Air wars – the epilogue

To Dubrovnik after all
After the squabbling which took place between the Serbian and Croatian aviation authorities, when Jat Airways’ license for the flights from Belgrade to Dubrovnik was revoked, there now seems to be a resolution on the horizon. The ministries responsible for transportation from both countries will meet on the 13th and 14th of July. The Serbian ministry for infrastructure, under which transpiration falls a part of, expects that an agreement regarding aviation licenses between Serbia and Croatia should be finalised and agreed upon by July 17. In the meantime, flights should continue to operate between Belgrade and Dubrovnik as normal. The Serbian delegation will also suggest for flights between Zagreb and Belgrade to begin and to be operated by Croatia Airlines.

Yesterday there were a total of 40 passengers on board Jat’s flight to Dubrovnik, which is less than expected. This is because many people decided to refund their tickets following the public dispute. A Jat spokesperson has said that if the issue is not resolved passengers will be reimbursement or, if they choose, will be flown to Tivat where bus transfer to Dubrovnik will be organised.

Comments

  1. Finally!

    Croatia Airlines, go for it! Fly to Belgrade!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous13:32

    ^
    Yeah - go for it! See how much money you can lose on such a pointless route... maybe OU can break the magical -25% profit margin mark that many of these ridiculous routes make... Pathetic

    ReplyDelete
  3. You are so negative Anonymous.

    Many people have moved on from the hostilities and are looking to the future so being emotional about the past is no grounds for making such assertions.

    In the last few years Croatia Airlines management has demonstrated sound judgement in the decisions they make although I tend to think they are a bit cautious they have never led the airline into major scandal.

    If they see Belgrade as a low risk operation, something an official agreement between Croatia and Serbia will provide then I'm sure you will see Belgrade as an OU destination in the near future.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous17:36

    Q400:
    Typical pilot rationale. I'm not negative, I'm realistic. I understand the economics behind these routes and Belgrade-Zagreb is likely to lose a LOT of money for whomever operates it. This is realistic, not negative.

    Croatia Airlines may have avoided scandal, but this is not the hallmark of a successful airline. Making profits is the sign of success, and OU are fairly deep in the red and come nowhere close to covering their cost of capital.

    Airlines in this region or any other are not a glorified bus service that can just lose as much money as they want - this cost is then passed down to the taxpayer.

    ReplyDelete
  5. frequentflyer03:44

    When will they (or will they ever) learn? Always airing their problems in public rather than sorting the situation calmly and logically behind closed doors. Identical scenario as why MAT will never fly again independently... To be honest, a storm in a teacup.

    On yesterday's forum the word used was 'Balkan' - without getting into that argument, I think amateur or disorganised might explain it better. Balkan (whilst possibly offensive to some) is a mindset or behaviour trait - similar to what we're seeing with this topic.


    @ Bosnian
    Whilst we might want to see the airline operate the route, it might be better to test the situation first.

    Sadly, OUs best tourist/leisure chance to do this (SPU-BEG) would need to be operated during the summer months 2 or 3 times weekly using a Q. It's too late to be trying that now for summer 09, and wouldn't demand during winter...

    Personally, the only way OU will get bums on seats intially ZAG-BEG (aimed at business travelers) is to time them as part of the outbound morning wave: so there are connecting flights from PUY/ZAD, SPU and DBV and arrives in BEG around 9am.

    @ Anonymous
    Possibly too cynical rather than negative, but it's good to see someone with very different views on the forum. What we haven't seen from you yet is proposals showing how eg a LCC unrestricted by national borders would do things differently. I think that might back up your claims much more.

    The big question in this is if state-owned airlines are really supposed to turn a profit, or are they there to ensure people can get around safely and securely? Governments the world over understand they have to chip in with airlines to ensure business occurs...

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  6. .....well you guys have all different point of views! Mine's mine!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'd love to see OU operating flights between ZAG and BEG. I'd be able to travel the distance in 45 mins instead of 4-5 hours in a minivan. Not to mention accruing miles when flying on OU! :-)I only hope the fares will not be excruciating like between BEG and BNX (EUR 79 excl. taxes return).

    ReplyDelete

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