Eurowings to end nine EX-YU routes


Lufthansa subsidiary Eurowings will discontinue flights from several cities to the former Yugoslavia this summer season. Most of the routes were maintained on a seasonal basis. The low cost carrier will terminate operations from Stuttgart to Ohrid and Tivat, from Berlin to Zagreb and Pula, from Dusseldorf to Zagreb and Ohrid, from Cologne to Osijek, from Hanover to Rijeka and from Salzburg to Split. Furthermore, the carrier will significantly reduce capacity on flights to Mostar. Services between Stuttgart and Mostar, which were operated by the 144-seat Airbus A319 aircraft last year will now be maintained with the seventy-seat Dash 8 Q400 equipment. On the other hand, flights from Dusseldorf to Mostar have been reduced from two to one per week on board the A319. They have been scheduled to run only until the end of August.

As a result of the cancellations, Eurowings will withdraw from the Macedonian market after only one season. The carrier will also halve its operations to Zagreb, Osijek and Tivat. Eurowings is in the process of consolidating its operations in an attempt to return to profitability by next year. The airline is aiming to slash costs by 15% over the next three years. However, the carrier’s shorthaul business is likely to face further challenges and price competition from Ryanair, Wizz Air and easyJet. Furthermore, Eurowings’ long haul operations are expected to be replaced by a new brand during 2020, most likely to be known as Edelwings since the name Eurowings is negatively perceived by many passengers due to various irregularities.

For the 2020 summer season, Eurowings has scheduled a single new route to the former Yugoslavia, with the airline to launch flights from Stuttgart to Belgrade on May 21. The carrier has also been selected to operate landmark flights between Belgrade and Pristina, which are expected to commence during the summer of 2020, although they are yet to be scheduled and put on sale. Last Saturday, the low cost carrier operated its last service between its base in Pristina and Vienna. The route’s termination came as a result of strong competition from Wizz Air, which launched the same service last month.




Comments

  1. Anonymous09:02

    hahahhaha Tra la la - Airlines!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous09:03

    They don't seem to have a strategy in place for ex-Yu markets.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:08

      They use trial and error.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:03

    It’s not only 9 .... all destinations from MUC are suspended, Nürnberg Split an Hannover Dubrovnik as well

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:05

      Didn't someone mention that they are cutting regular flights to PRN as well?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:07

      ^ Someone did mention it but it was not true or at least they have scheduled them since. Munich and Frankfurt were in question.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:43

      they seemed to have put them back on sale. 3 weekly BUT imagine PRN-FRA cost 320€ one way!!

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:41

      Yes just checked. Fares are crazy. Return tickets over 600 euros.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous13:38

      EW is hiring in Kosovo, in partnership with EuroKoha, planning to base a second A320

      Delete
    6. Anonymous14:07

      320€ is their highest class fare. They are closing the fare classes as their base in PRN will close. They do not want anyone to book. Only remaining destinations will be HAJ and DUS.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:04

    Quite bad news for Mostar. One route down to 1 per week and the other downgraded to Q400. The worst part is they are getting paid for these flights.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:21

      They got a raw deal.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:38

      +1
      Not only are they paying them good money but they didn't get year long flights, they didn't get any frequency increase (instead they got frequency cut) and they didn't get any capacity growth.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:49

      This sounds bit strange to me, because I flew OMO-DUS last august on A319, and not only was the plane almost completely full (maybe 5 empty seats), but the ticket price wasn't that cheap either, so I don't think they were loosing money on it.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:04

    Да поновим - дилетанти каквих нема.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous09:05

    What I find especially interesting is that even though they are cutting flights left and right they have decided to launch BEG from STR where they will not offer any connections. So odd.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous09:05

    I am shocked they failed on TXL-ZAG.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:09

      Zagreb lost connection with Berlin, though easyJet will start it soon for sure

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:11

      easyJet already said ZAG is too expensive for them.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:12

      They actually did not fail on the route. ZAG was the last to be cancelled. It was one of the few profitable ex TXL. LHR, CDG and all other got cancelled. They are withdrawing from Berlin, focussing on intra German routes that are served mostly from their other bases. In summer when business demand goes back they manage to fly a few tourist cities on weekends.

