Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways is reviewing the possibility of returning to the former Yugoslav region, over three years after terminating operations to the area. It comes as the carrier is expected to announce a record second consecutive annual profit in 2023 and readies for a major network expansion. Etihad is charting an ambitious growth path through to 2030, aiming to triple the number of passengers carried to 33 million, double its fleet to 150 planes and increase its available seat kilometres by about 30% annually over the next seven years. The airline has undergone wide-scale restructuring following its failed strategy of investing in troubled airlines across the world and has recently begun focusing on its product and introducing new routes, with an emphasis on European operations, although most of Eastern Europe and Southern Europe remains unserved.
Etihad has only ever served Belgrade within the former Yugoslavia on the back of its equity investment in Air Serbia. Although the Emirati carrier still owns a 16% stake in its Serbian counterpart, it has no effective control of the airline and its wide-ranging codeshare agreement, through which it served almost all the capitals in the region, has been terminated. Etihad last served Belgrade in October 2020. In 2019 It carried 114.256 passengers on the Abu Dhabi - Belgrade route for an average annual load factor of 87.2%. The high loads were partially the result of its cooperation with Air Serbia which saw it funnel a notable number of Europe-bound passengers through Belgrade. However, Etihad had also previously engaged in talks with Zagreb Airport and the Slovenian government, indicating its interest in the region prior to its restructuring. A renewed focus on seasonal leisure destinations in Europe also put coastal airports in the region with good chances of welcoming Etihad in the future.
The Macedonian Minister for Transport and Communication, Blagoj Bočvarski, recently held talks with officials in the United Arab Emirates, during which the introduction of flights between Abu Dhabi and Skopje were discussed. Commenting on the matter, Mr Bočvarski said, “We discussed the importance of establishing nonstop flights between Skopje and Abu Dhabi with the aim of deepening economic cooperation. Talks will continue in the coming period between our two friendly countries. The UAE supports the establishment of flights between Abu Dhabi and Skopje, which would develop passenger traffic, tourism and cargo”.
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| Etihad Airways summer 2023 European route map |
Etihad Airways’ CEO, Antonoaldo Neves, said, “By the end of 2024, early 2025, Etihad Airways will be … bigger than ever before in terms of passengers, available seat kilometres and fleet. It's incredible. An airline that was restructured over the last five years, now we're back to the game. I'm trying to actually front-load growth now. We are a totally different airline - profitable, with a business model that makes a lot of sense and with a solid foundation on profitability and cost-wise”. Central to Etihad’s growth plans is the recent opening of the much-delayed Abu Dhabi Airport Midfield Terminal, now known as Terminal A, which has the capacity to handle 45 million passengers per year.
Low cost carrier Wizz Air Abu Dhabi has begun serving the region following Etihad’s withdrawal. It currently maintains flights to Belgrade, handling half the figures Etihad saw on its daily service. The budget airline recently suspended flights to Sarajevo. Etihad has a joint venture with budget carrier Air Arabia, known as Air Arabia Abu Dhabi, which is based in the UAE capital and previously served Sarajevo. “I don’t believe in that tension between point-to-point and connecting travel … We have to connect people if we want to be a relevant airline in the region. At the same time, we need to bring local demand into Abu Dhabi because we make money doing that. So, I see a future where we have both”, Mr Neves said.
Interesting. They are definitely focusing on Europe a lot. Just the other week they launched Copenhagen and Dusseldorf. Considering they have a European CEO that knows the markets, I’m not surprised.
ReplyDeleteThey are really missing destinations in Eastern Europe.
DeleteThey are non existent in the Balkans, Eastern Europe and the Nordics.
DeleteThe CEO Antonaldo Neves is from Brasil.
DeleteHe was CEO of TAP
DeleteBoom bust cycle....
DeleteServicing backwaters in this region...
I am not sure about CPH, but DUS they used to fly in the past (I flew this route back in 2015), so it would be more like "re-introduced"
DeleteEtihad should buy 100% of Air Serbia from the government!
ReplyDeleteEven if it wanted to it can't. Non European companies cannot buy over 49% stake in companies in Serbia.
DeleteNo, niet, non, ne.
DeleteGod forbid
DeleteПу пу пу... не дај боже!
DeleteWould be nice to see Etihad back in our skies.
ReplyDeleteIs there a possibility for Etihad and Wizz Air Abu Dhabi to serve BEG at the same time? I don’t think so.
ReplyDeleteI think so, Wizzair Abu Dhabi has no transfers so you have to book a seperate ticket to connect to destinations from AUH, and Etihad has a much wider destination list across Africa and Asia.
