The Montenegrin government has revoked Pegasus Airlines' permission to run flights between Istanbul Sabiha Gocken Airport and Podgorica and has prevented the budget carrier from introducing services from Turkey's largest city to Tivat. The decision comes as a response to the effects Pegasus Airlines’ presence on the route has had on Air Montenegro's performance. Pegasus Airlines, which commenced operations between Istanbul and Podgorica last July, will be forced to discontinue operations on the route as of next week. The last flight is scheduled for Monday, April 15. Both Air Montenegro and Turkish Airlines maintain services between Istanbul’s main airport and Podgorica. Pegasus also runs flights from Ankara and Izmir to Montenegro’s capital, which will remain unaffected. It maintained daily flights between Istanbul and Podgorica with a mix of Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft.
Pegasus Airlines was able to commence operations to Montenegro last summer after the Montenegrin government relaxed the stringent bilateral air service agreement between the two countries, which had previously only enabled the flag carrier of each nation to operate flights. Commenting on the restrictions being imposed on Pegasus Airlines, Tihomir Dragaš, the President of Air Montenegro’s Board of Directors, said, “Last year, an official from the [Montenegrin] Ministry of Capital Investments signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Turkish aviation authorities, which created a so-called open sky policy between the two countries. This Memorandum of Understanding is completely illegal and does not have the approval of the government. The number of flights has now been limited and Pegasus Airlines will not be able to fly between Istanbul and Podgorica from April 15”.
Mr Dragaš noted that Air Montenegro has subsequently lost several million euros because of Pegasus’ Istanbul - Podgorica service. Under the MoU, Pegasus was obligated to pay Air Montenegro ten euros for each passenger carried on the route, however, Mr Dragaš argues the airline would have earned much more had it been the one to carry these passengers. Furthermore, the President of the Board of Directors noted that due to a weaker performance on the Istanbul route, Air Montenegro saw its passenger numbers decline some 4% during the first quarter of the year to 54.500 when compared to 2023. This summer, Turkey is Montenegro’s second largest country market based on available capacity after Serbia. Air Montenegro serves Istanbul from both Podgorica and Tivat and earlier this month inaugurated a new three weekly service between Tivat and Izmir.
Protectionism much?
ReplyDeleteHave you seen by any chance what happened in the world in the last 4 years?
DeleteWhat happened in the world in the last 4 years? Covid? What does Covid have to do with this decision?
DeleteThis s not good. There will now be 7 weekly flights less to IST, prices on TK and Air Montenegro will go up. Air Montenegro cries for government to block Pegasus yet they have no capacity to add on the route.
DeleteWell done, MNE. Quite a shot in the foot! Balkan style.
DeleteMNE, just like any other state, has the right to regulate its own market. Not all the carriers are equal on the market. Large ones obtain new planes and maintenance for a fraction of the price compared to the small ones. There is no equality of arms as there should be oon the market. Same goes for banks, oil companies, supply chains, insurance companies...
Delete@9.34 nailed it. Exactly right.
DeleteWhether it is protecting their own interests, or not, they have the right to regulate their own interests. Whichever way it is 1/3 services only. The only one to lose now is the consumer who will have less choice.
DeleteWow
ReplyDeleteThis is really crazy.
ReplyDeleteSo passengers will be subjected to Air Montenegro's and Turkish Airlines' high fares.
ReplyDeleteYep
DeleteThey can still fly with Pegasus but transfer through Izmir.
Delete^ yes that's so convenient.
DeleteAlthough fewer connections, Izmir aairport is far nicer to tranzit in..
DeleteYes, but on their own accord. Get it?
DeleteDon't worry, I'm sure next they will try to block Pegasus' Izmir route since Air Montenegro just launched Tivat-Izmir.
DeleteJU should take note or soon the Turks will control fully the traffic between the two countries.
ReplyDeleteTake note of what? Serbia-Turkey flights are regulated by the bilateral. Pegasus is limited to 4 weekly flights.
DeleteThanks to that bilateral JU is the exclusive carrier on Belgrade-Antalya route with over 150,000 pax annually.
