Montenegro Airlines' passenger numbers improve


Montenegro Airlines has seen its passenger numbers grow during the first five months of the year, with Slovenia persisting as the carrier's fastest growing market. The Montenegrin airline welcomed 157.000 travellers on board its aircraft during the January - May period, an increase of 4.6% compared to the same period last year. The carrier recorded passenger growth on key markets including Serbia and Russia. "Responsible network planning, which included a reduction in frequencies to certain destinations with lower demand, has resulted in a significant decrease in operating costs and a 3% increase in the average cabin load factor", the airline said in a statement.

Montenegro Airlines registered an additional 3.500 passengers on its flights from Podgorica to Ljubljana, as well as an extra 600 travellers on its service from Tivat to St Petersburg, when compared to last year. This summer, the carrier is operating an additional weekly flights to the Slovenian capital for a total of three, while services to St Petersburg continue to be maintained four times per week, as was the case in 2015. On its two most important markets - Serbia and Russia - Montenegro Airlines also saw bullish figures. "On flights from/to Podgorica and Tivat to Belgrade we increased our passenger numbers by 2% during the first five months, while on services to Moscow we saw a 20% increase, despite strong competition from Russian carriers", the airline noted. Other destinations which also saw an improvement in figures include Dusseldorf (+8.4%), Zurich (+6.5) and Paris (+6.4%). Thanks to its performance, the airline has been granted a number of incentives from Charles de Gaulle Airport. 

Despite its growing passenger numbers, the airline still faces financial difficulties. Last week, the Montenegrin government blocked a decision to grant the debt-ridden carrier a further 500.000 euros in support. Furthermore, Montenegro's Finance Ministry is moving to collect unpaid taxes amounting to some 230 million euros owed by state-run companies, which are considered to be close to Prime Minister Milo Djukanović's government, among which is Montenegro Airlines. It comes after an opposition minister, Raško Konjević, took the post three weeks ago. The carrier's debt towards the state is estimated at twelve million euros, although the exact figure is expected to be known next week when the parliament's Economy and Budget Committee holds a hearing with the Finance Minister and the Tax Administration Office. Montenegro Airlines is believed to have recorded a 10.2 million euro net loss in 2015.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:06

    Aah as they would say "U tom grmu leži zec". I was wondering how come all of a sudden the situation at Montenegro Airlines was unraveling. Now it makes sense if a guy from the opposition is minister for finance.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:30

      It has been a long time coming for this airline. You couldn't make this stuff up.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:07

    I'm assuming the markets not mentioned - Rome, London did not perform so well...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:10

      No doubt London has suffered because of low cost competition and Rome because of Alitalia.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:09

    They REALLY have very expensive rates.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous09:25

    With the opposition as finance minister Montenegro Airlines is toast.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nemjee10:02

    This is like a terminally ill patient showing some sign of improvement. It only means that the agony will last a little bit longer before the inevitable happens. Montenegro Airlines is as good as dead.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous10:31

    If they lease 2 EMB to Air Serbia this winter that's a third of their fleet gone. Then again Etihad said they need to lease and rationalize their network during the winter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:15

      And they paid Etihad how much for that more than obvious statement? Anyone on here could have told them that.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:06

      Why exactly would Air Serbia take the extra EMB's during the Winter? Sure, they could use some Embraers generally speaking, but Winter is a slower time for JU too -- they also don't need the extra capacity.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:09

      Because they probably want to keep some extra frequencies within the region because of New York, as well as some of these new flights that were just launched.

      Delete
    4. Nemjee08:52

      As mentioned yesterday, the A319 is much heavier so on routes where you carry around 80 passengers per flight it is far more economical to send the Embraer rather than the Airbus. Not only because of the fuel burn but also because of airport charges. Lack of business class should not be an issue for most routes anyway..

      Delete
    5. Yup the E195 is a 50 ton plane but the 319 is a 75 ton plane. Big difference. A319 can carry a lot more cargo tho.

      Delete
    6. Nemjee09:07

      Well, that's true... in theory. The reality seems to be quite different.
      Our company moves a lot of cargo and the difference in price between Air Serbia and trucking companies is huge. To move goods between Berlin and Belgrade, a truck never costs us more than €700. To send them by plane it would cost us several times more.

      If they had a wider (non-European) network then attracting cargo could become a more lucrative business. But competing with trucking companies for intra-European business is not a wise idea.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous10:46

    How many passengers did they have for the whole of last year?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:31

      580.000 + 4% on 2014.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous11:01

    Sorry - small OT:
    Yesterday evening flight BEG-HAM was the LF round about 60-65%.
    Source: my mum :-).
    I think not so bad for the 2nd flight between the 2 cities. Holidays in North-Germany starts soon

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:08

      Not bad :)

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17:31

      Is it possible that the Bombardier Q400 can dock at one of the gates at BEG but the Adria's CRJ900 could not? IT is constantly parked/boarding through A4a/A4b/C7...

      Delete
    3. Anonymous19:02

      It can but I guess they have designated for it to park at stands because they treat it like a regional aircraft.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous12:05

    I must say they do have nice crew ;)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous14:12

    Once again what is the purpose of this airline's existance? If someone can explain.......

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:09

      To employ party members.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous17:11

    I'm not a big fan of theirs but I'm happy their numbers improved. Let's hope their costs have gone down too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous01:04

      At least their commercials on youTube are fun to watch.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous01:28

      Haha are you referring to the one with the guslaci. That's priceless :D

      Delete
    3. Nemjee08:47

      I remember sometime in the 1990s they had a commercial with a guy sitting in the plane, drinking beer and saying: sjedis a ljetis.

      I am not sure if they intentionally decided to mock themselves or if it was by accident.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous01:49

    U Saradnji sa ASL ce se brojevi sigurno jos popraviti .
    INN-NS

    ReplyDelete
  13. Juce BEG-FCO/AZ skoro 100% pun A320.. I zacudjujuce za Alitaliju, stigao mi je kofer :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nemjee08:45

      Хахаха и то још у сезони! Чуо сам да су се поправили што се тиче пртљага. Мени је Алиталија јако драга и надам се да ће се извући из ове (хроничне) кризе. :)

      Иначе, Алиталија је увек пуна, чак и током зиме.

      Delete

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