Swiss to downsize EX-YU operations

Sarajevo, Belgrade and Podgorica affected by Swiss cuts

Swiss International Air Lines will suspend flights from Geneva to Sarajevo next month and is likely to do the same with its Geneva - Belgrade route, just a few months after terminating services between Zurich and Ljubljana. Furthermore, the Swiss carrier's subsidiary, Edelweiss Air, will suspend its seasonal summer flights between Zurich and Podgorica, launched last year, and has terminated ticket sales on the route. It comes following Swiss' aggressive expansion into the former Yugoslavia in the summer of 2015 when it launched services from Zurich to Ljubljana, Zagreb, Sarajevo and Podgorica (operated by Edelweiss), as well as flights from Geneva to Sarajevo and Skopje (also operated by Edelweiss).

The Swiss carrier is scheduled to operate its last service from Geneva to Sarajevo on Sunday, April 17. The airline maintained two weekly flights between the two cities last summer and operated a one weekly service during the winter. However, flights on the route have been cancelled on several occasions over the past two months. The carrier will continue to maintain its flights from Zurich to the Bosnian capital. On the other hand, Swiss will resume two weekly flights between Geneva and Belgrade on March 29. The service turns seasonal as of this year. However, only flights until April 16 have been scheduled for operation and the airline is still considering whether to terminate the route altogether from mid-April onwards. Tickets for flights beyond April have not been put up for sale. Swiss competes against budget airline easyJet on the route.

In January, Swiss suspended its Zurich - Ljubljana service just nine months following the route's initial launch. In a statement last year, Swiss told EX-YU Aviation News, “The former Yugoslav market is very interesting for Swiss, as there is a big community from the Balkan area living in Switzerland. Therefore, there is a high demand for flights to these countries. We focus on our customer’s needs from and to Switzerland. The growth is based on our market analysis that identified a great demand for the Balkan area”. Edelweiss Air, which last year launched seasonal flights from Zurich to Podgorica, competing directly against Montenegro Airlines on the route, will not resume the service this summer. Other Swiss and Edelweiss flights have not been affected.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:04

    Interesting. Is it possible that Swiss has really overestimated the market or are they generally downsizing Geneva ops.?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:21

      I think they overestimated the market which is low yielding. They used big aircraft (especially to BEG and TGD). The Ljubljana failure is bit of a mystery. They were doing quite well, Adria was hit hard but in the end they gave up very quickly. I presume they didn't make much of a return on these flights and didn't get the number of transfer passengers they were expecting.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:46

      JP had 20 flights per week then. And they lower their prices on the route. Normal economy first minute price: 139€.
      Price last in Swiss presence: 99€.

      Haplek

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:09

    My guess is they were carrying low yielding passengers. Not making enough money. Situation in Belgrade is made worse by Easy Jet's presence.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:11

      Bingo

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:02

      It's not possible ... surely it must be JU's fault, yes ?

      There you go, yet another airline which JU has forced out of BEG....

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:09

    I'm surprised about Sarajevo. Loads were quite good.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Purger09:21

    Swiss destroy Etihad Regional (Darwin) in less than 2 years and that is why they don't have to proceed with risky routes. So they will be dedicated not to fight against possibly strong competition in their backyard (support by powerful predator Etihad) but to profitability. It was blitzkrieg with huge money invested in as by experience with non responding to weak LCC in 1995 they learn that they have to kill those kind of project in start, latter it will be impossible.

    Blitzkrieg against Etihad Regional is finished and Etihad project in Switzerland is total fiasco, which is totally destroyed. Etihad regional has just 4 planes in fleet (out of 20), cancel 2/3 of all routes, terminate 4 of 5 bases, fly to just 6 destinations all year... Now Etihad Regional fly just to feeding destinations from Zurich Etihad flights with just 2 flights per day and for sure Etihad will force that to stay for feeding their Abu Dhabi flights.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:11

      Opet pises gomilu gluposti koje nemaju veze sa stvarnoscu. Darwin radi isto sto i pre toliko su nebitni u CH da bi se Swiss smarao oko njih.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:13

