Italian carrier SkyAlps is expanding its presence in the region with the launch of six new routes from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia this summer. It has plans to further grow its operations in the region in 2025. The airline was recently granted subsidies to launch flights from Mostar to Verona, Rome, Munich, and Bari, with services to commence in late April and early May. “Mostar has huge potential when compared to other airports. I hope that the quality of the tourists we will carry will meet everyone's expectations. This, I believe, is only the beginning of a fruitful multi-year cooperation”, Alex Spinato. SkyAlps’ General Director for Aviation and Operations, said.
The airline, which boasts a fleet of six 76-seat Dash 8 turboprop aircraft, also plans to expand its presence on the Croatian market. The carrier will commence operations between Verona and Brač on June 8, with the seasonal weekly service to run until September 14. SkyAlps also plans to inaugurate flights between Verona and Zadar starting June 15, which will run once per week until September 7. These will complement the airline’s existing seasonal flights between Bolzano and Brač. In total, the carrier will maintain twenty weekly scheduled flights to and from the region this summer, doubling its operations on last year. It will also maintain a number of charters.
| Destination | Launch date |
|---|---|
| Verona - Mostar | 30.04.2024 |
| Mostar - Munich | 30.04.2024 |
| Rome - Mostar | 02.05.2024 |
| Verona - Brač | 08.06.2024 |
| Verona - Zadar | 15.06.2024 |
| Bari - Mostar | TBA |
Click links for more details
SkyAlps plans to further expand in the region next year with the opening of a base in Mostar and the introduction of flights to Stuttgart, Vienna, Naples, Palermo and Catania, according to Mostar Airport’s General Manager, Marko Djuzel. SkyAlps began operations in June 2021, initially launching flights as a virtual airline until it obtained its own Air Operator’s Certificate in January 2023. The carrier plans to more than double its Dash 8 fleet to fourteen aircraft over the next year, enabling it to further grow. Last year, the arline planned to enter the Slovenian market with flights from Bolzano, Naples and Pisa to Maribor, however, services were cancelled prior to their launch due to low demand.
They would be perfect for Ljubljana, i dont know why the airport isn't attracting them.
ReplyDeleteSarajevo, Prague, Bucharest, Berlin could all be covered
Mostar flights are all subsidised. Perhaps they applied for subsidies in LJU as well, but we'll need to wait for the results to be made public
DeleteWith one they get paid to fly, with the other they pay less to fly. That's the difference
DeleteLJU could have connection to MXP and FCO as the connections written in one of the comments.
DeleteBolzano-Brač is a niche route and I get why it works. But Verona-Zadar feels like suicide when Ryanair flies from Zadar to Bologna, Bergamo and Malpensa.
ReplyDeleteZadar is nowhere near Brač
DeleteBut Verona is one hour away from Bologna, Venice, Bergamo, Milan…
DeleteTivat should have been a better option instead of Zadar
Deleteim pretty sure Bolzano is related to prebooked package deals
DeleteLet's hope that it wont be like in the case of unfortunate Maribor, where you COULD NOT find tickets in any reservation system, they could only be purchased via travel agency with STARTING PRICE 360€. And now the low demand is reason that these flights failed ... ok.
ReplyDeleteMaribor routes were operated by them but not organised by them. It was a chartered airplane from Skyalps and the tickets were sold by a random organiser
DeleteDa, Maribor im je bio ogroman uspjeh...
DeleteIt would be nice to see them on route Belgrade-Vienna. To break this duopoly
ReplyDeleteEven better on Zagreb-Split. To break the monopoly.
DeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteThey'd be perfect for SKP!
ReplyDeleteTo where?
DeleteLol
DeleteBari - Skopje, Naples - Skopje.
DeleteThe Skyalps website informs about the following flight schedule starting June 8 (every Saturday):
ReplyDeleteBozen - Brač: 08:00 - 09:25 Brač - Bozen: 15:00 - 16:30
Verona - Brač: 09:00 - 10:20 Brač - Verona: 15:30 - 16:20
(https://www.skyalps.com/de/fluege-und-pakete/brac/kroatien)
Looking at that long time between arrival and departure in Brač, Skyalps could/will(?) over additional flights to/from Brač ...
the route from Bolzano to Brac is primarily successful because of the Gruber tour operator, which brings its guests from Innsbruck via Bolzano to Brac. Also, a plane from Bolzano as well as from Verona is needed to base the plane at Brac, in order to make charter flights to Kosice, and Bratislava which they already have arrangements...
Deletethey were also supposed to fly an additional charter flight to Bern,
however, the Swiss tour operator changed operators at the last minute and it will no longer be Sky Alps but Helvetic,
so that after a few years, Brac will again receive a jet plane, e-190 in regular traffic..
