Ryanair plans further growth in Podgorica


Ryanair has become the fastest growing airline in Podgorica but has plans to add more destinations from the city in the future. The carrier has already announced the launch of new services from Poznan, Krakow and Dublin to the Montenegrin capital, with the latter two to run on a year-round basis. “We are convinced that the three new routes we have secured together with Ryanair will be successful”, the General Manager of operator Airport of Montenegro, Danilo Orlandić, said. He added that the low cost carrier handled 172.135 passengers on its flights to and from Podgorica during the January - November [2019] period, representing an increase of 25% compared to the same period in 2018.

Commenting on its cooperation with Ryanair, Mr Orlandić said, “This low cost carrier is an important partner for us. We are particularly delighted that they have a very high average cabin load factor on flights to Montenegro. This enables us to constantly improve our traditionally good ties”. Ryanair has become the third largest in terms of offered capacity in Montenegro behind only the national carrier and Air Serbia. Furthermore, it accounts for 6% of all passengers handled in Podgorica, with the Serbian national airline holding a 9% passenger share and Montenegro Airlines 24%. Ryanair launched operations to the Montenegrin capital in the summer of 2013 following two years of negotiations with the government.

The airline will discontinue flights from Stockholm Skavtsa to Podgorica later this year due to the closure of its base. “The closure of this base is purely the result of delays with the delivery of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. This is the only reason the carrier opted for such a drastic measure”, Mr Orlandić noted. For its part, Ryanair said, "We carried more than 175.000 customers through Podgorica Airport in 2019. Our flights on this market continue to perform strongly”. Services from Malta to Podgorica are seen as a potential new route for Ryanair or its Malta Air subsidiary. The Montenegrin Minister for Sustainable Development and Tourism, Pavle Radulović, recently said steps were being taken for flights to be launched between the two countries.




Comments

  1. Anonymous09:03

    TGD-DUB is actually bad news for OU's ZAG-DUB flights. Let's see how they react to this, hopefully by upping frequencies on the route.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:02

      Why would it be bad news? Did people really go by bus from Podgorica to Zagreb just to catch Croatia Airlines' seasonal Dublin flight?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:07

      Ironically, Ryanair will fly year round between Podgorica and Dublin.

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    3. Anonymous09:12

      Non sense coment Anon 09.03. Ryan has both flights DUB-SPU and DUB-DBK in a summertimetable as well

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    4. Anonymous09:13

      Because OU plans to fly to TGD from ZAG and DUB was the only route they could be competitive compared to BEG and VIE. Neither one offers DUB flights. Maybe this puts ZAG-TGD into jeopardy.

      Delete
    5. @An.09.12
      DBK was ICAO code for Dubrovnik Airline, IATA code for Dubrovnik is DBV. Agree with other parts of post

      Delete
    6. Anonymous12:41

      Well FR could always launch TGD-ZAG :D

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:03

    6% market share already?? Wow! FR seem to be growing like crazy in BiH. Definitely, bad news for JU as this will reduce their market share.
    2 more FR destinations and they become second!

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:05

      It is Montenegro not BiH...

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    2. Anonymous09:14

      won't it primarily reduce OS' marketshare since they are the ones not growing there?

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    3. Anonymous09:25

      Not sure about OS but FR is neck to neck with JU meaning that there is a fierce competition on the Berlin, Barcelona and STR routes.

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    4. Anonymous09:38

      OS flies to all those destinations and they have fewer flights to TGD. Not to mention that soon they will have to increase the plane from Q400 to E95 so their costs will considerably increase. Bad news for OS, really bad.

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    5. Anonymous18:39

      The latter will actually be good news for OS as costs per seat will decrease and they can become more competitive also probably offering cheaper fares that will fill their flights better.

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    6. Anonymous20:57

      Yes airlines love filling seats at a lower fare, especially an airline like OS which has really high costs. ;)

      Delete
    7. Anonymous07:04

      Not funny. Of course you can fill seats easier when costs are lower and yes fares should then be lower too.

      By the way OS has cheapest costs of any LH Group member.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:04

    Excellent news for Podgorica Airport. How will MGX respond? They must be having some sort of an impact.

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    1. Anonymous09:07

      They dont compete on any of their routes so...

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    2. Anonymous09:08

      But they block out quite a few potential routes for YM.

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    3. Anonymous09:14

      Indeed, but it's not like YM has been launching routes left and right either. They are too passive so it's their own problem.

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    4. Anonymous09:22

      Agree 100% with last anon. They have been watching on the sidelines as Ryanair continues to open new routes and have done absolutely nothing. All other ex-Yu airlines have at least tried to do something to counter LCC growth, except for YM.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:24

      Well they are planning on flying to Istanbul and Lisbon. They are also increasing TIV-BEG this summer to six daily flights, up from three.

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    6. Anonymous09:26

      None of which in any way makes them more competitive against Ryanair.

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    7. Anonymous09:33

      It's a preemptive strike

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    8. Anonymous09:35

      Only difference is that JU offers daily connections to those cities, FR doesn't. JU will be fine and they are sticking around TGD, something we can't say for FR.
      Btw OS flies to all those destinations.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous09:35

      How can you say FR is not sticking around?

