EX-YU airports target long haul flights

Airports across the former Yugoslavia are beginning to attract a greater share of long haul flights or are actively trying to secure such services. Among them are Zagreb, Belgrade, Skopje, Ljubljana, Dubrovnik and Pristina.

This summer season, Croatia's busiest airport attracted another long haul carrier with Air Canada Rouge commencing seasonal services from Toronto. It will be followed by Korean Air, which will star year-long flights from Seoul to Zagreb on September 1. Despite interest from Thailand's Air Asia X for services from Bangkok, the low cost long haul airline recently selected its first destinations in Europe, with Zagreb missing out. It's future routes will include Prague, Vienna and Stockholm. Earlier this year, the airline said, "Croatia is one of the possibilities for our future network and we are currently engaging in a feasibility study". Zagreb Airport's General Manager, Jacques Feron, said recently, "Next year we hope for flights between Montreal and Zagreb to be launched. We also anticipate to finalise talks for the arrival of a Chinese carrier because Croatia is becoming of growing interest to Chinese tourists". The Croatian Prime Minister, Andrej Plenković, added, "We are attempting to reach an agreement over nonstop flights between Zagreb, Beijing and Shanghai". Furthermore, the Croatian government has authorised the Minister for Sea, Transport and Infrastructure to commence talks with his Japanese counterpart over the establishment of scheduled flights between Zagreb and Tokyo.

Belgrade Airport is expected to add a second long haul route from China this year. Services from Shanghai are anticipated after operations were introduced from Beijing via Prague last year. Talks concerning the service are believed to have taken place with Hainan Airlines, Air China and China Southern Airlines. Air Serbia is also expected to revisit its long haul plans in 2019 after deciding against introducing flights from Belgrade to Toronto this year. VINCI Airports, which will become Belgrade Airport's operator in September, said, "VINCI Airports will aim at improving airport operating conditions to enable Air Serbia to offer new long haul routes as part of its hub strategy". The Serbian Minister for Construction, Transport and Infrastructure recently noted that a new bilateral Air Service Agreement between Serbia and Japan will be inked in the near future in order to facilitate the introduction of new services. Meanwhile, Korea's Jin Air said flights between Seoul and the Serbian capital are planned to launch in 2020.

Skopje Airport has also expressed interest in offering long haul flights and has suggested for Turkish Airlines to launch services from the Macedonian capital to North America. "We have always established close relationships with our airline clients through our world-wide airport operations. This is also the case in Macedonia and we are ready to provide the utmost support to an airline which would consider flying transatlantic from Skopje. Skopje Airport is operationally capable to handle such transatlantic flights and ready to support carriers which would consider operating", the General Manager of operator TAV Macedonia, Alper Ersoy, said previously. He added, "The Balkan region is still immature in terms of connectivity to US and Canadian destinations. Still, most of the passengers originating from the Balkan region must make at least one connection to fly transatlantic, which is a hassle. In this regard, if Skopje manages to serve a transatlantic flight in the future, this will be beneficial for the whole Balkan area. A nonstop flight to North America would lead to additional feeder flights from the Balkan region to Skopje. The airport would attract many passengers from surrounding countries". Over 40.000 passengers originating from Skopje travel to North American destinations each year.

Japan's largest carrier All Nippon Airways (ANA) has expressed interest in upgrading its annual charter operations to the Slovenian capital by introducing scheduled flights to Ljubljana. It comes following talks between the airline's President and CEO and the Slovenian State Secretary within the Ministry for Infrastructure. ANA is seeking the drafting of a bilateral air agreement between Japan and Slovenia, which is a precondition for the establishment of scheduled flights. In the meantime, the two sides will negotiate a temporary arrangement in order to allow the Japanese carrier to operate regular services to Ljubljana, if it wishes to exercise such rights. In addition, the Slovenian Minister for Economic Development and Technology recently noted, "We are interested in improving land, sea and air connectivity with China. We expect that direct flights between China's north-western city of Xi'an and our capital city Ljubljana will be established soon". Xi'an Airport is run by operator Fraport, which also manages Ljubljana Airport. "Even though Slovenia is a small country, it is the best place for travellers from Asia to start their journey and continue to our neighbouring countries", the General Manager of Ljubljana Airport, Zmago Skobir, said.

Dubrovnik Airport has identified the United States and South Korea as two markets which could sustain services to the coastal city but noted that the development of long haul flights is still some way off. General Manager, Frano Luetić, told EX-YU Aviation News, "These two far-away markets are the most important for Dubrovnik. According to the city's tourist board, visitors from the US are the second most common, behind those from the United Kingdom, which is specific to the Dubrovnik region. On the other hand, Korean tourists are most plentiful during the winter months". With exception to several summer charters from Japan, operated by All Nippon Airways, Dubrovnik Airport currently has no regular long haul flights. Mr Luetić noted that despite the potential, there are still no concrete announcements concerning the establishment of such services. Asked whether it is considering services to Dubrovnik, Korean Air said, "For now, Korean Air is entirely focusing on commencing scheduled flights to Zagreb in September. After the route stabilises, we may consider to fly to destinations in Croatia other than Zagreb". On the other hand, American Airlines is considering introducing seasonal flights from Philadelphia to Dubrovnik with talks between the two sides underway.

New York was the busiest unserved route from Pristina in 2017 for a third consecutive year, with passenger numbers from Kosovo to the United States continuing to grow. Pristina Airport's General Manager, Haldun Firat Kokturk, noted that New York continues to be a target destination. "The airport is focusing on opening new services to destinations not directly served from Pristina. This should have a positive impact in covering more of the countries and catchment areas where our diaspora is located, and will generate additional passengers visiting Kosovo either for leisure or business", he said. In 2009, Scanderbeg Air, a short-lived tour operator that contracted with Sky King Airlines, maintained two weekly flights between Pristina and New York with a Boeing 767-200ER aircraft from June to September. Ever since, there have been no scheduled long haul flights from the city.