Ryanair denies regional winter cuts, plans more new routes


Ryanair has denied reports which surfaced in some local media that it is reducing frequencies across its Zagreb network and other destinations across the former Yugoslavia this winter season. The airline is maintaining its largest regional winter timetable and has not made any changes on its initial schedule, which was finalised as early as September. It follows on from reports the carrier will reduce frequencies from its Zagreb base, as well as Podgorica, Banja Luka and Niš over the first quarter of 2024. The airline highlighted that due to its policy not to maintain any flights on Christmas Day, on December 25, as well as limited operations on December 24, it schedules additional frequencies on select routes within the following week to compensate for the flights that were not operated due to the holiday, after which services return to normal, which may have caused confusion as to why frequencies on certain routes vary between the last few days of the year, and the first few days of the new year compared to the rest of the winter season.

This winter season, Ryanair is operating 55 weekly flights out of Zagreb, nine weekly out of Podgorica, eight weekly out of Banja Luka and four weekly rotations from Niš. This excludes the first week of January when select flights have been added to make up for the reduced schedule during in the last few days of December. “Ryanair is the only major European airline to significantly grow traffic post-Covid, particularly in the Balkans, where other airlines have stopped growing, are cutting routes, and reducing traffic. We want to focus very much on this region. We see that this is going to be a large part of our upcoming expansion”, the airline said.

Ryanair recently scheduled new routes from Zagreb, Zadar, Dubrovnik and Sarajevo, among others. In addition to those previously announced, it has now scheduled another new service, from Dubrovnik to Bari, with details available here. The carrier has neither confirmed nor denied plans to launch operations between Thessaloniki and Sarajevo next year as well. The route has been listed on its website, but the flights have not been added into the Global Distribution System and tickets have not gone on sale yet.



Comments

  1. Anonymous09:01

    I really hope they do start Thessaloniki – Sarajevo. I wonder if there are any other new routes planned for Sarajevo next summer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:05

      Would SKG work from Sarajevo?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:06

      I think so. Especially since there are no flights to Athens.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:16

      Any idea when these flights will be put on sale (if they put them in the first place)?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:20

      Probably waiting for another subsidy tender to be completed.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:32

      The SJJ tender is finishing today. So probably in the next week or two.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:33

      Fingers crossed.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:52

      I wonder what is the price paid to Ryanair to come to Sarajevo.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous10:56

      It will be very costly for the state. Also you will see Sarajevo Airport increase prices of everything such as in the duty free shop and coffee shop to make back some of the money it is losing by subsidising Ryanair.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous11:57

      First of all, the subsidies some from the Sarajevo Canton and not the state. Second thing it's around 2 million euros for both tenders which is way lower than TIA or SKP.

      Sarajevo Airport doesn't need to increase any prices because the money used in incentives isn't theirs and the company will finish the year in a profit again, they're funding all of the expansions by themselves and the workers also got a raise.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous12:04

      that route makes zero sence

      Delete
    11. Anonymous12:12

      2 milllion euros for one year?

      Delete
    12. Anonymous13:29

      It's lower than SKP or TIA because it is a fraction of the capacity. Are you comparing Ryanair in Sarajevo with Ryanair in Tirana??

      Delete
    13. Anonymous13:36

      it must be more if its only a "fraction of the capacity" whatever that means. They pay almost zero at TIA. SKP had 1.1 mil per year planned

      Delete
    14. Anonymous13:50

      How come that route has no sense?! Airport in Sarajevo is used by Serbs as well and they travel to the North of Greece, so this line is perfect for the tourists. As a seasonal line it has absolute sense.

