Aegean Airlines pulls out of all EX-YU markets over winter


Greece’s Aegean Airlines will no longer operate any flights to markets in the former Yugoslavia this winter after it revised its upcoming schedule which now excludes its last remaining service in the region to Belgrade. The carrier, which resumed operations between Athens and the Serbian capital in July, cancelled them shortly after Greece introduced entry restrictions for the majority of Serbian nationals, which are still in place. However, it initially planned to restore flights between the two countries next month. Aegean now intends on returning to the Serbian market on March 29, 2021 and has put tickets on sale for the route. The airline will continue to codeshare with Air Serbia to and from Belgrade throughout the 2020/2021 winter season. The Serbian carrier currently maintains operations to both Athens and Thessaloniki and plans to do so over the winter as well.

Last month, Aegean Airlines announced it was discontinuing flights from Athens to Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Split, Podgorica and Skopje. At the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March, the carrier also terminated its operations to Sarajevo, marking its exit from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s market after just one year. It will resume services to Dubrovnik on March 29, Zagreb on March 31 and Split on May 18, 2021. Services to Podgorica, Sarajevo and Skopje will not be restored. Aegean has been serving Serbia since 2010, Croatia since 2015, Montenegro since 2017 and Skopje as of 2018.

In a recent report by HSBC entitled “European Airlines - state aid and governance”, the bank found that Aegean’s balance sheet remains strong, even without state aid. In particular, HSBC analysts pointed out that, "Among the airlines we evaluated, Aegean is the only one to have not received state aid. Like all carriers, Aegean has benefited from the labour measures taken by the Greek government for companies affected by the pandemic, having suspended employee contracts. However, the state aid received was limited". It added, “Although Aegean Airlines did not receive any significant support or funding from the Greek government, it entered the pandemic with very good finances. Available cash reserves during the second quarter stood at 465 million euros and unused credit lines amounted to 120 million euros. The company was burning forty million euros in cash every month during the lockdown, which means that it is capable of surviving the crisis”.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:06

    Shame :(

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous09:06

    I am actually surprised they cancelled Belgrade over winter, I thought they might make Belgrade work twice per week, for transfers and some direct pasengers (Greeks mostly).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:07

      Serbian citizens are not allowed to enter the EU yet and greeks coming from Serbia and North Macedonia need to go to quarantine.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:51

      Technically they are allowed to enter the EU just not all countries.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:52

      Out of 27 member states, they can't enter 24.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:33

      That's what the guy said, they can enter some.
      Which are the three?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous16:12

      Croatia, Slovenia and Bulgaria.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous16:20

      No, Croatia, Bulgaria and Cyprus. You can't enter Slovenia without quarantine.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous20:46

      You can only enter Slovenia if you have the passport or residency.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:06

    With such good finances and cash on hand they could afford to keep flying at least to BEG.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Petar09:09

      They have good finances exactly because they do not make decisions based on emotion or prestige. Unlike all other Balkan airlines...

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:15

      Agree with Petar. Such actin strengthens the company’s cash shield and reduces overall costs.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:25

      A3's network is collapsing left and right.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:25

      Many airlines have announced plans to shrink network and operations.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:26

      Tell us how is it "collapsing"?

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:52

      Cancellations all around, Berlin was butchered for example. Many other destinations were suspended last minute especially as Greece is on the verge of a new lockdown.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:02

      Sooo... Like everyone/everywhere else?

      Delete
    8. Anonymous11:24

      Soooo... like, yes.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous11:32

      Soooooo.... every single airline of planet Earth is collapsing according to you.
      LOL at the staff we read here!

      Delete
    10. Anonymous11:37

      @09:25 - typical bigotry comment whenever an airline stops serving BEG. A couple of months ago, you were referring to them as the best in the region.
      Not sure if you know, but A3 is really one of Europe's best regional airlines. Not to mention their impressive domestic coverage and amazing service.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous12:35

      Bigotry? Lol ok

      Relax. They'll be back and no one is hating them. Belgrade is the single biggest market in the region so they'll be back in no time.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous12:50

      You mean ex-Yu region, don't you?

      Delete
    13. Anonymous14:48

      Yes, of course. it's an ex-YU blog after all.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:07

    I'm surprised at how profitable they are.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous09:08

    Ouch

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous09:11

    I guess we can conclude that TGD and SKP were their least profitable routes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:13

      Really unfortunate about Skopje. It was such a big deal when these flights started.. and now they have no plans to return at all.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:16

      Unfortunately in the case of Skopje and Podgorica I don't see any airline stepping in to take over these routes.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:21

      Montenegro Airlines could from Podgorica.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:30

      Wizz Air could try ATH from SKP.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:37

      Sure. Yes it could fly... from Q400 to an A320. But it wont

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:47

      if they can fly to LCA they can surely do to ATH ... even more so

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:33

      You can't drive to Cyprus but you can drive to Greece.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:11

    that's a bit extreme

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous09:12

    This is sad :(

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous09:13

    OU should have made ZAG-ATH year round.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:16

      Why? If there is no demand? Even Aegean didn't fly to Zagreb in November.

