Mostar Airport seeks turnaround strategy


Mostar Airport, which shed over 17.000 passengers during the first three quarters of the year when compared to last, is exploring ways to turnabout its run of poor results. "In 2014 we positioned ourselves as a charter airport and had a very promising Italian partner - Mistral Air - which carried Italian travellers, primarily pilgrims visiting Medjugorje. Unfortunately, the company has gone bankrupt and the Italian market is now unserved", Mostar Airport's General Manager, Marin Raspudić, told the "Klix.ba" portal recently. Mistral Air is still in operation, however no longer maintains any scheduled or charter passenger flights, focusing purely on cargo services instead. During the first three quarters Mostar Airport handled 25.758 passengers, down 32.6% on 2017. Its figures have been in decline since 2016.

The airport believes a solution to its problems could be a concession. "Mostar Airport requires significant funds and investment. The Federal Ministry for Transport and Communication has allocated some resources which will be of use. However, we have to work harder on marketing and offer services at dumping prices. But if we provide dumping prices, the question is how will we make a living", Mr Raspudić said. The General Manager believes Mostar Airport "must find its path", adding that with Pope Francis recently naming a Polish archbishop as his apostolic visitor to Medjugorje for an indefinite period, the Polish market should open up. "We have to find a way for Mostar Airport to become an alternative to Sarajevo because it is difficult for us to compete against it, Dubrovnik and Split. Croatia is investing 65 million euros into the development of Split Airport, as well as 100 million into Dubrovnik, and we simply can't compete", Mr Raspudić said.

Despite a decline in passenger numbers at the airport, both Eurowings and Croatia Airlines launched services to Mostar this year. Eurowings has been maintaining seasonal summer flights from Dusseldorf and Stuttgart, while Croatia Airlines introduced year-round operations from Zagreb. The German low cost carrier has recorded solid loads on its flights to Mostar with an average cabin occupancy rate of over 90% on its Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft. "We will hold talks with the airline for it to potentially cover the Italian and Polish markets, as well as upgrade equipment on its existing routes", the General Manager noted. He added, "Croatia Airlines' flights to Zagreb are not as popular and we expected better loads. People are complaining about the flight schedule so we will try to find a way for that to be altered". Both airlines are being subsidised by local authorities. Mr Raspudić said that Turkish Airlines could launch flights from Istanbul to Mostar, but the route would also require financial incentives.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:04

    Poor Mostwr. I think their only solution is attracting the likes of Wizz or Ryanair.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:05

      Or they could go after easyjet since it doesn't fly to Bosnia.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:08

      Easier said than done.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:14

    What a shame. Has there ever been a route at this airport which is not subsidised?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:16

      No. All Mistral Air flights were subsidised by the EU.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:11

      No. Any airline operating charter flights from OMO were not receive any subsidies for their flights. Price for round ticket to Italy was 500+ EUR (it was possible to buy tickets individually via airline or tourops. websites). But flights were fully booked

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:15

    I don't see a reason for TK flying to OMO when they're already flying all-year to DBV?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous09:18

    Don't see why Eurowings would upgrade capacity if the LF on their Bombardier is around 90%.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:42

      Because 90% is maximum LF in present situation. They put limitations on Dash84 because of possible tailwind on tkoff. Only Rwy16 has departure procedures

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:58

      But if there are limitations on Q400, how do they plan to negotiate bigger capacity plane on the route?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous20:13

      i flew on eurowings flights from OMO to DUS 3 times this summer and route is a big hit, every time I flew the capacity was full to the last seat...so 100%, and on August 27 th, Mostar airport announced that all flights were fully booked until the end of summer season schedule, so no longer bookable because they are full

      Delete
    4. Anonymous21:02

      That's great to hear. Hopefully next year they increase frequencies.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous21:03

      BTW what was the passenger structure? Was it mostly diaspora or were there tourists as well? If I remember correctly, Eurowings offers connecting flights to Lufthansa.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:20

    I think a flight from Bergamo to Mostar could work year round.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:21

      Flights to Poland could work too. Lots of Christian pilgrims are coming from Poland.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:17

      Bergamo-Mostar with Ryanair would do the job!

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:23

    Despite the low level of traffic at Mostar, it amazes me that this country has 4 functioning airports and that all have international flights.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nemjee09:29

    All they have to do is look at TZL, INI and BNX. Small, potentially economically unjustified airports such as these have to find ways to attract bigger players who can afford to wait for such destinations to become profitable. Only way OMO can turn its business around is by attracting either Wizz Air or Ryanair.

    Eurowings is an expensive mess which will need years in order to become competitive on a much larger scale.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:16

      The only reason Eurowings started flights to Mostar is because their route planner is from Mostar.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:27

      You want Ryan, Wizz, Easy, to come to town, you must pay them and give them everything they ask for..and you know what its worth it 100%..!

      Delete
    3. Nemjee11:38

      I might be wrong but INI and TZL are not paying for Wizz Air and others to fly there. They just don't charge them much.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:48

      An. 10.16
      It would be CEO deputy Marketing - 2nd man in the company - not the route planner. Also, in Germany where he lives and work you don't introduce flights based on emotions or family relations but based on numbers and potential financial benefits

      Delete
  8. Anonymous10:16

    Of course Croatia Airlines' Mostar flights are underperforming. Their flights barely connect onto any important route through ZAgreb.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:20

      +1

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:12

      Could you explain? Flights from Mostar lands in ZAG around 7 and you can catch almost every flight from ZAG??

