in their network. They grew too fast without enough plane or crew. Like I said, ZAG is getting more and more flights by other airlines so it doesn't need Wizz Air.
DeleteSo all these cuts and cancellations are the fault of the airlines and not of the airport and its management? Ok.
DeleteConsolidation of airlines has started in Europe, and by the end of this process there'll be not more than 5-10 airlines remained in the continent. That's what happened in US and will happen in Europe too. And of course, consolidation will be accompanied with lots of flight cancellations, route terminations and bankruptcies. In this case, shall we blame the airports and their managements for this process?
DeleteKE has terrible results in November and December in ZAG. No more than 30-40 passengers per widebody flight.
DeleteThey will aslo probably go seasonal.
Not true, Anon 09:46, Croatia (especially ZAG because of Advent) is still packed with Koreans! KE is more than satisfied with its ZAG performance, don't spread fake news, please!
DeleteZAG management is doing a poor job, unfortunately. And there is also OU problem making things more difficult!
DeleteYou are very wrong.
DeleteZAG is probably full of Koreans, but they do not arrive directly from ICN with KE! They land in Germany, make few tours visiting few countries including Croatia and return on the same way they arrived.
KE in November and December in ZAG is terrible. Please check the actual data.
Which actual data? You are making things up like that other guy above saying airlines are fleeing ZAG.
DeleteQatar also downgraded ZAG this winter, from 14 to 13 weekly.
DeleteTry to find them out. Airport data. Actual data.
DeleteThen come and tell us how "great" KE in November and December in ZAG is!
LO is increasing ZAG to double daily in summer so they can carry even more Koreans if KE is empty.
DeleteWho is talking here about the summer?
DeleteSeasonality seems to be killing Ex Yu airports. Air Serbia goes to two weekly flights that they can barely fill. For Croatia I would prefer all airports to have 3 million combined passengers a year but not seasonally the 12 million passnegers they have now. Why would anyone produce chocolate Santa Clauses and earn millions with it when they can produce sth. that is not seasonal and only earn a friction. God has defined seasonal businesses to be bad by definition, and since many here are religious, they nicely obey in opinion. If seasonallity is bad for Wizzair, thank God there are many rational companies out there, that make good money in the season their services are most wanted. I suggest the producers of chocolate Santas to ask the government to reduce taxes on fuel in summer for the transportation of chocolate Santas to the coast, so the can be sold for 10 cents and the guys can make money, because they have just ordered 100million tons of chocolate in Brazil.
Delete@Anon 9:46 - I could not find the statistics you are referring to in the official statistics published by Zagreb airport, if you could share a valid link to the numbers you quoted, that would be great, otherwise don’t be surprised that others call you out for spreading fake news.
Delete@anon 12:42
DeleteDon't be surprised when the official data get published.
Maybe you will remember my words then, but I am sure you will not be around to comment it.
People are way too dramatic on here, I see that Aegean is also doing well as they will be flying 4 times per week this summer.
DeleteNice so Aegean will have as many flights to ATH as it does to BEG.
DeleteBtw what about LHR, will OU fly 3 times? That's what their website says.
The difference being that they will fly with Dashes to Zagreb and A320 to Belgrade, on top of double daily Airr Serbia flights between Belgrade and Athens with A319.
DeleteYes but Agean will be flying daily to DBV and SPU. SO the difference being that DBV will have Volotea, Croatia and Agean the last two daily, SPU 5 times a week on Agean and one weekly on OU.
DeleteAs to the cancellation of TXl-ZAG. This is relatedt to the withdrawal of LGW ops from TXL on which EW relied. They will also reduce SPU from 3 times a week to Saturday only. Otherwise ZAG was performing well for EW since 2002.
Deletehere is the news (unfortunately only in German)
Deletehttp://www.airliners.de/so-lgw-tegel-exit/47761
Whenever someone reduces flights to Croatia or cancels a route it's not because of a lack of demand but because of the airline. Of coutse LOL.
DeleteYou are comparing Belgrade to three different cities in Croatia. I can also tell you there are 100 charter flights per year from Belgrade to Greece but what's the point. You are glorious. Anyone that complains about high airport costs in Croatia is an idiot. Any airline that drops routes to Croatia is because they are going bankrupt and Croats detest flying low cost as they want to burn the millions of euros they have in their pockets - that why there is one LCC which is also dropping flights at ZAG. Let's end it there.
