Montenegro Airlines has seen its passenger numbers decline 77.2% during the first three quarters of the year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, with Belgrade and Paris its busiest routes. The airline welcomed 123.447 travellers on board its aircraft during the January - September period, while its average cabin load factor fell from 70% in 2019 to 54% so far this year. Due to declining demand and evolving travel restrictions, figures in October took an even greater hit, with the average cabin occupancy rate on its flights amounting to just 43%. “We are unhappy with the results. However, we have responsibly carried out our mission to maintain the country’s connectivity with the world”, the company said.
Belgrade continues to be the carrier’s busiest route, despite not operating for a longer period of time than most of its other destinations. “Belgrade accounted for 57% of all of our passenger traffic on scheduled flights, despite the route’s suspension lasting the longest. This shows just how important this destination is for the company’s operations”, Montenegro Airlines said. Belgrade was followed by Paris, Ljubljana, Zurich and Frankfurt. The greatest average occupancy per flight was recorded to Belgrade at 62%, followed by Paris, Frankfurt and Ljubljana with Zurich fairing the worst. “There is a lot of interest for flights to Moscow and St. Petersburg which have been inoperative since the onset of the pandemic. The Russian market was the second busiest for us over the past decade”, the airline said. There is currently no indication when Russia may allow for the resumption of flights between the two countries, however Montenegro Airlines is hopeful services could resume sooner rather than later.
Q1 - Q3 performance by route
| Airport | PAX |
|---|---|
| Belgrade | 64.125 |
| Paris | 8.419 |
| Ljubljana | 8.170 |
| Zurich | 7.572 |
| Frankfurt | 7.485 |
The Montenegrin carrier noted that travel restrictions are having the greatest impact on its business. The majority of Montenegrin citizens are unable to enter the European Union. Furthermore, most European countries have issued warnings against all but essential travel to Montenegro, which has also reduced demand. “In addition to Moscow and St. Petersburg, we have been unable to restore flights to Leipzig and Munich, as well as launch operations to Lisbon as almost 100% of bookings on these flights have been cancelled. These were mostly foreign tourists. Due to travel restrictions, we were also unable to operate a number of planned charters to Tel Aviv and Bratislava, as well as to cities in Germany and the Czech Republic. In addition, our regular year-round weekend charters to southern Italy have also been temporarily suspended”, the company said.
wow those are low numbers
ReplyDeleteIs there any airline in the region where a single route contributes over 50% of your total passenger numbers?
ReplyDeleteIt's quite unique.
DeleteAnd even more interesting that it didn't operate for 5 months.
DeleteWhy is it surprising? The P2P demand is huge and YM also funnels a lot of passenger through BEG, while JU carries a lot of transfers to Montenegro. There would have probably been double the passenger numbers if Serbian citizens didn't need a PCR test to enter Montenegro.
DeleteI think this code-share is one of the reasons why OS suspended VIE-TGD. YM simply realized what the reality is and that besides BEG there is no other hub that can provide them with enough revenue. We all remember their disastrous plan to cooperate with OU which doesn't even have serious waves of departure out of ZAG.
DeleteLH Group failing in ex-YU is great news for JU especially in places like MNE.
DeleteNonsence. LH group isnt falling in ex yu and especialy not in MNE where they operate flights only to VIE by OS. TIV flights were usually only for leisure pourpose.
DeleteYou are writing nonsense. OS suspended TGD flights due to poor loads.
Delete"Austrian Airlines is temporarily suspending its flights between Vienna and Podgorica due to low demand resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. Services will end with immediate affect and will be restored on December 17. They will run twice per week until January 4 after which they will increase to three per week. Montenegro Airlines will continue to connect Podgorica and Vienna with a two weekly service."
DeleteTemporarily suspened flights, not totally suspenend. So you are talking nonsense, because temporarily suspending flights isnt leaving the market forever. So no, LH group isnt failing in MNE or any other market in comparasion to other airlines.
If they are not failing then it means the opposite is true which would mean they are thriving? Suspending a destination (temporarily or indefinitely) is not a sign of a thriving business. So yes, LH Group is indeed failing in ex-YU. Are you aware that currently there are no LH flights to the ex-YU from MUC.
DeleteSo JU is also falling? OU is also failling? TK is also failing? AF ia also failling? SU? LO? All these airlines temporarily suspended some of the routes? How is then thriving?
DeleteWell some are more affected than others are. For example, look at the morning departures from VIE tomorrow:
Delete06.55 KL AMS B737
07.35 LH FRA E95
07.45 OS VIE Q400
Then nothing until 09.25 when BT takes off for RIX followed by 10.30 Pegasus to SAW.
Austrian Airlines and Vienna airport are suffering much more than others. Even Wizz Air kept only one route out of Vienna. So yes, obviously everyone is suffering but some are more than others. OS is operating just 10% of their last year's flights in November.
Munich used to handle 120.000 passengers a day last November, this year it's just 10.000. Lufthansa almost completely shut down their operations there.
