Croatia Airlines to focus on Eastern Europe

Croatia Airlines plans eastward expansion in 2016

The CEO of Croatia Airlines, Krešimir Kučko, says his carrier will put a greater emphasis on the Eastern European market following the completion of its restructuring program at the end 2015, which has limited its opportunities for network growth over the past four years. Mr. Kučko says, “The most significant gap is to the East and we see our opportunity right there. At first, Eastern European countries within the European Union are our priority. At a later stage we intend to fly East outside of EU boundaries”. He adds, “Our dependence on leisure traffic is higher than in other European countries. The major problem for Croatia Airlines is seasonal demand and this seasonality represents the main issue to be resolved in future network development”.

In 2011, Croatia Airlines’ then CEO, Srećko Šimunović, outlined plans for the carrier to launch flights to Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sofia, in order to balance its network which is primarily focused on Western Europe. However, the implementation of the restructuring program put an East-bound expansion on hold. The airline’s restructuring measures, which are in line with the EU’s competition, restructuring and state aid rules, have covered a wide range of areas including strategic, operative and financial planning. Despite these, the airline’s CEO also includes Zagreb Airport as one of the limiting factors for the carrier’s growth. “The infrastructure at Zagreb Airport is inadequate and is a limiting factor in traffic planning. The size and passenger flow is not in line with traffic demand and passenger volume. This is particularly evident at peak hours when the number of passengers is much greater than the terminal’s capacity. However, a new terminal is under construction and will almost double in capacity”, Mr Kučko says.

According to its CEO, the airline’s ultimate goal is to expand across the Atlantic. “We should not forget the significant demand for flights between North America and Croatia and we are keeping an eye on this market as well. But to achieve this goal we will first have to significantly develop our regional network”. In line with previous comments made, Mr. Kučko outlined the carrier’s plans to expand its fleet. “We are analysing the effect of having a 100-seat aircraft in our fleet. Such an aircraft would help us operate with greater cost efficiency during the winter months and open up new markets during the summer. We are now developing various models, with a different number of units for our future plans”, the CEO says. He concludes, “From these various models we will eventually choose the most sustainable, efficient and profitable one”.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:56

    "According to its CEO, the airline’s ultimate goal is to expand across the Atlantic", this is ridiculous, this airline won't last long.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:03

      People said this company will go bankrupt last year, this year, but it's still here. Hope restructuring process goes well and OU will expand its network next year. Croatia does have a potential, some routes are missing (Scandinavian countries, for example), but I don't think it will expand across the Atlantic.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:39

      In normal economies and normal states, usually company that make profit last longer than those that doesn't make profit. CTN has finally started making profits, ASL is still heavily financed by the state. Not to mention, privileges that come form EU status, open sky with the US, no visas for Canada, HUGE and year by year bigger and bigger number of US/Canadian tourists, slightly larger diaspora population, geographical proximity which is closer than one of Serbia. The only missing chain for long-haul was regional and Eastern Europe network, expansion of which has jaust been announced. Based on all these facts, between the two, the airline which has more "potential" NOT to last long, and NOT to introduce long-haul is precisely ASL, not CTN

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    3. Anonymous14:32

      Keep on dreaming CTN do not make profit. Bookkeeping mambo jambo.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:39

      @Anon 1:39

      ROFL

      Some people are just incurably delusional.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous14:42

      @AnonymousApril 21, 2015 at 10:03 AM

      I agree, OU is here to stay, they've proven they can make a profit, albeit tiny one, still they're making actual profits with their operations. Problem is winter months, in summer months OU needs ideally 16-17 aircraft, in winter they need half that.

      I think it would be smart to expand as much as this is possible and have winter routes covered with entire fleet of 16-17 aicraft once OU does expand. Adding Stockholm, Helsinki, Oslo, Manchester, Lyon, Prague, Budapest, Krakow, Tirana, Barcelona (year round) Athens, Kiev and increasing frequencies to Pristina, Skopje, Sarajevo and adding Podgorica at least on seasonal basis should be a priority. Sofia and Bucharest could be added in 2018, there simply is no demand for these two cities.

