Greece’s Aegean Airlines will end its fifth-freedom flights between Skopje and Sarajevo from November 29, just over a year after introducing operations between the two cities. The carrier initially planned to operate the service three times per week in November and December, and twice weekly from January. It then scheduled flights until December 7, with a limited operation during the holiday period from late December until early January but has now removed all flights past the end of November. Ticket sales on the route for the 2025 summer season have also been suspended. The airline has not commented on its decision to end the flights.
This summer, Aegean Airlines maintained operations between the two capital cities primarily with the 46-seat ATR42 aircraft, through its regional subsidiary Olympic Air, even though it initially scheduled the slightly larger 72-seat ATR72 turboprop. The service marked the first time Skopje and Sarajevo had been linked with a scheduled air service in thirteen years when the now-defunct B&H Airlines maintained flights between the two. Aegean Airlines had applied for the Macedonian government's subsidy program for the introduction of new routes from Skopje last year but pulled out after the tender was declared void. It did not take part in the subsequent public call organised by the government.
The Greek flag carrier also plans to further reduce frequencies on its Athens - Skopje terminator service. From December, the carrier will maintain three weekly flights between the two cities, down from six weekly last winter. Furthermore, it will reduce capacity between the two capitals, as it has currently scheduled the ATR42 aircraft on the route for all flights from December onwards, compared to the ATR72 which was primarily used between the two cities last winter. As previously reported, elsewhere in the region, Aegean Airlines will suspend flights between Athens and Podgorica for the majority of the winter season, from November 17 until December 18 and then against from January 5 onwards.
Expected unfortunately. Can't imagine too many people were flying this route
ReplyDeleteAegean is too expensive, its like 300€ for a return ticket from SKP to ATH???!
DeleteIt was mostly 80+ percent full which is pretty fine for a legacy airline. Funny how everyone praised them when they extended it into the winter but now we spit on it
DeleteIt was good while it lasted.
ReplyDeletePity. I wonder what the loads are like
ReplyDeleteProbably trash
Delete+1
DeleteThe fact that they reduced capacity from ATR72 last year to ATR42 this year is telling.
Delete"The boarding gate for the flight to Sarajevo was 101 which is located at the lower (arrivals) level of the terminal building. After a quick walk to the airplane a completely new cabin crew welcomed passengers, this time about 60-65 of us in, surprise, Olympic Air uniforms."
Deletefrom Exyuaviation trip report
Which goes to show you should not draw conclusions based on a single flight, whether it is full or empty.
Deleteyet saying it is "trash" with no insights at all is super right??
DeleteIt's more appropriate given the today's topic
Deletesays the keyboard warrior, ok
DeleteWhat keyboard warrior? What are you going on about? Do you really think they are cutting SKP-SJJ and reducing SKP-ATH because those routes are doing well. What are you on?
DeleteLF was quite good. I took several flights on this route in the past 8 months. LF was around 70-80 percent on both sectors, with mixed pax demographics
DeleteThen yields must have been an issue. Or maybe Aegean also struggles with pilots and needs to trim their network.
DeleteYeah but 70-80% yield is very bad for ATR42.
Delete*LF
DeleteNot necessarily. Without knowing the costs we can't say if it was good or bad. Not to mention that we don't know what the average ticket price was and if they received special discounts from Bosnia or North Macedonia.
DeleteThe way things are going, I wouldn't be suprised if Aegean completely left Skope soon.
ReplyDeleteAt least Aegean tried to be relevant in the ex-YU region, it did not work out for them. In my opinion there are several factors.
ReplyDelete1. Aegean has a weak brand due to a limited overall presence. So far they only managed to be somewhat successful in BEG.
2. ATH as a hub is not conveniently positioned and Aegean's network to the Middle East is still modest - especially in terms of frequencies. They are fighting with TK at IST so they have a difficult job.
3. ATH as a hub is not competitive or appealing. In summer it always becomes a mess or better said a zoo. It's too small for the amount of traffic and for the number of passengers it handles.
4. Lack of adequate planes. Just like JU realized, you need a regional jet to be successful. Their A320 is too big for many regional markets while the ATR is too slow.
In conclusion, there is no other way to put it other than that Aegean failed to break through and to position itself as a relevant player in the ex-YU region. This market will be divided among Air Serbia, Turkish Airlines, Wizz Air, Ryanair and Lufthansa Group.
Over the past 20 years, Greek economic influence in the region has also somewhat disappeared. It was replaced either by local companies or the ones from Western Europe. Banking sector is a great example of this phenomenon.
Very good analysis, agreed
DeleteNEMJEE , I Think that things are more simple . Not much demand so as a private owned airline they are doing the right thing .
DeleteAre you referring to SJJ-SKP or their overall failure to position themselves in the ex-YU region?
DeleteIt's somewhat crazy to think that airBaltic with next to no O&D demand had more success than Aegean which is based in a global tourist hub which attracts millions of guests from our region.
they didn't try to be relevant. in the last two years Greek companies have shown to be unreliable partners in the region.