DeleteFully agree anon 09:05. It seems that turkish customers do not act in a normal market way i.e. they always chose to fly whith turkish carrier meaning that in time turkish takes over the traffic. I think this is why state intervention in neccessary.
Deletelol
DeleteI'm glad you're advocating protectionism since it obviously has no impact on you. I'm flying next week to IST, return ticket on Air Serbia cost 300 euros (without luggage), on Turkish Airlines 450 euros. Crazy fares for 1.30 minute flight.
DeleteThey did in the past https://www.exyuaviation.com/2018/07/serbian-regulator-blocks-turkish.html
DeleteSo someone who chooses to fly turkish has more benefits than with JU. Firstly the choice domestically for connections, then the main reason I’d that they have a FF program to accrue and use miles. If I’m flying JU once in a blue moon it doesn’t matter, but regular trips I’d rather earn points where I can then use them on a vast number of caters and not be limited to the JU/EY program only.
DeleteBefore they go around banning routes maybe they should introduce online check-in in the 21st century.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteOr connecting flights. Crazy that an airline does not offer this in this day and age.
DeleteWait. You really can't check in online? You need to do it at the airport?
DeleteYep, they don't offer online checkin for any route.
DeleteThey don't offer fares without baggage either, no mobile app. no codehare agreements, no transfer flights, no online checkin. But at least they can block Pegasus.
Delete"Pegasus was obligated to pay Air Montenegro ten euros for each passenger carried on the route"
ReplyDeleteCrazy high subsidies and they still blocked them
Bravo! It's a shame Croatia doesn't have the power to block Ryanair.
ReplyDeleteDo you hear yourself?
DeleteCroatia didn't allow Pegasus Airlines to fly to Zagreb until this January. They said themselves they had been attempting to get a permit for years.
DeleteAlso idk if Croatia can do this as per EU competition laws between a Croatian and Irish company
DeleteOf course it cannot. And it's sad to see this kind of cheerleading for protectionism from a country that suffered from a closed economy for decades.
DeleteWhy on earth would Croatia want to block ryanair?? Croatia's airports and tourist boards are literally offering discounts and cash grants to Ryanair to fly there because it brings millions of tourists to the country
Deletethose complaining about protectionism need to go and cry in different tune. when germans start taking over airports to protect Lufthansa market share thats okay?
Deleteusa government letting boeing make dangerous aircraft and blocking competitors is okay?
eu protecting airbus and other industry from the likes of china since they dont like competition thats okay?
but god forbid montenegro does something to protect their own businesses then it should be stopped. Need to ask yourselves why everyone so quick to bend over and betray their own for the benefit of foreign companies and persecute their own that everyone else does.
It not about having or not having the power, it's about the rules that regulate the common EU market.
Delete"when germans start taking over airports to protect Lufthansa market share"
DeleteSlav.Man: Please provide an example of when this has happened.
@20:32. Burgas, Varna and ofocurse the destruction of Adria Airaways from the time of Fraport control of Ljubljana Airport. and fraport managed to get an a lease on the airport that has no time limit.
Delete@18:36 if its about rules and regulation why is it that people are complaining for them to apply to Montenegro but these so called rules never apply to the others. those same rules destroyed Malev in hungary but everyone elsegets to carry on and cheat all they want.
Slav.Man: Are you arguing that Lufthansa Group has a high market share in Burgas and Varma and that it has strengthened its position since Fraport started managing those two airports in 2006? May I draw your attention to this recent analysis of airline market shares at the two Bulgarian coastal airports: https://airserviceone.com/varna-beats-burgas-as-bulgarias-second-busiest-airport-so-far-this-year-wizz-air-biggest-scheduled-carrier/
DeleteRegarding the Ljubljana conspiracy theory, do I understand it correctly that you argue that Fraport disadvantaged Adria, the Lufthansa partner that provided feed to the Lufthansa network at a loss to themselves, making it such a good deal for Lufthansa that they didn't choose to serve Ljubljana themselves? How did Adria's demise help Lufthansa? It seems to me that it used to be better for Lufthansa when they were still around.
