Now all they have to do is resume cities they formerly operated to - Sarajevo, Belgrade and Pristina.

Bravo Hrvatska!

@admin

Did you have the possibility to make interview with any BA official and asking why they do not introduce BEG?
I mean we have way too smaller airports like TIA (less passengers, not EU country, W6 competition) which are connected to LON but BA888 is not on the map to be re-introduced.
Thank you

Interesting that Ljubljana is 2 weekly while Split is 3 weekly.

The reason would be that unlike TIA, where you only have Wizz flying to London, in BEG you have Wizz and Air Serbia and far more transfer options through other European cities.

Wow Tivat is also going to be a nice addition. So TIV will get Lufthansa and British next year.

Well done Split. I think next year will be the one it overtakes ZAG.

LCY is a cute airport.

But they said they may add frequencies to LJU.

Big year.

Very little demand from their British customer base to travel to Serbija either for tourism or for business.
Plus the visa requirement for Serbian citizens even if they are just connecting to LHR.

Albanian diaspora in the UK is much bigger than Serbian.

I'm surprised by their sudden interest in ex-Yu.

Ah back in the day when Sarajevo used to have flights to western Europe :(

If the flights are well connected to their JFK route from City Airport, there might be some transfers.

hope that BA will be finally convinced to fly to Skopje

Skopje really needs a link with LHR, especially after the demise of Malev. See the success of Wizzair on the LTN-SKP route, and also the need of more connection points with North America.

They are not. And besides BA flies with an all business class A318 from London to New York. On the way to New York it makes a stop in Shannon. Not very convenient.

Sarajevo was the first of their ex-Yu routes to be discontinued. Back in 2008.

Zagreb should go double daily in summer, loads are fantastic from what I heard. BA does really well.

Why did they decrease frequency in winter?

Actually it was Skopje. They started flights to SKP in 1999 but suspended them in 2001.

And also extend to year round.

Yep, sadly the Belgrade-London route has surprisingly one of the lowest demands in the market. Even Macedonia, being a non-EU member has more flights to London including OHD.
I guess it's also because many Macedonians have Bulgarian citizenship, therefore living and working in UK.
BA left BEG because JAT Airways had a better performance in LHR and it was literally pushed out.

Likely. This year ZAG managed to overtake Split only in November.

Very efficient compared to Heathrow and Gatwick.

Well it says in the article that hey are getting a lot of new planes which allows them to focus on other markets.

In 2010 they were interested in Skopje. They even held talks with the government. But it didn't work out.

Probably they needed a slot for a more profitable route.

How on earth does Macedonia have more flights to London?

There are are 13 weekly flights to London from Belgrade in summer 2019.
There are 6 weekly flights to London from Skopje and Ohrid in summer 2019.

Let's stick to facts please.

Interesting. Didn't even know they flew to Skopje.

That's right about the time Wizz Air launched London-Skopje. 'Coincidence' .

Them starting Tivat will really hurt Montenegro Airlines.

Why? Montenegro Airlines offers a better on board product then British Airways on intra-European flights.

BA really focusing on Croatia.

Cool fact is that SPU becomes the second ex-YU city to be connected to 5 out of 6 London airports.
The sole airport that is missing is SEN.
DBV was first but not connected to LCY yet.

If we compare ZAG, it is only connected to LHR! I can't think of another major (EU) capital not connected to at least more than 1 London airport.
Even TLL, which is smaller than ZAG is connected to 4.

The coast of Croatia is its spine literally.

Speaking of LCY, we also see the gradual presence of LOT by launching BUD, VNO and WAW!
LOT are really sneaky lately. Yesterday, they also announced VAR and I am sure we will see more ex-YU cities connected> INI, SJJ and maybe SKP.

Interesting times ahead!

Maybe Split could be extended into winter next year?

+1

BTW SKP already has LOT flights ;)

Everyone offers a better on board product then British Airways on intra-European flights.

But the benefit of BA will be it will probably fly from Heahthrow, whereas MGX flies to Gatwick.

I'm surprised when I read how extensive of a network all these airline had once. I remember reading that Austrian also used to fly to places like Mostar and Banja Luka.

LJU is operating with A319. SPU with E190.

Yes but let's not forget that SPU will also have daily flights from Heathrow by BA ;)

I don not thnink INi is an option for LOT

And very expensive compared to the rest too ;)

It is dissapointing for ZAG. Many people have expected much more once new owner took over the airport but now we have the situation that SPU will almost have more passengers than ZAG.
Not to mention that gap between ZAG and BEG got even bigger this year

Great news. Hope BA will expand even more in the region.