      Also looking at longer term adding Tbilisi in Georgia (there's growing community of Georgians in Croatia, some 5000 strong and growing) and having at least twice weekly service to Tbilisi could be feasible in 2018. There's a large Ukrainian community in Croatia, around 20 000 strong.

      Flights across the pond won't be possible with current management and not before 2020, so these could be longer term plans, get one A330 or A350 with 232 seat configuration and have flights to Toronto, New York and Chicago, There's a very large Croatian community in US numbering some 1.4 million, with 400 000+ first generation Croats living in US. 320 000 US and Canadians visitors visited Croatia in 2014, 350 000+ are expected to visit Croatia this year, yet there's still no air link, this has to be amended soon, perhaps with arrival of Sky Greece things should be clear for Air Canada and United, both who have code share agreement with OU. Perhaps one of these two might come to Zagreb after seeing SkyGreece results for 2015 and 2016.

      AirCanada once flew to Zagreb on thrice weekly basis, they could return with twice weekly service in summers at least for a start and see how that goes, 420 000 Canadian Croats and number of Canadian visitors to Croatia should be sufficient reason for some sort of air link between the two countries, not forgetting Croats no longer need visa to visit Canada. US should decide on Croatian visa waver program soon, this or early on next year.












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    6. Anonymous17:18

      @1:39
      First of all- Serbian diaspora is much larger than Croatian one. Croatian diaspora consists about 2 million people, and the Serbian one something less 4 million people.
      When it comes to tourists, every year more and more tourists come to Croatia, yes that's true. OU should use that, but it doesn't.
      And I am very sorry if this hurts you, but ASL will begin with the flights to the US, and probably Canada as well in 2016. ASL is in an huge advantage. By the end of 2016 (when the new terminal at ZAG will be finished), T1 at BEG will be completely reconstructed. BEG will have a capacity of about 8 million pax per year. ASL will launch flights to PRN, JFK, ORD, YYZ and even flights to China are possible. And OU will be able to begin a serious expandion in 2017., when the new terminal is build. Until then, ASL will already have flights to the US, Canada, and more destinations. So you can't say that ASL can go bankrupt like that.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous17:29

      ASL za pocetak leti samo za jedan Grad u USA.
      INN-NS

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    8. Anonymous17:34

      The only difference between my and your post, my friend, is that my arguments are in "is" or "has been" form, while yours are in "will" or "would" form. And yes, I can say that ASL can easily go bankrupt, the same as CTN, or DLH, or as Pan American World Airways or good old Jugoslovenski Aerotransport did. Nobody knows what tomorrow brings, and noboday can be sure what is or not gonna happen. I just gave my odds. You can oagree or disagree with them but you are the one who cannot guarantee that ASL will remain alive, or manage to become profitable, or introduce long-range. And the only thing that hurts me is refusal to hear other opinion and intolerance. Try to guess who do I reffer to.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous17:36

      Pa cekaj bre INN-NS pa kako sad u USA kad je do prekjuce bila Kina :) :) :)

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    10. Anonymous17:41

      Procitajte jos jednom sta sam napisao.
      INN-NS

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    11. Anonymous18:03

      hrvatska i srpska dijaspora je otprilike jednaka, oko 2,5 mil stanovnika, neznam otkud vam 4 milijuna

      Delete
    12. Anonymous18:37

      Pa dobro covek kaze, uvesce ASL letove za Ameriku kad bude dijaspora tamo 4 miliona. Znaci, samo sto nije :) :) :)

      Delete
    13. Anonymous13:29

      Well. I just like to say that it is not a ridiculous idea. If the company work with right criteria and with people with a different way of thinking like yours, you can be sure that the expansion plans are doable. But...for you to understand that, you need more global airline training and then, may be you could be able to offer a better opinion.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous10:03

    Finally! about time

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  3. Doot10:08

    They should have had this idea 10 years ago. Croatia Airlines has 1/2 a network

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  4. Not to sound rude, pretentious, but rather positive and pragmatic...I will say this about Croatia Airlines.

