Qatar Airways to boost EX-YU operations


Qatar Airways, one of the fastest growing airlines in the world, plans to boost operations to the former Yugoslavia in the coming period in spite of growing competition from its Middle East rivals. In addition to introducing flights to Skopje on July 17, the airline is also expected to announce the date of its Sarajevo launch shortly. The carrier intended to commence services from Doha to the Bosnian capital in October of last year but pushed back the service launch due to an ongoing fleet shortage. A new date is yet to be set, however, an airline spokesperson told EX-YU Aviation News that the route has priority and will be launched "as soon as possible". The carrier has reiterated it is not backing away from the new service and the delay is purely a result of operational circumstances. On Monday, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Qatar signed a new Air Service Agreement, which the Gulf state says will further improve air traffic between the two countries. "As a global airline, we are committed to connecting cities such as Sarajevo and Skopje to our worldwide network. We are delighted to soon be celebrating these new and exciting destinations, connecting business and leisure passengers from the region to Doha and onwards", the airline told EX-YU Aviation News.

The Qatari carrier will face stiff competition on its Zagreb service this summer when Emirates launches daily flights with its Boeing 777 aircraft in a few weeks time. Qatar currently maintains ten weekly flights between Doha and the Croatian capital with a mix of Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft but has hinted at the possibility of going double daily on the route. "Qatar Airways constantly reviews market conditions in order to respond to passenger demand and the increase in flights to Zagreb to a ten weekly operation was a direct reflection of this. While we are unable to comment directly on future commercial plans, it is true that in a number of markets, where we have increased operations from a daily, to then ten weekly operation, we have then seen an increase to a double daily operation". Apart from Zagreb, the airline also considered introducing services to Dubrovnik but has instead opted for the Greek island of Mykonos, which will commence next year.

Qatar Airways will add a further three weekly flights, for a total of seven, to the Serbian capital starting October 1. It will deploy its Airbus A320P jet on the route, which features 132 seats, with an improved premium product boasting twelve seats with 180 degree lie-flat capability in business class. The move is in response to growing competition on the market from Etihad Airways and Flydubai, both of which see strong demand on their respective routes, capturing significant volumes of transfer passengers. The airline says its on board product gives it a competitive edge against its rivals. "The focus for Qatar Airways is to provide luxury in the skies, ensuring that a passenger’s holiday or leisure trip starts the moment they step onto one of our aircraft. Our interiors provide the maximum level of comfort that makes the passengers’ journey enjoyable. In this regard, through customer satisfaction and enjoyment of a journey, Qatar Airways becomes the airline of choice", the carrier said. It added, "While it has to be said that we are seeing an increasing number of people travelling to Doha from the former Yugoslavia, most of our passengers travel through Doha to one of our more than 150 global destinations. Of course, it is still early days to comment on passenger bookings for Skopje and Sarajevo flights".

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:03

    From their statement it seems Zagreb will go double daily. Question is either this winter or next summer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:05

      No way now that Emirates launched flights.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:19

      The advantage Qatar has is that its European services are based on frequency and not capacity. Emirates like big planes to big destinations where as Qatar prefers smaller aircraft with more frequency. I think for Eastern Europe higher frequency with less seats works better... time will tell.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:04

    I hope that Qatar starts Ljubljana. I don't understand why Gulf carriers are avoiding LJU (could it be higher costs than neighbouring airports?) I know Ljubljana is close to bigger hubs but it can also attract passengers from smaller cities like Graz and Slovenians would travel from LJU if there were options. From what I've heard Emirates flights from Zagreb are filling with Slovenian passengers. Slovenians travel a lot so I really hope it will be considered.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alen Šćuric Purger09:40

      Graz is nearer to Vienna (VIE 196 km) than to Ljubljana (LJU 211 km) from where they have much better choice than from Ljubljana, it is same country (it is not just about language), VIE airport is much more comfortable with much more opportunities than LJU, connections with public transportation (train, bus, even plane) are much better from GRZ to VIE than to LJU... So for sure Ljubljana will not attract Graz passenger

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:48

      Your answer is in your question. Zagreb is too close for major ME airliners to start serving Ljubljana and Zagreb which is only 125km Ljubljana.

      Ljubljana has LCCs, which Zagreb hasn't got, EasyJet and Wizzair, so many from Zagreb area use Ljubljana for their low cost flights. I think 20% of all passengers @Ljubljana airport are from Zagreb and northern Croatia, that's 300 000 per year. It was even higher in 2005-2010, up to a third of all travelers where from Croatia.

      Its just how it is going to be from now on, LCCs in Ljubljana will pick up 20-25% of their traffic from Northern Croatia and Zagreb, and Zagreb airport will pick up Slovenian travelers with deeper pocket who like to travel to ME, Asia...

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:00

      But still, If Turkish manages to fill 14 weekly flights from LJU (mix of A319,320,321) despite flying also from ZAG, GRZ and VCE, then I am pretty sure QR would be able as well. FZ is now out due to Emirates in ZAG and EY due to JU feeder flights.

      Also, many Italians from Trieste and Udine region (FVG) and Austrians from Karnten region are using LJU and I am pretty sure they would help to fill QR flights as well, especially considering their greater purchasing power.

