Dubrovnik Airport and Ryanair have failed to reach an agreement over the latter's flights to the coastal city following several months of talks. The General Manager of Dubrovnik Airport, Roko Tolić, said that conditions put forward by the carrier were unacceptable and too demanding of the airport. Speaking at the recent Southeast Europe Aviation Summit, Mr Tolić noted the no frills carrier had requested lower fees, however, he added that all airlines are treated equally at the airport with no preferential treatment offered. Both the city mayor and the local Tourist Board were involved in the talks as well. Dubrovnik Airport offers a number of incentives to airlines with discounts for takeoff and landing fees for new routes and increased frequencies. Furthermore, handling charges can be slashed depending on the airline's passenger volume. Carriers operating scheduled flights to the city during the winter season are completely freed of takeoff and landing fees.
Ryanair has so far avoided Dubrovnik due to higher costs, allowing its competitors, most notably easyJet, greater access to the market. This summer, both Dubrovnik Airport and Ryanir were close to reaching a multiyear agreement which would have been applicable until 2024. In addition, the Tourist Board and local hoteliers proposed a number of desired destinations for the airline to operate. Ryanair's Route Development Manager, Luis Fernandez-Mellado, previously said the budget carrier would maintain year-round flights from Dubrovnik, describing it as an extremely interesting destination. He added that there was already strong demand for the airline to introduce services to the coastal city. Ryanair operates flights to a handful of points in Croatia, including Osijek, Pula, Rijeka and Zadar, albeit on a seasonal summer basis only. The no frills carrier has selected Zadar as its seasonal base in the country. During this year's peak summer months, Ryanair offered 10.584 seats per week from Croatia, making it the country's fifth busiest carrier in terms of capacity.
This year will go down as Dubrovnik Airport's busiest in history, with 1.971.094 passengers handled during the January - November period, representing an increase of 17.6% compared to the same period in 2015. A number of airlines have already announced plans to launch new flights to the city next year or increase frequencies on existing routes. They include easyJet which will introduce an additional four new destinations from Dubrovnik, as well as Eurowings, Jet2, Volotea, Condor, Thomson Airways and Primera Air. The airport will open its new terminal (C) building next summer. Construction has been mostly completed with work on the hall connecting its Terminal B and C buildings currently underway.
Good. Dubrovnik should be aiming for the upscale tourist market. For this you need legacy airlines.
ReplyDeleteEasyJet is also very good for Dubrovnik. Easy flies to the destinations that are more upscale and much more visited, like Nice/Monaco.
DeleteWell Ryanair can always advertise Tivat as Dubrovnik South :D
DeleteMiddlefinger to Ryanair, easyJet started to boost their flight from/to Dubrovnik. I think Ryanair will come in a couple of years to DBV anyway.
Deletehaha true
DeleteMy comment above at 11:10 was in response to 10:00 :)
DeleteI don't get how is Dubrovnik so expensive for Ryanair. Practically all LCCs fly there.
ReplyDeleteWizz Air doesn't
DeleteWizz Air said it finds whole of Croatia expensive.
DeleteUltimately it's Wizz Air's loss. They could have been making a killing in Croatia. But they are used to airports capitualting to their demands.
DeleteUnfortunatelly it shows that taxpayer parasitism is an integral part of their business model
DeleteLol @ 9:48, 10:01 ... just lol.
DeleteI remember Nis doing something similar. Ryan wanted something like 400,000 euros of incentives. In the end they got rejected, Ryan saw Wizz Air boosting flights and in the end they came anyway.
ReplyDeleteHaha those Ryanair passengers would have had a shock when they found out that their ticket price was the same as a cup of coffee in the city :D
ReplyDeleteJust tell them you're a local and the knock 80% off the price. I thought Paris was expansive, than I went to Dubrovnik!
DeleteIt is possible to stay in Dubrovnik on a budget
DeleteAll you have to do is not eat or drink in the old town. Once outside the walls, still expensive compared to the rest of the country but it is much better.
DeleteYeah @9.39 good luck with that. It's simply an upscale market destination like @9.04 said.
DeleteQ400 - quite right.
DeletePrices on St. Marc square area in Venice are not representative for the whole city.
Yes but accommodation in Dubrovnik during the summer is expensive.
DeleteGood for DBV!
ReplyDeleteI think Ryanair would have been a really good addition, especially during the winter. Passenger numbers would have exploded.
ReplyDeleteHad they been flying this year, we probably would have had around 2,1 million passengers.
DeleteFR is very aggressive and I don't think they will be at all happy with easy jet continuing to expand in Croatia and taking their cake. I'm sure they will come back to the negotiating table sooner or later.
ReplyDeleteeasy jet has been "taking their cake" for a while. They have handled over 1 million passengers from Dubrovnik since 2009.
DeleteAnd they are still going. Introducing flights to Pula and Zadar.
DeleteRyan is the largest carrier at both airports
Which routes were proposed for them to fly?
ReplyDeleteI don't think that "no frills airline" is fair expression. Much more correct would be to call Ryan "bare-bone airline", but their marketing department would not like that. I find "budget airline" more to the point.
