NEWS FLASH
British Airways will launch a seasonal one weekly service from London Heathrow Airport to both Pristina and Podgorica in 2020. Flights from the UK’s capital to both Kosovo and Montenegro will commence on July 4 and run until August 29, with a total of nine return services planned. The development will mark British Airways’ return to Pristina following an eight-year hiatus and the carrier’s entry into the Montenegrin market. Previously, British Airways maintained three weekly flights between London’s Gatwick Airport and Pristina on a year-round basis. Services were suspended in 2012.
Flight details for the Pristina service can be found here, while further information for the Podgorica operations can be viewed here.
Disappointing that they will only have a few flights per year.
ReplyDeleteThis is so huge for PRN! Love it!
ReplyDeleteReally 9 flights in total 1 per week?
DeleteWe recently lost Frankfurt for the long-haul flights. Having Gatwick every Saturday during the main season will help.
DeleteWill it really help though? BA long-haul flights from LGW are really modest.
DeleteGatwick? They are launchig LHR.
DeleteThese new flights are from LHR as it says in the article.
DeleteFor now, things can change.
DeleteReads title - 'Oh wow! Congrats!'
ReplyDeleteReads *Seasonal* *one weekly* - Pfffffffff.....
I'm guessing that's why it's a news flash.
DeleteThe main news is not much better to be honest. 4 weekly for 5 weeks in peak?
DeleteWhat a joke.
90% of the announcements to the coastal Croatian airports are the same, one or two weekly seasonal. Most people even don't realize the difference between year-round daily flights and such peanuts. For them, it's the "announcement", which is important :)))
Delete@11.07 At least it's 4 weekly and not 1 weekly.
DeleteLast anon:
DeleteErm... rejoice?
Lol.
Why not Ljubljana?
ReplyDeleteYou might have missed it, but they already fly to Ljubljana.
DeleteAnd on top of that they are increasing frequencies as reported
https://www.exyuaviation.com/2019/12/foreign-carriers-double-ljubljana.html
Serious Airlines have a conservative approach and I think with time they will maintain the route annually step by step.
ReplyDeleteExpecting BA to apply FlyBosnia tactics is not realistic! And good so.
It's one thing to be cautious but it's another to launch a weekly flight. Look at JU in KRR, they launched it with three flights a week. Why can't BA do the same in PRN and SKP, both airports are absolutely booming right now.
DeleteBA is short of frames, operates out of the most slot-constrained airport in the world (with LGW not exactly a ghost town either) and is successfully pursuing high-yield over pure passenger numbers. These lower-yield destinations should really be covered by Iberia as the lower-cost legacy within IAG since the O&D yield to LON is very limited, but they have their own problems.
DeleteWhy no SKP? Another legacy ignoring us here :(
ReplyDeleteTrust me, you don't want to see five once a week flights unless it's bloody Ibiza and no competitor is flying there. All it will do is confirm the bias the market's not worth it.. this time due to a dismal product, but they will completely ignore it I'm sure.
DeleteMontenegro keeps winning!
ReplyDeleteI really see no point in launching ONE weekly flight to anywhere. If it was at least two, then it would make some sense, but like this it is so inconvenient for both transit and direct passengers.
ReplyDeleteWell London is a far away destination with zero business links to either PRN or TGD. Most people who go there stay longer, BA knows this, they really did do their homework.
Delete"BA knows this, they really did do their homework."
DeleteLOL. Anything but this. They threw some spaghetti on a map to allocate whatever spare seats they had in peak.
I am not sure about zero bussines but year round from London to Podgorica surely says a lot, add TUI UK to it. Tivat is covered to by TUI UK, jet2, easy jet uk, british for a such a small market it is good.
DeleteBy the way, why do you call it 'a small market'? It's as big as they make it, there's a lot of opportunity on that coast. Size of local population has nothing to do with it. I reckon it's pretty comparable to Corsica actually in certain aspects.
DeleteWe have a historic habit of discounting some markets for a number of reasons, where we could use being a bit more ambitious.
Or - in other words - I don't see all these airlines operating to a warm coastal destination in peak summer that is also relatively cheap to boot much of an achievement. I'd rather set the target to potential, not last year.
DeletePodgorica flight arrives late at LHR and doesn't even connect to any BA JFK flights.
ReplyDeleteWhy would it ? People fly over Belgrade Frankfurt Vienna to JFK. From Podgorica there is a flight to Stansted; its covered good in the season plus with ryan air its year round. Pretty decent for such a small area.
DeleteSurprised BA didn't try BEG with 2-3 weekly to start. I know AS and Wizz have London well covered, but you'd think with recent AS attempt at additional slots at Heathrow that BA would realize there is additional demand for BEG-London flights.
ReplyDeleteI think competition is too big especially now that Wizz has upgraded BEG to A321.
DeleteBA probably saw the excellent loads on the JU ghost flights when they were slot-sitting for EY and decided to wait another year. But I agree, BEG has long been a gaping hole in the BA route map, and the UK visa regime for Serbia is not helping that one bit.
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