DeleteThey used to do double daily to BEG to accomodate transfer traffic plus ex-YU travellers from oceania region. They were quite big in Australia with double daily connections. The only real competition for them was QR because Emirates did not offer any’special’ rates for east Europe. Hopefully they introduce BEG (4-5x weekly), ZAG, and SKP - but SKP wants everyone for their seasonal migration to Bitola.
DeleteThey won't be back. The market has moved on especially thanks to FZ and W5.
ReplyDeleteThey will be back from May, just now they don't have enough aircrafts
DeleteMy guess is we will see more of Air Arabia Abu Dhabi in the region rather than Etihad but let's wait and see. Predictions that Etihad would offload their entire narrow body fleet to Air Arabia have not materialized. In fact Etihad is returning all its narrow bodies into its own fleet.
ReplyDeleteWizz Air Abu Dhabi seems to be doing quite well not just over here but in the Middle East as well. I don't think EY will have an easy time competing with them.
DeleteThey don't have to compete just like EK doesn't with compete with FZ.
DeleteThey are owned by the kingdom (EY 100% and 5W 51%) and are complimentary.
That is a very high load factor for AUH-BEG-AUH, especially since in 2019 they operated double daily flights during the summer.
ReplyDeleteSo rumors for starting Ljubljana might be right
ReplyDeleteThey won't serve Ljubljana. The same person has been writing the same 'rumor' for the past 10 years.
DeleteJust like flydubai wont come right…
DeleteI'm sorry but Slovenia is one of the smallest markets in the region, considering Etihad doesen't even serve Romania or Bulgaria, Ljubljana definitely isn't a priority for them. Yes, Flydubai came after it started serving every single country market in the region including secondary destinations like Dubrovnik and Tivat.
DeleteYou simply can't compare FZ and EY when it comes to our region. flydubai is a massive player who is not easy to defeat. EY is nonexistent my friend. There are more chances of Uzbekistan Airways coming to LJU than EY.
DeleteLets wait and see :)
DeleteAnon 9:20 what on earth are you on about? Yes I agree that LJU probably is not their first choice but you need to know that the government still held talks with them and there are possibilities.
DeleteThey held talks with them 6 years ago. Etihad is a completely different company to what it used to be then. Claiming that they will come because Flydubai came 10 years after launching flights to the region and trying literally every other route including Podgorica before starting Ljubljana is bizarre to say the least.
DeleteAnon 09.40
DeleteJust because the government held talks with someone doesn't mean much. Remember that our government held talks with Garuda and Aegean and what happened in the end? Nothing.
There are no chances that Etihad launch Ljubljana, but there are chances for Skopje. Stay quiet and be happy that you have flights to Dubai now its enough for Slovenia.
Delete^ the fact both airlines failed in Skopje is a clear sign no one else is coming to replace them.
DeleteAt the end of the day they won't come to either SKP or LJU, they might come back to BEG and then maybe to SJJ.
DeleteFlyDubai failed at Skopje and so did Qatar. I don't think Etihad wants to follow that. But in the other hand, FlyDubai is doing really well in Lju, which might attract the other two.
Delete12:57 what on earth is wrong with you.
DeleteI wonder the same especially since SKP lost FZ.
Delete12:57 - Yes, there are chances in Skopje, if it pays for its traffic as it usually does.
Delete@12.04
DeleteYou are comparing apples and pears. Talks of croatian government with Garuda and Aegean were about taking over and/or buying minor or major stake in OU. The talks of slovenian government with Etihad are about establishing air link. It's much much much easier to arrange for opening of one service between the two cities than to buy an airline, especially taking into account particular airline, OU, which is ,and has been since Misetic , in terrible condition
I think Dubrovnik or Split have the highest chance of getting Etihad flights in the future.
ReplyDeleteWhy not?
DeleteBecause he said that those two have the highest chance and they don't. Definitely not more than BEG, ZAG, SKP or even LJU. SPU and DBV are tourist airports similar to Rhodes or Palma.
DeleteExactly, and if you have been following their European expansion you would notice they are adding destinations like Rhodes and Palma on a seasonal basis. They are operating Mykonos and Malaga and it is likely they will add more such destinations, so DBV or SPU have a good chance.
DeleteAh yes because Mykonos or Malaga are the same as SPU and DBV. Please.
DeleteIn 2021 they flew seasonally to Heraklion, Santorini and Mykonos while they had daily Athens. So I don’t find it difficult for DBV and SPU
DeleteI don't see them flying to either SPU or DBV before FZ and QR successfully do.
