<center>SAS denies Sarajevo plans</center>

GLOBAL AVIATION NEWS

Swiss cuts staff, fleet

Swiss International Air Lines (Swiss) is cutting hundreds of jobs and downsizing its fleets as the company struggles to weather the disruption of Covid-19. Up to 780 employees, including pilots, cabin crew, ground crew, and technicians, could be affected by the layoffs, Swiss announced. The company’s fleet of short and medium haul planes will be reduced by ten to 59, and long haul aircraft by five to 26 - a total reduction of 15% of fleet size compared to 2019. As a result, short and medium haul flights are “likely to be reduced from their 2019 levels, while services may not yet be restored at all on a few direct intercontinental routes”, the airline wrote in a statement. Swiss had already reported plummeting finances and had hinted at reducing up to 1.000 staff, but without layoffs. The Covid-19 pandemic, which brought international travel to a halt in 2020, has been a disaster for the airline. Now, however, the company cites “structural” changes in the airline market which it reckons will result in a decline of 20% in overall demand in the medium-term future. “It has grown increasingly clear that our market is undergoing structural change, and that despite the actions which we were swift to take in response [to the pandemic], a restructuring of our company now sadly seems unavoidable” Swiss CEO, Dieter Vranckx, said in a statement. Vranckx, who replaced former CEO Thomas Kluhr at the end of last year, said the new measures aim to make savings of some $550 million, which would allow the company to “repay our bank loans as promptly as possible and to sustainably retain our competitive credentials and regain our ability to invest”. Swiss said none of the measures would have an impact on its obligations under the terms of a government-backed financial aid package made just over a year ago, when the country’s airline sector was supported with almost 2 billion Swiss francs in liquidity.
Source: Swissinfo

SAS denies Sarajevo plans

Maybe next time

SAS Scandinavian Airlines has denied claims it will launch services from Copenhagen to Sarajevo by July this year. In a statement to EX-YU aviation news, the airline states it is unaware of any plans being made for the carrier to inaugurate flights to the Bosnian capital this summer. Last week, Sarajevo Airport, on its official Facebook page, informed its followers, “The management of Sarajevo Airport is constantly working on attracting new airlines, both low cost and others. We are proud to announce that from July SAS will launch flights Sarajevo - Copenhagen”.

The airport has since clarified its statement. It now claims it has made an offer to the airline to launch services to Sarajevo this summer season and is awaiting their reply, which is in stark contrast to the airport’s initial announcement. SAS was once active in the EX-YU region, particularly through its now defunct subsidiary Snowflake. However, the major problem for passengers proved to be extremely high ticket prices set out by the carrier, which led to their subsequent pull out of both Sarajevo and Belgrade. SAS is currently present in Priština on an all year round basis. The airline also operates seasonal summer flights to the Croatian coast.

Meanwhile, Sarajevo Airport has managed to shrug off two months of passenger decline to see numbers in April rise by 0.4%. Last month Bosnia’s busiest airport welcomed 49.709 passengers. In the first four months of the year Sarajevo handled 145.999 passengers, which is 5.8% down on last year. With large amounts of charter and seasonal traffic on the horizon, Sarajevo is likely to overturn its downward trend in the following months.

Comments

Anonymous14:26
Amateurs. That’s all I can say.
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Anonymous15:13
The most unsuccessful country and airport in the region! That's all I can say!
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Anonymous15:51
^ ^ ^ ha ha ha somebody obviously doesent know whats going on anywhere;)
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