Low cost carrier Ryanair will halt flights between Charleroi and Podgorica from November 5, making it the fourth route to be discontinued by the airline from the Montenegrin capital this coming winter season. It previously announced that services from Podgorica to Zagreb, Barcelona and Manchester would also be discontinued at the end of October. Ryanair previously said, “Due to Podgorica Airport’s decision to increase their fees, we are forced to discontinue some flights from Podgorica this winter. The fee hike makes Podgorica Airport completely uncompetitive compared to other European airports which reduce their fees to stimulate recovery and traffic growth. This will have a detrimental impact on Montenegro’s connectivity, tourism and the economy”.
Ryanair was Montenegro’s busiest low cost carrier handling 249.959 passengers on flights to and from Podgorica last year. The figure represents an increase of over 200% on 2021 and up 30.8% on the pre-pandemic 2019. Its average annual cabin load factor in Podgorica last year stood at 82.3%. During 2022, the carrier handled 32.576 passengers on its Charleroi service, which was the first route it launched to Montenegro back in 2013. In addition, it welcomed 28.745 passengers on the Zagreb route, which commenced in 2021, as well as 12.626 travellers on the Barcelona service, which was introduced in 2019.
This winter, Ryanair will maintain flights from Podgorica to just four destinations: Berlin, Gdansk, Krakow and London Stansted. It has placed 79.108 seats on the market, down 32.5% on the previous winter. As a result, Wizz Air will overtake Ryanair as Montenegro’s largest low cost carrier this winter, based on capacity, even though it will suspend flights from Podgorica to Rome Fiumicino and Vienna over the winter period. However, Wizz has said both routes will be restored during the 2024 summer season, which begins on March 31 of next year. “As part of our constant analysis and search for new route options, Wizz Air has decided to temporarily suspend flights between Vienna and Podgorica, as well as between Rome and Podgorica. However, we are pleased to inform that these routes will continue to be operated during the summer season. This strategic adjustment enables the optimisation of operations while ensuring that passengers can enjoy the convenience and availability of these routes during peak travel period”, Wizz Air said in a statement.
Montenegro’s largest carriers by seat capacity, winter 2023/24
On top of that the newly found municipality within which is Podgorica Airport is charging taces for each arriving and departing plane
ReplyDelete*taxes
DeleteNuts
DeleteLet’s collect money while doing absolutely nothing for it - the Balkan way. Slovenia, you’re included too!
DeleteTIA is calling
DeleteIt's not going to be a good winter for TGD unfortunately
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised by the year round flights to Poland by Ryanair to be honest. How come?
ReplyDeleteAnd now LOT too. Is Montenegro popular with Poles in winter?
DeleteSo Gdansk can work but not Brussles?
ReplyDeleteIt's not just about demand it's also about costs. Gdansk route is probably much cheaper to operate than Charleroi.
DeleteSo Montenegro no longer has nonstop flights to Spain, Croatia and Belgium...
ReplyDeleteTUI flies from Brussels to Tivat during the summer.
Deleteopportunity for OU at least to take over the route. or Air Montenegro
DeleteOpportunity for OU equals Minken and Vrankvurt
DeleteThat'll be the day @Slav.Man
DeleteIt's as Pozdrav says; OU is too busy connecting all 9 Cro airports to Frankvurst and Minšen
I wonder if they will restore them in the summer. Although none of them are on sale for summer.
ReplyDeleteDisappointing
ReplyDeleteThis has little to do with taxes but everything to do with low demand. Just look at their LF which barely got over 80%. For an airlines like Ryanair this is not good enough. It also goes to show that they can't create demand out of nowhere like many give them credit. They came, they got subsidies, they failed and now they are leaving.
ReplyDeleteWe have to ask ourselves if the airport even profited and made money from the discounts they got. There has to be a reason why they are increasing them.
Also please don't forget that EU economy slowing down also plays a role. The EU just revised their growth projections for 2023. It was lowered from 1.1% to 0.8% with Germany going from bad to worse. This will impact demand for air travel and we are already seeing how many gasto heavy routes were cut in recent times.
+100
DeleteMontenegro airport management has already said they offering more incentives and cash for specific new routes (only to LCCs), all tailored for Ryanair and Wizz of course. I completely agree with you, obviously Ryanair was just not making money on these routes.
DeleteYeah, the EU economy slowing down is the problem. Not our disastrous countries with mentally challenged politicians.
DeleteHow is local mentality linked to Ryanair obviously struggling to fill flights from MNE to certain destinations around Europe? I don't see the link.
DeleteThe market is obviously not there, it's not the end of the world.
