easyJet to maintain limited role in EX-YU region

easyJet speaks to EX-YU Aviation News on Croatia, Serbia and Macedonia operations

Low cost airline easyJet will embark on a notable expansion on the Croatian coast this summer but will maintain limited operations elsewhere in the former Yugoslavia. Europe’s fifth busiest airline recently suspended all operations in Zagreb and terminated flights between Belgrade and Rome. This will be accompanied by the suspension of its Milan - Belgrade service in late March. Furthermore, the airline did not participate in a recent international tender to launch state-subsidised flights from Macedonia. Speaking to EX-YU Aviation News, easyJet’s spokesman for Europe, Matteo Taddei, says the budget airline will focus primarily on the Croatian coast this summer. “Croatia is an important market for easyJet. easyJet carried nearly half million passengers to and from Croatia during the 2014 financial year (October 1, 2013 – September 30)”. Mr. Taddei says.

This summer season, easyJet will be expanding its presence in Split with the introduction of several new routes. In addition, it will increase frequencies on existing services to Croatia’s second busiest airport. “We will launch five new routes to and from Split in summer 2015 reaching eighteen destinations offered from Split”, Mr. Taddei says. Asked whether the no frills airline will establish a seasonal summer base in the city, similar to the one Ryanair has in Zadar, the airline’s spokesman said, “easyJet constantly evaluates market opportunities but at the moment hasn’t planned to open a base at Split which remains an important market for easyJet. The airline allows Croatian passengers to connect to six different European countries at affordable fares as well as contributes to bringing tourists to the region, supporting the local economy”. The budget airline has also said it won’t be resuming any flights to Zagreb. It discontinued its services from London Gatwick to the Croatian capital at the end of the 2014 summer season. In previous years it had also suspended flights from Paris and Dortmund to Zagreb.

easyJet terminated its three weekly flights between Rome and Belgrade at the start of the 2014/15 winter season after only several months of operations. It faced significant competition from Alitalia and Air Serbia. However, following Etihad Airways’ acquisition of a 49% stake in the Italian carrier, both Alitalia and Air Serbia have agreed to give up some slots on the Belgrade - Rome route in order to meet European Union competition requirements. Alitalia and Etihad also committed to provide further incentives, such as the possibility for a new entrant to acquire grandfathering rights on the route after a fixed period of time. Furthermore, Alitalia and Etihad committed to offering a special prorate agreement, a fare combinability agreement, an interline agreement and access to their frequent flyer program to new entrants, to make entry more likely. Despite the incentives, easyJet has said it will not be resuming flights between the Italian and Serbian capital cities. “We don’t plan to resume those services now”, the airline says.

Unlike its low cost rival Wizz Air, which has played a dominant role in the region, easyJet’s presence in the former Yugoslavia is limited with flights to the Croatian coast, Belgrade and Ljubljana (with a single route this summer) and Pristina. Despite the success Wizz Air has had in Macedonia, with plans to base a third aircraft in Skopje this summer, easyJet will not be launching flights to the country in the coming period and says it is not fazed by competition from Wizz in the region. “easyJet is focused on its successful strategy to expand across Europe and operates in the best interests of the company and its customers ensuring the attractiveness of its network. This means the airline concentrates its efforts on maintaining and developing routes which prove popular with passengers. We consider competition only in regards of tactic opportunities that can be complementary to our strategy”, Mr. Taddei says.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:04

    I fly with them regularly between Milan and Belgrade and flights were always full. I don't get it....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:35

      Maybe the yields are not there?

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:40

    im from Split, and see them flying so intense in summer months, really hope they will set up base in Split in coming years, they bring to Split app 400000passengers per year alone, if possible to make some routes all year round would be great for Split region tourism.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous10:12

    easy really missed its chance in ex-YU. It is now dominated by Wizz Air.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:41

      Wizz have the benefit of an exYu manager driving expansion in the region. Easy are still on the map only due to the sky-high PRN taxes.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous10:16

    This really goes to confirm that the future of Croatian aviation is on the coast, not in Zagreb.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:37

      That should be normal everywhere. Unfortunatly it is not like that in our country where everything is around Belgrade and nothing else in rest of Serbia. Because of that Niš airport is so unserved!

      Delete
    2. I don't normally comment on posts like this, but could you PLEASE explain to me, how can you compare Croatian coastal cities to Nis??

      Yes, Nis is underserved, but it has nothing to do with what you said..."that should be normal everywhere" ... What? That future of Serbian aviation is in Nis or Kraljevo?? It has to offer more than Belgrade?

