Low cost carrier Wizz Air, which has bases in Belgrade, Skopje and Tuzla in the former Yugoslavia, could soon be expanding further in the region with new opportunities arising in Ljubljana, Zagreb and Pristina. The budget carrier maintains limited services to the Slovenian capital but has shown interest in launching new routes, with the airline to add flights from Skopje to Ljubljana in November. On January 25, Wizz Air’s Network Development Manager, Airport Development Manager and Public Affairs Manager held talks with the Slovenian Ministry for Economic Development and Technology, as well as the Ministry for Infrastructure over the potential introduction of flights to the country utilising the recently adopted subsidy program. “Due to operational needs in the event of a decision to establish scheduled international flights to an international airport in Slovenia, Wizz Air wanted to obtain information about the state aid scheme to be provided to carriers for the start of new routes”, the government said. The public call to airlines for the provision of subsidies for the launch of new routes from Slovenia came to a close yesterday. The applicants will not be made public until selected. Wizz Air currently maintains operations from Ljubljana to London Luton.
Zagreb Airport’s Connecting Capital Cities Incentive Model will come into force next month, providing a range of discounts for the launch of up to sixteen routes. Wizz Air used to maintain services to the Croatian capital from Dortmund and London but terminated its operations to the city in 2011. It is believed the budget carrier showed renewed interest in the city following Ryanair’s decision to open a base. Wizz Air’s CEO, Jozsef Varadi, previously said Zagreb Airport was too expensive for the airline. “Zagreb is a high-priced airport environment with fluctuating demand. If Zagreb Airport becomes more reasonable, we will certainly consider that airport as an opportunity for expanding our network", Mr Varadi said at the time.
Wizz Air was Pristina Airport’s busiest airline in 2022, handling 414.478 passengers. The carrier outperformed its pre-pandemic traffic levels by 63.6%, as it handled 253.282 passengers in 2019. Wizz Air maintains seven routes out of Pristina. Last year, Wizz Air’s President, Robert Carey, said, “We will handle over 600.000 Kosovo passengers next year, which will make us the largest airline here. We will maintain services to the likes of Switzerland, Germany, and Austria. It is very important for us that travellers from Kosovo, but also those from nearby markets, fly with Wizz Air when they need to”. He added, “Part of our job is to add as many new destinations as possible. We hope to build a base here in the future”. Travel from Pristina is expected to get a further boost next year as much of the European Union abolishes visa requirements for Kosovo passport holders on January 1.
It would make sense if they launched more flights in LJU and in that way compete against Ryanair in Zagreb.
ReplyDeleteI'm optimistic. Fingers crossed for a good outcome.
DeletePRN FINALLY FREE EU VISA
Delete11:21 Visa-free is official for Kosovars starting 01.01.2024 according to the EC website:
Deletehttps://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/news/kosovo-visa-liberalisation-signed-entry-early-2024-2023-04-21_en
for one year. after that all non eu will need "visa"
Delete@Anonymous11:21
DeleteEU is introducing new electronic visa system you'll need to pre-register before travelling to EU destination, it'll cost €7 per year for all non-EU nationals, this visa will be necessary for all non-EU nationals and will require online pre-registration for would be travellers. Travellers with a criminal record or associations with a criminal organizations won’t be allowed to enter EU.
@Anonymous09:02
Yes, Ljubljana as a Wizzair base would be logical, no doubt noumbers would skyrocket as a result, 3 million pax by 2030 easy, problem is, WizzAir ain’t Ryan Air.
^ that is not a visa and you obviously don't know what a visa is or the process it entails to obtain one.
DeleteThat's called EU visa waver. That's only registration, not Visa. Visa waver is dedicated only for non EU citizens who don't need visa to enter EU, for example USA, Serbia, Australia.
DeleteI have no doubt they will open a base in Pristina sooner or later.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it have an impact on their Skopje base?
Delete@09:03, PRN is expected to grow by 30-40% next year, meaning it will get two times bigger than SKP in terms of passengers - meaning it won't matter all that much.
DeleteBesides, Skoplje to Prishtina has more a complementary role, meaning serving each other with unserved routes, but not direct conflict in destinations.
30-40% growth is an optimistic number. Care to share the source?
