Soon in Priština
Following recent talks with the Kosovo Civil Aviation Authority and the Ministry of Infrastructure, Air Arabia is prepared to launch flights from Sharjah to Priština this winter season. The low cost airline has expressed interest to operate two weekly flights to Priština, with services to be inaugurated some time during the winter of 2012/2013, the Kosovo Civil Aviation Authority confirms. Air Arabia has been carrying out a feasibility study for the past few months and has recognised the potential of the Kosovan market, especially considering the amount of people gravitating to Priština Airport. The airline is confident that the new route will be popular with travellers.
Recently, the General Civil Aviation Authority of the United Arab Emirates and the Kosovo Civil Aviation Authority signed an Air Services Agreement, thus paving the way for Air Arabia to launch flights to Priština. Air Arabia’s base, Sharjah, is some eighteen kilometres from Dubai. The airport in Sharjah offers passengers connections to other cities in the Middle East and Africa, as well as India and Sri Lanka.
Air Arabia has previously operated flights to the former Yugoslavia but has had little success. Last year the airline launched two weekly flights from Dubai to Tuzla, operated by the Airbus A320. Originally, a total of 31 flights were planned for the summer season, however, due to extremely poor loads, they were cancelled less than a month after services were inaugurated. On average, the airline had less than five passengers booked on each flight, officials at Tuzla Airport said at the time of the cancellation. In less than two weeks, Air Arabia’s low cost rival, Flydubai, will launch flights to Skopje while continuing to maintain its services to Belgrade as well.
Good news for Prishtinë! And it is really good that the Middle East carriers (though mostly no-frills) are taking a serious note on the ex-SFRY region.
ReplyDeleteReally mihajlo? Prishtine? Zaboravio si kako se na srpskom zove ovaj grad?
DeleteThe city indeed is called PRISHTINE, Anonymous 10:10!
DeleteHate to state the obvious, but Pristina, Priština and Prishtinë are all correct, albeit in different languages. So chill.
DeleteDo they offer any connecting options with EK like FZ? It's going to be interesting to see how they compete with FZ to SKP - I bet they thought they were going to attract pax from Kosovo to Skopje as well.
Well as matter of fact city has four different names its either Prishtina, Prishtinë, Priština or Pristina, fourth being the most accurate ;).
DeleteIn any case, airArabia is a very good lowcost carrier, and I remember few years ago, Ive flown with them from SAW to KTM, and it was dirt cheap (however i think that the prices have surged during the course of time). So we welcome any new airline to our region, but i still dont get hos ZAG doesnt have a link to the UAE (regardless which airport), since i am sure it has more potential than PRN and SKP combined.
I remember reading here on ex-yu that FlyDubai wanted to fly to ZAG but crew rest hours would be exceeded on the return flight. Probably the same problem for any other low cost airline from the Middle East.
DeleteI meant crew duty times
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DeleteI wonder how would have Air Arabia performed on BEG-SHJ if they would have came-in before FlyDubai.
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DeleteVery good of course!
DeleteBut their market analysis is a joke...
Amazing news! Well done, Air Arabia.
ReplyDeletePrice for round trip tax included?
ReplyDeleteAny hint?
OT: From tomorow Adria will become the offical airline of Jagur for promoting new Range Rover. One of his A319 is already in new Land Rover c/s. :)
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ReplyDeleteThis is a really intelligent approach from PRN Management having in mind flydubai operations from SKP just started. Skopje is trying really hard but is still miles away from posing a serious threat to PRN's constant growth.
ReplyDeleteWhat will be consequences for SKP now?
ReplyDeleteFZ flights from SKP were also ideal to attract passengers originating from Kosovo...
they will have now better alternative in Air Arabia.
Can not imagine an increase of frequency for next year with so much competition.
Again PRN is an obstacle for the success of SKP.
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Deletestill FZ is better then G9 because of great connections with EK, so I don't think G9 will have much success on this route
ReplyDeleteAll those Middle Eastern airlines should more focus
ReplyDeleteon concentration,not in fragmentation of the market.
Why not flying to Skopje and compete with Flydubai directly?
Or doing the same in Belgrade?
To KievKBP both airlines already fly with success.
QR for example stops flying to Stuttgart to concentrate more in Munich.
Or maybe Air Arabias product is not good enough to compete with FZ directly?
After some time we will see which of these numerous new routes will be succesful...
Or, better yet, both FlyDubai and Air arabia fly from PRN and completely forget about SKP. This idea makes far more sense.
DeleteThe best thing yet is Wizz Air has forgotten about PRN completely ;)
DeleteThat is absolutely fine, it wouldn't be fair to SKP if we got the entire cake because we already have EasyJet in PRN.
DeleteWhat, based in PRN with 8 destinations?
DeleteGood luck with the existing ones even.
At least Kosovo government didn't spend i'ts money in subsidizing airlines. PRN already has twice as much passengers compared to SKP without spending a dime on subsidizing.
DeleteThat Easyjet is in Prishtina but not in Belgrade (the same as British Airways)
Deleteis the strangest thing ever.
Also i do not grasp how Easyjet can fail in Zagreb...
that combination seemed totally perfect
to me.I never heard a reasonable explanation for this.
