Ryanair has said it aims to continue growing strongly in the Balkans, with its CEO, Michael O’Leary, recently writing off Wizz Air as a challenger. Ryanair operates in four out of seven markets in the former Yugoslavia, the exceptions being Slovenia, Macedonia, and Kosovo. Wizz Air is currently the largest low cost carrier in Pristina, Macedonia and Serbia, with Ryanair having the upper hand in Croatia and Montenegro. It will overtake Wizz Air in Bosnia and Herzegovina this year to become the country’s largest low cost carrier, with close to 200.000 seats on the Bosnian market.
Commenting on its plans, Ryanair said, “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. This year, Ryanair will grow to eleven million annual passengers in the region (a +260% increase in traffic vs. pre-Covid). This traffic growth complements Ryanair’s plans to grow to 300 million annual passengers by 2034, as it takes delivery of a further 400 aircraft”. It added, “We want to focus very much on this region. We see that this is going to be a large part of our upcoming expansion”.
Wizz Air has been forced to reduce its operations from its Skopje and Belgrade bases this year due to defects in the Pratt and Whitney geared turbofan engines that power some of its Airbus A320neo-family aircraft. A total of forty jets have been grounded. In 2022, the carrier closed its short-lived Sarajevo base and in 2023 shut its Tuzla base. However, Silvia Mosquera, Wizz Air’s Executive Vice President and Group Chief Commercial Officer, told EX-YU Aviation News, “Currently we have around 20% of our fleet on the ground. We are expecting for the inspection to take between eighteen and 24 months, however, for next year, there will be less of an impact as some of the engines will come back from the shops so I think that next year we will see growth from Wizz Air”. She added, “The Western Balkans are a very relevant market for us. Our intention is to further grow in the region, but not this year due to the engines. But for next year our intention is to continue growing”. The airline has said it is now carefully choosing how to deploy its remaining available aircraft to fulfil the routes that are most profitable and provide the strongest strategic advantages.
Ryanair has significantly increased its presence in Croatia over the past few years with the opening of its base in Zagreb, as well as its seasonal base in Zadar. This year it has further cemented its position with the opening of its year-round base in Dubrovnik. Ryanair maintains its post as the largest airline in Croatia, growing its offer to 4.5 million seats annually, almost double that of second-placed Croatia Airlines. However, it faces greater headwinds on other markets. Almost a decade ago, Ryanair announced it would launch flights to Skopje in a direct challenge to Wizz, however, these plans were scrapped for unspecified reasons. The airline has also stagnated in Serbia with its operations out of Niš, while it does not operate to Pristina where Wizz Air became the airport’s largest carrier by passengers handled last year. Despite talks between Ryanair and the Slovenian government, Mr O’Leary has branded Ljubljana Airport as “simply too expensive”.
I still can't believe Slovenia is the only EU market without Ryanair
ReplyDeleteSeems like FR and Fraport hate each other.
DeleteYes FR several times criticised Fraport in Slovenia and Greece.
DeleteWell, Fraport doesn't hate FR. If anything a few years back they struck a deal with them to launch FRA flights. What did FR do? The moment discounts and subsidies ended so did their flights.
DeleteSo Fraport was left with no Ryanair flights and they managed to anger Lufthansa which has since put a much greater focus on MUC.
Macedonia too
DeleteNot a surprise. Fraport isn't interested in playing the fiddle for an airline known for sucking airports dry. Look at Hahn, Reus, Weeze, Modlin, etc. All loss-making airports reliant on Ryanair
DeleteThere`s also an airport in Maribor.
DeleteI do wonder why no one flies to Maribor. Must be some reason.
DeleteI’d love to see Vinci lease Maribor and creating some competition in Slovenia.
DeleteThe only prerequisite is, Slo govt. would have to take an L and lease it for cheap. Which would still be more productive than whatever they’re doing with it now.
I would not write Wizz Air off. Next year will be interesting.
ReplyDelete"The airline has said it is now carefully choosing how to deploy its remaining available aircraft to fulfil the routes that are most profitable and provide the strongest strategic advantages."
