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Zagreb Airport, 1968

Austria to lift Balkan flight ban

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Austria will lift a two-week ban on commercial flights from the majority of Balkan countries as of tomorrow, allowing for the resumption of scheduled operations. A new Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) - an aviation document informing all carriers of important and urgent messages – has been issued, noting the air traffic ban will be lifted at midnight on August 1. However, Austria has introduced strict new measures for those entering the country. Flights will now be able to resume from Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Kosovo and Montenegro to the central European nation. Austria is also lifting bans on flights from the United Kingdom, Sweden, Portugal, China, Albania, Romania, Bulgaria, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Egypt and Iran. Austria is one of the largest travel markets from the former Yugoslavia and Austrian Airlines itself has said it has been severely affected by the government’s flight bans, which were introduced to help contain the spread of the coronavirus Covid-19.

As of tomorrow, Air Serbia will resume operations from Belgrade to Vienna. Services will run daily, alternating between a morning and evening departure. On August 2, the Serbian carrier will restore operations from Niš to Salzburg and from Kraljevo to Vienna. Budget airline Wizz Air will resume services from Niš to Vienna on August 9, at a reduced frequency of one flight per week until September. The low cost carrier will restore a one weekly service from Pristina and Ohrid to the Austrian capital from August 1, increasing to four weekly and three weekly respectively from September. Furthermore, Wizz Air will go ahead with the launch of its new Vienna - Podgorica service tomorrow, albeit at a reduced one weekly frequency, increasing to two weekly the following month. The budget airline previously announced it would delay the resumption of its Tuzla - Vienna service until mid-September. Montenegro Airlines will resume a one weekly service between Podgorica and Vienna on August 8.

Austrian Airlines is also returning to markets in the former Yugoslavia as of tomorrow. Services to Belgrade and Podgorica commence on August 1 and will initially run five and seven times per week, respectively. Operations to Pristina and Skopje also commence this Saturday and will be maintained ten times per week. Services between Vienna and Sarajevo will operate nine times per week as of tomorrow.

Foreign nationals are prohibited from entering Austria from the abovementioned Balkan states. All persons arriving in Austria are required to carry proof of a negative result for Covid-19 issued no more than 72 hours prior to departure using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test and self-isolate for ten days. Those unable to produce such proof must undergo testing upon arrival and self-isolate for ten days, regardless whether the result is negative.

July 31, 2020
Air Serbia bosnia and herzegovina Covid-19 Feature Kosovo Kraljevo macedonia montenegro montenegro airlines Niš Ohrid podgorica Priština sarajevo serbia Skopje Tuzla Wizz Air
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Comments

  1. Anonymous09:03

    Wow Montenegro Airlines will have some serious competition. Competing against Austrian AND Wizz. Won't be easy for the,

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    1. Anonymous09:03

      *them

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    2. Anonymous09:06

      Let's see if they can survive on this route.

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    3. Anonymous09:06

      Considering Wizz is starting flights tomorrow, one would think MGX wouldn't wait till the 8th of August to resume their own flights.

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    4. Anonymous09:07

      They already had abysmal loads before, I flew twice and we were 16 and 21 passengers.

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  2. Anonymous09:03

    They banned flights but number of infections kept on rising showing what a stupid move this was. Hvala Kurzu na razumnoj odluci.

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    1. Anonymous09:09

      not his first stupid action but at least this one lasted only 2 weeks

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    2. Anonymous09:12

      Why it was stupid? These countries had far more numbers of infection than their neighbours.

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    3. Anonymous09:13

      ^ And the situation has now somehow magically changed for them to allow it?

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    4. Anonymous09:14

      result: Austria rising cases with flight ban, Germany status quo with no flight ban
      a useless move when u see the outcome

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    5. Anonymous09:24

      If this measure made sense then they would have kept the ban for Romania where corona is going wild. This has to do with OS recording massive losses from this senseless decision. The moment the ban was introduced they suspended ORD which affected 30.000 passengers in those two weeks my friend.

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    6. Anonymous10:30

      And they are resuming Chicago too :)

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  3. Anonymous09:04

    With those entry restrictions, will there be enough demand. Will gastos be willing to self isolate for 10 days?

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    1. Anonymous09:23

      Well if airline are scheduling so many flights, it seems they are.

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    2. Anonymous09:57

      Many gastos come to their home countries and spend several months there during the summer. So by the time they go back, some of these rules could be lifted.

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    3. Anonymous12:45

      how can gastos spend several months during summer when summer has only 3 months?

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  4. Anonymous09:09

    I find it interesting that they also had a ban on flights from the UK, Portugal and Sweden.

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    1. Anonymous09:15

      Why?
      Those three countries had tremendous rates of infections and deaths.

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  5. Anonymous09:11

    Will transfer pax be allowed to connect in VIE or they also need a negative Covid-19 test?

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    1. Anonymous09:13

      I think only if they are travelling from these countries. But I'm not sure.

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    2. Anonymous09:17

      So if I am travelling BEG-VIE-ARN for example I will need to pay for a test even though I am only connecting?
      That is absurd!

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    3. Anonymous09:19

      I don't think you need it to transfer, as long as you are not staying in Austria.