DeleteAegean flies FIVE times per week to Belgrade, not four. Also, JU flies double daily, daily A320 and daily A319 (night flight). Also if we are bringing DBV, SPU, ZAD... into the equation then let's also bring BEG-SKG (double daily) and BEG-HER (two weekly)? Shall we?
DeleteFunny, Croatia is the biggest Ex-Yu market, but obviously not good for them!
ReplyDeleteThat's because most of the traffic that comes to Croatia is on holiday charter flights.
DeleteYes, Anon 9:08, so?
DeleteHaha, yes that is why almost any legacy carrier flies to both DBV and SPU with many also having flights to ZAD and PUY connecting them to the world with their hubs. SPU and DBV will both get flights to America next year. oh yes I forgot, this is seasonal so it is bad.
DeleteIf the situations at ZAG and BEG are the same, as he says, how come they have 2 planes based in BEG.
ReplyDeleteMaybe there is less seasonality at BEG?
DeleteMaybe because there is a bigger market in BEG so paying more is worth it?
DeleteWell BEG is at 5.5 million pax whereas ZAG is at 3. BEG is also slightly less seasonal.
DeleteEven with seasonality BEG has relatively decent numbers during slow months. This year in February it had 297.000 while this November it had 370.000. Not bad for two slowest months in aviation.
DeleteZagreb in comparison: February: 170.658
DeleteNovember: 234.075
ZAG: smaller metro area, not only airport in the country 40% less population and significantly lower amount of LCCs.
Yes but Zagreb is a more sophisticated and prestigious place.
DeleteSo it can have more visitors and passengers.
"more passengers" :-)))
Delete2017
BEG 5,343,420
ZAG 3,092,047
The level of "sophistication" :-)
It is better to eat a spoonful of caviar than ten kilos of tomatoes.
DeleteWhy do you negotiate now with potatoes (they even grow underground) to mix up with yor "caviar"? :-)
DeleteThe level of "sophistication" comes from Croatian citizens being able to fly from different airports that suit them most. I remember times we all had to go to ZAG to fly even when you lived in ZAD or SPU.
Delete@ anon. 11:50
BEG 5,343,420 ==> Serbia 5,7 million pax.
ZAG 3,092,047 ==> Croatia 12 million pax.
You have 12 million pax not because of your population traveling but because of tourists. That's why Dubrovnik in winter has fewer passengers than a place like Nis.
DeleteSerbia landlocked
DeleteCroatia long sea coast
Incomparable
Try to calculate how many passengers Croatia has in continental part and then we can compare it with Serbia :-)
Let's try putting it this way:
DeleteSerbia - further from the western Europe, lots of gasterbaiter passengers.
Croatia - a bit closer to western Europe, more tourists.
If someone is trying to say that Croatia is more sophisticated destination is absolutely crazy. Just like if someone is trying to say that Serbs have more money to travel.
We're all in the more or less same s**t.
Incomparable- so why is then everyone comparing ZAG to BEG. It is obviously incomparable?
Delete@ Anon13.01- yes a lot of tourists are coming to croatia, the same as to Iceland or Switzerland? Iranians and Chinese are no tourists?
@Anon 13.01
DeleteThe Serbian population is also not travelling more. It is the gastarbeiters that travel home. Look at how many Serbs live in Switzerland and compare that to the flights you have. So only a few from Nis are flying to Zürich to spend there monthly income there in one day, but Serbs living in Switzerland fly back home. As simple as that.
What does any of this have to do with Wizz complaining about prices and seasonality in Croatia? Croatia Airlines in its statements completely agrees about seasonality with them (view quarterly reports on their website). Only internet soldiers here don't.
DeleteOh Gosh, I thought you understood
DeleteLet's try once again.
BEG and ZAG are both continental airports and they can be compared.
BEG and DBV can't - different type of passengers totally.
Serbian diaspora is not bigger than Croatian, Serbs have less money to travel abroad, but still we have the fact that Belgrade, passenger wise, has been developed in last 15 years significantly better than ZAG.
Who can remember that 15 years ago the difference between BEG and ZAG was only approx. 400.000 passengers?
