Windrose maintains EX-YU expansion plans


Ukrainian carrier Windrose will begin its expansion in the former Yugoslavia this week by introducing three new routes, despite various restrictions imposed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The carrier will commence services from Kiev to Podgorica tomorrow, followed by Skopje on Sunday and Belgrade next Monday. All flights will operate twice per week with the 49-seat Embraer E145 aircraft. Plans to increase frequencies to Zagreb from the existing two weekly to three weekly as of December 4, has been pushed back until December 18. The airline has emphasised its new routes to and from the former Yugoslavia will also offer convenient short connections from Kharkiv, Dnipro and Odessa. 

Overall, Windrose will operate 34 flights to the Montenegrin capital this winter with 1.666 one-way tickets on sale. Montenegro’s two international airports, Podgorica and Tivat, saw 44.320 Ukrainian nationals flying to and from the country during the third quarter of the year. The Ukrainian carrier will also run 32 flights to both Skopje and Belgrade over the winter, offering 1.568 one-way seats. Zagreb is being served by 61 flights, with Windrose offering 3.450 seats. A number of rotations to the Croatian capital are being operated by the larger ATR72 aircraft. The new flights will mark the first time Skopje has been linked to Kiev with a nonstop service and will see the resumption of operations between Belgrade and the Ukrainian capital after nine months. 

Commenting on the new service, the Ukrainian Embassy in Macedonia said, “For the first time in the history of Ukraine's relations with Macedonia there will be nonstop flights between the two countries. The service will contribute to intensifying bilateral cooperation - strengthening business links, tourism development in both countries and familiarising Macedonian citizens with Ukraine and vice versa”. The Ukrainian Embassy in Montenegro noted, “The availability of direct flights will contribute to the development of Montenegro as a winter tourist destination and will facilitate the development of cultural and economic cooperation between our countries”. So far, Windrose has not scheduled its flights to any country in the former Yugoslavia for the upcoming summer season.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:02

    Good on them. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous09:02

    I'm surprised there were no flights between Kiev and Skopje in the past. Why not?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:04

      First non-Wizz route in years for SKP!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:08

      What was the last non Wizz route?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:19

      LOT from Warsaw I think.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:24

      Or was it Aegean to Athens 2 years ago? So, not a "first non wizz route in years".

      No reason for me to defend wizzair, but the ones being most vocal against them are the ones who are first to post pics of themselves drinking their capuccinos on st mark's in Venice and they could only afford those by saving on their plane ticket with guess who?
      yes, with Wizzair.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:24

      I think it was Sun Express from Izmir

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:36

      Correct on A3 and +1000 for the rest of your comment about those complaining about W6!

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:33

      I doubt there will be demand to Skopie, after all it's a highly Wizzair LCC airport.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous12:44

      and you know this by using your crystal ball.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous13:32

      No, by simply being logical

      Delete
    10. Anonymous15:15

      add gastarbaiter to the equation

      Delete
    11. Anonymous20:35

      I really don't understand what's the logic @13.32?

      Delete
    12. Anonymous22:17

      Who is going to fly between North Macedonia and Ukraine amidst a global pandemic in winter? The demand for this route is low in general let alone now

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:03

    What about Sarajevo? Why is everyone overlooking it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:07

      The airport has to reduce fees and actually do something to attract airlines. You can't sit on your hands and expect other to flock to you.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:09

      Is there really a market between Ukraine and Bosnia during the winter months?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:11

      If there is one between Ukraine and Montenegro in winter, I don't see why there wouldn't be one between Ukraine and Bosnia. Lot of ski resorts.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:15

      I'm not so sure Ukrainians are heading to Montenegro in winter to ski. I assume most want to spend some time by the seaside even though it may be cold.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:46

      we always seem to miss out :(

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:39

      It's not about airlines coming, it's about them staying as well. Aegean came but suspended flights real fast.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous20:35

      True

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:03

    They seem to be looking for any market that is open.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:09

      +1

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:10

      Smart if you ask me.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:10

      The gamble with ZAG seems to have paid off.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:15

      In order to have cashflow, its the only thing you can do at the moment.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:35

      an interesting approach

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:03

    Shame about Zagreb though

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:07

      Well they are already flying there. It's just the extra frequency which has been delayed by 2 weeks.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:06

    Honestly I don't see who is going to fly on these flights. There is currently a curfew in Montenegro.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:08

      Me neither. Let's see if the flights last.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:08

    Nice, any new addition is welcome.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous09:08

    Montenegro keeps winning.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:34

      Actually passenger numbers in Montenegro have declined by a huge margin, well above the European average. It's one of the most impacted countries.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:09

    "Montenegro’s two international airports, Podgorica and Tivat, saw 44.320 Ukrainian nationals flying to and from the country during the third quarter of the year. "

    That's a very good figure

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:10

      Ukrainians were the second most common passengers this summer at TGD and TIV after Serbs.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:11

      Makes sense if you consider that Ukrainians weren't allowed to the EU during the summer season because of Covid restrictions.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:13

      Weren't there always lots of Ukrainians visiting in summer? I think Widrose and Skyup fly to Tivat during the summer. Even Ukraine International maybe.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:46

      Yes, it's a popular destination for Ukrainians, but in summer.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:49

      Didn't YM also say they are launching Kiev this year?