I agree that the EU economic slowdown negatively impacts ethnic travel to the region. These people are usually working low paying jobs and are the most affected by rising inflation. If they used to travel back home 3 or 4 times per year now they will do it once or twice.
I think it has nothing to do with the EU economy. And the gasto routes except in Bosnia are doing fine. Montenegro is a highly seasonal touristic destanation with a very small diaspora. The routes are terminated at the same moment the high season end.
DeleteWell, ethnic routes were terminated or reduced all over eastern Europe. It's not just our region that is struggling. Only time will tell as winter nears.
DeleteWhat frickin low demand when the demand for Ryan literally went up by over 200% last year compared to 2021. and 30.8% compared to the pre-pandemic 2019. and this year was even better than the last one?
DeleteIt's literally everything else BUT the drmand.
When I see who is in the airport's management board, I am not surprised at all
ReplyDeleteMontenegro market is currently the only one in exyu together with Slovenia that has less passengers this year than in 2019 unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteThat's true but only because of Tivat. It lost most of its passengers because of the Ukraine war,
DeleteAmazing how big TK has become in Montenegro!
ReplyDeleteTrue but that planned capacity does not mean it will be a reality. For example they will fly Tivat this winter. They scheduled something like 5 weekly flights. That's what they often do with Dubrovnik too and in reality it turns out that the service isn't operating for half of the winter or if it is it is 1-2 flights per week. We will how they do in Tivat in winter.
DeleteTurkish, because of Russians that are coming Via IST.
DeleteIt's not just Russians. Many Turks have bought property in Montenegro.
DeleteYes its true a lot of turks moved and opend businesses in Montenegro. We are talking about thousends of companies and people with turkish passports
DeleteGood news for JU.
ReplyDeleteThose taxes in Podgorica are actually really low.
ReplyDeleteBut so is the locals' purchasing power, the GDP, the demand, the quality of infrastructure etc.
DeleteJust shows how an airport should not rely on airlines such as Ryanair.
ReplyDeleteYet they are Europe's biggest airline.
DeleteWhich is exactly why they'll always have it their way. Small airports have no say in that relationship as all power is in Ryanair's hands. When cutting flights Ryanair will always find a way to utilize those planes, while small airports are left crippled by it and with no real options
DeleteOk so what's the alternative? To have almost no flights at all like in Tuzla or to rely on hugely expensive Air Serbia like in Podgorica and Tivat.
DeleteМени је поента из вашег поста то да је за Подгорицу лете ЈУ и Рајан аир. И нико други. Нема Монтенегро аирлинеса, ОС, ТК WIZZ-a... Све остале компаније бију ако нећете да летите њима џабе. Само ЈУ дере кожу са леђа. А Ви лепо, као и досад, или у Тирану, Дубровник или возом за Београд, а може и колима. Нико Вас не тера да летите за Београд.
DeleteАко је JU скупа онда то значи да је и пуна. Ето нека Аеродроми Црне Горе пораде на томе да JU повећа број полазака. Такође нека лобирају да се укину одређени намети као што је то урађено ради летова BEG-BNX. Дакле сви нападају авио-компаније а да притом игноришу удео држава у скупоћи карата.
DeletePity about the ZAG-TGD flights. It was Ryanair's only inter ex-yu route.
ReplyDeleteStill waiting for the day when it will be possible to have an LCC flying TGD-BEG.
DeleteNot gonna happen anytime soon
Deleteit leaves SKP-LJU as the only intra exyu line by a foreign airline.
DeleteThere is also SKP-SJJ by Aegean.
DeleteBrussels never had a lot of demand from Podgorica. Even Montenegro Airlines couldn't make it work back in the day.
ReplyDeleteAre you for real? Charleroi has been operated by Ryanair for 10 years. It was their first route to Podgorica.
DeleteInteresting passenger numbers. Is 82% load factor good for Ryanair?
ReplyDeleteNo
DeleteDepends on the average fare/yield. A load factor means nothing without additional metrics.
DeleteShould be kept in mind that Q1 2022 was really impacted by Covid on western markets.
Delete82% passenger load factor is actually very good for Ryanair because their official 90%+ load factor includes no shows.
Delete@11.40 no it isnt
DeleteIt would be good with prices to follow suit. I don't know about Charleroi, but ZAG ticket prices were dirt cheap. Unsustainable.
DeleteInteresting that Manchester is cut from both Podgorica and Zagreb
ReplyDeleteReally unfortunate especially since Montenegro now losses three markets completely.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised TGD-BCN was the only route between Spain and Montenegro. Where is Vueling? Where is Volotea?
ReplyDeleteNot enough demand
DeleteWell this blows
ReplyDeleteThose passenger numbers on ZAG-TGD-ZAG are not bad at all.