DeleteFZ flies to DBV. Qatar scheduled and had tickets on sale but Covid started.
DeleteAnd how often does FZ fly to DBV? Are flights daily, double daily? How big is the market for them? There is a reason why Qatar never resumed sales for DBV but they decided to go for more elite and higher yielding destinations in Greece.
DeleteSo your strategy for Etihad or for any other airline is to wait for all of your immediate competition to launch flights and then when they are all well established consider starting flights? Really smart.
DeleteThe reason so many airlines chose to fly to Greek islands during and after the pandemic is because of a very smart incentive policy by Fraport where they reduced financial risks for airlines to the max. That incentive policu is still valid.
DeleteEven with this policy by Fraport you can't compare the demand of Santorini or Mykonos to Split for example. Yes Fraport helped a lot but demand for Greece and Greek islands is bigger. Even Kuwait flies to Mykonos seasonally while they have year-round ATH flights. Croatia should learn from them..
DeleteExactly, Croatia might have attracted tourists but a small percentage of them fly there. Most come by car or bus.
DeleteBlablabla
DeleteBlablabla it is true though, if we exclude ZAG then HR airports handle less than 50% of all incoming tourists into the country.
DeleteIf we exclude... reminds me of my elementary school days.
DeleteDon't really understand this company: first they expanded and it didn't work, now they want to expand again. What would be different this time? It's not like their competitors from the Gulf are gone, and only marginally followed it, but it's not like they were famous for their good service or other positives
ReplyDeleteThey expanded to fast in the past especially with acquisitions.
DeleteEtihad was famous for its good service, then they ruined it but their service levels have improved significantly since then. Obviously they are taking much more care with their finances now and adding routes that actually make sense.
DeleteMissed opportunity for them. If Qatar can make it here, so could have Etihad
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to BEG then QR will be the biggest loser because they were slow to grow and return to their 10 weekly flights. If EY comes back then they will make it harder for them to maintain growth.
ReplyDeleteI do not understand why QR is not growing faster in BEG since they are always full.
I think they’re trying to catch up because Qatar has taken a long advantage..
ReplyDeleteEtihad go home, you are drunk.
ReplyDeleteI feel like we will see either Qatar or Etihad in LJU next year.
ReplyDeleteThey have launched LED recently
ReplyDeleteWhat about ZAG?
ReplyDeleteZAG is FZ's playground, they can't compete with them an QR.
DeleteA little too late. They also forgot that TK is getting more and more dominant in the region and not only with amazing connections, but prices as well. Flydubai also have significantly expanded in the region and Wizzair already established itself in AUH and getting more and more noticed. Their brand also is a bit weak and though Etihad means union or strength in Arabic, their name is not the best.
ReplyDeleteWhat the Balkans in general need is Air Arabia or connections to Oman. Pity how Muscat never pretended to expand in Europe. It is a beautiful country with history and nice beaches, not some plastic city with skyscrapers.
Why entire discussion at all? Gulf to Balkans, the answer is only one : Sarajevo
ReplyDeleteMaybe a certain Analiticar was right when he wanted to create an airline with Pipers to connect the region. :D
DeleteMaybe he can recreate his idea and feed Middle East flights from SJJ. lol
Sarajevo works seasonally only for (or better from) Middle East - post and pre summer poor demand and at rock bottom fares. During summer definitely completely different though, but year round.....I don't see EY opening SJJ before looking at BEG and/or ZAG or LJU in this area really.
DeleteForget about him bro.
DeleteInteresting fact is also that DXB-LJU is over 6 hours, EY in LJU is just a dream. Also passengers travel to DXB not AUH.
ReplyDeleteWhat on Earth are you talking about?
DeleteMy brother your comment does not make any sense at all.
DeleteThe flight is really 6 hours. 😁
Delete^ lju-dxb
DeleteWould make sense if they started Sarajevo.
ReplyDeleteI think Etihad should be smart and launch Skopje. Then Qatar and Fly Dubai wouldnt even need to come back.
ReplyDeleteYeah because QR and FZ are rushing to come back.
DeleteConsidering that Qatar and FlyDubai haven’t resume Skopje, Etihad could definitely work with three weekly flights with B787
Delete^ why stop at B787? Why not A380 to Skopje... the delusion
DeleteWhy not with A380? LOL
DeleteAnd daily :)
DeleteYou know, maybe there is a commercially valid reason why both QR and FZ did not come back to SKP :)
DeleteMaybe the market do the Middle East isn’t big enough to carry 2 carriers with both 2 weekly flights and that having only one (Etihad) might work better. So passengers will now fill one B787 instead of two half-empty A320/B737
Deleteto the Middle East** sorry
DeleteWhat logic. Looking forward to 40 seats in business class being filled or 120 per week. Lol
DeleteAustralian diaspora may fill them buddy
Delete13:26 two half empty equals to one full A320. I dont get your logic. Three weekly flights to Skopje will work with A320 in my opinion, but no way for something bigger.