      But EW is in deep trouble seeking its strategy. germanwings will be flying for LH out of MUC withdrawing there completely. They will also completely withdraw from Vienna where they will fly for OS in a (hopeless?) fight with Wizz and Lauda. Hanover s being closed too.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:16

      EW will still fly to six destinations from Berlin. If ZAG was truly profitable for them they would have kept it as a W pattern. Obviously profits were not there to warrant the continuation of operations there.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:20

      Really Anon 9:16: I would assume them to have pulled the plug earlier than 15 years afer the service launched. Strange that that is all happening when they decide to withdraw from Berlin.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:51

      They are not withdrawing from Berlin, they are merely closing down the base. They can still operate W pattern flights to profitable destinations.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:46

      ... or Easy could upgrade LJU service :)

      Delete
    8. Anonymous11:25

      @ Anon 09:51

      That is why they are not flying anywhere in W Pattern :D

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:05

    W6 effect. They really kicked EW arse.
    EW never took ex-YU seriously. When you start with their pathetic Facebook destination survey to those extremely short route duration.
    Such a pity, knowing it comes from LH .
    VY and HV for example are far more serious LCC divisions of their mother airlines. IB and AF/KL respectively.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:10

      But many of these routes did not have direct competition from Wizz Air. Like Zagreb to Berlin or Dusseldorf.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:27

      You really think that STR-BEG was kept for 2 months thought a few years to now become the pearl in their destination network? EW is clueless. They try and fail.

      They are not cancelling ZAG from DUS and TXl because they have competition. They are closing TXL and returning 40 aircraft. It is not so hard to understand if you are really involved with aviation.

      But hey you would probalby cancel Lyon ex DUS in favour of keeping ZAG which is flown daily ex CGN when you know that there is no connecetion to LYS ex NRW.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:52

      So basically EW is clueless for launching BEG while somehow it's a wise business decision to suspend ZAG. Sure, interesting rationale. Just admit it, ZAG underperformed from DUS and TXL, simple as that.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:13

      STR will be launched to compete with FKB. A growing gasto destination...

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:50

      Yes BEG was flown for a few years 2 months a year with low occupancy and cancelled because it was totally unprofitable. Now in 2020 they realized how important BEG is and launch it 4 times a week. Zag has been flown for the past 15 years ex TXL and now they realize that they almost bankrupt because of that route.

      Is that your rationale? I just wonder how long that adventure will last. Then we can talk about EWs cluelessness.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous12:08

      Well the market to BEG is obviously there, I mean there is JU with six weekly flights and Wizz Air with (now) three weekly, so in total 9. EW probably thinks they can stimulate some passengers not to fly out of FKB by going from STR.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous14:09

      Oh that must be radical new thinking of EW after the cancelled the flights because of poor loads before.

      Delete
  9. Eurowings is competing with LCCs while it has a cost base that is higher than most full service carriers in Europe.
    So it is logical that they are struggling in every market they operate, not just exyu.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous09:10

    The most cancellations are related to the airports in Croatia

    TXL-ZAG
    TXL-PUY
    DUS-ZAG
    CGN-OSI
    HAJ-RJK
    SZG-SPU

    It means they were growing too fast in Croatia and now the results are lower than expected.



    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:27

      Actually no.
      Eurowings is cutting flights everywhere in Europe.
      They are in trouble and they are trying to reduce losses.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:45

      It is also possible that they didný apply or did not get the udruzenjo oglasavanje tender.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:45

      What I mean that they got less assistance than in the previous years while more went to other airlines.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:52

      This was the list for ex Yugoslavia.

      So in ex-Yu EW cuts the most in Croatia. Sorry, but it is the fact.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:54

      Well they flew the most to Croatia (and still do). In other countries they have 2 routes.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:06

      What was the point of the Hamburg-Zagreb flights? I always found these type of Eurowings routes with 8 flights in total per season complete nonsense.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:22

      Not even one ex-Yu country has so long sea coast - the reason for so many flights to Croatia. Nothing more.

      And even with that fact 3 EW routes got cancelled from Adriatic coast (TXL-PUY, HAJ-RJK, SZG-SPU) and all to rich German / Austrian markets.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous10:26

      Well I'm not here to defend the Croatian market but the airline is trying to get their finances in order and there is massive competition on Germany-coastal Croatian markets. Also, the Croatian market is growing quite strongly (compare 2019 vs 2019 figures), so it certainly isn't a lack in demand that is causing them to suspend the flights.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous10:28

      I think from HAM they were trying to expand to destinations nor already served by Easyjet.
      Naturally most weren't served because demand wasn't there in a year round base.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous10:51

      Croatian market on the coast is growing. It is correct. Therefore only low frequency routes have been cancelled.