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting
Nope. They are actually carefully choosing where to deploy their jets because of competitors, not where they will be full. They are also full in SKP and BEG and we dont get anything this summer. They added new jet in BUD and some new routes after FR announced that they will become the biggest lcc there according to the number of routes they will fly from bud this summer. Same with FCO, they added one more plane, as well as in OTP and TIA. Poland is also important for them right now as they have strong competition there.
DeleteDon't forget that BEG is a low risk market for them since Ryanair doesn't fly here and Air Serbia is unable to grow after their whole Marathon ordeal and a general lack of pilots.
DeleteAnd that why they dont expend there now.
DeleteNemjee I don't think that analytical is going to agree with you 🤣
Delete^Analiticar ne analytical
DeleteHaha he rarely agrees with anyone who has common sense. You can easily see that from the kind of comment he agrees with on his little blog.
DeleteHaha, that guy thinks that he knows better than all this airline companies combined. I am surprised that LH, UA or somebody like that didn't recognize his talent yet and brought him over to them as adviser.
DeleteThey still have work ahead of them to overtake Wizz.
ReplyDeleteI don't see Ryanair being able to expand too much in ex-Yu due to high taxes, for their standards, across the board.
ReplyDeleteThe face higher taxes in other parts of Europe yet they continue to add flights.
DeleteBecause there is more money to be made in Bergamo, Stansted and Porto than in Niš, Ljubljana and Skopje.
DeleteThey're getting massive subventions and discounts on taxes
DeleteFR has contributed tremendously to the growth of Franjo Tudman airport.
ReplyDeleteWe are waiting for them in LJU and BEG.
ReplyDeleteNeither will reduce fees for FR. In ZAG they did it when they realized in 2021 that OU would not recover for years and ultimately they were correct.
DeleteNot really. Ryanair can't succeed in highly competitive markets where their opponents have found ways around their tactics. That's why they avoid large airports and stick to smaller ones which they can bully and threaten (Hahn is a very good example of this).
DeleteSo Ryanair does well as long as they get their way. It's also not normal for the airport to be losing money so that someone can fly away for €15. Just like in any business, aviation has costs that need to be covered. You can't do this with cheap fares, someone has to pay the price in the end. That is why Wizz Air is not so cheap out of BEG but equally so that is why I am certain that their operations here are very lucrative. Not only are their planes full but they are not selling flights for peanuts. A friend of mine just booked Wizz to NCE for €150 return. That's hardly a bargain for an LCC. Even their LCA flights are rarely under €90 return (outside the high season).
So tell me, besides their price, what other competitive advantage does Ryanair have when faced with Wizz Air, Air Serbia, Tarom, Aegean, Lufthansa etc.
Nemjee, did you seriously just say Ryanair avoids big airports? Apart from Heathrow and CDG, which big European airports is Ryanair avoiding??
DeleteOn the contrary, competition has pushed JU to be more active and more competitive. For example, the moment Wizz announced LIS JU did so almost immediately with an earlier start date. LIS has turned out to be a successful route for JU, which has since increased flights to LIS and opened a second destination in Portugal. BEG went from 0 flights to Portugal to 7 pw on 2 airlines to 2 destinations in 12 months. Had Wizz not announced LIS, JU would of likely not have started the route so soon. Competition is good and an FR arrival into BEG would be good for all.
DeleteWell Ryanair seems confident in their numbers for coming years and intentions to grow in balkans so why not get into a fight with wizz in BEG just like in Tirana?
DeleteBecause they won't to be paid to fly.
DeleteNo, it's because they don't have enough aircraft to enter every market and so they are focusing on the ones where they get incentives to fly or where there is a lot of revenue to be made.
DeleteAnon 09.25
DeleteI gave an example about of what happened in Frankfurt. Indeed they do avoid large airports unless these give them special treatment.
MAD - they had to fly here as there is no alternative airport which they can serve. Even though MAD gave them good pricing they still had to accept certain conditions such as mandatory use of air-bridges.
VIE - they refused to fly from Vienna and only started doing so when the airport rolled out special LCC pricing. That is when Wizz Air, Eurowings and Level also launched flights.