Speaking of BA, they are rolling out their new A320 & A321 Neo aircraft next year and ZAG and SPU are included in the list :)

https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/282063/british-airways-schedules-new-a320321neo-routes-in-s19/

The A32N is really really sexy, especially the A321 Neo with the sharklets!

https://www.airbus.com/aircraft/passenger-aircraft/a320-family/a321neo.html

Unfortunately, these planes are not very good for customers.
https://travelupdate.boardingarea.com/a320neo-seats-british-airways/

Yeah and LJU 15+ weekly flights with Wizz and Easy to other airports... It seems hard competition for BA

it sounds funny but I got bored of these Split announcements ... good that i have visited it before it turns into another souless DVB

It will be really Split's year to shine next year and I agree with predictions that it will overtake Zagreb in 2019. With so menay new flights: Ryanair, Air Transat, BA and more, as well as the new terminal, it will do fantastic.

It's possible. If they can maitnain Dubrovnik, why not Split.

Tivat is next :)

Those seats in the A320 classics look great but the slim ones in the neos look exactly like the ones in Croatia Airlines (ie uncomfortable).

DBV is not operating for large portions of the winter this year and before someone says "it is because of runway overhaul", it has nothing to do with the runway.

I doubt you will get many connecting pax from Tivat that would need to transfer through Heathrow. Plus Montenegrins also need visas for the UK. So I don't see this as major challenge to YM.

It's probably the reason BA didn't launch Skopje.

BA has to compete against Croatia Airlines, easyJet, Jet2.com, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Thomas Cook, TUI Airways and Wizz Air to London from Split.

How many weekly flights are there from Split to London in summer? There are like 10 airlines flying between the two cities.

Because there was very little connectivity so people used to transfer with these airline all over Europe. Now there is an abundance of LCCs.

true four cities is not bad.

dont worry the gastos didnt even know that there is OS.. and they stil dont know

I wonder what the rationale was of introducing these flights from City Airport.

Luke Hayhoe

This is for the rich and prestigious tourists ;)

Must be a scenic descent into London CIty Airport.

Zagreb flights are totally packed even with larger planes. Frequencies are reduced in (especially the beginning of) January and in February, a bit in March, and then from April it's full on again.

Umm guys, Montenegro Airlines already competes against easy jet on the route between Gatwick and Tivat.

Tivat is an occasional charter destination for BA so I'm not surprised they will start scheduled flights there. Lots of Brits going for holiday in Montenegro now.

Cute if you don't get stuck there due to a delay, the cuteness disappears rapidly and it stops looking efficient. If you travel from the City, i.e. you are a business traveller, it's usually really good.

We often hear that BA's service levels have dropped. Has anyone actually flown with them recently? Would be nice to to hear about their overall service first hand. Thanks.

The same as for any other holiday destination for which there is demand. For instance Malaga, Bergerac, etc.

I am surprised by Tivat, considering they fly to Dubrovnik which is very close.

When you look at the right hand side with the new route launches you see how many are to Split/Dubrovnik. But overall, I don't remember there ever being so many new routes announced to the whole of ex-Yu for next summer.

They cater for different markets.

It will be interesting to see from which airport they will start TIV.

Depends on the approach. From the east, not so much. From the south/west, yes. The best descent is at Heathrow via Docklands and Westminster. If you have a window F seat, especially if it is sunny or if it's a clear evening/night. However, that's a lot of ifs.

Could JU eventually use LCY like LO?

Could JU eventually launch LCY?

Almost 60 flights per week.

I fly with them regularly. Yes, it is not quite what it used to be, and travelling with them long haul has been a mixed bag at least in my case. Yes, there is no free food in economy on short haul any more. However, what they had served just before dropping free food in economy... it's better that they dropped that. Their pilots are good, cabin crew is normally super polite and efficient. At boarding they can sometimes mess up at Heathrow if it's busy, but in general, they are good in that respect. Delays due to their own disorganization are rare. This year I flew with Ryanair from one smaller Italian airport to Rome. If I had to do that regularly, as I have to with BA, I think I would shoot myself. Boarding was absolutely shambolic and I almost didn't make it to the flight even though I was there well on time. With BA, I survive regular short haul travel and it can even be enjoyable. Plus you don't fly from the middle nowhere (the likes of Luton and Stanstead) to the middle of nowhere. In the case of Zagreb-London route, it's one major airport to another super major airport. I am really looking forward to their new planes.

Thanks, good to get some insight.

Do they have a suitable aircraft for it?

My guess is Hethrow. Little point starting Gatwick with easy and Montenegro Airlines already flying that route.

