Greece's Aegean Airlines will continue to grow its network in the former Yugoslavia for a fifth consecutive year in 2019, with one new route to be launched this summer, while there will be further capacity and frequency increases on almost all existing services. Sarajevo will become the carrier's newest seasonal destination, with two weekly flights from Athens set to launch on June 13. Services will be maintained each Thursday and Saturday with the 78-seat Dash 8 turboprop aircraft until September 14. Furthermore, Aegean will strengthen its offer to Skopje this coming summer season. The airline will maintain three weekly services on the route between June 1 and September 28 with the Dash 8, up from two this winter.
In Croatia, the Greek carrier will boost operations to Zagreb, Dubrovnik and Split but will not be returning to Zadar, which it introduced on a seasonal summer basis last year. Aegean will add an extra rotation from Athens to Zagreb between July 4 and September 16 for a total of four per week, while an additional weekly flight will be run to Split during the peak summer months in July and August, totalling five weekly services. Both cities will be served by the Dash 8 turboprop aircraft. On the other hand, the Greek airline faces fresh competition in Dubrovnik with low cost Volotea to introduce flights from Athens to the sea-side city this summer. As a result, it will decrease operations to Dubrovnik to five per week, down from daily, but will boost capacity by operating its mainline Airbus A320 aircraft instead of the Dash 8, with the capacity to seat 174 passengers, on four out of the five weekly departures.
Aegean Airlines will increase frequencies to Belgrade from three to five per week from April 1, with all services to be maintained with the Airbus A320 aircraft. In contrast, Podgorica will be one of the few routes to be reduced compared to last year, with services to run twice instead of three weekly. 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".
Overall very strong showing from Aegean. They should turn more seasonal routes into year round though.
ReplyDeleteBelgrade, Zagreb and Skopje are year round for now. We will see what happens with Sarajevo.
DeleteRoute to Sarajevo is operating till mid September. Highly doubt it will be extended. Otherwise it would have been scheduled until the end of October.
DeleteSarajevo, like Podgorica, is seasonal only.
DeleteDoes Aegean fly to ZAG in January / February?
DeleteFlights resume on 25.02. Two weekly.
DeleteThank you. So it means they are not flying to ZAG year round after all.
DeleteThat's correct, they don't fly during the slowest period.
DeleteDo they fly to ZAG in January? Well they flew until Mid January- so do they fly in January? :D
DeleteI think they stopped flights either on 07.01 or 10.01.
DeleteI thought they would increase SKP by more considering it used to be served daily once with larger planes.
ReplyDeleteThey are generally cautious when it comes to expansion.
DeleteBut they are also smart about it. If a route doesn't work they suspend it quickly like Zadar. Same story with Ljubljana.
DeleteSuspending Zadar makes sense with SPU being so close.
ReplyDeleteThey could try out maybe another route in Croatia. Pula perhaps?
DeleteCroatia needs to advertise itself as a tourist destination to Greece a lot more.
DeleteI don't see any reason for these flights. Hardly and Greek will go to Croatia for vacations. And vice versa.
DeleteI've been to Athens, Thessaloniki, Rhodos and both Xania and Herakleon on Crete. Lot of high school excursions from Croatia to Greece, second most popular after Spain, also lot of people from Zagreb who like change from Croatian coast from time to time especially Greek coast being more to the South and warmer after the peak season plus Greek history, so I wouldn't agree with you
DeleteAll that is not justifying flights to Croatian coast, maybe to ZAG. But we'll see the confirmation once the remaining coastal airports drop off. Just like ZAD did.
DeleteOHD could be next.
ReplyDeleteBNX is also a possibility.
DeleteOHD with ATR42 twice per week could work.
DeleteThe new BNX management should really make them a proposal about starting flights.
DeleteIsn't Aviolet flying BNX-ATH this summer?
DeleteYes, JU will be flying to both Turkey and Greece from BNX. Just goes to show how much the market was underserved.
DeleteIt's confirmed btw, JU will have one weekly to AYT and one weekly to Greece, we don't know where yet.
