Berlin-based Germania will open a base in Pristina at the start of the 2019 summer season on March 31, by stationing a 150-seat Airbus A319 aircraft in the city. The carrier plans to recruit local crew and staff and launch new flights from Pristina to Hannover and Hamburg. Furthermore, the airline will continue to operate its existing services to Munich, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart, Basel and Verona. It will also retain and strengthen its partnership with tour operator Air Prishtina, which sells the bulk of Germania's tickets on the Kosovan market. "The partnership between Germania and Air Prishtina is very close and based on mutual trust. Both companies will greatly benefit and Germania will play a key role in the development of new markets from Kosovo", Sieghard Jahn, a member of Germania’s Management Board, said at a press conference. He added, "In 2019, we are expecting an increase in demand for flights from Kosovo, especially to Germany".
Commenting on the development, Pristina Airport's General Manager, Haldun Firat Kokturk, said, "We are happy to provide Germania with a second home for their aircraft. This is such an important milestone for Germania, our airport and Kosovo. As of April, Germania is stationing an aircraft in Pristina after a long, successful and safe cooperation over the years. We appreciate our continued partnership with Germania, for increasing its number of destinations for our passengers, which, in turn will result in a steady increase in traveller numbers. Furthermore, we believe that the ongoing process of our runway extension and category upgrade will have its positive effect on the decisions of our airline partners for their long-term plans for Pristina Airport". He added, "Germania always had an important role in linking the Kosovan diaspora with their families and we aim to further broaden this role. We are committed to ending this year successfully with over two million passengers".
Germania, together with its Swiss subsidiary Germania Flug, is already Kosovo's busiest airline. It handled 411.100 passengers on flights to and from Pristina last year. Together with Germania Flug and Bulgarian Eagle, the airline group currently has a fleet of 29 aircraft and serves 55 destinations in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Bucking the industry trend, the carrier continues to offer free food and beverages on board its aircraft, as well as twenty kilograms of checked in luggage. Germania will become the second airline to boast a base in Pristina following Adria Airways, which last year handled 177.166 passengers to and from the city, making it the fourth busiest airline in Kosovo.
Pristina has recently seen increased interest from carriers. This winter season a number of airlines have committed to increasing frequencies from the city when compared to last year. Among them are easyJet from Basel and Berlin, Edelweiss Air from Zurich, Adria Airways to Frankfurt, Pegasus Airlines from Istanbul, Wizz Air from London and Germania from Zurich. In addition, low cost carrier Wizz Air is expanding its operations from Pristina with the introduction of three new routes. The airline added flights from Memmingen this Tuesday, and will introduce services from Basel on November 20 and Dortmund on December 15.
I wonder how all these extra flights in Pristina will impact numbers at Skopje because there will be fewer people from Kosovo needing to drive or bus to Skopje to catch cheaper flights.
ReplyDeletethey are probably gonna close the airport #brokenvinylloop
DeleteThey are not going to close the airport. No need for sarcasm. If we are here to discuss aviation we might as well be serious. SKP itself said that it handles a significant proportion of Kosovo passengers and I'm sure they are mostly to Germany.
DeleteIt could also affect Nis to a lesser extent.
DeleteIt won't affect either.
DeleteNot really as destinations served from INI won't be launched from PRN.
DeleteBoth PRN and SKP showing solid growth at the same time. Both can coexist together.
Deletebut tell that to the original poster
DeleteBTW, Pristina Airport in October 2018 served circa 169.000 passengers (+12% ).
DeleteI guess this is horrible news for SKP which has been milking the PRN market for years.
ReplyDeletelol the "milking the project" guy is back
Deletedid you even read the article? Germania Flug and the rest of the familia clan Reisebüro cherters are milking the PRN market not SKP. and if you read the article you will see that is only two new routes
cheap prices to SKP are actually a relief for Kosovars to not get ripped off anymore by those "agencies"
Delete"only two new routes"
DeleteFor now. They also increase frequencies a lot. Stuttgart is daily for example.
Nice but I would prefer if they sold more flights directly through their website than through Air Prishtina. That way they would attract more passengers.
ReplyDeleteThey are trying to make a move before Wizz Air opens a base.
ReplyDeleteWith 5 routes by the end of the year to PRN, they are probably next.
DeleteAnd next summer season they are upgrading the Budapest-Pristina route to an A321.
Deleteit was already in summer
DeleteThis will hurt Adria the most.
ReplyDeletelol HOW? Another one that has not read the article in full
DeleteBecause it will take away their German bound passengers with more affordable prices and much better services than a small bottle of water.
Deletethey didnt do it by now and they wont
DeleteAdria's number have been contracting each year from Pristina.
DeleteSeems to me like another market where Adria was in prime position but let it slip through its fingers. 177,000 passengers for an airline that has a base in PRN is not much.
DeleteAdria is now mainly focusing on LJU which I think is a good thing. The real golden opportunity they missed years ago was Macedonia.