Calling Zagrab a major airport is a bit of a stretch.

But passengers pre-clear US customs in SNN, so less waiting time on arrival to the USA.

JU has no aircraft capable landing in LCY.

Can the ATR fly from BEG to LCY?

There is a recent trip report LHR-ZAG
https://www.exyuaviation.com/2018/06/trip-report-british-airways-london.html

No they don't.

LOL. as if BA cares about Monte Airlines.

Excellent news!

Bravo Hrvatska

It cares. If dilapidated Jat Airways outperformed them on Heathrow route thanks to great interline with Virgin Atlantic at the time and better slots, don't be so sure MA could not ouperform them here.

Nice. Thank you

In the light of no-deal brexit and recent rulling of EC: Certificates issued before the withdrawal date by the competent authorities of the United Kingdom on the basis of the provisions of the Basic Regulation and its implementing rules will no longer be valid as of the withdrawal date in the EU....

What?! That's huge! Bravo, SPU!

Still, will be great to see them in SPU and ZAG!

True about ZAG, they're doing really great, especially now that Monarch is gone. Surprised they decreased ZAG, makes no sense!

No wonder, Croatia is really popular in the UK!

Let's see if Bulgarian passports will be enough after a hard Brexit...

Macedonians with BG passports can work and live in 30 more countries at least :) From Iceland to Cyprus and from Estonia to Portugal ;) ;)
Almost 30,000 Macedonians have been given BG citizenship during the last 6 years.
Time for entire ex-Yu to join the EU family by 2025!

I thought there was a deal about brexit?

Croatia sticks to its plans: luxury travellers and prestigious routes. LCY is one of them.
I will not be surprised if Croatia gets a link with SIN or HKG, also rich, high-class and financial centres.

Anonymous at 13:17
After Brexit the UK will have to deal with the E.U. as a single block and not with each member individually.
So if the UK wants visa-free travel for its citizens in continental Europe will have to give visa-free travel to every single EU nation. Bulgaria included.

yes, but not regarding aviation. And it looks like there will be Brexit with no deal. That's why Easy has registred a company in Switzerland.

Interesantno da BA nema putnika za odrzavanje linije za Beograd. A tako plodni politicki i privredni odnosi. Bas za cudjenje za neobavestene...

ATR: Probably with 12 passengers as max payload

U2 will also transition its UK registrations to Austrian ones to secure EU passporting rights and free movement, open skies, etc., hence the birth of easyJet Europe.

BA says LCY-SPU route will be popular for passengers who are joining a cruise ship. Search for mid to large cruise ships using Split as a port of departure returns nought. What is BA talking about?

the INI troll is sunstoppable

Bravo London! Bravo Split!

rather in 2099 if at all

By souless do you mean abandoning its character in favor of what they think tourists want? If so, I have seen that way to often in many different places in Europe and outside of it. Selling Chinese made trinkets and magnets with the city name stamped on it, having the same monotonous menus in restaurants catering to tourists and not authentic at all, etc. If that is what you mean I think it is coming anyways regardless of these new flights.

It is funny that tourists come to these places and make them famous based on authenticity and then the places think they need to change everything in order to satisfy them. Then the same tourists find the next "authentic" place and the cycle continues.

They even decreased it after OU reduced its ops. I guess the market isn't that big.

totally agree but its just wrong.

you sound like the INI troll

So, the planes are packed with whom exactly? And they are, trust me.

You said it yourself : Split is not departure point for mid and large cruise ships. But there are dozen marines around Split which are home to HUNDREDS, maybe even thousands of smaller sailing ships and yachts, used to cruise Adriatic mostly or only, chartered by richer clientelle, precisely the one which can afford legacy carriers in combination with expensive "business" airports. And the fact is that structure of tourists is changing, and quality of product/offer in Croatia increasing, and the introduction of this service proves it.

Kakvi su odnosi Srbije i UK može se reći da imamo dobar broj letova 9pw JU BEG-LHR i 3-4pw W6 BEG-LTN

jedan Makedonac pilot sa kim sam razgovarao prije tri mjeseca objasnio mi je da samo nekoliko aviona visokih performansi-Embraer 170/190,Bombardier dash Q400,Boeing717-200 i neke druge putnicke avione imaju certifikat i mogucnost za poljetanje i sljetanje na London City airport kad imaju putnike iznad 81% kapaciteta i kad je vrijeme dobro.

Većina avio kompanija u Europi nemaju dovoljno snažan avion za Sljetanje i poljetanje na London-City aerodrom.jedino British Airlines,Tui Airline dok Croatia Airlines ima 1 avion koji ima certifikat za City.