Delete@13.30 they didn't fill 12 seats on Qatar or Flydubai and you expect them to fill 40 on Etihad. Ok. Even Wizz Abu Dhabi decided not to launch SKP.
DeleteI think people overestimate North Macedonian diaspora in Australia. These guys are mostly those who emigrated in Yugo times. Most of them are old and their children fully integrated into the Australian society. There might be demand but it's not enough to fill anything larger than an ATR in summer.
DeleteWho said Etihad B787 had 40 business and first seats ? If you look at their fleet, they have B787 with 2-class configuration, the business with 28 seats. I’m sure they can fill these. There is 3 years apart between QR and FZ flying to SKP, things might have changed in between. Let’s see !
DeleteWhen it comes to flying B787, they can at least try in summer and operate A320family during winter. From what I heard, they are getting rid of narrow-body aircraft or they will only fly them to ME destinations, so not Europe and not SKP.
They are not getting rid of narrow bodies, they can't fill A320s to SKP, let alone B787s, no airline wants to serve Gulf - Skopje market because there is not enough demand and yields are low.
DeleteWhat exactly changed in those three years? Only thing that changed is that expats Down Under have died so there are less of them. No market in this region can support year-round widebodies besides BEG.
DeleteThey will not launch SKP before they resumed BEG, I hope you understand that.
Maybe the demand grew ? Idk, back in 2020 nobody thought that BEG could have PMO, NAP, AGP, LIS, OPO and yet Covid increased people’s will to travel abroad, y’all are only being rude and not giving arguments to that person. Idk him but I see what he/she means
DeleteBeing mean because people are meerly pointing out how ludicrous the idea is?
DeleteWhat idea is redicilous? The 787 or the launch of flights to Skopje?
DeleteI will tell you what has changed since covid:
1. People who didnt travel before started to travel and have will to travel even more
2. Australia remained restricted until LAST YEAR which made QR and FZ unabled to come back to SKP.
3. Because of the first reason i mentioned, airlines are facing problems with fleet and staff and they dont know where to expand first. QR is still resuming some more important routes then SKP and more are going to be resumed as time comes. So what? The fact that they didnt fly to some other route for 3 years means that it wasnt profitable? You are talking nonsense, as many routes that operated till 2020 were resumed this summer. Skopje is on the list, its just not their prority. If the flights were half empty then they wouldnt have operated four times per week on the route, but less. If FZ managed to operate to Skopje in 2015 then for sure there is more demand now. All travel agencies used to offer holidays in Dubai with direct flight then, and now all of them are offering with flight from Tirana and bus till there included in the price.
let me tell you what else has changed. Skopje is having record passenger numbers every month, it is the second fastest in growing in Ex-Yu behind Belgrade and will handle 3,5 million passengers in 2024.
Many people here are commenting with out any aviation knowlegde. The director of TAV Skopje is all the time in talks with those gulf carriers and something must happen.
For the guy who said that even Wizz Air didnt launch Abu Dhabi - Skopje, i have to tell that two different bussines models of airlines can not be compared. Wizz Air does not offer transfer and relies on point to point traffic, while Etihad is the opposite. We all know that there isnt such demand which will full fill 239 seats of Wizz Air to Abu Dhabi.
Also, many of you here are talking how bad the route Skp-Bcn performed. The route was operating for years with A320 and when Wizz based A321s in Skopje in 2019, Barcelona was one if the routes that A321 was deployed. So, if the flights were empty, then W6 is not stupid as OU to deploy even bigger jet on route with small demand. Wizz Air cut BCN when the government was playing games and didnt want to give them the tender, and wizz did that in return. Now dont tell that if the route was so much profitable then it would have returned until now bla bla bla. Skopje - Geneva was ignored for 20 years and what now? Skopje - Ljubljana was ignored for 3 years and now the flights are full!
How about you first bring back SKP-BCN before dreaming of EY B788.
DeleteI didnt say anything about 787, that was another guy with no clue for aviation.