      Delete
    4. I'm sure it will eventually happen. Just a question of when.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous19:44

      That would be really nice actually, to have one of the MEB3 in LJU. No way EK's going to come, FZ probably won't with EK in ZAG, EY probably won't either with the involvement with JU. It would be really nice to have QR, maybe 3-4 weekly. They could try to hurt EK in ZAG by taking some of the Slovenian pax away from them.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous23:08

      ....or they could try to hurt EK iz ZAG by hitting EK in, you know, ZAG....
      Where they already fly

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:06

    BEG has improved so much for them since they introduced direct flights.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:26

      Do you have their loads maybe?

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:06

    Onaj tko 1.bude imao liniju koja ce stizat u ZAG u petak rano ujutro ce imati pravi jack pot.
    Tu liniju bi slobodno mogli s A380 odrzavati.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:57

      It will be A380, only question is, if A380 will be connected to the terminal or not. There's only one bridge, and if there's more than 300 pax on the first flight, not ideal. Zagreb' terminal will get twin bridges only as part of phase 2d.

      image here showing what airport will look like as part of phase 2c - http://i.imgur.com/ysFGmY5.jpg

      2d will add additional 5 air bridges, two of these will be wide body A380/B777/B747 800 aircraft, http://hajdasdoncic.hr/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/radovi-faze-2.png

      Phase 2f is a long term expansion that will see
      new main terminal building expanded by 70m or 25000sqm and additional 8 air bridges on both sides of the right hand pier for total of 24 or even 25 passenger boarding bridges and up to 4 wide body aircraft, 3 on the left hand side and one of the right hand side.

      However, we'll need to see how this year pans out for Emirates, perhaps they'll need A 380 in July and August on few occasions in full season. Zagreb gets loads of visitors between May and late September and now in December too.


      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:59

      So you are saying Qatar will increase capacity from an A320 to an A380? It won't even try the A330 or B787 route beforehand. Right... very realistic.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:08

      Some Croats yesterday complained how it was unrealistic to expect 100.000 Chinese in Belgrade yet QR increasing ZAG to an A380 seems very plausible. Ok.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:16

      Mene kao putnika bas i ne zanima hoce li se avion kaciti na most ili ne.
      Sama najava mozebitnog leta koji bi dolazio u ZG u petak rano ujutro, a opcijom povratkau subotu u popodnevnim satima, meni osobno je i vise nego privlacna.
      E sad, gdje ce parkirati avion....zacese me uho desno.

      Delete
    5. Alen Šćuric Purger10:48

      Da, to je jednako nerealno! Slažem se u potpunosti.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:16

      @AnonymousMay 11, 2017 at 9:59 AM

      Who is talking about QR, I was referring to A380 and 1st of June Emirates flight to Zagreb.

      Will emirates send A380 or B777. We'll see.

      AnonymousMay 11, 2017 at 10:08 AM

      QR won't be sending A380 anywhere other than Paris, London, Frankfurt and New York. They've only got 4 of these planes, with 8 more on order. Till these join the fleet, QR won't be sending these anywhere any time soon. Once remaining A380s join the fleet, QR needs to cover Tokyo, Beijing, Sydney, Munich, Rome, Madrid, Shanghai and Singapore.

      Doubt they'll have spare A380 planes for anything else.



      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:46

      QR has 8 of A380, and send it on LHR, CDG, BKK, SYD and CAN

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:07

    Any plans to possibly upgrade equipment on Zagreb flights?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:10

      Considering their fleet shortage at the moment I doubt it. But down the line they could introduce an A330 to ZAG.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:11

      A380 on fridays 😉

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:27

      yeah sure...

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:40

      U to sam uvjeren.
      Nije mi jasno kako jos nikome od MEB3 nije palo na pamet uvesti liniju koja bi dolazila u petak rano ujutro u ZG ili BG....
      Iovako sam jednom mjesecno na liniji DMM-ZAG.....
      Kad bi imao liniju koja dolazi u ZG u petak rano ujutro, svaki weekend bi ju koristio.
      I nisam jedini.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:42

      EY dolazi u Beograd u 5.20 petkom ujutru.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:46

      Ne pase povratak subotom nikako

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:59

      "AnonymousMay 11, 2017 at 9:07 AM
      Any plans to possibly upgrade equipment on Zagreb flights?"

      I doubt it, they lack aircraft atm, B787 might be sent here and there, but they're really stretched as is. No idea why would Qatar announce route expansion when they lack aircraft.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous10:01

      ^ I also don't understand why they announce all these destinations without a specific launch date. They now have around 20 routes they have announced will start 2017/2018 with no specific dates. You just give a heads up to your competition. They did that with direct Doha-Auckland announcement and Emirates immediately announced it would launch Dubai-Auckland direct before Qatar.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous10:24

      @AnonymousMay 11, 2017 at 10:01 AM

      Emirates won't expand in ex-YU, Zagreb was it, they'll use flyDubai to fill in any gaps. Emirates to Zagreb, Etihad to Belgrade, and that is it for the region. Sarajevo might get Etihad eventually. Qatar doesn't need to worry about Emirates flying to ex-YU cause Emirates has all B777/A380 fleet, Emirates won't send one of these to Skopje or Sarajevo, would be silly and very expensive mistake.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:11

    Great news. Hope they add more destinations in ex-Yu soon.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous09:16

    I wonder weather the introduction of Skopje and Sarajevo will impact on their flights to Zagreb. They use to sell both SJJ and SKP via ZAG.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:23

      Not really because that number of connecting passengers were not significant

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:07

      @AnonymousMay 11, 2017 at 9:16 AM

      Zagreb had only 22000 transfer passengers in 2016, all carriers. However, the numbers on Emirates and Qatar might impact Zagreb in 2020, as Lufthansa, Air France, Austrian, Quantas introduce A350 on Australia - Europe direct flights. A 350 has 18000km range and can connect any European capitol with Sydney or Melbourne with one single flight, no more transfers or hops. Quantas and number of European carriers have ordered A350 ULR.