2002
BEG 1.621.798
ZAG 1.203.436
Difference 418.362
2017
BEG 5.343.420
ZAG 3.092.047
Difference
2.251.373
Are you 100% certain that Serbian diaspora isn't bigger than Croatian? I'd like to see official numbers.
DeleteOfficial numbers are impossible to get, but close to it you can find this (not counting diaspora in ex-Yu):
Deletehttps://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D1%80%D0%BF%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0_%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%98%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%BF%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B0
http://www.hrvatiizvanrh.hr/hr/hmiu/stanje-hrvatskih-iseljenika-i-njihovih-potomaka-u-inozemstvu/15
In both cases around 3 million
In Switzerland there are 6 times more Serbs than Croats.
Deletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_from_the_former_Yugoslavia_to_Switzerland
2,298,352 emigrants from Serbia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbian_diaspora
ca 900.000 emigrants from Croatia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatian_diaspora
So on top of the popoulation which is factor 1,75 bigger in Serbia than in Croatia, the emigration is factor 2,5 Serbia vs. Croatia.
@ anon 13:52.
DeleteYou might claim what you want but if you compare BEG vs ZAG and say that the difference grew bigger in the last years, ok, but then compare how the traffic in the country grew as well. In 2002 I as a Croat from the SPU/ ZAD area living in FRA had to fly to ZAG, whereas I can now travel to both SPU or ZAD direct without ever touching ZAG to visit my family. And I am no tourist.
In your world you do not want to see that many locals also make use of the flights from coastal airports at least at the time they are available, which is in summer. If there would only be ZAG, it would have over 6 million today.
@anon 14:22
DeleteWhy the number of passengers in ZAG in 2002 was so low if you all had to fly through ZAG?
Number of passengers who fly to SPU or ZAD as locals can be clearly seen during the winter. Summer season would increase that number for certain percentage, but not dramatically.
Without sea coast and foreign tourists airports like SPU would be on INI level.
What is your argument? Probably because aviation is one of the biggest growth industries? So where where those pax in 2002 to BEG? Same question.
DeleteSPU and ZAD have no flights (yet) in winter. Look what happens in SPU when airlines add flights.. Pax numbers go up.
In general Croatia enjoys a higher product of upper class airlines compared to Serbia.
DeleteMost of the bigger international airlines:
American Airlines
Air Canada
British Airways
Norwegian Air Shuttle
Korean Air
Emirates
And soon Singapore Airlines, Asiana & Cathay Pacific.
As for Japan Airlines, I think Slovenia will be quicker by securing LJU-NRT flights.
Norwegian flies to Belgrade and unlike in Croatia they fly year round. Air Canada does not fly to Croatia. You must have confused it with their low cost subsidiary Air Canada Rouge.
DeleteOkay, but in the end I am right, isn't it?
DeleteCroatia has quality and its avioprestige is growing every single year.
Additionally, Serbia relies heavily on charter and transfer passengers which is not the case with Croatia. Charter is becoming extremely important.
Yes BA and KL are so successful in ZAG they both cut flights this winter. Also don't forget LH Mainline doesn't even fly to ZAG in winter, they operate with their regional branch.
DeleteOh, will someone tell this boy he is right?
DeleteHe desperately needs it.
Anon 21.30
DeleteYou are just admitting defeat!
Go play with Lego kid
DeleteLift your game, and let's see what happens...
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteOvaj lik u poslednje vreme samo kuka. Izgleda da gubi trku sa Rajanom u Istocnoj evropi, pa mu svi drugi krivi.
i
i
ZAG can't be more expensive than VIE or ATH or FRA. Wizz Air just wants to pay nothing in Zagreb. That's not how a business is run. They should stick to dead airports like TZL and OSI.
ReplyDeleteCompare the market of ZAG to VIE, ATH and FRA and then think again.
DeleteOK what about smaller airports like Riga or Krakow. I am sure they are not much cheaper than ZAG. I don't know why they are being like that when there is a market they can serve.
DeleteRiga's total charge is 11 euros. Zagreb's is 17.
DeleteHoce dzaba.
DeleteNema tu puno mudrolije, cijena usluga.
Hoces povoljniju cijenu? Povecaj promet.