TLV - same as VIE.
BRU - their primary focus is on CRL and their presence here is merely symbolic with 12 destinations. They avoid this airport due to high costs and they keep on flying only to high volume markets. A lot of their destinations out of BRU are to sunny destinations.
CPH - they only launched this market after favorable pricing and once the airport opened that LCC terminal.
BER - they were forced to move here after all Berlin airports were shut down and everything was centralized around Brandenburg. Ryanair was flying out of Templehof and I think they were the only one to fly there next to SN .
BER is their only major airport in Germany as they avoid MUC, DUS, STR etc.
etc.
That is why I used the word avoid instead of saying they refuse to fly there. Like I already wrote above, Ryanair will avoid major airports and they will fly from there only if they have to. However, it's worth mentioning that if they can, they will always split their operations between two airports. Why? To keep pressure on the more expensive partner so as to make sure their sweet deal doesn't go sour.
A few examples of these are BCN vs. GRO, BRU vs. CRL, VIE vs. BTS and so on.
Anon 09.27
DeleteBecause BEG will never give them the same conditions like TIA. You can see these conditions on TIA's website. Basically they pay next to nothing and even get money to promote certain routes.
Not only that VINCI certainly won't pay them just after investing millions in the airport. They need to make money now.
DeleteLets be honest, TIA is currently booming because it is infact cheaper than Croatia and also playing very well to promote itself as a cheap tourist destination. Plus it is bext to Greece and Italy and helps it even better. Albania may have lowered the fees, but the tourism is expected to rise much more. Even Michael O´Leary commented Albania in various interviews.
DeleteWell of course O'Leary will mention Albania when he is probably making good money there. He knows that the country is trying to become a popular destination so for them this is a long-term investment. That said, I think Albania has a long way to go before becoming a serious tourist destination. Their overall infrastructure is not the best.
DeleteRyanair avoids Milan, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Munich, Stuttgart, Brussels, Paris and Chopin while falsely advertising flights to Bergamo, Hahn, Weeze, Memmingen, Baden, Charleroi, Beauvais and Modlin as them
Delete10:36
Delete+1000
Rubbish.
DeleteIf FR would be flying in BEG instead of W6, he would be praising FR. Classic
DeleteHow about Dublin, Manchester, Amsterdam, Krakow, Arlanda, Glasgow, Lisbon, Fiumicino, Oslo, Bucharest, Sofia, Cologne, Athens, Hamburg, Birmingham, Alicante, Valencia, Bologna, Venice, Helsinki, Larnaca, Prague, Copenhagen? All have alternatives yet Ryanair is using them big time.
DeleteAll have alternatives? Really? What is the alternative (and a realistic one) to Dublin, Lisbon, Bucharest, Sofia, Athens, Hamburg, Alicante, Valencia, Bologna and Prague?
DeleteAlso their presence is minimal in Larnaca and their main base is in Paphos.
Ah yes their incredible Amsterdam network with 2 routed.
DeleteAlso almost none of these have alternatives or are big enough to be considered major airports barring Amsterdam.
Also they don't fly to Oslo, they fly to Sandefjord. Also they fly to Prestwick, not Glasgow. An they've significantly shrunk their Athens network since Fraport
maybe anon meant that INI as the alternative to SOF? hahaha.
Deleteas for ryanair in BEG, yes they would enter the airport if either the market grows to at least double what it is so they will have enough loads or VINCI gives them huge discounts since Ryanair doesn't really compete in the market but instead operates on subsidies.
and anon @09:55 is right TIA is booming. but the airport makes no profit. airports have costs and the more passengers they process the higher those costs rise. but of they cant get a fee for the airline to cover those costs then it will be the government and tax payer which will be paying, only unless people are forced to work for less than a living wage. so TIA is booming for Ryanair's bank account
Slav.Man You really need help with your TIA obssession
Delete@17:50, haha I see TIA media getting agitated. don't start projecting its not a good look. it was a factual response to a comment. I didn't bring it up.