DeleteWhich airline has been most impacted by their growth in the region?
ReplyDeleteMy guess that's TK and maybe Pegasus.
DeleteWhen they started flying to ZAG last year it was mentioned that in 2017 44% of traffic from Zagreb to Athens went with Air Serbia. The second choice was Austrian via Vienna.
Deletethis development isn't quitevl good for Croatia Airlines. Between a nonstop flight from Zagreb to Athens and a flight that goes via Dubrovnik, I think the majority will choose the nonstop flight.
DeleteWho is cheaper on the ZAG route? Croatia Airlines or Aegean?
DeleteBoth are about the same but OU has a stop in DBV so I doubt many are still flying with them.
DeleteTheir growth in ExYu region is also bad news for JU.
DeleteMost used to fly to Greece via BEG before A3 expanded.
Considering JU will have 28 scheduled weekly flights to Greece during the summer and flies year round from Athens and Thessaloniki, it wouldn't seem they are too affected.
DeleteBut it sounded good to them
DeleteAnon 09.40
DeleteSince Aegean suspended LJU, does it also mean JU defeated them there? ;)
Does it mean it was good news for JU?
DeleteYou are obviously new here, it's never good news for JU... even when it is.
DeleteI think they are increasing Belgrade to four weekly already in March.
ReplyDeleteNice. And good to see no more turboprops on the route.
DeleteThey can't compete with JU while sending a turboprop. ATH-BEG will be 19 a week this summer, it has to be a record.
DeleteI flew BEG-ATH-BEG last July with Air Serbia. Both flights on A320. 90% of passengers were Greek.
DeleteOh and both flights packed too.
DeleteThere is potential for Wizz to start this route. If only they weren't so stubborn.
DeleteW6 would definitely shake up JU and A3 on this route and I'm sure they would be successful.
DeleteThey are staying away because with Aegean you can already fly there and back for less than €90. What extra thing would they really bring?
DeleteMaybe FR could start it. They have a base in ATH.
DeleteFR and W6 aren't doing all that well on ATH-Balkans market.
DeleteFR is flying SOF-ATH daily for 3 years now.
DeleteBut Wizz Air cut the route or made it seasonal, can't remember now.
DeleteWizz was just 1 of the 4 airlines doing the route. Somebody needs to step down.
DeleteYeah but imagine how humiliating it was for them to be outperformed by decaying Air Bulgaria. :D
DeleteGood to hear about Sarajevo. It's one of the few bigger ex-Yu cities missing from their network.
ReplyDeleteBut very limited number of flights.
DeleteI hope they extend the flying season.
DeleteHave there ever been flights between Sarajevo and Athens? Do Bosnians go to Greece for holidays?
DeleteDon't think this route will work out. I fear it will end up like LJU and ZAD.
DeleteBorder with Republika Srpska is about 200 maters away from the airport entrance and there is about 50K+ Serbs living in the vicinity. Serbs naturally gravitate towards Greece due to culture, religion etc. Prices seem to be very decent (200 euro RT in July). All combined, some of them might go.
DeleteThe problem is that the area is low standard of living/affordability. Also, Sarajevo (federal part) based travel agencies have a very developed offer for Turkey resorts; lots of nice hotels, flights and very decent prices. So, for someone flying for a week long vacation in the sun, Turkey is probably much better offer.
Maybe they are relying on those who got bored of Turkey and would like to try something new. Don't forget JA had charters to Greece in the past, I know they flew to Rhodes.
DeleteIt might, you never know. If anybody can pull it off it's Aegean and it's not a lot of seats to fill in two weekly Q400 flights.
DeleteAegean flies to Saudi Arabia, they can offer connections to there from SJJ. That seems to be the only markets that's growing at the moment in SJJ.
DeleteWhy would someone want to connect when there seem to be an abundance of direct flights between Sarajevo and Saudi Arabia (another may have been announced as I am typing this, lol)? Unless you think vacationers or business people will want to do a bit in one city and then go on to the next and do a bit more?
DeleteMaybe those have Star Alliance memberships so they want to fly via Athens? Or maybe Aegean is cheaper? Who knows...
