Greece’s Aegean Airlines plans to increase operations across all markets it serves in the former Yugoslavia next summer season, after announcing the launch of new routes from Athens to Ljubljana and Split. The carrier will introduce an additional weekly flight for a total of five to Belgrade from July until August. All services will be operated by the Airbus A320 aircraft. Furthermore, the airline will restore scheduled one weekly seasonal operations from both Heraklion and Rhodes to the Serbian capital from June. In Skopje, it will up capacity from the 46-seat ATR42 aircraft to the 72-seat ATR72. Although the switch was initially planned for this summer, the overwhelming majority of services were operated by the smaller turboprop.
The Greek carrier will notably increase capacity between Athens and Podgorica. Its two weekly service will be maintained with the 174-seat A320 jet instead of the ATR72 from early June until October. In Croatia, Aegean Airlines will add a third weekly rotation to Zagreb from mid-June, up from two this summer. It comes as the carrier restores its pre-pandemic winter operations to the Croatian capital, with services to be maintained until January of next year, rather than until October 8 of this year, as was initially planned. On the coast, Aegean will run up to five weekly flights to Dubrovnik, up from four this summer.
The Greek carrier told EX-YU Aviation News, "The former Yugoslav region is an important market for Aegean Airlines. Demand for these routes remain strong as passengers are able to travel to Athens and beyond. Our performance is satisfactory on this market, as is the cooperation we have with partner airlines in the region. Almost all flights from the former Yugoslav republics to Athens offer very good point to point coverage, as well as access to thirty Greek domestic destinations, connections to Cyprus and destinations in the Middle East and Southern Italy, which have proved popular with passengers from the Balkan region”.
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Come to Sarajevo!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised Sarajevo didn't work out a few years ago. Did they fly these with Q400s or Airbuses?
DeleteIt was the Q400.
Deleteflights were packed so I don't know why did not return.
DeleteOU should finally make ZAG-ATH year round, at least one weekly and keep the others via DBV.
DeleteThey haven't made ZAG-FCO nonstop for 30 years now and you expect them to make ZAG-ATH nonstop.
DeleteSo now that they are going back to Ljubljana and Split that leaves only Sarajevo and Zadar as two routes they cancelled in ex-Yu.
DeleteZAD wad cancelled after just one season, SPU was added the following year.
Delete*was
DeleteI don't get Sarajevo termination especially since they planned to increase frequencies from 2 to 4 in summer 2020.
DeleteYields were probably a problem with SJJ
DeleteWizz Air can now start it if there is sufficient demand.
DeleteOne would think Zagreb would be able to sustain year round flights to Athens. Why just till January?
ReplyDeleteTime for FR to step in. They would blow away both OU and A3.
DeleteFR usually loses battles with A3.
DeleteIn other words, A3 is winning with their top class service and reasonable prices.
DeleteTheir prices are far from reasonable.
DeleteCould some routes in ex-Yu work for them from Thessaloniki and/or Larnaca?
ReplyDeleteThey just announced LCA-OTP for next summer as well as EVN, BCN and I think CGN from SKG.
DeleteEVN is planned to be operated by the A321.
Hopefully in the next few years they consider some destinations in this region too from Larnaca.
DeleteI'd love it if they considered BEG flights, this year market was crazy and there was definitely room for more frequencies, especially since Wizz Air was sold out the whole summer and JU went crazy with its fares.
DeleteFrom Thessaloniki, perhaps Podgorica could work. JU flies from BEG and FR from Zagreb. Skopje is too close.
Delete^ And don't forget there are also Kraljevo- Thessaloniki flights :D
DeleteGreat to see this fantastic airline grow in the region. Basically they will have 7 weekly flights to Belgrade next summer. I believe they also increased BEG this winter as they plan 4 weekly flights.
ReplyDeleteNow if only they would expand ATH.
They seem to be doing well despite competition from JU.
DeleteWell the Serbian market seems to be performing quite well so I guess they are successfully riding the wave. I was looking at their fares for the next month and they seem to be quite high.