      With Croatia its natural that summer flights gravitate towards coast. Nothing like that is true for Serbia.

      Again, yes, its underserved, but its got nothing to do with your previous post.

      ...rant over :) ...

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:39

      But in same time Republic of Croatia financed 4 domestic routes from Osijek (Zagreb, Rijeka, Split and Dubrovnik) with 8 weekly flights and one LCC route. In 2015 that would be even more.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:49

      And that is by 3 companies (Croatia Airlines to Dubrovnik and Split, Trade air to Zagreb and Rijeka and Ryanair to London).

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:35

      Sesonal yes, all year no

      Crotian coast is dead 9 months per year

      Delete
    6. Anonymous13:17

      Due to Croatia's geography it makes sense to subsidise flights between the coast and Zagreb, especially to places like Dubrovnik from Osijek and Zagreb.
      There is no need to give out subsidies for BEG-INI flights since there is a decent enough highway.

      Maybe the time is right for the south to pull its own act together. Even the Wizz Air flights had to be pushed and arranged by Belgrade. Sad.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous14:29

      Osijek-Zagreb is brend new hightways and just 278 km (less then 2 hours). But still you have all year ZAG-OSI route which is financed as PSO by Croatian Gouvernment

      Delete
    8. Anonymous16:55

      Od jednog forumaša na drugom forumu, uskoro će biti službeno objavljeno (od strane Zračne luke Zagreb) da počinju sezonski letovi Zagreb-Toronto!

      Delete
    9. Anonymous17:30

      Jeste i taj let iz Osijeka za Zagreb ne obavlja OU tako da ni INI-BEG ne bi trebao da obavlja JU.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous18:38

      Da i? OU ga je mogal obaljati, a OU ima code-share na tom letu.

      No, zato OU obavlja vansezonske letove za aerodrome koji nemaju dovoljno putnika a to su ZAD i PUY, te sezonski BWK. Dok Air Serbia niti ima code-share na neku drugu firmu koja leti za INI, niti oni lete za INI.

      Delete
    11. That is right. Air Serbia should quickly contact all the airlines flying from Nis and start a partnership. I have no idea what they are waiting for.

      OSI-ZAG isn't even sustainable because the state gives rather thick subsidies for it.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous08:46

      Trade air was not flying from Osijek before PSO. They even did not have plane for that.

      And yes, Serbia should give PSO for INI-BEG route, and not just illegal subventions for BEG.

      What happends in Osijek is like Serbia put some of subventions for air traffic from BEG to INI and pay to Aviogenex to lease suitable plane for the route with JU code-share on it.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous10:32

    OT:

    http://www.poslovni.hr/hrvatska/norwegian-air-uvodi-izravne-letove-iz-spanjolske-za-dubrovnik-288744

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:38

      http://exyuaviation.blogspot.com/p/norwegian-air-shuttle-will-introduce.html

      Delete
    2. lostintranslation10:41

      what means izravne?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:46

      direct/non stop. You have the same news published by ex-yu last year in English. It also has flight details for everything.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:11

      So how is the EC gonna lure airlines to start Rome-Belgrade, by force?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous13:14

      Well if no one is interested Alitalia-JU keep duopoloy,

      Delete
    6. Anonymous14:05

      EC measure was made to allow Easy to come back and they didn't want it. Another proof EC is political bureaucracy without business sense.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous14:33

      +1

      Delete
    8. Anonymous14:35

      No it's not. It is oporunity for any EU company to fly on that route (even Adria for example), but espetialy those who have hub or base in FCO like Vueling, blueExpress, easyJet, Meridiana and Ryanair.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous14:49

      http://www.aviokarta.net/vesti/2926-intervju-sebastijan-mikos-generalni-direktor-lota/

      U tom svetlu šta mislite o srpskoj nacionalnoj aviokompaniji i transformaciji Jat Airwaysa u Air Serbiju? Kako komentarišete ekspanziju našeg nacionalnog avioprevoznika?

      Vaša kompanija je promenila ime u ono koje je emotivno blisko vašem narodu. To je dobro, pošto povezuje putnike sa svojom nacionalnom aviokompanijom. Što se tiče njene ekspanzije za koju ste me pitali, uzvratiću pitanjem: Da li je to ekspanzija Air Serbije ili Etihada? Finansijski govoreći ta ekspanzija nema baš previše logike, ali ono što je ovde važno je da li se poštuju pravila. Mi poštujemo pravila i naše je da se suočimo sa svakom konkurencijom. To je ono što nas interesuje. Ne možemo da razmišljamo o tome da li drugi poštuju pravila ili ne.