      ULR stands for ultra long range.

      Quantas is already looking at introducing A350 LR service from Perth to London from this year. 14000km trip should take 18 hours and economy tickets will be around $1500 to 2500 return.


      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:09

      ^ Qantas will introduce Perth - London in March 2018 with B787 and tickets are already on sale. They have just announced Perth - Paris for 2018 as well.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:10

      No European carrier is planning on launching non-stop flights to Australia.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:29

      @AnonymousMay 11, 2017 at 10:09 AM

      Good to know. my bad on this year thing, i thought it was this year not next.

      @AnonymousMay 11, 2017 at 10:10 AM

      You can bet some EU carriers will be looking at introducing the service with A350ULR. A350 ULR should be available from 2020. Air France, Lufthansa and KLM have ordered the aircraft.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous20:36

      bullshit, you have sources for AF's, LH's and KL's ULR orders?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous22:35

      @AnonymousMay 11, 2017 at 8:36 PM

      Yes, Lufthansa ordered 22, 12 are with URL adaptation. KLM has ordered 9, Air France ordered 19. All to enter service post 2020.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:18

    Hope they finally put SJJ tickets on sale!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous09:20

    They also consider Thessaloniki, which I believe will have some impact to SKP loads if launched, for example I live in Gevgelija, and I much more prefer SKG to SKP when the price is relatively same, the travel time to SKG is about 40 minutes compared to 80 minutes to SKP. Plus, I believe Greeks living in the northern part are also considering SKP sometimes if the airline is not flying to SKG and the price is reasonable.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:23

      True. I still think their growth strategy is odd. I know they are aiming to become the new Turkish Airlines in terms of network size but having Skopje and Thessaloniki could affect each other.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:40

      You have border and its not faster and its more complicated and more expensive.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous17:00

      It gives me more options for travel, border is breeze most of the time (Except summer season) and not complicated at all.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:27

    Shame about Dubrovnik. Turkish Airlines got a head start on them there but they would definitely pull a lot more passengers from Japan, South Korea and China then Turkish. And I think it could work year round. Add to that tourists from Australia.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:31

      TK's Dubrovnik route hasn't performed well last winter at all. Even the airport management says so very publicly. Qatar Airways does not fly seasonal routes. Despite their efforts Dubrovnik is still very much a summer only destination and the city is dead during the winter.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:32

      TK has more capacity from both Korea and Japan compared to QR.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:35

      I think Flydubai should have tried DBV seasonally rather than Tivat.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:57

      Qatar did announce Mykonos...well, they announced that they will announce..900k seasonal airport, so maybe they are reconsidering flying seasonal routes

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:29

    As Air Serbia will terminate Belgrade-Abu Dhabi route Zagreb will become No. 1 destination from Middle East with much more seats on route:

    ZAG
    7x Emirates with 777-300ER, 2520 seats pw
    10x Qatar with A321 and A320, 1630 seats pw

    BEG
    7x Etihad with A321/A320, 1218 seats pw
    7x Qatar with A320, 1008 seats pw
    4x FlyDubai with 737-800,696 seats pw

    ZAG = 4150 seats pw
    BEG = 2922 seats pw

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:35

      Don't you count Istanbul, Tel Aviv and Beirut as part of the Middle-East? lol

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:36

      Yeah you forgot to add quite a few destinations in the Middle East in your count.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:47

      you are right- but it wouldn´t change the statement.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:57

      It would actually.

      7x Air Serbia to Beirut A319
      5x Air Serbia to Tel Aviv A319
      3x Arkia to Tel Aviv EMB195/B757
      3X Israir to Tel Aviv A320

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:58

      Zasto ste takve zloce?

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:05

      Offering a certain number of seats is one thing but filling them in a whole different matter. Also, the fact that QR will be sending its A320 with a premium business class product could also indicate that BEG has more premium demand.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:06

      14x Turkish Airlines to Istanbul, B738/A321
      10x Atlasjet to Istanbul, A320/321
      4x Pegasus to Istanbul, B738/320

      Delete
    8. Anonymous10:34

      @Anony 10.05- or it could indicate that there is overall less demand, since they are sending a bird with only 132 seats instead of 189.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous10:40

      He also left out that EY will send it's A332 after JU stops flying to Abu Dhabi

      Delete
    10. Anonymous10:49

      If there was truly less demand then they wouldn't be increasing flights to daily.
      QR's success story in Belgrade is quite remarkable. From flying 30 passengers per flight to now running full slights

      A friend of mine flew with them the other day and it was 85% full.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous11:00

      EY will not sent A332. That is not true!

