NEWS FLASH
Wizz Air has discontinued flights between Belgrade and Lyon, which it launched last summer season. The service, which was initially planned to operate on a year-round basis, was downgraded to seasonal summer flights. However, they will not be resumed by the airline in 2020. The service was maintained twice per week.
Yet another example of how clueless Wizz Air is in Belgrade. Everything is booming yet they are shrinking.
ReplyDeleteAccording to posters on this blog right here, Lyon was the bee's knees and Wizz were fools not to have opened it earlier and with a daily flight.
DeleteHindsight is 20/20 and haters will remain haters.
With Air Serbia returning to GVA, Wizz preferred to pull out of LYS than fight. Fine.
Deletethat proves that the hype about Lyon on this blog was nonsence
DeleteNo, Air Serbia is booming on wings of State subventions. Other companies are doing good, but that should be not classified as booming.
DeleteWell better to subsidize a local company than a foreign one. I am a taxpayer so I approve of that.
DeleteReally?
DeleteEven if you're shelling out tens of millions of EUR every year just to support what's increasingly a non-national airline?
Instead of double-digit growth as everywhere else in CEE?
You must be really proud.
I am, why wouldn't I be? They are serving Serbian products onboard, they are hiring locals, they are paying more to BEG and there are more passenger taxes meaning there is more money in the national budget...
DeleteThere is a reason why Turkey, UAE, Qatar... invested in their national airlines. Invest today, profit tomorrow. Same will happen with JU. You gotta spend money to make money.
Also why is JU less of a national airline? That's a pretty retarded statement. They have flights from BEG, INI and now KVO. You are just spiteful.
If you are flying from Belgrade, Air Serbia has the most convenient schedule because of morning and afternoon departures. Only one that can compete with them is OS.
DeleteWizz are 1) hiring locals, 2) paying double the passenger taxes in comparison to Air Serbia, 3) Paying higher price for the fuel. Air Serbia is being *paid* tens of millions of $ to remain afloat.
DeleteYou have no facts, just a quasi-nationalistic agenda with no legs to stand on, Mr/s 'retarded statement'.
Air Serbia is getting a discount because they bring close to 3 million passengers to BEG every year. Compare that to Wizz Air's 450.000 so JU is BEG's cash cow. If BEG was not making money from JU then the French would not have paid so much money for the concession. Furthermore, JU has a growing network and booming passenger numbers. They are making all sorts of routes work, many of which would never be possible with Wizz Air or do you believe KRR, AMM or BEY could work with Wizz Air? I won't even go into the whole frequency argument. W6's LYS was a failure of epic proportions, JU's NCE is coming back.
DeleteJU is being paid millions in order to transform itself and become a successful business the same way LO and BT did some years ago. When looking at long term prospects, BEG and Serbia gain so much more from JU than they would from Wizz Air. Unless you think we have more benefits from two weekly FKB in the middle of the day than we have from JU's STR six weekly with a split schedule?
Or do you maybe expect BEG to record massive losses like BUD only so that Wizz Air can make millions in profit?
If Wizz Air wants to get discounts they are more than welcome to play along. If they don't want to then the market won't be at a loss. easyJet and others will step in like U2 did in TXL, GVA and BSL. BEG is not going to allow Wizz Air to be all predatory and to extort them, that's the right way forward.
#byefelicia
Last Anon +1
DeleteBUD had 16 millions of passengers last year, most of then carried by Wizz. The airport reported profit. The "heavy losses" you claim happened during a passenger boom (after the Hungarian version of JU went bankrupt) but included the resurfacing of two runways with Cat III ILS available on all four runway ends, building an airport hotel, building a dedicated cargo handling facility from scratch with an apron able to accomodate 4xB-747 the same time, building the huge-ish SkyCourt connecting the two terminals, construction of several new aircraft stands,a refurbishing the GAT, building a new hangar able to accomodate 2xA321s, building mobile 737-sized hangar and start of multi storeyconstruction of a multi storey car park. What happened meanwhile in BEG?
DeleteSorry forgot to add that a new pier with 7 airbridges was built and another one with 6+ bridges will be built soon, an underground railway station will be built and Terminal 1 is being refurbished as it will be used again. I guess the "heavy losses" were caused by something called investment.
