Lufthansa inaugurated flights to Montenegro yesterday with the launch of its seasonal service between Munich and Tivat, which is being followed up this afternoon by flights from Frankfurt to the coastal city. The head of operator Airports of Montenegro, Danilo Orlandić, said the new services were "just the beginning" of its cooperation with the German carrier. "Ticket sales for both routes are performing very well, which justifies their launch. We negotiated for a long time and I am certain this is just the beginning of a successful partnership. We are continuing with talks which, I hope, will result in the introduction of new routes", Mr Orlandić said.
Lufthansa's Head of Sales for Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe, Peter Pullem, noted, "Since Montenegro is an important market for us, Lufthansa has decided to introduce two new routes to Tivat, linking it with both our hubs - Frankfurt and Munich. We are very proud to start flights to Montenegro, giving locals the opportunity to transfer onto our global network inside the Lufthansa Group". The new services to Tivat mark the first time Lufthansa has operated flights to Montenegro with its own metal. Other Lufthansa Group member airlines which maintain services to the country include Brussels Airlines from the Belgian capital to Tivat, Eurowings from Dusseldorf to Tivat, and Austrian Airlines from Vienna to Podgorica.
Lufthansa's operations to Tivat will be maintained once per week from both Munich and Frankfurt, with its 136-seat Airbus A319 aircraft. The airline is expanding its operations across the former Yugoslavia this summer and will also introduce a seasonal one weekly service from Frankfurt to Rijeka on May 25. The German carrier also commenced an extra seven weekly flights to Belgrade this week with an additional daily service between Munich and the Serbian capital, totalling three daily flights. The airline will maintain the same number of services as last summer to its other destinations in the former Yugoslavia including Zagreb, Sarajevo, Dubrovnik, Split, Pula and Zadar.
Montenegro keeps winning!
ReplyDeleteJoining NATO and eventually joining the EU will increase air traffic tremendously.
Montenegro's market will primarily continue growing as the tourism industry does.
DeleteI hope the new routes they mentioj will be Munich and Frankfurt to Podgorica.
ReplyDeleteHope so but it would be big competition to Montenegro Airlines on Frankfurt route.
DeleteWhich German cities does Montenegro fly to?
DeleteFrom Podgorica to Frankfurt and from Tivat to Leipzig, Munich an Hanover from this year. They have increased frequencies to German cities.
DeleteGermany is obviously a growing market. Enough space for LH and YM.
DeleteHopefully Montenegrins manage to do something we couldn't with JU, and bring Montenegro airlines into Star Alliance and partnerships with Lufthansa.
DeleteMGX does not have a codeshare with a single star alliance member.
Delete'The German carrier also commenced an extra seven weekly flights to Belgrade this week with an additional daily service between Munich and the Serbian capital, totalling three daily flights.'
ReplyDeleteI think Lufthansa generally does well in Serbia, the extra flight was scheduled as A319 from the start but so far most flights have been on the A320. Hopefully Air France does well in BEG like Transavia so that Star Alliance's grip on Belgrade is slightly loosened.
Actually both alliances are doing extremely well.
DeleteThat is true but I think Star Alliance still dominates in BEG so any additional competition is more than welcome. Would be nice to get KL back some time in the future.
DeleteSubtle ways Nemjee is working against Air Serbia. One hour radius around AMS is well covered by Wizz, Air Serbia and Transavia.
DeleteWith LH now flying thrice daily to BEG from MUC I wonder why AS didn't/doesn't launch their own daily flight to MUC. Since there is demand between BEG & MUC.
DeleteAnon 16.17
DeleteWhat are you going on about? How exactly am I 'working' against JU? You do realize that AF succeeding in BEG actually suits JU since connectivity is considerably improved in Paris?
Charlie, roughly 70% of LH's passengers on MUC-BEG are connecting onwards. I think JU knows that p2p demand is taken care of by both Wizz Air and Lufthansa.
Nemjee, I still think there is room for three weekly flights by AS.
DeleteI think it would have to be more than 3 weekly since JU would have to rely on transfers to make this work, the same way LH relies on connecting passengers in order to make BEG-MUC work three times a day.
DeleteNice. Still waiting for them to start flights to Ljubljana, Pristina and Skopje. Is there any possibility?
ReplyDeleteThey did fly to Skopje a long time ago but I don't think they will be returning soon.
Delete11 german Wizz routes from SKP, Lufti is not amused
Deleteand they let JP do it for them in LJU&PRN
DeleteThat is exactly what JU and YM should try to secure for themselves
DeleteBut maybe at least seasonal OHD-FRA or/and OHD-MUC would work. From OHD Wizz flies just to Dortmund and Memmingen, so still Lufthansa can come.