Yes but again Riga's catchment area is 2 million while ZAG is over 5 million. If you look at the size of the market then Riga isn't that cheap.
DeleteRiga handled 6 million passengers last year. That's double of what Zagreb handled.
Delete@9:18
DeleteThey are.
LOL @ 5 mil catchment area
DeleteVIE, ATH and FRA can be as expensive as they want because they have massive traffic demand.
DeleteZAG not so much. Don't compare apples and oranges.
Yes that is why you can fly Airbaltic for 150€ return from Frankfurt to Moscow. Riga is a transit airport. Most of their pax are counted twice. On top it is the only airport in the country, whereas Croatia has 12 million pax at 10 different international airports
DeletePlus standard of living in Croatia is higher than in Latvia, everything outside of Riga is as poor as Africa.
Delete12 million? Count again.
Delete"Plus standard of living in Croatia is higher than in Latvia, everything outside of Riga is as poor as Africa."
DeleteI would suggest to some Croatian visitors on here travel the world more. You might be surprised.
And be more humble perhaps..
DeleteSo why don't they go to Rijeka then... I am sure their costs are lower and since they want to grow a lot they might give them some subventions. Also during winter it could act like a Zagreb 2 airport, they could attract passengers from Slovenia and even from the Trieste area in Italy.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever driven from Slovenia to Krk? Especially in the summer?
DeleteTrieste... It's not like Treviso is around the corner with LCC connections to entire Europe.
"The recipe for success is take down airport costs. As a result, you are attracting a lot more capacity into the airport and that capacity will stimulate the marketplace and you will recoup that investment through volume".
ReplyDeleteWell said.
Wizz Air has really improved over the years so I would like for them to give ZAG another try. I think they would have much more success than last time.
ReplyDeleteOf course they all want as cheap as they can get it. And they don't care if that will make airport bankrupt. Example of Frankfurt Hahn which had more than 4 million passengers and is on edge of bankruptcy is more than good example. So, was it clever for Hahn to lover prices so low to come to bankruptcy with 4 million passengers?
ReplyDeleteSame with BUD. The airport is going to make a tiny profit only this year after a decade of losses.
DeleteThe argument would make sense if only Zagreb Airport didn't refinance its debt 2 weeks ago and record a loss of several million euros last year.
DeleteThey did enplane that with cost of building new terminal.
DeleteCroatia has the best sea, foods, hotels, so many world heritage sights. We don't need to go holiday abroad. We have the holiday house and spend 1 month or more every year there. If foreigners want to come to our beautiful country, of course expect to pay premier. Croatia is not for budget travellers.
ReplyDeleteTo quote a famous movie -
Delete"Jeli, jes' ti j... nekad nesto van svog sela?"
People come anyway, whatever the price tag and the airline.
DeleteIncomparable with Turkey
DeleteBravo Hrvatska?
DeleteRiiiiiight, we Croats have all the best stuff...
DeleteRog Afrike mi najdraze selo....
DeleteCroatia is still more popular than any other Ex-Yu country, that's the fact. Also, Turkey and some other countries are coming back in the game, another fact.
DeleteOf course, only the BEST. Every country seems to claim they are the best around the Balkans...
DeleteCroatia is beautiful!
DeleteWe can agree that HR is not targeting budget/mass tourists. So why should the tourism strategy involve subsidizing Wizzair?
DeleteIt subsidizes Ryanair, Norwegian air shuttle, Eurowings, Easy Jet. Why not Wizz Air?
DeleteAnonymous10 December 2018 at 09:46
Deleteyou crack me up :-). I don't thing he understand what is the point of your comment
Emirates also gets help from the government, that is the tourist board.
Delete..which delivers rich Asians who can afford 5€ for a coke and pay back the subsidy at least 100 times over thier visit.
DeleteAnonymous10 December 2018 at 09:42
DeleteYeah, we're standing on the top of the world, no one can't touch us.
A shot of reality check is desperately needed...
Wizz Air already flies to Split, why not opening new routes from Eindhoven or Rotterdam to Zadar?
ReplyDeleteKako ne kuzis???
DeleteOno sto oni zele nisu nove linije, vec letjeti na postojecim s nizim troskovima......
Sad jasnije?
It is interesting this comment comes at the moment when ZAG is having negotiations with FR.