Delete@Nemjee Ever heard of Beja, Bucharest Baneasa, Plovdiv, Forli, Castellon, Murcia, Pardubice, Lübeck? And yes, their presence is minimal in Larnaca and their base is in Paphos yet they use the "big" airport in Cyprus as well which is a good proof against your statement.
DeleteYes, they use Oslo and they use Prestwick. You need a bit of research dear Anon 16:40.
DeleteSlav.Man It's not a good look when you call every person who doesn't agree with your stupid agenda TIA media or whatever the hell that means 🤡
Delete*Glasgow
DeleteLubeck cannot be treated as substitute for HAM.
DeleteDude, imagine if whole northern lower saxony would rely on Lubeck instead of HAM xD
@20:24 keep exposing yourself.
Delete1) provided no disagreement.
2) provided no Factual point for disagreement.
Thank you for still proving me right and that the facts of the TIA bubble hurt you so much.
-
@19:13. Alternative airport doesn't just mean the next airport of the country. plovdiv is not an alternative to SOF its a complete different airport serving a complete different region. Alternative is like CDG and its alternative Paris orly.
Flying to a major airport with one or two routes doesnt mean anything. Yes, FR flies to HEL, AMS, LCA, LIS, MAD, BCN, FCO, PRG, HAM, VIE and so on, and? It is very natural for LCC to operate to smaller airports where they get massive discounts on landing fees and everything else, in fact the LCC will slowly become the owner of the airport and the airport will do anything that the LCC requests. If they dont comply, the LCC will simply leave. We had this scenario in TZL and we see where they are right now.
DeleteHowever, when there is not an alternative to the major airport, the airline will request better pricing to the major airport. Also, they usually operate there on quiter times of the day when it is cheaper to land and take off, and in many airports such as in LIS there is another terminal for LCC, same with BCN and BER ( their planes are parked on the side of the terminal building ). I am sure they know better then me and you and everybody else so no need to argue over something which is very carefully calculated.
DeleteAnon 19.30
DeleteI believe others and you yourself have discredited all the arguments you put forward but I will just add a final one on this matter.
You mentioned Baneasa as an alternative to Otopeni. Are you aware that BBU was transformed into a business airport and exclusively used by general aviation? How can Ryanair use it as an alternative to OTP?
Maybe it would be wiser if you used Constanta or Craiova as a valid alternative to Bucharest since you used Plovdiv as an alternative to Sofia. lol
As for LCA, you might want to check what routes Ryanair operates from there. Actually let me help you: VIENNA.
So we have one route from LCA and like 50 from PFO. Btw FR recently terminated LCA-BRU despite there being no competition. Why? Because Cypriot bureaucrats don't fly with FR, they have a contract with Lufthansa and Aegean. Ryanair moved these flights to PFO-CRL and they operate it twice a week.
Replacing LCA-BRU with PFO-CRL in a way shows that higher yielding clientele might not rush to fly with them and this will be a major challenge for them going forward as there is greater pressure on pricing.
"BER - they were forced to move here after all Berlin airports were shut down and everything was centralized around Brandenburg. Ryanair was flying out of Templehof and I think they were the only one to fly there next to SN .
DeleteBER is their only major airport in Germany as they avoid MUC, DUS, STR etc."
Lie. Ryanair was always flying out of Schonefeld which is now Brandeburg. They never had operations out of Tempelhof.
@Nemjee You are clueless. You'd better read wikipedia further than the part BBU "was transformed into a business airport" and you will notice that it was re-opened for commercial flights.
DeleteNemjee 9:44, Tempelhof was a grass airport runway, that couldn't accommodate 737s.
DeleteYou probably meant to say Tegel :)
Ryanair come to PRN:)))))
ReplyDeleteI hope so since Wizz does not want to open a base for some reason.
DeleteThat's why they reduced flights from PRN this year.
DeleteWell good for them but at the same time they are also known to be cutting routes and shutting down bases without any warning.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to ex-YU, Wizz Air will be happy as long as they are staying away from BEG and SKP which are their two most promising bases.