DeleteAnon 16:58....
DeleteDon't know if to laugh or cry. How old are you, seriously?
Sitting here and thinking that BUD is living just because of W6?
Wait a minute, how about the various routes to China, USA, Canada, North Africa and Canaries, Caucausus, even the Balkan's capitals and secondary cities. Or the LO base?
Yes, true. An airport making losses will have all those routes just for fun.
So please Felicia, enjoy your third weekly FKB addition and do not compare apples with pears.
Since when is BUD part of Ex Yu? It's not. Okay, since we are talking about all other airports in the world let's talk about nice, new or big airports like IST, LHR, SIN or ATL instead of boring, tiny, cattle-like barn LCC departure area of BUD. For every BUD related post I'll add two about other world airports till BUD fans get the message and pack their bags.
DeleteUnfortunately (for you) half of the cattle area was already replaced with the new pier and the remaining part will also be demolished soon. Fifth destination at China opens, 20+ Lufthansa flights a day for more than a decade already, BUD is doing well, thank you, despite your dreams that it's not working because of Wizz. You compare an apple with a melon.
DeleteLet's compare crappy BUD with spectacular Singapore Changi. Changi has about 70 million passengers per year. Changi has a butterfly garden. It has world's tallest indoor waterfall. It has superb shopping. It's the world's best airport. BUD has none of that, so no reason to ever again mention BUD airport that is trully ugly, tiny and disfunctional compared to SIN.
DeleteSmall problem is that BUD is in your doorstep (unlike Changi) and it is the only airport you can ever dream to catch up to with the mighty BEG (that's why you keep mentioning it). Yet it won't ever happen as even this tiny, ugly airport is out of your reach for ever.
DeleteThis is pathetic. They are not able to develop any new route out of BEG.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest loser in BEG
Maybe they think that with both easyJet and Air Serbia in GVA there is very little market for them? Let's see what they do with the spare capacity, it was two weekly.
DeleteSo easily giving up and JU have not even announced flights to GVA?
DeleteGive me a break.
Well their flights were supposed to resume next summer once JU will be already present in GVA. Ok, Ill give you a break then.
DeleteIt is obvious to see they have no intention fighting for Serbian market.
DeleteWizzair is much bigger than Air Serbia, but in this case we should believe they suddenly got scared of the newly planned JU route that is already flown by U2 for many years.
And by the way have you heard that Santa Claus exists?
Why wouldn't they be scared of JU? After all they failed to defeat them in some markets like LCA. Next summer JU will have 9 weekly flights while Wizz will have only 2 which is pathetic. Also W6 is struggling in this region with TZL stagnating and TSR and SBZ seeing cancellations. On top of their PRG base being closed last year.
DeleteAll in all it's not all super in the kingdom of Wizz Air.
LOL, W6 is scared of JU!
DeleteMeanwhile it is constantly increasing its fleet with brand new NEOs.
AND most importantly it has the second highest profit margin in the whole of Europe after FR.
The delusions that people in our region have are just epic!
They are scared of JU in Belgrade, that's a fact. They thought they could beat them but now they are realizing they can't. This is JU triumphing over W6 which is great news.
DeleteI guess your obsession with W6 is deluding and blinding you.
Anonymous 8 January 2020 at 13:23
DeleteYou are just embarrassing yourself now...
Why? Because I am presenting facts? Fact is that W6 is not some undefeated or undefeatable monster that thrives no matter where it goes. I think those who are continuously attacking JU and making it seem like they are totally incompetent are the ones embarrassing themselves.
DeleteWizz is completely beatable as long as you pour xxM$ into it on yearly basis to account for double the cost base.
DeleteAnd did Greece pour that money when they failed on SOF-ATH? Did Romania and Greece do the same when they failed from OTP to ATH? That's a pretty lame statement. Wizz has no real product, they are just competitive on price. So when someone comes with a good product and good price they fail right away.
DeleteThat's because Aegean treats its customers like human beings, has a character and a distinguished product. All things Wizz Air doesn't. Maybe Wizz Air should start by finally figuring out what its hand luggage policy will be.
DeleteThat's because you have probably never taken a W6 before. LCC is not a bad word.