ReplyDeleteI wonder where are now all those experts saying how ZAG is only legacy carrier airport and that ZAG does not need those terrible (U)LCC's.
Ermmmm they are only negotiating, nothing is concluded!
DeleteThey would not negotiate with FR if they weren't interested Ryanair to fly from ZAG.
DeleteSeriously, how come Wizz is the only LCC that finds Croatian airports too expensive? How come so many other LCCs fly there regardless of airport fees?
ReplyDeleteOK, some may say others only fly in high season. Well, so could Wizz. What prevents them from opening a couple of seasonal routes, the same way as so many LCCs do?
Well others have complained - Eurowings and Ryanair to be more precise. ZAG wants to decrease concession fee because it says its the only way they could lower prices for LCCs that way.
DeleteIt's also the only LCC carrier to pay taxes in a non-EU country where only couple of offices are located.
DeleteStill not enough profit I guess.
It seems to me the Wizz board is convinced they can struck a kind of bargain they got in SKP or TZL anywhere in the Balkans - they just need to bash the local authorities a bit and things will go their way (i.e. airport operators will be begging them to come at any cost - preferably zero cost).
ReplyDeleteOni u Osijeku i Rijeci mozda.....za ostale nisam siguran
DeleteI think ZAG knows about this and does not want to change. Firstly, it's protecting its prestige by not allowing lower class airlines such as Wizzair to operate.
ReplyDeleteIf you look at the airlines operating they are>
Emirates > not flydubai
Iberia > Not Iberia Express
Air France > not Transavia or Hop! (terrible name)
Top 5 star airlines: EK, KE, BA, etc.
Also 99% of the routes are to primary and less secondary.
Primary destinations: DXB, SEL, CPH, YUL, etc.
Other countries have even tertiary cities such as Växjö or Treviso.
ZAG is a highly sophisticated product of the French, it´s making them lots of money and they want to keep it that way.
Half of the things you wrote are downright false. Interestingly I see Flydubai landing in Zagreb today and tomorrow and the day after. Also there are no flights to YUL. Stop writing rubbish.
DeleteAlso ZAG posted a loss last year and it's not going to get better this year either.
SKP has flights to DXB and CPH as well. But you are right, just like Zagreb it has no flights to Montreal.
Deletehahaha. this is so funny!
Delete"Highly sophisticated product of the French" is currently negotiating with Ryanair - the company with the worst service in Europe!
I really hope you are joking!
Ne pricaj svasta.....
DeleteAerodrom je aerodrom, sam sebi nije svrha postojanja.
Obviously this anonymous, like their comment at time 09:42 (writing style the same) is just trying to stir the pot.
DeleteThe worst service in Europe? Have you ever flown with them at all?
DeleteThey have new aircraft, they are SAFE, not 1 sole crash ever since they were founded.
Thanks to them people can now fly for less money and discover new places never seen before.
Dude, you can fly from Continental Europe to the Canary Islands for 80-100 squid return.
You can fly from BNX to CRL, the capital of Europe for 5€.
You can fly from INI to BTS for 5€.
You can fly from ZAD to Germany for 15€. I didn't hear anyone from Zadar complaining.
But anyway, back to Zagreb. It really remains the most sophisticated airport in ex-Yu and possibly the entire Balkan region.
he has not realized yet that ZAG is run by TAV
DeleteZLZ ne potrebuje nizkocenovnikov. Oni igrajo na drugačni segment potnikov. Dejansko je LJU postalo nepomembno majhno letališče, kamor prihajajo LCC in polnijo svoje sedeže s potniki iz Zagreba in okolice, medtem ko slovenci polnimo letala, ki letijo iz ZLZ. Francozi, lastniki letališča, vedo da morajo prikazovati izgubo, ker jim v tem primeru nasproti pride država s subvencijami. Prav tako država preko oglaševalskih pogodb, subvenicionira letalske povezave Zagreba z leti daljšimi od 2500 milj. Kako se jim to izplača je drugo vprašanje. HTZ je preračunala in očitno ugotovila da se nekajmiljonski vložki v privabljanje potnikov iz daljnih trgov izplača. Wizz je za hrvaški trg nepomemben, tao kot Ryanair. Potniki, ki letijo z LCC so pomembni samo za mrtvo sezono, da kljub vsemu zasedejo hotele in sobe. Tekom visoke sezone je privaljbljanje LCC čisto in povsem brez pomena. Vsa obmorska letališča so poleti polno zasedena. LCC bi delali samo gnečo, dodane vrednosti na potnika pa skoraj nebi bilo, oziroma je premajhna za povračilo izgube vrednosti slota, ki bi ga lahko prodal letalski družbi, ki bi pripeljala potnike z debelejšo denarnico.