      Croatian market on the continent is in trouble. Losing the connection from ZAG to German capital is not sign of good ZAG market

      Delete
    11. Anonymous10:54

      Exactly Anon 10:22. Spain, Greece and Italy have longer coasts and that is their main advantage. Otherwise no one would be going there. The longer the coast the more passengers. That is also the reason with UK- long coast. People go to coast.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous12:11

      Spain capital airport
      MAD = 61,734,037 mil passengers in 2019

      Italy capital airport
      FCO = 42,995,119 mil passengers in 2019

      Greece capital airport
      ATH = 24,135,736 mil passengers in 2019


      Croatia capital airport
      ZAG = 3,435,531 mil passengers in 2019

      You really found the countries to compare to.

      The people from Croatian continent and especially from Slavonija region massively leave their country mostly towards western European countries. Couple of days ago we had a report here of a person driving through eastern Slavonija like through the desert.

      And you still believe that Croatian sea coast is not the biggest magnet for tourists?

      They are simply crazy about Gradiska, Pozega, Vinkovci and Bjelovar.

      Delete
    13. Anonymous12:22

      I don't understand the people saying that Adriatic coast is not actually one of the biggest reasons for tourist visit.

      Number of passengers on coastal airports in Croatia in 2019
      8.010.606

      Number of passengers on non-coastal airports in Croatia in 2019
      3.481.909

      Delete
    14. Anonymous13:21

      Anon 12.11.

      So you are suggesting ZAG should have 60 million passengers?

      Are you aware that Spain has 12x the population of Croatia? Tell me what is a reasonable number of passengers you would expect to have. I mean everyone here is saying it should at least have 10 million passengers. Tell me one country the population size of Croatia that has a single airport of 10 million.

      Delete
    15. Anonymous14:51

      Anon @12:11
      ATH in 2019 had 25,574,030 pax.
      What you wrote was the 2018 results.

      Delete
    16. Anonymous16:00

      @anon 13:21

      I was not the one who put Croatia in the same basket with Greece, Spain and Italy. You mentioned them. I just showed you how far you were from the reality.

      Do you understand that ZAG added in last 10 years only 1.370.000 passengery while

      (continental airports like ZAG)
      SOF added 4.00 million
      BEG added 3,77 million
      TIA added 2.00 million

      Croatian Adriatic coast airports added in last 10 years

      SPU 2,2 million
      DBV 1,8 million
      ZAD 600.000 (or 3 times more!)

      And you are saying ironically that people travel only to the coast.

      Well, yes, most of the tourists that fly to Croatia travel mostly to the Croatian coast and having such a long and warm coast puts Croatia in much more favourable position comparing it to all ex-yu countries except maybe Montenegro. Therefore it is not realistic to compare number of passengers in countries of the region but to compare number of passengers in each of the airports.

      Now you see why EW has the most frequencies to Croatia.






      Delete
    17. Anonymous19:01

      children

      Delete
    18. Annon 13;21
      Cyprus pop. 935.000 LCA 8,2 mil pax
      Greece pop. 10.8 mil ATH 25 mil pax

      Pro rated ZAG should be close to 10 mil if you look things from this perspective..

      Delete
    19. Anonymous07:51

      @dassal

      +100

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:16

    That's quite unfortunate. Less options.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:31

      Other routes like STR-SPU are bein increased from 6 to 9 weekly.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:18

    And here I was hoping they might actually launch SKP.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:19

      And compete against Wizz? No chance.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:52

      Well remember a few years ago they started selling tickets to Skopje and then discontinues sales.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:20

    "Edelwings"?? Wtf?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:36

      The airline has changed its brand so many times. This would be the third. First they were Germanwings.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:19

      Brand name Eurowings is the best 5 star.

      Edelwings sound like a village name! no one knows sik name

      Delete
    3. Anonymous07:26

      I must say the Admin mixed something up.