      ^ To i nije bas tacno. Borili su se zestoko protiv Regional-a kada su osnovani i sporili su njihovo postojanje pod clasnistvom Etihada od samog starta.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:20

      i do agree with u on this but why on earth u need to use "blitzkrieg" (twice) again. Calm down dude

      Its true however that Swiss' Ex_Yu expansion was a reaction to Darwin

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:15

      Darwin je lose poslovao u exYu kao izgleda i Swiss. Alo bre Swiss mora da postuje zakone CH kao i Darwin. Nikakve tu borbe nije bilo. Njih je Etihad i kupio, jer nisu u EU. Ali Etihad ne ulaze previse para u svoje akvizicije. Samo se nekima prividjaju nacisticke operacije iz WWII.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:00

      Dugo im je i trebalo koliko su veci .
      A u ostalom cim je postignut dogovor sa EY oni su postigli dogovor sa OS o iznajmljivanju Q400 .
      INN-NS

      Delete
    6. Purger12:08

      Etihad je u Darwinu najavio enormnu ekspanziju. Planirao je povečanje flote na 20 zrakoplova, uvođenje ATR-ova, odjednom je najavio brdo novih linija (među kojima i Zagreb i Beograd), 4 nove baze.... Na kraju ne samo da se ništa od toga nije ostvarilo, nego su bitno manji nego prilikom preuzimanja od strane Etihada. I to sve radi ekspanzije Swissa upravo na regionalnim linijama koja je naglo i iznenađujuće objavljena par mjeseci nakon najavljene ekspanzije Darwina.

      Pričam gluposti?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous12:12

      I barem jednom nedeljno tu vest spajate sa ASL .
      Sad lete za AB i AZ sta tu hvali.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    8. Anonymous12:53

      Naravno da pricas gluposti. Sta su najavljivali nema veze sa njihovim
      redovnim poslovanjem. Nisu manji nekoliko saabova i par atr-ova i to je to. Svis, Rinolist, Helvetica, Germania Flug, pa tek onda Darvin i to je to ab ima svoje tamo ali lete pod njihovim znakom. sky walk samo sto se nije ugasiao, a leteli su valjda Beg.

      Delete
    9. Purger14:17

      Čemu ovako bezobrazan i nekulturan ton pisanja i karakteriziranje nekoga glupanom? Jel vama starno lakše kada ste toliko nekulturni? Mogao bih ja vama svašta ovdje napisati, ali mene su roditelji odgojili pa vi prepostavite što bih vam mogao reči.

      1. Etihad je ulaskom u Darvin najavio čuda, pokrenuo nekoliko desetaka linija, povečao flotu, otvorio baze, krenuo mijenjati Sabbove sa ATR 72.

      2. Swiss je kao direktan odgovor samo par mjeseci kasnije pokrenuo velik broj regionalnih linija željevši uništiti samu inicijativu u startu. Nemalo visokopozicioniranih ljudi u samom Swissu ovo su i sami rekli, možete pročitati niz analiza koje su jasno govorili da se ovdje radi isključivo o udaru na Darwin da bi se preduhitrilo regionalno širenje i kasnije ozbiljne posljedice na Swiss. No, lakše je ne čitati analize i ne pratiti činjenice, nego iznositi optužbe bez osnova.

      3. Kao posljedice direktnih Swissovih mjera Darwin je u samo dvije godine uspio pasti na samo 4 aviona. Čak se za mjesec dana ukida i posljednja baza u Berlinu i prekida suradnja sa Air Berlinom. ATR-ovi su prebačeni na Alitaliju, dio flote razbacan na druge Etihadove kompanije, otpuštena je većina djelatnika, ukinuta većina linija, zatvorene sve baze koje su otvarane od Etihada.

      4. Osim direktnog udara Swiss je uspio izlobirati ukidanje ugovora kojim su švicarske kompanije mogle letjeti iz Italije za treća tržišta čime je totalno uništio plan u kojem je Darwin trebao letjeti za Alitaliju i za treće destinacije, nakon čega se ukinula jedna baza i masa linija Darwina iz Italije. E sad na to treba dodati i politički pritisak koji je izlobirala Lufthansa na ukidanje ogromnog broja code-share ugovora Air Berlina i Etihada + svi oni silni postupci pred EU pa dolazimo do točke 5...