      Turkish companies flying to Istanbul for sure are not Middle East companies. But even if you calculate that ZAG is still much ahead, as it also have 14 flights pw by Turkish.

      Tel Aviv and Beirut are not airports by which European passengers connect to India, Asia, Africa and Australia. They are feeding routes to BEG. That is why I did not count ZAG TLV fligts, Korean flights to Seoul...

      You know that BEG is loosing Middle East race, but still you try to make non-arguments which try to make things looking better that they really are.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous11:13

      Hahahahah BEG losing the Middle East race? Which one exactly? Based on what parameters? The ones you made up in your head?

      If you want to look at it at the airports that offer connections to Asia then take into consideration SVO and SU's double daily flights plus 10 weekly on JU.

      Your comparison is highly selective and biased which makes it extremely sad and funny.

      You can't compare BEG and ZAG because we are far ahead in the game, just look at the passenger numbers.

      Delete
    13. Anonymous11:15

      You try to make it sound as if ZAG is some super airport when you are not even connected to places like ATH or your link to SVO is barely alive with a single SSJ flight a day. Even CSA had to suspend flights in February and March while JU operated 10 weekly.

      Yeah, ZAG is definitely beating BEG... let's hope you manage to cross the 3 million mark this year. LOL

      Delete
    14. Anonymous12:02

      Anon 11:00
      I hate to burst your bubble, but EY will be sending an a332 to BEG
      On some days it will be an a321

      Delete
    15. Anonymous12:05

      You mean ČSA that is not flying to Belgrade at all? Or Air France, British, SAS, Brussels, KLM...?

      ZAG also have SVO route with possible every day connections. But even more ZAG has 5 daily to FRA, 5 daily to VIE, 4 daily to MUC, 2 daily to ZRH, 2 daily to AMS, 2 daily to CDG, 3 daily to BRU with possible connections to Far East, India and Africa.

      But here we are speaking of MEB3 and possible connections with companies that takes 70% of traffic between Europe and Asia/Australia/Africa/India, which destroy all direct traffic between Australia and Europe. That is the point, and you know that.

      I did not say ZAG beting BEG by number of passengers, but it surly did on MEB3!

      Delete
    16. Anonymous12:19

      So when you speak of European connections you are talking of frequencies but when you do that for the Middle East then it's in terms of seats. Which one will it be?

      I guess you didn't mention the seats to western Europe because airlines such as KL, SN or LH send their regional jets most of the year.

      Out of those five daily to VIE, how many are on the Q400? For example in BEG, OS has 14 on the E95 and another 5 on the Q400.

      Also, the two daily to ZRH are on the Q400 so that comes out to basically having a daily flight.

      There is no need for KL since Transavia has three weekly in addition to JU's 10 weekly and Wizz Air's three or four to EIN. Same with CPH or ARN where W6, JU and DY have it pretty much covered.

      Also how can you claim that ZAG beat BEG by the number of passengers on the MEB3 when EK has not yet begun with flights? So no. BEG is still ahead and it most likely will be especially when EY increases some flights to an A330.

      Also, we should also add that BEG will get a direct flight to Beijing adding more seats as far as flying to Asia goes.

      Delete
    17. Anonymous12:21

      'Also, the two daily to ZRH are on the Q400 so that comes out to basically having a daily flight.'

      ...on an A320.

      JU operates two daily on the A320 plus LX has its own 2 flights on the A320/321. You know LX? The one that failed in ZAG because there was no market.

      Delete
    18. EY will change A320 to mostly A321 to BEG from October 2017 to April 2018 and from April to October 2018 it will be mostly A332

      Delete
    19. Anonymous12:34

      Just for the people who tried to do the maths including BEY/IST/TLV : You cannot add it to BEG side, pretending that there are no ZAG side flights to those destinations. And there are 2 daily to IST (TK) and 5 weekly to TLV (3 LY and 2 OU), so even if you count those,there are more seats offered to/from ZAG than BEG from Middle East, or at least similar number, you like it or not

      Delete
    20. Anonymous12:37

      ZAG also have 2.7 million passengers per year.

      Delete
    21. Anonymous12:40

      @An. 12:21
      Swiss flies to ZAG, and sends brand new CS1000 on the route, I definitely couldn't call it a failure, or no market, but then hey, I'm not a cheerleader, and maybe I'm not allowed to mention somebody lies here

      Delete
    22. Anonymous12:48

      BEG has 13 weekly to TLV and 28 weekly to IST, are you seriously implying that ZAG's 14 to IST and 5 weekly to TLV pushes ZAG ahead of BEG? LOL
      Don't forget that JU usually sends their A320 to TLV while Arkia sends their B753 that has more seats than JU's A332.

      Anon 12.40
      Oh wow... so they are sending their 105 seat aircraft to compete against OU's turboprop? :D

      Delete
    23. Anonymous12:50

      BEG is also linked with Egypt the whole year, it will even have two carriers this summer!!

      Delete
    24. Anonymous13:03

      He conveniently forgot to add the flights with Hainan Airlines with 787/A330 to Beijing.

