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| Montenegro Airlines records Belgrade growth as Moscow tumbles |
Montenegro Airlines has seen its passenger numbers grow during the first five months of the year, with improved figures recorded on most markets including its biggest - Serbia. The Montenegrin carrier handled almost 200.000 passengers across its network from January until June, an increase of 3% compared to the same period last year. “It is important to note that besides facing significant challenges on the Serbian market, we managed to increase passenger numbers by 8%, that is 7.552 travellers more to/from Belgrade than the same period last year”, the airline’s Chief Commercial Officer, Predrag Marković, said. During the first quarter, Montenegro Airlines outperformed its rival Air Serbia on services between the two countries, welcoming 48.730 passengers on its flights from Podgorica and Tivat to Belgrade and vice versa.
Other markets also improved. Passenger numbers on flights to Paris, with one additional weekly service compared to last year, and Dusseldorf, with the same amount of flights, grew 50% during the five-month period. Copenhagen, which is served three times per week (an extra two flights compared to 2014) recorded a 40% increase in passenger numbers. Services to Frankfurt improved 15%, London Gatwick was up 14% and Zurich saw a 5% increase in passenger numbers. Flights to Rome, Vienna and Ljubljana recorded similar figures to last year. On the other hand, the number of travellers on its flights to Moscow plunged 20% compared to 2014. The carrier blames a volatile rubble and the recession in Russia for the fall. Despite its Moscow service underperforming, Montenegro Airlines’ recently inaugurated seasonal summer flights from Tivat to St. Petersburg have recorded an average load factor of 75% since its launch on June 9. The service will run twice per week until September 26 with the 102-seat Fokker 100 aircraft.
Last year, the Montenegrin carrier handled 557.000 passengers, a decrease of 5% on the year before. Furthermore, its losses amounted to 9.5 million euros. The carrier recently began settling part of its 68 million euro debt and has agreed to repay money owed to the operator of the country’s two international airports - Podgorica and Tivat - amounting to 6.423.390 euros. The debt repayments will start on March 1, 2017 and will be made in instalments over 108 months. Earlier this year, the airline’s CEO, Daliborka Pejović, said the carrier would sign a strategic partnership agreement with Etihad Airways over the summer, which could potentially lead to the Emirati carrier buying a stake in the airline. However, asked to comment on the announced strategic partnership, an Etihad spokesperson told EX-YU Aviation News recently that the airline does not wish to make statements on plans of such nature.
March 2017? Lol. They will go bancrupt till the end of the year.
ReplyDeleteWell done to Montenegro Airlines for still having more passengers between Serbia-Montenegro than Air Serbia. Air Serbia's prices to Montenegro are ridiculous. Over 230 euros at the moment while Montenegro is below 170. The service is the same or even better on MGX because on JU you get an ATR while on MGX you usually get a brand new Embraer. The standard of service is the same and the flight times are the same (usually 20 minutes difference).
ReplyDeleteBut this should be a big wake up call for Air Serbia. Sure they increased their passenger to Montenegro significantly but it has already been almost 2 years since the Etihad takeover and they still haven't managed to overtake Montenegro. The only reason they have seen such an increase is because of more transit passengers which are flying via Belgrade.
Actually, what killed JU in MNE is the B733 which was dispatched regularly.
DeleteDowngrading TGD to triple daily Atr was the right thing to do.
With the Atr they can compete more efficiently than with Aviolet. Now, as far as the fares go, that's a whole different story.
What is killing JU the most is the high fares. Are they not aware that most people can't spend a month's salary on a regional flight?
DeleteWizz recently proved that even Niš can fill a plane if the fares are low enough.
Airlines in the most developed nations are cutting costs and lowering fares. Air Serbia is perhaps the carrier with the biggest need to offer low fares and they are also in a great position to offer low fares because of low labor costs and a privileged position at BEG, yet they are always going the opposite direction.
Since Air Serbia is dumping prices all the time, one way to get some money back is to increase fares insanely on O&D routes... Luckily most of those routes have either a legacy or a low-cost alternative. Most, not all.
DeleteIt seems Etihad is no longer interested which is not such a surprise seeing they have dud investments in Aer Lingus and Air Berlin. It's a piety, if they bought MGX the anti-corruption commission would have to allow a third player on flights between Montenegro and Serbia and then we might have seen Wizz Air. This is not possible at the moment due to bilaterals and it allows for a monopoly. Air Serbia is so overpriced and Montenegro Airlines is not that far behind.
ReplyDeleteI travel regularly between Belgrade and Podgorica and I have to say I have been using Montenegro Airlines for over 4 years now. I didn't fly with Jat because it was really unreliable and flights were often cancelled. Then I switched to Air Serbia out of interest for a short while which was fine but I agree with the others they are so overpriced on this segment and since I am just a point to point passenger travelling every two months I do take a note of the price. But I'm sure Air Serbia is making some money on these flights while Montenegro Airlines probably has huge losses.