      5. Sve to što se desilo Etihad Regionalu od strane Swissa samo je dio širokog plana koji Lufthansa provodi (glavna okosnica je Eurowings) a koji ima prvenstveni cilj udarac na Air Berlin (samim time i na Etihad), sekundarni na ostale LCC, a tercijalni na MEB3 (i opet na Etihad).

      A koji je vaš argument, jel napisati "pišete gluposti" nije argument to je karakteriziranje u nedostatku argumenata. Volio bih pročitati bar jedan argument sa vaše strane!

      Delete
    10. Anonymous16:50

      Darwin radi sve sto je i pre. Da je Etihad zaista ulozio novac mozda bi i bilo nesto od toga bolje gledaj pare, a ne price. I ASL mi uglavnom placamo. Koliko para toliko i muzike.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous22:22

      Ovaj mali INN-NS nekad ume da bude i simpatičan, ali kad neko napiše "hvali" umesto "fali", meni zaista nije dobro...

      Delete
  5. Stefan09:26

    This will be good news for Adria, Air Serbia and especially Montenegro Airlines which has such a small network that any sort of direct competition is a major problem.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous09:33

    So Geneva - Skopje is the only one left in service at 1 weekly? Wow.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:35

      Pristina too but that was launched a while back :)

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:40

      Yeah, I meant from the ones launched recently. Prishtina is a a no-brainer really.. I'm reminded every time I have a stroll around Charmilles.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:48

      I'm glad this service will be maintained at Skopje. I hope the airport gets a few more legacy carriers so it can have a good balance between Wizz Air and others. If anything, the Geneva-Skopje route shows there is a market and room for full fare carriers in Macedonia.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:55

    Eto potencijala za ASL. Linija BEG-GVA u danima kada ne leti easy jet !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:56

      Pokusali su i Etihad Regional (koji je imao codeshare na regionalnim linijama JU) i pokusao je Swiss. Mislim da bi za JU bilo bolje da leti za neke druge destinacije.

      Delete
    2. Nemjee10:23

      Проблем је био у томе што је Риџнал тек добио дозволу за кодшер средином лета, то значи да су неколико месеци летели соло и конкурисали Изију и Свису. Неретко се дешавало да су долазили и одлазили са по 5 путника. Да није било Бања Луке ова линија би била чиста катастрофа... иако није била далеко од тога.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:47

      I think the basic problem is that the bulk of Balkan folks do not live in the Geneva catchment area -- they are much more present in the German-speaking cantons and as such better served by the Zurich route. Add the fact that ZRH is the big hub and it is easy to see how GVA to Balkans becomes a difficult route.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:34

      TGD-BEG-GVA-BEG-TGD za YM E190 pod okriljem JU idealno resenje.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous16:28

      YM doesn't have 5th freedom traffic rights between Serbia and Switzerland

      Delete
    6. Anonymous18:49

      @Nemnje da li znate kojim slucajem kada Wizz dodaje let sredom za LCA? Mi smo prosle godine isli 6/13.5 dakle oba smera u sredu, ali ove godine jos uvek za prvu polovinu maja nema letova sredom. Da li mislite da postoji sansa da ih u medjuvremenu ubace ili to sto ih vec sada nema znaci i da ih nece biti?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous21:16

      Letovi sredom startuju 22. juna.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous22:26

      @6:49PM
      Odkud on zna majke ti?

      Delete
    9. Nemjee23:50

      Анон 18.49

      Као што је Анон 21.16 написао, летови средом крећу тек од 22.06. Средом ће се летети и око Ускрса, то јест те две недеље. Ако је датум важан ту је и Ер Србија која креће да лети за неких месец дана (ако не грешим) мада и даље са оним криминалним временима.