      Delete
    25. Anonymous14:32

      Au kakvi kompleksi sa obe strane... Jadno i bedno

      Delete
    26. Anonymous16:54

      Da malo odete dalje iz vasih provincija znali bih da postoji svijet koji nije ni BEG ni ZAG, ali glupim nacionalistima nikad dosta!

      Delete
    27. This thread is so pathetic. Get a job,but first make sure to grow up. Especially those on the Serbian side, cheerleading for the only airport in the country serving a city twice the size of Zagreb, and still not managing to achieve twice as many pax. In fact, Zagreb is slowly but surely catching up.

      Delete
    28. Anonymous17:10

      Since you are arguing about flights to Middle East and including Istanbul in ME. Here is the list of flights from Sarajevo, that beats both BEG and ZAG:
      Istanbul Ataturk-Turkish Airlines 18 weekly flights
      Istanbul Sabiha-Pegasus 9 weekly flights
      Istanbul Ataturk-Atlas Global 4 weekly flights
      Turkish Airlines and Tailwind Airlines-Antalya 5 weekly flights
      Flydubai- Dubai 14 weekly flights
      Air Arabia-Sharjah 7 weekly flights
      Nesma Airlines-Riyadh 6 weekly flights

      Next time please know you facts before starting to argue over nonsense! Chears

      Delete
    29. Anonymous17:28

      Michael, how exactly is ZAG catching up when BEG is still growing at a faster rate, even before Wizz Air's second A320 and before flights to China?

      Also, all of you are here talking as if EK is already flying airplanes full to the last seat when we don't even know if they will fly half full.

      You are right, these comparisons are pathetic, especially when people compare an airport that doesn't even handle 3 million to one that will pass 5.5 this year.

      And for the record, BEG is no longer the only airport, there is also INI which will surpass Pula and potentially Tuzla next year.

      Delete
    30. Anonymous18:32

      Michael, pathetic is thread starter who compared ZAG to BEG. Compare ZAG to VIE or FRA (core city slightly bigger than ZAG).

      Delete
    31. Anonymous19:56

      Compare Belgrade vs Vienna (1,7 mio) and ZAG vs Frankfurt (700 000)

      Delete
    32. Anonymous20:05

      A vast majority of Serbs on here have acknowledged that BEG needs to compare itself with SOF, SKG, OTP and BUD but not ZAG or any other ex-YU airports.

      Delete
    33. Anon at 5:28 PM Ummm...no actually Zagreb is growing at a faster rate and if you are going to compare actual data than have in mind that Zagreb will pass 3 million this year for sure, the only question is by how much. Belgrade will pass 5 million, but 5,5 million is a joke, right? At any rate that is your only international airport worth a mention and the difference between it and Zagreb airport will go down to only 2 million pax as of this year. Next year it probably won't be even that much. Not to mention that your country has twice as many people, Belgrade almost twice as many citizens than Zagreb and unlike Croatia, you only have that one airport...Nis is really not worth a mention. If you already had 6 million at least, than maybe you could speak about Zagreb in such an arrogant way. This way it only shows your frustration with the fact that Zagreb is catching up with Belgrade and even more so your frustration with the fact that Croatia is a superpower ib terms of air traffic, compared to Serbia.

      Delete
    34. A vast majority of Serbs here is constantly comparing Belgrade with Zagreb, every single time someone says anything positive about Zagreb, even though it has nothing to do with Belgrade. Same as whenever a positive article about Zagreb airport gets published here and people are happy about it. It is so clear that you don't feel threatened by Zagreb airport at all, haha!
      You are a joke. Lately I only read articles about Croatian air traffic
      here or just general articles like this one and comments under even thos articles when I need a laugh, since I know there will be a bunch of frustrated Serbian trolls not being able to deal with Croatian success. :))

      Delete
    35. Anonymous00:00

      Boy Michael, you really are pitiful

      Delete
    36. Anonymous02:48

      He is not pitiful, site editor is. He continues to allow Michael to write hateful, chauvinist comments (clearly against site rules) like this one:

      " balkans is the black hole of Europe and Serbia is by far the worst in that respect. Fastly turning into little Russia, with little Putin as president... welcome to the Socialist People's Republic of Serbia"

      Michael's original post:
      http://bit.ly/2pbfBxO

      Delete
    37. What I wrote is a fact. It isn't pitiful, nor is it chauvinistic. And please don't pretend that what I wrote aboit the Serbian love affair with Putin isn't true. Also, if you want discuss pitiful, begin with your constant attacks on Zagreb, when no one is attacking Belgrade. Obviously for a handful of you anonymouses here, any positive news about Zagreb, Croatia Airlines, or anyone expressing happines about those positive news, is completely intolerable, hahahaha!!! What a bunch of primitivr balkan clowns. Now you are attacking the editor too. Another proof of what £'m talking about. Maybe censorship of anything but fairyrales of "Serbian imaginary greatness" would be best, eh? With your own invented numbers and data like for example Belgrade growing faster than Zagreb. Except 3% growth (Belgrade - 2016.) is usually considered a slower growth compared to 6,4% growth (Zagreb - 2016.) Some might even say that Zagreb has been growing beyond twice as fast, LOL!!!
      Keep dreaming tho.

