Wizz seeking up to €1 million for Maribor flights


Maribor Airport is continuing to hold talks with Wizz Air over potential flights but has warned a deal is some way off. The airport’s General Manager, Smiljan Kramberger, told Radio Maribor there have been discussions regarding the introduction of flights from Skopje, which are continuing to take place. “We actually asked under what conditions and in what way would It be possible to establish this service”, Mr Kramberger said, adding the two sides are exploring potential seasonal operations. However, the General Manager noted that Wizz Air expects a subsidy of almost one million euros in order to maintain flights between the two cities.

The budget carrier has never flown to Maribor but maintains services from Charleroi and Luton to Ljubljana. The Slovenian Ministry for Infrastructure and Urban Planning has also confirmed that talks with Wizz Air have taken place over the introduction of the Skopje - Maribor service but noted that a final agreement is yet to be reached. The Ministry added it was also in discussions with Ryanair over future flights to Slovenia’s second largest city. The budget airline briefly maintained flights between London Stansted and Maribor in 2007 and 2008. Despite solid loads, the route was terminated after Ryanair hiked fees for a joint advertising program, which was turned down by local authorities. Several weeks ago, the carrier said it was “continuing to evaluate potential operations in Slovenia”.

In 2020, Skopje emerged as Slovenia’s fourth busiest unserved route following the collapse of Adria Airways. Maribor Airport, which has struggled to attract airlines for years, is expected to be put up for concession in the near future, after a previous concession agreement was terminated several years ago over the government’s inability to adopt a new spatial plan, which would enable the airport to expand. The government is adamant the new plan will be approved soon, after which the selection of a concessionaire will begin. Maribor Airport will boast scheduled flights this summer as SkyAlps plans to introduce services from three Italian cities from late June until mid-September.



Comments

  1. Anonymous09:02

    Now imagine how much money it would cost for Lju to have a Wizz station a plane there. By the end of the day establishing a new national carrier would be more cost efficient

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:08

      +1

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:18

      They entered there where Ryanair found the exit.... I think it would be very interesting to pick some mid range airliners as Volotea, Air Baltic, Transavia... for flight connections and MBX needs connections to GB market London Southend and maybe some connection to Israeli Market. In the near future MBX needs a train track and station platform under the airport or near. It would be realistic investment. And if we continue to dream on maybe some italian carrier that connects Rome and Mailand as a good alternative connection to LH Group.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:21

      +1

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:35

      @Anon 09:08: Dream is the key point here.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:50

      But even Adria barely served Maribor.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous22:59

      Did JP only fly from Maribor to London?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous14:03

      In times of EX-YU and partially also thereafter, they flew also to DBV, FRA, MUC, LJU.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:02

    Hahaha a million to link SKP and MBX?!?! Are they for real? For that money they should introduce a few W pattern flights from MBX.

    I fear this ludicrous situation only shows that Wizz is not serious about Maribor.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:03

      Well they probably looked at MBX having not a single flight and realized they must be desperate.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:16

      One million in subsidies probably means paying no handling fees, no landing fees and cash incentive.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:22

      Exactly. But DRI failed to communicate it in a understandable way...

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:34

      But it comes down to the same thing. Maribor Airport would have to cover those costs and I doubt Maribor has that sort of money.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:02

    This really isn't worth that much money.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous22:59

      I believe it would be worth the return on investment.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:04

    I just wonder how much Tuzla and Banja Luka are paying if they are asking this much from Maribor.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:07

      I presume costs are much lower from these two cities.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:35

      Highly likely

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:07

    Can I just ask why Skopje? Is that really the most perspective route from Maribor?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:09

      Most probably connecting diaspora. London, Paris, Belgrade would all work. Even frankfurt and Munich with a few weekly flights

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:10

      So why are both sides talking only about Skopje. It makes no sense.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:15

      Wizz lost 650mio last year. Which is more than Ryanair did. They probably don't want to experiment. The perfect scenario for MBX would be if Amelia stationed 2x erj145 there. As they could cover important hubs not just the LLC ones

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:23

      +1

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:35

      I think Amelia is completely uninterested in Slovenian market. They are just using Slovenian registry, nothing more.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:43

      They publicly said last week that if they get the subsidies they are interested; and I think they would want less than Wizz

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:51

      Because its the most obvious destination east from SLO

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:08

    LOL

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous09:10

    Nothing is going to come out of these talks,

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:36

      Seems so. It was just a good headline that they were "in talks" before the election.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous23:00

      Never say never

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:11

    Better to use a tiny fraction of that money to get JU to launch two weekly flights the same way Rijeka did. They could get access to their regional and European network.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:16

      +1 4x weekly with atr would work perfectly for MBX

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:19

      They have night operations at MBX? JU could have 2 at night and 2 in the middle of the day. Like that they could also connect flights to JFK.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:23

      +1

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:38

      MBX can't even get the airport lights to work at night, let alone have proper night operations.

