Turkish Airlines to launch Tivat flights, expand EX-YU operations


Turkish Airlines has announced the launch of scheduled flights between its hub in Istanbul and Tivat, its second destination in Montenegro, as the carrier expands its operations across the former Yugoslavia this summer. In a statement, the company said, “Our Board of Directors has decided for the airline to launch flights to Tivat in Montenegro and Bergamo in Italy, depending on market conditions”. As previously reported by EX-YU Aviation News, the carrier will likely commence a four weekly service to the coastal city. Air Montenegro, which itself operates seasonal flights between the two, and plans to increase operations on the route this summer, has strongly objected to Turkish Airlines’ plans and has appealed for the local regulator not to issue a permit to its Turkish counterpart.

Elsewhere in the region, Turkish Airlines has increased operations to Belgrade as of yesterday where it is maintaining three daily rotations, each morning, afternoon and evening. As a result, the company has added an additional seven weekly flights to the Serbian capital, outstripping its pre-pandemic operations. In Sarajevo, the airline is increasing services to up to twenty weekly flights this summer, just one short from its 2019 levels. It is maintaining two daily flights from Istanbul to Podgorica, Pristina, Skopje and Zagreb, as well as ten weekly to Ljubljana. In Dubrovnik, Turkish Airlines’ frequencies will increase from the current two weekly flights to up to seven weekly rotations during the peak summer months.

Turkish Airlines’ lower cost unit, AnadoluJet, will also be operating a number of routes to the former Yugoslavia this summer. It will continue to maintain two weekly flights from Ankara to Belgrade, launched over the winter, and has restored three weekly rotations between Istanbul’s Sabiha Gocken Airport and Pristina as of yesterday, while two weekly services from Bodrum will return on June 18. Furthermore, it will restore flights from Antalya to Sarajevo and Skopje, on April 28 and May 1 respectively. Operations to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital will run up to nine times per week and to Skopje up to eleven weekly. AnadoluJet will also serve the two capital cities from Bodrum twice per week starting May 12.



Comments

  1. Anonymous09:02

    They will have a dominating position in many markets.

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  2. Anonymous09:03

    Nice addition.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous09:03

    I'm surprised they went for the third daily flight to BEG considering Air Serbia operates a daily afternoon flight which they codeshare. Won't the market become a bit saturated?

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:04

      Obviously not.

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    2. Anonymous09:05

      There is enough demand.

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    3. Anonymous09:09

      Don't forget that Serbia sees a lot of Turkish tourists. These guys were filling up a lot of the offered seats. TK will have no problem filling their third daily.

      First third IST-BEG was almost sold out.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous17:02

      Nice

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  4. Anonymous09:03

    They have really upped their presence through Anadolujet. Well done.

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  5. Anonymous09:05

    Will wee see them sending wide bodies more in the region anytime soon?

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:18

      Or any chance for any ex-Yu city to be permanently upgraded to an A330?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:27

      I doubt it. BEG has a regular one weekly A330 service last summer, but with three daily flights this summer, I doubt they need to send an A330.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:05

    And Ljubljana only 10 weekly...

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:08

      Were there ever 2 daily flights by TK to Ljubljana?

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    2. Anonymous09:08

      I mean 14 weekly.

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    3. Anonymous09:11

      Yes there were.

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    4. Anonymous09:13

      I don't understand why as Tk was always good market holder in LJU.

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    5. Anonymous09:14

      Maybe Flydubai is having an impact?

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    6. Anonymous09:41

      LJU wanted to get 14 weekly since demand increased in February buy can't get a plane to fly. So 10 will have to do for this summer.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:43

      What do you mean can't get a plane to fly?

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    8. Anonymous10:38

      In other words they lack planes just like Iberia is

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    9. Anonymous10:42

      Well they seem to have enough planes to start Tivat...

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    10. Anonymous10:44

      Lacking planes is just excuse for Fraport and their fanboys.

