Wizz Air, British Airways and Austrian Airlines will make the largest year-on-year decrease in the amount of available capacity on markets across the former Yugoslavia this coming winter season, which begins this Sunday and lasts until the end of March. As previously reported, issues at Wizz Air caused by faults in its Pratt & Whitney-built engines, will see the airline wipe out over 310.000 seats off markets within the former Yugoslavia when compared to the previous winter season. Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia account for the majority of the cuts. The low cost carrier’s overall capacity will be down 14.1%, while the number of operated flights will decrease 7.7%.
British Airways will also significantly reduce its operations to the region, with the carrier having discontinued its service between London Heathrow and Belgrade at the end of September, less than a year since launching flights on October 31, 2023. Furthermore, it will suspend flights between London and Ljubljana over the winter, a route it maintained the previous winter season. As a result, British Airways has 54.974 fewer seats on the market which accounts for a 66.3% decline in capacity, accompanied by the same decrease in the number of available flights. The airline’s only destination in the former Yugoslavia over the winter season will be Zagreb.
Austrian Airlines will also be making notable capacity cuts to its operations in the region, although this will be largely fuelled by its services to Zagreb, as well as the use of the ATR72. The carrier will decrease frequencies between Vienna and Zagreb from ten to seven weekly in November, as well as from twelve weekly to seven weekly in December. Frequencies in January and February will maintain the same levels as the previous winter, while in March operations will again dip from twelve to seven weekly. In addition, the airline is significantly reducing capacity, operating many of its Zagreb flights with wet-leased ATR72-600s from Braathens, rather than the larger Embraer 195s it utilised the previous winter. Austrian will increase frequencies during select winter months on its flights to Belgrade, Skopje and Pristina, however. Overall, Austrian has removed 25.000 seats from former Yugoslav markets, despite adding a total of 25 flights compared to the previous winter season. This results in a 5.5% reduction in capacity and a 0.9% increase in flights.
Why the decrease on ZAG-VIE?
ReplyDeleteGood question, also why is BA abandoning BEG?
DeleteBecause I think 3 weekly flights was highly uncompetitive against daily flights from Air Serbia and was highly uncompetitive for connecting flights to the US and Canada which was their main target. On top of that, Serbian passport holders need a transit visa. Although I think you asked that question because you were aggravated with my original question,
DeleteBelgrade is unprofitable for BA.
DeleteZagreb is unprofitable for OS.
DeleteThe less I hear "sweet or salty", the better!
DeleteIt's quite simple really. British Airways is not needed in Belgrade because there's JU and Wizz. Austrian is not needed in Zagreb so much because OU flies to Vienna and there are dozens of flights to Lufthansa Group hubs. For direct traffic, people go by car and bus.
Delete@Anon 9:05
DeleteYou don't need a UK transit visa with a Serbian passport if you hold a US/Canada/AUS/NZ visa.
You don't but I was referring to transferring to other destinations, for which you do. Also even that is restricted. Your flight must be within 24 hours within the same day I believe.
DeleteSo how will those 70 passengers on average last year on the E195 fit on the ATR? Horrible, less free seats and less capacity- horrible
Delete@"Anonymous09:07
DeleteZagreb is unprofitable for OS."
Surprisingly this actually might be the case, Zagreb is very short distance from Vienna, and driving to Vienna on a motorway, takes only 3-4 hours. If border checks this might take longer, but it is uncommon to last more than 5 hours. I've driven this route quite a few times and its fun and easy drive. Regular train and bus services between two cities also makes plenty of choice to choose from.
BA never took the Serbian market seriously. They should have started with at least 6/7 flights a week. I don't buy the BS about not having enough LHR slots when they fly 5 and 6 times daily to ATH or LCA.
DeleteThey just do not care about capturing traffic from our region.
Because those markets are higher yielding
DeleteFive times better yielding? No way.
DeleteWhen it comes to OS flights, basically there is not enough demand from Croatian markets during off season months including ZAG. When it comes to BA, BA is highly slot restricted from LHR . So BA is always looking for best yelling markets and at the moment BEG is not. Also when it comes to long haul BA is more premium airline and there is not enough premium demand from BEG to US. Nobody is going to pay for business class and fly for two hours in short haul "business" economy without middle passenger in seat.
Delete"Border checks" LMAO
Delete" Nobody is going to pay for business class and fly for two hours in short haul "business" economy without middle passenger in seat"
DeleteActually thousands of passengers do it every day! That's why all legacy EU airlines offer it and profit from it.
B is premium ? Have you flown with them ? They can be compared to easyJet. You have no idea what you are talking about. They transfer Indian immigrants from India to Canada and some European countries. JU is 5* compare to BU when comes to customer service and flying experience. BA crew is cold and rude.
DeleteWell thats not true. JU can be very rude and cold. Also BA has better lounge in london and better food than JU in business.
DeleteHave you ever flown short haul business on BA or on JU for that matter? On JU you actually get a menu with a choice of three hot meals. Really don't understand the hate towards this airline by some people, especially those who haven't flown with the products they are finding the time to criticize.