DeleteAnd at the same time JU is increasing Athens this winter to 10x weekly.
DeleteThat’s still pretty low performance between BEG and ATH.
DeleteJU and A3 also codeshare many flights so either the transfers are not so popular or the local demand is simply not increasing.
It confuses me because Serbia and Greece are really connected! Especially when you see that massive demand between Serbia and Turkey which didn’t exist in the past, because most Serbs prefer Greece as tourist destination. TK is booming with 3 daily flights yet A3 barely manages one daily to ATH ....
TK is used heavily by transfer passengers, incomparable to Aegean. Also Turkey is much cheaper to travel to and spend time in then Greece.
DeleteJU-A3 codeshare is extremely expensive and I doubt anyone is using it so these flights rely on local demand as well as trasnfers that each airlines sells via their own channels.
DeleteLet's not forget that last winter we had just a few weekly frequencies and that was it. I think JU was 5 and A3 was 2 from what I remember. Going from that to 14 is not bad.
I hope someone like Sky Express considers BEG, INI or KVO.
Greece is much closer too, a lot of people travel by car.
DeleteWell if you live anywhere north of Paracin anything beyond Thessaloniki is not that close. Also I think there is demand from INI to places like HER.
DeleteYeah, but lots (if not all) southern destinations in Greece require a car in order to fully experience them, so if you already have a good car why not spend one day in Thessaloniki or Meteora and then continue your journey down south instead of taking a plane+transfer+rent-a-car.
Delete@Nemjee 09:10 It has been observed that fares for many autumn and winter flights are currently high; it might be linked to A3 trying to make their new Aegean Pass service look more appealing and VfM.
Delete@nemjee
DeleteYou will be surprised with how far Serbs will drive into Greece. I've seen BG registration plates in Santorini, Belgraders going to places like Lefkada by bus or car. Halkidiki this summer was full of Serbian number plates and it wasn't uncommon to find plates from Northern Serbia as well. Tickets aren't that cheap either (ATH being cheaper than SKG when I've searched fares), motivating people to go by car.
Mayday celebrations this year had 1-2 hour lines at Evzoni, tonnes of BG registration plates, while JU was sending the ATR to SKG and selling fares above 20.000 din for economy light. Simply put, overpriced and underserved.
They should try seasonal flights to Banja Luka.
ReplyDeleteBNX prefers to send this traffic via BEG with JU.
DeleteVery slow development of their line to SKP, I would expected until now to be daily...
ReplyDeletei really hope Wizz or Ryanair start ATH-SKP.
DeleteThere is no a single bus or train connection between Macedonia and Athens (neighbouring countries). That says a lot about the travel demand between the two.
DeleteThessaloniki is between them. It makes much more financial sense to take one of the hourly bus services between the two Greek cities.
Delete@anon 10:50 This is definitely a context where simply employing the term "Macedonia" can create a lot of confusion, haha!
DeleteThere are bus lines connecting Athens to Belgrade and Budapest, and they all stop in North Macedonia, but they are definitely not convenient, as they sometimes don't stop at the cities' central stations for example, so one needs to arrange with someone to come pick them up etc.
People in the North of Greece like to visit Ohrid, usually by bus through travel agencies. With some good promotion, an ATH–OHD route would not be unimaginable, serving Athenians who would love a town with Byzantine heritage and people from North Macedonia and Albania that can optionally also transfer to the Cyclades, the Dodecanese etc.
Best airline in Europe in my opinion.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteAgree. Aegean is a great airline and I'm really happy they are spreading their wings across ex-Yu.
DeleteAegean has kept a level of service that almost all other European airlines no longer offer in narrowbody aircraft. BA is a prime example of that.
DeleteActually LO has a similar product compared to A3, they only recently improved it.
DeleteThe only thing I dislike about flying A3 is the dreadful connecting experience at ATH when flying Schengen to non-Schengen and vice versa. Obviously not the airline's fault, but it's part of the overall experience.
