Montenegro Airlines will retain the same number of flights this winter season, which begins on October 29, as it did last year. The carrier will operate scheduled services from Podgorica to Belgrade, Frankfurt, Ljubljana, Paris, Rome, Vienna and Zurich, as well as from Tivat to Belgrade and Moscow. Etihad Airways will codeshare on its Montenegrin counterpart's flights from Podgorica and Tivat to Belgrade, while Air France will retain its codes and flight numbers on services to Paris, Alitalia on flights to Rome and S7 Airlines on operations between Tivat and Moscow. Unlike last winter season, Adria Airways has ended its codeshare partnership with Montenegro Airlines and will compete against the carrier with seven weekly flights between Ljubljana and Podgorica.
This winter season is expected to mark the last for the airline's two Fokker 100 aircraft which are approaching retirement. The airline has previously said it will replace the jets with larger aircraft that have the capacity to seat over 140 passengers. Despite continued financial difficulties, which recently saw its account blocked by the Montenegrin Central Bank, the airline is continuing to draft its recovery plan. The carrier intends on boosting frequencies on existing destinations following the 2017/18 winter season and introducing two new scheduled routes to Germany, as well as boosting its charter flight offering. "Soon we will see a revitalised and healthier Montenegro Airlines, with a new business and commercial strategy, which will enable the company to secure its place on the market, increase passenger numbers and give it a chance to launch operations to new and far-away markets, which is especially important for the tourism industry. It will also become much more aggressive in its commercial policy towards its competitors on existing markets", Montenegro Airlines' CEO, Živko Banjević, said recently.
The 2017/18 winter season runs until March 25, 2018. Please note that the changes listed below are preliminary and based on current availability in the Global Distribution System (GDS). Furthermore, the table below displays the peak weekly frequency on each route during the course of the winter season. Adria Airways, Air Serbia and Croatia Airlines have all made adjustment to their winter networks as well and these modifications can be viewed by clicking on the provided links.
| Destination | Frequency W16/17 | Frequency W17/18 | Change | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belgrade | 15 | 15 | - | - |
| Frankfurt | 2 | 2 | - | - |
| Ljubljana | 3 | 3 | - | - |
| Paris | 2 | 2 | - | - |
| Rome | 3 | 3 | - | - |
| Vienna | 3 | 3 | - | - |
| Zurich | 3 | 3 | - | - |
Departing Tivat
| Destination | Frequency W16/17 | Frequency W17/18 | Change | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belgrade | 10 | 10 | - | - |
| Moscow | 3 | 3 | - | - |
Whatever happened to the Montenegro Airlines-Air Serbia codeshare partnership? They announced that Montenegro would codeshare on almost all Air Serbia flights but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore.
ReplyDeleteThey did codeshare on almost all flights and JU codeshared on YM's Podgorica/Tivat and Rome flight. But it looks like they quietly ended this agreement.
DeleteThat didn't last very long. What the hell happened?!
DeleteNo wonder then that the two never revised their ops between Belgrade-Podgorica-Tivat. When they signed the codeshare they said how they would coordinate their schedule between Serbia and Montenegro. That didn't happen.
DeleteMontenegro Airlines is still listed on Air Serbia's website as a codeshare partner and the list seems pretty up to date since they have already replaced Etihad Regional with Adria Airways Switzerland.
DeleteIt can say whatever on the website but you can simply check and see there are no YM codes on Air Serbia flights and before, for a very short time, there were.
DeleteGood. What would be the point of cooperating with a near bankrupt airline.
DeleteAir France, Alitalia and S7 airlines don't seem to have a problem with it.
DeleteIt seems any sort of partnership between Montenegro Airlines and another airline in the region has failed. Remember when they cosied up to Croatia Airlines and were supposed to start flights to Zagreb? Again nothing happened in the end.
DeleteThe CS between Montenegro Airlines and Air Serbia is dead.
DeleteWhen Montenegro Airlines cuts fewer flights during the winter than Air Serbia...
ReplyDeleteLOL, true!
DeleteAlthough YM doesn't have that many flights in order to be able to make cuts.
Nice crew :D
ReplyDeleteDead man walking...
ReplyDeleteThey have been a dead man walking for years but they are still waling.
DeleteThey have become Zombies, that's why!
DeleteOk network for winter operations out of Montenegro in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteDo they no longer fly to London?
ReplyDeleteIt's seasonal. And it's been like that for some time now.
DeleteIf an LCC were to base a plane in Podgorica Montenegro Airlines would be wiped out in a matter of months.
ReplyDeleteWhat saves them is the bilaterals needed plus the fact that the market is too small in the winter for 180 seat plus planes that LCCs are flying.
DeleteThey need only 2 planes for winter operations.
ReplyDeleteWith 4 aircraft they could have explored some other destinations during the winter. There are surely some unserved profitable routes.