DeleteAlso I have never encountered "very rude" crew on JU. Some people spitting on everything and anything just for the sake of it...
DeleteWhat is the point of attacking JU and defending BA since BA is not flying from BEG. On the other hand, BA and JU are not directly competing on any route.
DeleteSo BEG is profitable for KL, LH, OS...but not for BA? Sure thing. KL is also switching BEG to mainline this winter which means yields are there.
DeleteWinter is coming!
ReplyDeleteWizz removing 300,000+ seats is brutal.
ReplyDeleteScrewed over quite a few airports. Although it's the airports that are at fault.
Deletesure the airports are to blame for the engines
DeleteBy 2026-27 Wizz is going to be highest growing airline in exyu markets.
DeleteOf course they will be. Although not in real life but only in their PR announcements as they were in 2022/2023, then 2023/2024, they 2024/2025. It's all bravo sierra.
DeleteBoth FR and W6 are growing 10 to 20 million passengers annually. That is over optimistic growth for European market. Especially in times of recession, more and more protectionist policies “Germany and Netherlands” and war on the European soil “expensive fuel”. Don’t forget co2 and methane taxes which will make traveling even more expensive!
DeleteHow is British performing so badly in the region? Just 1 route. It can't just be about the 'market'. Maybe it has something to do with them too.
ReplyDeleteThey are cutting less profitable routes, and they have Rolls Royce engine problems also.
DeleteBA did apsolutelly nothing to fight for the market. No wonder they failed. AF too. On the other hand KL is commited to the market and has reaults.
DeleteI cannot fully agree that BA did absolutely nothing on BEG route, as they proposed where good times and slots at Heathrow airport. However, regarding AF it was absolutely no action or try to get passengers. And KLM did a great job!
DeleteHow can BA compete on BEG route for US and Canada transfers with 3 weekly flights compared to 3 daily Lufthansa flights? 2 daily KLM flights? nonstop flights from BEG to JFK and ORD?
DeleteBritish Airways doesn't have to fight. It has limited slots at Heathrow and it allocates them to whatever route is most profitable. It is making a killing on North America routes and it uses European routes just as a feeder.
DeleteBelgrade with all the transfering options and direct long haul flights left and right is more than BA could chew, unlike ZAG...Plain and simple.
Delete"British Airways doesn't have to fight."
DeleteTherefore BA left BEG.
Other companies understood they have to fight (KL, LH, OS, LO, LX...) and therefore we see their increased traffic in Belgrade.
"Anonymous09:03
DeleteHow is British performing so badly in the region? Just 1 route. It can't just be about the 'market'. Maybe it has something to do with them too."
Well they're flying to Ljubljana as well, not year round, but no doubt they'll be back in the spring. Zagreb is doing well cause they offer great connection to 3rd destinations, same goes for all major European hubs, Munich, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Paris... BA is also quite cheap, cheaper than Croatian Airlines on flights to Heathrow and back... I often fly that route and BA is cheapest hands down.
Until UK diminish visa for RS passport holders BA has no need to be in BEG. Which I asume will happen later than pigs start flying. JU and wizz are fully enough for London.
Delete+100
DeleteBravo Fraport!
ReplyDeleteBravo Vinci!
DeleteLJU and BEG in this case really incomparable.
DeleteVery interesting regarding Austrian. So they added more flights but have less seats because of ATR usage.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone flown with the wet leased Braathens equipment? What was it like?
DeleteI haven't but I notice they sell business class on the ATR operated flights.
DeleteWell, it's a normal ATR flight. Nothing special. Clean and modern inside though.
DeleteIs the business class the last two rows of the plane?
DeleteI will take increased frequencies with smaller aircraft every day of the week, if you'll excuse the pun.
ReplyDeleteSo this says OS in SKP will increase flights and they will be operated by ATR72 , instead of the A320/321 ??
ReplyDeleteNo. It says SKP will have more flights on some months. ATR72 will be used more across ex-Yu. It didn't specifically say SKP.
DeleteThat means 2x daily ? I hope they will not send ofthen the atr72 to SKP , now we fly in A320 and sometimes 321 , and then to go in atr72 for me is bad , I dont like them :D
DeleteThey have 9-11 flights to Skopje this winter. They increase in November and December by 1 weekly but flights are down by 1 weekly in January and the same as last year in February.
DeleteOk thank you for the info.
DeleteIn my opinion, BEG could use some breathing room for a moment to organise operations and prepare whatever is needed for new summer season.
ReplyDeleteOther airports, well, their own fault really. Generally speaking every ex-yu airport relies on the same easiest carriers. Why not approach airlines with ideas? There is so much that can be done with good leadership.
Regarding your question, it boils down to no one willing to do any work or doing the bare minimum.
DeleteAgree regarding BEG
Deleteso Austrian will send turboprops to Skopje and Pristina as well? Are they also affected by the engine issue with Airbus planes or simply the demand is not there?