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    4. Anonymous09:25

      Why would you fly to ARN via VIE when there is a non-stop flight from BEG as well as to NYO?

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    5. Anonymous09:26

      I think he was just giving it as an example.

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    6. Anonymous09:28

      I hope so because why would anyone connect if there is a non-stop flight.

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    7. Anonymous09:46

      For the exact same reason someone would fly SKP-BEG-ARN on JU despite having the direct option of W6 to NYO.
      Because of price and timing.

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    8. Anonymous09:56

      This might be anecdotal but each time i checked flights from BEG on OS to anywhere in Europe they were always more than €300! Then I go to lh.com and can book the same flight for like €190!

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    9. Anonymous09:59

      Good to know the hack :D

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  6. Anonymous09:13

    that austrian connection is so important for a lot of Balkan airports (and for AUA's long haul)

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  7. Anonymous09:17

    OS 9/10 weekly to SKP/PRN is massive

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    1. Anonymous09:26

      It's not, LH Group has left those markets to Austrian. There is no Swiss or Lufthansa there so technically their presence isn't that great.

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    2. Anonymous09:41

      it is

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    3. Anonymous09:50

      Edelweiss flies to PRN and SKP so you can connect on LXs flights in ZRH without any problems.

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    4. Anonymous09:57

      Yes but Edelweiss is no Swiss, that's like saying you have LH because EW flies to your airport.

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    5. Anonymous10:10

      funny comparing Edelweiss with EW

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    6. Anonymous14:06

      Flew on Edelweiss from SPU to ZRH. They offered a sandwich and drinks on board so there is no difference in service between them and Swiss. And they have even better seats than Swiss, their seats have adjustable headrests and better legroom. Connectivity is the same because you cannot buy Edelweiss flights to Zurich on their website, you should do that on Swiss webpage. So you can connect anywhere with Edelweiss on Swiss's network. So these companies worth equaliy in terms of connectivity and setvice.

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  8. Anonymous09:22

    A relief for Austrian.

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  9. Anonymous09:22

    Why is Tuzla-Vienna delayed all the way till September??

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    1. Anonymous09:25

      Bosnia also has some strict entry policy for people from the EU.

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    2. Anonymous09:29

      That won't change until numbers of corona infections improve which I don't see happening anytime soon.

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    3. Anonymous09:48

      True dat.

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  10. Anonymous09:23

    was wondering why BTS-SKP is paused til middle of Sept then i see Slovakia has a flight ban to/from Macedonia. Time for Wizz to finally move its BTS-SKP route to VIE

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    1. Anonymous16:50

      I guess they don't want to go head to head with Austrian... or were told not to which is what I heard.

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  11. Anonymous09:30

    I think the biggest loser from VIE battle is Wizz Air. Their moves make no sense. In Q2 they recorded a much larger loss than Ryanair despite being four times smaller. I fear we will see some consolidation in LCC sector here in Europe. Things need to stabilize.

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    1. Anonymous11:21

      And despite the fact they've already fired 1000 people.

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  12. Anonymous09:32

    These are good news for Belgrade airport and for Air Serbia

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    1. Anonymous09:39

      Yes, that is absolutely true. I think BEG-VIE is around 210.000 passengers per year which is impressive since the distance isn't that big and there are many buses and minibuses going between the cities each day.

      I am still surprised Lauda or Wizz Air have not given a go at this relatively large market.

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  13. Anonymous09:56

    At least something...

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  14. Anonymous10:28

    Great news

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  15. Anonymous10:28

    Will Austrian survive this crisis?

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    1. Anonymous10:33

      They got bailout money. Of course they will.

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    2. Anonymous11:09

      They got 450 million euro government bailout.

      300 million euros in loans by a banking consortium and 150 million euros in grants.

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    3. Anonymous12:42

      the grants don't have to be returned?

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  16. Anonymous10:59

    Is the Italy flight ban still on?

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    1. Anonymous11:08

      Yes

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    2. Anonymous12:41

      Is there any indication when it could end?

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    3. Anonymous23:59

      Unfortunately not .
      I guess not this year ..

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  17. Anonymous11:08

    btw SKP is also 10 weekly

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  18. Anonymous16:48

    Finally!

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  19. Anonymous16:49

    Quite interesting that 3 cities in SRB have flights to Vienna. Is Vienna/Austria the number 1 diaspora centre from Serbia?

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    1. Anonymous16:57

      Germany, Switzerland, Austria + Scandinavia are the hotspots

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  20. Anonymous19:31

    What is with Wizz Air
    Salzburg - Belgrade, Tuzla, Skopje ?

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    1. Anonymous21:19

      They moved them to late August/early September after the first flight.

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    2. Anonymous23:57

      So they start together with the other new destinations ?
      Good to hear .

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  21. Mixajlo01:03

    On August 2, the Serbian carrier will restore operations from Niš to Salzburg and from Kraljevo to Vienna.

    No, no. Ticket on sale:
    INI-SZG from oct 02 2xweek, except Dec 15
    KVO-VIE just 01, 04, 08, 11, 18 and 22 oct. That's all

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Zagreb Airport, 1968

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