According to Czech (or Slovak?) tour operator Satour the Brac - Kosice flight has the following schedule, starting 15.June, every sunday:
ReplyDeleteBQ2374 BWK - KSC 10:10 - 11:45
BQ2375 KSC - BWK 12:30 - 14:15
Not sure if they will change that. They could theoretically fly all 4 routes to Brac on Saturdays with just one plane.
DeleteBZOBWK 630-755
BWKKSCBWK 840-1015/1100-1245
BWKBTSBWK 1330-1455/1540-1710
BWKVRNBWK 1755-1915/2000-2120
BWKBZO 2155-2320
But it would mean they need to take a dead heading crew of 4 on the first flight to BWK, that would then stay there and operate for example the last three legs of the day to and from VRN and then back to BZO. On both BZO legs they could then sell only 72 instead of 76 seats.
SkyAlps is supposedly negotiating with Lufthansa Group for feeding flights, especially for routes requiring smaller aircraft, which Lufthansa, Austrian, or Brussels Airlines, do not have but Dash is perfect for do it.
ReplyDeleteOU won't be happy about that
DeleteI think they already agreed upon similar model for Friedrichshafen-Frankfurt route this summer, so my guess is that they'll be flying for Austrian too; I remember Adria flying with Saabs for Swiss but I have no idea on which routes
DeleteAdria did Lugano-Zurich for Swiss.
DeleteNope, Austrian contracted 2 ATR72-6 from Braathens instead.
DeleteGood luck to them
ReplyDeleteJust a note for admin; Skyalps has 10 Dashes + 1 ordered, 4 of them are parked at Bratislava waiting for the summer season to start
ReplyDeleteAnyone flown with Sky Alps? What are they like? Do they have lcc service?
ReplyDeleteNo, they actually have drinks and snacks for free!
DeleteHere is a good review about their on board service
Deletehttps://aviationsourcenews.com/analysis/exclusive-a-look-at-the-service-of-skyalps-trip-report-from-hamburg-to-bolzano/
The Skyalps base in Mostar could be a real game changer for the airport.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteIf it happens
DeleteThat could have been Croatia Airlines. A bass was offered to them for subsidies.
Delete*base
DeleteAre the OMO flights year round or seasonal?
ReplyDeleteSeasonal
DeleteKada bi SkyAlps imao interesa i odobrenje vlasti Srbije, pa da otvori neku liniju iz Italije. Za Kraljevacku Moravu i Nis.
ReplyDeleteObzirom da lete sa Turboprop-ima. Srbija bi mogla da ako ima volje i interesa da poveca mogucnost za izbor na sekundarnim aerodromima drzave. U italiji je veliki broj naseg naroda. Pogotovo u Severnoj Italiji.
Ako politika poboljsa uslove i poveca izbor, bice vise nade za Moravu i Nis za sada. ✈♥️🛬🇷🇸✈
I love the fact that all flights are. and dep. are at "human times". Good luck SkyAlps!
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteMy God what would aviation in the region be without subventions...
ReplyDeleteProbably this blog would have to get discontinued!?
It's the same story with all smaller airports across Europe.
DeleteYes, unfortunately.
DeleteImagine if at one time administrations run out of money ..
With a declining population everywhere in the whole continent, what do you expect? Airlines are finding ways to get money but where are the people? Smaller airports are forced to pay to get people travelling especially in the the Balkan region. Do you think the 7 million passengers in Tirana came for free or the Ryanair Croatia bases? Also MK with probably 1,5 people having almost 3 million passengers. Think about it.
DeleteNice. Better than JU and OU in any case
ReplyDeleteAir Serbia will fly comfy Embraer jets from Mostar for a quick 260km flight and offer connecting single-ticket flights to other destinations. With SkyAlps you need to fly much longer turboprop flights to airports like Munich (730km away) and then fly on another flight with risky separate tickets.
DeleteFor transfer of course then JU is better, but for direct routes i dont know if anyone will buy ticket with JU and spend 6h to get to OMO when they can get there for 2h from VRN for example, with exception if someone wants to travel on other dates where there are no direct flights by Skyalps.
DeleteDirect SkyAlps flights are great but so far announced are only 4 destinations. Not everyone is lucky to live in those 4 cities and fly only on offered days.
DeleteHonestly, OMO needs much for flights simply because it can attract religious tourism. Not everyone wants to get drunk on a weekend and BiH is just beautiful like all Balkan countries. OMO can even attract Poles or Latinos for example because they like to visit places like this. OMO is not a UK ski destination, but an important religious destination. Simply, people look for places like this. BiH can offer much more and not everyone likes going to the beach or enjoy fancy boulevards or restaurants.
ReplyDeleteOMO is a place full of history like everywhere in the region. My mother is Bulgarian and has knitted a goblen of the Mostar bridge because it is gorgeous.