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| Edelweiss drops Banja Luka plans |
Swiss-based Edelweiss Air, which was to launch two weekly seasonal summer flights from Zurich to Banja Luka on July 3, 2015, has suspended ticket sales for the route and removed Banja Luka from its destination list. The move comes only two months after the flights were initially announced and put on sale together with Podgorica. Flights to the Montenegrin capital will be operated as announced and tickets are still on sale. Edelweiss is a wholly owned subsidiary of Swiss International Air Lines and, apart from inter-European services, operates long haul flights to Canada, the US, Japan and Thailand as well. Edelweiss has a notable presence in the former Yugoslavia with flights to Skopje and Pristina, as well as seasonal services to Split. The Swiss airline was to compete directly against B&H Airlines on the Banja Luka – Zurich service. B&H maintains flights on the route throughout the year with its turboprop ATR72. Edelweiss was to operate services with the jet-engine Airbus A320, each Monday and Friday.
Meanwhile, the Austrian Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Martin Pamer, and Banja Luka Airport CEO, Miroslav Janjić, have discussed the possibility of establishing cooperation and connecting Banja Luka with Vienna. The Ambassador noted that a significant numbers of Austrian citizens, especially those originating from the entity of the Republic of Srpska, are interested in nonstop flights between Banja Luka and Vienna, adding that Austrian Airlines had previously looked into the route. "We will try to connect airports from Austria with Banja Luka. We have indentified that Banja Luka Airport has the potential to develop and serve the entire region", Ambassador Pamer said.
Talks between Banja Luka Airport and Austrian Airlines were held last summer. Austrian ran services to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s second largest city during the 1990s. The airport’s CEO, Miroslav Janjić, says Banja Luka is committed to establishing flights to Vienna, which will allow passengers to transfer onto other services in the Austrian capital. Banja Luka Airport was revived late last year after Air Serbia launched services from Belgrade. During the course of the year, B&H Airlines introduced seasonal flights to Tivat while maintaining its existing Zurich service. As a result, the airport has handheld 25.645 passengers so far this year, an increase of 286.5% compared to the same period in 2013.
I wonder if JU would be interested in flying from Banja Luka directly to Vienna? I know the whole point is to funnel transfer through Belgrade, but if the passengers have an interest in flying directly from Banja Luka to Vienna then why the extra needed step?
ReplyDeleteNS|SAN
No way. And you have already the answer.
DeleteAs far as I know, JU can't flight directly BNX-VIE.
DeleteLast year , management of BNX Airport has addressed the official letter toward Austrian OS management asking if they would not operate to BNX then to make arrangement with BH Airlines to operate from BNX to VIE and to feed OS further to Vienna. But in general, OS is refusing any possible cooperation with bosnian carrier without detailed exlpanation.
Not surprised really. A320 to BNX is too much.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't seem Banja Luka has market big enough for these flights. Especially for Wiena, which is even closer.
ReplyDeleteIf you wanna revive BNX with some serious flights (not subsided Belgrade ones, and Tivat ones who are only available for purchase via travel agencies) it should attract Wizz air or some other low cost.
Then, it makes things hard for Air Serbia, since it would lose a large portion of transit pax. Niš got flights only when it was definite that JU won't fly from there..
I was told that JU is doing good in BNX, between 50% and 70%, that is during the slow season.
ReplyDeleteIf Austrian Airlines decides to launch Banja Luka flights then it could be a problem for JU. OS is much bigger and it has more frequencies to key European markets which gives it flexibility- something JU desperately needs in order to remain competitive. Not to mention its transatlantic network.
ReplyDeleteThen again, if JU managed to secure some of the O&D market then they have nothing to worry about. However, it's worth mentioning that Austrian Airlines tends to be the most expensive one out of the Lufthansa family so their presence in Srpska could go either way.
By the way, since we spoke about Larnaca two days ago, this morning's flight on Wizz Air was 95% full.
Wow go Larnaka!
DeleteJa sam se interesovao za Wizz. Hvala ti Nemjee!
DeleteNema na cemu, i drugi put. Koliko sam ja shvatio, vec nekih mesec dana su im avioni krcati za Kipar. Svaka im cast.
DeleteLet OS za BNX ce obavljati Q400 ako se sloze sve kocke.
ReplyDeleteTo je jos jedan udar Star Alliance na trziste CTN-a.
INN-NS
BEG from BNX has a lot of O&D passengers, however transit passengers should not be ignored either. I thought that Zurich was not a great idea too, especially because B&H Airlines already flies there and most of the passengers are O&D (mainly because JA does not have codeshare), but also because Zurich and Switzerland has an huge diaspora. Also I agree A320 was far too big. I think that Vienna wouldn't be such a bad idea, OS offers other connections that JU simply doesn't offer at all or the timetable doesn't match with BNX (London for instance). And I agree with Nemjee, transatlantic network too. last, but not the least, Vienna O&D passengers too.