      Šta mislite o novoj konkurenciji koja se pojavila?

      Tradicionalne aviokompanije se nalaze u posttraumatskom periodu nakon pojave konkurenata poput Ryanaira ili Wizz Aira, ali danas kada imamo slobodno tržište niko ne može da ima kontrolu nekog njegovog dela. Mi više ne moramo da tražimo dozvolu od Lufthanse da bismo leteli u neki nemački grad, niti oni moraju da traže dozvolu od nas da bi leteli do Poljske. To je dobro, jer tako putnici imaju više mogućnosti.

      Ali pojavila se i nova konkurencija u vidu bliskoistočnih aviokompanija. Kako gledate na njih?

      Kako se uopšte možemo boriti protiv jednog takvog poslovnog koncepta, koji je po svemu drugačiji od našeg. Imamo i nepovoljnu situaciju unutar Evropske unije gde se prave kineski zidovi između aviokompanija i aerodroma, dok sa druge strane imamo konkurente koji poseduje kompletne lance u industriji. Kod njih je država vlasnik svega - i avioprevoznika i aerodroma i keteringa i hotela i poseduje sopstveno gorivo. Njihova ekonomska snaga je posledica državne politike. To je nešto što je apsolutno zabranjeno u Evropi, ali putnici su oduševljeni ovim kompanijama i kvalitetom usluge koju pružaju.

      Kako vi onda viditi budućnost aviosaobraćaja u Evropi?

      Evropa je dosta naivna. Evopljani ostaju bez posla zbog toga što gube utakmicu sa Bliskim istokom. U našem poslu je povezanost ključan faktor, a pogledajte kako to danas izgleda u Evropi. Zbog snažnog rasta kineskog, indijskog, turskog i bliskoistočnog tržišta u aviosaobraćaju nastaju neka nova čvorišta. Menja se mapa i na onoj koja će prikazati najveća svetska čvorišta u 2020. će se u Evropi nalaziti samo londonski Heathrow. Evropa mora da pronađe odgovor i da ostane region broj jedan u aviosaobraćaju.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous14:55

      A320 to Warsaw today, demand or?

      Delete
    11. Anonymous15:43

      @2.49.. nikada nisam čuo otvorenije pljuvanje od strane jednog CEO prema drugoj kompaniji.. prilicno jadno..

      Delete
    12. Anonymous16:16

      Složio bih se. "Mojoj kompaniji je došao kraj, pa 'ajde da s*ebem neku drugu tako što ću je ispljuvati". Stvari ne funkconišu tako u svetu avijacije i ovo je jako amaterski od strane CEO-a.

      Admin I really hope we will read some news about Air Serbia soon :)

      Delete
    13. Purger16:18

      Ma nije istina. Ovo ko papagaji ponavljaju i CEO Lufthanse, i Air Francea, i Britisha, i SAS-a, i Aer Lingusa, i svih ostalih... Konstantno. Neki su o tome izdali i dokumente, neki su pokrenuli postupke u EU, bilo je okruglih stolova na tu temu kojeg su oranizirale kompanije... na neke je i bilo odgovora (sjetite se onog Emiratesovog odgovora Lufthansi).

      Delete
    14. Anonymous17:18

      Anonymous at 2:55 PM
      WAW ide jak odobro u zadnje vreme.
      I ovih dana se skoluje nekoliko novih Pilota :)
      INN-NS

      Delete
    15. Anonymous17:28

      Warsaw is not doing well these, few routes are doing well and those are LHR, CDG, ATH, STR, CPH...
      WAW is one of the worst performing routes and just like the last time the A320 went there it's not for the loads.

      Training of new pilots started because a certain number of older pilots quit.

      Delete
    16. Anonymous17:33

      Ma WAW nema ni 5 pax
      INN-NS

      Delete
    17. AirCEO18:56

      Kad govori o ASL kaže "Finansijski govoreći ta ekspanzija nema baš previše logike" a zatim o ekspanziji LOT kaže "Imamo plan da na kraju ovog perioda imamo 16 umesto 8 Dreamlinera za dugolinijski saobraćaj i da flotu uskotrupnih aviona povećamo sa 30 na 80". Gde je tu logika kad je trenutno nesposoban da zimi uposli postojeće 787? Gde je finansijsko opravdanje za 16x 787? Pogledaj LOT cene, yield i LF u biznis klasi na 787, to je komedija, svaki put kad sam išao sa njima lete skoro prazni u biz.

