Air Montenegro plans to launch commercial operations by June 1 with its initial destination network being Belgrade, Ljubljana and Frankfurt, the Montenegrin Ministry for Capital Investment has said. “These routes are confirmed and safe. Based on entry restrictions and slot availability, a final timetable will be drafted”, State Secretary, Zoran Radunović, said. He added, “There is a lot of interest from Slovenian tour operators for flights from Ljubljana. We will also definitely have services to Belgrade from both Podgorica and Tivat. The management is in talks over potential additional destinations and the final timetable will be made public in the coming days”. As EX-YU Aviation News learns, Istanbul is also likely to be part of the initial line up of routes.
Air Montenegro’s first aircraft, an Embraer E195, has been serviced in Bratislava and ferried to Maastricht where it will be painted in the carrier’s new livery, which is yet to be made public. “The exact launch date has not been determined yet. Flights can commence as soon as the first aircraft comes back from the paint shop, which is expected next week. We will certainly launch by June”, Mr Radunović said. The airline was granted an Air Operator’s Certificate earlier this week, enabling it to commence operations. The country’s former flag carrier, Montenegro Airlines, operated its last flight on December 25, 2020, after the government determined it no longer had the means to keep the indebted company afloat.
Belgrade was Montenegro Airlines’ busiest and most profitable route. In 2019, the carrier, along with Air Serbia, handled 548.679 passengers between Belgrade, Podgorica and Tivat. In 2020 that figure stood at 154.677 travellers, despite flights being suspended for five months. Air Serbia is preparing for Air Montenegro’s imminent launch and will be increasing its operations between Belgrade and Tivat to fifteen per week starting next week, while a total of 24 weekly rotations will be maintained from mid-June. Almost all flights will be operated by Airbus-family aircraft. In the pre-pandemic 2019, a total of 55.758 passengers flew between Podgorica and Ljubljana with Montenegro Airlines and Adria Airways, while the Montenegrin carrier transported 27.569 travellers between Podgorica and Frankfurt that same year. Both routes have remained unserved since Montenegro Airlines' demise.
With JU going wild in TIV I don't see them making it out alive.
ReplyDeleteDepends on the fare. Their advantage is they will be flying a much younger and comfortable plane.
DeleteOf course that said, I don't mean JU does not have its own advantages.
DeleteJU has almost completely removed the ATR from Tivat schedule.
DeleteYes I missed that part in the article
Delete"Air Serbia is preparing for Air Montenegro’s imminent launch and will be increasing its operations between Belgrade and Tivat to fifteen per week starting next week, while a total of 24 weekly rotations will be maintained from mid-June. Almost all flights will be operated by Airbus-family aircraft."
Their Embraers are actually younger than Air Serbia's Airbus fleet.
DeleteAnd what about Podgorica. Is Air Serbia mostly using Airbuses or ATR's?
DeleteGood to see Ljubljana in the line up :D
ReplyDeleteAt least something new for LJU.
DeleteI wonder if FRA is because of real demand or the Lufthansa Systems consultancy effect
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts too. Maybe the idea is to feed some Lufthansa flights.
DeleteI would say both ;-)
DeleteI flew few times FRATGDBEG and back and I liked the transfer in TGD. Service and especiallythe crew were disaster. It was in pre AirSerbia time and now there are more options than before so no real need to connect to BEG. However I liked ease of transfer there and it was always a nice weather there. I am not sure if those flights were feeder flights or not. If I remember correctly there were no code share flight numbers.
DeleteRegarding LJU after Adria went belly up, often I saw a lot of people on gates for Podgorica in LJU.
Those pax numbers between Serbia-Montenegro is impressive considering there were no flights for almost half a year and PCR requirements for another 5 months.
ReplyDeleteAgree not bad.
DeleteIs there any other (normal) option to travel between Podgorica and Belgrade?
DeleteNope, we are stuck with these two.
DeleteNo highway? No train? OK, than it makes sense why there are so many flights.
DeleteI thought you were asking about available airlines. Yes of course there is a train and a highway.
DeleteTrain? If you have plenty of time then YES, there is a train.
DeleteHighway? For 20% of road distance YES, the highway exists, but the rest is just regular "two lane regional road". Not "two plus two"...just two lane.
People, when someone here asks "is there a train or highway" they mean train 200kmh or real highway.
When we answer there is a train people expect James Bond version of Montenegro railways.
Thats one of the reasons flights to Montenegro are huuuge success - enormous demand and no real alternative.
Train Belgrade-Bar takes between 10-24 hours. "Highway" takes between 8-17 hours (depends on 2 toll booths getting blocked by thousands of cars in Preljina).
^ what a load of rubbish. Many people take the Beograd-Bar train which is operated by modern new trains. The train also allows you to take your car with you.