Delete@9.16 lol most random comment ever. All Wizz routes from PRN are well served from SKP too
Deletewe are seeing on LH, A3 and LO which is "complementary"
Delete@09:36 Source is EU decision to lift Visas for Kosovo.
DeletePRN has already grown 50% post-covid, so a 30-40% growth next year it's an appropriate guess, if not conservative even.
I don’t think it will hurt SKP because routes from SKP to the Swiss,German and Italian destinations are already served by PRN and frequencies from PRN are also much higher, so if you need to fly to PRN there is enough choice already.
Deletetheres only one italian destination from PRN
DeleteThey are bit cautious with PRN because there is big competition with the familia Reisebüros which are dominatinating the scene
PRN will surpass SKP a lot more especially next year after the European visas are lifted. It might easily even become ex-Yu second busiest airport.
DeleteSo what you are saying is that these estimates of 30-40% growth are your own = speculative.
Delete@ Anon 11:56,
DeleteThere is no crystal ball to predict the future. Best estimates derive from statistical trends.
Past years PRN has grown 20-25% annually. Hence it is safe to presume that growth will spike once visas are lifted, as the article also suggests.
PRN is doing well this year and will do even better next.
DeleteReiseburo has super expensive prices it wont be a competition for Wizz in PRN. And they already lead the race even without a base in there. Kosovo’s population is one of the youngest in EU so they are well aware of the Wizzair services. So PRN for Wizz is going to be a big W.
DeleteThe destinations that are offered in Zagreb incentive model look like Wizz network
ReplyDeleteWhich are the destinations again?
DeletePrague, Tallinn, Berlin, Budapest, Riga, Vilnius, Luxembourg, Stockholm (Arlanda or Skavsta airports), Tirana, Pristina, Reykjavik, Tbilisi, Kiev (when it reopens), Chisinau and Yerevan.
DeleteThanks. Indeed, many routes are Wizz friendly.
DeleteAn airline must fly at least 3 of the routes to get discounts so it is likely going to be an LCC.
DeleteAccording to the incentives model airlines are obliged to pay the full airport fees and only after the 12 month period they will be reimbursed by the airport. Not sure Wizz would be interested in such an investment.
DeleteLJU-MAN please.
ReplyDeleteManchester is not on the list for subsidies but I think the route would actually work very well (and did in the past).
DeleteIt world work 100%. Just like ZAG-ARN but have no idea why it is not happening... so funny
DeleteMAN is not EU, so it wont be subsidised.
DeleteWould be great if it comes to ZAG but I don't see it happening soon... ZAG should also expand their airport but I really don't know how or where... terrible place for airport
ReplyDeleteWhat you mean?
DeleteI mean there is no place to expand airport
DeleteIt's sad that their LJU operations are down to just 1 route. But there are rumors that they did apply for the Slovenian incentives.
ReplyDeleteWhy is ZAG so expansive for airliners, is it much more expensive then Split or Belgrade airport or what? can't they lower prices to attract more airlines?
ReplyDeleteThat is why they are offering incentives. It is not more expensive than other airports but Varadi kind of disclosed the reason why - fluctuating demand.
DeleteIt is really sad that Zagreb without Incentive Models cannot attract any big LCC.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteSlovenian subsidy tender was finished a few days ago, when should we expect the results?
ReplyDelete"The opening of the received applications will not be public and will be carried out within fifteen days from May 4."
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2023/05/strong-interest-for-slovenian-airline.html
As already communicated, the opening is planned for today, but I don't know when the results will be publicly communicated
DeleteWell if the opening is today - let's hope for some results on Monday
DeleteWhy don't ZAG and LJU lower the fees??? SJJ and TIA already did it and many other airports in the region.
ReplyDeleteSomeone has to pay for the new terminals.
DeleteZAG already offered funny low prices to FR.
Delete5 EUR per passenger.
..."most successful carrier with 7 routes out of Pristina carrying 600.000 passengers" 😄
ReplyDeleteThis goes to show how calculated Wizz can be in picking up new destinations.
I am confident they will double that number until next year. Balkan market are fastest growing in Europe. Growth in TIA and PRN attest to that.