      Delete
    38. Anonymous07:24

      First thing first, continental Croatia is served by a single airport, Zagreb. The fact there are two, three airports on the coast means nothing as their passengers wouldn't be using ZAG anyway but they would have gone for VCE, TIV and so on.
      So the fact that ZAG without having any real competition took this long to pass three million is kind of sad, especially since LJU has been uncompetitive so far. What other airport in the region is ZAG competing with? OSI? BNX? The only one that is somewhat 'dangerous' is TZL.
      BEG on the other hand has INI, TSR, TZL and BUD.

      INI will handle some 350.000 passengers this year meaning that it is becoming far more relevant in the future especially since they, unlike ZAD for example, got several different lowcost airlines to commit to it on a year-round basis. The latest being Germania. Btw I don't know if I heard the news but FR announced its fifth destination out of Nis, Stockholm!!

      Why are you mentioning only 2016? Why are you being so selective with your data? Why don't we look at 2017 or the past five years? Is it because if we do it then the numbers won't suit your sick rhetoric?

      In the first 4 months of the year, BEG added 136.949 passengers. Meaning that even if we record zero growth until the end our overall passenger numbers will stand at 5.061.941. With Wizz Air's second aircraft and other additions, BEG will easily come to 5.5 especially since it has been recording double digit growths so far this year.
      In the meantime, Zagreb which according to you has been taking over BEG has added this year a mere 44.499 passengers. So how exactly is ZAG catching up, please enlighten me.

      So you see, when you look at real facts they end up proving that you are no different than those bickering women up there.

      Like it was already mentioned, BEG needs to look at SOF, SKG or OTP, not ZAG.

      I know it might be difficult for you but make sure you take your Xanax before BEG announces its end of the year numbers.

      p.s. even Lufthansa which has not been doing so well in Belgrade seems to be doing better. In the last seven days, on four occasions they increased their plane from a schedule A320 to an A321. Not bad, right? Even their MUC flights are operated by the A319 this summer. It means overall all airlines are doing exceptionally well here. You should be happy about that, not bitter.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:30

    They can easily operate friday morning with A380 in ZAG.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:40

      Why? What's special about Friday mornings?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:42

      Weekend in ME!
      That's what's special.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:51

      I know a lot of people who flies to ME just for weekend from ZAG.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:00

      Yeah... right. If that was the case ZAG would have had more links to ME much sooner than it actually happened.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:01

      There is also no flight on Saturday evening ZAG-DOH (QR 218).

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:09

      Why, elaborate ??

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:13

      I can't elaborate on why QR doesn't have a flight on Saturdays evening, you will have to ask them.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous10:20

      To je veliki propust QR.
      Petak rano ujutro dolazak u ZG...a povratak u popodnevnim satima

      Da ima takva linija, svaki weekend bi letio doma.

      Delete
    9. Alen Šćuric Purger11:06

      Kompanije ne nabavljaju avione radi jedne tjedne frekvencije. Kompanije moraju utilizirati svoje resurse kroz cijeli tjedan. Naravno da na svim linijama u petak iz Bliskog Istoka postoji navala. Nije tu samo ZAG izuzetak. No, kompanija neće nabaviti A380 koji će korsititi za ZAG samo zato jer bi ga petkom mogla napuniti (iskreno mislim da ne bi). Što je sa ostalim danima u tjednu? Kog vraga će sa takvim avionom ostale dane? Da 6 dana u tjednu leti prazan?

      Stoga kompanije nastoje na avionima koji su dobri za popunjenost cijeli tjedan putnike motivirati da putuju i ostale dana osim onih kada je velike opterečenje. Pa tako daju nižu cijenu za ostale dane. Neki putnici su prilagodljivi takvim vremenima (turisti, neki poslovnjaci, političari, dijapsora kada dolazi na duže...) pa time rasterete dan velikog opterečenja.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous12:50

      Gdje pise kako je A380 a must?
      Nigdje.
      Samo kazem, nagkas razmisljam,kako bi mi takva linija dosla kao narucena.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous13:44

      @ Alan: Well JU exactly got an Aircraft to leave it 60% on ground during winter!

      Delete
    12. Anonymous15:29

      Yes
      And that was a bad idea
      The world does not run on bad ideas, especially not the successful and richer part of it

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:54

    Finally SJJ gets some attention. I am really hoping this city prospers as it one of the most underrated cities in Europe.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous10:02

    I think QR will suffer quite a bit once EK launches flights. Emirates are going ruthlessly into a market that's not THAT big. Increasing the capacity by some 600 seats a day is not an insignificant phenomenon.

    Will be interesting to see how both perform during the slow months when the airport doesn't even handle 200.000 passengers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:20

      Agree that the market is not that big. When it comes to Slovenia in lots of cases EK and QR have, due to the competition, better offers from Venice. And the difference between Venice and Zagreb airport from Ljubljana is half an hour, even less when you have to wait at the border crossing. We will see. Anyway, I wish all the new routes to be successful.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:58

      @AnonymousMay 11, 2017 at 10:02 AM

      I wouldn't worry, January and February are only slow months @Zagreb, 150-170k.

      However 2018 winter season should be good for numbers still bellow 200k in Jan and Feb, but things are improving. By 2020, all months should be well over 200k, even Jan and Feb, projections for 2020 indicate 225 000 and 215 000.

      However other months will all be over 300k and few over 400k and 500k.

