Europe's busiest airline, Ryanair, is to continue expanding in the former Yugoslavia next year with two new routes already announced from its seasonal base in Zadar, potential new services from Niš, Dubrovnik and Montenegro, as well as continued interest in the Bosnian and Slovenian markets. Zadar Airport and local authorities are currently in talks with the budget carrier concerning the 2017 summer season. Ryanair has announced it will introduce new flights from Glasgow and Copenhagen to the Croatian city. However, subsidies still remain an issue. Zadar owes the no frills airline 612.000 euros in incentives. The carrier was the busiest operating out of the city this year, accounting for 325.000 passengers, or 65% of all travellers passing through the airport so far in 2016.
Ryanair entered the Serbian market this September with operations to Niš, which is now served from four cities. Presenting its plans for 2017, the carrier's Sales and Marketing Manager for Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia and Israel, Chiara Ravara, said, "In 2017 we will handle 120.000 passengers to and from Niš and support ninety jobs. We will continue developing our operations throughout next summer and we look forward to opening additional services in the future". It is believed Ryanair is in talks with local authorities over flights from Paris, Barcelona and Malta. Ryanair's Chief Commercial Officer, David O'Brien, recently said, "We have been planning our arrival onto the Serbian market for a long time. It will take a while to judge whether it was a wise decision but considering loads on our flights, we believe that the Serbian market has great potential". He also blasted the national carrier Air Serbia saying, "What we certainly will soon see, for example, in Serbia, if there is the political will, is a requirement for Air Serbia to repay its debt to Belgrade Airport, which it will be unable to do, in our opinion". Under a takeover agreement between Etihad Airways and the Serbian government, Air Serbia has been exempt from paying a number of service charges at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport until January 27, 2016. According to the airport's financial reports, Air Serbia has made full payments since.
The low cost airline added its third route to Podgorica this September and is considering further expanding in the country next year. Ryanair launched flights to the Montenegrin capital in the summer of 2013 following two years of negotiations with the government. The airline introduced seasonal services from Charleroi, which have since been extended to year-round operations, and has also added flights from London Stansted and Berlin. The carrier is now revisiting plans to launch flights to Tivat. It initially intended to introduce services from London, Barcelona, Stockholm and Milan to the seaside city, however, high fees and a lack of incentives are believed to have delayed such plans. Ryanair’s Head of Communications, Robyn Kiely, told EX-YU Aviation News recently that the airline was satisfied with its performance on the Montenegrin market. “We are very pleased with our Podgorica operations, which continue to perform strongly”, Mr Kiely said.
Despite talks between Ryanair and local authorities concerning the introduction of flights to Dubrovnik this winter season, no deal has been reached. However, the carrier remains interested in launching services to the city. The budget carrier has requested for Dubrovnik Airport to reduce its fees and sign a multi-year agreement (until 2024) prior to it starting operations. Ryanair's Route Development Manager, Luis Fernandez-Mellado, said the budget carrier is willing to maintain year-round flights from Dubrovnik, describing it as an extremely interesting destination. Ryanair has so far avoided the city due to high fees, allowing its competitors, most notably easyJet, greater access to the market.
Last year, Ryanair confirmed it was in talks with the Macedonian government to launch services to Skopje. However, negotiations have stalled and the airline has turned its focus to neighbouring countries, primarily Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia. In Slovenia, a market which was once served by Ryanair, the carrier has criticised the government for selling Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport to Germany's Fraport, which it has accused of creating an airport monopoly throughout Europe. However, it was recently announced that the airline will begin operations from Frankfurt's main airport which is operated by Fraport. Slovenia is currently the only European Union member state which is not served by Ryanair, despite the airline holding a number of cabin crew recruitment events in Ljubljana over the past few months. Ryanair lodged a complaint with the European Commission against Adria Airways several years ago over state aid the carrier received from the Slovenian government. Adria was later cleared of any wrongdoing. Finally, on several occasions, Ryanair has negotiated with Mostar Airport over potential services to the city. Last week, local authorities said they are confident a low cost carrier will launch flights to Mostar next year.
Could their criticism of Air Serbia mean they are considering Belgrade as a destination? Would be great.
ReplyDeleteI am sure BEG is a matter of when, not if.
DeleteMy guess is that they first want to position themselves in Nis before expanding elsewhere in Serbia.
