airBaltic sees new opportunities in Western Balkans


Latvia’s national carrier airBaltic has expanded its presence in the region this year with the launch of new routes to Belgrade, Tivat, Split and Dubrovnik. However, the carrier sees additional opportunities to grow. Nikodem Szczygłowski, an independent journalist, traveller, translator (Slovenian, Lithuanian, Polish) and author spoke to Mantas Vrubliauskas, airBaltic’s Vice President for Network Development about the airline’s new routes in the region, further expansion opportunities in the Balkans, cooperation with Air Serbia and Croatia Airlines, as well as the state of the Slovenian aviation market.

This year you launched routes to Belgrade and Bucharest, as well as Tivat in Montenegro - which has become another Adriatic destination in your network alongside Dubrovnik, Split and Rijeka. Are you considering further expanding your route network in the region?

We find that this region is becoming increasingly interesting, and I do not mean only the destinations on the Adriatic coast. We believe we can offer a good connecting product between this region and destinations in the Baltic and Nordic countries. In fact, we already see this working quite well on our new destinations to Romania, Serbia and Montenegro. We are working to evaluate further opportunities in this region, and I expect we will be able to offer more connectivity here, which will also help us to further offset the traffic losses from Russia and Ukraine.

When it comes to the Western Balkan region, so far, your attention has been focused exclusively on coastal destinations in Croatia. What has changed now that you have started flying to Belgrade and are considering other destinations - beyond Dalmatia and Istria?

There are many reasons for this. First of all, our fleet is growing, and we are also looking for ways to grow our network. Secondly, the war in Ukraine is forcing to us to look for new passenger flows. To give you an example, we continue serving the Nordic and Baltic capitals up to four times per day from Riga and sustaining such frequency on a 145-seater requires a lot of feeding capacity as well. Finally, this region is becoming more and more attractive for incoming tourists. There are now charter flights to Albania, for example, and tour operators are developing this market. Slovenia is also investing a lot in branding itself, and we actually get a lot of feedback from our customers asking for flights there, because it is actually really difficult to get to. Romania and Bulgaria are now some of the fastest growing economies in the EU, which reflects also on traffic figures, and we cannot ignore that.

What impact does the cooperation with Air Serbia have on making flights to Belgrade? Does this factor help when it comes to sales? If yes - which destinations from Air Serbia’s network are most interesting from your point of view?

Our long-standing codeshare with Air Serbia was an important factor when we made the decision to launch flights to Belgrade. We can see that Belgrade is becoming an important regional hub, both for flights to neighboring countries, and long-haul destinations. We already have some figures, and Tivat is the most popular destination beyond Belgrade on our Riga - Belgrade route. This might be because our new nonstop Tivat flights are also performing quite well, and it is hard to find an empty seat.

You have also had cooperation with Croatia Airlines on an interline basis for years. How helpful is it at the moment for the airline? Is Zagreb, following Ryanair’s entry, interesting as a potential destination from your point of view?

We are very satisfied with our cooperation with Croatia Airlines. Croatia is an important market (and the largest market from the Baltic countries in this region) and having a partner on the other side helps us tremendously. As one of the most vocal ambassadors of the Airbus A220 program, we were very happy to see that Croatia Airlines has chosen the A220 for their fleet renewal. This aircraft is a key to our success story, and I think it will be instrumental for the success of Croatia Airlines too, especially if you talk about the competitive landscape in Zagreb. The A220 is a very efficient, and, at the same time, a versatile aircraft, and it is perfectly sized for a market such as Latvia, or Croatia. I am not fully familiar with Ryanair’s expansion in Zagreb, but I think one single airline cannot serve all market segments, and therefore Zagreb remains an interesting market opportunity for us.

Following the bankruptcy of Adria Airways, Slovenia is one of the worst-connected aviation markets in the European Union. The country is still debating whether it needs a new national carrier. What is your opinion - is there really a need for a new national carrier in Ljubljana? Could Slovenia be an interesting market for airBaltic?

I think we can all agree that air connectivity in Slovenia should be improved, but I am not sure if a national carrier is the answer. The market forces within the EU’s single aviation market will inevitably lead to the consolidation of airlines, and only the fittest carriers will survive. Having said that, economic development is so closely linked to air connectivity, and countries should do more to increase it. I think it is difficult to solve this, but countries should find legal mechanisms to incentivise airlines (for example, PSO schemes or similar), they should invest into airports and make them commercially attractive, and they should also do a lot of destination marketing. I think Slovenia is doing quite a lot already in all of these areas, and I sincerely hope they will soon see the results. Slovenia is definitely interesting for us too, and I think A220s is the right aircraft type for this market.



Comments

  1. Anonymous09:02

    Why no Ohrid...they were flying there few years ago...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:28

      It would be nice to see them in Skopje.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:19

      Why would there be demand for OHD and SKP?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous16:50

      It was the Estonian Nordica that flew there for one (or two?) seasons, not AirBaltic

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:06

    Interesting that Tivat is their number transfer destination via Belgrade. It means Air Serbia is benefiting from their flights to Belgrade.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:22

      Without the codeshare, this Riga-Belgrade route wouldn’t be that much profitable.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:28

      How can you conclude that?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous15:12

      Because I'm BEG nor Serbia nothing can actually work by itself, it all has to have some reason... in the minds of those who cannot accept that BEG, AirSerbia and Serbia are successful.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous15:21

      'Because I'm BEG'?
      Whaaat?!