As far as BEG goes, personally I don't mind not having them as I think they would create a disbalance between JU and W6. These two, even though they are competitors, have somehow managed to coexist. If Ryanair moves in then they will try to get rid of both, something consumers won't profit from.
There is a saying that crossed my mind when I read this article:
Тамо где вам пуно обећавају понесите малу торбу.
Overall in Europe, Ryanair has managed to thrive where competition is weak. Many carriers have since adapted and can compete more efficiently against them. Some examples of this include LOT in Poland, Aegean in Greece, airBaltic in Riga and even Wizz Air is finding ways to beat them in certain markets. Why? Because at the end of the day both treat their customers as trash so these end up choosing the lesser of two evils.
I simply cannot believe that someone can write in all seriousness a statement like this:
Delete"Overall in Europe, Ryanair has managed to thrive where competition is weak."
As usual Nemjee posts emotional posts. How is FR competition weak? Any comments on Modlin Airport? In which markets are FR beating W6 when they announced massive cuts and failed in so many markets? You are seriously underestimating the power of FR, because this airline is big....like really big. Air Malta, Lauda? How about their massive expansion in Morocco? Do you read news or still thinking about LCA?
DeleteWait, so I am writing emotional posts yet you are attacking me on a personal level?
DeleteHow about you take a Bromazepam, take a few breaths, re-read what I wrote and then leave a comment. Once you do that we can resume a civilized and fact-based discussion. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.
Anons at 9:48 and 10:01, so you can maybe tell me why Ryanair does not connect Vienna to Zürich, Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin? The cheapest return tickets with Lufthansa on these routes are normally 300€+, but more often than not, you can find tickets only for 600€ despite Lufthansa having multiple daily connections between them. Why does not Ryanair want a piece of this market, despite already having a base in VIE.
DeleteGood point. I would also like to remind readers here how some 17 years ago Ryanair had a special sticker 'Bye Bye Latehansa.' It was a time when LH was going through a really difficult period. Ryanair obviously expected them to fail which they didn't. If anything they reformed themselves and became competitive vs. lowcosts.
DeleteSince then very few LCCs have managed to break through their defenses in their fortress hubs such as FRA and MUC. Ryanair included. Let's also not forget another gem: Transavia's attempt at setting up an LCC base in MUC.
Ryanair did say that the era of low fares has ended. Since their average ticket price will increase it will make them less competitive vs. legacies which have corporate accounts, cargo, mail, transfers, premium passengers etc.
European civil aviation landscape has changed since the 1990s and the early 2000s. We are also through the period of mass bankruptcies in aviation. They profited from the collapse of likes such as Cyprus Airways, Malev, Spanair etc. However those that remained are managing to compete more efficiently and not just against Ryanair but other LCCs as well.
You can never expect from Ryan air a commitment ! They fly from everywhere they are proffiting ! Remember 3 or 3 years ago they said they will leave ATH because of high taxes ! Well here they are serving from ATH 25 destinations 3 domestic included this summer season ! Because Athens is Athens ! Huge market with estimated 32 to 33 million passengers this year, not insignifigant Ex-yu .
Delete*or 4 years
Delete@09:17 Yes but if FR comes to BEG and especially to SKP then Wizz will wake up and start to launch new routes. Like this they are quiet and they take their time, no rush cause there isnt lcc competitor.
DeleteNonsense. Wizz has been growing in Belgrade not because Ryan was't there but because market was there and new planes kept coming. Once engine problems are fixed they will grow again. Ryan has no lcc competitors in Zag. They are growing as they have aircraft and not because lack of lcc competition.
DeleteWizz Air's network in Belgrade is quite decent, there are very few destinations left that are unserved and which could work year-round. What Wizz Air needs to focus on in Belgrade is building frequencies which they have been doing slowly over the years.
DeleteDon't forget that in BEG there is also Air Serbia which has an impressive network despite its size.
I don't really care about the profit of airline companies, but if ticket cost is less for pax or not..In regards of that, arrival of FR to BEG or SKP would lower the prices. Punto. Statement that FR would cause disbalance and would be bad for pax is funny.