DeleteThey will get a very nice discount since under current PRN incentive measures any airline that opens a base in the city is free of all fees and charges during the first year. Let's see if they keep their aircraft around in 2020.
ReplyDeleteok now we see why. they are begging :D even INI is more expensive
DeleteSkopje should complain to the European Comission like Pristina did about Skopje :D
DeleteDouble standards from Pristina but I wonder if they could get Wizz Air with these incentives. They are pretty good.
DeleteNo double standards. Unlike in Skopje this is a legitimate incentive scheme offered by the AIRPORT to airlines in comparison to the direct state aid of MK GOV to Wizz.
Deletelol and who pays for the runway?
DeleteThe "state aid" you are claiming was offered to ALL airlines that wanted to commence new service. Nothing was provided to Wizz exclusively.
Deleteeverything about double standards: https://prishtinainsight.com/flying-blind-negligence-nepotism-and-graft-at-kosovo-airport-mag/
DeleteCongratulations Pristina. Good to see some positive developments.
ReplyDeleteok. even more overpriced charters for people that cannot book a flight ticket online
ReplyDeletethis is Air Prishtina rather then Germania
With local crew I'm sure people will be inclined to choose this option.
DeleteBtw look at their fares. They are very affordable.
well the are under the pressure from Wizz.
DeleteAll these airlines - Adria, Germania etc will be hit in PRN when (if) Wizz Air opens a base.
ReplyDeleteBut is there much logic in W6 opening a base in Pristina with Skopje so close?
Deletethe D-CH-A market from SKP will not be hurt by that.. cannot talk about the rest of the routes though. So if theyopen a base it wll be gasto routes.. the pressure will be more on Air Prishtina and others then SKP actually.
DeletePristina really needs a serious airline to open a base. Belleair used to do a good job and contribute so many passengers to PRN.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThe Pristina-Germany market seems to be huge.
ReplyDeletePristina-Switzerland market is even larger.
DeleteWhat are the most popular routes from Pristina?
DeleteIn 2017 it was:
Delete1. Zurich
2. Basel
3. Dusseldorf
4. Istanbul
5. Geneva
6. Stuttgart
Overall largest market is Switzerland - 37.3% share then followed Germany, Turkey, Austria and Slovenia.
DeleteBusiest airlines in 2017
Delete1. Germania
2. easyJet
3. Edelweiss
4. Adria Airways
5. Turkish Airlines
6. Eurowings
7. Germania Flug
8. Pegasus Airlines
9. Austrian
10. Orange2Fly
Good mix of legacies and LCCs.
DeleteHope WizzAir adds more flights from PRN and makes it in the top 10 this year.
DeleteI find it odd that Germania failed out of INI. They do seem to have scheduled charters from Skopje but again these are for Albanians.
ReplyDeleteI had once a look at the gate for the Germania ZRH charters at SKP and it was unusually full with elderly people - people to whom booking online tickets is science fiction.
DeleteInteresting. Are these flights mostly for Albanian passengers?
DeleteI think so because I think they are also sold through Air Prishtina.
Deletethey are ONLY sold through Air Prishtna
DeleteMissed opportunity for Croatia Airlines. They cancelled Pristina yet they could have offered a good transfer option via Zagreb.
ReplyDeleteMost using OUs flights from Pristina transferred to London Hethrow. Since OU sold some of its slots there was no longer a good connection with them.
DeleteOU is useless at the whole transfer game. They could have just rescheduled the flight to fit another LHR departure.
DeleteEasier said then done. And obviously it wasn't worth it.
DeleteThere will be huge demand for Germany next year from all ex-Yu countries since Germany is going to liberalize its work permit visas from 1st January 2019. Prepare for mass exodus.
ReplyDeleteTherefore: He added, "In 2019, we are expecting an increase in demand for flights from Kosovo, especially to Germany". ;)
DeleteThe main driver of growth at PRN would be complete visa liberlization with EU but it does not seem it will happen this year either.
DeleteOnce EU visas are lifted, whenever that may be numbers should improve even more.
DeleteGiven the political and economic climate I doubt visas will be lifted any time soon.
DeleteI check PRN flights on Flightradar from time to time and as far as I realized aircraft landing/departing PRN go around to make sure they avoid Serbian airspace?
ReplyDeleteYes. Until a deal is reached between two sides all planes landing/departing PRN have to avoid Serbian airspace. Since recently an agreement was made that a plane overflying Serbia can also overfly Kosovo and as far as I notice airlines have been quick to start applying this.
DeleteWow! Now, this is what I call good news!
ReplyDeletePRN will then most likely reach 3 million by 2023.
I know SKP struggled a lot to launch bigger and primary destinations.
Well done PRN, well done Kosova.
Last year PRN had 1.8 million, this year it will be over 2 million so the trend is encouraging.
Deletelast time i checked HAM and HAJ are destinations from SKP already
DeleteThese are pretty good developments for PRN
ReplyDelete- A lot of new flights this winter
- Runway extension/ category upgrade finally started
- Germania to base 1st plane in 2019.
