Aegean Airlines has terminated operations to Croatia, Montenegro and Macedonia, with no indication flights will resume next year as all ticket sales have been suspended. The decision affects the Greek carrier’s operations from Athens to Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Split, Podgorica and Skopje. The airline is currently offering alternatives only to Zagreb through its codeshare partner Air Serbia via Belgrade. At the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March, Aegean announced it was also discontinuing its operations to Sarajevo, marking its exit from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s market after just one year of operations. Aegean has been serving Croatia since 2015, Montenegro since 2017 and Skopje as of 2018.
The Greek carrier was initially to resume services to Croatia in June, but then pushed flights back until September before completely terminating all planned operations to the country. Flights to Podgorica and Skopje were also to be restored next month. The only remaining market in the former Yugoslavia to be served by Aegean is Serbia. The carrier had resumed operations to Belgrade in July but cancelled flights shortly after Greece introduced entry restrictions for the majority of Serbian nationals. It has scheduled its service resumption to Belgrade for September. As a result of the cancellations, there will no longer be any scheduled flights from Montenegro or Macedonia to Greece. Croatia Airlines continues to maintain seasonal operations from Zagreb and Dubrovnik to Athens.
Aegean Airlines has restored around 50% of its network so far. The airline’s Chairman, who said he expects 2020 to be the worst year in the company’s 21-year history, noted the airline has been losing 26 to 28 million euros each month during the second quarter. CEO Dimitris Gerogiannis told shareholders the airline’s cash reserves stood at over 400 million euros at the end of June, without including bank credit lines. “The challenges we face because of Covid-19 are unprecedented. Our actions to strengthen the company’s cash shield and reduce our overall costs and adjust our network to current conditions are continuing and are gradually producing results”, Mr Gerogiannis said.
wow that's a bit extreme
ReplyDeleteObviously they resumed operations to the weakest markets even if they belong to EU.
ReplyDeleteEven with flight ban for Serbians Aegean plans fto fly to BEG starting from September.
DeleteDespite there is no flight ban for Croatian citizens it is obvious that for Aegean Croatian market belongs to the group of weak markets together with SKP and SJJ
Not really TIA has not stopped as it very key market for Aegean. Unfortunately the surrounding areas didn’t go well.
DeleteAll of their flights to Croatia were seasonal meaning they primarily depended on tourists.
DeleteWe are talking here about ex-yu
DeletePlease correct me if I am wrong but I believe ZAG did not have Aegean flights only in February...If so, it is not actually only seasonal.
DeleteWeren't they planning on boosting Croatia this year? Only goes to show how sensitive the market is. It's crazy how limited outbound demand is from Croatia.
DeleteYes there was a plan to increase frequencies. You are right, it shows overdependence on tourism on certain routes.
DeleteHas Aeroflot scheduled their return to our region?
Delete^ No. The only two routes they have scheduled is Istanbul and Antalya.
DeleteFor this year it was planed to operate from SPU to ATH 1 weakly flight with OUs A319, 4 weakly flights with Aegeans A319, 3 weakly flights with EZYs A320 and 2 weakly flights with Voloteas 717s. From ZAG to ATH was planed 5 weakly with Aegeans A320/A319 and 5 weakly with OUs Q400 via DBV. Im not sure how many weakly flights were planed from DBV but there were probably more then 10.
DeleteYes it was supposed to be a huge year in terms of connectivity for Greece-Croatia markets
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2020/01/croatia-greece-market-set-for-strong.html
Just a thought, could the suspension of ZAG be a first step towards their acquisition as they would hand over the market to OU? I'm sure the government would give them a sweet deal.
ReplyDeleteAt a time when airlines are fighting for survival and trying to save cash anyway they can, I doubt the acquisition of OU is on their mind.
DeleteWhat if the government is paying them to do so?
Delete@anon 09:03
DeleteThat is really optimistic.
I would rather say it is their final move against OU acquisition
If Aegean was still interested in buying Croatia Airlines, the government would not be talking about a merger with airports.
DeleteI'm not surprised because other than Skopje my guess is all the other routes depend primarily on tourists.
ReplyDeleteFrom the other side: the only market which has partly recovered so far is touristic one. Business travel is non existing at the moment.
DeleteTourism hasn't recovered at all, and it will get worse in the long term.
DeleteI guess there is a reason why OA only successfully served BEG in the past. Seems like it's the only market with enough demand from Greece.
ReplyDeletewow indeed. They completely removed these city choices from their website. Only Zagreb is left which is being sold via BEG.
ReplyDeleteTrue, codeshare was there even before they launched flights.
DeleteFrom what I can remember DBV and SPU were also once codeshared by Aegean on JU.
DeleteThis is sad :(
ReplyDeleteIs ZAG airport management taking some action? Too many airlines have left this year. I know its corona but still. Almost 10 airlines.
ReplyDeleteWhy should they care? The concession contract states that if their performance worsens the government has to pay a fine. I am sure they are working with the government on handing out subsidies to carriers.
DeleteIt does not say that. It says if something happens to OU, like bankruptcy, then the government has to pay the fine.
DeleteI'm sorry but realistically speaking, what can they do in the middle of a pandemic?