      Delete
    15. Anonymous16:21

      It's not only Serbs that travel, we need to break the stereotype that only diaspora and people affiliated with a country travel, most LCC users in the Balkans are locals on leisure trips, be it Milano or Thessaloniki

      Delete
    16. Anonymous18:50

      @16.21 last sentence isnt true for 90% of lcc destinations from the Balkans (and not only exyu)

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:03

    I read somewhere that they are planning to use Boeings in Zagreb base too. When is this going to happen?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous23:35

      During the next couple of years, A320s are leaving Ryanair fleet, so it's not far away.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:03

    Do they have engine issues like Wizz Air? Interesting that there are no cuts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:07

      No. But they have an issue with delivery delays from Boeing

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:08

      I believe from recent comments from them it is a delay of delivery of new planes from Boeing

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:36

      Yes, they also experienced problems because of the MAX issues but in general they don't face engine issues like Wizz at the moment.

      Delete
    4. @Michael , analitičar is Alen Šćuric, owner of Zamaaero. Top expert.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:03

    Bravo Analitičar! PRVI OBJAVLJUJEMO hahaha

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:07

      exactly lol. Moral of the story, don't trust a thing analiticar tells you.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:36

      That person is the biggest joke. He is getting worst and worst.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:13

      He is ridiculous, I love reading the comments. On top of not knowing own language (always write "puno premalo", "puno previše" isl.), he's funny how he acts stupid when his words turn out wrong. On the article about Ryan's cuts, someone copied his own words from the article of AirSerbia's cuts. Not recognising his own words, he was stating opposite this time. The guy is a joke of the year.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:22

      Fully agree.
      Double standards as usual by "analiticar".

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:57

      Why the rivalry between sites, both of them are good for the industry

      Delete
    6. Anonymous12:13

      What rivalrvy? I don't see exyu even mentioned the other site. You think it's normal for someone to publish several articles with completely wrong information?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous12:15

      I don't see what the other contributes. It's made up of 90% plagarized content and 5% wrong information

      Delete
    8. Anonymous13:27

      He is an EMBARRASSMENT to Croatia. His fake news day after day is so irritating.

      Delete
    9. Sorry for the stupid question but who is this analiticar that keeps popping up?
      I literally thought it was some meme and not a real person.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous10:02

      He's the founder of ZAMA-Zagrebačke mažoretkinje :D Google it up and maybe you'll find more

      Delete
    11. Anonymous01:44

      Analitičar is one of the best aviation analyst in the world. Believe me he is the one!

      Delete
    12. Anonymous14:49

      I wrote to him on that text that the Niš Malta line was not reduced, but an additional flight was introduced for the New Year and he censored the comment. The man lives in his lies and does not allow you to deny him. It became funny and sad at the same time.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:08

    Honestly I'm still hoping for them to add more new routes from ZAG. There are some glaring destinations missing - Berlin, Prague, Stockholm, Riga...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:09

      +1

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:12

      I doubt they will launch any of those. One or two of those may be started by Croatia Airlines.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:21

      Croatia Airlines expanding from ZAG? That is so pre 2020.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:13

      ^Unfortunately. And doesn't seem thing will change next year either

      Delete
    5. Those would be nice for sure.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous17:03

      Agreed

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:09

    Good!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous09:21

    Come to BEG!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:22

      Don't count on it.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:35

      Not unless BEG decreases its fees.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:40

      BEG won't pull his underware down for Ryan.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:07

      They can help a lot in Belgrade. Then we will see the complete connectivity of BEG with all of Europe.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:08

      Ljubljana is missing big time as well

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:18

      People were saying they would never launch DBV or ZAG let alone bases and here we are.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:19

      Yes, just remember that they are came (are coming) to both when both airports saw huge decline in passenger numbers. That's not the case in either BEG or SKP.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous10:26

      Only Ljubljana goes against the trend haha

      Delete
    9. Anonymous14:35

      Can't agree more that FR is vital for BEG and it can easily increase to 10 million passengers. Initially they can base 3 planes and increase them to 5. They can also base an aircraft in UZC as the terminal is left forgotten...