DeleteSecond the absolute majority of people travel by car because a family of 4 going on holiday to Montenegro usually doesn't have 800 euros to spend on air fares.
I love it when someone with no clue of the actual situation comes here to lecture others. Then again, you called the B733s death traps in another topic so no surprise.
Well, a 'highway' means just a simple, plane two lane road - it is often mistakingly taken for an 'autoput' - so it has been in existence between Belgrade and Podgorica for some decades now... And there's also a portion between Belgrade and Čačak which is to a full motorway standard (British English) - we also could say expressway (American English), given that it's a toll road, hence not a freeway.
DeleteYes, many people drive, or are driven by bus, some by train (it is considerably slower than it used to be 40 years ago), but also many people fly. And that has been some sort of a tradition in Montenegro for a number of decades - to fly to Belgrade (once, there were also the airports in Žabljak and Berane with scheduled services, DC 3 for the former, while the latter even saw some turboprops in the seventies).
Will they really be able to compete against Turkish to Istanbul.
ReplyDeleteWe don't know if they will be flying this route from TGD or TIV. Plus I assume they will be relying on tour groups. Remember, YM was supposed to start Istanbul when corona started.
DeletePlus with this new airline being advised by LH, it is highly likely they will be close to Star Alliance so they might cooperate with Turkish.
DeleteMontenegro keeps winning!
ReplyDeleteIs this the first ex-Yu airline in recent history being set up from scratch with 100% state ownership?
ReplyDeleteFirst since 2005 when Bosnian government started B&H Airlines.
DeleteHope it does not have the same faith!
DeleteSomething tells me they will be more successful.
DeleteLet's wait and see.
DeleteI think you meant fate @anon 9.14
DeleteCan't wait to see the new livery :)
ReplyDeleteIt will be the same as Montenegro Airlines. Only the colours will be different.
DeleteI'm really surprised there is no Zurich.
ReplyDeleteIt actually didn't perform great from Podgorica at all.
DeleteInteresting considering it does so well from all other ex-Yu markets.
DeleteChair Airlines is starting the route next week.
DeleteJust 2 per week.
DeleteMGX flew the same frequency.
DeleteI have very big doubts about any airline that is launching flights in 2 weeks and still hasn't even started ticket sales.
ReplyDeleteWhen YM was about to shut down, I posted a comment about great opportunity for Air Serbia to approach Government of Montenegro to base an aircraft or two in Montenegro or work with them to create a new airline, if the first option is not feasible. Many comments were along the line of "No, that's not what Air Serbia does, JU will just take over Serbia-Montenegro market and the rest is not important. Montenegro will not create a new airline".
ReplyDeleteThen when LH was announced as a consultant for a new airline I posted a comment suggesting Air Serbia should have been as proactive as German ambassador in approaching Montenegro government regarding setup of a new airline. Again, comments against it pointed out that's not what Air Serbia does, and how JU just needs to take over the market between two countries.
Now when it's obvious new Air Montenegro will fly, and how it will compete against JU on lucrative services to Serbia plus how it will feed LH and possibly other StarAlliance airlines, I have a short message for those that opposed my ideas. Unfortunately there are no technical means to post a particular finger as a comment so I will just leave the rest to your imagination.
Haha
DeleteI agree. I think Air Serbia as missed quite a good opportunity here.
DeleteOr maybe they were not allowed to play game over there?
DeleteSorry anon 10:01, but your comment is premature. We still have no idea how the new company will operate and whether it will manage to stand on its own two feet. I personally wouldn't rush to give them my money since the management approach so far largely seems to be more of the same.
DeleteAnon 20:36
DeleteAir Serbia and Montenegro Airlines were allowed to cooperate and codeshare during Milo's reign, but now the new government wouldn't even allow Air Serbia to approach them with a proposal to base aircraft or work on a new one? Yeah right.
Anon 20:39
This comment is premature today on May 9? But it wasn't premature for German ambassador to approach Government of Montenegro reportedly three times starting as early as January? Yeah right.
Being defensive about this colossal Air Serbia failure just makes it worse.
I would not worry too much about Air Montenegro taking too big piece of BEG-MNE cake, as they will fly with (maybe) two Embraers at the beginning.
DeleteAS is on wild ride to MNE, both by numbers of flights and by sending big birds all the time.
Plus, there is a big transfer crowd from Russia using AS as viable option.
Two Embraers airline will not pose big thread to 18-aircrafts airline for sure.
My bigger concern is Ryanair in Zagreb...that movie, starting with winter timetable 21/22 will be fun to watch
-AS is on wild ride to MNE, both by numbers of flights and by sending big birds all the time.
