Ryanair has confirmed the termination of four routes from two markets in the former Yugoslavia, including Croatia and Montenegro. The airline has discontinued flights from Zagreb to Bratislava and Brindisi. Services to the Slovak capital were maintained seasonally, however, were one of the slowest performers within its Zagreb network. On the other hand, summer operations to Brindisi, on the Adriatic coast in southern Italy, which were launched seasonally in 2022, will not return next year. Other routes that were suspended from Zagreb over the winter, including Manchester, Podgorica, and Sofia, are all set to return on April 1 and April 2 of next year.
The budget carrier does not plan to resume flights between Podgorica and Barcelona next year either. Services were suspended with the start of the 2023/24 winter season. The airline introduced flights between the two cities in 2019 and last year handled 12.626 passengers on the route. Operator Airports of Montenegro recently held talks with the Barcelona-based Vueling in an attempt to find a replacement for Ryanair on the service. Other routes that have been suspended from Podgorica over the ongoing winter, including Charleroi, Manchester, and Zagreb, will be restored on April 1.
Ryanair is also terminating one route out of its seasonal summer base in Zadar. The carrier will discontinue flights between the coastal city and Turin. The route was introduced in the summer of 2022. Ryanair is still in the process of finalising its 2024 summer network but has so far scheduled significant growth from its Zagreb base including increased frequencies on flights to Charleroi, Rome Fiumicino, Gothenburg, Malaga, Malta, Weeze and London Stansted. The budget airline also recently upgraded its newly launched service between Lanzarote and the Croatian capital from winter seasonal to year-round operations.
I guess this is a result of a number of factors, guessing Ryanair not getting all their new planes mean they are cancelling less profitable routes. Unfortunately listening to the airlines with the engine problem and delivery of new aircraft delays we could see a lot of routes cancelled and not returning next summer. Just hope it is not over proportional for our region.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteHonestly, I am surprised Zagreb to Brindisi lasted that long. Always seemed like an odd combination. Hopefully this capacity will be used to boost another European route.
DeleteHonestly, I am surprised that FR is terminating that route. The agencies were selling groups and Puglia is becoming more and more popular destination.
DeleteI'm happy that they will resume most of the suspended ZAG routes. Not surprised about Bratislava though. Unfortunate Brindisis didn't work.
ReplyDeleteEven more importantly they are increasing frequencies on lots of routes.
DeleteBrindisi was launched last-minute as a replacement for LVO which had to be discontinued a month before its start date. I never understood why they picked BDS and in surprised why they kept it that long because it didn't do very well from the start.
Delete*LWO
DeleteI wonder how LWO would have performed. Anyway at least Brindisi is being replaced by another leisure route (Lanzarote).
DeleteThere are more than enough leisure routes operated by FR from Zagreb:
DeleteThessaloniki, Kos, Corfu, Malaga, Lanzarote, Malaga, Malta, Naples and Paphos.
DBV is sorely missing. They should also launch OSI-DBV. These routes can work without PSO.
DeleteOSI-DBV???
Deleteno domestic route can work without PSO
DeleteRyanair said they are not interested in operating Croatian domestic routes.
DeleteThey had the opportunity to apply at Croatian PSO tender but they chose not to.
DeleteBecause the process is not transparent and they know it's a way for the government to incontrollably pump money into OU
DeleteFalse! The process is entirely transparent and subject to control. Any and all EU fund spending is under close scrutiny of relevant EU mechanisms, European Public Prosecutors Office included! Dont spread lies!!
Delete^ it's anything but. Especially with government extending PSO on its own and doing what it likes. The EU doesn't care. It's a small market that does anything it's told
DeleteIt is the worst airline I flew with, and I really hope they never fly out of BEG. I would not even flay animals on their aircraft .
DeleteNo such thing as small market, EU is a single market, understand??
DeleteIn theory it is a single market, in reality not.
DeleteI'm surprised Podgorica-Barcelona didn't work.
ReplyDeleteThose passenger numbers are rather low.
DeleteLet's see if Vueling takes the bate. I highly doubt it.
DeleteVueling can't locate anything on the map east of Croatia.
Delete^ They have locate Bulgaria and Greece but that's it. They used to fly to BEG.
Delete** that was meant to be "located"
DeleteIf Vueling had more A319s then Podgorica and Skopje would have worked. As far as i know, all of their A319s are based in Florence.
DeleteIt doesn't work like that
DeleteIsnt Vueling starting Sarajevo - Barcelona soon?
DeleteIt's interest FR couldn't make Zagreb-Bratislava work as an alternative to Vienna.
ReplyDelete*interesting
DeleteI once flew Zagreb-Bratislava and then a FlixBus straight from BTS to VIE and then Vienna-London. I saved about £200 doing this.
DeleteExactly sounds like a good money saving route compared to the OS/OU duopoly.