DeleteThere are even PMs using low cost airlines for their trips.
W6 has REVOLUTIONISED travel in Eastern Europe especially countries like NMK, BiH, BG, RO, LT, LV and so on. Do you ever remember how the prices in SKP were a couple of years ago?
JU has decent prices but it is a hybrid LCC and not ULCC like W6. Simply no room for comparison.
Of course I have taken Wizz Air before. I especially love how they revised their uniforms some years ago. Poor things, they want to resemble legacies as much as possible but at the end of the day they will be a second or third tier business that no one takes seriously. The moment they start playing against big boys they lose. Look at FR in FRA. They better stick to airports like INI, OHD or TZL
DeleteFares from SKP are not that low, they were at first, they are not anymore.
DeleteWhich is why they entirely won markets and number 1 in Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria and will soon be the busiest airline in Luton.
DeleteBesides, BEG is extremely expensive for them and JU is protected so you can´t expect much, can´t you?
You said it yourself, extremely expensive FOR THEM. What they want is to have a dominant role at an airport and to blackmail them so as to make sure they get the lowest price possible. That's not a sustainable business model and which is why BUD has been recording losses for over a decade. So in order for Wizz Air to win, someone has to lose. BEG is right to not fall into their trap just like PRG, WAW or RIX didn't.
DeleteAlso I don't remember you minding when Wizz air was protected in BEG and when for years they were paying less than others while bringing very little in return. Luckily BEG did the right thing and it moved away from that model
BUD recording so much losses that they are planning a new terminal and have tons of new routes :D LOL! We heard it all before.
DeleteI suggest you read the airport news section before talking:
https://www.bud.hu/en/passengers/tips_and_offers/tips/news
Comparing an airport making 5 million and another making 15 million is hilarious.
So based on your theory BUD is making losses because of W6? Pleez!
PRG is not a good example because it is one of the most expensive airports in Europe.
Budapest only recorded a profit two years ago after a decade of losses. So it took them 15 million passengers to stop losing money. Yeah that sounds like a brilliant business plan...not.
DeleteLol!
DeleteThe BUD making losses song is quite old now. We've heard it so many times.
W6 is the biggest airline in CEE and has done wonders to many people allowing them to fly for less and not enjoy being spolit. If you don't like them, your choice.
Wizz is getting massive subsidies at INI airport. Real, market fee per passenger should be in 15-20 eur for an airport that needs to pay for a taxiway, for a terminal expansion and other investments. Combined per passenger fee is in that range at SJJ, LJU, ZAG, BEG so nothing out of the ordinary. However if Wizz had to pay even only 15 eur per pax, they would refuse to fly to INI and would have to blackmail airport to provide subsidies that would cover 12 eur per passenger, effectively paying only 3 eur per passenger as they are now. That way, 12 eur subsidies times say 200 thousand annual passengers equals 2,4 million eur per year. That's how much Wizz is actually being subsidized at INI each year and that's covered by government writing checks to INI airport for selling fees to Wizz way below cost. Just because this subsidy to Wizz is buried into 3 eur pax fees, does not mean Wizz is not being subsidized. It is. End of story regarding Wizz and subsidies.
DeleteINI 3€ airport fee was adjusted for all airlines and not only for W6.
DeleteYou have again missed the news and keep talking by yourself:
https://www.exyuaviation.com/2016/09/ryanair-enters-serbian-market.html
"After years of being overlooked, Niš Airport has managed to attract no frills carrier over the past year by slashing its passenger tax to just three euros."
Of course I knew that. Let's raise the fee then to 15 eur and see if Wizz and Ryan will stay. They won't because those couple of million euro subsidy per year will no longer flow into their accounts.
DeleteWas LCA the last new destination they successfully introduced?
ReplyDeleteI think it was Malta and Hannover. While FDH and NUE were discontinued (from same expansion). And those were added in 2017! Insane.
DeleteCould we see Wizz Air eventually pull out of Belgrade? Seems to be going in that directin.
ReplyDeleteNo. They are the second largest airline in BEG with actual organic passenger growth.
DeleteBut their profits collapsed in Serbia.
DeleteIn Serbia, right, as they had some changes happening in Nis, but Belgrade remained to grow.