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:07

    Seems Ljubljana might be next on their list

    "Slovenia is also investing a lot in branding itself, and we actually get a lot of feedback from our customers asking for flights there, because it is actually really difficult to get to."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:10

      Wish they applied for the subsidies and started a few routes out of LJU. Would fit their business model.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:22

      Considering how much info they have on the Slovenian market, it seems as if they looked into it.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:13

    Excellent news. Wish them good luck.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous09:13

    This is a very decent airline

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous09:14

    Interesting that BEG is the first and only capital city in ex-Yu they are serving. I hope they add ZAG and LJU soon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:19

      Isn't ZAG now offering incentives for Riga flights?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:21

      Tallinn and Riga actually.
      https://www.exyuaviation.com/2023/03/zagreb-airport-offers-airline.html

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:24

      Hope they make use of it.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:32

      Ryanair could start these flights

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:39

      Ryanair will flying Zagreb-Riga no doubt about it.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:58

      They haven't really added too many new routes in the last year

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:13

      Ryanair will get out of Zagreb, the airport initiative is tailor made for Wizz

      Delete
    8. Anonymous10:23

      Does Wizz fly to the Baltics?

      Delete
    9. Anonymous12:17

      And SJJ for sure, there's a demand and tourists from the Baltic are coming

      Delete
    10. Anonymous13:48

      @10.23 yes of course it does

      Delete
    11. Anonymous13:49

      Well Croatia Airlines could have started Riga seasonally. Do a codeshare with Air Baltic to offer onward connectivity while offering passengers connections through Zagreb to the coast. But its easier to start Mostar.

      Delete
    12. OU could have started many many many more routes, not only Riga, and not only in Europe, and not only seasonally, and not mostly to MUC and FRA, and not mostly on turboprops. But......

      Delete
    13. Anonymous18:37

      ...Lufthansa flies from Frankfurt and Munich multiple times daily to Riga.

      Delete
    14. And many cities within Germany, UK, France, and America, and Asia, and Scandinavia, and Spain and Portugal, and Russia and beyond in normal times, and......

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:15

    AirBaltic should base 2 aircraft in LJU and collect most of the slo subsidies and end nonsense about national carrier.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:21

      That ship has sailed.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:29

      And because they won't do it (or any other airline) you will have to live with Air Slovenia. And I like that vey very much :)

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:50

      I think I will live quite good with it. Just I don't think airline will last for a long time.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:06

      For the time it will last, LJU will again have decent numbers as they had in past.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous00:10

      Let's hope

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:20

    They should do some marketing campaign in Serbia or at least online. I don't think a lot of people know about these flights.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:23

      I agree. Although from what I have heard from someone working as a gate agent airport, these flights are performing well, at least load wise.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:24

      Good to hear. Hope so.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:27

      Their lowest fares to BEG are mostly sold out.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:39

      I wonder what impact they will have on LOT which gets quite a bit of Scandinavian and Baltic transit traffic.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:00

      LOT gets the most transfers to Canada and there is decent P2P demand so they will be fine.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous22:39

      ^ True that

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:24

    Great airline

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous22:39

      Hope to try them soon from BEG.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:33

    This is good news. Air baltic has really been inactive in this region, except for the Croatian coast a couple of months per year until 2023. Good to see things are changing.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous09:33

    air baltic should really do something about that acid green livery.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:35

      I like it

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:40

      I also think it looks good on the A220 and I like the combination of the light green and fark blue they use in their branding.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous00:10

      *dark

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:35

    BT has been building a serious hub for years now. It's a good option for transfer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:36

      Anyone flown with them? What's their service like?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:00

      I hope we get a trip report with them soon.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous00:10

      Yes would be an interesting one.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:35

    How many times per week were they flying to BEG back in 09-11?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:37

      3 weekly and then they increased it up to 4 weekly flights.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:38

    BT should look at ZAG. There is a need for more competition here especially to Northern Europe.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:26

      Ha ha why Zagreb?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:30

      Well he says why

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:38

    This whole region is poorly connected to Baltic states, which are actually all very beautiful and well worth a visit.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:40

      It's improving.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:41

      True. Until recently it took longer to fly from the Balkans to the Baltics then to fly from the Balkans direct to NYC.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:02

      im surprised the flights are working well, i understand the desire from Baltics to go to the coast of the adriatic, but i didn't think there was any desire for travel from the Yug nations to the Batics

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:56

      I think Russian population living in the Baltics might also be filling these flights (and their families from Russia that want to visit).