ReplyDeleteJust to make clear Air Serbia was dirt cheap at one point on these flights when they started flying but things have changed.
DeleteMontenegro is not doing that badly in Belgrade in terms of finances. Performance improved big time once the Embraer jets joined the fleet. As far as Air Serbia goes, it's true that their loads are good in summer but in winter time the routes performed really badly. They need to adjust their fares to the realities of the market they serve.
DeleteConsidering how important the Russian market is to the them and that they saw a 20% decrease in passengers, their overall passenger growth is quite good. Good luck to them but their finances are a completely different matter.
ReplyDeleteMontenegro Airlines is without doubt one of the most corrupted airlines on earth. This Predrag Markovic guy, the CCO of the company is the son of the vice premier of Montenegro and is 20-something years old!
ReplyDeleteOT : Qatar will increase frequencies to various destinations, including BEG, where it will fly daily, starting July 2 (tomorrow). Was this previously anounced?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.qatarairways.com/qa/en/press-release.page?pr_id=pressrelease_300615_freq_increases&CID=SMALL0678502232000000001105
Was mentioned before... not surprised... traveled from Doha two weeks ago and flight was full
DeleteNo, it was not.
DeleteIt is interesting that Belgrade was one of the few to be pictured.
Delete@AnonymousJuly 1, 2015 at 1:33 PM
DeleteFull to Belgrade or till Sofia?
It was announced all the way in April
Deletehttp://www.exyuaviation.com/p/qatar-airways-boosts-ex-yu-presence.html
This is actually the difference between the strategies of Air Serbia (which is all talk) on one hand and Qatar and LOT on the other. While being regarded as the weakest link in the chain at the start of the operations of Air Serbia, after initiating the double-daily flights to Abu Dhabi, Qatar not only hasn't diminished but has actually doubled its presence. Versus a chaotic and arrogant TK and an erratic Air Serbia, Qatar was due to its stellar product and intelligent (would even say 'modest') pricing able with time to dig its own niche in the market which is witnessing an incremental development ever since. The increase of QR flights to BEG as daily is another slap to Air Serbia which despite the government support and partnership with Etihad wasn't able to takeover the Asian market out of Belgrade.
DeleteOn the regional level, without any multi-million deal involving a partner from a sandy background, LOT is just doing what Air Serbia should have done long time ago or since the very inception of its operations. This is a list of destinations operated or soon to be started by LOT that should have been a must in Air Serbia''s plans since the very beginning, but that are still considered taboo, quietly ignored or considered as too extravagant to be put in place:
- Venice
- Odessa
- Kishinev
- Nice
- Cairo
- Lvov
- Madrid
Optional:
- Tbilisi, Baku
- Yerevan, Teheran (could work as a link)
Without the regional (much beyond the detested term of 'Ex-YU' which is often equalled to the region) and eastern-feed network reaching a critical mass, the existing lines will never be able to enjoy a high (over 80%) LF or to be preserved from the effect of seasonality. Is that clear for Mr. Kondich or is he simply limited by the orders from above i.e "do the max. with what you have" remains to be seen. Either way, Air Serbia has about a year before reaching an aerodynamic stall in a commercial sense if a clear eastwards, regional and long-haul expansion doesn't take place.
I am not the least bit surprised JU is failing in Asia. I was looking at some flights to Seoul in January and take a look:
Delete1. Etihad €646
2. Qatar €778
3. Aeroflot €778
4. Lufthansa €809
5. Turkish Airlines €1.013
6. Air Serbia €1.090
As you can see, Air Serbia is completely uncompetitive when it comes to the Asian market. The situation with Beijing is even worse where tickets in January are as high as €1.400 via Vienna with a 19 hour layover.
Lot has yet to publish their fares but my guess is that they will be about the same as Aeroflot and Qatar.
From what i've heard WAW-NRT will be around 500 Eur.
DeleteWell, these are from BEG so BEG-ICN via WAW might be around 600 Euros.
DeleteJedino sto me nervira u ASL je to sto se toliko razmatralo da se nabavi A330 i treba barem jos
Delete4 319 Ceo
4 320 Ceo
2 321 Ceo
I kako da ima jeftine karte za Aziju kad nema ni jedan sirokotrupni Avion u floti , i vas 2 ste upravu sto se toga tice.
INN-NS
They can be cheaper by revising their codeshare fares, especially via AUH. They don't need widebodies to be competitive to Asia.
DeleteJasno je meni to nego onda ce njima sta slabo ostati posto veliki igrac u bilo kom poslu mora da pokupi kolac. Naravno da im hvali sirokotrupac i jos barem 10 Airbusa ako hoce u opste da budu najjaci u EX YU.
DeleteINN-NS
JU will not fly to Asia anytime soon because they can funnel everything via AUH.
DeleteJeste to ali EY je jeftin a ASL je najskuplja iz BEG kao sto moze da se vidi .