      Not to mention the cost to run the airport 24/7, when it's already losing millions per year.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:12

    This is a jake. Not only is it a joke the amount Wizz Air is asking for but it is also a joke the amount of time the government is taking to adopt a new spatial plan. It has been years and they are still talking about it! Not to mention potential concession.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous09:15

    MBX is doing more to get new airlines and routes than LJU.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous09:15

    This is really big opportunity for Maribor to turn a corner and start developing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:17

      You really think Skopje flights are worth it this much?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:02

      Thats some 25-30k pax from that one route yearly. If they spend 3 euros at the airport thats some 900k income

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:17

    They should milk it for all its worth.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous09:19

    I'm sorry to say but Maribor has no choice. If it wants to seriously develop it is going to have to initially pay some big money to a big LCC. Ryanair asked for the same price (even more) to keep flying from Maribor to London over 10 years ago.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:55

      Bingo!

      Ryanair flew to MXB when locals were interested in giving subsidies. Had they persisted a bit longer it could have done wonders for the region. Same story this time around.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:20

    When Wizz Air sees this article, they definetly won't fly to MBX. Bringing so much bad publicity out is insane. Just another example how bad the airport is led by the Ministry of Infrastructure and DRI.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:26

      Well I think MBX management wanted to say that these terms are unacceptable to them anyway.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:28

      Wizz does not care about publicity, all they care about is money. They have only negative publicity (aside of the self-proclaimed ones) anway. But now they are in serious need of money after losing EUR 650 million this year.

      Delete
  15. This means wizzair wants someone else to cover all the costs? Aren’t they LCC?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:27

      Isn't that what LCCs do?

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:27

    No chance this will happen. Slovenian government giving a total of 2 million to 12 airlines to fly to Slovenia. I doubt they are going to allow subsidies of up to 1 million for MBX flights (and seasonal ones to make things worse).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:28

      The development of Maribor Airport would not be good for Ljubljana Airport.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:30

      Maybe it would actually force LJU management to wake up.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:45

      LJU management will do nothing about it. They said how they are doing everything to resume LJU-SKP but in the end MBX will get SKP flights.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous23:01

      Very true. It has been 3 years since flights from Skopje ended and they still haven't found an alternative.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous09:31

    Disappointing.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous09:32

    Hope it can work.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous09:33

    Slovenian aviation seems to be cursed at the moment.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous09:37

    Of course this is the outcome. A few weeks ago the government just needed some attention how they are working on improving Maribor Airport before the elections. Now comes the reality.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:53

      Exactly. At the end of the day Slovenia is too small to have two operational airports. These are just empty promises.

      Delete
  21. Anonymous09:37

    I can guarantee Ryanair would ask for much more.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous09:44

    There is a reason why national carrier has competitive advantage in country they are from.
    To name a few, foreign airline, has to pay for crew and maintenance staff accommodations (hotels) and per diems.

    I do believe operating A320 for a year (lease, operating costs) on MBX-SKP costs around 1mil.

    They have done their calculations and they are assuming that load factor would be weary low. They are not prepared to take over the risk that their projection on expected loads is wrong.

    So, 1 mil subsidies number is quite correct in this case.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:03

      True. Nothing shocking in what they are asking for.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:24

      Wizz Air has a base in SKP, so there would be no night stop in MBX, and none of the costs you mention above.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:54

      At what time would arrival and departure be ?