      Анон 22.26

      Хмм... живео сам 14 година доле и редовно посећујем острво.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:57

    Does anyone know how their Zurich-Zagreb-Zurich route is performing? Has OU been affected by their presence?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous09:59

    We went from having no flights from Geneva to Belgrade 2 years ago to 3 airlines starting the route at the same time. I knew their was place for only airline to survive on the route and it's no surprise it is easy jet. Maybe they will introduce an additional flight per week now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:12

      Yap.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:20

      U2 increasing flights between BEG and GVA is bad news for Air Serbia.
      Low price is king when it comes to people either local or diaspora choosing flights.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:57

      Prestani da lupetas ... Air Serbia nije ikada letela ovu relaciju i sad da je od jedanput "bad news" .... Stvarno !

      Delete
  10. Anonymous10:00

    Was there a direct order from "Mutter Lufthansa"?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous10:34

    From my experience of Switzerland, Geneva doesn't have such a huge ex-Yu diaspora population... they're more in the north of the country. I think also several routes out of Geneva were subsidised by the canton to attract more airline into offering direct flights, which is probably why it works for the likes of EasyJet but not the bigger flag carriers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:34

      Ako pogledas autobuske linije videces da ih ima puno tamo kao i u Lyonu, FR. Bas iz Srbije ne iz BiH. Ljudi stalno mesaju Srbe iz Srbije i iz BiH. Wizz kada otvara linije pogleda gde idu atobusi iz tog grada. Tako su otvorili Baden Baden i zbog Strazbura i Metza ne samo zbog Nemacke.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:18

      To je interesantno :) Kao sto sam rekao, samo od mog istkostva nisamo znao puno od disapore u Zenevi i regionu. Ali verujem sta si rekao.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous12:01

    OT
    Zanimljivo je da ce TK imati nekim danima preko 5 letova dnevno iz Turske za VIE . GRZ povecavaju na svakodnevno a SZG ide 10 pw sto je dobar potez TK naspram drugih da pokupe pare i trziste osvoje dok su drugi ne zaintresovani.
    INN-NS

    ReplyDelete
  13. Purger12:11

    There is information that Adria CRJ 900 will fly for Air Serbia as compensation for something from SFRJ time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:34

      Znaci idu 3,4 regionalne linije posle toga.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:51

      Bice zanimljivo videti saradnju dovoje kompanija.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:04

      Dvoje kompanija .
      INN-NS

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:19

      what? compensation about what exactly???

      Delete
    5. Anonymous14:28

      kaze se "dvaju" kompanija u srpskoj varijanti obostrano nam razumljivog jezika, ili "dviju" kompanija u hrvatskoj varijanti (inacici)

      Delete
    6. Anonymous15:44

      KBP?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous23:03

      I can confirm Purger's rumor. Apparently it's for the summer season.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous23:11

      And where is this information?

      How is JP going to deliver its own schedule if it is leasing all its fleet out to other airlines ?

      Delete
    9. Anonymous23:47

      ...."as compensation for something from SFRJ time". Fenomenalno.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous09:25

      That is true, something what was done without court, they made agreement out of court.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous10:48

      @9:25 ok, recimo da je istina.. Adrija nije vise u vlasnistvu drzave, zasto bi sada privatna firma vracala necije dugove?

      Delete
  14. Anonymous16:59

    Yes, I was wondering about this for couple of days. Since I'm planning get away around 1st of May I realized that direct flights BEG - GVA are missing on their website... I first thought that this is error and now sadly they are considering to cancel it. :(
    It was nice possibility to combine both easyjet and Swiss on my way from Beg to GVA or further using wide network that easyjet has from GVA hub.

    I combined last year BEG-GVA-LIS-MAD-GVA-BEG with both companies...

    It will be really waste if they cancel it!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous18:08

    I'm confused why they will resume GVA-BEG on 29th of March just to cancel it 2-3 weeks later??

    This doesn't make any seance to me...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:09

      Easter.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:25

      Oh yeah. That's right. Thanks.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous22:18

      Nonsense. Easter n Serbia falls on 1 May this year. So definitely not because of Easter.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous23:09

      Actually it is you that is talking nonsense. Easter in Switzerland is on 27th of March. These flights are aimed at Serbs living and working in Switzerland who have a public holiday when Easter is marked in Switzerland so that's when they can go and visit their family back in Serbia because they don't get a public holiday on 1st May in Switzerland. Hope that explains it for you.

      Delete

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