I think Wizz are going to be based in PRN before next summer season.
ReplyDeleteThey should fly to LJU. LJU really needs this and I hope it happens.
ReplyDeleteIf nothing, they probably applied for Brussels (Charleroi) again.
DeleteAnd Skopje and Pristina.
DeleteWizz Air has a habit of packing up and leaveing after a year.
ReplyDeleteWith the subsidies offered by Slovenia and ZAG, they are bound to fly for a certain period of time.
Delete@9:41 hopefully
Delete@9.37 only at one certain airport
DeleteThey have left more than SJJ in the last couple of years.
DeleteMaribor is more suitable for Wizz Air than Ljubljana
ReplyDeleteSeriously?
DeleteWhy wouldn't Ryanair be suitable for Ljubljana??
Deleteit's time for LJU to start growing again
DeleteRyanair was very clear that they are not interested in Maribor, but in Ljubljana.
DeleteIt has started growing.
DeleteCompared to 2019 it is far from growing.
DeleteNo, it has not! You can not compare Q1 2023 with Q1 2022 (too many COVID restrictions in place in 2022). The forecasted movements for June 2023 compared to June 2022 are at the same level. No increase, Still down 40% from 2019. Unbeatable last result in region, if not Europe.
DeleteThis could be a gamchanger for Ljubljana.
ReplyDeleteZagreb and Pristina too :D
Deleteyou will be very disappointed next week...gamechanger would be if someone establish base in LJU but none of this will happen.
DeleteDo you have an idea when they might announce which airlines applied?
DeleteHighly doubt there will be both Wizz and Ryanair in Zagreb. Market is not big enough. Perhaps they do launch some of the routes from the inventive model but definitely not a base.
ReplyDeleteIf Wizz does come, Croatia Airlines is dead.
Deletecroatia airlines is dead for few years now.
DeleteThis might be the final nail in the coffin.
DeleteCroatia Airlines has nothing to do with the market. Croatia Airlines is Kradeze money laundry machine. As such, it will exist, no matter of Wizz, Ryanair or anyone else, as long as Kradeze is in their mission of destroying and emptying the country
DeleteThe question is, is Wizz coming to ZG or is the market too small? Who cares about Croatia?
Delete@01.56
DeleteObviously @09.56, 11.06 and 11.12 do care about Croatia because they were relating it to Wizz possible arrival/return to ZAG. My post is basically the same as yours, Croatia is irrelevant in this story and will continue its pathetic survival as long as politicians use it as their toy. Whether market in ZAG is too small, or Wizz would be the next after Ryan/Lauda, remains to be seen. Btw I checked airport route maps yesterday, and KEF is listed as destination from ZAG. Usually they are pretty much accurate with their data
Like yesterday we talk about Air Serbia expanding and fleet options, whilst Wizz Air have a fleet strategy at least they are not getting the planes quick enough to match their ambitious words for all these new locations unless they cut others, which of course they have done before. As many have said EasyJet seems to have given up here maybe the answer is a merger of wizz and easyJet as both are struggling to compete with Ryanair and would help both with fleet strategy etc..
ReplyDeleteVery interesting.
DeleteHow long did Wizz fly to previously in Zagreb?
ReplyDeleteI believe from 2008 or 2009 until 2011.
DeleteLet's hope they reach a deal
ReplyDelete@9.55 we are learning from the West. They started it
ReplyDeleteSuper capitalist company relying on subsidies, this is gift that keeps giving lol
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised that Wizz constantly keeps coming back for talks with the government. If the Slovenian market is that important to them just start flying out of there without subsidies.
ReplyDeleteWhy, if gov want to give subvention?
DeleteThe subsidies in Slovenia are not that substantial tbh.
DeleteZagreb Airport’s Connecting Capital Cities Incentive Model will come into force next month, providing a range of discounts for the launch of up to sixteen routes.
ReplyDeleteLets wait and see what ZAG is up to. Good news is that Ryanair's winter timetable is almost launched for ZAG. AGP will be increased to 3 weekly, CRL decreased to 4 weekly, all German villages decreased to 2 weekly. Oddly, DUB is not yet launched compared to many other EU capitals. Overall, we see a decrease in frequencies in winter.