DeleteAli sada treba da se iskoristi sansa U SJJ i BNX ali hvale avioni i to je jedino sto me nervira u ASL.
INN-NS
Mali - ASL je vec najjaci u Ex-Yu koji je besmislena regija; region je i Rumunija, Turska, Madjarska, gde bi trebalo da se pozicionara bar u prvih pet ili tri ne racunajuci LCC...
DeleteZnam da je najjaci ali mora jos jaci da bude takodje naravno i u RO,BG i HU zato mu i treba pod hitno vise A330 .
DeleteINN-NS
Seems like delays have returned. :(
DeleteDete drago,
DeleteJel znaš ti koliko koštaju 4 319, 4 320 i 2 321-koliko samo zakup za njih košta?
You can bet your as* that the night wave will be a disaster with Beirut leaving at 01AM.
DeleteGospodine Nikola dostavicu vam cene mesecnog leasing-a za te Avione samo sad nemam vremena da trazim kataloske cene .
DeleteINN-NS
LOL INN-NS, you really did not get what he was saying
DeletePa, ovaj ga je pitao da li zna cene, a INN ce da se raspita :) Veoma strucno ako mene pitas.
Deletehaha anon 7:52, how ironic of you
Delete:)
DeleteGospodine Nikola evo vam cene mesecnog leasing-a
DeleteA319 Ceo 280 hiljada USD mesecno
Kataloska cena 88,6 Mil USD naravno EY dobija jeftinije.
A320 Ceo 350 hiljada USD mesecno
Kataloska cena 97.0 Mil USD
A321 Ceo 410 hiljada USD mesecno
Kataloska cena 113.7 Mil USD
Leasing troskovi variraju zavisi od koga se uzima na leasing .
I jos jedno pitanje zato je ne moguce uzeti toliko Aviona kad nije .
Ako se uzme u obzir 3.5 leta dnevno to je isplativo.
INN-NS
@11.43 genijalno, majku mu, kako se toga u ASL niko nije setio?!
DeleteOT: ADRIA ON SALE - Slovenia is seeking expressions of interest in the purchase of 91.58 percent of state-owned national air carrier Adria Airways, state investment company SDH, which is coordinating the privatisation, said on Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteAdria carried 1.1 million passengers in 2014 and regularly flies to 30 destinations in Europe, SDH said in a statement. In March Slovenia appointed consultancy KPMG to advise on the Adria sale.
Adria is one of 15 companies that were earmarked for privatisation in 2013, five of which have since been sold.
Prvi puta putujem avionom i to sa wizzair, tamo gde mi traži da upišem prezime jel treba da pišem prezime onako kako je sa kvačicom ili bez kvačice... i kako prezime mora pisat na kraju na boarding karti? hvala unapred.
ReplyDeleteBez kvacice. Pises ime i prezime koje ti stoji u pasosu.
DeleteU pasošu mi piše prezime sa ć
DeleteOnda napisi c.
DeletePassenger numbers have never been the problem - profitability however, has never been top of mind or critical - as evidenced by their woeful financial performance
ReplyDeleteMOLIM JEDNU POMOĆ
ReplyDeleteDobio sam ponudu od Supernova Turističke Agencije iz Beograda za krstarenje koje je bitno jeftinije od istog krstarenja preko hrvatskih agencija. I sad molim da mi odgovorite:
1. Jel Supernova pouzdana agencija, koliko dugo rade i koliko imaju putnika?
2. Da li u Srbiji turističke agencije moraju imati osiguranje da u slučaju bankrota po mojoj uplati iznos uplačenog aranžmana vrača država ili origuravajuća kuća?
mozes proveriti na sajtu APR Srbije poslovnih detalja o firmi, takodje i preko maticnog broja firme na sajtu Narodne banke Srbije mozes proveriti male detalje tipa da li su im racuni bili u blokadu i ako jeste koliko dugo.
Deletecuo sam za agenciju ali ne znam nista o njima. predlozim da googliras agenciju, kao i za ostale informacije koju trazis, tj verovatno stoji negde u nekom zakonu ili negde slicno. pozdrav :)
A ti bi da kritikujes ovde ASL (izgovarati sa strahopostovanjem!)
ReplyDelete, pa onda da trazis pomoc. E pa, nema majci! :) :) :)
Ne znam detalje, ali ja se ne bi salio sa agencijama iz Srbije, jer je svakih nekoliko dana vest u medijima da su neki turisti negde ostali, ili uopste nisu ostali. Pretpostavljam da ti jadnici o nekoj naknadi troskova mogu samo sanjati. Tako da je moj savet, iako ne znam za konkretnu agenciju nista, bolje nesto skuplje ali sigurno.
corr.:uopste nisu otisli
DeleteIf I were on their place, will consider to add Sofia/Bucharest to the network and try with code-share with Bulgaria Air/Tarom to became more competitive. If they don't consider such a step Air Serbia will swallow them
ReplyDelete