Banja Luka - Belgrade flights a “high priority”
Flights between Banja Luka and Belgrade are planned to commence by December 2012, the Prime Ministers of Serbia and the entity of Republika Srpska said after a meeting in Banja Luka yesterday. It is believed that Jat Airways will be offered up to four million euros to operate the service two to three times per week in the coming winter period with an ATR 72. The airline was supposed to launch flights between the two cities and operate services from Banja Luka to Vienna this summer season but cancelled such plans at the last minute due to a fleet shortage.
With Banja Luka Airport struggling with financial problems and a lack of passengers, the airport proposed for Jat to operate some of its seasonal flights to Pula, Dubrovnik and Split via Banja Luka earlier this year. The Serbian carrier rejected the offer. Jat Airways has operated flights to Banja Luka on and off for several years. Services were cancelled each time due to extremely poor loads. It remains to be seen whether the new route launch will materialise as Bosnia and Herzegovina is heading to the polls for local elections this Sunday and many promises are unlikely to be kept, as is often the case in politics.
Banja Luka Airport only recently secured the extension of its international operating license until 2014. In the first eight months of 2012 the airport handled only 3.857 passengers, down 32.4% compared to the same period last year. B&H Airlines remains its only customer. The national carrier plans to operate four weekly flights to Zurich via Banja Luka this winter season.
4.000.000,00 EUR for 2-3 flights per week. That is up to 156 flights per year or at least 25.641,03 EUR per flight, or 641 EUR per passenger!
ReplyDeleteAre they normal?
This is crazy money for a failed entity to a failed airline, however your maths does not add up.
DeleteUp to 4m Euros implies 3 return flights a week, i.e 6 weekly flights or 312 flights a year (6x52).
4m Euros for 312 flights = 12,820 Euros per flight. If the smallest Jat aircraft is used, i.e the 66 seater ATR-72,then the cost is 195 Euros per seat one-way. If a larger aircraft is used the cost per seat is more than halved at 95 Euros per seat one-way (wherever the destination may be).
I'd rather my government did not spend a cent on a failed airline.
This decision makes more sense than to have Adria operate the flights from Ljubljana.
ReplyDeleteThat's not much of an argument, is it?
DeleteAnyhow, all BL pax are welcome to LDZA, as usual.
ReplyDeleteThis...this makes me sick!
ReplyDeleteNew Prime Minister and here we go..
Protecting interests of our "friends" in BiH...
"Volim 90te"...
lol, this is just sad...
ReplyDeleteLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!
ReplyDelete- Pozdrav iz lijepoga Sarajeva!
That same money would be far better spent using Budapest Air Service's EMB120 providing double-daily service - and then put the codeshares etc on it. It'd be much easier to fill just 30 seats on the aircraft, and probably more economical too...
ReplyDeleteOut of curiosity, would someone know ACMI lease rate range for EMB120 from Budapest Air Service ?
DeleteThe sadest thing about this that you won't hear about this on any TV, read about it in any newspaper. It is hard to fill those planes anyway, so how you gonna do it without advertising it (in any way!!!). I remember when Jat used to fly BEG-BNX, the difference between LHR-BEG-LHR and LHR-BNX-LHR via BEG was £20, so anyone who knew that would obviously choose that option to fly from BNX without nightmare coach trips to Belgrade which are not cheap anymore. I was checking the prices for another cities and it was similar. So with good advertisment you would have few passangers flying to London, few to Frakfurt, few to Paris, few somewhere else and problem of filling planes can be solved, but obviosly in the Balkans such thing (good managment and organisation) is unknown thing!
ReplyDeleteThis is truly unbelievable! How could you possibly pay 4 million EUR for such a route? Why not try and launch flights to the other airports in Serbia that are practically not operating ex. INI and Kraljevo for e.g.
ReplyDeleteHow much demand is there for Banja Luka - Kraljevo flight? There will be more crew than passengers on such flight...
DeleteI would say only in the Balkans, but that does them a diservice. Only in Srpska!!! How much of the four million euros will end up in the bank accounts of various dodgy politicians.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever been in the USA?
DeleteHere no politician would take "only" four million dollars...
4 000 000 euros for two to three times weekly!!!
ReplyDeleteI wonder where did you heard this info ...
OT: When is AF axing BEG? They just starter a promotion running until 28 FEB.
ReplyDeleteApril 2013
DeleteHow come it is still bookable for next summer?
DeleteGreat news for JAT. JAT gets paid no matter what and lighter airplanes use less fuel than heavier ones.
ReplyDeleteNow politically speaking, why doesn't this money go to something useful like raising pensions?
Anyways if you ever wanted to pretend like you owned a private plane, take this flight.
Don't do a disservice to BNX flights, please.
DeleteHave you ever been on a private jet where the crew outnumber the passengers?
BL should have bought in Wizz Air...
ReplyDeleteWizz Air will not fly to a destination where the moment the subsidies dry up the route(s) must be cut. Low-cost operators are money sharks, but they are not that short sighted!
DeleteInternational passengers from EU, USA, Canada, and Australia will load the planes. Domestic Customers will always drive to BEG.
ReplyDeleteIf BNX don’t’ find way to get LH/OS flights soon, future doesn't look good.
Yeah and then keep paying through nose like those in sarajevo.
ReplyDeleteI hope that this is a new beginning for BNX
ReplyDeleteI doubt this is the new beginning for BNX. I think some of the other posters are right, a new beginning would be to bring in a LCC to fly outside of the region. A flight to Belgrade is more political than practical as it just adds another layover for most travelers.
DeleteAs far as I am informed Banja Luka airport has started some activities in making so called joint venture on flights Banja Luka - Belgrade BUT with BH AIRLINES !?!
ReplyDeleteIn addition to this, BH AIRLINES will introduce mid-day flight Sarajevo - Belgrade to improve quality of existing JAT operating daily service.