If we ever open Ponikve then I could see them expand there as well.
There is 'only' 17% risk of poverty in Uzice. The city ranks second, right after Belgrade.
BEG would be a gold mine for FR because not only could they attract passengers from the capital but there is also northern, central and western Serbia that would use their flights. Add to that eastern Croatia and certain parts of western Romania and BEG becomes extremely interesting for them.
The only thing is that once they do launch BEG flights, they will have to fight both JU and W6.
I don´t think so BEG is an option at the moment. The fees at BEG are not suitable at all for FR.
DeleteFR fly to many big airports, bigger tan BEG.
DeleteAnonymous November 7, 2016 at 9:04 AM
DeleteYour assumption is wrong .... They filed an official complaint against JP, but still don't fly from LJU...
Anon 9:23,
DeleteOf course they fly to big airports - assuming they receive some benefits or incentives. If the price list is not suitable or even specially tailored for them - they do not fly. Not much to do with the size of an airport.
They fly to big airports. But make no mistake! They will charge all that to small airports from where they fly.
DeleteA couple of years ago Ryanair approached Zagreb. One of my friends who worked high in the management at the time told me the airport rejected them immediately because Ryanair was asking for too many concessions and they didn't want to have the situation Zadar has today where over 50% of traffic is coming from Ryanair which can pack up and leave the minute they are not happy.
ReplyDeleteWell I guess now we know why there is such a low LCC presence in Zagreb. You have to take a risk sometimes. Had they allowed Ryanair to fly to ZAG they probably would have had over half a million passengers more then they do today.
DeleteWell to me it seems that these low cost airlines act as bullies. And as for as airports dont make all the concessions they want (Zagreb, Belgrade) they start throwing tantrums. Moreover once they have a monopoly over a certain airport they start taking advantage out of it asking for further concessions, threatening to leave.
DeleteIn all honesty big airports by allowing lowcosters is like shooting themselves in a leg. Good for general population, bad for the airport financial performance (low costs airlines generally bring unhealthy passenger to profit ration)
Well, BEG suspended some of the privileges W6 had, they threw a tantrum as you said, withdrew one of their A320... and that was it. It took them two years to realize that life goes on, with or without them. Now they are bringing back the second A320 under the new terms.
DeleteSame thing could have happened in Zagreb. I am sure that Frankfurt airport won't lose any money from having Ryanair there. FR has changed, now they are becoming more friendly and flexible.
one more thing to add...
DeleteAirports need to make balance between the impact low cost airlines have on legacy carriers as this is where the main profit comes from. It can be for example more beneficial to the airport to have 100k legacy passengers than 200k low cost, and if low costs takes passengers from legacy carriers it i generally not good for the airport financially. Good balance needs to be made for everyone to thrive.
Wizz Air is getting more and more some serious competition. Wizz was smart to enter this market early and I'm surprised others have been so reluctant.
ReplyDeleteSuch a shame things didn't work out with Skopje. Not only would passenger numbers explode but there would a mix and choice between Wizz and Ryan and I assume Wizz would also try more.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't the base in Sofia affect potential flights from Skopje?
DeleteWhat are some of the routes Ryanair could operate from Skopje? It seems that Wizz Air's latest expansion to Bratislava, Copenhagen and Berlin was directly aimed at Ryan.
DeleteAnon 09.12
DeleteActually, I would also add SKG. Ryanair has a big presence there and it's about the same distance from SKP as SOF is.
If you look at it that way, W6 should have never expanded in SKP since almost every single route was already served from SOF.
DeleteIt's interesting that they have never considered Pristina and neither has Wizz Air. Easy jet saw potential though.
ReplyDeleteExtremely high fees, which are set by the government not the airport. Limak can't do much about it except offer subsidies like they do.
DeleteFrom what I understand, you need supplemental insurance to operate these flights because of the ATC and airport situation.
DeleteLet's see if they start Dublin-Osijek next year or if this route will be taken by Croatia Airlines.
ReplyDeleteOU will fly charters in December. So we will see if they will open route or not.
DeleteThey might try Slovenia out again. It is funny that we are the only EU member not being served by FR.
ReplyDeleteWhy did they fail in Slovenia anyway? They used to fly to Maribor right?
DeleteThey did not get the subsidies they requested. Yes, it was to Maribor.