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:40

      They also said they might be grounded so I doubt YM went ahead with preparations for KBP flights.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:13

    What about Ljubljana?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:16

      They never launched it. And it seems they no longer have any plans to.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:49

      they will launch it as soon as covid is over. as far as i remember was second biggest market after zagreb...

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:14

    I'm surprised. I expected all of these would have been cancelled like Ljubljana.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous09:14

    It's nice to see that the embassies are giving their support to these flights.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous09:16

    Why no schedules for the summer?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:20

      No one knows their schedules for next month let alone next summer.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:20

      I think they are waiting to see how the routes will perform and then decide what to keep.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:26

      Very difficult to judge the success of a certain route in winter in the middle of a global pandemic.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:19

    Who is going to fly to Ukraine?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:21

      Actually they could get some transfer passengers. For example from BEG there are a lot of people transferring between two different airlines to get to their final destination simply because they can go out and pick up their luggage without any restrictions and check in again.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous20:36

      It looks like Serbia will introduce mandatory PCR test from mid December so this won't last.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:22

    Anyone knows more details about this carrier? They seem to be looking a lot into this region lately.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:32

      It is owned by a very shady group of people.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:26

    There was very little in the form of advertising done for these flights.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:29

      These flights are mainly targeted at Ukrainians. Not ex-Yu locals.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:19

      That's a mistake. Why exclude a group of potential passengers?

      Delete
  17. Anonymous09:28

    Has anyone looked at their prices??? They are expensive as hell. 240 euros return ticket from Kiev to Belgrade.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:48

      JU should have kept their Atr this winter.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:50

      How much did JU cost to Kiev?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:57

      Less than this.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:06

      Well then wait for Sky Up to start flights next March. They are a relatively cheap opetion.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous09:29

    Every other day another Ukrainian airline announces new flights to ex-Yu :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous20:37

      Good, at least someone is announcing new flights and not suspending them.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous09:30

    Let's hope they are successful

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous09:30

    Would this expansion have come about without Covid?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:32

      ZAG and LJU were planned before Covid (and delayed because of it). As for the rest, not sure.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:41

      Should have launched all these flights long ago under normal circumstances. The markets are affordable for Ukrainian tourists.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:53

      There are ads for the new Windrose flights at Belgrade Airport.

      Delete
  21. Anonymous09:30

    Nice!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous09:33

    Don't Windrose and UIA have some sort of partnership? I think you can buy Windrose tickets on the UIA website.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:34

      They are owned by the same oligarch.

      Delete
  23. Anonymous09:42

    Let's see which of these will actually work out.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous09:45

    Good aircraft type for this kind of route.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:50

      Yes, it has the greatest chance of working.

      Delete
  25. Anonymous09:50

    C'mon people are you still believe that flights between Belgrade and Kiev will start any time soon? This is all fake news for me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:52

      ???
      They start next Monday. I was at BEG yesterday, there are even commercials for the flights.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:52

      And I also wonder why do you think only flights to Belgrade won't start?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:49

      Ukraine put Serbia on red list. There is need for quarantine when entering. No one from Serbia would fly. There will be no demand and they will end this flights as soon as possible, just after they collected money for flights that won't happen... That was the case with SkyUp this is the same case here. Let's see how long they'll last even if they start flights.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:50

      If you get tested upon arrival, you don't have to go to quarantine.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous13:07

      One PCR test is one test too much... Waste of time and money. Ukraine is not Egypt or some other hotspot location. People of Serbia won't go and have trouble doing tests and wasting money just for tourist purposes.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous15:07

      There are many business passengers and government business that will go in no matter what.

      After all we're talking of less than 200 seats per week which is the amount of one Air Serbia A320.

      Delete
  26. Anonymous09:50

    Very good news.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous09:54

    I don't get it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:05

      What?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:12

      I don't see the point of launching all these routes and I don't see many people flying on them.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:18

      Me neither.

      Delete
  28. Anonymous10:05

    РОЗА ВІТРІВ

    ReplyDelete
  29. Anonymous10:12

    There seem to be a lot of available spaces for the inaugural flights which is not a good sign. The first ZAG flight was sold out and it was on an ATR72.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:25

      Yes, but those flights launched when the epidemiological situation was better.

      Delete
  30. Anonymous10:26

    If they are sticking with these flights it means they are confident in their success.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:27

      I wouldn't read too much into it.

      Delete
  31. Anonymous12:04

    It is most probably part of the Privat Group of billionaire Igor Kolomoysky which also owned PrivatBank before it was nationalised, Ukraine International Airlines, as well as formerly owned now-defunct airlines Cimber Sterling, Donbassaero, Dniproavia and AeroSvit.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous19:17

      Fastest way to become a millionaire: start as a billionaire and buy an airline.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous01:50

      Smart billionaires like Warren Buffett pulled out of all airline investments when Covid struck. Those other ones, like those behind Wizz and Windrose, started airline expansion. Easy to spot winners from losers.

      Delete
  32. Anonymous20:34

    Montenegro Airports shared on their instagram that flights are indeed starting tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Anonymous20:34

    I'm very interested to see what the loads will be like.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Anonymous21:18

    Bravo!

    ReplyDelete

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