ReplyDeletefrill = (usually frills) - an unnecessary extra feature or embellishment.
I don't think that drinks, food, connection or a reserved seat are unnecessary extra features. They are often very necessary.
Good for Dubrovnik in my opinion. I think now they should maybe start focusing on getting some seasonal long haul routes.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteA direct seasonal flight to the US, Canada, China and Japan would be ideal.
There are already summer charters from Japan with B777.
DeleteTurkish Airlines will be taking a good share of those passengers. They will be flying daily to Dubrovnik next summer.
DeleteDespite Turkish I still think there is room for seasonal flights to certain markets
DeleteIf Dubrovnik could sustain flights to New York 30 years ago it can sustain them now too for sure.
DeleteLol dbv won't get jfk flights before zag does.
Delete30 years ago ZAG had:
Delete- 14 weekly flight to USA and Canada with 3 airlines: Pan Am, Jat and Air Canada
- they even had flights to Los Angeles
So, if ZAG could do that 30 years ago for sure it can have it today (2 daily America flights including LAX), by your logic.
Also Belgrade-Sydney flights could success because it was successful 30 years ago. Doesn't meter that non of the European companies flies to Australia exempt British 2 flights per day.
@ Anon 11.38
DeleteBritish used to fly twice a day to Australia but now only maintains 1 flight and went from a 747 to a 777. UAE carriers have taken over the bulk of the AU-EU market now. Even VIrgin Australia and Qantas either removed or reduce their flights to allow the partner carrier to be able to offer that instead and are focusing on on the US and Asia expansion. Reduced fares and increased competition Now is much greater than it was 30 years ago, and it won't be as easy to be successful in the current market. Both BEG and ZAG rely heavily on the visitors returning home to see family. TK has been talking about AU flights for 4-5 years now and would have a large east EU market to access, but they are still to materialise and are pushed back every year.
What ever happened to that rumor that Qatar Airways was interested in Dubrovnik flights?
ReplyDeleteWishful thinking by certain commentators.
DeleteI'm pretty sure that came from Qatar but fleet shortage issues has most probably put it on the back burner for now.
DeleteNot unlikely to happen in 2018. Till then no chance as Qatar has a large A320-fleet shortage as we all know
DeleteCould they fill an A320 to Dubrovnik during the winter?
DeleteOf course they can't.
DeleteOne can see that they even cancel already announced routes to SJJ and SKP because of fleet shortage (A320neo delays and cancellations).
DeleteSo, one should just put ones logic on!
Qatar can fly to any destination in winter. Just like Turkish. Their pattern is to fly all year not seasonally.
Good work on Dubrovnik for standing up to bullies.
ReplyDelete"Bullies". The perception of LCCs by some people here are very twisted.
DeleteYes bullies. They are doing the same in Zadar.
DeleteOMG !! Now ryanair will burst in tears !!! Boohooo!
DeleteGood vibe today, generally against Ryan and Wizz. Belgrade should also raise the bar on LCC predators and make it more expensive for them to operate.
Delete"But Sofia is expanding on them, its a good business model"
Deletelol
Duborvnik is filling up with capacity during the summer. Its better to cater for airlines paying full price for services than Ryanair which would be using Dubrovnik for free.
ReplyDelete+1
Delete:(
ReplyDeleteThe biggest advantage of having Ryanair flying to Dubrovnik would have been the all year-round flights. DBV would be well into handling 2 million passengers.
ReplyDeleteThat is the ONLY advantage
DeleteAnd Ryan would ask for special treatment during the entire year just for those winter flights
Don't get it. A few months ago everyone was praising them for talking to Ryanair now everyone is praising them for turning Ryanair away... ok
ReplyDeleteThey can always establish flights to Tivat as an alternative. Its only 2 hours by car.
ReplyDeleteI assume fees are the same reason they don't fly to Split?
ReplyDeleteYes
DeleteAre fees higher in SPU or DBV?
Deletetraffic in Dubrovnik is seasonal, no doubt about that. Dubrovnik is also one of the richest cities in Ex-Yu and can afford to say "no" to Ryanair.
ReplyDeleteTraffic in DBV could be year long. But you have to offer a lot.
DeleteOT: Flydubai will fly Dubai-Sarajevo 3 times daily from March 24 to April 10. Total of 56 flights will be operated during this time. Just WOW....
ReplyDeleteCrazy
DeleteJel postoji neki poseban razlog?
DeleteDubrovnik is doing amazing. It can afford to refuse FR.
ReplyDeleteDobro je sto DBV ne pristaje na ucene kao ni BNX.
ReplyDeleteI naravno bolje je se koncentrisati na full service kompanije koje dodju same ali naravno i ostale.
INN-NS
Bez uvrede, ali ogromna je razlika između BNX i DBV.
DeleteSta ce Banjaluci FR kada dobijaju Sea Air.
DeleteMajko mila, baš za usporedit Banja Luku i Dubrovnik.
DeleteBanja Luka nema niti jedan jedini let.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDude, are you drunk or is that google translator?
Delete