DeleteNothing but all these airlines leaving ZAG is just a product of doing nothing all these years.
DeleteHow about lowering their charges until the pandemic passes?
Deletehow much lower is 0% out of 0 passengers as opposed to 25% from 0 passengers?
DeleteSo are you implying all airlines that cut flights to ZAG were flying empty? I highly doubt that.
Deletethey cut flight due to insufficient demand at the moment in in the foreseeable future. plain and simple.
Deletenot home-based airlines won't tolerate average yearly LF under 70% for long. Only for home markets are the LFs of JP, OU an JU in the 65% range kind of acceptable. But you don't really earn much money if your const base isn't extremely low.
Profitability of a flight doesn't directly depend on the LF but on the price of the ticket, commonly known as yield. Plane might have 30 passengers and still make a pretty penny. What happened in ZAG is that planes were empty and tickets were cheap, deadly combination.
DeleteMaybe OU finally makes ZAG-ATH year round.
ReplyDeleteThey fly the route via DBV. I don't think they would keep it in winter.
DeleteDidn't they fly this route even before OA started flying to Croatia?
DeleteWell they could skip the DBV stop. It's not like it's for refueling purposes.
DeleteYes, OU flew before Aegean.
DeleteBut is there really a market for non-stop flights especially now when Aegean is routing passengers via BEG?
DeleteI don't think there is much of a market in winter to be honest.
DeleteCurrently there is no market for these flights probably but next year will be better.
DeleteReally unfortunate about Skopje. It was such a big deal when these flights started...
ReplyDeleteWas SKP operated with the Q400 or Airbus?
DeleteQ400
DeleteAfter losing FRA with LH, ZRH with LX, and PRG with OK Zagreb is now losing ATH with OA.
ReplyDeleteVery bad
My guess is that the Croatian routes will most likely resume next year, at least Dubrovnik and Split seasonally. As for the rest, probably not.
ReplyDeleteWell the CEO explains it. "Our actions to strengthen the company’s cash shield and reduce our overall costs and adjust our network to current conditions are continuing and are gradually producing results"
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately in the case of Skopje and Podgorica I don't see any airline stepping in to take over these routes.
ReplyDeleteTheoretically, Montenegro Airlines could start Athens from Podgorica and Wizz Air from Skopje.
DeleteThis sucks :(
ReplyDelete:(
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised Sarajevo didn't work out pre pandemic.
ReplyDeleteMe too. Especially since they planned to increase frequencies from 2 to 4 this summer.
DeleteIf they planned to double frequencies obviously it was working but Corona and travel bans changed all that.
DeleteObviously they are pulling out for the rest of 2020.
ReplyDeleteNext year with the expected vaccine coming out things and flight schedules will return to normal.
If that was the case they would simply cancel sales for 2020 and put tickets on sale from March next year, like some other airlines have done. Sorry, not the case here.
Delete@happy taxpayer, I think you are mistaken if you think things will go back to the way they were even after a vaccine is found (even with a vaccine it will take a year to vaccinate the global population). The problem is the deep economic recession that is about to come. People holidaying this summer or Croatia having 60% of tourists this summer is because people still have money and savings. But the reality is things will change for the worse financially in 2021 for the entire world. There will be less money for holidaying and flights.
DeleteSorry to burst your doom and gloom scenarios but flying wont be going down to zero.
DeleteSo next summer with the end of travel bans most if not all of these routes will be back again flying.
And A3 has never announced in the middle of the summer their flying program for the next year. let alone put them on sale. They usually do that in October and November.
Well I'm sorry Happy taxpayer but Aegean has tickets on sale for next summer already for most of their network. They don't wait until November to put tickets on sale. What nonsense.
DeleteWell at least we know from which country happy taxpayer is, if there was ever any doubt :D
Delete"And A3 has never announced in the middle of the summer their flying program for the next year."
DeleteThis is completely untrue. Tickets for next year can already be purchased. You think they don't have any tickets on sale for next summer? What are you on?
He is on false hopes
DeleteSo many bitter souls hoping that the Corona situation will last forever...
DeleteThankfully reality proves them wrong and A3 never had seasonal destination tickets on sale a year before.
Most of the listed routes are not seasonal.
DeleteAnd they also keep receiving NEOs from Airbus, not returning to lessors any of their current aircraft.
DeleteSo they probably plan to park all these a/c next summer in ATH and just look at them from the terminal building!
happy taxpayer might be N.....
DeleteA3 indeed though rarely put tickets on sale for a destination a year ahead
They put seasonal Sarajevo flights on sale in August!
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2018/08/aegean-airlines-to-launch-sarajevo.html
Stop talking nonsense happy taxpayer.
"A3 indeed though rarely put tickets on sale for a destination a year ahead"
DeleteAre you telling me they are not selling tickets for any destination next year?
I had a group booking in summer 2018 for summer 2019 ATH-DBV and we were able to make a booking for six people then.
DeleteIt's not about doom and gloom it's about being realistic. Look at what airline CEOs and industry organisations are saying. Lufthansa announced today huge cuts to network in next few years and demand returning to precrisis levels only in 2024. The recovery will be very long and drawn out.
