Low cost carrier Wizz Air will launch an additional two new routes from Niš Constantine the Great Airport this summer, for a total of five, with services from Eindhoven and Memmingen to commence on August 1. It comes just a week after the airline's low cost rival Ryanair announced it too was adding new services from the south-east Serbian city. The new flights will complement the airline's existing network from Niš, which includes Basel and Malmo, as well as the previously announced Dortmund service, which will commence on August 20. Wizz launched operations from Niš exactly a year ago. At the time, the airport had no commercial flights or passengers. With yesterday’s announcement, the budget carrier will offer a total of sixteen routes to six countries out of Belgrade and Niš combined. The carrier serves both Eindhoven and Memmingen from its base in the Serbian capital as well.
Commenting on its network expansion, Wizz Air's Head of Communications, Tamara Vallois, said, " We are delighted to bring more good news to our Serbian customers this summer. August is going to be a month with many reasons for celebration. Our three new routes to Germany and the Netherlands expand Serbia’s largest low fare network, giving our Serbian customers a wide choice of both leisure and business destinations to enjoy this summer, as well as stimulating inbound travel to Serbia". She added, "As the only airline operating from both Belgrade and Niš, we look forward to welcoming ever more passengers on board our Serbian flights, to experience Wizz’s lowest fares and great onboard service delivered by our Serbian colleagues".
NEW ROUTE LAUNCHES FROM NIŠ
| Destination | Airline | Launch date |
|---|---|---|
| Eindhoven | Wizz Air | 01.08.2016 |
| Memmingen | Wizz Air | 01.08.2016 |
| Dortmund | Wizz Air | 20.08.2016 |
| Berlin | Ryanair | 04.09.2016 |
| Weeze | Ryanair | 30.10.2016 |
| Bratislava | Ryanair | 31.10.2016 |
| Bergamo | Ryanair | 01.11.2016 |
Wizz Air's new service to Eindhoven will indirectly compete against Ryanair's planned flights from Niš to Weeze in Germany. Eindhoven and Weeze are some eighty kilometres apart. Last month, Wizz Air said it welcomed competition in the south-east Serbian city, noting it would continue to develop its own operations. Constantine the Great Airport has managed to lure the two low cost giants after reducing its fees last year, charging all airlines (both full fare and low cost) only three euros for handling, landing and passenger services. It anticipates welcoming a record 100.000 passengers this year, although this estimate is expected to be easily surpassed. By the end of the year, Niš Airport will offer direct flights to nine cities, five of which will be operated by Wizz Air and the remaining four by Ryanair.
wooo, INI is on fire :-)
ReplyDeleteWow what a year for Niš. Well done.
ReplyDeleteExcellent. Still hoping for a link to Spain though
ReplyDeleteThe battle is on now in Niš. It will be interesting to see who will win the Eindhoven/Weeze route. I don't think there is enough room for both.
ReplyDeleteThere is a common misconception that Eindhoven and Weeze are competitors. In fact, they serve two totally different, both very densely populated areas. Weeze serves the Ruhr area (Dusseldorf, Cologne, Duisburg...) while Eindhoven serves Holland (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague). The two airports may be close by air distance, but the connections between them are not great. Try getting from Rotterdam to Weeze, especially if you have a morning flight and don't own a car, and you'll have a big headache. These two airports don't really compete.
DeleteAdd DTM to the mix and it does look like most angles are covered. I don't think anyone will be dropping any of these routes any time soon, but I wouldn't expect frequency increases either.
DeleteAnother destination that could work is NUE-INI.
DeleteAgreed, Nemjee. No need to get overly creative. They already have the script written over at SKP, all they have to do is copy it.
DeleteThough me personally I'd add FKB and MLA as next obvious destinations unserved by either one.
DeleteSorry, I was referring to Ryanair though Wizz Air could do it too. I just think FR could do it more easily given that they have a base there.
DeleteI am still surprised no lowcost tried Berlin-Belgrade. Given that Wizz Air is expanding there maybe we could have them do it.