    Croatia Airlines, as troubled as it is an airline, has long term hope. Why ? Croatia = 13 mil tourists in 2014, a number that will only grow and grow. Soon enough there'll be more visitors all-year round (in smaller numbers off course, but still). So far in 2015, the growth rate of foreign visitors is higher than 20%, a promising signal for pre/pos season activities...


    ReplyDelete
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    1. Anonymous20:19

      I see little connection between the number of tourists and the future of OU. OU actually carries a laughable percentage of tourists coming to the coast, having in mind its potential and current position in the market.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous10:35

    What's going on with OU's privatization, is IFC looking for a strategic partner?

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:56

      OU privatisation will not happen as long as the Ceo is Mr.Kucko. because he knows that his position as Ceo of the airline will no longer be sustainable, be will be the first one to be made redundant.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:22

      They already hired IFC as a consultant, I don't think that IFC cares if OU's CEO is Kucko, that's why I'm asking if they started doing what they're paid for!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:34

      Croatia Airlines Privatization Fail

      Delete
    4. Anonymous17:45

      Zivi bili pa videli :)

      Delete
  6. Anonymous11:14

    Cova prica, a nema avione za sirenje. Sta ce opet da proda pa da lizuuje?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:30

      Mozda poljoprivredno zemljiste u Vojvodini, pardon, Slavoniji, mozda deo uz Savu u centru Beograda, pardon, Zagreba

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:32

      Sinko juce je Ferrero kupio 700 hektara zemlje da gaji lesnike u Vojvodini sledeci put kada kupis Nutelu samo da znas odakle dolazi 13% iste. A CTN i dalje nema profit samo mambo jambo da bi se nekako prodao bas kao i Adrija.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous20:51

      Prvo druze nemoj da me sinkujes jer sam verovatno stariji od tebe, a drugo fenomenalno si mi nabacio loptu jer i ti potvrdjujes moju tezu, posto je Ferreru zemlja ne prodata, nego poklonjena, kao i Zastava Fijatu, kao i NIS Rusima, kao i JAT Arapima, a sve ugradnje-poklone, placaju gradjani Srbije iz budzeta. To je daleko veca steta nego lease-back aviona koji je uobicajena praksa u svim ili skoro svim kompanijama na svetu, a trece, bas sam 100% siguran da je CTN tebi poslao svo knjigovodstvo da ga proucis i da si ti bas toliko strucan da znas da isti nije napravio profit nego je sve mambo jambo. Ma vazi :)

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    4. Anonymous21:46

      Bice dobro ako hrvatska ne krene stopama grcke. toliko ste kuna spizdili u brodogradnju

      Kako ce Doncic proci oko muvanja u vezi zlz?

      ctn ce neko kupiti nisu dzabe ameri kupili deo duga da se malo kockaju. Profit nisu napravili.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous23:24

      Merril lynch je otkupio dio adriinog duga, ne croatiinog, jer ctn nema duga za otkupit

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:39

      Naravno da imaju, ja citam njihove izvestaje. Samo knjigovodstveni mambo jambo. Peglanje izvestaja prodajom aviona i sl. Imaju jako malo para za dnevne operacije. Kucko i da hoce nema sa cime. Hrvatska je vec petu godinu na izdisaju sa ekonomijom plus jos troskovi oko ulaska u EU.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous12:04

    I remember someone claiming here how Eastern Europe is a poor market and that Croatia Airlines should not associate with it in any way, shape or form. LOL.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:32

      "association" and "cooperation", particularly economic cooperation, are two completely different things and one should be very careful when using one term instead of the other

      Delete
  8. Anonymous12:06

    This is great news. Looking forward to their expansion in 2016 :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous12:35

    I think we could see Bucharest and Sofia in 2016 and then eventually Moscow in 2017.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous12:42

    Should have done it years ago! Now it will be much more difficult with Air Serbia in the picture. But this is also a warning for Air Serbia. It's not going to be smooth sailing all the way. You will have to face some sort of competition as well.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous13:20

    Gospodin prica o sirenju i kasni jedno 8 godina i nema dovoljno Aviona u Floti koji ce preko zime da odmaraju. A i nema neku sansu da preotme putnike iz njima nebitnih zemalja.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:36

      Nije ni Air Serbia imala Airbuseve do prosle godine pa vidi gdje su sad...