      Delete
    18. Anonymous19:06

      Anon at 2:35, you are proving my point. No other airline (not just Easy) wants to fly FCO-BEG, so it proves that EC decision was not based on a business need. It wasn't like AZ and JU raised fares through the roof or prevented bunch of other airlines to fly so EC had to help them open 14x weekly FCO-BEG. If it did, you would have a valid point.

      Delete
    19. Anonymous20:19

      Air Serbia's worst routes are these to BUD and WAW. During winter months load factor is less than 40%.

      Delete
    20. Anonymous02:22

      @purger
      Budi ljubazan pa postavi link gde dolepomenuti pominju ASL uopste ili prestani da izmisljas...
      "Ovo ko papagaji ponavljaju i CEO .... Air Francea, i Britisha, i SAS-a, i Aer Lingusa, i svih ostalih..."
      Dosta vise sa izmisljotinama ili pruzite dokaze za ono sto tvrdite.
      Hvala i pozdrav.

      Delete
    21. Purger09:06

      Molim ljubazno da ine izokrećete moje riječi. LOT je jasno naveo da se ovdje ne radi o ekpanzionizmu Air Serbie nego da je to ekspanzionizam Etihada koji samo koristi Air Serbiu. Morate shvatiti da je Air Serbia tek majušan igrač koji je marioneta u ekspanziji Etihada. MEB3 kojima pripada i Etihad imaju velik broj alata kojeg koriste u svojoj ekspanzionističkoj politici poglavito prema Europi. U nizu tih alata Etihad koristi metodu kojom locira najneuspješnije kompanije sa poslovnim modelima koji su doživjeli fijasko i doveli kompanije u bankrot. Potom uvjere vlade (banke, postojeće investitore) da moraju investirati ogromna sredstva u kompaniju u nadi da će ih sa svojim know-how, supportom, imageom, grupacijskom suradnjom, prednostima svog huba, te korištenjem ogromnih popusta zbog veličina narudžbi aviona dovesti do situacije u kojima će donositi financijske i ekspanzionističke benefite za sam Etihad (nažalost ne i za lokalnu zajednicu).

      Meni je iskreno žao što vi mislite da se moj komentar, ali i interes velikih kompanija vrti oko Air Serbie. Morate shvatiti da je Air Serbia nebitan kotačić u ekspanzionizmu MEB3 i da se kritika europskih velikih igrača ne odnosi na Air Serbiu, nego na MEB3, čak štoviše Air Serbia se tu eventualno (samo eventualno) usputno spominje. Zato i jesam dao primjer onog ogromnog međusobnog napada Lufthanse i Emiratesa, u kojem, priznat ćete, nije bilo niti spomena Air Serbie (tada je još uvijek bila Jat).

      Delete
    22. Anonymous00:06

      Mislim da nije nista gore nego li biti Lufthansina marioneta kao neki ....

      Delete
  6. Anonymous15:37

    Danas na BEG sleteo AN124.
    http://tangosix.rs/2015/28/01/prve-fotografije-najveci-serijski-avion-na-svetu-sleteo-na-aerodrom-nikola-tesla/

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous17:10

    Germanwings Zagreb-Hamburg od 22/7-15

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:17

      ...where else,

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17:42

      It's either Frankfurt, Munich or Vienna.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous17:47

      Brilliant, so my sources are good after all, said GermanWings will start Hamburg service this year. Hopefully there's enough demand for daily flights soon enough.

      Dortmund and Dusseldorf still need to be connected with Zagreb, there are 120 000 Croats living in Rhur area of Germany, and another 40-50 000 Bosnians, good market hopfully Air Berlin makes plans for Zagreb for GermanWings wouldn't start a service from these two cities to Zagreb.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous19:01

      Happy to see new carriers and routes this year in Zagreb, with more to come, hopefully!

      Delete
    5. Anonymous19:06

      Tesko da ce neka Aviokompanija da pobedi Autobuse na tim linijama posto je tesko nagovoriti ljude iz EX YU da lete nazalost.
      Mene vise cudi sto AB slabo leti za EX YU
      INN-NS

      Delete
    6. Anonymous20:09

      SAS, Alitalia, Czech Airlines and possibly Finnair, I say possibly.

      Would be a great start to next year if these airlines added Zagreb, and next year Pegasus, Ukraine International, Aegean Airlines, Baltic Air, return of EasyJet and Vueling adds Valencia, Seville to Zagreb flights. That'd be something. For 2017 Korean Air, one of main Chinese airlines and JAL start year round service to Zagreb instead of 12-16 seasonal charter flights, I think twice weekly service to Zagreb would be really nice.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous23:29

      Mogu da pisu sta hoce i koliko puta hoce svako sme da pise svoje zelje i moja je zelja da dodju AB-AY-QF i EK u LYBE ali dali je to sad realno :)
      INN-NS

      Delete
    8. Anonymous02:26

      @8;09 PM
      And for 2045?