DeleteAs long as they make a profit compared to the one of Emirates (and all the locals need government money to survive) you shouldn't be worried about Wizz Air.
DeleteWhat have their overall profits got to do with their performance in Serbia? Also don't forget that their massive profits in Hungary came at the expense of BUD.
DeleteWizz is still profitable in serbia, it just wasnt as high of a profit as the year before so stop trolling!
DeleteSo funny everyone's taken Apex' profit "assessments" as gospel, lol.
DeleteAnd even calling them 'collapsed' :)))
Tables turn, bridges burn ... Air Serbia slowly chasing Wizz out of Belgrade?
ReplyDeleteof course they are, who else would do that. I mean, it's not that Wizz Air is proactive, right?
Delete(btw, it was irony)
I don't think it's so much about JU chasing them out as it is about them not caring enough about the market. I mean they have not expanded in three years. Even before that they ignored Berlin where easyJet beat them to the punch. Then there is Madrid where JU seems to do really well. Barcelona is another case where they were beaten by Vueling and Air Serbia. Together they will have 6 weekly flights! Why has W6 ignored all of those cities until now?
DeleteJU also does well in Venice and Milan, why have they not launched Treviso or Bergamo. Even a seasonal LJU could have worked for them from BEG.
Well ASL is also not coming back. So it does not seem to be solely Wizz´s problem.
ReplyDeleteASL can't be compared to W6.
DeleteW6 is big LCC and has 2 planes based in Belgrade.
From the other side ASL introduced one seasonal route CDG-BEG operated already by JU and AF without any marketing
"W6 is big LCC and has 2 planes based in Belgrade"
DeleteSo what does that have to do with the cancellation of a single route. In facht it is exactly the same as ASL cancelling CDG.
Wizz Air is basically a glorified bus company from Belgrade. Maybe they can launch Lubeck or even better Dresden and sell it as Berlin South- Prague North.
ReplyDeleteOr coming back to Friedrichshafen and sell it as Zurich-North-East :P
DeleteSad. :(
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to see W6 leave this route. I flew BEG-LYS in last June. A smooth flight, load factor over 80%.
ReplyDelete80% in June for a LCC is a disaster...
DeleteI think DWC would be an ace in the hole. But I know the big timeslot required to go there is not suitable for their single plane base at BEG
ReplyDeletethey have two planes in BEG. but there is an issue on bilateral, as there is an open-skies between Serbia and UAE, but only for companies registered in the two countries
Deletehowever, LED could prove successful, should they try to start it
DeleteMaybe we see them launch AUH-BEG? It could be a nice alternative to the overpriced EY.
DeleteALL flights between Serbia and UAE are overpriced. A lot of people transfer via Russia or Turkey to get tehre. Even if Air Arabia opens up SHJ-INI that would be a success. SHJ is actually 15 min drive from downtown Dubai but W6 wouldnt use it in any combination as theyre already well established as a station on DWC.
DeleteNo need for DWC. After all G9 tried SJH-BEG and failed to even launch the route because of poor demand.
Delete1 daily AUH and 1 daily DXB are enough.
Hopefully they will start (multiple) daily Vienna flights.
ReplyDeleteThat would be bad for OS.
DeleteJU could start Lyon, preferably with a smaller jet, but maybe A319 could work, too. JAT, in the old days, used to fly Zagreb-Lyon on ATR, but it`s to stretched for a turboprop from Belgrade.
ReplyDeleteUnlike Wizz, JU could offer connecting flights from Belgrade on, thus securing some loads. Given that both airports are run by the same owner, they should get some serious discounts. That all might lead to the route being profitable.
Sorry, mate, JAT was operating BEG-ZAG-LYS on DC-9, at one period of time after Spain opened and bilateral relations improved, the first MAD flights were operated via LYS, precisely
DeleteBEG-ZAG-LYS-MAD, Monday and Friday, on B727. I don't remember JAT scheduling LYS on ATR. Not saying never one single flight happened, probably yes, out of different reasons, but scheduled LYS equipment for most of the time was DC-9.
Huh, as far as I can remember, at one point they opened Zagreb-Lyon with what I think was ATR-42. No connection to Madrid.