Deleteeveryone knew they just showed up for subsidies took the money and were going to leave.
They really need to work on the marketing. No one knows they offer great connections to islands (compared to JU).
DeleteTo be honest, they are focusing on more financially lucrative markets such as Western Europe, not on price sensitive like ours. One year I decided to fly to Vietnam for 409 EUR instead od buying flight to Athens for the similar amount out of Frankfurt.
DeleteThen why did they try to dominate this market? There is money to be made thru just couldn't fight to get it.
DeleteDominate with few weekly flights???
DeleteDominate the market with having a lot of destinations in ex-YU!!!!
DeleteDomination is to replace OU, JU or W6, not to have 7 destination with 14 weekly flights. JU has that in one peak hour.
DeleteATR is too slow for Aegean but JU dominates market because of them? Inconsistency...
DeleteWell they tried , the demand was not there , they are leaving . Simple as that ! With this growth they are gonna carry 17 million passengers , do you think they care about the insignificant Ex-yu market ? NO ! They are preparing for more middle east destinations , India , Nigeria , Kenya , Ethiopia !
DeleteAnon 18.58
DeleteThey need the ATR for their domestic flights where the Q400 was too fast and which was difficult to operate on many island routes. Even when summer comes a lot of these smaller airports still can't take anything larger than an Atr.
However, once you look beyond Greece, a lot of markets are simply not competitive on the Atr. Take JU's INI-ATH which takes 01 hour and 20 minutes.
How long would the ATR flight take to BEG, OTP, BUD, ZAG, LJU, VCE...? The A320 is simply too big for many of these markets especially once winter comes.
Now, if JU deploys their ATR on routes that take at least 01.20 (flying time) then we have destinations such as VIE, VCE, BLQ, all of ex-YU, BUD, OTP, SOF, TIA.... Much larger catchment area with far less seasonality, something that does not apply to Aegean's domestic network. Compare passenger numbers in winter and in summer at airports such as RHO, JMK, HER, CHQ... and you will see what I am talking about.
Anon 19.05
Of course they care about the ex-YU market, that is why they had that expansion. Real question is why did LO, OS, LH, TK... have more success but Aegean didn't? What went wrong for them?
If they had a smaller plane in their fleet (E75, E90, E95) then many of these routes could have worked. Two weekly to ZAG on the A320 could easily be operated 4 times per week on the E70 or even maybe on the E90. Like this their two weekly (and even three) have to go up against double daily flights offered by TK.
That is why they had more luck in high volume markets such as France, Italy or Spain. There was more room for growth and it was easier to fill those A320/321s.
Ex-YU might not be the highest yielding market out there but it's not to be neglected. It is a good source of passengers and airlines such as Lufthansa or Turkish Airlines know this very well. That is why they fought so hard to preserve their dominant position in the region.
Were these flights subsidised?
ReplyDeleteWe expected this to happen, i wont be suprised if they totally pull out of SKP. It comes after the government in Macedonia changed.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they will apply for the new subsidy tender with this route and they restore it.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteIf this route can't work with ATR42 then there is no hope.
ReplyDeleteNot a good sign. So far this year Aegean in Skopje:
ReplyDelete- Ending Skopje-Sarajevo
- Discontinued ticket sales and removed plans for Corfu-Skopje
- Reduced Skopje frequencies
- Reduced Skopje capacity
Next step will be them leaving Skopje altogether.
Delete12 04. Very likely.
DeleteCorfu-Skopje sounds really ridiculous.
DeleteTurkey seems to be winning over Greece for influence in the region. Especially Pegasus increasing SKP flights.
ReplyDeleteGreece never had more influence except maybe in charter count from Serbia. Turkey conquered all of the other markets some 20 years ago and never lost them.
DeleteA3 fares from SKP are not cheap: AMS & BCN 330€, MUC 440€ return for Nov dates
ReplyDeleteTheir prices are very high , I will never pay that money to fly with airline like them , Lufthansa have better and cheaper prices from SKP then A3 ... I really hope they will leave SKP and someone else come on their place
DeleteWe’ll obviously, and the flights to Athens will probably be discontinued too, The Ex-Yugo population much rather prefer to go by car in their own rules and comfort then to go to all the hassle and the regulations of Airports and the small ATRs. Ive never been to a Greek Airport but i heard they are pretty bad.
ReplyDeleteYea, for some reason they tolerate hardship much more with a car then by plane. You can get stuck for three or more hours , especially in the summer sun, at the Macedonian - hellenic border.
Deleteridiculous claim. compare tourists numbers in Croatia arriving by car vs. airlines. Its the same all over Europe, car is family's nr 1 transport mode, get over it
DeleteThe amount of GB, NL and D cars in Greece is ridiculous (Ionian region). And it's not the diaspora, but tourists.
DeleteI dont say that car transport is the most used in this region , I am saying that the airline is very under any other that flying from SKP, and I try them couple times and never again because of couple issues not one!
DeleteLearn from LOT
ReplyDeleteLot is better them A3 in every segment , I use Lot for travel to Canada and their products are amazing as well as the service. You cannot compare Lot with A3 , big big difference.