      Delete
    10. Anonymous14:55

      Belgrade airport added far more passengers than any other ex Yu airport in 2023. All of that without Ryanair. In fact, BEG is significantly extending the gap over ZAG where Ryan operates and expands. This indicates BEG does not need Ryan for outstanding growth to continue. ZAG needs to add Wizz if it wants to start catching up with BEG.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous16:29

      Yeah they will base an aircraft in Uzice hahahahah

      Delete
    12. Anonymous00:04

      Never say never

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:24

    Will the DBV base be seasonal or year round?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:30

      Seasonal

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:33

      Some routes will be year round but those will operate with aircraft from other bases in the winter.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:45

      Thank you

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:30

    Wishing Ryan a lot of success

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous09:45

    When will they finalize summer network?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:51

      By late February

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:51

    That is great news for Zagreb ❤🇭🇷

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous09:52

    Excellent

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous09:53

    Much more stable than Wizz in the region.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:56

      And much fewer flights and routes.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:02

      Compared to Wizz Air, their ex-Yu network is a joke.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:06

      Compared to Wizz, Ryan is way better price wise

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:57

    Goes to show how media can create completely false narrative

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous10:02

    I really hope they resolve the tax issue with TZL and start fights again from there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:08

      The taxes they ha an issue with will no longer be enforced from next week
      https://www.exyuaviation.com/2023/12/bosnia-and-herzegovina-suspends.html

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:17

      They won't return to Tuzla with Sarajevo starting up

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:43

      Why? Wizz operated both.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:46

      Yes, and that turned out really well.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous10:39

    They are cutting in INI

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:42

      Well they are not. Read the article. It's the same number of flights as they originally planned.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous10:45

    Any guesses on what might be the busiest LCC route to ex-Yu?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:09

      would say Switzerland (choose any of the 3 airports) - Pristina.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous00:07

      What LLC flies between Switzerland and Pristina?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous00:18

      Easyjet

      Delete
  18. Anonymous10:46

    It would be cool if there were a local ex-Yu LCC.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:52

      Centavia tried and failed. But it was a different era and they were burdened by protectionism and bilatarals at the time.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:54

      No local LCC could compete with Ryan, Wizz, Eurowings.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:29

      That is true but we need low cost flights within the region

      Delete
    4. Anonymous23:59

      You already have those
      SKP-LJU on Wizz
      ZAG-TGD on Ryanair

      Delete
  19. Anonymous11:43

    At least one airline that isn't cutting flights

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous12:56

    Is there any chance they’ll start Prishtina?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:00

      I would suggest aviation in Kosovo is about to expand alot in 2024 with visa free access. Ryanair will be watching..

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:02

      Currently there are no increases to PRN whatsoever other than the new Air Baltic flight and seasonal to Turkish holiday cities.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:14

      Maybe the sketchy charters will increase

      Delete
  21. Anonymous13:25

    WELL DONE on this article! When I wrote to the "analyst" that he is spreading fake information on his blog, he deleted my comment!! Ryanair has not made any reductions in Zagreb at all.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous13:38

    Ryanair ignoring BEG and SKP but planning SJJ-SKG or even INI-DUB makes not much sense tbh :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:53

      Or LJU-London which had more than 200.000 passengers per year. Bravo Fraport!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:28

      It is not Fraport, it is Ryanair who exclusively wants to serve our market through Trieste, Klagenfurt, Zagreb, Venice and Vienna

      Delete
    3. Anonymous16:14

      ^Lol

      Delete
    4. Anonymous17:05

      Tbf London is covered decently by LCCs, I'd much rather see British Airways come year-round, considering how good and cheap their network is to North America when compared to the overpriced LH flights

      Delete
    5. Anonymous17:14

      British already is year round in LJU.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous17:53

      1. BA is year round.
      2. For fans of statistics:
      In summer 2019 there were (numbers of flights from my head):
      10 weekly STN-LJU by EasyJet (120 413 passengers)
      5 weekly LGW-LJU by EasyJet (61 299 passengers)
      4 weekly LTN-LJU by Wizz (45 493 passengers)
      2 weekly LHR-LJU by BA (4 497 passengers)
      1 weekly MAN-LJU by Adria (2 071 passengers)
      Total: 22 weekly to UK and 233 773 passengers in whole year.