DeleteIf Wizz Air didn't have the engine problem this year, Ryanair would be nowhere close to overtaking them in this region.
ReplyDeleteAgree but they are using the opportunity.
DeleteI fully support Nemjee's assessment. FR is unreliable for long term planning for any airport. FR used to fly HEL-RIX besides AY and BT. The last two pushed FR out of the route. FR tried to sustain cheap pricing on this lucrative route for Northern Europe. They couldn't do this on a long run, raised prices, and ... lost customers. If your only advantage is cheap price then you must fight hard for all available discounts, subsidies, etc, etc. And when they gone, you go along.
DeleteWhereas Wizz Air is very reliebale with 18 bases closed during it's short history. Bases, let alone simple destinations...
DeleteYet despite their many flaws Wizz Air is still around. Obviously they are not as useless and unreliable as some make them to be on here.
DeleteIf I were BEG management I would be happy to work with JU and W6 as that's a combination which has proven to be efficient. Adding FR to the mix you risk making the same mistake as Fraport with FR, LH and FRA.
They just announced a 4th aircraft in Sofia:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bta.bg/en/news/economy/665993-ryanair-bases-fourth-aircraft-at-sofia-airport-adds-another-five-destinations
And launched almost the same destinations as Wizz, especially Spain.
Me thinks BiH and finally BEG deserves FR ffs!
SOF is on fire!
DeleteRyanair duplicated all of the Wizz destinations from sofia+opened completely new ones and destinations which Wizz discontinued way to fast from sofia during the years. However, keep in mind that since the letter in 2016 to the management of sofia airport from ryanair that it intends to open a base, the airport started treating ryanair as top priority than wizz. A few months after ryanair opening its base, instead of moving the 6 wizz based planes to T2, they offered the FR T2. And, of course Wizz led a lawsuit for unfair competition given the fact that T2 has a metro to the city. And the new operator of the airport seems to keep the good relationship with Ryanair still. But, during the quiet expansion of Ryanair at SOF during the years since 2016, they have surpassed Wizz in both destinations and frequencies. But what I’ve noticed is that Wizz instead of lowering the prices from SOF, they have increased them. Meanwhile in Italy, Austria and the UK Wizz is even cheaper at times than FR. But at Sofia FR is cheaper with up to 20€ most of the times. Even if FR opens a base at BEG and SKP(or at least launch flights which will happen eventually), there is a chance of Wizz not lowering their prices.
DeleteWishing Ryan a lot of success
ReplyDeleteif they ever come to SKP and BEG that will not be with one or two routes only
ReplyDeleteRyanair discovered many of Balkan countries way too late.
ReplyDeleteThey were busy making profits in the west
DeleteEasyjet meanwhile left in the dust.
ReplyDeleteTrue. They are even falling behind in Dubrovnik. They used to have a proper presence in Belgrade, Ljubljana and split
DeleteBut easyjet is still very strong on the Croatian coast in summer
DeleteEntire ex-yu is literally the periphery for western European companies
DeleteNot true, Croatia certainly is not. By the way, in Europe, there is only EU and non-EU.
DeleteNe, u Evropi postoji European Common Aviation Area (ECAA).
DeleteAnon 14.04
DeleteWell to be entirely correct, Croatia is seasonally not on the periphery. Outside the four or five summer months very few people go there and airport statistics are best proof of that.
sorry but it 7 months season and it matter of time when it gonna be 12 months
DeleteMatter of time? In 50000 years Dubrovnik will have the same climate as Miami.
DeleteLast anon killed it xD
DeleteI don't understand why they are not flying London Stansted - Ljubljana at least.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteBecause of Stansted-Trieste and Stansted-Zagreb
DeleteAnd Stansted-Klagenfurt
Deletethey could fly 2 daily with no problem ...
DeleteYay, 7 daily, sure.
DeleteBecause they have no reason to. Easyjet already provides flights to a better airport, British flies to Heathrow and they already fly to STN from all the major airports surrounding LJU
DeleteIt is interesting how the demographic structure of tourists in Ljubljana has changed from pre-pandemic times, when there were really many cheap flights from London, to today. In Ljubljana, there are now very few young British tourists who come to party, now there is a slightly older population, mainly in hotels. The presence of Transavia and other guests coming from France and the Netherlands is also very evident. It's great that there are also many younger tourists from Macedonia.
