easyJet eyes EX-YU expansion


Budget airline easyJet is considering expanding further in the former Yugoslavia after introducing a handful of new routes to the region this year. So far in 2016, the carrier has launched new services to the Croatian coast, as well as flights to Tivat and Pristina. Furthermore, easyJet has added frequencies on its services to Ljubljana. The airline says it is now exploring new opportunities on the market. "easyJet is always evaluating new options in the Balkans and opportunities to be more profitable and continue growing, with the primary short-term focus to thicken our presence in our core markets", the airline said. It added, "easyJet periodically assesses the opportunities on the basis of market research. We are currently conducting business cases on several routes and then we will choose the ones that result to prove more attractive for our customers". The carrier recently expressed interest in launching flights from the United Kingdom to Niš, but is also expected to grow further in Croatia, Montenegro and Kosovo.

easyJet launched five new routes to the Croatian coast this year, following on from another major expansion in 2015. During last year, it handled over 600.000 passengers on its flights to Croatia but is yet to commit to resuming services to the capital Zagreb. easyJet offers almost as much capacity as Croatia Airlines from the country during the summer. In addition, in 2015, the carrier was the second busiest operating out of Dubrovnik, behind only Croatia Airlines. Ali Gayward, easyJet’s UK Commercial Manager, said, "We see a growing demand for short and long breaks to Croatia and we’re continuing to make it convenient for our customers to visit the country".

During the year, easyjet entered the Montenegrin market with flights from Manchester and London to Tivat. The carrier anticipates handling some 34.000 passengers on the two routes during its first year of operations and has seen strong bookings so far. In addition, the airline has introduced new flights from Berlin to Pristina earlier this year and will launch services from Paris in November. easyJet was the third busiest carrier operating out of Kosovo in 2015. In Slovenia, the no frills carrier increased frequencies on its daily London Stansted - Ljubljana service last month to nine weekly flights. Furthermore, MRO company Adria Airways Tehnika has signed an agreement with easyJet for the maintenance of its Airbus A320-family aircraft in Ljubljana, to commence in September. The two-year contract covers work on the aircraft cabin, including the addition of capacity and the installation of new galleys and lavatories.

Unlike its low cost rival Wizz Air, which has played a dominant role in the region, easyJet’s presence in the former Yugoslavia has been limited up until now. Despite the success Wizz Air has had in Macedonia and other markets in the region, easyJet says it is not fazed by competition. “easyJet is focused on its successful strategy to expand across Europe and operates in the best interests of the company and its customers, ensuring the attractiveness of its network. This means the airline concentrates its efforts on maintaining and developing routes which prove popular with passengers. We consider competition only in regards of tactic opportunities that can be complementary to our strategy”, the carrier said.

Comments

  1. Nemjee09:04

    'easyJet offers almost as much capacity as Croatia Airlines from the country during the summer. In addition, in 2015, the carrier was the second busiest operating out of Dubrovnik'

    I guess with the upcoming expansion they might end up offering more seats than OU does. Will be interesting to see what other routes they end up introducing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:06

      True. Last year they had 600k passengers, which is really impressive since they serve Croatia only on a seasonal basis.

      Delete
    2. Nemjee09:11

      Do you know if they compete with OU on any of their routes from the coast? If I remember correctly OU mostly runs charters while U2 scheduled flights?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:11

      Impossible bcs OU has at least three flights per day during the entire year from both Split and Dubrovnik. On other hand it is true that Easyjet has dozens of flights, but only between April and October.

      Delete
    4. Nemjee09:20

      Well, the article does mention that they were speaking about the summer season. That's what I am wondering as well. Could we see them offer the most seats in S17?

      Also, I am really curious to see how OU performs in DBV this winter with increased competition. Won't be easy.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:41

      In Split they compete against Croatia on Paris, London and Berlin route and in Dubrovnik on Amsterdam and Berlin flights.

      I agree with about competition closing in on OU. Will be interesting how they perform on Dubrovnik-Rome route with Vueling operating the flights as well during the winter.

      Delete
    6. Nemjee09:51

      Interesting, thank you. Seems like there is quite a lot of overlap between the two. I guess the market is big enough for them to share. However, as U2 expands they will eventually start taking passengers away from OU.

      As for DBV, do you know if OU responded in any way to Vueling? Could they maybe send the A319? Lower their fares?

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:05

    I think they will return to ZAG sooner or later. I wonder whather they suspended them because of poor loads or high fees.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:10

      fees, they couldn't compete with OU and BA on the route which offered better service out of Heathrow. OU for example is around £240 return, Easy was £280 return through Gatwick.

      BA is around £270-300 through Heathrow as well, still cheaper if you consider Gatwick express charges £17.50 one way to Gatwick Airport.