That being said, Wizz must very carefully study which routes to consider. Although Luton is quite a logic choice as well as Abu Dhabi and Lisbon.
Interesting. What is going on with FR in ZAG? I mean why are they not growing.
DeleteI find it difficult to open a base in PRN by Wizzair, there are many factors that prevent it.
ReplyDeleteThe first: the geographical position, PRN is located between NIS, SKP and TIA which are cheap airports and soon the small airport of Kukes will to function more, this airport is completely low cost and is a few km away from the southwestern border of Kosovo.
Second: PRN has the highest airport taxes in the region.
Third: in case a Wizzair base is opened in PRN, Wizzair would weaken its base in SKP as it is used by many Kosovars and these travelers would go to PRN, thus creating a big hole for Wizzair in SKP.
Fourth: Wizzair receives money continuously from the Macedonian government for operating in SKP, this can never happen with the Kosovo government.
Fifth: it will be very difficult for foreign tourists to land in PRN to visit Kosovo, so it is an airport that will always be maintained by Kosovar citizens both inside and outside the country.
regarding Fourth: Kosovo is paying 3 times more then the macedonian government:
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2019/12/kosovo-allocates-9-million-in-airline.html
December 2019, today we are in May 2023, 3 years have passed but this subsidy was never made due to Covid-19.
DeleteIn a nutshell it is the end of “Capitalism “ and its neo-liberal phase since since 1980s.
ReplyDeleteIn the nutshell also it is not subsidy of the Airports and routes but a subsidy of correlations between physical resources (Jet fuel in this particular case) and Money (Fiat currency, US$ in this case)
No airline at the present can afford to open new base. Literally all carriers have problems with lack of staff (flight crew, cabin crew, office workers you name it…) and can barely service their existing networks.
ReplyDeleteTrue
DeleteBelgrade is lucky to be base of Air Serbia and not to depend on the whims of the LCCs .
ReplyDeleteObviously without all these subsidies they can not make it anywhere except Zagreb . Ryanair as good as having a near monopoly on most routes could probably do without .
+1
DeleteWow it is amazing that PRN with just a handful of routes from Pristina is number 1 and had so many passengers.
ReplyDeleteIt is and they started flying to PRN just a few years ago.
DeleteWhen did Wizz end Charleroi-Ljubljana? I must have missed something.
ReplyDeleteSince winter 22/23. Originally was supposed to return this summer but got discontinued altogether.
DeleteOh thanks. Pity, would assume that route did ok
DeleteDidn't they also used to fly some other routes to LJU meny years ago?
DeleteNope, they started flying to LJU in 2012 with London and Charleroi and didn't add any other route.
DeleteTo put it in black and white I must travel from Budapest to Ljubljana twice in the next 2 weeks!! Choices with public transit are the same old same old MAV ( Hungarian Railways ) 9 am to 4 pm 7 hour adventure!! Option number 2 is Flixbus for 6 hours!! There has to be a better way, and yes airport discounts to carriers work!!! Just ask Zadar airport which I used 5 times in 2022 on the RyanAir Budapest-Zadar route, or Tirana airport in Albania which I already have flown twice in 2023 with Hungarian based WizzAir !!! For the doubters of subsidies, just ask the airport ground handlers, gate staff, shop owners, taxi, bus, and limousine drivers, local hotels and restaurants, who all benefit from more flights coming to Ljubljana!!! So let*s go with the subsidy, and cut my Budapest to Ljubljana travel time by more than half, it is 2023 after all !!!
ReplyDeletePrishtina is growing, services you get in PRN arw amazing and easy to get through. Not enough space at checking area, due to some fast food chains!
ReplyDeleteYou talk about the airport, I will talk about the city : I was in Pristina for two weeks in September 2022, after 15 years. And OMG what a positive surprise, and what a diferrence : New buildings all around, new hotels, new cars on the streets, new highways, new malls, everything is so shiny and new and in such expansion which is very rarely to be seen, especially within Balkans. And after I saw the pace of life going on in Pristina, I am not surprised at all that the airport is reflecting it as well
DeleteI would not bet on Wizzair, they are as volatile as a particle of humid air on the hotest june day. Basically the opposite of OU :)
ReplyDelete