The national carrier of Cyprus recently held a second round of talks with the Slovenian Ministry for Infrastructure after presenting their initial proposals for establishing a new national carrier in the country back in July. Commenting on the latest round of talks, the Ministry noted, “The representatives of the carrier once again presented the organisational structure of their company, as well as the possibilities for potential cooperation. An analysis of air connectivity with an emphasis on our priority destinations was presented to them, and the representatives of the carrier then presented their point of view on the current state of air connectivity in Slovenia and the possibilities for its improvement”.
Cyprus Airways has been in talks with several governments to establish new bases, while it is considering the possibility of a new locally branded airline in Slovenia. “In our longer-term plans we are looking at establishing several bases in the Mediterranean and possibly beyond”, Cyprus Airways’ CEO, Paul Sies, said, adding that the carrier is open to continuing discussions with the Slovenian government over a potential new national airline. During the previous round of talks in July, the Slovenian government said, “They [Cyprus Airways] are interested in establishing a company in Slovenia and possibly in some other countries in the region in the future”.
The Slovenian government had previously said it would present its plans for a new Slovenian national carrier, which would likely involve a private partner, this autumn. Cyprus Airways currently operates a fleet of two A220-300 aircraft and two A320s. After facing bankruptcy in 2015, Cyprus Airways was revived within a year and is currently amidst an expansion phase. In the previous year, the airline expressed its intentions to potentially incorporate up to ten A220s into its fleet over the next five years, with ambitions to connect around thirty destinations by 2026. Currently, the carrier serves nineteen destinations across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East out of its base in Larnaca, including key cities such as Paris, Rome, Athens, Beirut and Cairo.
.jpg)
Is there any potential in this actually happening?
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I doubt.
DeleteTheir map of destinations is even more pathetic than OU from ZAG!
They are looking to set up a unit in Slovenia. It does not have much to do with their route map from Larnaca.
DeleteLooks like a realistic plan, they have more A220 on order. Crossing fingers they agree on the conditions with the government and that FRAPORT is not chasing them away...
DeleteI was talking about their ability to develop the company and from map of destinations it can be seen that this ability is not very strong.
DeleteJU and W6 have huge number of flights from BEG to LCA but they keep sleeping and losing money.
The topic is about Slovenia. Not flights from Belgrade. Give it a rest for a day.
DeleteYou don't even know their financial performance and BEG certainly isn't the most important destination on the map for any airline.
DeleteOh don't be pain in the neck.
DeleteIt has nothing to do particularly with BEG, they dont even fly to FRA or LHR!
Apart from Greece they fly in Western Europe only to CDG and ZRH. What a company!
@ 09:12. Well it's a privately company and they fly to destinations where they can make money.
Delete* privately owned company
Delete@09:12 it's a company with 4 airplanes for now . What did you expect wet lease some random Lithuanian and Romanian planes to expand ? ? No they are a private company and a EU member so they need to be carefull.
DeleteNo, I expect them to fly to the biggest European destinations where surely they would have more than enough passengers.
DeleteNo AMS, no LHR, no FRA, no VIE, not a single flight to UK, no HEL, no OSL, no CPH, no PRG, no WAW
They do not fly to any UK city, also not to AMS, FRA, VIE, HEL, OSL, CPH, DUS, BER, RIX, WAW, BEG, OTP, SOF... and at the same time their competition flies to all these destinations.
Really, very, very successful company. It would be interesting to see their market share in LCA. Probably worse than OU in Croatia.
@ Anon 10:58. You are comparing two very different airlines and markets. Cyprus Airways has currently 5 airplanes, while Croatia Airlines has 13. Cyprus Airways is a private company. What do you expect to do them? Fly to all those destinations just for the sake of it? Croatia Airlines is a state owned company and is not able to get their things right. If it was not a state owned airline I highly doubt they would even exist and you have read the article correct Cyprus is planning to add 30 destinations.
DeleteTransavia, Easyjet, Wizzair, Austrian, Lufhansa, Ryanair, Eurowings, Norwegian, British, Finnair are all not state owned company, but profit orientated airlines and they still cover all the destinations I listed above. It simply means that there is a profit on all these destinations but Cyprus Airways from some reason known only to them do not want to fly them.
DeleteOU was taken only as an example of a company that comes from touristically strong country but does not use the advantage of it.
I get your point, however as mentioned in the article they are planing to add 30 destinations and also bear in mind that Cyprus is as small Islands and relies heavily on tourism. Apart from the UK there is no big diaspora and most of the routes would probably work only on seasonal base and that's what most of the above mentioned airlines also do, fly on a seasonal base to Cyprus.
DeleteThere is a difference between planning and realization. At this moment the plans are only on the table and I will believe it when I see the plant on runway.