DeleteSlovenians are obviously not stupid to allow what is basically parasitic business model for their airport. I can somewhat understand the why this parasitic model was accepted by Zadar. They lose big money on Ryanair flights, while hoping that it will be compensated by the incomes from additional tourists. I am not sure if it true or is it just a successful marketing by Ryanair.
DeleteThe biggest irony is that parasites could not stop complaining about parasitism.
Of all LCCs, Easy has by far the most fair business model.
Adria is a much bigger parasite than FR
DeleteNonsense! Adria is fully private company, Ljubljana and Maribor fully private airports. All paying full taxes, employing hundreds of people and giving tangible contribution to the Slovenian economy. It is no gigantic carrier placed in tax heaven, basing its business model on bullying small airports.
DeleteAt the same time, like true hypocrites, they can't stop preaching about fairness and free market. Yeah, right!
As I said, Easy is a good LCC, Wizz and particularly Ryan are big bullies.
From MBX they could open Barcelona, Paris, London, Berlin, Memmingen...
DeleteDid you know, that Ryanair does not offer free water to their on duty crews? Either you have to bring your own or buy it on board (3 EUR for 0.5 L). However, they do have a 1 billion EUR profit.
DeleteI agree with options from MBX there is a great demamd.
DeleteAnd also a small OT:
Speaking about MBX. The Aerodrom Maribor is the current concessionare of MBX airport. But the concession won't be granted to this company next year. They only have this concession which lasts until the end of this year. But they will be able to apply for new concession just like any other firm when the government will be taking new applications. Not getting a concession would be very bad for Delavska hranilnica (savings bank).
Haplek
Yeah, JP became a private company like yesterday, until that time it was your definition of a parasite. Even today they are flying from airports that give them special treatment.
DeleteAs for Ryanair, no one is forbidding JP or OU to set up their business in Ireland. They chose not to. End of story.
Again, FR employees are cheap workforce with little to no rights.
DeleteAre they forced to work for FR? They are willingly applying to work for them knowing very well what they are getting themselves into.
DeleteDon't get me wrong. If Ryanair business model was not based on subsidies and blackmail, and if they were treating their employees nice (like some other low end companies do) I could only congratulate them on their success.
DeleteBut! When a company is allowed to lower working standards because it is placed in Ireland, a tax heaven, then you often have no choice as an employee.
It is a rat race, forcing other companies to lower their standard to remain competitive.
The same country allowed Apple to dodge taxes in EU. It is "beggar thy neighbor" model of economic development, which complement ideally with parasitic business model of Ryanair.
And comparing the biggest European carrier with small JP and claiming that JP is the problem... Wow!
But don't let that derail you. Only a state employee who never experienced what working for exploitative company really means could route so much for it.
In Slovenia, the business logic is that it's better to have no connections, empty airports with government subsidising everybody (gazzilions thrown into black hole named Adria Airways) than to lower airport charges, to attract airlines, so people can travel. You get back the difference with lower charges with parking, food, and everything else tourists then spend in the country.
DeleteNice marketing piece of comment. You should apply for job at Wizz or Ryan with this comment. They'll love it!
DeleteJust watch FR open Lodz as a base and rape AA.
DeleteI really hope they do start flights from Dubrovnik and replace OU. First route - Rome.
ReplyDeleteI hope they eventually open a baae in INI
ReplyDeleteMy guess is they are not considering a base until ILS is installed.
DeleteWhy is everyone insisting on ILS? How many times did Wizz divert last year due to visibility? Zero. Just pass the cost risk onto the airport and you are good to go.
DeleteI think airports big ex-yu airports like Belgrade and Zagreb, should remain firm when it comes to Ryanair in particular, because you don't nnegotiate with bullies. At some point, Ryanair will have to compromise and they will start flying out of Zagreb and Belgrade. But they shouldn't be let in just yet. Neither of those two biggest airports have problems with traffic, so screw Ryan...as far as I'm concerned.
ReplyDelete+1
Delete+1.
Delete+1, it would have only negative effect by replacing finacially healthy (legacy) passengers with unhealthy (LCC) ones as it was nicely explained few posts above ... at some point FR will realize, they are loosing passengers to other airlines by not flying from ZAG and BEG.
DeleteZAG in October: 253,498 pax.