DeleteJU is the only carrier at the moment, duh!
-Plus, there is a big transfer crowd from Russia using AS as viable option.
Numbers paint a different picture. In 2019 JU carried just 1.1% of the TIV-MOW market:
https://www.exyuaviation.com/2021/04/aeroflot-delays-montenegro-return.html
-Two Embraers airline will not pose big threat to 18-aircrafts airline for sure.
Yet two EMB airline is an important enough feed for LH to act on it. This is not about 2 aircraft airline taking down 18 aircraft airline. It is about 2+18 aircraft working together in common interest of their countries instead of competing against each other for the benefit of LH.
anon 14:02
Delete"It is about 2+18 aircraft working together in common interest of their countries instead of competing against each other for the benefit of LH."
Why would Montenegro interest be to feed JU in BEG rather than for example LH in FRA or MUC?
To me it would make more sense for Montenegro to feed LH as there are more transfer options both in terms of routes and frequences in MUC/FRA. So while feeding LH, they would get indirect access to a much wider network.
What kind of flawed Purger-like logic is that? Air Serbia has superior coverage of the region compared to LH. For example LH doesn't even fly to SKP or BNX. Other destinations covered by both LH and JU are generally cheaper by JU. Flying to FRA to connect within a region takes longer than connecting via BEG. Regional connections are more important for Montenegro than having LH one-stop FRA transfer to Tokyo.
DeleteMost importantly, who said that goal would be just to feed JU in BEG? By basing a couple of aircraft in Montenegro, JU would be able to fly direct to destinations other than BEG. JU could offer better fleet flexibility than just two EMB195. Banding together would make an airline stronger.
Keep in mind LH CEO was reported as saying that small national airlines in Europe are basically their "enemies". Look at what happened to Adria and soon Croatia. LH is not going to save Air Montenegro is things go bad.
Smart network to start off with
ReplyDeleteI understand BEG and LJU but find the choice of FRA a bit surprising. Also no CDG.
ReplyDeleteIt makes perfect sense. FRA is one of Europe's biggest hubs. It offers people the opportunity to connect onto other flights.
DeleteHow can they connect onto other flights when this airline has no agreements, interlines, codeshares... Only if people buy two separate tickets.
DeleteIs it true that the "new" Air Montenegro logo on tail will be golden Eagle silhouette on red background?
ReplyDeleteThat's what the minister said a couple of months ago so highly likely.
DeleteI think that will look good.
DeleteGood luck to the new airline.
ReplyDeleteHope it works out.
ReplyDeleteMark my words, in a few years this airline will be needing to be bailed out with millions of euros and will have an overbloated workforce.
ReplyDeleteHow do we mark your words? You are just a random anonymous.
DeleteFirst time I see 2 YU BEG-TIV flights depart with same flight number JU184 just few minutes apart, atr and a320. Is there so much demand?
ReplyDeleteJudging by my Instagram feed, half of Serbia seems to have gone to Montenegro for the Easter holidays, so yeah, the planes must be replete with people coming back to work tomorrow.
DeleteAir Montenegros solely purpose will be to feed Lufty in Frankfurt .
ReplyDeleteAnd maybe some other *Alliance destinasions in future .
That was clear from the beginning when they hired those German "consultants" .
The only profitable routes for the former company were obviously Belgrade and Tivat .
At least we will now have real competition on the Monteserbia market !
ReplyDeletePrices will massively go down if Monty really becomes Lufties newest Balkan slave airline .
The goal will be to damage Air Serbias profits and to funnel all passengers to Frankfurt .
Of course thats unprofitable and makes Air Monty( or whatever name the new hoax gets) to a continuation of the old Milogora Airways .
But that will be 100 % Montes problem ! And Air Serbias too !
But not Germanys, they will run laughing to the bank to deposit their even bigger profits .
You know, one Croatia Airlines is fun, but two of them are even better !
^ Is that you Pozdrav iz Rijeke ?
ReplyDeleteJust for your info, I am not mentally ill, and I have no reason to hide behind Anonymous. Every time I write, I write with my name, never as Anonymous. And, imagine, I am even really from Rijeka. So the answer to your question is : No, it was not me. On the other hand, I am honoured and happy people following this blog and reading my posts are accepting, and even starting to use in their posts terms like uhljebs, and Mutti slaves, originally promoted by me.
Delete^ Well, he still sounds a lot like you .
DeleteBut i have to admit that he´s right despite his strong language .
The same as you are right with your criticism of Croatia Airlines .
Today Podgorica has two flights with Turkish to Istanbul -
ReplyDeleteone with A321 and the other with 737-800 .
Does anybody know why they are so succesful on that route ?
Zagreb is a much bigger market and they still have a single flight to Istanbul with A320 .