ReplyDeleteIt does not say that. Read the article. It says capacity on *almost all* markets is reduced by ATR, not all. ATR is not being used on PRN and SKP flights to my knowledge. But they are being used in ZAG, BEG, SJJ, TGD.
DeleteYes they use ATR72 now for ZAG BEG,SJJ , TGD .. in SKP and PRN they use Embraer and A320 , and in summer days 321.
DeleteIn SKP and PRN its possible sometimes they send embraers but I think they will not send any at72 because of the load factor each flight has , especially for SKP , every flight is full with 320 ..
DeleteIt is not "sometimes". They will be sending Embraers quite a bit to SKP and PRN this winter. In February for example almost all flights to SKP are on Embraer.
DeleteThats what I meant , I just didnt know which month will be , so its february , thank you for this. I fly ofthen with them so I want avoid any atr72 thats why I stop using BEG for example even sometimes its cheaper. Embraer is quite good bird :)
DeleteI guess the article is not correct re the type of aircraft OS will use in winter on certain routes for the Ex-YU market.
DeleteIn winter OS will use the ATR72 only on its daily flight to ZAG.
BEG, SKP, PRN, SJJ and TGD will be served by E195 and A320.
In winter OS will use 3 Atr72 aircraft.
One ATR72 will fly LNZ-FRA 3 times daily.
The other two ATR72 will fly to BUD (3x daily), LEJ (2x daily), KLU (2x daily). ZAG (1x daily) and a few flights on weekends to WAW and STR.
There is no time left over for the OS-ATR72 to fly in winter to BEG, SJJ or TGD ...
I have flown with Austrian Airlines 3 times to Skopje and the flights are always 90% full, if not more
Delete10:26 I have the same experience :))
Deletethey are always sending Embraers in winter
DeleteEXYU need to approach easyJetUK to launch flights from Manchester - Ljubljana, but EU subsidies means they appear to be unable or unwilling to incentivise non-EU routes
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteLH flying A319,320,321 to SKP , arent this birds impacted by this engine issues ?
ReplyDeleteNo they are not. Only new planes are impacted.
DeleteAha thats the thing , thank you for this 🫡
DeleteWouldn't have guessed OS being in the top 3. Wizz and BA yes
ReplyDeleteHope we also get an article about top 3 airlines adding capacity :)
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteIt was already mentioned that Ryanair is adding the most. Wondering what other two could be
DeleteStill can't believe Austrian does not fly to Ljubljana
ReplyDeleteThey said it's politically sensitive for them to start a new route of less than 500km.
Deletea yeah? and 3 daily to Innsbruck?
DeleteRead again, I said NEW
Deletethey are adding massive capacity to their INN connection so no need to shout
DeleteYes, but still, as he/she said: it’s not a new route.
DeleteSo Austrian has less flights to ZAG and less capacity too. I guess they are happy with OU handling the route,
ReplyDeleteOf course they are. The codeshare between Lufthansa Group and Croatia Airlines is terrible in terms of revenue sharing. So for LH group tickets sold on OU metal, OU gets peanuts. That's why they are constantly losing money.
Deletea yes forgot you know the code share agreement in details
Delete@14:32
DeletePlease share the details, so we all have this info.
Thanks in advance.
Is Air Serbia adding or losing capacity this winter? I have not seen article about their winter schedule.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2024/10/belgrade-airport-faces-challenging.html
DeleteOh, that is bad!
Delete-1.3% is easily offset by recent trend of increased load factor. your thinking very bad.
Delete@13.35 he didn't even read it.
DeleteHope BA puts a bit more focus and effort in the region in the future.
ReplyDeleteBA is a disgrace. I am British and live in UK. Just flown LHR-YVR return in Premium Economy..booked 10 months ago i paid 2800 euros. if booked one month ago, return was 4800 euros. was. 9.5 hour flight. Cabin crew, food, IFE all dreadful. pay for WiFi.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea why they started LHR- BEG.. possibly to keep their valuable slots live until they decided to use on somewhere else. There was zero useful promotion in UK of new BEG route. was there anything in Serbia? they regularly overbook LHR-ZAG and throw off point to point pax..saving seats for early morning LHR arrivals from USA. they've tried it with me a few times offering to fly me later via CDG.. journey time 8 hours..Easyjet please come back on LGW-ZAG, unlikely I know but Ryanair is far away at STN and often 0600/0700 dep meaning not going to bed night before.
BA has dropped its summer Tuesday LHR- PUY.. now only Saturday. that will probably be dropped too sometime. Dreadful airline.. living on psst glories.
What utter tosh your post!
DeleteBA really has gone downhill in every aspect.
DeleteWhy is there a tag for Bosnia and Herzegovina, but you didn't mention it in the article? @exyouaviation
ReplyDeleteObviously all ex-Yu republics are tagged since the news involves all of them collectively.
DeleteWhat equipment does BA use on Zagreb route?
ReplyDeleteA320 family
DeleteAxing over 300,000 seats is pretty crazy.
ReplyDelete