DeleteAlso, A3 lost one of my suitcases this summer on the way to RHO and I still haven't heard back from them after almost two months.
I agree as well. A3 is fantastic.
DeleteThis makes Croatia Airlines' ZAG-DBV-ATH flights highly uncompetitive. Who should sit in Zagreb on a a turboprop plane to go to Athens with a stop in Dubrovnik when they can fly nonstop on a better airline for less money?
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteExactly OU should start year-round direct ZAG-ATH flights and maintain DBV-ATH and SPU-ATH as seasonal routes. Also Aegean will increase ATH-ZAG to 3weekly that means that nobody will prefer OU.
DeleteHow come there is no codeshare between Croatia Airlines and Aegean? They are both Star alliance members. Makes no sense.
ReplyDeleteIt's odd especially considering they codeshare with JU on their Croatia flights.
DeleteTrue. And JU also has an SPA with Sky Express.
DeleteVery nice to see Aegean expanding in the region. Now is just AZ missing, would love to see their planes in LJU ZAG BEG SKP TGD SJJ PRN ZAD and increase flights to DBV and SPU
ReplyDeleteOne airline that is truly missing in BEG is Iberia. We need their domestic as well as South American network.
DeleteYou are absolutely right dear Nemjee. IB is one of my favorite airlines, not necessarly due to service, but IB means travelling to Spain or Latam and I love both destinations.
DeleteWhat happened with Thessaloniki-Dubrovnik? Did it start this summer as planned?
ReplyDeleteThey never launched it.
DeletePity
DeleteAnd now plans to fly it next year either.
DeleteATR72
DeleteAegean have chances to using ATR-s fleet to Nis and Kraljevo airports. From June to end of September. Atens and many other tourists destination Greeks wide cost line
ReplyDeletecan be truthful. So many oportunity in Open Balkan to EU members country's. 😀🛫🌐🛫
Both airports would actually have to lift a finger to attract other airlines. Neither are doing that because is suits them (ie the state) for JU to have most of the flights.
DeleteAnon 09:33 +1000
DeletePostovani Anon 9.33, slazem se sa Vasim zakljuckom.
DeletePrvenstveno po pitanju Aerodroma Morava Kraljevo.
Prvo zbog tako sporog pristupu gradnje Nove piste.
Kao i gradnje KargoCentra sa pratecim objavljenim u javnosti objektima.
Na drugom mestu nema aktivne saradnje medju tri velika grada kji su udaljeni od 15, do 35 kilomeara od od nedovrsenog Aerodroma Morava.
To su Kraljevo, Cacak i Kragujevac. Naravno i ostali gradovi koji gravitiraju ovom aerodromu.
Tesko je , bolje reci da je neshvatljivo da ljudi u ovom delu Srbije tesko shvataju da je izgradnja Aerodroma Morava i Autoputa Moravski Koridor najznacajniji objekti koji se grade juzno od Save i Dunava posle
Studenice i Zice iz doba Nemanjica.
Ali verujem da Vlada Srbije to zna. Drzava je pocela ove projekte. Ali je istina da se na Aerodromu Moravi
"Poradjaju" gotovo 15 godina. Ljudski je verovati da ce
Aerodrom Morava biti zavrsena u punom profilu za tri godine.Do tada Autoputem Car Lazar , uveliko ce teci velika reka automobila sredinom Otadzbine Srbije.
Transparentnost iskrenost i efikasnost su ogledalo drustva u kojem se nalazimo. Mogucnost i izbor su osnova zadovoljstva ljudskih bica. Svuda i uvek.
Let hope. 😀✈🌐🛫
Rodney Marinkovic and Aviation Enthusiast Associate Group ✈♥️🛫🌐✈🇫🇷
Great to see them growing flights.
ReplyDeleteHonestly I don't understand why ZAG would have more flights to Athens per week compared to LJU. There is WAY more demand for Greece from Slovenia and that is a fact.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that there is more demand for Greece from Slovenia, but there is also way more demand for Croatia from Greeks, as well as non-Europeans whose Southeastern Europe trip often only includes Greece and Croatia.
