Thursday, March 31, 2016
Wizz Air has marked the fifth anniversary since establishing a base at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. The airline was one of the first low cost carriers to launch services to the Serbian capital, initially flying from Dortmund and London Luton to Belgrade in 2010. On March 29, 2011 it set up a base in the city with a single Airbus A320 aircraft. Tamara Mshvenieradze, Wizz Air's Corporate Communications Manager, said, "We are delighted to mark this important anniversary today. We are happy that five years ago Serbia became our country, and we its first low cost carrier. So far, over 2.2 million passengers have flown with us from Serbia and we promise to continue delivering and constantly improving our good service and expanding our network". On Monday, Wizz Air launched flights from Belgrade to Baden-Baden.
How did Serbia become "their" country, when they do not have a Serbian AOC ?
ReplyDeleteWho allowed/approved this, when it is clearly in contravention of the ECAA bilateral between the EU and Serbia ?
No it's not. Check your sources.
DeleteAnon at 7.46pm on Mar 31 is absolutely correct. It is not about checking sources, it is a simple matter of reading the ECAA. This issue is going to blow up BIG time
Delete.. then it should blow up in Bosna and Macedonia as well, since it's the same agreement.
DeleteAnon @ 7:46 and 10:23, please do clarify - what is in contravention of the ECAA bilateral? Wizz Air calling Serbia 'their'?
DeleteIt's gonna blow up all right.
What Bosnia does is a matter for itself. It doesn't have a national carrier so it can make whatever decisions it feels is in its interests. Even when they did have a national carrier, it only flew a handful of routes, so allowing Wizz or anybody else to base aircraft in its country, was seen as beneficial to connecting its country to as many points as possible.
DeleteSerbia on the hand, has a national carrier and so Serbia is different to Bosnia. That said, the Serbian CAA can choose to enforce the ECAA or not.
The ECAA does not allow EU registered airlines to begin their journey from Serbia, in the same way that it does not allow any Serbian carrier to begin its journey from any point in the EU. Carriers from either jurisdiction can fly an unlimited number of flights from any point in its territory to the other.
Wizz can fly any number of flights they wish to from any point in the EU into Serbia, as can any Serbian carrier fly to any number of flights into any point in the EU.
Air Serbia cannot create a base in the EU and fly within the EU. Similarly, an EU registered carrier cannot create a base in Serbia.
This can only happen, if the EU approves it - which they would never do. Once again, an EU carrier can only do so in serbia, if the Serbian CAA approves it.
Someone has obviously pocketed a suitcase full of cash to allow this .... go ask the former Director of Belgrade Airport, who is now sitting in jail. I'm sure he can help fill in the gaps for you
ReplyDeleteA filthy smear campaign if I ever saw one. And then you wonder why nobody else wants to touch BEG with a pole.
Delete