What are they going to do? Are they reducing the number of employees?
ReplyDeleteYes
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2020/09/montenegro-airlines-launches-redundancy.html
Dinosaur
ReplyDeleteI am not surprised about Zurich performing so badly. With JU going wild on BEG-ZRH they offer so many different options from MNE. Much more flexibility than YM.
ReplyDeleteIt also doesn't help YM that they have a code-share with JU so many passengers also use them to transfer in BEG to various desitnations including those that YM flies to directly like LJU, ZRH or FRA.
Agree +1
DeleteSomeone wrote the other day that TIV and TGD are no longer in top five destinations from BEG.
DeleteI'm guessing those free economy meals won't be staying for much longer.
ReplyDeleteMontenegro Airlines is still the only true legacy airline left in ex-Yu.
DeleteThey fly 8 routes. Does it really matter?
DeleteWhat does "true legacy" mean? You get food and drinks for free on OU flights also.
DeleteNow that from next Spring Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian are going to start charging for food and drink, OU usually copy them on everything and I'm sure will start charging also.
DeleteLH Group is going to suffer but also airports that relied on their traffic. From December 1st, MUC will be shutting down T1 as there are not enough passengers.
DeleteBut that doesnt mean OU has not level of service as "true legacy".
DeleteIt means 20kg luggage for free
DeleteI don't know if anyone notice that YM is selling and advertising Moscow flights via BEG. I assume the Belgrade-Moscow sector is operated by Air Serbia?
ReplyDeleteYes, JU resumed SVO recently. Flight on Monday is almost sold out which is great. JU also has codeshare with SU so there is even more flexibility.
DeleteI see, thank you
DeleteI'm very interested to see what will happen with Montenegro Airlines. Since its creation, MGX was run by one party which was in power in Montenegro for 50+ years. Now that there is a change I do wonder what the new administration will do. I assume there will be a complete change of management but we will see in which direction the airline will go.
ReplyDeleteMaybe even close cooperation with JU?
DeleteThe relatively new CEO seems quite reasonable, we will see what happens.
DeleteDid he work for the airline before? Is he from the aviation sector?
DeleteI think some consolidation in this region is necessary.
DeleteMAT, JA and JP going bust was definitely part of regional consolidation.
DeleteConsolidation on what basis is necesary?
DeleteBased on the fact that there are too many airlines in a relatively small market. Not every state in ex-YU needs its own national airline.
Delete"MGX was run by one party which was in power in Montenegro for 50+ years."
DeleteWhich party has been in power in MNE for 50 years?
DPS. Previously known as the communist party of Montenegro.
DeleteNot true.
DeleteVery true. Actually, different nuances of the "reds" have been in power uninterruptedly for over 75 years in Montenegro. The latest refreshing was long overdue.
DeleteFigures would have been much better if politics didn't get in the way and Montenegro allowed Serbian citizens into the country back in June/July when they allowed the rest.
ReplyDeleteTrue
DeleteTrue!
DeleteMontenegro keeps winning...?
ReplyDeleteClearly...
DeleteGood luck MGX. Hope they find their feet in the post corona era
ReplyDeleteThey've been finding their feet for decades...
DeleteTragic
ReplyDeleteWhatever happened to the concession of Montenegro's airports? They started the process and then just stopped (this was well before corona). I ask because Montenegro Airlines' future depends a lot on what happens with the airports.
ReplyDeleteNot gonna happen. New government will have to decide what to do.
DeleteWhich airport group would try for a concession now. No one. Not in the immediate future.
DeleteAt this time no clue about future of the airline. Airports most probably will not be sold.
DeleteWow
ReplyDeleteThey could be called Belgrade airlines.
They are making the most of what they can.
DeleteA big issue for MGX is the Russian market. It remains close d
ReplyDeleteThey hope it will resume next month. They scheduled LED.
Delete620k passengers just between Moscow and Tivat last year...
DeleteThe demand is crazy
DeleteThey seem to have only 1 operative Fokker. What is happening to the rest?
ReplyDeleteMost are unfit to fly. I believe they are looking to sell the planes for spare parts.
DeleteAs some people here would say, a true legacy carrier.
DeleteGreat news for Montenegro Airlines is that JU is putting greater emphasis on Russia. This is a key market for them in terms of tourism and JU was supposed to have flights to SVO, LED, KRR and ROV this summer. This is a great opportunity for YM!
ReplyDeleteTGD has 4 departures today, VIE and three BEG. On Sunday there are 8 flights, 4 to BEG, FRA, IST, ZRH and FRA.
ReplyDeleteTIV on the weekend has a total of 4 departures, all to BEG.
Deletewhat terrible numbers, not the airlines fault though.. anyone know why Montenegro residents cant fly to other EU countries ? isn't Montenegro in the EU ?
ReplyDeleteThey are an EU and NATO member so it is indeed odd.
DeleteMontenegro is not in the EU, but they are in NATO.
Delete