      For summer 2020 there were supposed to be:
      10 weekly STN-LJU by EasyJet
      5 weekly LGW-LJU by EasyJet
      4 weekly LTN-LJU by EasyJet
      4 weekly LHR-LJU by BA
      2 weekly LPL-LJU by Adria
      Total: 25 weekly to UK (but corona thing happened and everything was canceled + LPL-LJU flights never happened, we know why) and a total of just 29 168 passengers in whole year.

      2021: Total 19 342 passengers
      2022: Total 121 338 passengers

      Summer 2023:
      6 weekly LGW-LJU by EasyJet
      2 weekly LTN-LJU by Wizz
      5 weekly LHR-LJU by BA
      Total: 13 weekly and Jan-Oct 135 185 passengers

      Looking for next year in summer:
      6 weekly LGW-LJU by EasyJet
      2 weekly LTN-LJU by Wizz
      6 weekly LHR-LJU by BA
      Total: 14 weekly

      As we can see LJU-London and whole UK is very underserved from what it used to be before corona and P2P market is not even close to 100% recovery as Fraport and fanboys like to say.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous18:52

      maybe you should blame it on EasyJet?

      Delete
    8. Anonymous23:54

      17:53 - Excellent analysis! UK and Ireland/Slovenia market is seriously underrated indeed. Still wondering why FR are not attempting to launch LJU or even resume MBX! It was one of the very first ex-Yu cities being served by FR if I ain't mistaken.
      And don't forget JP in SEN a couple of years ago:

      https://www.exyuaviation.com/p/adria-to-launch-maribor-london-flights.html
      https://www.exyuaviation.com/p/adria-airways-will-inaugurate-seasonal.html

      LJU can easily add a 4th London airport and having FR to STN. If there was interest in SEN, then even LCY might work but LCY is quite expensive and slot restricted.

      MAN, DUB and BHX could fit very nicely. The sole issue is that LJU needs to advertise itself much more agressively in UK compared to Austria especially for ski tourism.
      Also don't forget the importance of Jet2 and TUI UK.
      DUB can be operated by either Aer Lingus or FR.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous00:33

      In addition to my previous comment for those wondering about MBX numbers:
      STN-MBX by Ryanair:
      2007:
      June: 3027
      July: 4020
      August: 4431
      September: 3668
      October: 3224
      November: 3054
      December: 3076
      Total: 3 weekly and 24 500 passengers
      2008:
      January: 2971
      February: 2836
      March: 3493
      Total: 9300 passengers
      2007+2008: 33 800 passengers
      Monthly numbers are better than for example STN-KLU that Ryanair currently operates.

      SEN-MBX by Adria in 2015:
      June: 1852
      July: 1826
      August: 1733
      September: 1676
      Total: 3 weekly and 7087 passengers

      Delete
  23. Anonymous10:18

    I'm a bit confused here. Something is not right here. I think they are at their minimum in Niš. They have never had fewer flights. The current schedule shows only two flights to Vienna and Malta, leaving me uncertain about the summer plans. Even if they reintroduce Stockholm in March, the overall number of flights will still be fewer compared to before, particularly since they discontinued Bergamo. Moreover, there is uncertainty regarding the security of flights to Corfu as a seasonal service.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:21

      What are you confused about? The article states that another website made up that existing Nis flights are being reduced from 3 to 2 weekly in January onwards, which is not true as they were scheduled at 2 weekly from the start. Corfu will operate next year and there is no threat. In fact they extened a little the duration of the season.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous21:43

      INI-CFU will run until 25 October 2024. Last year it ran until 30 September 2023.

      Delete
  24. Anonymous20:09

    They still haven't got any tickets for Zadar - Berlin route on sale before June even thought they promised earlier start on that seasonal route. Anyone knows more about it?

    ReplyDelete

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