DeleteThis is very interesting. We mostly discuss here the number of flights, new destinations and the number of passengers. Always in the sense that more is better. This has not been the only criterion in tourism for some time. Since cheap flights have changed the structure of tourists, some destinations want the opposite, a reduction in the number of guests and a change in their structure, i.e. they want fewer tourists who spend more money at the destination, away from the simple equation of more is better.
DeleteIn this sense, I was wondering if Ryanair is really only a good thing for Dubrovnik, or maybe not.
Delete18:36, sweetheart do you read the news at all? UK economy is not its best shape and poverty is rising. UK has changed quite a lot during the last 10 years.
DeleteThere is room for FR in Ohrid for many routes.
ReplyDeleteThe sooner Ryanair go bankrupt the better for European Aviation!
ReplyDeletelol why exactly?
DeleteSo that legacy airlines can increase their ticket prices by 30%
DeleteW6 needs to make profits
ReplyDeletejust come to SKP
ReplyDeleteAny guesses on what might be the busiest LCC route to ex-Yu?
ReplyDeleteZagreb-London probably due to amount of frequencies.
DeleteSKP-BSL is the busiest for years, not including the seasonal flights to the Croatian coast.
DeleteNow we need LCCs to start flying inside ex-Yu.
ReplyDeleteYou already have those. Zagreb-Podgorica by Ryanair and Skopje-Ljubljana.
DeleteThere are still opportunities for Sarajevo-Ljubljana, it would easily fill 5 flights per week even on a legacy carrier.
DeleteObviously, it's not so easy for SJJ-LJU. Adria LF in the last three years of operations on that route was between 51% and 54%. Many of those passengers were transfers. So much about P2P potential...
DeleteAdria didnt have awesome LF on LJU-SKP flights as well and now all flights on this route with Wizz are full. They will increase them once they solve the engine problem.
DeleteThere was still a big difference - on LJU-SKP LF was 62-65% with frequency up to 14pw. Both TIA and PRN were much stronger than SJJ, which was the weakest of all ex-yu destinations
DeleteAdria flew 2 rotations daily at times, those were different times, considering the immense growth in standard and travelling habits, any LCC could plan LJU-SJJ with over 90% LF. 10% of Slovenia is Bosnian, if the ticket price is comparable to a bus which is 60-70€ everyone will flock, even students.
DeleteAnd no local ex-Yu LCC.
ReplyDeleteCentavia tried and failed
DeleteI think Centavia was killed because it was ahead of its time. It was before Open Skies was introduced. I remember that one summer they operated charter flights out of BEG but then both Montenegro and Croatia turned down their requests to operate scheduled flights.
DeleteMontenegro did it to protect both Jat Airways and Montenegro Airlines while Croatia did it for political reasons.
Wizz Air has 46 A321neos grounded, three A320s and theee A321s stored as well as three A320neos grounded. However, they are constantly gettting new A321s, with the last four deployed in CTA, FCO, BUD and LTN.
ReplyDeleteW6 will receive hundreds of millions of Euros in compensation from Pratt.
DeletePlans. If they get something. Sometime in the future. But the hundreds of thousand of passengers #&@-d by them with the constant schedule changes is already a fact. For them Wizz being compensated is not a great relief.
DeleteWizz doesnt seem much to care about Ryanair as a competitor.
ReplyDeleteThey even downgraded capacity in Belgrade.
Fear of competition looks different.
Ryan does not fear LCC competition in Zagreb as it doesn't have any LCC competitors there.
DeleteMacedonia needs Ryanair for a long time ago. Hope they fly to Skopje and Ohrid soon. With the new government now hopefully that's possible.
ReplyDeleteThats kinda tough. WizzAir is already too big in Skopje, and it makes it tougher for RyanAir to expand. Another thing is the fees that need to be paid in Skopje are somewhat high for a LCC.
Delete