DeleteI adore SKP fanboys' naivety, always brings me a smile :)
DeleteSame;)
Delete15:17 Holy Lord, "...it is the second fastest in growing in Ex-Yu behind Belgrade and will handle 3,5 million passengers in 2024"....anything to say about PRN or ZAG?
DeleteFor the 1 millionth time, the figures in SKP are mainly because of the large LCC to SECONDARY and TERTIARY destinations. It is unbelievable to read that SKP has ambitions of QR 787 when only BEG managed to secure them on some more important dates. What d you guys in SKP smoke all the time? You also keep ignoring that the traffic, similar to PRN, is because of the huge Albanian diaspora. SKP merely secured flights with Lufthansa when many countries have those flights for decades.
Plus, Pegasus and Turkish are already quite dominant in SKP. Yes, some airlines are struggling with fleet and organisational issues but why is it that SJJ and LJU are getting DAILY flights around the Christmas and NY period? Why does FZ have 2 daily flights in summer to SJJ? Maybe because BiH is a more touristic country and there is more to see and do. It is just as simple as this. SKP is not a touristic destination, it has potential of more business in the future if it ever joins EU. The most important destination in the country is Ohrid and the airport is basically mortus.
Ok, yes there are some charters in summer from SKP, but do not make it sound as it is the most important and make so much noise all the time.
And finally, even PRN with fewer airlines managed to largely surpass SKP and it will quite change starting 1st January because of the EU visa-free travel.
Prishtina and Zagreb have more passengers then Skopje but Skopje and Belgrade have the highest increase of passenger numbers. I hope this is clear to you cause i can see that you dont understand. I repeat, both have increase when compared to last year and 2019, you can check it on this website. You are bringing a whole new topic to my comment, i didnt say that Skopje is a touristic place, all i was talking about is for the traffic, no metter if it is to secondary or primary destinations and if it is becasue of the diaspora or travellers. SJJ has most traffic to the Middle east but just 10 routes to Europe. So dont compare such airports with SKP. SKP does not have a few charters but many charters considering the population of the city and whole country with a daily flight to Hurghada, triple daily to Antalya plus scheduled flights and few times per week to Tunis. That is deffinetly not few. Everything that you said about the diaspora and the albanians doesnt change the truth and sense of my comment, you just named the sources of the traffic. I didnt say anything about 787 that was another guy who cleary has no aviation knowlegde. People in Macedonia dont have so much money to go to Dubai, Slovenia is richer country and people can afford that. Here people mostly go to Turkey. Also, Qatar Airways and FlyDubai were operating to SKP for transit pax mostly, which once again proves my point that i did not talk that SKP is a touristic destination. I dont smoke anything but ciggarets, have a good night!
DeleteDon't forget that SKP charters are there also because southern Serbia used to use them. This is slowly changing with INI getting more and more charter flights. People from Vranje, Leskovac, Nis... no longer have to fly to Turkey, Egypt or Tunis from SKP, they can do it from a Serbian airport so that they can support their national economy.
DeleteSKP's problem is that it is low yielding and that is why Wizz dominates. Legacies make up a very small percentage of overall traffic. If we exclude Wizz Air, Pegasus and easyJet then less than 20% of passengers fly with legacies.
Think of it like this, SKP is like a big Flix Bus hub with an occasional visitor from a renowned bus company.
There is a reason why both FZ and QR failed in SKP. Maybe it's time for the government to pay Wizz to fly to AUH.
BEG will have 10m pax in a few years. JU has excellent connections in the region. EY will want part of that torta. So they will be back soon.
ReplyDeleteI don't think they can profit much from JU. QR signed that codeshare with them and they haven't increased frequencies or capacity to BEG.
DeleteI don't think that EY should return to BEG. They had a chance to become an important feeder even after Covid, also the Serbian demand for Emirates exploded. Instead EY pulled out just because of structure change in the company and terminated the wide range codeshare without any explanation.
ReplyDeleteBEG should focus on QR and should try to attract EK in the next years.
Hopefully Wizz Air goes daily and FZ adds third daily on some days.
DeleteAs a person who often flies from LJU, I would love to have Abu Dhabi flights, at least maybe for the next winter as there are more and more Slovenians going there for a warmer holiday in the winter months. But I don't know if Etihad will launch Lju, I doubt it but I hope that at leats Wizz AbuDhabi launches Ljubljana or Zagreb flights.
Delete^that comment wasn't meant to be a reply to 14:37, my mistake
DeleteAs if Qatar with its pathetic frequencies would be an alternative to Etihad in Belgrade...
ReplyDeleteQatar flies daily to Belgrade year-round...
DeleteBut already for ten years.
DeleteTime to try something new...