ReplyDeleteit's all about the yields.
DeleteYes, I was surprised too. That's a high number. Some other routes were operated for longer and they have lower passenger numbers.
DeleteFlew ZAG-TGD last October, plane was full but I paid 20 euros.
DeleteAnd that's €20 with airport taxes! I think there were ZAG-TGD fares for as little as €5 on some days.
DeleteSo what? I bought a ticket from Banja Luka to Berlin for 9 euros.
DeleteFunny that you ask. That route is being cancelled in November
DeleteAnd maybe he told us the reason why
DeleteGood riddance to Ryanair!
ReplyDeleteWhy?
DeleteTypical Ryanair
ReplyDeleteHopefully they bring these routes back next summer.
ReplyDeleteGoodbye Ryanair
ReplyDeleteThey should focus to extend their Nis network and probably open BEG
ReplyDeleteextend? only 2 routes are left. tells a lot
Deletein winter scheule
DeleteActually they have four routes out of Nis if you include seasonal Corfu. They could easily fly to BVA, STN and BER, even more if you ask me, CPH if they want to compete with W6 to MMX
Delete+ CIA (Rome) since former JU flights in 2019 used to be packed, CRL may be another possibility so yeah there are opportunities for Ryanair to develop in Nis
DeleteBER was flown by them and cut straight away. And no route from that "legendary" PSO was full
DeleteThis is because Ryanair starts flights to TIA at the end of October. Very soon the low cost flights from Wizzair and Ryainair will be reduced by PDG, there will probably remain 3 such in the future.
ReplyDeletelol sure
DeleteGood news for 4O
ReplyDeleteYes, 4O flies to BCN and ZAG 🤣
DeleteThey fly to LJU
DeleteSo? LJU is not ZAG.
DeleteReally?
DeleteCheck geography.
DeleteYou are welcome.
That's pretty ironic for you to say
Deletefees is always a good excuse for medium demand
ReplyDeletePeople on this forum keep repeating this nonsense argument. It's not an excuse, it's literally how Ryanair and Wizz operate. If they have to pay an extra 4 euros per passenger for every single passenger then that's a 10% increase in their unit costs.
DeleteNonsense. Wizz Air was forced to pay more in BEG and they are still there. Why? Because there is a market in Belgrade so it's worth the while.
Delete@anon 15:44
Delete+100
Well obviously Wizz is happier to pay higher taxes in BEG than in TGD when Belgrade is richer and bigger. But the point is that Wizz still gets discounts in BEG and it would not stick around past a certain level of fees per passenger carried.
Deletelet not forget that Aerodromi Crne Gore are supporting the airlines with 7.2 mil euros which is not little.
ReplyDeleteeven with this some routes are not working
DeleteGood news for TIA
ReplyDeletePodgorica is a two hour ride from Tirana where Ryanair is opening a big new base.
ReplyDeleteThe management obviously came to the conclusion that it doesnt make sense to cannibalize yourself.
It's not a base
DeleteIt is true that TIA is not Ryanair's base but don't forget that at TIA at the end of October flights start with many important European cities, 17 destinations, surely in the near future destinations will be added without the need for this a Ryanair base as Ryanair has its own bases in Europe, unlike Wizzair which operates from bases in the east.
Delete"Opening a big new base" lol you are only here to troll
DeleteYou didn't say that Ryanair will open a big base at TIA, what I mean is that the dates that Ryanair flights to TGD end are exactly the dates that Ryanair starts flights to TIA, I don't believe it's a coincidence.
DeleteLol its the switch from summer into winter schedule. You didnt know even that
DeletePeople here on this blog always underestimate and belittle competition.
DeleteIt really shows how far behind they are from civilized countries in mentality.
TIA is 143 km away from Podgorica, probably Montenegrin travelers and those who want to go straight to Montenegro will go by direct and cheap flights of course from TIA and then by land and the second variant will be a stop from BEG and they will probably have a ticket price 2 to 3 times higher than TIA
ReplyDeleteAre the canceled Ryanair connections from TGD coming back during the summer season or not? Talking about Zagreb, Barcelona etc.
ReplyDeleteRyanair from Podgorica was full with people from Northern Albania especially Shkoder.
ReplyDeleteNow Ryanair in Tirana will massively decrease prices to fight Wizz Air and this will of course result in that their customer base will switch to there.
So much for RyanAir coming to Sarajevo, btw which is kinda strange? Doesn’t even have to be a base but they tried Tuzla and there in Banja Luka, i wonder why they havnt looked into the direction of Sarajevo and opening a few routes? With cheap tickets and a gap Wizz left i cant imagine it wouldn’t work? Once again not saying a base, just in general.
ReplyDelete