DeletePrices are truly through the roof again. As much as 500 euros one way.
DeleteAnd they might increase now that Ryanair is out.
DeleteThey have increased already. That's what anon 9.18 says. Crazy fares for such a short route.
DeleteBratislava is Vienna Airport, you have direct train for the same money to Vienna main Central train Station, with very frequent schedule.
DeleteIf flights to Vienna are not for you, then you control Bratislava flights.
They didn't know, or there are not enough market for Vienna flights.
I guess Ryanair can now focus on routes such as Zagreb - Stockholm, maybe Billund, Barcelona, or compete with Croatia Airlines for Sarajevo. I would be first one to choose FR over OU for this flight.
ReplyDeleteZagreb-Stockholm = jacktop
DeleteWe don't want FR in Sarajevo! Rubbish Airline!
DeleteWhat do you prefer? A 20th connection with the Middle East?
DeleteLOL!
DeleteI can reassure you most of us in Sarajevo would welcome any new airline, especially an LLC..
Delete... flying to Arab countries...
DeleteNo European airline is coming, that's why people can't fly them. Hopefully one day we will see greater interest from European carriers.
DeleteAnd then the other day someone wrote how INI should work more with Ryanair. We see how unpredictable they are. If a route doesn't work then they don't try to promote but it they cut it. Their logic is if the airport wants to keep it then they can pay them to keep it. That is really not ok guys.
ReplyDeleteINI and KVO should base their future growth on PSO with JU.
That's how a profitable business works. They have it a go and it didn't work out so they are terminating it. Zagreb-Bratislava planes were half empty. What would be the point in maintaining this route?
DeleteZAG-BTS ok but they could have invested a bit more in making MAN work. That route can easily work the whole year, same with Sofia. Zagreb even put ads in downtown Sofia to promote the city as a destination but it seems like Bulgarians didn't like it, not even to visit Zagreb for magical Advent.
DeleteYou can be a profitable business by tolerating losses or lower profits until market develops.
lol these people from Zagreb forget that every town in West Europe has Advent too
DeleteYes, and rather shitty ones too!
DeleteWell to make Zagreb more attractive to Bulgarians have to consider what they're looking for. A short cheap flight is preffered for coastal destinations since the black sea is actually longer travel for them. Even thessaloniki is closer for people in Sofia.
DeleteAnd for city breaks they would prefer real western city.
Wizz and Ryan air are huge in Bulgarian market so there is big competition
Zagreb had a massive promo action here but it was bland and sterile. It didn't make Zagreb an exciting destination. Next to Sveta Nedelya there was an ad for Zagreb with some flowers and the theatre and it looked very sterile. Bulgarians love Budapest and Vienna so ZAG had to step up their game. It's bad that they failed because FR was cheap.
Delete@9.38 very profound comment must say amazong. Greetings from Germany btw and i recommend you sto start travelling and not only during Weihnachten. And yes I have been in Zagreb during Advent, nice but rather not wow kolega.
Delete@9.56 well thats their problem to compete wit Budapest and Vienna. Mission impossible
In recent years quality of ZG Advent went down because they appointed political friends instead of high quality and creative people.
DeleteMaybe if OU and FB cooperated then they could make this route between them more successful. They are actually very similar companies and both governments could put their support behind it. Like the tourism ministers etc so that there is two way travel.
DeleteBut this might be too much work in the already packed schedule of both company executives 😂😂
What's all that fuss about Zagreb advent. Nothing special, nothing unique, nothing authentic, nothing original. Coping some middle European traditions and thinking you can make it bigger and better than any random village in Germany and Austria is insane. Tourists wants something real, genuine, authentic.
DeleteAnd about Bulgarians, there are more of them in Pirot for the New year, than in Zagreb. This route can work only as transfer.
10:07, I would understand if someone from Italy, France, Greece or Spain made a comment on cuisine and fun, but to have someone from Germany comment on these things is simply absurd! Enjoy your potatoes-sausage-cabage daily luxury, "kolega"! And a piece of advice, go to Belgium for some good beer, it's not that far!
DeleteAll those strange statements about Zagreb not being liked by Bulgarians is strange. It is like saying Slovaks don't like Zagreb and therefore the route ended. You all keep forgetting that ZAG and ZAD were "just" launched from SOF and quite new markets. Remember what happened with LJU? It worked well from SOF. But, it is true that Serbia is being more "agressive" in advertising. You can banners in various places.
DeletePlus, the ZAG-SOF timetable before was horrible! Now it is much better.
Of course other cities in Europe have Christmas markets. The Zagreb one has a rich and authentic tradition, however at some point around 2014. - 2015. they had started investing much more in it than previously, with much more things going on at a much bigger area for 2 or 3 weeks up until the New Year. As a result it had been voted the best one in Europe two or three years in a row between 2016. and 2018. Voted by actual travelers. Then came covid and now the current city's government is resting on their laurels.