Delete@anon 10:54
DeleteYes, I have flown with them. Many times.
You did not understand my post. I did not mention safety issue anywhere. I meant service. Huge, huge difference in aviation world.
Attractive price? Ok, sure. What does it have to do with the quality of service? Nothing.
Once again, I was talking about service. S-E-R-V-I-C-E.
Have you ever been left by FR on some distant airport where FR cancelled their flight and did not offer you any alternative?
This is called service buddy.
Sure, FR presence in ZAG is determinating factor for ZAG's "sophistication" :-)
↓ ↓ ZAG sophistication explained below ↓ ↓
DeleteI can't think of another airport in the Balkans with a direct route to Korea.
I can't think of another airport in the Balkans with connections to 2 of Canada's biggest cities.
ZAG has one of the most developed domestic network in the Balkans.
ZAG is now family of a huge French conglomerate which adds to the prestige of the airport.
I think ZAG can easily handle flights to SIN, KUL and maybe in 8-10 years possibly Australia where there is a huge Croatian diaspora.
I know you are thinking this is not possible but you all said this about Korean Air and look where we are now.
You still lack nonstop flights to Rome and year round flights o Stockholm... Also this notion if you repeat a lie it becomes the truth is dumb - there are no flights between Zagreb and Montreal. There were 4 ONE WAY flights between the two cities in September which Air Transat explained (their spokesperson was quoted here) that it was done on a one off basis for a group. There are no flights scheduled to Montreal next year. So please stop with this "connections to 2 of Canada's biggest cities" because it is simply false.
DeleteCan someone please explain to Anon 11.43 that Athens and Istanbul are both Balkan airports.
DeleteDid you understand now what means service kid?
DeleteYou are talking as if you were József Janos Váradi or Akbar Al Baker. Thank you for explaining what an airline service is. Ryanair will still exist whether you like it OR NOT, понимаешь?
DeleteYou are very welcome.
DeleteDo not be afraid next time to ask something you do not understand
Wizzair has a big problem!!! They have hundreds of aircraft on order which they will eventually have to fly somewhere. Well, they are already expanding into Western Europe. Their initial focus point and business model however relies on stimulating demand with ultra low fares on the back of the airports. When airports like DBV and SPU grow with their charges being no problem for the likes of EasyJet or Norwegian, because they can charge the prices from their passengers, like Wizz can also from LTN or WAW or KTW, this goes to show that their business model (filling 200 planes) one day, will only work with low fares. This however will only work with airports lowering their taxes. I personally think that the position airlines / airports will change very soon in the favour of airports. So no need to rush for Croatian airports.
ReplyDeletehe basically said that if it wasnt for the mk government, SKP wouldnt have a single based aircraft. TAV TAV TAV what a misery
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteTAV s sitting back and earning their profits while the state gives subventions to W6.
Haters and fanboys don't realize this is beyond the traditional ex-Yu rivalry. The fact is that most of major airports here are PRIVATELY owned or managed and all they care for is lower-costs-higher-profit. The airlines do the same. Yet Varadi is saying that this reluctance to lower airport fees is specific to the region so it would be very interesting to see how are TAV, ADP, FRAPORT, LIMAK and soon VINCI managing their other airports, are they more successful and why.
DeleteThat's not a problem because Croatia is the richest country in Europe and they don't need cheap LCCs, only premium carriers. Even if Wizz flew to ZAG, there would be no passengers, because Croats are so rich they can easily afford to fly business class in even the most expensive airlines. Tourist wouldn't use Wizz either, because Croatia is a premium holiday destination and as such attracting only wealthy tourists. I'm actually surprised that no airline is sending their widebodies in first and business class only configurations. Oh well, they will soon enough.
ReplyDeleteLOOL!