*Varna
Delete@09:17 thats not an appropriate comparison. LCC are not direct competitors to the flag carriers or full service airlines. Ryanair carries more passangers than Lufthansa, more than any flag carrier, legacy or full service airline in europe. The LCC dont fly the same routes to the same airports.
Deletebut lets be more accurate. Lufthansa doesnt even directly fly to Varna or Burgas. but the subsideries do and so do other German charter arlines being Austrian airlines, Eurowings, Discover airlines(new but will still become huge), Edelweiss Air, Sundair and ofcourse the TUI tourism group.
as for Ljubljana its not a theory. It was a german group that bankrupted the airline. and now the germany and lufthansa are guarenteed to have the largest marketshare in Ljubljana and Germany gets to remain the largest transfer hub for Slovenia. let me understand better you ask how it benefited Lufthansa by then revealing that Lufthansa previously lost money, didnt directly serve the Ljubljana and now theyre in a position where they are making a profit and serving the routes directly themselves? I wonder what the benefit to the german companies there could be. its a mystery.
Are people really under the misguided belief that overall the Germans are the largest in the aviation sector in europe through hard work and fair market competition?
Croatia and Serbia would have gone the same direction as Slovenia if the french companies didnt take over the airports first.
Slav.Man:
DeleteYour reasoning is confusing. I think you are too blinded by your nationalist ideology to reason rationally.
Regarding LJU, I never said that Lufthansa lost money. Adria Airways lost money. Lufthansa Group didn't even fly to LJU at the time. Lufthansa benefitted from having Adria flying at a loss. You argue that a German conspiracy bankrupted Adria to benefit Lufthansa. My question was why they would do that as part of your proposed conspiracy when it was better for Lufthansa Group to pay Adria less money for the connecting passengers than it cost for Adria to fly them.
Also, Germany doesn't have Europe's largest aviation sector. The UK does, largely due to being a populous country that is an island, much like Germany has a large aviation sector thanks to being a populous country that is located centrally in Europe.
well theyre not flying to ljubljana at a loss now are they? they are making a profit on top of the earning that they make to tranfsers. the arguments for impeding slovenian or montenegrin aviation or any other industry for flimsy arguments for things such as eu rules or regulation do not follow any rational thought.
Deleteto be clearer. when i wrote the germans are the largest in aviation. i wrote it as german owned/ controlled business. including all of their airlines including the charter airlines, airport ownership/ management and the servicing/ maintanance. All across europe. not the passanger numbers.
You're all complaining but the restrictive bilaterals Turkey has with almost all countries is because of the Turkish side which at the time wanted to protect TK at all costs.
ReplyDelete"It maintained daily flights between Istanbul and Podgorica with a mix of Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft."
ReplyDeleteNo wonder Air Montenegro couldn't compete.
And I think they only started out with 3 weekly flights last July. They must have been performing really strongly on the route.
DeleteWhich is exactly why Air Montenegro cried to mummy.
DeleteSorry do not support this kind of practice. If you already allowed them to fly, you let them fly. Not to mention they are already paying your airline 10 euros for each passenger. Imagine the uproar if Air Montenegro was obligated to pay Turkish 10 euros for each passenger.
ReplyDeleteNuts
ReplyDelete“Last year, an official from the [Montenegrin] Ministry of Capital Investments signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Turkish aviation authorities, which created a so-called open sky policy between the two countries. This Memorandum of Understanding is completely illegal and does not have the approval of the government."
ReplyDeleteWtf is he on about? Why is it illegal?
The main thing is that the government changed. So different party is in power now.
DeleteImagine a world where all new governments revoke or cancel previous government's arrangements. The issue here is that MoU was not signed by a minister himself.
DeleteThe government buys them planes, gives them money, blocks competition. How come the EU has no issue with that?
ReplyDeleteIt's a small market that affects them in no way so they don't care.
Deletebecause its a turkish airline in question
DeleteSenseless decision.