      Delete
    2. Of course it's completely different situation today and markets have changed, still it's interesting to know that EX-JAT had operated DAILY year-round on B727 BEG-DBV-ATH

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:01

      We have seen that there is market, even for 3 weekly flights by Aegean during the winter months last year. But OU has never operated direct flights to ATH from ZAG, it was always via DBV, hence never developed (similar to Rome) properly. OU first should have operated direct flights, before considering year-round. In fact, OU first should follow hub&spoke business model requirements and stop wasting its resources by feeding other carriers' hubs from its domestic markets.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:03

      OU should start making profit and become independent from taxpayers money every few years. (Not during cases like this). That can be with hub&spoke or p2p out of the coast. Both cases would be usefull for Croatia and its economy. It should just start making profit.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:13

    Winter is coming for all airports!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous09:16

    I'm surprised Sarajevo didn't work out pre pandemic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:21

      Me too. They originally planned to increase frequencies from 2 to 4 this summer.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:23

      corona and travel bans

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:05

      But the suspension of Sarajevo was announced days before corona really hit Europe.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:36

      it was not

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:38

      March 10
      https://www.exyuaviation.com/2020/03/aegean-discontinues-sarajevo-service.html

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:22

    Hopefully next year things return to normal.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous09:23

    A lot of airlines will be rethinking their route networks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:23

      Yes, but ATH-BEG will surely remain

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:26

    Not surprising. ex-Yu routes are weakest as there are generally few business passengers and most are ticketed on cheap fares.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:30

      +1

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:03

      A3 doesn't even offer business on BEG-ATH. I always found that weird - JU always had business pax.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:10

      Because it's a Q400 so no business clas. It would be the same as if JU operated an ATR to Athens

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:46

      Nope, it's been an Airbus route for quite some time now.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:37

      Aegean has been sending A320 for about three years now to Belgrade. It's nice to see them do well despite JU being much stronger on the market.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:31

    So they won't be flying to ex-Yu for the first time in 10 years

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous09:32

    What about Zadar? Didn't they fly there?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:33

      ZAD was suspended well before corona.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:37

      I didn't realize. Thanks.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous09:33

    Was SKP operated with the Q400 or Airbus?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:36

      Q400

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:51

      All their routes outside of Serbia and Croatia were with the Q400.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:06

      Do they have any plans to retire those Dash planes?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:19

      Q400s are operated by Olympic

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:20

      And no they have no plans to retire them at the moment.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:40

      They were operating Airbuses completely to SPU, DBV, BEG, ZAG.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous09:33

    Damn corona

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous09:36

    It's unfortunate for these airport to loose a legacy carrier such as Aegean.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous09:36

    Has Aegean suspended some other routes as well? Where do they plan to fly to?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:49

      They fly to Cairo.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:50

      Of course they have. All airlines have suspended numerous routes.

      Delete
  21. Anonymous09:39

    Such an ugly livery will not be missed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:50

      It will be missed by passengers. Their fares were at some point half the price of their competitions.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:53

      Aegean was extremely expensive on BEG-ATH. JU was always cheaper.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:05

      He is talking for transfers.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:05

      The livery looks absolutely fine.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:04

      The old one was much better.

      It's oversized and grotesque.

      A mockery of design.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:05

      I don't understand the need to introduce a new livery each time a new plane joins the fleet.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:05

      I fly BEG-ATH and A3 was rarely more expensive than JU. Or to be precise - I have never encountered a cheaper JU ticket than what A3 was offer. Unless you were trying to book codeshare flights operated by JU - that codeshare is useless.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous11:10

      There are some great prices right now on Air Serbia:

      https://www.airserbia.com/en/special-offers/fly-to-belgrade-and-beyond

      Delete
    9. Anonymous11:52

      Lol, comparing JU to A3 :) Comparing an airline that is operating A32N, has a fleet which is 5 times larger and winning the prestigious SkyTrax award for the Best Regional Airline in Europe for 2019:

      https://en.about.aegeanair.com/media-center/press-releases/2019/stathera-proti-i-aegean-stin-protimisi-toy-pagkosmioy-epibatikoy-koinoy/

      But, who am I to disagree?

      Delete
    10. Anonymous12:14

      People were only comparing fares on the route. What does that have to do with awards or aircraft types????

      Delete
    11. Anonymous12:39

      You might have missed the fact Aegean has a much larger market especially in summer when millions of tourist head to the Greek sea. Why do you think they have 3-4 A320s based in places like Rhodes or Heraklion?

      Delete
    12. Anonymous13:19

      *Greek seas, three/four, depending how you count :)

      Delete
    13. Anonymous13:38

      As far as i know, A3's fleet is nowhehere near five times larger but three times.

      Most of it sits idle on the tarmac in winter.

      Delete
    14. Anonymous13:38

      Great portion of Aegean's pax are domestic pax.

      Delete
    15. Anonymous14:40

      @13:38 ah, no?