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:40

      A nije imala ni sposobnog konkurenta u ex yu regionu kao sto sad CTN ima.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous16:34

      And how is all of this going to be realised when the same CEO stated 2 weeks ago that they need a financial investor to recapitalse the business ??

      Wishful thinking in the absence of someone with money to invest in the business.

      And that, is the fundamental difference b/w OU and JU - which has moneybags EY behind it and being a part of the Etihad partners grouping with AZ and AB.

      Delete
  12. Air Serbia and Croatia Airlines... in a way both have a "natural" interest in attracting as many regional transfer passengers.

    However, in reality the nature of their business is different. While ASL is a typical national airline serving domestic market and a large number of transfer pax (like LOT, or Czech for instance)...

    Croatia Airlines, on the other hand, has to look for a way to cater to a wide range of inbound tourism markets, bringing pax to Croatia from different corners of Europe and beyond... at the same time, croatian population is too small with too many airports in the country...

    Croatia Airlines should look for ways to lease additional aircraft in summer, and keep a smaller "base of aircraft" during the winter months...

    60-115-seater aircraft (embraers: 145,170,175,190,195) are ideal for building a regional and european based routs for this particular airline...

    When and if times improve, OU could consider leasing larger long haul aircraft to serve destinations such as NYC, Chicago, Toronto, Montreal, Cincinnatti, LA etc.

    The program "Hrvatska 365" will hopefully yield with some results in a long run... we are already seeing some improvements, with things actually happening in Croatia out of the season...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:35

      Da promene ime u Croatian Holiday Jet nesto slicno Thomsonu .
      Sa flotom od 6 E195
      4 E190
      ili
      6 CS 300
      4 CS 100
      Tako bi imali mnogo vise uspeha.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:15

      Prvo kazes da budu nesto slicno Thomsonu, a onda kazes sa flotom Embraera. A Thomsonova je flota se sastoji iskljucivo od Embraera, jel' ili im je mozda corefleet ipak od "nesto jacih" tipova? Pa bi ti predlozio ubuduce pre nego sto pocnes ovde da iznosis svoje "genijalne" zamisli, prvo da se dogovoris sa samim sobom sta mislis, ali taj deo izgleda malo teze ide

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:40

      Slicno konceptu rada BY a ne po floti .
      INN-NS

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:53

      A flota kao ne odredjuje koncept rada, jel?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous14:56

      Odredjuje ali nisam mislio na flotu.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    6. Anonymous14:59

      A jel imate vi u Austriji u skolama predmet "Logika"?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous15:04

      Ne ali imamo Psihologiju.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    8. Anonymous15:08

      ja predlazem da bar jedan dan prestane da pise ovde, da malo odmori, sabere ideje i onda napise nesto pametno i argumentovano (vise od dve recenice) naravn ako je sposoban..

      Delete
    9. Anonymous15:20

      Pa ja napisem 2 recenice i vi se toliko uzbutite kao da pisete Doktorat.Ja se mozda nisam dobro izrazijo ali ideja nije losa.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    10. Anonymous15:21

      umesto za psihologiju ti si vise za marketing. imas svoj podpis i sliku (brend) i promovises ga - do zasicenja -kroz spam mailing. Nije jasno sta prodajes (osim magle). ako te stvarno toliko interesuje avijacija i mislis da treba toliko da reklamiras svoje vidjenje, onda barem napisi nesto sto nije spam od 5 reci, i ima smisla procitati. inace samo iritiras kao i svaki spammer

      Delete
    11. Anonymous15:47

      Ne zanima me marketing ja cu zavrsiti ako bog da ATPL . Ne prodajem nista niti glumim strucnjaka ovde samo predlazem neke ideje od kojih su 50% glupe a 50% dobre.
      INN-NS