Should all contribute to growth. Number wise the airport has been doing really well this year too.
PRN used to be the number 3 airport in ex-Yu actually. Then Belleair went bust and their numbers went down rapidly, while Split and Dubrovnik overtook them. We will see what could happen when Germania or any other airline opens a base.
Deletelol
DeleteIf PRN wants to regain its original 3rd position among exYu airports, it needs to reduce its fees. Otherwise well done.
DeleteFees are high because of the ludicrous concession agreement between Limak and the government. Basically under the agreement it is the government not Limak that sets the fees. And of course the idiots in government could not care less if the fees are high. The reason PRN introduced all these incentives is because it was the only way to bypass the fees which they have no control over.
DeleteAt the same time they are shutting down CDG flights. It's surprising that this route doesen't seem to be feasible to any airline. Easy Jet also tried and failed.
ReplyDeleteyou should have realised by now that only gasto routes are working
DeleteThat seems to be the case in Macedonia as well.
DeleteI've got to say well done Germania if they managed to handle 411.100 passengers to/from PRN without an aircraft even based there.
ReplyDeleteWhat would you then say to easy jet which handles over 1 million passengers per year to Croatia with no aircraft based there and only summer flights :D
DeleteCongrats Pristina. Solid result for an airport which has so many limitations. Good work.
ReplyDeletewhat are the limitations? sounds so dramatic
DeleteVisa restrictions, poor weather...
DeleteInteresting that Germania handles so many passengers in Pristina and also has some passengers in Macedonia but mostly ignores the rest of ex-Yu.
ReplyDeletebecause these are chartered aircrafts from Germania flying for Air Pristina and mostly catering to albanian diaspora, capito? (has not much to do with original Germania)
DeleteNo wonder. A family run business for 20th century passengers.
Delete"has not much to do with original Germania"
DeleteYeah right. That's why Germania executives and the German ambassador were at yesterday's announcement that the company is basing a plane in Pristina.
Germania does have some seasonal flights to Croatia but it is true they are rather limited in the region. The issue is that bigger players serve ex-Yu - Germany/Swiss market quite well and extensively.
Deleteyou cannot book a single flight from PRN on https://www.flygermania.com/
DeleteYour claim that the airline has nothing to do with this is absolutely idiotic since its the airline's general manager that announced they are basing a plane in Pristina. Deal with it will you.
Deletecharters for diaspora
DeleteGreat then. And those 'charters for diaspora' handle 400,000+ passengers per year without a single cent while we also have Wizz Air with scheduled flights for diaspora and millions in subsidies.
DeleteSë bashku me partnerin Air Prishtina, kompania ajrore gjermane do të zgjerojë rrjetin e fluturimeve, duke hapur ndër të tjera edhe linja të reja nga Prishtina për Shtutgart, Hamburg dhe Hanover.
Deleteits Air Prightina written all over it
So? It's not like Germania is denying it.
Delete"The partnership between Germania and Air Prishtina is very close and based on mutual trust. Both companies will greatly benefit and Germania will play a key role in the development of new markets from Kosovo", Sieghard Jahn, a member of Germania’s Management Board, said at a press conference.
where is it written "nothing to do with Germania" ... NOW THAT is aboslutely idiotic. it says "not much to do"
DeleteThey have chartered their planes thats why they are there. get over it. we can talk about this once they start selling tickets on flygermania.com. Arrividercci
You are seriously triggered by this news so best don't comment on it. Arrivedercci to you too and let's hope those Wizz subsidies don't dry up any time soon.
Deletethey have dried up since June so whats your point. What has this to do with SKP?
DeleteAnd we see the results. Two routes already cut, reduction of flights from Ohrid and the list will grow soon.
Deletelol
DeleteGood. Now didn't you say arrivederci? Go troll elsewhere.
DeleteMajstori. Air Pristhina je samo GSE. Isto tako za Edelweiss. Zasto? Jer je trg previse specifican da bi sam mogao da ulazis tamo bez lokalnog partnera.
DeleteI guess that incentive scheme to stimulate airlines paid off.
ReplyDeleteThis is nice but I'm hoping that Wizz bases an aircraft as they do independent sales unrelated to tour operators. Good news that this will open opportunities for employment though.
ReplyDeleteThere are still a lot of unserved destinations from PRN with good potential.
ReplyDeleteFor example BEG with JU
DeleteI have never seen such vast usage of tour operators organizing and chartering flights on other markets as they do in Kosovo. Any particular reason for this?
ReplyDeletegastarbajters rely mostly on travel agencies. Also they have a big influence in Kosovo (travel agencies).
DeleteAviokompanija Germania iz Cirih leti za Makedoniju dok aviokompanija Germania Flug Berlin hoce da otvori bazu na Kosovo.
ReplyDeleteNe. Pobrkali ste. Germania Flug je iz Ciriha, a Germania iz Berlina.
DeleteGood news for Pristina.
ReplyDelete