      Fleet Size 51 Aircraft (+ 2 On Order/Planned)
      Average Fleet Age 1 10.5 Years

      Olympic fleet:

      De Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8 10
      Average Fleet Age 1 14.5 Years

      61 aircraft

      Okay, it is almost 4.

      Delete
    16. Anonymous15:06

      We were talking about Aegean not about Olympic.

      Even then, i don't know how 61/21=~4?

      You mustn't be very good in maths.

      Delete
    17. Wrong again, Olympic air has 8 Dash-8-400, 2 ATR- 42-600, 2 DASH-8-100, and Aegean has another 41 a320-321 neos on order.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous09:49

    Very bad

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous10:18

    I think we will be seeing poor passenger figures at ex-Yu airports all through winter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:49

      seriously even FRA has -90% what do you expect?

      Delete
  24. Anonymous10:20

    And to think just last year they wanted to buy Croatia Airlines.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous10:43

    No A3 competition is good for JU as some people would say here, am I right?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:49

      It may be good for JU but not for passengers.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:49

      The good thin for JU is that Aegean's passengers to ZAG, TGD and SKP are being rerouted via BEG because of the codeshare.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:41

      JU operates the route now because of transfers. Aegean doesn't impact them at all.

      Delete
  26. Air Serbia operate just 4 weekly flights to Athens in this moment. In winter if would be even harder to sustain operations to Athens with much lower demand. So, it is not surprise that Aegean does not operate those flights.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:03

      How much OU operates to Athens?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:06

      Hahaha oh, that's rich. I can't wait for the Jan-Sep stats to be out so we can cycle back to that article/comment of yours.

      Delete
    3. In this moment 2 per week

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:27

      Why is Zagreb important in Belgrade situation?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:43

      If JU carries transfers from Athens, how does Aegean impact them in any way? There are local passengers until the Greek government ban is lifted. Honestly kudos to JU for even surviving in Greece right now. They also fly into SKG btw

      Delete
    6. Anonymous05:43

      Purger you do realize that A3 and JU at the moment do not compete with each other on this market? Are you even aware of this? Remotely even?

      Delete
  27. Anonymous10:44

    It's going to be a very quiet winter at our airports.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:48

      I wonder how many years back we will go.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:44

      At least JU increased LCA to two weekly now there is no ban.

      Delete
  28. Anonymous10:51

    well they dont let our citizens in their country why should they fly here empty

    ReplyDelete
  29. I think this is their first a321neo SX-NAA. Beautiful photo.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:07

      It's actually SX-NEA. NEA = neo :)

      Delete
    2. No, look closer it's a321neo

      Delete
  30. Anonymous11:08

    Shame, such an awesome airline in itself with great connection options.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:11

      At least it used to.

      Delete
  31. Does Aegean continue to flt to SOF & OTP?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:36

      Yes but they are EU countries.

      Delete
    2. Yes, i know they are EU countries, but so is ZAG.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:46

      And so are Croatia and Hungary, but they will not operate flights simply due to lack of demand in winter.

      Delete
  32. Anonymous11:45

    The interesting thing seems that FR is also downsizing ATH operations but A3 seem to try and linger to some destinations. OTP-ATH remains 6 weekly, BUD is being dropped off this winter, SOF remains 4 weekly. Almost the same as last year. This proves that sadly, ex-YU is not their strongest market throughout the whole year even though Greece remains a popular destination to Serbs but mostly in summer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:07

      Yeah, there is only a finite number of residents/relatives (with EU passports/visas) that can currently travel between BEG-ATH.

      Delete
  33. getting worse and worse for ex yu countries this winter !

    ReplyDelete
  34. Anonymous17:08

    "Available cash reserves during the second quarter stood at 465 million euros and unused credit lines amounted to 120 million euros. The company was burning forty million euros in cash every month during the lockdown"

    465+120=585mil / 40m per month burn rate = 14.6 months. Starting at July (1st month of Q3), that gives them life until Sep 2021. If burn rate increases during slow 2020/21 winter they have less than a year. Moreover, 2019 travel levels won't be restored until 2023 or 2024. A3 will have to ask Greece for financial support or go out of business.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL!!! You think this is simple mathematics??!!! It is way more complicated, and believe me Aegean is not Croatia airlines or Air Serbia managed by the government.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:58

      Math is accurate enough to indicate A3 will need government subsidy or additional funding in less than a year. If you think otherwise please show us your calculation.

      This has nothing to do with your JU/OU.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous01:53

      Worst-case scenario they will need funds next year. However, they will be firing people this autumn, returning aircrafts to lessors as leases expire (hey, see, it's not bad now owning aircraft - you don't have to take care of it if you don't need it) and so on. So the monthly cash burn will be much less.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous08:21

      The burn rate was 40 million a month during the second quarter when flights were grounded.
      Obviously now they fly and therefore hae reveneus to reduce part of that expenses.
      I thin they are flying now around 60% of their regular schedule.

      Delete

Post a Comment

EX-YU Aviation News does not tolerate insults, excessive swearing, racist, homophobic or any other chauvinist remarks or provocative posts with the intention of creating further arguments. A full list of comment guidelines can be found here. Thank you for your cooperation.