ReplyDelete2,38 mill so far this year. My prediction for 2016 - 2,77 million altogether.
How much growth is this?
Delete6%
DeleteZAG 253.498
DeleteDBV 202.703
SPU 167.643
In 2016
ZAG 2.380.000
SPU 2.226.476
Interesting that DBV outperformed SPU so much in October!
ZAG 2.381.156
DeleteDBV 1.946.810
@Anon 10:28am I know, right..couldn't believe it. Dubrovnik over 200,000 in October?! Wow!!
DeleteI'm not a Ryanair fan but I agree that small airports for whose name most people have never heard of - example - Nis, Osijek, Maribor - should pay them to fly there. If you want to get tourists you will have to give money to Ryanair to put it on the map.
ReplyDeleteAgree
DeleteIs INI paying any money for W6 and FR?
DeleteRyanair has to pay 3 EUR per every passenger they fly to/from Nis but nothing else. Same rule applies to every airline flying or that wants to fly to INI.
DeleteCroatia's flag carrier is struggling financially and selling LHR slots while cities pay millions of euros every year to foreign carriers. So wise!
ReplyDeleteThey are struggling because of their own incompetence, not because of Ryanair or airports in the country hoping to see stronger passenger numbers.
DeleteSKP in October: 151.672 pax or +14,37%
ReplyDelete2016: 1.411.060 pax or +15,23%
Great news. I do hope Ryanair expands more in the region. Imagine when they are eventually allowed to fly domestic flights.
ReplyDeleteThat won't happen before ex-yu countries are in the EU. In Croatia we might see it in the next couple of years but considering Croatia's tourist strength, Ryanair still has a very conservative network from the country.
Deleteor BEG-TIV in summer season
DeleteFR could easily operate three daily flights to TIV from mid-June to mid-September
DeleteMogu da oduvaju i MonteA i AirSerbiu sa te rute.
DeleteMogu da lete tek ako i kada Crna Gora udje u EU. Do tada mogu samo da mastaju o BEG-TIV
DeleteHaha Wizz i Ryan mogu samo da povezuju EU i EU sa ne-EU. Ne mogu da lete izmedju dve ne-EU zemlje.
DeleteI to ako im se plati kroz subvencije.
Posto, znate, oni su sampioni biznisa i za slobodno trziste i sve to, ali pod uslovom da se dobro omaste o budzet.
@Last Anon
DeleteWell one of the key reason this region is so 'prosperous'. Suppressing the free market at every corner and propping up failed state owned companies. It would be better for both Serbian and Montenegrin economy to allow any interested airline to fly BEG-TIV, but then the party members' jobs at Montenegro airlines and ASL would be threatened.
Nikakav je problem za njih da stacioniraju avion u BEG i prijave se za srpski AOC.
DeleteW6 or FR on Serbian AOC will never happen. Much too small market to be considered, with all the workload and costs involved.
DeleteRyan ce se morati zadovoljiti mrvicama u regionu sve dok postoji dominacija LH grupe u Zagrebu i AirSerbia u Beogradu. Mozda aranzmani slicni onom u Nisu mogu proci u Mariboru ili Rijeci i to je to. Ne treba uopste tugovati za tim jer su po mom skromnom misljenu Wizz i Ryan operatori koji nanose veliku stetu vazduhoplovstvu izigravajuci na razlicite nacine sigurnosne standarde. Tradicionalne kompanije ne mogu izdrzati takvu konkurenciju i same pocinju napustati zlatna pravila sigurnosti.EASA ili neko drugi ce uskoro morati ponovo postaviti lestvicu sigurnosti tamo gde i treba biti.
ReplyDeleteATCO
Za Ryanair u Beogradu je mnogo veca opasnost W6 nego JU.
DeleteWizz Air je shvatio da nesto mora uraditi posle dve godine pasivnog vodjenja biznisa.
Videcemo od marta kako ce se JU izboriti sa njima, za sada Wizz je imao vise uspeha nego poraza u tom ratu.
kako izigravaju sigurnosne standarde, 'ajde objasni? pa da to rade, davno bi popili katanac
DeleteRyanair and Wizz Air below safety standards? Strangely they operate thousands of flights every day and not even one authority has no problem with them.
DeleteNot so long ago, Jat Airways had one specially designated 737, which flew only to CDG, where they are known to be very strict with the technical inspections of the aircraft.