      Easy simply couldn't compete on the route.
      Easy needs to come with better ticket prices ,perhaps than they can compete on the route. £100-110 would do it.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:39

      Or maybe concentrate on some routes that are not served form ZAG?

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:07

    Why aren't they basing any aircraft in ZAG ? They would surely give OU a run for their money

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:08

      Interestingly they failed from ZAG before.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:22

      I would like to know what happened with their flights from ZAG. Don't think poor loads was the reason.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:29

      Well W6 had good loads as well but due to technical issues they were forced to suspend all flights.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:41

      I flew with Easy Jet from Zagreb to London several times, the loads were great (on my flights), I'm surprised they are avoiding Zagreb.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:07

    I don't understand why they don't base a plane in Split. They fly to 16 destinations from there!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:09

      Probably because Split Airport is extremely expnsive.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:18

      Or lacks the necessary space?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:39

      Not during the winter...

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:38

    They failed to Milan from BEG and till today I fail to understand why. I flew that route at least 15 times throughout the year, paid quite expensive fares and flights were always full.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tranquilis10:03

      For one, anecdotal evidence is insufficient to extrapolate the profitability of any single route.

      Another things is their cost base bears more resemblance to flag carriers than other LCCs. 70 EUR average fare at 90% avg LF might be super profitable for FR or W6 and a big loss-maker for U2.

      Delete
    2. Nemjee10:49

      Many have failed on the Serbia-Italy market. Seems like it can only work if you can rely on connecting passengers. Even Wizz Air had mediocre loads (around 60%) when they flew to Rome. Then again, their return flight used to have horrible times. If I remember correctly they used to return at around 00.45?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:30

      BTW Seems like LH Group is doing well in Belgrade. Today LX with A321, LH with A321 in the morning and A320 from MUC! We haven't seen an A320 from MUC in years!

      So who saw their pax numbers drop? JU? Someone else?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:02

      Their BEG pax numbers didn't drop but their yield did. Trend will continue as Air Serbia expands in the USA. Adding MUC as a destination would further hurt LH.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous14:21

      I don't think their yield was hurt as their prices remained unchanged. Also, it's not their US flights that could be affected but JFK alone

      Delete
  6. Any plans for opening routes from/to Zadar ?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous10:42

    ОТ: some news for subsidized flights from Budapest to EX-YU city??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The official response from the airlines is: "The tender is still ongoing and the final winner has not been announced yet. We do not wish to speculate until a final decision is made".

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:32

      Tnx Amin, we wait on your update news :)

      Delete
  8. Anonymous11:00

    OT: at 11.30 is arriving A330-200 CS-TQW at Split (operating for Norwegian Stockholm-SPU vv.).
    The evening flight of CS-TQW will be Stockholm-Pula vv.
    Into DBV a Titan 757 was flying for Norwegian the morning leg Stockholm-DBV.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:56

      It's pretty impressive they manage to stay profitable with these high-cost wet leases of (mostly) widebodies throughout the summer.
      How is their order log, do they have any 737-800s scheduled to arrive before the Max rolls in?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous16:40

      One might assume they planned at least some of the leases from the beginning when sales started! Probably did not sell only 189 seats but intentionally 267 for let's say Stockholm-Split in these weeks.

      Delete
  9. Purger11:20

    Eurowings najavio vrlo moguće otvaranje baze u Munchenu 2017. godine.

    Obzriom da je jasno da je Eurowings pokrenut sa ciljem udara na Air Berlin, te sekundarnim ciljevima udara na easyJet, Ryanair, MEB3 i EUB3, meni bi logično bilo da uz postojeće baze u Cologne, Dusseldorf, Hamburg i Vienna (dakle udar na Air Berlin, u Hamburgu i na easyJet), i preuzimanju baza Germanwingsa do kraja 2016. (kako je planirano) u Berlin Tegelu (Air Berlin, easyJet i Ryanair), Hannoveru i Stuttgartu (udar na Air Berlin), prvenstveno otvore nove baze u:

    Munichu (Air Berlin baza, najava Ryanair baze, Transavia koja kao Air France-KLM-ov LCC se krenula pačati u Lufthansino neposreno dvorište)
    Zurichu (Air Berlin, easyJet)

    a potom
    - u svojoj zoni interesa (ostale njemačke i austrijske zračne luke, Švicarska)
    - tamo gdje uspiju kupiti kompanije i involvirati ih u Eurowings (planiran je SAS dakle Danska, Norveška i Švedska, Brussels dakle Belgija, a vrlo vjerovatno Adrija i Croatia dakle Ljubljana, Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik, Sarajevo i Priština)
    - te vračanje udarca Transaviji (Amsterdam ili Paris), Etihadu (Rim, Geneva, Beograd) ili drugima (neka od baza Ryanaira ili easyJeta)