Macedonia should then prohibit those airlines to enter or leave their airspace
ReplyDeleteThis would imply borrowing a page from Serbia's definition of the spirit of regional cooperation and good neighbourly relations. Sad, very sad indeed.
DeleteWhy can't we simply grow up and mature, ever?
Again...its Serbias fault.
DeleteSerbia is the scapegoat for everything going wrong.Funny,very funny indeed.
Envy the dead,they are no more living...here.
Do we really have 2012?
DeleteIn Former Yugoslavia every year feels like 1991...
FZ still offers the better routing.
ReplyDeleteImagine going to Dubai from Macedonia..
either flying direct with FZ or taking the bus to PRN,fly with AA to SHJ,then there take the bus to Dubai...what a waste of time!
Now imagine going to Dubai from Kosovo..
either taking the bus to SKP and fly direct,
or fly direct to SHJ and take the bus to Dubai.
Now imagine going to SHJ,
better to take the bus in Dubai than taking the bus to PRN where Macedonians get treated like s..t!
That proves that Air Arabia can really not compete with Flydubai.
That the people at Air Arabia are fools they already proved in Tuzla!
Macedonians get treated like s--it in Priština? Oh I'm sorry, did you mean Albanians get treated like s..t in Macedonia? This would at least make more sense. Let us look at a very simple fact. All the signs in PRN are in three languages including Serbian, while in SKP you will never find a single sign in Albanian although nearly half of it's clients are Albanian. I am talking about the main airport in a Country that has nearly one-third of the population belonging to the Albanian ethnic group. Try harder, mate...
DeleteYou obviously have not been in Skopje lately to see the many road signs in Albanian.
Deletesad to see the diaspora with their racism, you can always tell who is from the ex-YU region and who is the ones sitting behind computer ranting racism from the States, Australia etc. If you are soo patriotic as on this forum, then go back to where u came from!!! Surprise to some, but in the ex-YU everyday serbs, croats, bosnians and albanians get along well!!!
ReplyDeleteback to the topic, the PRN launch for Air Arabia should be interesting, but I wont take much seriousness into it. FZ to SKP is strange considering they opted for SKP rather than SOF or PRN who naturally have bigger markets. SHJ is a hole who doesnt have many flights. I think its stupid move by both Air Arabia and FZ on their flights.
Surprised how FZ isnt considering ZAG. BEG is even not legal for the crew due to the hours and has thus became a lay over destination for them, something that ZAG could be as well.
JATBEGMEL, thank you for being a voice of reason!
DeleteNothing strange in FZ flying to Skopje. They have seen that SKP has a large catchment zone that includes all of Macedonia and Kosovo, plus with the EK connections to Asian destinations (for business travel in both directions) and, most importantly, all of Australia's main cities (to scoop the Macedonian and Albanian diaspora there), they are on to a winner here. To add to this, FZ has many billboards not just around Skopje but also in Pristina advertising Dubai as the perfect holiday and shopping destination.
DeleteAlso should add that the subsidies that the Macedonian government is offering is also a drawcard for an operator like FZ.
DeleteYes,these airlines should focus on Zagreb and Belgrade when considering flying into former Yugoslavia.
ReplyDeleteAir Arabia is better than a lot of people think
and would make a good competitor with Flydubai,
as well in Zagreb as in Belgrade.
@JATBEGMEL
ReplyDeleteOh, so now you live in Dubai. I thought you were living in Zurich, flying for AA but working for a Russian company... Are you suffering from some kind of Schizophrenia or what?!
"Also, 4 destinations in Africa doesnt mean they fly to half of Africa (3 in Egypt and Nairobi, correct me if im wrong)."
G9 is not the only airline offering destinations out of SHJ for your information.
"Been to T2, and its chaotioc, so?"
I'm asking you the same question cause unlike you i'm not bothered by SHJ hence DXB T2 neither, you're kind of off-topic here again. Yeah, i'm often around Dubai and yeah, i definitely know its traffic. Jebel Ali or Rashidiya who cares with the fast metro system? Jebel Ali is far from every airport not just SHJ so don't push it either. The fact is that SHJ is NOT at a huge geographical disadvantage to DXB and out of peak-times it can take you as little as ~20 minutes to Deira.
"dont understand your argument. Want to be a tight ass and fly low cost, cool, get your thrid world class service, not too dificult to comprehend. After all, you get what you paid for."
Off-topic again. YOU called SHJ a shithole so i guess YOU have a complex flying low-cost and projecting your own stinginess and inner-conflicts onto others. Well i don't, eventhough i use QR more frequently than G9 or any other airline, just by convenience and awards offered for frequent travelers. Anyway, i don't see on what you base your assumptions. You're starting to gain the reputation of a complexed show-off with empty arguments.
PS: G9 is far from offering a "third world service" and besides having one type of aircraft in their fleet and not serving food/drinks included in the ticket, it is no worse than any average European airline - even better actually on all other criterias. For as little as 4-5 Eur you can purchase nice meals when buying your ticket with them. This proves even further your total ignorance over what you're talking about. Concerning ZAG, i definitely see no room for a third carrier to the Middle-East there. PRN or SKP can afford it cause they have only Turkish flying there anyway.
Not all who wander are lost.
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being honest there is nothing from these talks its just a waste of time,
ReplyDelete2 reasons
1. prn will not fill the capacity
2. prn does not have traffic for other connection flights