DeleteAll the airlines I mentioned above fly year-round to LCA.
They fly year round but they're struggling they all fly there with low frequencies.
Delete@10:08 With Cyprus Airways being an EU airline it would in fact make every sense for them to lease airplanes from within the EU, such as from Romania and Lithuania
DeleteThis is getting interesting
ReplyDeleteThat A220 looks very nice in Cyprus livery
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteIn the end, everyone is interested except the Slovebian government.
ReplyDelete*slovenian, typo
Deletea great typo tho
DeleteThis is so odd in my opinion but let's see what happens.
ReplyDeleteSame as the national carrier of Slonenia being the home carrier in Łodz...
DeleteThe ministry does not sound overwhelmingly enthusiastic
ReplyDeleteIf the Slovenian government ever decides to establish an airline, they will do it with Amelia
DeleteWho says Amelia is even interested?
DeleteThey said they are interested, but would not take the risk by themselves.
DeleteThey are the most serious contender.
DeleteLol I mean they don’t even have a good network their only profitable route must be Athens and they wanna open a base in LJU?
ReplyDeleteThe article is not about the Cyprus airways base, but about a local branded airline based in Slovenia. With state support that should be possible and they have the right aircraft.
DeleteIdk how u expect 150 seats to be filled on the A220 on any route from LJU when keeping in mind that most routes of Adria ar e already replaced.
DeleteFirst: A220 in 2 class configuration does not have 150 seats.
DeleteSecond: There are still unserved routes from LJU, not just within the JP network (ex. VIE), but also alike BCN, MAD, FCO.
Third: A220 has a 6h+ flying range, that said you can fly all the way to LPA (winter - when a longer block hour is easier fitted into the schedule due to lower occupancy of the AC)
Fourth: Some routes are reestablished, but insuficiently as current capacity/freq does not cover the demand.
For those (direct) routes which offer enough capacity slovenians still prefer to fly out of LJU over any other neighbouring airports (you wont find many slovenians flying from ZAG, VCE, VIE on routes to/via IST, DXB etc). LJU still has significant potential, especially if it can provide adequate connectivity to Slovenian travelers. Even in terms of seat cost, an operator of A220 can effectively compete with operators of larger single-aisle AC. This could lead to ticket prices that are comparable to those from airports with higher-capacity AC (A320 and A321), primarily in VIE, VCE, and partially in ZAG. Reduced ticket prices will encourage more Slovenians to choose LJU for their travels.
:
Exactly, well said
DeleteDon't wanna sound pessimistic, but Cyprus is not a good example of a country with the best aviation experience. Remember Cyprus Airways and more specifically Helios Air? Most pf the times, I fail to continue with the logic of Slovenia and its carrier. How come a much smaller Montenegro manged to very quickly restore its lost flag carrier and already have a humble, yet functioning small airline?? Is it really that hard for Slovenia to initially lease 2 smaller regional planes and at least launch a couple of new routes or restore Adria's one gradually??? 4 years have passed...four since JP went bust and still nothing! Unbelievable....
ReplyDeleteSo why should there be few airlines? There are hundreds of paper lessors and aviation groups. Haha just kidding got it. You're right.
DeleteCyprus^
DeleteCyprus, an island of 900.000 people will have this year more than 12 million pax going through its two airports.
DeleteAnd without the government having to subsidize any airline for it.
Nicosia/Ercan?
Delete@ 09:46 Exactly! Why should Cyprus Airways not open a local airline if they get the monies from the Slovenian government?
Delete@Anon 10:05
DeleteLCA and PFO
Ercan also is Cyprus
Delete@ 11:40 with some flights to Turkey for obvious reasons
Delete@10:05 yeah, and Pyongyang is also Korea.
DeleteDid it ever crossed your mind that Montenegro is not in the EU so they can still fund their national carrier without limits. It'll just be an issue once EU membership becomes imminent.
Deleteyou cant blame them that they dont TALK to airlines
ReplyDeleteOther than talks and ideas being thrown around, nothing is really happening.
DeleteNo need for national airline, Fraport is in talks with 28 airlines. Lol
ReplyDeleteFRAPORT is in talk with 28 airlines telling them there is no need for any new route as all the traffic is successfully canalised via LHG hubs.
DeleteAnd will be totally recovered in 2026 when all other airports around will be having new records.
DeleteAll the government does is talk. Never any results. At least in aviation.
ReplyDeleteThings are slowly moving in the right direction.
DeleteFingers crossed
ReplyDeleteDaily lust of airlineers in talks with govt of Slovenia has finally reasurred me, thst they have no idea how aviation sector works. They are just fishing in the dark, hoping something or somebody would take the bait. And they even don’t have a bait, they are fishing with bare hook, hoping somebody will recognise how great Slovenia is and how desperate for air travel it is…or just show mercy. The same mentallity that let Adria to the sharks and hoping for the best. Aviation sector in Slovenia is on its deathbed, just waiting for the final mercy blow. I’m utterly pessimistic.