DeleteThat may have not lasted long.
OK, possible. If they split operations shortly before everything felt apart and had ZAG-LYS on ATR (but in that case should be 72) then they probably had BEG-LYS on DC-9. Flight only from ZAG, and on ATR 42, I really don't remember and I worked in JAT 1986-1991. Once again, maybe you are right, but I really remember only BEG-ZAG-LYS on DC-9.
DeleteTheir passiveness in BEG is ridiculous. I suppose they have bigger fish to fry in Western Europe at the moment but they seem to be making such a poor effort (if any effort at all) in BEG which is a pity. I personally usually don't fly them out of BEG because of their poor schedules to the places where I happen to need to fly but with better scheduling and better pricing (I also often find them quite expensive from BEG for what they offer) they could surely have made routes such as BEG-BCN work. In addition they might have been able to expand their offering on routes such as BEG-BVA and offer more frequencies.
ReplyDeleteI only say VIE.
DeleteI don't see why anyone would bother with a peanut sized market willing to throw money after a business model which only supports minuscule growth.
DeleteYou mean a market that's not willing to prostitute itself for Wizz Air and its flights to random tertiary airports around Europe. Yeah I wish we had more flights to fantastic destinations like FKB or BVA
DeleteFKB serves Baden-Baden. Suggest you visit once to see it really IS fantastic destination.
DeleteBVA : flew once for holidays to Guadeloupe /Martinique. Cheapest ticket on AF from ZAG was 900 euros. Decided to take Air Carraibes from ORY for 400 euros and Treviso to BVA for 80 euros. Adding train BVA to Paris, bus to Orly, both ways, and one night stay at 3 star hotel in Paris on departure, I still saved over 200 euros. And strolled Paris. So even BVA could be considered useful destination.
What to expect when you have JU getting (illegal) subsidies to chase out competition. Wizz Air is only shrinking in BEG, this is probably them reducing the base to one A320 as it was before. Who knows how long that one A320 can last if things continue like this.
ReplyDeleteWizz is getting subsidies at BUD, SKP and other places. What, you are now fine with those but object to JU getting paid? Enough of this W6 nonsense.
DeleteMaybe Wizz needs to evolve it's business model to something beyond flying "diaspora" (politically correct term for gastor's) back to their cities/regions of origins and actually realise and respect the outbound potential and needs of the cities it bases aircraft (in this case Belgrade). If it doesn't, then they deserve all the 'unfair/subsidised' competition that they're getting as the CEE countries need airlines that cater to business and outbound demand, not just visiting friends and relatives.
ReplyDeleteIf you got your head out of the sand you'd noticed they have in most of other (more) developed economies. Look at any other non-exYu capital they have aicraft based at. It's just that BEG purchasing power can't support even Wizz cost base.
DeleteYet Wizz has 5+ aircraft based in Skopje - a city of half the size and GDP/capita of about half that of the Belgrade metropolitan region? Don't be when it comes to subsidies. I'm not supporting those that JU are receiving, but if you can't step up to the plate with your famous "cost base" - then maybe time to depart the market altogether.
DeleteW6 seems to be performing very weakly in France. LYS and BOD were connected to BUD and WAW and now there will be only connections to NCE and BVA.
ReplyDeleteOh well, at least FKB and MLA will be increased, so no big deal.
MLA stays as four weekly, so no increase there.
Delete"Wizz Air will discontinue flights between Belgrade and Lyon,"
ReplyDeleteWell the terminology here is "Wizz Air HAS discontinueD flights between Belgrade and Lyon,"
Maybe they (W6) will go after Vienna ?
ReplyDeleteA huge W6 base & large Serbian pool there... ?
So many comments for just a news flash.
ReplyDeleteWizz has people's panties in a twist around here ..
Iskreno za Wizz zaposlene u Srbiji je bolje da pocnu da razmisljaju da daju otkaz u Wizzu i prijave se kod Er Srbije. Ne mora kod Er Srbije, ima drugih firmi koje primaju. Sve ukazuje da Wizz nema svetlu buducnost u BEG. Ako mislite da gresim i da cete u Wizzu docekati penziju, pogledajte jos jednom trendove.
ReplyDelete