I think Air Serbia was very smart to launch Hamburg.
Why on earth would they launch Malta when a ton of other destinations in Europe are still not served by either carriers? Official stats state that there are less than 1000 Serbs living in Malta. Of course that number may be a bit higher, so lets say between 2000-3000 (which is still nothing). I have no info on who is promoting Malta as a underserved destination, but it seems like somebody is trying to make their own personal trip or has family there (politician or somebody in Nis airport).
DeleteCongrats to INI for snatching the opportunity!
ReplyDeleteThe combination of BEG's reluctance to LCC traffic and SKP's success in proving the region's got potential gave the green light for this to happen. Having both Wizz and Ryan bodes well for future development, something neither BEG nor SKP have managed to do just yet. I wish them all the success and hopefully we will see another destination or two from a third party.
Oh, and one more thing - Great move by Wizz to launch EIN from August and steal the wind from Ryanair's Weeze.
DeleteYeah I agree about EIN. They will definitely have an advantage coming in earlier.
Delete+1
DeleteExactly!
Uh još kad bi došli Pegasus i Pobeda.
ReplyDeleteGreat, but the next step should be diversification. Niš needs something besides typical gasterbajter routes.
ReplyDeleteINI needs Turkish to IST to bring access to the East.
If Niš could snatch Pobeda, that would be a big win.
Niš-Podgorica on Ryanair could work if those two countries allow it. It would be great to compete against busses.
Niš-Oslo on Norwegian would be another idea.
There should be no rest, only progress!
Браво Ниш! Bravo Niš! Looking forward to the Sofia highway so that we can all benefit and lets see the region developing at last! Поздрав/Pozdrav from Sof! :)
ReplyDeleteБратко, respect.
Delete+1!
DeleteActually, the Sofia-Dimitrovgrad section is quite decent. Although not a full-profile highway, it is wide and has multiple lanes - more than enough for the current traffic flow. It's the Serbian section that's the bottleneck. Though hopefully not for much longer.
DeleteAnd yet there's no action from the snotty govt regarding the upgrading of the airport equipment. First it was supposed to be upgraded this year, which had been announced even before Wizz came to INI, and the latest I've heard about it is next year. That's classic! Milk the cow while you can.
ReplyDeleteIt was announced from the start that it would be done in 2017 and just a few weeks ago it was announced a new control tower would be built.
DeleteHere is the text from 2014:
Deletehttp://tangosix.rs/2014/22/12/smatsa-planira-instalaciju-ils-a-za-aerodrom-nis-u-2016-godini/
And another:
Deletehttp://www.exyuaviation.com/2014/09/nis-prepares-for-low-cost-flights.html?showComment=1410174402372#c8247852495232156383
Which problem are you out to fix? How many diversions from INI did Wizz experience thus far?
DeleteJust one for last winter season
DeleteI still cannot believe how everyone was getting excited when someone says how this is for sure hurting Belgrade / Air Serbia...now numbers don't lie
ReplyDeleteWhat numbers?
DeleteOf course it does, Nis is becoming an LCC hub and it will take a great deal of passengers from anywhere east and south of Smederevo.
DeleteAlso, is the 'growth' at BEG because of O&D or because of transfer passengers? ;)
INI development could have an impact on a few places not just BEG. I think it will take some passengers away from SKP who were using the airport previously. This is not a huge number so there is no doom and gloom scenario for others.
DeleteI think it will definitely have an impact on all Serbian passengers travelling to/from Nis and the region all the way south to the border.
DeleteGreat work Nis. It would be great to get another carrier on board.
ReplyDeleteHow many passengers do you guys estimate Nis will have this year?
ReplyDelete150,000 maybe?
DeleteOT: loadfactor YYZ ZAG 98%
ReplyDeleteZAG YYZ 30%
Amazing loadfactor for the onward flight. I guess that it is quite normal that the return flight is only 30%, because there are not so many Croatian tourist visiting Canada. When Canadian tourist begin to return, the percentages will be better.