DeleteTheir network hasn't been changed for years. Same old, same old.
ReplyDeleteThey will be eaten up by Adria on LJU line.
ReplyDeleteSo the Fokkers will finally be retired at the end of winter?
ReplyDeleteIt will probably turn out the same as Air Serbia's announcement that they will retire their B737s at the end of the 2013/14 winter season.
Deletelol true
DeleteThe likelier scenario is that the company won't be around to retire those fokkers.
DeleteYe, and the Fokkers will outlive the company, so will Embraers. Air Serbia desperately needs regional jets.
DeleteA few years ago Montenegro Airlines used to fly to Pristina and Skopje. I'm pretty certain TGD-PRN did quite well. Why did they suspend these?
ReplyDeleteThey didn't suspend them by choice. They had debt towards PRN and SKP. PRN held up their plane for an entire day because of outstanding debt. After that they suspended flights to PRN and SKP straight away.
DeleteAh ok. thanks
DeleteThat happened a few years ago. Last year they finally repaid debt to Pristina and Skopje airport so they can restart these flights if they want to.
DeleteAt one point Podgorica had flights to all ex-Yu capital cities. Now only Belgrade and Ljubljana.
Delete@11.25 with their finances it is difficult to open new routes and sustain them. Remember most routes are loss making in the start but they don't have the luxury to let that happen.
DeleteJuče je 4O-AOA odvezao njihovu fudbalsku reprezentaciju za Varšavu i tamo je doživeo udar ptice u motor prilikom sletanja. Tako su trenutno ostali na svega tri operativna aviona jer im je izgleda 4O-AOB na dugotrajnim radovima.
ReplyDeleteBaš nemaju sreće
DeleteThey have no chances to survive. The best option would be to be taken over by Croatia and to serve ZAG as a transfer hub. ZAG has excelent connections to the rest of Europe. Also I don't see any point flying to Ljubljana. It is a tiny and unimportant destination/market. They should start flying and focus on ZG.
ReplyDeleteWell you see, unlike Ljubljana with 10 weekly flights, there obviously isn't any demand between Podgorica and Zagreb. If there were, Croatia Airlines would not have suspended flights. So it seems that ZG turned out to be the tiny and unimportant destination/market.
DeleteNo one can compete with JU and BEG when it comes to transfers to/from MNE.
DeleteConsidering their state the timetable is alright.
ReplyDeleteThanks for providing us with these for all airlines. Much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteuseful to compare and contrast.
DeleteThey better keep on top of payments to Eurocontrol. I saw they already have debt towards it. If they keep up they will be banned from flying over European territory.
ReplyDeleteIf they were to go bust it would be interesting to see who would take over the flights that they have now.
DeleteOT
ReplyDeleteOn Thursday our tour agency and I suppose others as well received a memo that EK will be reducing ZAG to 4 weekly for roughly two and a half weeks in February. Anyone know how their bookings are so far? I know winter is slower but I am wondering how their loads have been so far? They said that they will let us know by 'winter' what day will be suspended. Shame those A332s are gone.
Many airlines introduce additional cuts in winter especially february. My only problem is that Qatar will crush them with two daily flights
DeleteThat's why a full OS A321 is coming in to SPU right now and it's the middle of October!
DeleteThat's true but they might do it, nothing is confirmed yet. There are still a few weeks left. I doubt they'll go for it since they would be horribly uncompetitive.
DeleteZagreb is becoming 4/week year-round, seasonal from next year.
DeleteOh well.. it was nice while it lasted.
DeleteFor all the people saying how they will go bankrupt, they simply won't. The government will always help them out and they are quite important for Montenegro's tourism industry. What the airline needs is professional management and that's it.
ReplyDeleteTrue, government has allocated them 30 million euros for next year, which is more than enough for them to survive on.
DeleteHopefully YM will recover soon, Retiring the F100s is smart move in my opinion. They are becoming an increasingly uneconomical aircraft.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know if they are returning back to INI?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.exyuaviation.com/2013/09/montenegro-airline-considering-nis.html
Doubt it, they would only do it if INI would give them subsidies. Given the circumstances there I highly doubt it will happen.
DeleteThey suspended the route as soon as the subsidies ended. It wasn't profitable.
DeleteBut the YM coverage is much better compared to FR and W6. They flew to main airports.
DeleteSide topic: CSA posted a 10 million dollar profit last year while KE is selling its stake, how serious is that?
ReplyDeleteWhat was the last new route launched by Montenegro Airlines?
ReplyDeleteVienna-Tuzla
DeleteFlew Edelweiss ZRHSPU today. 8 in Business and just a few seats left in Coach
ReplyDeleteA320
Like I said, SPU will explode this October with passenger numbers. I have a feeling it will surpass ZAG once again.
Delete