DeleteMark my words ATH-LJU will get increased by summer at least 3weekly and maybe 4weekly if there is demand. Thats how Aegean works if they see demand they increase flights.
DeleteOf course they are growing, Greece has tens of millions of tourists a year plus a strong diaspora.
ReplyDeleteIt's time for them to start TATL flights.
DeleteI'm wondering why Aegean is not interested in flying to the US and Canada. Besides Greeks they would get a lot of transfer traffic.
DeleteThey value profitability rather than prestige.
DeleteMaybe because 3 US airlines and Emirates fly allready to USA ,and I think DELTA and EMIRATES will continue for the winter season . The same goes for Canada with 2 airlines at least for the summer season.
DeleteA3 has codeshare agreement with EK that includes ATH-EWR as well as EK's MXP-JFK with A3 flying the ATH-MXP leg.
Delete@Anonymous 10:11
Delete+ 1.000.000
If Aegean starts flights to US or Canada its over for the other US airlines. Greeks literally prefer A3 over everything but I think that A3 is afraid of transatlantic flights because of Olympic Airways.
DeleteOf course they afraid . They are a private owned airline . They don't have the luxary of the Greek governement to cover the loses .
DeleteWell I'm not sure about that lol they got a lot of money from the greek government during the pandemic..
DeleteCertainly not the amount of money that the ex-yu airlines get from their governements every year for many - many years !
Delete"Southern Italy, which have proved popular with passengers from the Balkan region. "
ReplyDeleteNow that's interesting. Wonder which countries from the Balkans?
JU introducing Bari this year could give you an indication.
DeleteAegean has a strong network in Italy. My guess is people going on holiday for the summer use them.
DeleteEx-Yu, Albania and Bulgaria come to mind.
DeleteA3 flies to Lamezia Terme, Napoli, Bari, Palermo, Catania.
Next summer they are boosting Italy even more, for example Rome will have 16 weekly flights.
DeleteGreat to see not only the new destination but them increasing frequencies or capacity on all routes in ex-Yu.
ReplyDeleteBut it's a shame that during winter they are almost non existent on ex-Yu market.
ReplyDeleteHopefully the route to Zagreb will do well in November and December so in 2023/24 they keep the route year-round.
Deletethe fares they have to some ex-Yu destinations are extremely high.
ReplyDeleteGoes to show that demand is strong and more flights could be added.
DeleteIt goes to show they are ripping off people. Skopje flights are 300 euros on an ATR.
DeleteW6 could start the route then.
DeleteBut I don't think an A320 can succeed on the route. Most could still travel to Thessaloniki and take the plane or the bus form there to ATH.
Wow not a single route operating daily. I'm surprised.
ReplyDeleteIn Skopje, it will up capacity from the 46-seat ATR42 aircraft to the 72-seat ATR72. Although the switch was initially planned for this summer, the overwhelming majority of services were operated by the smaller turboprop.
ReplyDeleteOh well, not a significant increase of 25 seats. Demand still remains low it seems...
Interestingly, it was the first route they resumed in ex-Yu during covid.
DeleteTheir fares to Skopje are extremely expensive for some reason only known to them. I mean the route's costs on an ATR can't be that high to warrant such high fares.
DeleteRandom dates in October return ticket (WITHOUT luggage) is 290 EUR.
If prices for a 70 seater turboprop are that expensive then this shows that few people fly on the route and they need to compensate it somehow by putting those crazy prices simply due to the lack of competition.
DeleteI have no clue how Wizzair would fill an entire A320 from SKP.
Or they are filling the flights with low yielding transfers and are charging P2P passengers a fortune.
DeleteThey will fly to Bratislava as well, Aegean is really expanding in the region!
ReplyDeleteIs ZAG-ATH considered a seasonal route still with flights extended to January?
ReplyDeleteYes, it is still not year round.
DeleteDon't forget that is still September. I am pretty sure that we are gonna see more routes. One of them might be Serajevo. Yesterday Aegean add Marrakesh
Delete