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    12. Anonymous16:01

      IDEJA bi bila kada bi napisao razloge zasto nesto predlazes i to potkrepio sa PODATCIMA. Pogledaj malo kako to radi purger - ugledaj se na njega. zavrsices skole i zaposlices se i uvideti da te niko ne slusa ako stalno dajes pausalne stavove bez ikakvih argumenata. ovde te niko ne drzi za coveka sa dobrim idejama bas zato sto je lako prozreti manjak strucnosti i pausalnost /amaterizam tvojih pisanija.

      Delete
    13. Anonymous16:10

      Gde da nabavim ja podatke o CTN. G Purger je 2 stariji od mene. Ja se jedino mogu ugledati na 4 osobe ovde: Meni ne smeta da kazete misljenje vase o meni ali potpisite se.
      INN-NS

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    14. Anonymous16:35

      pa bas zato sto nemas podatke nemoj da dajes pausalne ocene. pisi samo kada imas nesto pametno da napises. preskoci koju vest, kada pises ne budi konfliktan i navijacki nastrojen. ne ulazi u polemiku sa ljudima puno ozbijlnijim od tebe koji za razliku od tebe imaju sta da napisu za korisnike ovoga bloga. jednom recju VASPITAN.

      Delete
    15. Anonymous16:50

      ps. a oni imaju sta i da napisu zato sto i barataju sa nekim padatcima za razliku od tebe. U sustini - da bi imao legitimitet moras da zasuces rukave da se udubis u neku temu u ovom slucaju CTN pa da tvoj stavi ima neku tezinu. nemoj biti lenj - ako rad koji ulozis bude barem srazmeran tvojoj ambiciji bices jednoga dana vrlo uspesan. do tada oladi malo sa marketingom ;)

      Delete
    16. Anonymous16:52

      Ja sam navijaci nastrojen ako branim prijatelje ?
      Pa potpisite se da naucim nesto od vas.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    17. Anonymous17:00

      priznajem, ne smem, nisam tako hrabar kao ti INN-NS :-)

      Delete
  13. Anonymous13:32

    Step in the right direction.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous14:07

    Jel i vama pokazuje kad hocete da udjete na T6 da je zakljucan zbog Malware ?
    INN-NS

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous14:17

    Why Croatia Airlines is not flying to Russia?
    I can't get it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:48

      Route was scraped in 2011 i think when recession hit hard. Route might be reinstated in 2016, we'll see, Athens, Moscow are some of the routes OU will be looking at in 2016, perhaps even adding Istanbul too. We'll see.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:50

      What route was scrapped? Croatia Airlines never flew to Moscow!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:57

      CTN DID fly to Moscow Sheremetyevo. And Prague, and Budapest, and Stockholm, and Madrid, and Tirana, and Warsaw, and Istanbul. And will fly there again. The other story is that some pepole here would like it not to happen

      Delete
    4. Anonymous15:05

      When did they fly to all these cities? Except for Istanbul which was scraped.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous15:36

      They flew to these destinations in the 1990's.Have to add they also flew to Milano

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    6. Anonymous16:11

      In 1996 CTN Flew From Zagreb to:

      Ams 5X
      Arn 2X
      Txl 3X
      Bru 3X
      Cdg 5X
      Cph 3X
      Dus 2X
      Fco 5X
      Fra 7X
      Ist 3X
      Lhr 7X
      Muc 6X
      Prg 2X
      Sjj 8X
      Skp 4X
      Str 3X
      Svo 3X
      Tia 2X Stopover in Skopje
      Vie 7X
      Zrh 7X

      In 1997 there were also Madrid 2 X and Milano had 5X .
      All this information was from OAG, which I had for these two years.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous16:13

      Ok then I apologise. I didn't know.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous16:20

      No need to apologize. No harm done, no hard feelings. Glad to provide info. Cheers!