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    11. Anonymous11:01

      I don't buy the fleet shortage argument either. Many airlines still have excess planes because frequencies on many routes are still not near 2019 levels.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous11:38

      I still think FZ has made a slight impact on TK in LJU. I mean they quickly launched summer flights daily in LJU. FZ offers very good prices and combinations with EK and they cover some airports that TK has not yet reached. It would be interesting if QR penetrates the market as well. I think there is demand to the Gulf and transfers to Asia. For example, Maldives, Zanzibar and Seychelles have been very popular during the last 2 years and will likely remain so in winter now that people have discovered them.

      Delete
    13. Anonymous17:03

      +1 last anon

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:07

    When will TIV start?

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:14

      Probably in June.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:08

    BEG has definitely become one of the main airports in the Balkans for flights to Turkey.

    BEG-IST: 28 weekly
    BEG-SAW: 4 weekly
    BEG-ESB: 2 weekly

    Pegasus keeps on requesting more flights but they get turned down each time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:12

      How come they let Turkish fly but not Peagasus?

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    2. Anonymous09:12

      Also many summer charters to Turkish coast.

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    3. Anonymous09:18

      TK in Belgrade really has a fantastic timetable.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:26

      @9.15 they only reason they are letting Turkish is because they have a codeshare wtih Air Serbia now. Otherwise TK was also blocked many times from introducing third daily flight.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:32

      TK got 14 weekly as a deal to not touch the charter traffic. Last year we saw Anadoujet apply for charters and boom... TK all of a sudden gets the third daily from IST.

      Pegasus on the other hand doesn't have the political backing TK or JU got.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:33

      I still think TK got the better deal. I mean what did JU get in return? Two flights weekly from Kraljevo and Nis to IST?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:40

      From what I've heard, the TK codeshares have really helped those two routes and Air Serbia has great loads on INI/KVO-IST flights.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous09:44

      INI-IST is doing really, really well as there is a lot of O&D demand. Regularly there are over 100 passengers on those flights. KVO is also full very often mostly because of passengers from Pazar.

      BEG-INI has 20 to 30 passengers per flights which is great on the ATR, not so much on A319.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous17:04

      Good to know. Turkey should be very attractive to Serbian passengers at the moment. It is very cheap over there due to lira problems.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:14

    They are currently probably the number 1 transfer airline in many ex-Yu markets

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:28

      In Bosnia and Macedonia for sure.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:01

      I wonder if they are number one in Serbia too.

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    3. Anonymous12:22

      I think it's Lufthansa, after all they have 4 daily flights, from June 5 when MUC gets the overnight flight.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous17:06

      There was an article here in 2020 about the top connecting airline from Belgrade. Turkish Airlines was third. First was Lufthansa, second Aeroflot, third Turkish and fourth Qatar Airways. Adter that Etihad and Alitalia.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous17:06

      *after

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    6. Anonymous00:34

      Yes but that was for 2019. In 2020 TK became number one. Don't know what was the situation last year.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous00:36

      True

      https://www.exyuaviation.com/2021/12/turkish-airlines-becomes-belgrades-top.html

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:15

    Any airline growing in the region is good news. Hope they keep increasing frequencies and destinations.

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  11. Anonymous09:19

    I'm hoping Anadolujet launched more flights from Ankara to ex-Yu capitals.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:26

      Sarajevo is a no brainer.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:27

      Agree. I'm certain there would be demand.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:27

    Very strange they never consider to fly in SPU. Im pretty sure there is potential for more than seasonal flights there.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:34

      They have considered it. I remember reading here how they planned to add SPU and were in discussions with the airport. But then Covid happened.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:41

      Croatia Airlines could have started this route and finally return to Istanbul.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:30

      It would make sense. In my opinion they should have some similar agreement with TK as JU does so Croatia Airlines can fly a mid afternoon flight from Zagreb while TK keeps morning and evening flight. Plus codeshare.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:28

    Well this always was their area of interest.