      Delete
  9. Anonymous10:19

    OMO had almost 80,000 passengers in 2012. Sad :(

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous10:20

    Hercegovina ima malo stanovnika i dva velika aerodroma na obali nema tu velike pameti.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:23

      Do te obale ljeti hercegovcu treba 3-4 sata. Osjećam to često na svojoj koži. Moraš ustati ko vampir da uhvatiš jutarnji let is SPU ili DBV. Da baš nam ne treba aerodrom

      Delete
  11. Anonymous10:21

    Medjugorje is the biggest scam ever known to man.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:25

      During the 80s Medjurgorje use to be a hit for JAT. Full planes from all corners of the globe going transferring through BEG to OMO.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:15

      And direct charter flights with 727

      Delete
    3. Anonymous16:25

      So? What if? Ist this a religious site? We are discussing aviation here. And Medjugorje is a reason (amongst others) why people visit BiH, Herzegovina in particular (since it's about OMO here). A passenger is a passanger, a tourist is a tourist. And Medjugorje-tourists still make up most of the tourists visiting your country. Believe it or not.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous10:24

    why don't ex-yu countries just privatize these smaller airports? Wouldn't it be easier? Plus the new owner would actually want to have flights and invest money in them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:02

      These foreign takeovers are meant to improve, but, also, exploit for the majority benefit of outside interests.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:02

      Well, OHD has been under concession for some years now, and since its been like that-number of pax has exponentially increased and tourists numbers as well- I am sure nobody feels exploited in Ohrid.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous10:26

    Can someone please tell me did Austrian use to fly to Mostar. I came across this: "Austrian Airlines canceled service not only to Belgrade but as of yesterday also to Timisoara, Romania; Tirana, Albania; and Sarajevo, Mostar and Banja Luka in Bosnia. But the airline restored service to Skopje, Macedonia, yesterday, and continued its scheduled service to Sofia, Bulgaria, as well as Zagreb and Ljubljana."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:19

      Austrian used to fly to Vienna-Mostar 1998-2003 using Tyrolean Dash8-100 with 37 seats. After that no flights.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:22

      Thanks for the info! I had no idea. Would be nice if they came back.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:32

      They flew to Banja Luka as well. Suspended around the same time as Mostar. Austrian probably benefited the most as an airline from the collapse of ex-Yu.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous11:00

    A few years ago several Italian airports, in cooperation with the Italian government, wanted to take over Mostar Airport and invest in it. The Italian government wanted to expand Mostar Airport, improve airport safety, introduce scheduled traffic and assist with staff training. I don't know what happened with all of that.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous11:21

    Perfect scenario would be

    Mostar - EasyJet
    Banja Luka - Ryanair
    Tuzla - Wizz Air

    :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:43

      And Sarajevo Saudia :)

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:10

      Speaking of Sarajevo, there was an interesting interview in the Sarajevo Airport magazine with British ambassador where he basically said that the airport has too many flights to the Middle East and should work to attract more European flights :D

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:30

      Lol and who exactly is he to lecture where there should be flights. There are flights where there is demand. If he is so concerned, why doesn't he lobby airlines to start flights from London to Sarajevo.

      Delete
  16. Imaju više putnika nego MBX. Ja mislim da u cijeloj exyu nema većih luzera od MBX. Možda jedino onaj Morava ili Košava aerodrom ili što već tamo u Srbiji.
    A najbolji turn around bio bi da ga zatvore. Ionako za ljude tamo je Zemlja ravna ploča, a gravitacija masonska laž. Što će im aerodrom?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:41

      Aerodrom se zove Morava i nije jos uvek otvoren.

      Slazem se za Maribor. Mada i pored toga mislim da ima potencijal.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:32

      Као што је горе написано, Морава још није отворена а када се покрене много ће јој лакше бити да привуче путнике јер тај део Србије нема аутопут а доста је људи емигрирало у последњих неколико година, посебно из Пазара, Сјенице, Тутина...

      Delete
    3. I ja mislim, da MBX ima potencijal. Problem je što su ga 20g vodili nesposobni. Da bi ga se na kraju prodalo nekim kineskim šalabajzerima za koje još nitko nije skužio čime se točno bave i što im je cilj

      Delete
  17. Anonymous12:44

    Perhaps JU could start OMO flights with ATR and get some transfer passengers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:29

      It is under consideration for next year.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous12:44

    Instead of Turkish, they should pursue Pegasus.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:31

      Tzl-Omo-Ist would be better. Perhaps with fifth freedom between Tzl-Omo

      Delete
  19. Anonymous13:34

    if Mostar is betting on boosting its numbers because of a Polish archbishop then there won't be growth there anytime soon.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous13:38

    Spas za mostarski aerodrom nisu samo niskotarifne kompanije, već novo rukovodstvo

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous21:04

    They should get Eurowings to extend flights to year-round.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Mostar is not large enough to sustain commercial traffic. It's equivalent to arguing that Bitola should have a commercial airport in MK. Any investment in Mostar's airport would be literally flushing money down the toilet. It is just under a 2 hour drive from SJJ. If they have money to invest, they should try improving/adding highways to SPU or DBV, which would provide many more options than SJJ.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous15:13

    Strategija je jasna pazite se momci kad je lose vrijeme za poljetanje i sletanje aviona.

    ReplyDelete

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