DeleteAgreed 11:32. This first flight had no Canadians returning from previous Air Transat flights; I'd imagine the next flights' LFs to be very close to the inbound ones.
DeleteThat also tells about the real demand ex-Zagreb and how the O&D market is weak. Some guy was bragging few days ago, while in reality Zagrab is still in the 2.5 million league.
Delete2:24
DeleteI'd disagree to use this as a very good indicator of O&D. Air Transat is a leisure company, and their 3-3-3 configuration is horrible. I'd personally fly with a brief stop in FRA or so instead of that sardine can.
No, but 2.5 million year-round is. Period.
DeleteWow!! The LF inbound to ZAG is superb! Starting with the flight in the second week the outbound leg will be also very well booked with the CAN tourists returning.
DeleteAdditionally, from next week Air Transat is planning to use the larger A333 according to the booking platform on their website.
An. 2:24 and 3:25
DeleteBEG has about the same, or even smaller ex-Beograd demand compared to ZAG. BEG has 4 mil pax, ZAG 2,5 mil. ZAG has 10% transit/transfer pax, BEG 50%. So, roughly speaking, at this moment, 2 ex-yu biggest are about the same, ex-demand-wise.
But let's not forget that BEG is not limited capacity-wise, while ZAG is (especially shown in almost non-existing LCC traffic at ZAG which had to be given up in favour of legacy carriers which pay higher taxes, and because of capacity limitation).
Next year, with the new terminal openinig in ZAG, and with the current actions of the new MZLZ management which is in talks with dozen new carriers, from LCC (which will bring much higher numbers) to long-haul operators from North America and Asia (which will improve finances and connectivity), I believe we are going to see HUGE numbers increase in ZAG, which is definitely NOT in "2,5 mil.category. Period."
So just a year more patience, please! And if you want to continue calling my posts "bragging" please give some opposing arguments, not just nationalist spitting.
Daj ne mastaj nije Cro nis, vecinu ljudi koji lete u hrvatskoj cine strani gosti i ako dodju lcc onda ce puci klasicni prevoznici.
DeleteAt anonymous 4:44 pm
DeleteI fully agree with your comment. We just have to look at how long Zagreb had a small terminal. It goes back to the former SFRJ. Things at that time were just concentrated on BEG. But once the new terminal opens, I can see rapid growth at ZAG. Who knows they may even surpass BEG.
'BEG has about the same, or even smaller ex-Beograd demand compared to ZAG. BEG has 4 mil pax, ZAG 2,5 mil. ZAG has 10% transit/transfer pax, BEG 50%.'
DeleteNo. 50% of JU's passengers are transfer, not BEG's so your calculation is flawed pal.
@ An. 5:13
Delete"Ako dodju LCC" ?!?!?! Pa ne postoji ni jedan LCC koji ne leti za Hrvatsku. Ryanair ima bazu u HR, Easyjet je drugi operater po broju putnika u Splitu i Dubrovniku, Germanwings razbija Nemacku, Norwegian razbija Skandinaviju, oba sa po najmanje 5-6 pa i do desetak letova dnevno, Vueling, Transavia, svi lete za HR, i gle cuda, klasicni prevoznici nisu "pukli" nego otvaraju nove linije, dolaze nove kompanije, povecavaju frekvencije. Zasto? Zato batice (ili sekice) sto i LCC i legacy carriers imaju svoju klijentelu u raznim segmentima trzista, i u svetu, i u Evropi, i u Hrvatskoj. E sada sve ovo sto sam napisao za razinu Hrvatske preslikaj na razinu Zagreba, koji je do sada bio ogranicen kapacitetima, pa mi onda reci jos jednom da nisam u pravu. A da vecinu putnika u Hrvatskoj cine strani gosti, to je toliko normalno jer HR ima 4 miliona ljudi, Evropa 500 miliona, a svet 7 milijardi. Pa je nekako i logicno da ovih ostalih bude i nesto malo vise nego hrvatskih putnika. A sto se Nisa tice, kapa dole, i zelim mu svu srecu, i jos 10 puta vise putnika i letova!