DeleteHmm well Aegean doesn't operate long-haul but when it comes to their narrowbody fleet and the onboard experience, I would say Aegean is better. Their A320neo and 321neo offer a far superior experience compared to LO's B737MAX.
DeletePlot twist: They will switch SJJ for ?
ReplyDeleteWhat is "terminator service"?
ReplyDeleteFlight that ends in Skopje and does not continue onto third destination (Sarajevo)
DeleteThanks
DeleteAegean is a sh*t of airline , I wish they leave Skopje forever , their service is very bad , the behaviour of the crew also , and the tickets are extremely high in compare to other airlines flying from SKP!!!!
ReplyDeletebet you have never flew with them
DeleteBet I have flewn with them 3 times from SKP and its the worst airline I ever experience , even Wizz is way better then them. And the tickets price are miserable.
DeleteFlying 3 times with an airline you dont like and know that it is more expensive than others?
DeleteIm not buying this
Finger crossed they leave SKP and other better airline to come on their place!
ReplyDeleteLike who? Subsidized Ryanair?
DeleteWhen I wrote the trip report in October 2023, the surprising fact was that there were more passengers on SKP-SJJ segment than on ATH-SKP one. Even the fact of direct flights between Skopje and Sarajevo was a very positive development, however the late evening schedule chosen was not helping at all. During the winter months of 2023/24, the segment was cancelled many times due to adverse weather conditions in Sarajevo, mainly due to a fog, but also due to strong winds in the Spring and during the Summer 2024. The last example of rather unsustainable position in which the route operated was in August (the 14th to be precise). I mentioned in my report that the crew changes in Skopje. This time, the SKP-SJJ-SKP was supposed to be flown by crew ferried on ATH-SKP segment. Shortly before the landing of the flight segment from Athens, a friend onboard who was supposed to fly from Athens to Sarajevo heard a conversation between two Olympic Air pilots and realized that one of them was sick, followed by sounds that indicated a use of a sickness bag. After an hour layover in Skopje, the passengers were explained that due to operational reasons flight would be cancelled, while they was an arrangement for a hotel accommodation in Skopje. The ground staff barely spoke any English, and my friend learned about the arrangements from the bus driver who brought the group of connecting ATH-SKP-SJJ passengers to the hotel. They continued their journey to Sarajevo 24 hours later (the next ATH-SKP-SJJ routing) and this was just hours before the significantly important event was taking place in Sarajevo the day after, the Sarajevo Film Festival, which BTW was expecting some of their guests arriving on the original flight from Skopje.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, although the primarily purpose of this route was not to establish a connection between Athens and Sarajevo, the return flight schedule was highly inconvenient, initially involving around 6 hours layover in SKP and then reduced to about 4.5 hours during the Summer this year. The addition of ATH-SJJ-ATH direct flight twice a week this Summer added a choice of direct return, but the initial schedule did not offer any reasonable opportunities for connections in ATH. Political tensions that arise following the recent elections in North Macedonia definitely do not add to a mix of factors to discontinue the route. It is likely that Aegean measured their checks and balances and that an alternative and more profitable opportunities than this one exist to utilize the ATR fleet during the night.
Remains to be seen whether ATH-SJJ-ATH route would appear again next Summer, which due to Sarajevo subsidies should be feasible, yet the regional connectivity remains perhaps to be an opportunity of other carriers that can handle the particularities of the demanding scheduling related to Sarajevo airport. It is not surprise that in 1970s and 1980s flights from BEG and ZAG to Sarajevo were returning the same evening in summer months whereas during the winters the returning flights would have a "buffer" being scheduled for the next morning, and if a night before landing was not possible an early morning inbound alternative would correct the issue, provided that a morning fog would not eliminate such opportunity. Likewise all non-feeding flights to/from Sarajevo mainly conducted by Adria had a mid-day schedule such as LJU-SJJ-TGD-(SJJ)-LJU or LJU-SJJ-SKP-(SJJ)-LJU (triangle schedule may have been an alternative based on total number of passengers). JAT also alternated its BEG-FCO flights via SPU and DBV during the summer months with BEG-SJJ-FCO-SJJ-BEG midday routing during winter months.
This next Saturday I am flying from Athens to Podgorica on OA ATR-42 and it remains to be seen if the flight will run as scheduled.
Some time ago I wrote that the best solution for intra ex-YU connectivity is for these airports to sit down with JU and make a deal. If SKP wants to be linked with places such as TGD or SJJ then Air Serbia is their best solution.
DeleteAfter all, looking back at the last couple of years, JU was and has remained the most stable operator at INI.
After all, Air Serbia operates a whole bunch of flights to Montenegro. I don't think it would be a problem to add a W rotatiton to SKP from either TIV or TGD the same way they do for KVO. I am sure two or three weekly TIV-SKP could work out just fine.
Thank you Slobodan, I agree with most of the stuff you said. ATH-SJJ will definitely continue, it performed really well, often with packed yields
Delete