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:41

    Finally they discovered the Balkans.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous09:42

    What about Sarajevo? Have they found it on the map even?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:03

      They have never mentioned it. It does not seem to be high on their priority list.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous09:42

    Reading this interview I realize Slovenia really is the laughing stock of the European aviation industry.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:47

      The market that will sort itself out...

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:49

      ^ That worked out well

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:52

      Unfortunately yes

      Delete
  19. Anonymous10:04

    "We can see that Belgrade is becoming an important regional hub, both for flights to neighboring countries, and long-haul destinations."

    Nice

    ReplyDelete
  20. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I've been wanting to visit the Baltics for so long but flights have always been rather inconvenient or too expensive, so this is fantastic! And they are doing a lot of online marketing - both on social media and targetted ads. I was looking at some flights from Belgrade to Riga a couple of weeks ago and the Air Baltic promo banners still keep being served up on so many sites I visit. Clearly they're committed!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:49

      Good to hear they have some marketing on the new route

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:40

      Nice new planes, comfortable, fully based on buy on board options, you get nothing for free when flying with them. I also remember that buy-on-board options were better than similar options on other airlines.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous11:48

    I think generally helping these flights is the huge Russian population living in the Baltics. Most don't even have citizenship in those countries even though they lived there their entire life and considering the situation, most don't feel welcome in most parts of Europe. Also it would be interesting to see how many of Air Baltic's Belgrade passengers are catching flights to Moscow or Russia. Air Baltic didn't start Istanbul flights a few weeks ago for no reason. 25% of Latvia's population are Russians (and that's official, unofficially it is much more), in Estonia it is 22% officially.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:52

      +1

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:38

      People in Baltics that have no citizenship ie. they have so called "alien passport" have a valid ID and can travel across EU without any restrictions, can get US visa for example etc.
      And most of them travel around with no issue so that is not really a reason for those flights to Belgrade.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:39

      I didn't mean it is the main reason, but I suppose they all have family in Russia and currently the only way to see them is flying via Serbia or Turkey.

      Delete
  23. Anonymous12:22

    "Romania and Bulgaria are now some of the fastest growing economies in the EU, which reflects also on traffic figures, and we cannot ignore that."
    BT seem to be doing quite well in OTP and especially BOJ where they already upgraded their A220 with the leased A320 from Avion Express. They will also compete with the new Kaunas-Burgas Ryanair route, which will run from March to October 2023.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous00:11

      How many weekly flights do they have to OTP?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous00:14

      3 times per week.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous18:56

      LOT with transfer via WAW can offer travelling between RIX and OTP 3x daily. So compare that with 3 weekly nonstop by BT. LOT is the winner. Frequency rules.

      Delete
  24. Anonymous13:55

    Fingers crossed for Skopje

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous00:12

      Is there demand between the Baltics and Macedonia?

      Delete
  25. Anonymous13:56

    If they are flying charters to Albania it is likely they will add Tirana next year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:14

      They are not

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:22

      If you read the article, according to air baltic's Vice President for network Development
      "There are now charter flights to Albania, for example, and tour operators are developing this market."

      Delete
    3. Anonymous16:00

      Yes I read it, and it's not Baltic who is operating these charters

      Delete
    4. Anonymous22:16

      Oh ok, I didn't understand, I thought it was Air Baltic. Still it could be on their radar since they mention it.

      Delete
  26. Anonymous18:34

    This region becomes increasingly interesting ...
    Says someone who in the 1980ies lived behind the iron curtain and his country part of the USSR .
    While Britons and Germans filled the beaches of Dalmatia and Ajax Amsterdam and Juventus Turin played matches in Belgrade .
    And while Riga in the USSR was nearing the one million inhabitant mark and starting construction of a subway to accomodate the population growth - they nowadays are shrunken to under 800.000 .
    Without a subway .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous22:15

      What has this got to do with anything?!?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous22:18

      He obviously meant`that these Air Baltic guys are livin`behind the moon ..!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous00:09

      E uvek me zanimalo kako Juga nije mogla da sagradi metro u Beogradu i Zagrebu a Sovjetski Savez je mogao u Jerevanu itd…

      Delete
  27. Anonymous22:15

    Hope to see them expand more in the region.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous22:16

    How many weekly flights do they have to Bucharest? Do they fly to Sofia?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous00:13

      3x weekly to Bucharest

      Delete
    2. Anonymous00:13

      And no, they don't fly to Sofia.

      Delete
  29. Anonymous00:12

    Next it's going to be between Zagreb and Ljubljana. Doubt they will fly to both.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous00:14

      Most likely Zagreb because of the feed they can get/give to OU.

      Delete
  30. Anonymous12:39

    It could be also Ljubljana from the opposite logic, to benefit from underserved market and feed their hub(s)

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous19:02

    A220-300 is simply to big for such small markets like Baltic or exYu capitals to offer high frequency (for business traffic) and transfer opportunities to compete with bigger flag carriers or LCCs. Holiday makers are seasonal and pay the cheapest fares looking for bargain. You can fly 2-3x weekly at max using a 150 seater but would not cater high yield traffic to earn money and competing with FR or W6 still will be difficult.

    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.