      Projection in 000 pax: 2017; (2018); [2019] {2020}

      Jan: 169k; (187k); [205] {225}
      Feb: 154k; (175); [200]; {215}
      March: 192; (220); [245]; {275}
      April: 240; (285); [320]; {350}
      May: 275; (325); [360]; {400}
      June: 305; (345); [385]; {425}
      July: 350; (400); [450]; {505}
      August: 350; (400); [450]; {505}
      September: 320; (355); [400]; {450}
      October: 300; (335); [375]; {420}
      November: 227; (250); [280]; {310}
      December: 225; (250); [300]; {325}

      total: 3110; (3527); [3970]; {4405}

      Delete
    3. Sure QR will suffer in ZAG because of EK.
      It is not realistic every day's B777 not to have any or to have small impact on QR.
      I expect QR to go on 7 pw from ZAG.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:19

      Samo se ti Nebojša nemoj previše brinuti koliko će Qatar letjeti za Zagreb.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous13:28

      A sto da ne brine? Ko si ti da mu branis?

      Delete
    6. Ne brinem se, nemam potrebe.
      Samo realno analiziram.
      Ako tebi to smeta jednostavno nemoj citati moje komentare a ako zatvaras oci pred cinjenicama onda je to vec van mog domena.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous14:35

      Secam se ne tako davno ovde onih koji su takodje "realno analizirali" da Qatar nema nikakve buducnost u Zagrebu i da ce linja vrlo skoro biti ukinuta. pa mi se ova "realna analiza" cini vrlo slicnom

      Delete
    8. Zivi bili pa videli.
      Ja moje komentare potpisujem i uvek ih mozes kasnije pronaci i prodiskutovati.
      Ako QR stvarno spusti letove iz ZAG na 7 pw tebe nigde nece moci da se nadje.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous16:08

      @Nebojsa PopovicMay 11, 2017 at 12:40 PM

      No it won't, Qatar will have twice daily service cause there's a massive demand. Emirates came to Zagreb, cause they can see there's a massive demand. FlyDubai flew to Zagreb and had excellent lf on all its flights. Emirates will dominate with their service to Croatia as they're sending large aircraft, hoovering pax from the entire region, even from Belgrade. Emirates won't be flying anywhere else in the Region so they can afford to take their time.

      Qatar is equally great company, with great reputation, however as you put it if they do go down to one flight per day, it'll be B787. Right now Qatar is sending 300 pax per day to and 330 pax from Zagreb, almost each day. That is B777, personally I think they should send one B787, they'd save on fuel.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous16:30

      @Anon 1:19
      I ti gledaj svoja posla i ne brini koliko ce Air Serbia i BEG imati putnika.

      Delete
    11. According to my opinion bit of realistic thinking should be welcome here.

      I believe using the word "massive demand" is exaggeration for the airport with 2,7 mil. passengers in last year. There is no doubt some demand exist, but it is far from being "massive".

      I am sure EK will dominate in their service to Croatia as they are really sending large aircraft...as they have no smaller.

      Belgrade already has 4 pw direct connection to Dubai (with rumours it might become daily soon) and I really see no point travelling 400 km just to board EK flight. No sense.

      It is interesting that many of fellows here constantly keep repeating that EK will fly no where else but to ZAG like they all decide about it. Let me remind you that nobody could guess EK would come to ZAG and it was surprise for everyone, so therefore let's not speculate why they have chosen ZAG and let's not speculate if they are going to choose any other airport in the region or not.

      If there is so "massive demand" from ZAG why QR is not flying now to Doha double daily? Are they waiting for EK to come to ZAG in order to start doing it? Let's be realistic and use some simple logic.

      QR is weaker player than EK and they will, sooner or later, need to adjust to the fact EK arrived to ZAG by decreasing number of seats they are offering. Simple as that.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous17:24

      +1 Nebojsa

      Not to mention that QR sends mostly its smaller A320 while the A321 goes out only three times per week. In winter it was already reduced to 10 weekly A320. If they were really planning on increasing ZAG then they would have done it already.

      Delete
    13. Anonymous21:18

      No, all 5 evening flights are scheduled with A321 (QR 218).
      2 morning flights (QR 216) are also planned with A321 (on Wednesdays and Saturdays).

      Delete
    14. Anonymous07:03

      No, all flights in winter are scheduled to be operated by an A320, no A321s in the system... so far.

      Delete
  15. Dejan Milinković10:03

    Here is the update, some new "dva jelena" pictures plus LH A320neo, for the first time in BEG - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B5BQ5KlupgSRbDB5azlxX0NSYkE?usp=sharing. It was not the first A320neo visit to BEG as just three days ago there was Pegasus Airlines one. But weather was so horrible on Sunday, it was impossible to get any usable photo. Interestigly, in less than month and a half, there were four new aircraft types BEG - CS100, B757-300, A320neo and B787-800.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Who brought CS100? Swiss?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17:21

      Yes, it was in Belgrade maybe two weeks ago.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous10:04

    Great news for the entire region. Great to see gulf airlines fighting over the market.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous10:16

    Does somebody know if they would deploy A320P to SKP?
    I would definitely like to try their premium product, but to me it makes sense to pay the much higher price than coach only if it features lie-flat beds.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:27