Delete+100
Troll
DeleteHave you heard for irony?
DeleteYou mean sarcasm?
Delete@ anon13:57 .... you do realize that ZAG and other Croatian airports grow DESPITE having almost NO LCC. Although I do get your your Irony there is unfortunately some truth in it. ZAG for instance has 9% growth this year, unfortunately WITHOUT any LCC.
DeleteBtw. Croatia was one of the fastest growings markets in EU this year with 17%
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/9428738/7-06122018-AP-EN.pdf/50a52d8d-3f61-4517-ace3-d3f56ed5cd91
Anon @15:06, I'm not saying ZAG wouldn't grow without LCCs, but the growth could be a lot higher if ZAG attracted some LCCS. Of course a country with booming tourism and 20 million tourists will still attract a large number of passengers on more expensive airlines, but if they had a choice, many of them would much rather choose W6 over OU/LH/whatever. My comment was simply a reference to many people here that think LCCs are totally unnecessary for ZAG.
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ReplyDeleteZagreb Airport possibly keeps high prices to protect domestic airline from low cost competition. One journalist said: Normalno je da država štiti svog nacionalnog avioprevoznika, ali mora se znati gde su granice. Jedno je štititi, a drugo je raditi direktno protiv konkurencije
ReplyDeleteWhat are you talking about? The airport is privatized. Why would the French protect OU?
DeleteBecause they are their biggest customer and biggest single source of income and passengers.
DeleteSo? You think that other airlines wouldn't swoop in if OU goes belly up? And why would you protect a stagnating airline that has no vision?
DeleteBecause regardless of vision they pay for their services. If Croatia went belly up, Ryan would request even bigger discounts.
DeleteAnd is Ryan the only airline?
DeleteRe: frishki
DeleteMaybe because OU is their biggest customer having more than 50% of the passengers at ZAG?
So was Malev in BUD and BUD didn't go under once Malev did.
DeleteAirport is not privatized, it continues to be owned by the government. If there are unpublished trade secret parts of concession contract they might have details on how government wants to protect its carrier. Losing OU would have great impact on tourism and airport itself as many routes would not be replaced by other airlines. Malev was replaced by Wizz and it took many years for BUD to recover from passenger and revenue loss. As there won't be a new Wizz started in ZAG or BEG if JU/OU go under, governments are right to protect them through concession contracts.
DeleteSo, what is the point of giving an airport under the concession if it is not up to the concessionaire to make decisions?
DeleteThe point of concession from government point of view is to receive upfront cash payment plus some annual revenue plus major infrastructure investment such as new terminal or runway. From concessionaire perspective, they get to use synergies from operating and building network of airports around the world such as increasing non-aviation portion of the revenue, bring additional airlines that would not directly compete with national airline and in the long run recoup investment. In short: government doesn't have to invest $100's of millions and gets money right away, concessionaire invests right away but makes money over a long period.
DeleteBoth concessions are similar that way and Wizz complains about high prices at both airports but local media treat them differently. Even media with the same name operating in both cities treat them very differently.
DeleteIn a free market "štititi" = "raditi protiv konkurencije"
DeleteSkopje Airport 17,50 EUR per passenger
ReplyDelete= Wizz Air is satisfied
Zagreb Airport 17,00 EUR per passenger
= Wizz Air is not satisfied
only difference is in 5.000.000,00 subvention by Macedonian government
= bingo!!!!! how to make Wizz Air satisfied!!!!
HAHAHAHAHAHA are you seriously comparing ZAG and SKP? Without subsidies ZAG will have 3.4 million. SKP WITH subsidies barely passes 2.1 million.
DeleteWithout five million SKP would have 850.000 today.
Sad, but true.
DeleteSKP is a mono airline airport and simply cannot be compared to ZAG.
trash talk which should be ignored, although I believe Zag could find it useful to have at least 10% of ULCC, and in term of them flying year round could give them proportional discount, like in other airports, nothing more
ReplyDeleteFunny enough, nobody mentions the fact there is no Zagreb-Budapest flight, nor from any other Croatian town. With the demise of MALEV, Wizz Air practically became Hungarian national carrier
ReplyDeleteI don't find it funny since Zagreb and Budapest are 3 hours apart with the highway.
Delete