      Delete
  16. Anonymous14:26

    OT: Sporazumi o vazdušnom saobraćaju sa Kinom i Ujedinjenim Arapskim Emiratima

    http://rs.n1info.com/a53691/Biznis/Liberalizacija-avio-saobracaja-sa-Kinom-i-UAE.html

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous16:50

    OT : promotional flight from Chongqing to Zadar to happen next month. Charters dropped. Rome dropped. Starting September, Hainan starts twice weekly scheduled service Chongqing-Prague-Zadar,; there would be no take-off/landing limitations as cca 50% of passengers will be only aboard on PRG-ZAD-PRG section, and only some 20% of the fuel capacity.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:51

      actually Rome going on, but dropped in combination with Zadar, just to clarify

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    2. Anonymous16:56

      Sa kojim avionom ce leteti.
      INN-NS

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    3. Anonymous17:00

      Chongqing-Prague v.v sector nonstop, which means either 767-300 or 330-200

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    4. Anonymous18:33

      Don't know where you have the info about Chongqing-Prague-Zadar from ... the latest news from Prague (provisional, still) is that Hainan will fly from September 22 between Beijing and Prague. No Zadar involved ...

      Delete
    5. Anonymous18:43

      www.cseba.eu/hr/vijesti/379/zracna-luka-zadar-kineski-turisti-stizu-ujesen

      Delete
    6. Anonymous19:02

      Well, if she says that, she doesn't know what she is talking about ... the Chinese authorities have designated Hainan to fly direct and nonstop between Beijing and Prague (though the carrier was first to fly between Shanghai and Prague). The route is only to officially be announced in June during a Chi ese state visit to the Czech Republic. Provided all permits can be issued on time, the first flight is to operate on September 22 (according to Czech news) ... again, there is absilutely no reason for (let alone talk of) routing the flight via Zadar, sorry!

      Delete
    7. Anonymous19:06

      This has nothing to do with your claim that they are flying via Prague to Zadar from September. It says how the flights are delayed and how Zadar sees an opportunity to connect via Zadar. Btw since that was published 8 April Hainan pr said they have no plans to fly to ZAD at the moment. I am even sure this site quoted Cosic from that article. So lets get the facts straight and not twiist the truth.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous20:33

      @7:02 and 7:06
      OK, fully agree, it's not confirmed. But after all the actions both sides did, it's not impossible either, as you claim. And I didn't make it up, it was published, so I just shared the news. So I propose we wait September/October and see what happens. I'm paying for the drinks if these flights to ZAD via PRG don't start :)

      Delete
  18. Aэrologic20:35

    Someone was asking me yesterday, what would in my opinion be the most profitable routes for Air Serbia to launch at the moment. To be honest with you and while taking into account all the current circumstances and limitations (economical, geo-political, fleet availability, administrative and so on) i think that PRN is the only route that makes sense to be launched in short term, if fleet availability allows.

    At the same time and what may surprise many, i find today's article much more suited for Air Serbia than Croatia Airlines. Serving a completely different market and aiming at becoming a transfer airline, it is Air Serbia that must expand further East and whose network is still greatly disbalanced in regards to that, unlike Croatia which is mostly serving West -> tourist points routes outside the LH* feeding, what's unlikely (if not impossible) to change in the short to medium term future - a task made twice as harder with the creation of Air Serbia so for OU the holiday market is the way to go.

    Taking that into account and with additional fleet availability, this is how i see the order of priority for the further expansion of Air Serbia into East Europe but not limited to:

    1st wave:
    - Sarajevo double or more daily
    - Sofia double daily
    - Romania & Transilvania: Cluj Napoca, Iasi, Chisinau, all greatly dependent on agreements with TAROM; markets with a good potential yet i don't see any of them being launched for the time being, capacity to OTP with both RO and JU will most likely keep increasing instead
    - Ukraine (Kiev A319 or Lvov and Odessa AT7): Odessa quite unlikely due to the distance and easy connections to Kiev, though Lvov due to its proximity to BEG and being a highly undeserved market could be an option yet, both options will fall-off if Kiev is launched.
    NB: Kiev currently experiencing the largest drop of passengers than any other international airport in Europe.
    - Poland and Slovakia: Krakow and Bratislava both with an AT7 remain on the table, however quite unlikely without regional fleet expansion

