Government denies Wizz Air chase out

Serbian government denies involvment in airport charge hike

The Serbian government has denied claims it is running out Wizz Air from its base in Belgrade by instructing the airport to hike its fees for the low cost airline by 40%. “The Serbian government and the Ministry for Transport do not influence the pricing of services since they form part of the airport’s business policy”, the ministry said in a statement. On December 30, 2013, the ministry adopted new guidelines for the development of air traffic which outlines criteria for possible stimulation of airlines for the launch of new routes from Serbia, it added. The ministry also said it recently issued permits to Wizz Air for the 2014 summer season for all of their requested routes.

However, the low cost airline, which just announced plans to suspend flights from Belgrade to Charleroi and Sanderfjord and reduce frequencies on selected destinations, accused the government of protectionism. Wizz Air is now charged 31 euros per passenger by the airport while the national carrier, Air Serbia, is charged seventeen euros, the low cost airline told the “Tanjug” newsagency. Wizz Air’s Executive Vice President, John Stephenson, admitted the no frills airline has been given incentives and discounts at Belgrade Airport over the past three years adding that, “Wizz Air would not be in Serbia if it were not for those incentives”.

As a result of the increased fees, Wizz Air’s ticket prices from Belgrade will rise from 5 to 10%. In addition to the cancellation of its two weekly flights to Charleroi and its seasonal two weekly service to Sanderfjord, from May 6, the airline will cut one of its weekly flights to Stockholm, Beauvais, Basel, Memmingen and Eindhoven. Services to Larnaca, London Luton, Gothenburg, Malmo and Dortmund remain unaffected. Wizz Air says the reduction in operations will see a cut in capacity of 130.000 seats in 2014 with 700 fewer flights operated this year as a result of the airport’s decision.

Comments

  1. Information from BNX:
    Today's flight BEG - BNX comes with 41 PAX and leaves on return leg with 18 PAX.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:27

      To mala???

      You do realise that for the day it adds up to a fantastic 42% LF right???

      Delete
    2. kada podelis 42 sa nulom ,koliko je bilo prosle godine u isto doba, shvatices da je to beskonacno povecanje. e zato "to mala" .inace uygred budi receno 42 putnika od 66 sedista nije 42 % LF vec 63% . Ici ce to sredinom leta i do100% bez problema.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:46

      No it doesn't, but we can now see how AS calculates it's LF.

      Delete
    4. Based on 66 seats (or 132 RT), (41+18/132)x100% gives you load of 44.7% for those two flights. We know the loads on BNX flights in Dec and Jan were arround 30% (RS ministry of Transport). To know if it's improving or not you need to look at a longer time period.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous16:14

      "...we can now see how AS calculates it's LF"

      Let me help you with that, please go to this link:

      http://lmgtfy.com/?q=AS+airline

      Delete
    6. ATR aicraft are the most economical aircraft in active use. They reach breakeven with only 35% LF, which is 44 passengers RT for ATR 72-212

      Delete
    7. Yes, it was really nice to see the loads so healthy today. The flight, in the end, departed with 40 passengers and returned with 19.

      Things are looking up for Air Serbia.

      Delete
    8. Aэrologic00:38

      Hahahaha :D

      +1

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:25

    I don't see how this was worth publishing.

    What was the government gonna say?
    "Oh, we're sorry we have a conflict of interests and have written off all of JAT debts and don't make Air Serbia pay a thing."

    Chasing away your biggest actual paying customer from the airport, smart move.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:33

      Once more, can anybody confirm what actually changed in BEG's price list? I see accusations from Wizz but they give no details. BEG cannot charge them more than what the official price list says. And the official price list is still unchanged. If passenger taxes increased from 19 to 33 EUR there should be an all-out rebellion from all carriers. And yet there is none. And can anybody actually confirm JU paid zero taxes to BEG since Etihad took over?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:41

      Vlada Srbije treba da ponudi VIZZ AIR-u
      aerodrome u Nisu i Kraljevu. Sigurno da je su LCC dobro dosli na ove aerodrome.
      Vremece pokazati koliko ce WIZZ AIR biti zainteresovan. Time vill tell.
      R. Marinkovic, Kraljevo / Sydney

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:59

    Air Serbia's first A320 enters service today. It's first flight is to London!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous10:02

    I'm gonna partly repeat yesterdays comment - If's funny Govt denies itself. Just look at the Guidelines for air traffic "development" http://demo.paragraf.rs/WebParagrafDemo/?actid=119117. Additionally, does anyone really thinks state-owned company can change its pricelist without Govt's approval?! C'mon you can do better in spinning.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:17

      I have read the document and it absolutely does not mention any support to Air Serbia. In fact, it established the framework for supporting new routes from airports. Whoever opens a new route can apply for discounts in line with guidelines - Air Serbia, Wizz, any carrier. That document is all but proof that the government wants LCCs out of Serbia.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:45

      "All but" doesn't mean what you think it does, so you've basically said the opposite of what you wanted to :)