      Delete
    10. Anonymous09:43

      Have you see how unpredictable they have become? One moment you see them, the other you don't. The closure of NYO, overnight downsizing of Weeze... are all perfect examples of all that.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous11:31

      Those were closed due to issues with trade unions.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:06

    Will there really be demand for Krakow year round to Podgorica??

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    1. Anonymous09:10

      There will be enough Polish tourists to sustain the route at least seasonally. Also a lot of people from Montenegro are going on city breaks to practically every destination LCCs fly to. However, I'm more worried about Dublin. No tourists, no diaspora, also montenegrins need a visa.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:12

      Yes I'm a bit surprised Ryan will be flying these routes year round. Either a brave move or they get some incentives from all the airports involved to operate the route over the winter of the first year of operations. These is quite a common incentive at many airports to reduce seasonality.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:22

      Krakow is becoming an increasingly popular destination from ex-Yu markets. Particularly with students.

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    4. Anonymous11:23

      Demand from Poland to Montenegro seems to be very strong. Ryan, Wizz and LOT all flying from Poland to Podgotica.

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    5. Anonymous11:26

      Plus Enter Air and LOT to Tivat. MGX completely overlooked what could have been a very profitable market for them.

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    6. Anonymous11:48

      They are not competative against any single airline except JU on the BEG flights which is basically 50% of their traffic. Which makes me wonder how they are going to make IST work against Turkish.

      P.S. Before someone has a tantrum I didn't say JU is not competitive against MGX but I'm saying BEG is the only route where MGX can keep up against the competition with frequencies and equipment.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:57

      No one is going to throw a tantrum because it is true and only because there is so much local traffic. Also don't forget that BEG for YM became even more popular now that they have a code-share with JU. On top of local passengers now they can offer transfers especially to places like JFK, something they never had until now.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous15:04

      It's incredible how KRK managed to handle 8.4 million passengers in 2019 with a remarkable growth of 24%! I think that KRK-TGD will definitely be increased in the future as more and more Poles travel and their standard of living being increased.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:11

    Montenegro Airlines should cease the opportunity and launch Stockholm now that Ryanair is closing its base there.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:12

      Certainly makes more sense than launching Lisbon if you ask me.

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    2. Anonymous09:16

      I think this is a perfect opportunity for Wizz Air.

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    3. Anonymous09:19

      +1

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:24

      Or SK

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:30

      Well Norwegian is starting Arlanda-Tivat
      https://www.exyuaviation.com/2019/12/norwegian-to-launch-new-tivat-service.html

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:45

      But that's to Tivat and it's seasonal.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:20

    Mark my words - they will open a base in Podgorica sooner or later.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:23

      I hope so!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:08

      Maybe in a few years. Don't see it happening anytime soon.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:23

    Is there any chance they will ever launch any flights from Tivat?

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:41

      I dont think so. A lot of carriers wanted to fly to Tivat but are being sent to TGD instead. The Airport operator goes out of their way to make sure airlines launch Podgorica flights to make it busier than Tivat. Why such crazy obsession, i don't know.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:04

      I don't get the point of such policy.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous06:21

      British is the latest example.They want TIV but airport operator forced BA to transfer flts to TGD.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous10:04

    Surprising how Ryanair has been much more proactive in Montenegro than Wizz.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:07

      Who came to Montenegro first? W6 or FR?

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    2. Anonymous10:10

      ^ Ryanair. Wizz air only started flying to Podgorica in 2016. As per this article Ryan started in 2013.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:12

      Wizz having Budapest and Milan from TGD is quite good. The rest is gasterbaiter routes.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:38

      Budapest is subsidized by the Hungarian government.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:48

      So? The route is quite successful.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous12:51

      All of those subsidized BUD flights to ex-Yu cities turned out to be very popular (surprisingly).

      Delete
    7. Anonymous13:46

      Funny how no one minds those subsidized routes. ;)

      Delete
  9. Anonymous10:14

    Montenegro keeps winning!

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  10. Anonymous12:11

    I hope they launch Malta!

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:33

      Good route for FR's new Malta airline.

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    2. Anonymous12:34

      It's a no-brainer

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    3. Anonymous12:42

      Who would fly this route? Both are tourist destinations. Is there a Montenegrin diaspora there?

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    4. Anonymous13:54

      People from Montenegro travel also... I don't think that Malta - Montenegro connection won't work out.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous13:02

    A piece of information I particularly find interesting in the article is that Montenegro Airlines has only a 24% passenger share at its main base. I think that is the smallest of all ex-yu national carriers.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:07

      There aren't many of them left :D but yes that it very low for ex-yu airline standards.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous15:02

    Very impressed that TGD used to serve 800 thousand passengers in 2016 and might even double this digit within 5 years time. Simply awesome!
    The Polish and Irish additions, BA to LHR will all contribute to the airport growth.

    TIV seems to be growing like crazy too with a healthy mix of LCC and legacy.

    ReplyDelete

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