Delete@Anonymous 10:43
DeleteActually they are! But you knew that already.
As neos arrive older A320s were supposed to be moved to other regional airports like SKG, RHO, HER...
DeleteHappy Taxpayer I'm really glad you wrote here so now I know never to take any of your comments seriously anymore, especially about you taxpayer concerns for various countries. Even if a magic potion is found and the entire world is magically cured from this virus airlines have sustained such massive losses that they can't just suddenly return routes and frequencies the following day even if the virus is exterminated. Just look what Aegean said. They had losses between 26 million to 28 million euros PER MONTH. Do you know what this means for a company? You think that suddenly next year that won't have any impact on them.
DeleteNemjee so they are increasing their fleet! Where are they going to schedule all that a/c next year?
DeleteFly ATH_SKG 25 times a day?
Anon 11:09 A3 said that after the losses of 26-28 million during the SECOND quarter when they had almost no flights they still have 400 million Euros in the bank. They had also received and paid for A320 NEOs from Airbus during this period. Plus they also have open credit lines with banks. And all that is before any Government assistance.
So you should really quit with the Nostradamus staff, you are really bad at it!
Did I say they were not increasing their overall fleet? What I said is that all growth won't be necessarily at their ATH hub but rather at other airports such as Thessaloniki, Rhodes and Heraklion. From there they are increasing the number of charter flights.
DeleteAegean has announced last weel that they will be retiring older A320s as A320neos arrive. So they are not growing their fleet.
DeleteLike Happy Taxpayer I also read that those old ones will be staying, I mean they are not even retiring their only A319!!!
DeleteAegean CEO said they are trying to delay delivery of new aircraft.
DeleteHER, RHO and SKG are mostly seasonal bases. HER and RHO are exclusively seasonal. Aegean has been primarily growing through ATH and that is where their focus will likely remain.
DeleteJust my2cents
Aegean planned on massively expanding at SKG so that's obviously where one of the older A320s would go. Plus it's not like Aegean uses all of its planes in winter, a lot of them are stored in HER and RHO.
DeleteAegean is flying to Ljubljana few times a week on chartered flights to greek islands
ReplyDeleteThey should start LJU instead.
ReplyDeleteThey already tried that and it failed.
Deletethey were flying A320s to LJU at that time
DeleteA lot of airlines will be rethinking their route networks.
ReplyDelete" with no indication flights will resume next year as all ticket sales have been suspended"-
ReplyDeleteReally EX-YU? Aegaean put tickes on sale for the mentioned routes only at the beginning of the year for the coming summer. Considering this and the current highly dynamic situation the above conclusion is highly speculative.
That'completely untrue what you said. Tickets for DBV, SPU, SKP, TGD were all on sale for next year. They don't put tickets on sale in January for flights to start in March. Don't know where you made that up.
Deletelol tickets for winter season were NOT on sale
DeleteYes @anon 9.56 that's a load of baloney. They never put tickets on sale in January. They are continuously on sale. Also you don't remove the cities completely from your website as if they don't exist. So I would say the assessment is correct. There is no indication these flights will return.
Delete@10.00 depends which city, as some routes were seasonal. They were on sale for summer 2021. They don't wait until January or whatever nonsense you wrote.
DeleteWhat is the financial situation with Aegean? Have they asked for aid?
ReplyDelete“The last five months have been the most difficult and painful in the history of the company,” Chief Executive Officer Dimitris Gerogiannis told Aegean’s general meeting of shareholders, said Kathimerini.
DeleteHe said the return to a full flying schedule is “neither smooth nor predictable,” adding that the airline flew at a money-losing 40 percent capacity in June and so far in July and doesn't expect to go past 50 percent in August, normally a robust month.
They did not ask for aid - they are proudly a private enterprise.
DeleteNot a question of pride, but of survival...
DeleteThey have more cash than the government on MNE on their hands, so they'll be fine.
DeleteSo, it seems that the best option to fly to Athens and Thessaloniki from all Ex-Yu countries is with JU via Belgrade?
ReplyDeleteCurrently it is.
DeleteSJJ, BNX, DBV, SPU and SKP doesnt work well via BEG due to those flights operaring during the same waves as ATH and SKG.
DeleteWhat about connections with both JU legs?
DeleteThat is connections with both JU legs. Using A3 just adds a couple hours extra waiting time. As an example:
DeleteJU513 ATH BEG 1635 1715
Transfer time: 1 h 15 min
JU234 BEG ZAG 1830 1940
A3976 ATH BEG 1300 1335
Transfer time: 4h 55 min
JU234 BEG ZAG 1830 1940
I guess JU will profit the most from A3 suspending ZAG, hopefully they further boost ZAG.
DeleteGuys many airlines have announced plans to shrink network and operations after reporting their first half results. Not surprising.
ReplyDeleteexactly, I really don’t know why are they triggered so much
DeleteTriggered? We are merely discussing today's topic. Would you prefer us never to discuss anything you don't like about Croatia?
DeleteDoes anyone know the current frequency of Croatia airlines to Athens? Thanks a lot.
ReplyDelete3 weekly
Delete