Delete@ 9.51
DeleteI wish LH, LX and OS would fly to LJU, would provide for better and more reliable service than JP.
@ 10.13
DeleteI think it could work as well. At once per week with an A319. Hope they consider it.
LX has already failed on LJU route.
Delete^they failed on most ex-Yu routes.
DeletePeople forget that Ex-Yu is a very cost sensitive market. There is a greater chance of seeing Eurowings more in the region (which we already are to some extent).
DeleteWell done Tivat. Lufthansa doesn't fly to much larger markets in the region so this is really a win for them.
ReplyDeleteTrue. I think Airports of Montenegro should also be commended for attracting such a major airline.
DeleteStar Alliance is starting to build a nice presence in Montenegro - Turkish, Austrian, Adria, Aegean, LOT, Brussels Airlines, now Lufthansa.
ReplyDeleteStill a few missing in my opinion - Swiss, SAS and Croatia Airlines.
DeleteHopefully in 2020 they start Podgorica too.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there is a market. Even this flight to TIV doesn't connect to anything, it's basically a summer tourist flight.
DeleteAt one per week it was unlikely to think they were targeting transfers.
DeleteSo Macedonia became the only country in South East Europe without direct flights to Munich or Frankfurt?! Sad!! Hope this will change soon!
ReplyDeleteDid Eurowings plan to fly to SKP from MUC?
DeleteOHD is more likely then SKP. as a leisure route one weekly
Delete@9.35
DeleteYes it did but and ticket sales started too but they were suspended.
Eurowings is starting Ohrid this year though from Stuttgart and Dusseldorf
https://www.exyuaviation.com/p/eurowings-stuttgart-ohrid.html
https://www.exyuaviation.com/p/eurowings-dusseldorf-ohrid.html
LH probably thought EW's cost would make it easier to get transfer passengers with Wizz almost-monopoly there. I guess the market isn't that big for another transfer airline.
DeleteIt seems to me that current OS capacity to SKP is enough for LH group.
DeleteBoth flights are just once per week and the timing of the flights show its targeting leisure P2P passengers
ReplyDeleteNice work Tivat!
ReplyDeleteHope they extend them to year round.
ReplyDeleteHighly unlikely. But maybe they start Podgorica.
DeleteThey hve meanwhile a very attractive hotel infrastructure on their coast, no wonder it finds now the attention of more and more airlines. And more 4-5 star hotels are to come, so MNE coupled with their stunning landscapes is definitely worth a visit
DeleteExcellent news for the airport and passengers.
ReplyDeleteGood job LH and Montenegro, Keep going LH many destinations in Balkan miss you!
ReplyDeleteNext I hope Lufthansa to/from Pristina PRN possibly before or after visa liberalization approves will be awesome more traffic and more profit.
+1
DeleteHas LH flown to PRN in the past?
DeleteBravo Germany!
ReplyDeleteIn 2020 they could launch Podgorica or at least increase frequencies to TIV.
ReplyDeleteIt appears both pilots on the inaugural flight were captains. Is it because of a complex landing procedure at TIV?
ReplyDeleteYes,thats correct. Only 20 CPTs will fly TIV during S19.
DeleteAnyone know the loads on tge first flights?
ReplyDeleteWhat about Swiss? I'm surprised they don't fly to TGD.
ReplyDeleteThey did through Edelweiss when Swiss started that disastrous EX-Yu expansion which failed miserably. Podgorica was discontinued along with all the other routes.
DeleteInterestingly enough, Montenegro is now promoting itself for the richer people. The government is willing to give citizenship for investors who do business in the country.
ReplyDeleteThe number of millionaires is also increasing:
https://www.telegraf.rs/english/2947804-montenegro-has-64-millionaires-this-is-how-much-money-the-riches-citizen-has
It is now also considered the new French Riviera of the Balkans. Places like St. Stefan, Budva, etc.
The country will benefit significantly if it joins EU and Nato.
TGD is already becoming more and more of an EU capital, connected to more destinations. CDG, 2 London aiports, as well.
W6 is definitely missing flights from its UK base in LTN.
Despite being small there is a market in Montenegro and it's nice to see that potential finally being realised.
DeleteBut there is still a lot of untapped tourism potential in Montenegro so I think over time we will see more and more airlines start flights.
DeleteThis is fantastic news for Tivat. I don't know what's happening but the airport has seen so many new airlines announce flights in the last year.
ReplyDeleteIt is because of growing demand
DeleteI never doubted Tivat
DeleteFR starting TIV from JUNE. Destination: POZ/EPPO.
ReplyDelete