ReplyDeleteAll in all, great results for BNX this year and other BH airports, OMO with no scheduled service is having amazing results, TZL well known what happened there and SJJ numbers are going up.
OT: Air Serbia’s new giant Christmas tree in Belgrade got me thinking about Santa. Air Serbia and Belgrade Airport had a banner year so they are not going to be on Santa’s naughty list and deserve nice gifts. My three wishes for Santa’s gifts for Air Serbia and BEG airport are:
ReplyDelete• Completed paperwork for USA flights
• Widebody planes for North America
• Construction start of a new BEG terminal
Did I miss anything on that list to be sent to Santa?
-Long haul flights won't start before 2016
Delete-No new terminal at BEG, just shitty adding of stupid bus gates. The stupid thing here are not bus gates themselves, but the fact that current terminals are nothing compared to BUD, OTP, ATH, and the new ZAG terminal. So they will add some stupid bus gates, and renovate A6-A10. I don't think we will see any construction site at BEG before 2020...Sad, but true. I don't know what the heck happened so that idiot Sasa Vasiljevic became CEO of BEG.
Kako nece krenuti do 2016 kad A330 dolazi u Martu-Aprilu.
DeleteINN-NS
Bus gates only WTF?!?! For transit passenger that's double harassment, both when arriving and then departing. Transit has few shopping and hospitality options if terminal stays as is, and shopping/food is where a lot of money could be made if new terminal is made! Someone wants to destroy future of Belgrade airport by turning it into Hajj terminal at Jeddah (minus the air bridges!)
DeleteIt's just stupid. Come on, build that T3, this one is just sad. Air Serbia can't be nothing if it's hub is so shitty. I went from Larnaca to Amsterdam via BEG, waiting 7-8 hours there and it was just sadly boring. No good restaurants, no much shops, I was just sitting in the chair waiting for my plane to Amsterdam. Adding bus gates is very stupid if there are many transfer passengers, I mean that is just exhausting. I've seen much better airports than BEG, like the one in Budapest, Bucharest.. Athens is great as well. Yes, there are many bus gates as well, but the airports themselves are much better 'equipped' with duty free shops, restaurants etc. But BEG won't be good airport for transfer passengers if it stays shitty as it is now. I can not imagine long haul flights from that airport. Build that new terminal, or wait until all airports in the Balkans do that, so you would be the last. I won't travel with Air Serbia anymore if BEG will stay as shitty as it is now.
DeleteI think that Belgrade needs a new airport. I heard that there are some problems with runway at BEG, but they can not arrange it, as it is the only runway. And T2 at BEG is pretty unequipped, if I could say it like that. No duty free shops, no much space, no hotel at the airport...
DeleteShip has sailed for the new airport, that would be way too expensive at this point, but it's not too late to replace accountant decision makers with someone with a vision. Heck, even today at the airport you can't get a kosher meal (and they are wondering why TLV is not doing great?), you can't get Halal food, good luck finding a restaurant in the transit zone where you can order medium rare steak and a glass of vintage shiraz! Can I buy Bose noise cancelling phones or go on an impulse shopping spree and then ship all those things to my destination using FedEx, UPS etc?!?! No entrepreneurial spirit, no drive to innovate and make $$$ at the airport...
DeleteIdiot leads BEG, what could you expect?
DeleteWhen will they renovate gates A6-A10. The airport just looks incomplete with the old decor. A nice video of the airport from the sky: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x257ess_belgrade-airport-take-off-aerodrom-beograd-poletanje_travel
DeleteIt is very easy for you to say "build new airport", maybe you will give the money from your own pocket, give up your iCrap or you're ready to pay 400 Eur. for r/t within Europe? Cause that's the way it is.
DeleteNo project will be started and no terminal built before Air Serbia becomes profitable enough to pay full fees to the concessionaire without that impacting too badly on its figures (with UAE investors out of the way that won't be possible any time soon). Until then all we'll see is more bus gates, extended apron, maybe second floor but that's it, no, it's not perfect but it is enough for the time being. If a similar (or worse) airport didn't stop QR from becoming what it is today then i don't see why it would stop Air Serbia.
The best possible scenario would be to give the airport to the Chinese who would continue the preferential treatment of Air Serbia in return for making BEG their cargo centre for central/Southern Europe, in return for no fees to their airlines etc.
your proposals are ok, I sign for them, but with this CEO it will happen NEVER
DeleteA da naprave samo drugu pistu?
