Flydubai has confirmed it will commence services to Montenegro during the first half of next year, although the hybrid carrier is yet to decide whether flights will operate to Podgorica or Tivat. It comes days after the airline chartered a promotional flight to Tivat carrying media, tour operator representatives, business leaders and airline executives. Flydubai’s CEO, Ghaith Al Ghaith, said, “We brought with us 150 of the most influential members of the press and tour operators so we could explore the possibility of launching services to Montenegro. This has been a very successful trip. That is why I can confirm with all certainty that we will launch flights. In the near future we will release all details relating to our planned operations to Montenegro”.
Initially, Flydubai was to launch two weekly services from Dubai to Podgorica this July, however, those plans were put on hold. Porto Montenegro, a luxury yacht marina and adjacent waterfront development owned by the Investment Corporation of Dubai is pushing for the carrier to start services to Tivat instead of Podgorica. The resort is located in the vicinity of the airport. Following talks with Mr Al Ghaith, the Montenegrin Minister for Sustainable Development and Tourism, Branimir Gvozdenović, said, “I am certain that this important air service will further strengthen the Montenegrin tourism sector, as well as business ties between our two countries”. The head of one of Montenegro's largest hotels and a key player in the local tourism industry, Roko Palmić, said, “Montenegro will become more accessible to tourists from Dubai, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Persian Gulf thanks to these new flights”.
Flydubai launched operations to the former Yugoslavia in late 2011 with services to Belgrade. They were followed with the introduction of flights to Skopje, Sarajevo and Zagreb. However, operations to the Croatian capital will be discontinued at the end of the month. Furthermore, Ljubljana Airport has held talks with the carrier over potential services to the city. Montenegro abolished visa requirements for UAE citizens last year. Following the opening of the Montenegrin embassy in Abu Dhabi in 2014, the government has focused on strengthening bilateral relations between the two nations, most notably in the transport and tourism sectors. There are currently no flights between Montenegro and the Middle East. The majority of passengers heading to the region are handled by Turkish Airlines and Air Serbia via their respective hubs.
Comments
Of course they expect better loads in TGD compared to ZAG. The reason is very simple: in TGD there is no Qatar to massacre them, as is the case in ZAG.
That said, even as the sole MEB3 carrier in TGD they may not necessarily succeed with this route. TK will respond with crazy dumping, JU may as well offer better deals via AUH. Time will tell.
But Ryanair and Wizzair will!
Flew ATH-BEG on Aegean. Out of the 174 seats on the A320 maybe 10 were free. Lots of Greeks and some Serbs who connected from other destinations.
Aegean has incredibly improved their onboard experience when compared to two years ago. Their new uniforms look great especially when they put the red apron during 'meal' service.
What I especially liked was that the dessert was served during tea/coffee time and it's a chocolate filled cookie made by a famous local pastry shop.
What I found especially great is that they inform you via e-mail/sms about your gate and status, even before ATH updates their monitors.
We were an hour late because of congestion at the airport. The terminal was renovated and it looks much better when compared to a few years ago.
Even if LJU is only 10 mins per way more in average than ZAG it still means 20mins more per crew from DXB which could exceed the limit. At some point there must be a clear cut/limit.
I know that several TOs are very interested in flights between VIE and Cape Verde (e.g. SID) with 737 or 320 family. Although HAJ-SID is possible, it is not for VIE-SID which is just 10mins longer one way.
BTS small village??? It has around 500.000 inhabitants and if you take a look at Google Maps and zoom out a bit, you will see that there is another, LARGE european capital with high average incomes in its close proximity.
Now, compare that to the numbers in TGD or TIV...
In S17 there are 17 weekly flights scheduled between LJU and LON or 2-3 per day, even 4 on Sundays! 13 on Easyjet (STN, LGW) and 4 on Wizzair (LTN). I highly doubt Adria will try to run LGW with such competition...
It is like all Montenegro, and you compare this with Podgorica 187.085 inhabitants????
JAT was flying to DXB up to 6p/w to DXB (and for a short time to KWI and AUH). If Im not mistaken, JAT resumed DXB in 2002, ending flights in October 2011. 2 weeks later FZ started flights to BEG.
Important news for SKP and SJJ. QR just firmed orders up to 30 a/c + 60 extra with Boeing!
http://www.boeing.com/commercial/customers/qatar-airways/qatar-airways-order.page
This means that we can see them flying in 2018 because according to the article the 60 B737 Max is only a MoU but not a firm order yet.