      For what???? For 5 hours flight?
      If you are loaded, Ok....but, come on!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:45

      If im willing to pay than I would like to know what im gonna get for that - even it is for "a 5 hr flight"

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:51

      Airlines need more people like you :)
      but how many people in your country can afford it?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:21

      some can, just as some can afford it who would be flying out of BEG- if everybody could afford it, then all 132 seats would be in C, not only 12.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous10:54

    OT: Fraport posted results for LJU in April: PAX 132.239 ... + 31,5% Y2D 420.594 ... + 21,6%

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:17

      So 100K less than ZAG, they are really growing and reducing the gap.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:05

      I think this is the first April that Dubrovnik went ahead of Ljubljana. And Split closed the gap to within 10k. Could surpass next year

      Delete
  19. Anonymous10:58

    Qatar Airways is a fantastic airline and it is interesting they will operate the most flights to ex-Yu out of all the Gulf carriers. Hope they consider Ljubljana too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:07

      Great in business class seriously ordinary in economy. Meals in economy are inedible and their inflight entertainment got boring before take off. Their narrow body fleet product offering is substandard

      Delete
    2. I would have to agree about the food in economy. Really bad actually!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:48

      Same in Emirates and Etihad. Seems like a MEB 3 wide issue. Had some of my best economy meals on Qantas and handing out ice cream to everone at the end of the meal to each passenger is a nice touch and really refreshing.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:06

      AF also gives out ice cream, I think it's a really nice touch

      Delete
    5. Surprisingly some of my best economy meals have been on USA airlines. Flew Delta and AA long haul and was impressed with both.

      With Qantas even the domestic product is good but I think Singapore Airlines has the best all round product.

      Delete
  20. Anonymous11:21

    If they want to beat Emirates at ZAG, they have to move one of their two ZAG flights to LJU. Most Slovenians will fly from LJU /specially with those traffic jams at Bregana/ and Load factor on EK ZAG flights will descend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:44

      Well considering that Slovenians on those flights make less that 5% it would not make so much sense. The point is that Asians going to Croatia are the main target group while Croats also fly a lot either on business or VFR. Slovenians also fly from other airports as do Croats, but the numbers must still be sufficient.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:12

      If they want to beat Emirates at ZAG they will offer better connections and lower fares. They could also rotate a bigger bird there, at least on weekends

      Delete
  21. Anonymous11:32

    Does anyone has some input about QR ticket sales to SKP?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:58

      I heard that demand is great and that flight are already pretty full; we maybe even see frequency increase already.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous23:51

      I am a member in other aviation forums and in one of them I read a post how somebody will fly to SIN via SKP (and DOH) with QR, because he has found a good deal. I suppose he is not the only one.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous13:20

    In the article, regarding Belgrade market, it is said : "....growing competition on the market from Etihad Airways and Flydubai, both of which see strong demand on their respective routes, capturing significant volumes of transfer passengers.....". For Flydubai this statement is absolutely not true. They have few passengers, less than 20% of total number, who make transfers via DXB.
    Flydubai's starting daily service on DXB-BEG route is a question of the month.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:27

      Flydubai has a lot of transfer passengers but only those who are continuing onto their own flights, not those of EK.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:52

      EK has lost plenty of feeding passengers from BEG with EY, QR and JU entering the market. Even J class and complimentary meals - an attempt to bring the product more to mainline by FZ, did not really work. Main reason apparently is FZ's Terminal 2 at DXB and horrid transfers to EK Terminals. Pax simply hate it and much more prefer transits in AUH and DOH.

      Having transited at all 3 airports, I can tell you know that I will never fly FZ/EK again precisely because of the scandalous Terminal 2 at DXB. The worst airport terminal in the world.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous15:54

      Worst? Have you seen low cost terminal/boarding area at Budapest airport:

      https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CB1Ab12WIAAc2bM.jpg

      Delete
  23. Anonymous13:40

    OT: VLM got Slovenian AOC and OL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:28

      Now they can fly to China from Maribor with an Fokker 50

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:33

      How much time did it took you to come up with that joke?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous19:11

      After Maribor's record February with total of 43 pax, perhaps their next goal is to break the world record for a scheduled flight with the most technical stops :)

      Delete
  24. Anonymous14:34

    Great news. With world cup being hosted in qatar in a few years numbers will continue to go up. Good luck to QR on their ex-Yu routes.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous17:25

    What would you experts recommend for us ordinary mortals: which Y product is better, narrowbody Qatar or Emirates triple 7?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous20:03

      QR, the 777 is like a slave ship.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous22:01

      Slave ship? What?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous23:03

      It's true. 10-abreast on a 777 is unworthy of humans.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous23:13

      Depends what you prefer - good pitch or seat width. EK 777 has a better pitch than QR 320, however, has the dreaded 3-3-3 confing resuting in a seat that is 2.5cm narrower on the 777.

      Again, if flying from ZAG, unless in peak summer season, I guess loads on EK 777 are going to be farther from 100% than on the QR flight - an adjacent empty seat (or even a block of 3) could go a long way in increasing pax comfort.

      Since both QR and EK have a very nice IFE system, I guess it comes down to where are you eventually flying on to, and what equipment these airlines send there.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous23:13

      Sorry, typo, that's 3-4-3

      Delete