Except Air Transat, there are no long-haul operators from North America seriously interested in scheduled flights to Zagreb. Interest from USA legacies to Zagreb is a myth on this site.
DeleteYou are absolutely right. There are no long-haul operators from North America seriously interested in scheduled flights to zagreb's existing terminal. Weather interest from USA legacy carriers for Zagreb is a myth or reality, remain to be seen. We'll not have to wait long to see it - 2017 is the year.
DeleteWhich long-haul operator from North America was (is) interested in scheduled flights to Belgrade? Just curious, Air Serbia flights to New York will happen because there's a demand, right?
DeleteAko dodju mlatizracnu luku LCC zaboravite vise dva tri dnevna leta
Deletedo Munich i Frankfurta ni LH ne moze to da brani.
No need to wait for 2017:
DeleteAA: no. More likely to codeshare with JU on JFK-BEG-ZAG
DL: no, they have no SkyTeam partners at ZAG
UA: very unlikely. They would have to fly from EWR instead of popular JFK, they wouldn't be able to use 752 because ZAG is too far, next up 763 has wrong config for the route with about 80 premium seats (J&Y+) and lastly this move would upset LH/LX/OS/OU, so no, not even UA.
Anonumous 7:28 PM thumbs up for you, Bravo!! Totally agree.
DeleteAnon 7.28
DeleteAre you saying JU's flight to VAR, TIA or BEY happened because of demand? ;)
Both TIA and BEY are one of Air Serbia's best performing routes.
DeleteAnon 4:44
DeleteSo many things wrong with your post.
First of all, BEG has 4,7 million, not 4 million.
Second, how do you suppose that BEG has 50% transfer pax? Except for Air Serbia, I don't think any other airline at BEG has any meaningful number of transfer pax, and Air Serbia is about 50% of BEG. So even if Air Serbia has 50% of their pax as transfer (they don't, but even if they did), that would still be only 25% of BEG's number as transfer.
Third, these posts such as yours have been going on for years on this site, always from anonymous posters because they don't have the confidence to stand behind their predictions. First it was once Croatia joins EU, then after the airport is sold, then this then that.
Anonymous 7:28 PM I will answear to your question straight: not because of demand but because some politicians said so!! But everybody knows the answear don't they??
DeleteGreat news for both INI and the surrounding areas. Like someone said I do hope that we get some non-gasterbajter routes too.
ReplyDeleteGood news indeed!!! ... mainly for "locals" leaving abroad ... maybe some foreigners will visit the area too. It's a novelty.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to be a party pooper but how does the airport profit from only 3 EUR per passenger?
ReplyDeleteThey don't. The city of Nis helps them financially. But it is certainly better to help an airport with some traffic than an airport with no traffic.
DeleteDuty free, food and bev, parking, part of fees charged by LLCs...
DeleteNot a party pooper at all. People around here need to be educated how modern airports, especially secondary ones, function these days.
DeleteThe split of traditional and ancillary revenue in Western Europe goes up to 30%/70% these days, maybe even higher. How they complement the airport taxes is, as the previous poster rightly pointed out, additional business - duty free, restaurants, business space, parking, etc. If you consider the amount of people going through their doors, a certain figure per pax, however low it might seem at first, means considerable revenue.
Of course, for this you need proper business acumen and entrepreneurial spirit. The Balkan region is not the best place to go looking for these I'm afraid.
Balkan region is a good place to go looking for the entrepreneurial spirit, but Balkans are not in the Western Europe where revenue is split 30/70 as you mentioned above.
DeleteWow!
ReplyDeleteThis is what competition does.
Perfect timing as Ryan expands into CEE.
Congrats!
I am still puzzled to why Wizz will launch Eindhoven and try to indirectly compete with Ryan Weeze route. Paris would have been a better option since there is no competition and surly more people from Nis who would want to visit Paris if the prices are decent. Memmingam is a great choice on the other hand.