      Edelwings is only an LH-internal nick name for the project that is supposed to find a new brand name and strategy for Eurowings leisure long haul ops.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:27

    :(

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous09:32

    No direction and no strategy.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous09:33

    And just two years ago they were expanding like crazy in the region. Sad.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:48

      Obviously it was not sustainable.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous09:36

    I hope they manage to overcome their issues and return to growth soon.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous09:39

    Weren't there rumors at one point they wanted to open a base in ZAG?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:47

      They were considering it last year. But the government intervened to protect OU.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:11

      Shame. To me it looked as if they were the one LCC that would expand in ZAG.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:22

      So what's the LCC situation in ZAG now? Who is left and with how many flights?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:24

      There is Eurowings, Vueling and Norwegian. Norwegian only flies for 2 months from Copenhagen though. Vueling also flies only during summer.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous13:23

      Their Pristina base is being closed as well. Flights will only operate to DUS and HAJ.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous13:23

      ^ not true.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous09:40

    And on many routes that are not being suspended they are reducing frequnecies.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous09:40

    Is that Croatian guy still their route manager?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:49

      Yes. Network development manager.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:22

      Shows that you shouldn't be emotional when deciding where to fly.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:40

      Yeah right. He certainly wasn't the only one making the decisions and certainly had to base those decisions on some actual figures for them to be approved.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:56

      Given today's news I highly doubt it lol

      Delete
  21. Anonymous09:50

    I have never flown them. What are they like as an airline? Service wise? Typical LCC or more hybrid?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:39

      They are a typical LCC but their costs are much higher than traditional LCCs. Hence they are losing money and cutting routes.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous07:28

      They are one of the better LCCs - I'd compare them to Easyjet.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous09:50

    Terrible.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous09:52

    They are cutting also LJU route? Oh wait...

    ReplyDelete
  24. JU520 BEGLAX09:56

    Fm German- to Eurowings and now another name change... Edelwings does not really sounds convincing, especially since it's German/English in one word

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:59

      I read they based it on Edelweiss since that subsidiary is doing well for them. But it might not be the final name. It's a working title :D

      Delete
    2. Anonymous07:30

      It is just a made up name of staff to mock the low cost long haul project.

      Delete
  25. Anonymous10:04

    LCC flying on a Dash8 is crazy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:57

      DUS-ZAG is a two hour flight on the DASH :D But they are leaving the fleet leaving EW with 20 planes less.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous07:32

      I thought I read the Dashes leave EW only next year in 2021.

      Delete
  26. Anonymous10:05

    Maybe they start LJU?

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous10:08

    Well EW has to survive somehow. Their losses are huge.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous10:09

    Considering they are putting 30 planes out of service, not surprising really.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Anonymous10:10

    If any of these were profitable then someone else will step in.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:18

      Could we see Wizz Air launch any of these flights?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:18

      Wizz Air does not fly to main airports.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:19

      If they were profitable they wouldn't be ending them.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:33

      Yep, only 60-70 flights a day to MAD, BCN, LGW, FRA, CGN, SXF, OSL, GLA, FCO, TLV, MXP, VKO, LED, NCE, EDI, LIS, GVA, HAM, ORY, BRU and the likes.

      Delete
  30. Anonymous10:18

    Good news mostly for Croatia Airlines, bad for consumers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:21

      I don't see how. They didn't compete on most of these routes.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous07:34

      More transfers via FRA MUC or VIE etc

      Delete
  31. Anonymous10:19

    I'm surprised some of these didn't work out for them.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Anonymous10:20

    The Berlin-Zagreb suspension is good for LJU-SXF route.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. EW keeps RJK-TXL, so people from ZAG can use that one as well. It's one hour longer by car from downtown Zagreb than to Pleso.

      Delete
  33. Last summer in July and September I had 2x flights split-nuremberg and 3x Salzburg- Split. The plane in every flight was almost empty 15-20 passengers, specially Split Nuremberg in July

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:04

      Really? Nice. I believe you :)

      Delete
  34. Anonymous11:40

    LLC are not trustworthy.

    Legacy airlines FTW.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:13

      Because legacy carriers never cancel any routes, right?

      Delete
  35. Anonymous17:40

    EW should have tried long-haul LCC from routes with higher demand:

    PRN-JFK
    ZAG-JFK
    SKP-YYZ
    DBV-EWR

    ReplyDelete
  36. they could enter year around VIE-LJU?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous07:36

      OS would lobby against it regarding KLU. No chance.

      Delete
  37. Eurowing should stop their fight to Mauritius also because service is very disappoint you fight and staff 12h which you have to pay for water ,coffee ,tea some food and snack another fight gave water n other drink n snack for free stop go to Mauritius with shit airlines in the world

    ReplyDelete

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