    2 wave (shortly after):
    - Daily triangle route linking together two cities of the Caucasus, Tbilisi and Erevan or Tbilisi and Baku
    - Madrid

    3 wave (long term):
    - Tel Aviv double daily
    - London double daily
    - Amman, Cairo
    (i would add Malta year-round and secondary Italian cities as posted before - Venice with AT7 on the first place and all those from which AZ is going to fly to Abu Dhabi soon - but not now since the Etihad acquisition of Alitalia)

    4 wave (any point in time) and bonus:
    - Long-haul flights, could happen anytime once the region is covered
    - After receiving wide-body equipment we're likely to see Air Serbia operate some long-haul services in behalf of Etihad from Abu Dhabi
    - Expansion of codeshares to include South Africa, more Asian and some South American destinations (via Alitalia)
    - More flights by Etihad's partners, linking Belgrade to Dusseldorf, Munich and some other places; also, some of Air Serbia's destinations might be 'launched' using partners aircraft
    - Possible but unlikely expansion into the Russian domestic market (LED and some other major cities previously served by OK)
    - Scandinavia and Ireland: while Scandinavia may become covered on a daily basis (all capital cities) i don't see Dublin being launched so a trapeze of Madrid - Stockholm - Moscow - Abu Dhabi will probably remain the limit of Air Serbia's network, not including long-haul of course.

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    Replies
    1. Vaske21:18

      nice analysis overall, although why on earth would anyone start serving Ukraine which is calmer now but economically is in trouble. This was discussed already and generally I felt like people came to a conclusion that its not a good time to start Ukraine destinations any time soon.

      For the London double daily ASL has already applied for 5 more weekly flights to LHR but was rejected. It was reported on airliners.net.

      I think that ASL needs to expand a bit more in Europe and Middle East before starting another regional expansion in future. Whats the point of having double daily to Sarajevo, Sofia, and Bucharest if you have only daily flights to Frankfurt, Istanbul, Stockholm, Berlin, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart, and so on. Also there is no key routes in Europe such as Madrid, LED, Munich, Oslo, Helsinki,etc.

      My point is that first regional expansion has been completed and its time for change in the European network. Those double dailies from Sofia, Bucharest,etc would not be profitable without extra frequencies and new routes unless ASL becomes solely based on transfer pax and lets Lufty take care of Serbian pax.
      Rapid expansion regionally in the last 2 years has to result in increase in existing frequencies and a few new European destinations. Two rapid expansions regionally and no European expansion means more transfer pax but no space to handle Serbian pax.

      Delete
    2. Vaske21:23

      also to add for Ukraine part, I heard that foreign airlines and Ukraine International are having a drastic decrease in the number of the pax in the last year. I do not have any stats to back up my argument, although would appreciate if somebody who knows ore about this shares the info.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous21:31

      I know that UIA is doing some drastic dumping such as 580 dollars from New York to Yerevan. It would be hard for ASL to compete with that.

      Delete
    4. Aэrologic21:45

      As i just wrote "NB: Kiev currently experiencing the largest drop of passengers than any other international airport in Europe" = not a good idea at the moment.

      Delete
    5. Aэrologic21:59

      Kiev recorded a 13% drop in passengers last year and if the trend continues it will come close to BEG this year. Same goes for other airports in Ukraine: skyrocketing hryvnia, ever-decreasing number of passengers, airlines are going bankrupt overnight (the last one being Kharkov Airlines), Wizz Air constantly reducing ops, current government enforcing MAU (UIA) monopoly and consolidating the market with a new aviation law. The former 3rd international airport (Donetsk) where Wizz Air had a base was destroyed. All that comes with one notable exception - Kherson, where Turkish Airlines recently upgraded to daily flights, up from 3 times per week this winter.