DeleteDanijel
AT
@Danijel AT
DeleteLako je i to reci. Direktor BEG-a je budala zbog koje je Jat isao ka bankrotu. Mora da neko ne zeli nista lepo ASL-u ili BEG-u kad su njega stavili za mesto CEO. Bilo bi lepo da se sagradi druga pista, jer postojaca nije u najboljem stanju a radovi na njoj nisu moguci s obzirom da bi saobracaj bio obustavljen. Sto se mene tice, ja bi renovirao gejtove A6-A10, dodao C11, C12, C13, C14 i C15, mozda evenntualno dogradio drugi sprat da se odvoje dolazeci i odlazeci putnici i kapacitet bi bio povecan na 8-9 miliona putnika. Dalje, kada ASL krene da placa BEG-u sve normalno, i vidi se porast u broju putnika, ja bi krenuo sa gradnjom T3, to bi mozda bilo u 2016., mozda 2017. Napravio bi taj terminal najvecim u regionu, izgledao bi moderno i luksuzno, sa kapacitetom od 10 miliona putnika, dogradio bi drugu pistu, mozda neki hotel za tranzitne putnike, kargo centar i onda radovi vise nisu potrebni neko vreme.
@Aerologic
Delete"maybe you will give the money from your own pocket"
I would build whatever needs building with YOUR money. Every time you use the airport over the next 30 years you and the others would pay a little. And it doesn't have to be 400 EUR ticket, see other airports that have new terminals and LCCs. There's money to be made in them airports if you know how, look at Fraport outbidding Vinci by offering some 50% over stock price for LJU. Going small over the next 20-30 years as you suggest is not going to cut it, go big or go home...
+1 Aэrologic
DeleteI ja bi voleo da ga Kinezi uzmu na koncesiju.
I da naprave T3 koji moze da primi 15 mil pax.
INN-NS
Samo 15mil? Koja megalomanija :-D
DeleteT3 ne bi imao nikakvu svrhu ako bi i on imao usrani kapacitet od 5 miliona godisnje.
DeleteDajte napravite nesto posebno kad budete gradili taj terminal, nek bude pravo remek delo! Onaj novi terminal u Zagrebu zaista izgleda fenomenalno, bilo bi glupo kada bi nas novi terminal bio dosadan i neoriginalan, kao onaj u Skoplju npr.
Bilo bi lepo kada bi dodali jos 5-6 gejtova tipa C7, a onda, za godinu-dve ako vide rast u broju putnika bi mogli da pocnu da grade moderan T3. Ako se nastavi ovako, i jedino sto bude dodato BEG-u budu bus gejtovi do 2020., BEG ce biti najgori veci aerodrom na Balkanu! ukurest je dobio novi terminal, Zagreb dobija, Skoplje je dobilo, Pristina je dobila, zasto ne bi konacno dobio BEG? Neka ga daju pod koncesiju Kinezima, Arapima, bilo kome ko ce znati da vodi aerodrom i gradi sta treba. Sa ovako glupom upravom BEG nema sanse da bude hub Balkana. Pa BEG je aerodrom sa najvecim rastom putnika u Evropi ove godine, a oni ce da planiraju kako da ga prosire sredinom 2015??? Seriously?? Ovaj menadzment je dno dna...
LOL, one and a half year after JAT-Etihad deal there is no solution for Number 1 problem in Serbian Aviation - Airport Nikola Tesla. Number of comments about BEG just confirms that.
DeleteIt's just sad that BEG will be the worst airport in the Balkans if it stays like this. ALL bigger cities in the region (Bucharest, Skopje, Pristina, Zagreb, Sofia) have new terminals at their airports (ZAG will get it in 2017) except BEG. What do they think?? That to built a new terminal you do not need some time? They will REVEAL THEIR PLANS in 2015. What about realizing them? For that they'll wait until 2020? I don't understand this stupid management and Serbia's stupid government.
DeleteI can bet in some money that no one here has Bose noise canceling headphones. Talking nonsense.
DeleteYou are wrong. Some FF do have them, I have seen a few onboard. I am not boarding anything longer than 1 hour without my big and ugly but amazing QC15. And going longhaul on a noisy 777 with them feels like flying with whisper quiet A380!
DeleteHow yes know. Not to mention dufry on BEG.
DeleteBNX needs a brand new managing board.
ReplyDeleteWhere in the world are they gonna park all those aircraft tomorrow (for the summit), at Batajnica lol?
ReplyDeleteIf much smaller ZAG managed to park 27 units that flew in for Croatia-EU adhesion celebration, than much bigger BEG would somehow manage to park 16 units coming for the Summit
Delete744 or 77W in BEG from PEK tomorrow? Should see some nice exotic birds here over the next week...
Deletecan somebody explain what exactly is happening?
DeleteThis
Deletehttp://www.tanjug.rs/novosti/157509/samit-kine-i-16-zemalje-cee--vise-od-5-000-ucesnika.htm
thanks!
DeleteDear Anonymous December 14, 2014 at 6:05 PM, try as I might, I couldn't've found your post has anything to do with this topic.
ReplyDeleteBanjaluka Airport has been stopped developing long ago. Bribery and corruption don't allow it to badge. It must be that Edelweiss concluded there were no airport there.
ReplyDeleteI have ticket bnx-zur-bnx in avgust with edelweiss?
ReplyDeletewhat to now?
thanks for help
I'm surprised the airline hasn't contacted you. You should contact them.
DeleteI have bnx-zur-bnx ticket for avgust 2015.
ReplyDeletewhat to do now?
please advise?