ReplyDeleteNot for Air Montenegro.
DeleteIn the end, Podgorica Airport and passengers loose out the most.
ReplyDeleteTrue
DeleteShame
ReplyDeletePegasus was packed on this route. Montenegro just lost out on getting even more tourists from Turkey. What a stupid decision.
ReplyDeleteJustifying the state's investment in Air Montenegro is more important.
DeleteWhat a dumb decision. I'm beyond words.
DeleteI support this!
ReplyDeleteSo Air Montenegro with 2x weekly flights from TGD to IST blocked Pegasus Airlines with daily flights...
ReplyDeleteYes, and they are selling return economy class fares on the route for 315 euros!
DeleteHow many flights does TK have on this route?
DeletePity, Sun Express probably would have entered the market next.
ReplyDeleteImpossible
DeleteJust open the entire market
ReplyDeleteThey have the right to do it. Whether we like it or not
ReplyDeleteGood.
ReplyDeleteWhat is good?
DeleteI guess you like Montenegrins to pay more to travel to Istanbul and other destinations and you also like foreign tourists to go other destinations in Balkans then come to Montenegro because of high prices?
DeleteBingo @18.47. Self destruction at its finest.
DeleteWho used this route mostly? Turkish tourists? Russians? Locals from Montenegro?
ReplyDeleteAll of them
DeleteI would say Turkish tourists flew the most with Pegasus.
DeleteThey have the audacity to call bi-lateral agreement open sky? Lol.
ReplyDeleteCommunism still going strong in Montenegro
ReplyDeleteWell you have to understand that the communist party was in power in Montenegro from 1944 until 2020.
DeleteTGD-IST is saturated.
ReplyDeletePegasus didn't seem to think so with daily flights.
DeleteMany affordable connections to the Middle East now lost.
Deleteso much for that airline being "profitable", it receives support left and right, especially from Aerodromi Crne Gore
ReplyDeleteTrue
DeleteShameful. PC is affordable and good low cost, this only hurts pax while state plays their games. Get 4O's prices down first (as they do have low cost service after all) then we can talk about this.
ReplyDeleteAgree completely. Not to mention 4O operates just 2 weekly flights!
DeleteIt seems to be some kind of deal with TK to block PC, but that's a sign of weakness of course
DeleteBlocking another airline while having no intention of increasing your own frequencies on the route is silly.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard for an airline to have to reimburse (?) the local competitor a fix rate for passenger, in exchange for having the right to operate in that market.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like formalized racketeering.
It was common practice before skies across the world were liberalized. For example Qantas had to pay JAT per passenger for passengers it handled on its Sydney-Belgrade route in the 1970s and 1980s. This was common across the world. But you are completely right that in 2024 it almost unheard of.
DeleteA very odd and questionable pratice indeed. Thanks for the insight!
DeleteThankfully they can no longer block EU airlines otherwise they would.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteEither Tuzla or Mostar should grab the chance and attract this one to their airport.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised that Pegasus or Sun Expressed have not launched flights to either yet.
Delete*express
DeleteTurkey has blocked many airlines in the past. What come around goes around.
ReplyDeleteLaissez faire!
ReplyDeleteTheir IST route must have been hit hard when Pegasus started flights.
ReplyDeleteI find it odd that an airline would be so vocal and proud about restricting their competitor from flying . I mean, ok they blocked them but don't go around boasting about it.
ReplyDeleteLooks like Pegasus also planned to start SAW-TIV.
ReplyDeletedue to it's pricing policy pegasus will create a pax for the new routes, with that they will probably move that interest in somewhere else. As Air Montenegro not seem to be able to add frequency, this will only harm whoever wants to fly on this route.
ReplyDeletewow Montenegro has so many flights to Turkey?
ReplyDeletePerhaps someone can tell me if there is an airline that takes hazard material cargo from Montenegro for international delivery? I have been informed that Turkish Cargo is no longer operating in Montenegro... is it also due to some restriction from the Government?..... Thank you in advance...
ReplyDelete