Airports of Montenegro, the operator of Podgorica and Tivat airports, has held talks with a number of airlines over the introduction of new routes. The latest round of meetings took place this week. General Manager, Danilo Orlandić, held talks with Air Serbia's former CEO Dane Kondić, who now serves as Saudi Arabian Airlines' Chief Commercial Officer. The two discussed the potential for the introduction of flights between the two countries. This will soon be followed up by talks with Saudi low cost airline Flynas. The budget carrier will launch its first destination in the former Yugoslavia on June 2, when it introduces services between Riyadh and Sarajevo.
As previously reported, the CEO of hybrid carrier Flydubai, Ghaith Al Ghaith, met with Mr Orlandić earlier this week to discuss their future cooperation. Mr Orlandić noted that the two held talks over upgrading the airline's seasonal summer service between Dubai and Tivat to year-round operations. This summer, Flydubai plans to operate two weekly flights on the route from mid-June until early September. The service is codeshared by Emirates. Talks are also soon to take place between Airports of Montenegro and Kuwait Airways. The Kuwaiti carrier has limited coverage in the region but at one point served Sarajevo. "We continue to improve our cooperation with airlines which have been serving our airports for years, however, we are also initiating contact with new carriers that have not flown to Montenegro in the past", Mr Orlandić said recently.
Over the past quarter, Podgorica and Tivat airports have also held talks with a number of European carriers, including Ryanair, which will continue to expand its operations to the Montenegrin capital next month with the introduction of flights from Barcelona. Since the start of the year, Laudamotion and Lufthansa have commenced services to the country. During the first quarter, Montenegro's two airports handled a combined total of 258.424 passengers, up 7.3%. Of those, 193.581 were welcomed at Podgorica Airport and 64.843 travellers at Tivat Airport. The two are expected to handle a combined total of 2.6 million passengers by year's end. During the current quarter and the first half of the 2019 summer season, Montenegro will see a 9.7% increase in airline seat capacity, making it the eleventh fastest growing market in Europe.
Good stuff. Well done CG!
ReplyDeleteWould there really be demand between Saudi Arabia and Montenegro?
ReplyDeleteTourists.
DeleteDo Saudis need visas to enter Montenegro?
DeleteYes
DeleteThey need a visa for every single European country except Belarus.
DeleteThat's because they require visas for anyone to visit Saudi Arabia and you can't visit touristically, only for business.
DeleteLike someone said the other day, the Sheikh of Dubai and chairman of EK/Flydubai is the owner of Porto Montenegro in Tivat so I wouldn't be surprised at all if these flights go year round.
ReplyDeleteGood. Tivat benefits from it.
DeleteDiverse bunch of airlines. Good luck
ReplyDeleteex-Yu airports should now use the fact that Dane is CCO of Saudia to get some flights :D
ReplyDeleteOh and same with Gulf Air and Kucko.
DeleteThey won't open any routes that are not economically viable.
DeleteThey only did that at their native airlines :D
DeleteImpressive results and I like that they are very proactive in reaching out to foreign airlines. A very different situation to just a couple of year ago.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteMontenegro is getting more and more tourists each year so my guess is that passenger numbers and interest in the country will keep growing.
DeleteAfter Ryanair adds Barcelona, what are the prospects of the opening another new route? Which destinations would be feasible?
ReplyDeleteI hope FR finally break the JU-YM duopoly and launch TGD-BEG. This is one of the busiest routes in the Balkans.
DeleteIt can't happen as FR can fly only between EU contries or non EU to EU country.
DeleteThey should start GOT-TGD. They will have lots of passengers
DeleteTrue, considering the large number of people from that country residing in western Sweden.
DeleteFRA-TGD would work too.
DeleteIf not them then Wizz Air.
DeleteNot sure airport operator would go after that route. If you notice, no airline is opening any route which is in direct competition with YM.
DeleteSo they are going after Gulf legacy airlines
ReplyDeleteOut of all the Gulf airlines, I think they would have most luck attracting Qatar Airways, at least seasonally to Tivat.
DeleteAgree!
DeleteIt's quite interesting how Barcelona is becoming more connected to more and more ex-Yu capitals.
ReplyDeleteZAG, SKP, BEG and now TGD.
The other quite interesting part is that the flights will be operated twice weekly with a very convenient schedule every Wednesday and Sunday:
BCN-TGD 10:55 13:20 4
TGD-BCN 13:45 16:10 4
BCN-TGD 11:45 14:10 7
TGD-BCN 14:35 17:00 7
Perfect for a weekend visit. Plus weather in Barcelona is sometimes quite good even in December and January.
Lets see if MAD will be connected, too.
They also have an excellent schedule on the new Bologna-Podgorica flights they launched. Excellent for city break. Evening departure on a Friday and early return on Monday so you can make it to work.
DeleteIt's Impressive that BCN it is operated on a year-round basis. It will be good as passengers who were using DBV in the past can fly for less money via TGD now.
DeleteBCN itself is becoming slowly year-round destination because it's not only about beach. As long as there is good weather, there are plenty of things to see and do even in winter. Gaudi, Park Guell, Gothic District, Montjuic+Pl. España, Barceloneta and much, much more.
DeleteSpaniards themselves started visiting the Balkans as they are still affordable for them.
I am pretty sure MAD can work out quite well for FR if they decide to launch MAD-TGD.
@12.01
DeleteBologna flights are also used by Albanian diaspora quite a lot.
Excellent news for Podgorica. Nice to see.
ReplyDeleteTivat too
DeleteBad news for YM!
ReplyDeleteIndeed. But they had years without serious competition and should have adapted on time.
DeleteHow Saudi, Nasair and Kuwait Airways bad news for YM?
DeleteI was talking about competition in general. The article doesn't mention only Arab airlines.
DeleteRyanair is building a nice little network in Podgorica. So refreshing to see Podgorica growing so quickly.
ReplyDeleteYep and their subsidiary Laudamotion is going year round on the Sttutgart-Podgorica route.
DeleteWould love for them to start Vienna but it ain't gonna happen because airport won't create direct competition for Montenegro Airlines.
DeleteWith the growth in traffic TGD and TIV will have to expand soon.
ReplyDeleteThey will expand Podgorica soon
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2019/04/podgorica-airport-plans-terminal.html
How many passengers could we expect at TGD this year?
ReplyDeleteBravo CG.
ReplyDeleteAnd YM introduced Tivat - Hannocer just the other day :)
ReplyDeleteWhat were the loads like?
DeleteI hope Air France considers introducing wither Podgorica or Tivat, at least seasonally. French tourists are the fourth biggest visitors to MNE.
ReplyDeleteLol.
DeleteWhat?
DeleteConsidering Lufthansa started flights this summer to Tivat, Air France is possible as well in the future.
DeleteI have a total crazy and excentric idea for Saudia and Flynas, Kuwait Airways :
ReplyDeleteWhy not try to fly to that place ...
hmmm i think its name begins with B and ends with E !
Barajevoe ???
DeleteYou nailed it . Beside of Sarajevo they never look.
DeleteI guess a lot of this activity in attracting airlines has to do with upcoming concession of the airports.
ReplyDeleteWondering how much longer will it be tolerated for YM to make occasional payments to Airports of Montenegro for the services they receive there. They have huge debts there.
ReplyDeleteI know, politics in the Balkans ... It's not always what you know, but who you know ...
How much do they owe to the airports?
DeleteDidn't they manage to reach some deal where YM repays debt in instalments?
Delete