DeleteAegean is a really interesting airline that has been growing like crazy. It was only a matter of time before they added other routes to ex-Yu.
ReplyDeleteOf course they are growing, Greece has 20+ million tourists a year plus a strong diaspora.
DeleteI found that they had some 33 million tourists last year!
DeleteSome of them of course drove to Greece or went with a ferry from Italy.
And they have a very large diaspora.
"Southern Italy, which have proved popular with passengers from the Balkan region. "
ReplyDeleteInteresting. Who would have thought considering the lack of nonstop flights.
They fly to Bari, Catania, Napples and Lamezia-Terme in southern Italy. Shows the need for direct flight there from our region.
DeletePalermo too, they have a large presence in Italy.
DeleteI was proposing BEG-Catania years ago.
DeleteThere are charter flights to Lamezia Terme by Aviolet.
DeleteAll those cities could be served twice weekly with ATRs from BEG.
DeleteThey would be around 2 hours or more from BEG. Don't know if yields would be good enough.
DeleteNow they serve almost all of ex-yu. Still no flights to Ljubljana though :/
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised they failed on the Ljubljana route. Lots of pax from LJU are currently transiting to get to Greece (not just Athens but to Thessaloniki in particular) and majority uses JU combination. Also, since Aegean is * alliance and a really close partner of Lufthansa I’m sure Adria would codeshare if they restarted the route.
DeleteI still don't understand why ATH was suspended by JP
DeleteFew of JP's actions over the years made sense. That is why they are now in such a desperate state.
DeleteGreat to see not only the new destination but them increasing frequencies or capacity on almost all routes in ex-Yu.
ReplyDeleteNisam nikad letio s njima, ne odgovaraju mi za one destinacije koje trebaju meni. Ali primjetio sam da na skytraxu odgovaraju na sve recenzije, stoga imaju moje poštovanje. Za razliku od LH i ostalih.
ReplyDeleteSlazem se. Nisam ni ja leteo sa njima ali su mi nekako simpa. Nigde nisam video da su preterano agresivni u nastupu a sa druge strane imaju uspeha u vodjenju svoje kompanije koja nema drzavnu finansijsku podrsku.
DeleteZelim im svu srecu i uspeh!
Bravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteVery good news for customers from Skopje - they will have more choice and hopefully even better fares!
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to see the passenger structure on this route. Are they mostly P2P or transfers.
DeleteP2P for sure are the majority at this moment.
DeleteThe SKP-LCA route will be very interesting this coming summer. Will people choose to fly to Cyprus for their holidays instead of drive to Chalkidiki or Pieria?
DeleteThe more wealthy people may give it a try, why not. There are not thaaaat many other holiday routes from SKP...
Deleteis Cyprus cheaper then Chalkidiki?
DeleteSeriously doubt it if you add transportation costs in Cyprus while in Greece you can just take your car with you. Plus as many tomatoes as you can carry! :D
DeleteI would go for Chalkidiki + car + sandwiches + peppers :D
DeleteI know it was published here before but Aegean is also operating some charters from Dubrovnik to Germany this winter for a German tour operator.
ReplyDeleteWhy can't OU do that instead of the Greeks?
DeleteIs it cheaper for Aegean to station aircraft and crews in the coast than it would be for OU?
SMFH with the management...
Your approach is silly. OU needs to focus on ordinary Croatian citizens, not only on tourists. There are other companies to cater for them. OU is public service.
DeleteAnon 15:34
DeleteI've read this kind of statements several times on this blog and I'm still struggling to understand?
Wouldn't be better if OU is engaged in this "tourist" routes which are highly profitable and then to reinvest that profit in routes that are necessity for Croatian citizens? That is exactly what Aegean doing.
In currently used model in OU they are having negative numbers so government needs to provide additional money, one way or another.
OU has limited resources which need to be put to use to serve Croatian citizens. At the same time the state is not able to fund for large expansion which would enable what you write above. In the given circumstances OU's destiny is to be a small public serving company focused on the internal market needs.