DeleteThe creative process needs to be encouraged continuously and Zagreb should be using its comparative advantages big time...one of them being safety in a relatively big city. For example in Zagreb there's no need to worry about some nutcase knifing visitors or driving a car into the Christmas market crowds.
For Zadar having just one route discontinued is great considering how many flights Ryanair operates. I have a feeling they are making good money in ZAD.
ReplyDeleteThat's because SPU in summer can be very congested and there are delays quite often. Not just with arriving flights but with departing ones since the taxiway situation is stupid, creates a lot of congestion.
DeleteZAD on the other hand is a wonderful airport to fly out of.
^ does not seem that will change soon
DeleteWhich is why ZAD management is very happy and sleeping at night with a massive smile and pockets full of cash. SPU's handicap is their God sent gift.
DeleteFR cut ZAD Turin only. For now. With FR you never know. A curse and bessing at the same time. ZAD is a great airport facility, to claim that it's success is due to SPU limitations is nonsense.
DeleteNext year a lot of the seasonal flights will start much earlier than before from Zadar. We will see if that actually happens. Ryanair also planned to start many routes early this year and then moved most of then to June.
DeleteTGD-BCN 12.626 for a two weekly flight is remarkably low
ReplyDeleteWas it a seasonal or year round route?
DeleteYear round
DeleteI am sure JU was happy about it as now they are the best, fastest and most affordable connection between BCN and TGD.
DeleteTrain to Belgrade central, bus 600 to airport and Wizz or JU (who ever is cheaper to Barcelona).
DeleteIt's like an adventure, train, bus and airplane.
Wonder what routes will be Ryanair adding for next summer from Zagreb
ReplyDeleteBerlin would make a lot of sense.
DeleteHow many new routes could they launch with an additional aircraft?
Delete3 or 4 along with this frequency growth.
DeleteCan't wait to see what they add.
DeleteLets be honest, despite what people keep saying Berlin only works from the coast in the summer.
DeleteThe funny thing is ZAG-TGD increases to 3 weekly next summer yet they suspended it over winter.
ReplyDeleteYeah because it's summer
DeleteI know but it was 2 weekly the previous years.
Deletenot bad at all, just 4 routes gone. Considering how many routes they suspended during the winter, this is great.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThey suspended many more before this my friend. FR seems to be cutting more than they are adding in ex-YU. People are still poor in all six ex republics so inflation made it harder to travel left and right.
DeleteAnd yet almost every airport in the region has more passengers than ever before and in contrary to European average where we still don't have numbers higher than 2019.
DeleteThe world is changing, I feel it in the air... and FR is adapting to new realities in our region.
ReplyDeleteThis is literally just their yearly clean-up of non-performing routes, with just 4 routes discontinued in the region which, if anything, is really positive. They announced another 35 routes being discontinued around Europe. Completly standard.
DeleteI agree, could have been much worse. This is quite good
DeleteKovin-Bratislava would work for Vienna-based gastarbeiters from Požarevac region.
ReplyDeleteWon't work now that Pozarevac is linked to the airport with highway throught he Belgrade bypass. Also a motorway is being built to PO and Veliko Gradiste so you can reach BEG in less than an hour.
DeleteIs there a chance that Ryan air expend it network from Dubrovnik?
ReplyDeleteDBV is too expensive for them
DeleteDBV has no reason to attract them. There is no reason to offer them incentives to bring in low-value tourists to swamp the city that already struggles with crowds of non-spenders.
DeleteTrue
DeleteWhat about Zagreb-Memmingen? Will this route go ahead in the summer. They only have flights scheduled until the end of winter?
ReplyDeleteIt is still in limbo
DeleteIt's not cancelled. They haven't loaded all the routes yet.
Delete^ Fingers crossed
DeleteIt is fantastic to see so many routes increasing frequencies from ZAG. Bratislava was always a poor performer and it was just a matter of time before they pulled the plug.
ReplyDeleteHonestly I would have expected they terminate Podgorica ahead of Bratislava.
DeleteWas Brindisi 1 or 2 weekly from Zagreb?
ReplyDelete2 weekly
DeleteBratislava is a strange destination. Yes, it is quite close to Vienna but still not a very small city. And Slovakia does not have that small of a population but strangely some routes work for them such as Kaunas or Dalaman year-round. It seems to have became a quite leisure airport or alternative for people in Vienna.....
ReplyDeleteBratislava is de facto Vienna flights. They cannot get incentives for Vienna because OU fly there.
DeleteAll in all great that Podgorica, Sofia and Manchester are all coming back!
ReplyDeleteIt is not problem with Zagreb, but Ryanair has placed so many routes.
ReplyDeleteInstead of all those not necessary flights, they could just add flights to German cities.