Windrose satisfied with EX-YU performance, eyes further expansion

Ukraine’s Windrose Airlines has bucked the trend compared to most European carriers and launched a number of new routes from Kiev to the region over the past three months including Zagreb, Podgorica, Skopje and Belgrade with plans to further increase operations in the coming period. Speaking to EX-YU Aviation News, the carrier said, “We can say that the performance of the abovementioned routes has been quite successful. There is demand and interest for these routes. All of the initial flights flew with a load of more 80%”. The carrier is primarily utilising the 49-seat Embraer 145 jet on its flights to the former Yugoslav republics but does deploy the 78-seat ATR72 turboprop on occasion. 

The Ukrainian carrier noted it was the coronavirus pandemic that brought the region to its attention, with the majority of Ukrainian nationals currently unable to enter the European Union. “Originally, Windrose Airlines planned to start flights only to Zagreb and Ljubljana. The decision about the remaining routes came in due course”, the airline said. Windrose shelved plans to commence operations to the Slovenian capital due to strict entry requirements but has not given up on the route. “We plan to restart flights to Ljubljana, after local authorities give us the all clear”, it said. Last year, some 10.000 passengers travelled between Ljubljana and Kiev indirectly, 4.000 to and from Skopje and 11.000 to and from Zagreb. Air Serbia handled 11.114 passengers between Kiev and Belgrade last year, registering an average annual cabin load factor of 81%.

The airline briefly suspended operations to Zagreb earlier this month following changes to entry requirements into Croatia but has since restored the route. Windrose’s flights to Croatia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Serbia all operate twice per week. “Podgorica and Skopje are popular among tourists, while Belgrade and Zagreb with businesspeople. We are considering continuing all these routes over the summer, and we plan to increase frequencies to those that prove most popular”, the company noted. Windrose has also scheduled a one-off flight from Kiev to Dubrovnik tomorrow. As its operations in the former Yugoslavia continue to grow, Windrose has requested permission from US authorities to start flying to New York as soon as possible. The airline will initially operate these flights under a wet-lease agreement (meaning it will lease a plane and crew from another carrier), but also anticipates operating ad-hoc charters using its own equipment.