DeleteINI under the new government scheme about 10 new subsidized route should look into getting connected with ATH.
ReplyDeleteAegean destroyed Ryanair on inner-Greece routes. They deserve huge respect honestly, bravo!
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteFR used to fly 7 daily ATH-SKG just a year ago, from this coming March they will abandon it completely.
Goes to show that they can actually be beaten!
They will discontinue also lots of flights from Athens to islands where they had head-to-head competition from Aegean..
DeleteEllinair stepping in didn't help either. The Greek domestic market was already competitive enough with many airlines offering one-way tickets for as little as €20. Ryanair didn't bring anything new, there was no special reason to book them in stead of their competition so they failed.
DeleteRyanair even cut PFO-ATH.
Here are a few photos from a recent trip with Aegean. Service was much
ReplyDeletebetter this time. Although boarding in Athens was again done by remote
stands under torrential rain. Even though the aircraft was standing right
next to an air-bridge.
https://bit.ly/2IeRpZH
Why do they do this if they qre right next to the bridge?
Delete*are
DeleteThey did it both on arrival and departure from Athens. Although plenty of bridges were available on both occasions. On departure they changed our gate one hour before flight. Meaning even if the aircraft was parked at an air-bridge we boarded by bus. Children and elderly people under torrential rain.
Deletehttps://ibb.co/85PPwS7
Maybe they are Schengen gates?
DeleteWas your flight full from Belgrade?
DeleteIt was about 60% from Belgrade (back and middle full, front empty) and 80% to Yerevan.
DeleteAirports charge a lot more money for using their jet bridges compared with boarding by bus.
Delete60% in winter on the A320 is a disaster! Could we see Aegean turn BEG into a seasonal destination?
DeleteNo but I think going 5 weekly instead of three will bring a lot more business passengers who want more flexibility.
DeleteActually it was closer to 65% but this is one single flight. Not sure how representative it is.
DeleteYes, sure.
DeleteKad na vrbi rodi grozdje.
If it was 65% then it was 113 passengers. That's way above Q400 loads. I guess they make money on this one hour flight with that load. Shame Aegean do not have Embraer.
DeleteThat seems correct. I checked-in as seq. 101 about 15 minutes before the gate closed. That means 65% is accurate estimate.
DeleteDisappointed to hear that the number of flights to Podgorica will be reduced, but not surprised. Air Serbia offers much more competitive prices for this route. I flew with them on several occassions although I would have preferred a direct flight, but the price difference was simply too much. Wishing Aegean all the best though, they are an excellent company. I flew with them many times, practically can not find fault with them (apart the price for TGD)
ReplyDeleteYou mean you flew to Athens via BEG on JU?
DeleteExactly. I can never buy the ticket too much in advance for work-related reasons. If you are buying ten days in advance, Olympic Air tends to have much higher prices than Air Serbia in the summer season. So I flew Air Serbia ATH-BG-TGD and vice versa several times, although I would have preferred Olympic Air. I flew Olympic to TGD only twice last summer I think
ReplyDeletegive us numbers pls. what was the diff
DeleteI remember flying Olympic Air to TGD in July for around 340 EUR. I think this is the highest I've paid. You could get a ticket with Air Serbia for approx. 200 EUR. In my opinion, 340 for such a short flight to TGD is too much. It is the summer season though, and as I said, I can not buy too much in advance.
ReplyDeleteThere is one very convenient thing about JU. I often buy tickets for flight in the region just a few days before flight and in most cases you can buy tickets at very reasonable prices. Although, sometimes happen that for specific day tickets for some short flight are very expensive.
DeleteI've payed in total 200€ for 3 tickets: i Zagreb-Athens, Athens-Thessaloniki, and Thessaloniki-Zagreb via Athens. I went to that trip at the end of october 2018. LF on both of route (from Zagreb and to Zagreb) was almost 100% - and there weren't much Greeks onboard. Almost everybody were Croatians.
ReplyDeletePity Sarajevo flights will not be in autumn, October. The best time to visit beautiful Greece
ReplyDelete