ReplyDeleteThe desires of Nis people are equal to their purchasing power and have a proportionate influence on opening new lines.
DeleteThat is, very low.
Monday Friday to Memmingen overlaps with Ryan flying SOF-Memmingen. I wish they have picked Saturday or something, but anyway great news still!
Deleteto Memmingen:
DeleteMonday - Friday from INI WIZZ
Monday - Wednesday (from Dec) - Sunday from SOF WIZZ
Monday - Friday from SOF RYAN
are Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday generally considered with "lower traffic"?
Tuesday is traditionally the least busiest day in the industry, just like February is the least busiest month and Friday 13ths are usually less busy because people are superstitious
DeleteIsn't Saturday the least busiest day and then Tuesday?
DeleteOvo su odlicne vesti za INI .
ReplyDeleteAli oni sto pricaju da ce ovo neki veci broj Putnika odneti BEG svakako to nece .
INN-NS
Prezive Kucko jos jedno leto. Dok se raspisu izbori dok se oformi vlada ima covek da se nauziva u Amsterdamu.
ReplyDeleteMore lives than a cat !!!
Deletepa nije Macko nego Kucko :)
DeleteRyan attack on Wizz is the primary reason for current growth at Nis. There would be less Wizz destinations and no Ryan destinations out of Nis if Ryan didn't decide on a wider scale to attack Wizz. INI should stop patting their own backs, growth is not result of their outstanding leadership.
ReplyDeleteI second your opinion. While INI Management surely invested time and great effort to open the door - and bring Wizz in, the rest of that development was not even in their wildest dreams, as it is precisely what you said - Pink vs Blue. It will be a bloodbath and I would be very surprised if all these routes remain this time next year.
DeleteWe are a poor country, where bus and combi are still the preferred travel method even to longer destinations.
I wish INI the best, heck it would be great to have at leadt two, fully functioning airports with expanding conections, but I fear that reality will prevail in the end.
I am not so pessimistic.
DeleteDestinations like Nis are the future.Here we have pure low cost without monopolies.Serbia really is happy with having best of both worlds.
Belgrade and Nis coexist peacefully next to each other.
Air Serbia is right in not flying from Nis.It does not benefit them and also would harm Nis Airport.
Banja Luka should adopt the Nis model too.As they do imitate everything that happens over there in Serbia.
Banja Luka is in best location between everything-Zagreb-Sarajevo-Bihac-Doboj.
Important for the future is that foreign airlines choose right airports in Ex Yu and there are only two -Belgrade and Zagreb.
Twice weekly with FlyDubai to Skopje is stupid when Belgrade should be daily first.
And why is Air Arabia flying to Sarajevo?
Legacies and foreigners to Belgrade and Zagreb and the others get Ryainair and WIZZ.
That would be perfect.
If "attacking" is the primary reason for Ryan to start operate from INI, why they didn't attack Wizz at TZL? that is Wizz base with quarter of million pax, instead of that Ryan "attack" Wizzairs 4 week operations at INI?!?!?! That's ridiculous thinking. What will be next, probably INI growth is a pure luck or
Deleteaccident....
Neither luck nor accident. Podgorica also gets both -WIZZ and Ryanair !
DeleteOT: Air Serbia has received US DoT approvals for AB and EY codeshares on JU metal to JFK, and one year approval for EY wet lease if needed (if A330 goes tech). Complete those 40 local flights and should be all ready to go to the Big Apple!
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteI would have never imagine, to be honest, that Nis would have 9 destinations and 2 low cost giants present there by the end of 2016.
ReplyDeleteSeems like a dream come true for INI, hope if would last long, and wish INI lots of growth in the future years. It was long overdue.
Dreams come true even in the aviation world :) Finally it´s the Balkans turn to shine!
Deleteimagined...typo.
ReplyDeleteBtw ...On saturday Air Serbia will send their Airbus330 to Skopje !
ReplyDelete