Somehow I trust Ryanair much more than any Balkan company when it comes to safety
DeleteWhy wouldn't you trust Aegean?
DeleteE ako njima veruješ više onda se zna koliko znaš o sigurnosnim standardima avijacije. Može da se pogleda zvanična statistika i pogledati koliko je incidenata imao Ryanair i to je dovoljno
DeleteRyanair je imao ukupno 0 smrtnih slucajeva posle ko zna koliko miliona obavljenih letova.
DeleteAnd I am not saying I don't trust Balkan airlines, they are all perfectly safe. But Ryanair is definitely not less safe or it wouldn't be allowed to fly in the EU and become the biggest airline in Europe.
Delete@3:18 Znaci kad se Air Serbia nameraci na nesto zatvara letove kompaniji zemlje koja pokusava da ih ucenjuje.
DeleteOf course no plans for Sarajevo...
ReplyDeletegreetings from lufthansa group !
DeleteI have a feeling they might be eyeing OMO. That airport imho is perfectly positioned for someone like FR.
DeleteWell they plan flights to Mostar
DeleteFR ne treba BEG trebju druge kompanije koje bi mnogo veci rast Putnika donele .
ReplyDeleteI nadam se da ce u INI doci i U2 .
A Gospodin prica kako drugi dobijaju neke pomoci ko da niko ne zna za njegovu kompaniju .
INN-NS
FR will bring 1,2 million passengers to Sofia airport in 2017, their market-share will be some 20%.
DeleteWell since it was a state aid procedure it was not Adria who was cleared of wrongdoing but rather Slovenia...
ReplyDeleteThe case was against Adria for accepting aid not the government. Had the EC ruled against Adria it would have to pay back the money to the government and go bankrupt in the process.
DeleteEC: The European Commission has concluded that restructuring measures taken by Slovenia in favour of the national airline Adria Airways were in line with EU state aid rules.
DeleteMember states are parties to state aid procedures.
Talking of FR:
ReplyDeleteSome interesting news items in Ryanair’s H1 FY2017 results:
- Forecast growth is now 200 million passengers, 585 aircraft by 2024. This is up from the previous forecast of 185 million passengers, 546 aircraft by the same year. This is through decreased fleet disposals in 2017-2017 (FY2019 is now up from 419 to 448).
- Ancillaries to grow from 20% to 30% in the next 4 years (current Wizz Air ancillary revenue stands at 37%).
- Growth to focus at major airports. Near term growth in Italy, Belgium, Germany.
- September 2016: 46.4 million website visits, 15 million active app users, 11% of booking through the app, 2.9 million reserved seats sold, 319,000 bus+/leisure+ sales, 508,000 priority boarding sales.
predator koji americkim novcem unistava evropsku avijaciju
DeletePa da je JU pametna pa da sa arapskim novcem unistava evropsku avijaciju ali eto... ipak nije sve u parama
Delete"predator koji americkim novcem unistava evropsku avijaciju"
DeleteKlasicno prevazidjeno razmisljanje XX veka.
Što reče njihov direktor juče: nama je bitno da popunimo avione po svaku cenu, pošto sad jurimo tržišno učešće, ne profit. Definicija dampinga.
DeleteDodao je i da će Brexit da ih dobro pogodi. Već su dosta izgubili zbog pada funte.
TK Cargo announced that it will use INI as its regional hub, especially for Bulgaria.
ReplyDeleteGreat news!
OT : Did anybody watch on YouTube the fight between drunk passengers in Ryanair flight from Brussels to Malta? Cool!
ReplyDeleteDivide and conquer, sorry to say it guys but EX-YU is done... MAT already bankrupt and Montenegro, Adria and Croatia Airlines will soon be too. Air Serbia is owned by Etihad which will only exist as Etihad sees it, might be bought outright or dissolved. Ryan Air and other low cost will just come in and dominate the market, cheap fares, more connections, economy in scale. This makes me sad knowing that back in YU we had our own company which functioned quite well...
ReplyDeleteYou are wrong about connections. They offer less connections, mostly to minor airports. Usually no connecting flights possible. It is a ok replacement for bus transport, but no replacement for legacies.
DeleteIf your doom scenario materializes, Turkish and LH group will just take over the market.