    Nemojmo zaboraviti da će Eurowings do kraja 2016. (i involviranja Germanwingsa) imati preko 100 aviona u floti (sada tek 30-tak), a u slučaju da uspiju involvirati sve što su najavili (Condor, SAS, Brussels, te vjerovatno Adriju i Croatiu) to bi bilo preko 400 aviona iliti ekvivalent Ryanairu. Samim time ova moja pretpostavka ogromnog širenja u zoni intersa (ali i šire) jest vrlo vjerovatna.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:10

      shit. then we might expect carnage in the following years

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:10

      EW planira prica se i bazu u SZG sa nekoliko linija.
      Mislim da bi SN pristao da bude u EW Grupi ali zasto mislite da bi SK pristao da bude EW .
      INN-NS

      Delete
  10. Anonymous11:25

    Easy Jet should start flying from Skopje.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:35

      Why?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:56

      It could offer flights to main airports to a few cities in Europe.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous16:37

      True. Base 1 plane in SKP and serve MUC, BRU, AMS, CDG once a day each! Win Win for everyone, also because U2 could take advantage of subsidies in Skopje.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous11:26

    I'm pretty sure easyjet will launch another new destination next year and I expect them to start Zagreb next year too.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous13:25

    Bad news for OU

    ReplyDelete
  13. How come nobady except Wizz is considering TZL.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:49

      Tuzla was only chosen as an alternative to Sarajevo and Wizz is having big problems in Tuzla during winter because of low visibility. Lot of their flights get diverted increasing costs.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous15:06

    I don't know why Easy is planning any expansion until they do not even have ennough crew to cover their existing routes either. Dozens of flights are cancelled for this every day, 1600 in the last 3 months only!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:31

      Also look at e.g. Vueling, Norwegian, Austrian etc.
      Almost every second airline (both low costers and full service) is in trouble now in high season as they face crew and/or fleet shortage.

      That all must come very suddenly and as a clear surprise for them of course.
      Obviously, none of the airlines knew that in July summer will be there and that they cannot plan on increasing frequencies endlessly without having the necessary number of crew or planes.
      Until few years back you had to have sufficient reserves on stand by, also in summer (crew, planes) - nowadays, apparently no more!

      Delete
  15. Anonymous15:11

    Steta sto U2 nema veceg prisustva u EX YU ali mislim da je to zato sto sto je cesto najskuplji od njih 3 .
    Ima jos nekoliko linija koje mislim da bi se isplatile i nadam se da ce oni doci u INI.
    INN-NS

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:09

      Ne bulazni gluposti... Easy jet najskuplji, mos misliti...

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:10

      Marko Lukic, da li si ti ikada leteo niskobudzetnom kompanijom?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous23:46

      Ja ne pricam Gluposti u vecini slucajeva U2 je skuplji od FR i W6.
      INN-NS

      Delete
  16. Anonymous16:42

    A wintertime Easyjet service linking Manchester or Liverpool with Ljubljana would help package holiday skiers get to Vogel etc quicker than the current flights that use Salzburg, resulting a 4 hour transfer to resort.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Purger22:34

    Capital Bejing Airlines dobija novi A330-300 i kreće sa letovima za Mexico City, Helsinky i Zagreb. Zagreb će letjeti od 6. mjeseca 2017. frekvencijom od 2 tjedna leta.

    To je kompanija u 70% vlasništvu Hainana (koji ima još 15-tak kompanija). Kao što znamo Hainan je najveća privatna kineska kompanija. Nastali su 1998. godine. Imaju 57 aviona i to 24 A319, 32 A320 i 2 A330-200, a potpuno novi A330-300 dolazi tijekom ove godine. Prosječna starost flote im je 4 godine. Svi avioni su im u leasu od Hainana.

    Lete na 66 destinacija i 160 linija, sjedište im je u Bejingu ali linije imaju iz 60 kineskih gradova. Lete domaće i inozemne linije, turističke letove u suradnji sa najvećim kineskim turističkim operaterima, charter i cargo letove. Osim brojnih kineskih destinacija u inozemstvo lete prema Okinavi, Maldvima, Jeju, Bangkoku, Phuketu, Osaki, Madridu, Melbournu... Od 2012. u avionima imaju prvu klasu. Žele postati glavna turistička zrakoplovna kompanija u Kini.

    Uz to imaju i business jet kompaniju Deer Jet koja ima 6 jetova.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous23:40

      Jel ovo sigurno, je si ti pričao sa vlasnikom avio kompanije?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous00:01

      Bice zanimljivo dali ce opet biti to sezonski letovi.
      INN-NS

      Delete

Post a Comment

EX-YU Aviation News does not tolerate insults, excessive swearing, racist, homophobic or any other chauvinist remarks or provocative posts with the intention of creating further arguments. A full list of comment guidelines can be found here. Thank you for your cooperation.