      Delete
  23. Anonymous09:53

    As a Slovenian I find this embarrassing to be honest. It's a pity Maribor remains underutilized but what can we expect when the same situation is with our main airport too.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous09:54

    They still haven't adopted the spatial plan???? They have been talking about it for 3 years!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous09:55

    Such a sad outcome for this airport

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous09:56

    They may as well shut down the airport.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous10:02

    Which route would have the most potential from MBX?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:03

      London probably

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:08

      Why London? Diaspora? Tourists?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:10

      Tourists

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:11

      and one-two routes for the large exyu-diaspora: SKP/SJJ

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:17

      Answers to this question has the probability of a guess “Tomorrow will be sunny else it will be cloudy”

      Delete
  28. Anonymous10:12

    Maribor's main problem is that Graz is 60km away.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:13

      Exactly. Graz Airport does the job.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:15

      not at all. theres no Wizz or Ryanair at Graz

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:17

      Graz actually has traffic. They handled 1,036,929 passengers in 2019!

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:55

      But no lcc

      Delete
    5. Graz which has no LCC at all is not Maribor's main problem, it's Maribor's main and best chance. Maybe not exactly for SKP flights, but for sure for many others

      Delete
  29. Anonymous10:13

    I think the best MBX can do is to approach to JU, offer them to cover empty seats on 3 weekly rotations to BEG (2,4,7) and gain SLO Govt. assistance in obtaining permit to fly MBX-SKP (if that is so needed route), thus flying BEG-MBX-SKP-MBX-BEG.
    It would cost less with AT7, get two routes, create hype and hope for more...
    My 2 cents...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:27

      This would mean that MBX would have 2 daily flights to BEG on some days of the week. Completely unsustainable.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:30

      Not at all.
      Please read it again. I have stated 3 weekly...

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:32

      What exactly is "Lol" to you here?
      You seems to be very wise person, so please enlight us!

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:26

      @Anon 10:30: My bad, should have taken that second coffee.

      Delete
  30. Anonymous11:52

    People that LOL at Maribor didnt LOL at the 3 milion € INI-IST seasonal route?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous23:07

      They did, it was heavily criticized, just look at the comments. But the difference is that:
      A) IST is a global hub so by having flights to that city you are connected to the entire world.
      B) Those flights are codeshared by Turkish Airlines, so you can easily buy a ticket to any Turkish Airlines destination from Nis
      C) IST is a popular tourist destination
      D) Those flights are year round

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:04

      totally irrelevant. MXB will get more pax from this route since Wizz can easily fill a A320 to wherever they want (just look at INIs flights) and in the end its pax that matter to airports

      Delete
  31. Anonymous11:59

    Plot twist: Wizz will get some money from the macedonian tender (but not 1 mio for one route) and the costs will be split between SKP and MBX

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous23:04

      I wouldn't be surprised.

      Delete
  32. Anonymous16:24

    Just another conformation that NOBODY has payed the actual price of flying in the last twenty years... Giving the disappearing middle class a impression they still have a middle class standard of livnig. The only problem is that the base of the Ponzy scheme is getting more narrow each day, each hour.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. + 1 000 000. Unfortunately very few people understand you

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:29

      Uff Tres Prestige

      Delete
    3. You being one of them

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:42

      I agree completely, and agree with Pozdrav iz Rijeke that most people won't understand you.

      Delete
  33. Anonymous17:36

    And people thought Adria was expensive :D. Just goes to show that the average Slovene has no clue what he/she is talking about. With the elections approaching, it's a shame that everyone's vote counts the same.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Anonymous18:51

    Understanding Slovene aviation logic is quite hard lately. I mean MBX-SKP flights.... really??
    Why not restore Stansted and connect Charleroi and Dublin instead?? What is happening in LJU and now in MBX is odd... very odd.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous20:04

      MBX wanted SKP flights few years ago too so its nothing new (it was reported here as well). Its a big diaspora market untouched by lcc's.

      SKP was a key route for Adria whether you like it or not.

      Delete
  35. Anonymous23:02

    Wizz Air's price tag is completely normal. Don't understand all the shock.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Anonymous23:04

    Well here you have a classic example of what happens when there is demand between two countries but neither of the two have a national carrier (or any domestic carrier for that matter). One literally has nothing and the other relies on a Hungarian budget airline.

    ReplyDelete
  37. notLufthansa11:12

    Adria could, with some strong hand controlling the expenses and some trimming of the headoffice (less headcount in non-operational divisions), actually post moderate profit every year. It was the leechers, or uhljebs, as pozdrav iz Rijeke is calling them, who were draining the company into the red zone

    ReplyDelete

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.