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:58

      I stand corrected and I'm changing it into: '... anything but proof that the government wants LCCs out of Serbia'.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:55

      prema ovim smernicama, Wizz nije imao pravo na popuste po ovoj tački:
      "(2) stimulacija uključuje popuste na aerodromske naknade, pod uslovom da podnosilac zahteva u periodu od 12 meseci preveze najmanje 500.000 putnika u odlasku ili preveze najmanje 2.000 tona robe u javnom avio-prevozu robe"
      takođe, ne može da ima pupuste ni po sledećoj tački za određene letove:
      "(4) stimulacija neće biti odobrena ako linija za koju se traži odgovara liniji na kojoj drugi avio-prevozilac već obavlja javni avio-prevoz"
      i jedan od razloga zašto im je uskraćen dalji "popust" ili kako god:
      "(7) stimulacija ne može biti odobrena na kraći period od 12 meseci, niti može biti odobrena na period duži od 24 meseca"

      tako da zaista nemaju osnova da se bune zato što su im uskraćene stimulacije

      Delete
    5. Anonymous15:38

      Vlada ima pravo da promeni politiku stimulacija. Možemo mi sad da kažemo da je to sve zavera protiv Wizz-a ali malo je čudno da su oni jedini LCC koji, kao, ne može da opstane na BEG bez stimulacija.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous11:12

    Is there anybody who can tell us price list from last year? How much wizz paid last year and how much the others...wizz talks only for now

    ReplyDelete
  6. It would be interesting to hear airport's comment here. Why are they silent?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:58

      The airport's management is about to change. One party - URS - has held the airport for the past 10 years. I think they are more worried with evading jail time then Wizz Air.

      Delete
    2. I think you are right. Do you guys remember the stroies arround VIP lounge. Was that during the same time (meaning while URS was in charge)?

      Delete
  7. Anonymous12:04

    Seems like the CEO of BEG will get arrested for embezzling €5m. Sucks for him and the URS blood suckers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous19:15

      "Embezzlement" the junk "newspaper" Kurir writes about is actually discount that was given to Wizz Air for their operations. So, i guess it`s just a smoke screen for naive people who believes everything that the state media serves them and an excuse to give the airport to Etihad or to dissect the airport most efficient departments and sell them... Typical scenario of "Serbian privatization" for the past 15 years.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous22:17

      Nice to see that the URS PR team has joined the discussion.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous14:24

    neka poslednjim letom Wizza ode i najveći kriminalac sa ovih prostora koji je uništio srpsku privredu - mladjan d. (namerno malim slovima)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous15:16

    any info on the 747 in BEG?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous16:37

    ^ What 747...?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:51

      There was a cargo B747 at BEG yesterday, i think it flew out today around 08.00

      https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t1.0-9/10168080_758511707516105_182852878_n.jpg

      there are more pictures at BEG aero fan page...

      Delete
    2. It's Airbridge (or something like that) B747-8. It was in Belgrade this morning again.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous19:53

      Boeing 747 -800
      or -400?
      What did they carry?
      From where and to which destination?

      Delete
    4. http://www.flightradar24.com/data/airplanes/4l-mrk/#30a14e8

      Delete
    5. Anonymous20:11

      747-200 ;)

      Delete
    6. Hmm they don't have the B747-200 in their fleet.
      http://www.airbridgecargo.com/route/property/

      Delete
    7. Anonymous00:25

      no it's a B747-200 ex airbridge plane reg. 4L-MRK

      Delete
    8. Wait... so it did not operate for AirBridge? Who did it fly for?

      Delete
    9. Anonymous11:26

      Kam Air (but the plane has the old livery)

      Delete
    10. Great, thanks for the info and for correcting me. :)

      Delete
  11. Anonymous16:41

    Serbian government:cheaters,liers,imbeciles.
    With mafia methods they will harass the other carriers out of the airport.
    Air Mafia does not like competition!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:14

      Take it easy man!!You're behaving like you own Wizz Air!

      They still have significant number of flights per week.

      Relax :)

      Delete
    2. Anonymous20:29

      Looks like somebody just can't stand the fact Air Serbia started flying A320 today with more coming. Somebody was flying Air Troll today and food wasn't served on this flight.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous22:13

      Food was served but it was stale and they charge €5 for it.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous19:04

    Pa sta ako podrzavaju Air Srbiju, ako Nemacka podrzava Lufthansu moze i Srbija Air Srbiju...............,,....,.,.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous19:27

    The Serbian government wants to imprison the CEO of Belgrade over this issue. Now, this is Serbia we are talking about... if it wasn't something major they would just kick him out and that would be it.

    ReplyDelete
  14. By the way, is tonight the first flight of Turkish Airlines Cargo? The flight should arrive at 23.45.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous22:46

      Gospodine Nemjee jel wie raditi za Air Srbiju, ako radite molim vas objasnite mi ako znate sto Air Srbija neleti za Innsbruck kad ovde zivi vise od 6600 srba.
      Hvala unapred Puno Pozdrava.

      Delete
    2. It seems like TC-JDS will be the plane that Turkish will send, since according to FlightRadar it is in Madrid right now.

      Delete
    3. Господине из Инсбрука,
      Проблем је у томе што Ер Сербија тренутно нема довољно авиона, посебно Атр модела, да би одржала ред летења кој је направила. То је разлог што Б737 и даље редовно лети. Додуше, јучерашњи улазак А320 у редован саобраћај је знатно олакшало ствари. Верујем да ће једног дана Ер Сербија летети ка другим одредиштима у Аустрији али сумњам да ће се то десити пре него што отворе неке веће градове као што су Минхен, Барселона, Мадрид, Петровград...
      Ипак, не може све преко ноћи. :)

      Delete
  15. Anonymous05:16

    Etihad gets the government to get rid of the competition then is able to raise its fares to recover its investment in Air Serbia. Eventually it will lose customers due to higher prices.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:16

      I guess easyJet, Vueling and TAP's arrival to Belgrade proves your point.

      Delete

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