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  14. Anonymous09:32

    They are using AnadoluJet more and more in ex-Yu. Hope we get some new destinations with that too.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:31

      Izmir would be a good addition to all ex-Yu cities. I know Pegasus is starting Skopje, but Anadolujet could begin other cities in the region.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:38

      Anadolujet operates only domestic routes from Izmir.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:45

      They do actually have seasonal Tehran flights from Izmir.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous17:08

      Izmir is primarily a Sun Express and Pegasus base. Turkish only flies there from Istanbul.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:35

    Air Montenegro will be toast on this route

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:27

      How many flights per week will Air Montenegro have between TIV and IST?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:29

      4 weekly in April
      6 weekly in May
      Daily from June

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:45

      Not bad at all. Let's see how many flights TK does.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:02

      It says in the article 4 weekly.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:02

      Can two airlines really work on this route?

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    6. Anonymous17:08

      I doubt it.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:41

    Good news about Tivat. TK should fly to secondary airports in the region more.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:27

      I agree. Flights to Split, Mostar or even Nis would be great.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous00:33

      It is time for them to offer a second destination in Bosnia. I remember they were considering Mostar at one point.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous00:34

      To me this route to Mostar seems a bit more suited for Pegasus.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous00:40

      They will probably rather go for Mostar than Split IF they can receive (larger) subsidies at OMO.
      SPU will never offer them any incentives or discounts.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous11:02

    I assume TIV will be seasonal?

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:09

      Let's see. Not necessarily. Dubrovnik is year round.

      Delete
  18. Great news. TK is back on full expansion mode. And I can happily report that TK onboard service (especially in Business class) is now fully back to pre-Covid levels.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:09

      Yep there service is back to pre pandemic which is great.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous00:37

      Their fares are reasonable and their service is excellent. Just have to look at the trip reports here.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous00:48

      Once TK manages to stay safe and without a major incident or without accident for at least 10 years, then I will again consider flying on one of their aircrafts.

      Delete
  19. Many russians using tk from beg

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous11:28

    Nice addition for MNE. Although following the TK logic a bit, they are also focusing on secondary cities in the Balkans and not only their capitals. For instance Constanta flights resumed 4 weekly and Varna is now daily. I hope we see Split, Maribor or Ohrid added to their network soon.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Pegasus should introduce Niš-Istanbul S.Gokcen flight

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:10

      They can't. Part of the PSO tendering is that no other airline can operate the same route. So, since JU flies to Istanbul, no other airline can.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous00:40

      That's convenient for Air Serbia...

      Delete
  22. Anonymous17:11

    Is TK the foreign airline with the best coverage in ex-Yu?

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:15

      No, Lufthansa has more destinations, thanks to the Croatian coast. It also flies more routes because it has bases in Frankfurt and Munich.

      Delete
  23. Anonymous17:16

    It would be nice to see Anadolujet expand to ZAG and LJU too.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous00:32

    Unfortunate they won't be using any widebodies anywhere on a regular basis.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous00:37

    So they are (almost) reintroducing 3 daily to Sarajevo after a few years. Last time they did that one of the flights was from Sabiha because of capacity restraints at IST.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous00:38

    In 2019 they planned third daily Skopje flight. They even put it on sale but then removed it. Don't know what happened.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous00:39

    There are not a lot of options left for them - Tivat, Split and secondary airports in Croatia. That's about it. They already serve all the capital cities.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous00:41

    Is Turkish Cargo still flying to Belgrade?

    ReplyDelete
  29. Anonymous00:41

    Good to hear. Hope they eventually increase LJU too.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous00:42

    the Turkish govt funds them on such a mission of global expansion.... lucky for them

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous00:46

    I really hope they will consider transatlantic flights from an ex-Yu country soon.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Anonymous00:47

    We could have seen an even more massive Turkish expansion if it wasnt the fall of the lira.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Anonymous00:47

    What about Tuzla? Any plans for them to fly there?

    ReplyDelete
  34. Anonymous09:19

    TK won the battle for TIV without even starting their operations. Air Mne unfortunately can not compete with TK financially and these are mainly Turkish passengers so they will naturally choose TK before an unknown foreign airline.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Tivat flights make sense with so many Russians having properties in Montenegro. Belgrade transfer opportunities are limited and might be gone by the beginning of the summer season.

    ReplyDelete

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