ReplyDelete*list, not lust lol
DeleteCrap, typing on the phone…sorry for typos
DeleteThis will end nowhere like all the talks the government had.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how much money they are asking for
ReplyDeletewow. Would love to hear their full plans for LJU (and the region).
ReplyDeleteSame. i hope they will go public with them.
DeleteOnly if it's successful lol
DeleteTheir unconfirmed plan is to station some AC at LJU and connect LJU with a few unserved destinations.
DeleteThat would literally be exactly what Lju needs
Deletethey could easily station a few A220s in Ljubljana and connectivity problem solved.
ReplyDeleteEasier said than done :)
DeleteAt least they could launch LCA-LJU if nothing else.
ReplyDeleteMaybe a seasonal flight could work. Highly doubt year-round would work.
DeleteDid Adria fly to Larnaca?
DeleteLong time ago
DeleteNo demand for LJU-LCA maybe a seasonal weekly flight but for now Aegean does that job with their ATH flights.
DeleteNext summer LJU-ATH will be a morning flight so you can have perfect connections to LCA and all Greek islands.
Or they will share the greek market with A3?
DeleteMakes more sense to start HER,RHO, CFU or SKG than LCA.
DeleteDon't get your hopes up people
ReplyDeleteI still don't see what Cyprus Airways has to gain from this to be honest. Slovenia is a small market.
ReplyDeleteSame
DeleteThey are not big in Cyprus even where the market is big what do you expect them to do?
DeleteThe market is small, but it's still very much underserved. I don't expect them to compete to FRA, MUC or (they don't do it from LCA, probably by intention), but there are plenty of other opportunities left with state subsidies available.
DeleteExactly. Why people don't get that LCA is a seasonal market?
DeleteLCA is clearly a seasonal market even airlines flying to LCA year round I know they’re struggling.
DeleteSo out of all the markets in the world they will deal with their seasonality by opening an airline in Slovenia?
DeleteWhy not? If they get 10 A220 it makes sense to open another base as there is no demand for 10 AC in LCA.
DeleteBefore covid in 2019 they had plans to open a base in ATH that makes more sense and I think that will happen eventually. CY is more recognisable in Greece than in Slovenia. They talk about LJU because they plan to get many planes and the market in LCA is low so they will open an ATH base and those LJU talks will be scrapped...
DeleteIt's 2023, almost 2024 and 2019 was long ago.
DeleteYou ask what they have to gain? Money from the government that covers their risks so that they can hardly lose anything here.
DeleteThey are earning big at the moment with constant charters between Larnaca and Tel Aviv. Anyway, I don't see this happening with Slovenia.
ReplyDeleteThis kind of reminds me of 4K Invest. When they bought Adria they also had a plan to later purchase Croatia Airlines and Montenegro Airlines. Now Cyprus Airways wants to estabiish an airline in Slovenia and "other neighbouring countries".
ReplyDeleteThe two have nothing to do with each other.
DeleteI'm increasingly under the impression that Cyprus Airways might have Croatia in its plans too.
ReplyDeletewhat makes you think that?
DeleteOnly other neighboring country that would make sense to me.
DeleteSomething also tells me this could include operations in Croatia too. Let's see.
DeleteHoping for a positive outcome
ReplyDeleteHow many aircraft would be optimal for Ljubljana based airline in current environment?
ReplyDelete3-4 in case if it goes only for P2P pax.
DeleteYes around 4 would be optimal.
DeleteIf OU can use it in Osijek why not Ljubljana
DeleteFYI CY currently has 4 aircraft and 8 more will join the fleet till 2028. Keep in mind that their A320 will leave their fleet because they have a goal of an all A220 fleet. Basing 4 planes in LJU is fictional to say at least...
DeleteLCA can not support more than 5 or 6 and they will start in LJU with no more than two. Later they will add additional planes if enough demand is generated. Additional aircraft can arrive soon as they are jumping the line with taking new or barely used acft from other carriers.
DeleteWill the government actually announce plans for the airline this fall?
ReplyDeleteFall has just started. Be patient.
DeleteTheir interest in quite unexpected.
ReplyDeleteBut surely welcoming. Hoping for the best or at least Ljubljana- Larnaca flights.
DeleteIf they will maintain operation from both bases, LJU-LCA is coming first for logistic purposes for sure.
DeleteOne or two of their new A220s would be great for LJU base
ReplyDeleteUsing a few A220 in LJU would be interesting.
ReplyDeleteSafest would be to form partnership with Amelia Airlines.
ReplyDelete