      Delete
    9. Anonymous11:23

      Germanwings operated Hamburg - Zagreb last year as well. In fact they have decreased frequencies on the route this year

      Delete
  8. Anonymous17:42

    What's happening with new lines at BEG? There isn't even one line in the new routes list on this site. When will JU announce new planes and routes. If it stays this way, growth this year will be questionable. Even more than JU, I would like some other airline to announce new line. BEG needs it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous19:27

      Something strange is happening in ASL... Even Admin said in some of the coments last year that new routes will be anounced very soon. That never happened.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:30

      LH group already offered S15 BEG long haul specials to travel agencies back in.. let me check... November. We know that ASL will feed westbound long haul partners through CDG, LHR, AMS etc in the summer, but they are missing out on early opportunities unlike LH/OS/LX.

      I don't know why the wait but it's not reassuring for customers and partners. It is possible they encountered some political roadblock, or that EY/JU had a last minute change of plans, or that new planes are needed but not available for lease at the pricepoint they want or it could be many other things, this is pure speculation on my side. Whatever it is, I hope they overcome it ASAP.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous19:40

      Mozda ce novosti saopstiti na mediskoj konferenciji kad dolaze ATR, A 319 i A330
      Sigurno bi Kondic pristao na interview da ga pita neko:
      INN-NS

      Delete
    4. Anonymous19:43

      Unfortunately there is no great reason for new carriers to announce flights to BEG. Is there a demand? Has Belgrad or Serbia seen some great economic growth? Are people moving to Serbia? In fact many people are leaving. The growth at BEG has plateaued. ... we'll see ...

      Delete
    5. Anonymous19:52

      Kakvi bre intervju ? Kondic ne prica sa mediom .....

      Delete
    6. Anonymous20:00

      No one in JU will ever give you an interview because everything has to be approved by Abu Dhabi and in Abu Dhabi they don't realize there are press freedoms because everything is approved by the Sheik's people. Basically that is why no one and I suppose this blog included can write anything that is not a press release otherwise they threaten you with a lawsuit.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous20:08

      Neverujem da nebi dao interview ako ga pita neko iz novina .
      INN-NS

      Delete
    8. Anonymous20:43

      BIG +1 for comment at 8:00 PM! Even the ex yu admin himself admitted that somebody from JU contacted him and asked him to remove all the comments of somebody publishing daily loads or otherwise the blog would be shut.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous21:16

      Ja vam kazem da bi dao interview da ga neke novine pitaju ali vaznije su starlete i pevaci cak nema ni jednom dnevno neka vest o aviaciji u novinama u Srbiji sramota ali prece su im druge stvari.
      INN-NS

      Delete
  9. Anonymous18:30

    Za INI bi bilo mnogo bolje da U2 ( DS ) ima 2 linije nego W6
    INN-NS

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous20:52

    OT: Abu Dhabi – Belgrade eff 01JUN15 1 daily A319 service operated by ETIHAD aircraft, instead of Air Serbia

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous21:06

      Znaci mozda cemo nekim danima vidjati A332
      INN-NS

      Delete
    2. Anonymous21:19

      Tebi se svaki dan prividja A332!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous21:51

      they could have upgraded it a bit, I was not expecting A 332, but maybe A 320 or 321

      Delete
    4. Anonymous21:54

      Mozda je to jedan od onih EY sto treba da dodje.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    5. JATBEGMEL06:17

      Was hoping for an A320 rather than the A319 as that flight is always full!

      Delete
  11. Anonymous23:54

    Када је одлетео Руслан и где?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It departs tomorrow for Athens with its final destination being Kenya, transporting arms. I have to note, and the reason I didn't publish its arrival in Belgrade as a special news item, is that the aircraft has been in Belgrade on many occasions in the past. In fact in 2006 three Antonov 124s were parked at Belgrade Airport at the same time.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous00:10

      Do you have the time?

      Delete
    3. Unfortunately no, but do check Flightradar24. It has tracked all of its flights over the past few days including the one today from Prestwick to Belgrade. http://www.flightradar24.com/data/airplanes/ur-82072/

      Delete
    4. Anonymous00:24

      It departs tomorrow at 22:00 as per scheduled.

      Delete

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