      For more information on Ukrainian aviation visit www.avianews.com

      Delete
    6. Aэrologic22:07

      As for Air Serbia the double daily to other destinations in Europe is self-implied.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous22:38

      Aэrologic
      Ja sam juce pitao sta mislite dali je bolje da lete za INN nego za PRN.
      ASL bi za pocetak trebao da leti samo za 1 grad u USA .
      I odlicni su vam predlozi kao uvek.
      Hvala unapred :)
      INN-NS

      Delete
    8. Anonymous23:10

      going on inside info we can all only dream about new routes until summer next year. The shi*t will hit the fan this winter. And no I'm not a JU hater at all.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous23:13

      This summer you mean?

      Delete
    10. Anonymous23:43

      what do you mean by "the sht will hit the fan this winter"

      Delete
    11. Anonymous23:51

      No I mean next summer. This summer is fine but this winter won't be smooth sailing at all from what I hear. I don't want to put the owner of this site in some sort of trouble nor my friend who gave me this info. I will say think route cuts. Hope his info is wrong and ok the shit hitting the fan might have been a bit of an overreaction.

      Delete
    12. Aэrologic00:10

      It won't surprise me. The investment by Etihad was less than enough to turn this into a real success story that was meant to be and they were nowhere-near ready to bleed enough money into this before the sh*t really becomes profitable. There is not enough aircraft, not enough markets covered, even the marketing has been somewhat limited. I went through several busy international hubs recently and didn't see a sign of Air Serbia. The comprehensive codeshare agreements Etihad has in place with competitors (Aegean, Air Baltic...) for sure didn't help either.

      Delete
    13. Anonymous00:15

      Gde vam to radi prijatel da nije STW u ASL.
      Pa moze doci na zimu kod vas do overreaction a ne kod mene.
      18 Cap ide na obuku za A330
      8 fo ide na obuku.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    14. Vaske01:37

      if we are talking about route cuts I am thinking of Budapest as the number 1 candidate, then TLV, and finally Warsaw. Other then those 3 routes I cannot imagine where else would there be route cuts.
      BTW I am sure you could share some more info without revealing your nor your friends identity and not harming the owner of this site. After all we are allowed to "speculate".

      Delete
    15. Anonymous01:47

      Covek prica ne istinu bice neke linije smanjene mozda na 5-6 pw a ne kao on sto predstavlja .
      Naravno da imate pravo da spekulisete
      INN-NS

      Delete
  19. WorldTraveller22:18

    biggest holes in Air Serbias Network are still the ones in the neighbourhood.
    Split,Dubrovnik should be at least daily or even double daily.
    Extremely missing is Ohrid,Ohrid and then again OHRID !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous22:52

      yea your missing Ohrid for personal reasons just like I would like the line for Toronto to open. Do you really think that Ohrid has a high priority? There is tons of ATR routes ASL can start before Ohrid.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous23:17

      Naprimer INN.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    3. If i am not mistaken, Ohrid's catchment area is around 650.000 including parts of Albania. It's not bad.

      Delete
  20. Anonymous23:52

    OHD and TRS! They were successful for years.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vaske01:31

      OHD was doing alright, while Trieste had like 20 pax per flight. Trieste was the shi*tiest destination of the JAT era. Go through old articles on this site and you will find the actual data

      Delete
    2. Trieste wasn't bad at all. They used to have a loadfactor close to 70%. It was suspended because they needed the Atr elsewhere, on more lucrative routes.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:33

      Trieste is not in ASL interest like it was for JAT. They fly to Slovenia now. Only Treviso as Treviso-Venice or Venice. OHD just seasonal.

      Delete
  21. Vaske07:09

    Did anybody notice that tangosix blog is now flagged as malware site and cannot be accessed anymore.!!!?? It is probably due to extensive coverage of helicopter crash which our good old friends in VLADA found unacceptable. Also aviokarta.net was forced to take down article about charters. CENZURA!
    Now I understand why ex yu admin is careful about what he writes and what comments can be posted and what not.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous07:20

      I don't think censorship is an issue for this blog. These are just personal opinions and comments.

      Delete

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