Spanish flag carrier Iberia will run a number of charter flights from Madrid to both Podgorica and Sarajevo this summer on behalf of the Spanish tour operator Sama Travel, while increasing scheduled service to Croatia. It marks the continuation of last year’s successful pilot project, which saw the carrier operate charters from Madrid to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital, as well as to Skopje. Services to the latter are currently not planned. A limited number of tickets are expected to be put on general sale through Iberia’s website closer to the planned days of departure. Neither Podgorica nor Sarajevo has scheduled services to Madrid.
Iberia will operate charters from Madrid to Podgorica on Sama Travel’s behalf on April 5 and April 20, as well as on May 3, 17 and 31. On the other hand, flights to Sarajevo will run on April 12 and 26, as well as on May 10 and 24. As part of its Balkan travel tours this year, Sama Travel offers trips to Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, with each package featuring a visit to at least two of these countries. Furthermore, the tour operator will make use of Iberia’s scheduled flights to Zagreb and Dubrovnik as well.
The Spanish carrier plans to increase its operations on flights to Croatia this coming summer season. It will serve Zagreb, Dubrovnik and Split from Madrid. The Oneworld member plans to maintain between three and nine weekly flights between Madrid and Zagreb, depending on the month. These include three weekly rotations in April, May and October, five weekly in June and September, six weekly in July and nine weekly during the peak summer travel period in August. Dubrovnik will be served up to seventeen times per week during the peak travel period in August, while Split will be maintained up to nine times per week in August. Overall, Iberia will run up to 35 weekly flights from the Spanish capital to Croatia during the peak travel month of August.
Hopefully they eventually start scheduled flights. At least for a few weeks like to Ljubljana.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteIt’s a shame this is only a few flights per season. Sarajevo deserves a year-round connection to Madrid. Hopefully, if demand is strong, Iberia or another airline will step in with regular service.
DeleteIf demand is strong enough for a tour operator, surely there’s potential for scheduled flights?
Delete"Furthermore, the tour operator will make use of Iberia’s scheduled flights to Zagreb and Dubrovnik as well."
DeleteWhy would tour operators not use OU? And OU offers connections to SJJ/SKP and the Croatian coast they can offer the individual as well as package holiday maker.
There's enough P2P demand from B&H to Spain alone. Tour operators already bought out almost half of SJJ-Girona tickets by Ryanair to sell Costa Brava and Barcelona
DeleteGoes to show that there is some reasoning behind OUs introduction of MAD and increase of BCN.
ReplyDeleteHow are they going to compete against 35 weekly Iberia flights?
DeleteDoubt they can.
Delete"Furthermore, the tour operator will make use of Iberia’s scheduled flights to Zagreb and Dubrovnik as well."
DeleteWhy would tour operators not use OU? And OU offers connections to SJJ/SKP and the Croatian coast they can offer the individual as well as package holiday maker.
@Anonymous09:02
DeleteHow are they going to compete against 35 weekly Iberia flights?
Iberia ain't cheap and they can compete especially Barcelona... Also, strong Spandrid community in Zagreb atm, growing every year. Things will only improve as Croatia's economy improves even more, as more EU nationals move in to live in Croatia. Air links mostly charter or seasonal will turn in to year round, weekly, daily...
^ yet Iberia used to fly year round to Zagreb and now flies seasonally.
Deletewell that was before the pandemic, they are getting there...
DeleteCan anyone remember what were the fares when they eventually put them on sale? Were they cheap?
ReplyDeleteI mean for last year
DeleteI remember a few people managed to get a bargain and there were only like 10 people on the flight. These were empty return legs.
DeleteThis year it is unlikely to be that way because the packages are intermixed so you depart for Podgorica but your return is from Sarajevo and vice versa. Maybe just the first flight will be like that.
DeleteOh ok, I see. Does anyone remember how much in advance they put the tickets on sale?
DeleteNot surprising there were no passengers since no one even knew you could buy tickets through Iberia website. Had they made some sort of an announcement about it, I'm sure there would have been more interest.
DeleteNice to see that they increased the number of charters compared to last year.
ReplyDeleteHow many did they have last year to Sarajevo?
Deleteflight
Delete1 flight*
DeleteWhy no Skopje? :(
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised too.
DeleteSkopje was announced at some point as well, but obviously is now dropped because no local DMC accepted to work with the mentioned tour operator, due to the way they did the business last year. We are small region, info is easily spread
DeleteWhat happened last year?
DeleteOdd that so many countries in the region lack flights to Madrid.
ReplyDeleteIt is surprising, considering Madrid is a major European hub with strong global connections
DeleteTime for Iberia to start year round Madrid-Zagreb flights.
ReplyDeleteLong overdue. Did they used to operate ZAG in winter in the past?
DeleteDon't think so
DeleteYes they did.
DeleteYes in 2018/19
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2018/05/iberia-begins-year-round-operations-to.html
Thanks
DeleteThey have such a small presence in this region.
ReplyDeleteIberia said before that these charters might eventually lead to scheduled flights and that it was a good way to test the market.
DeleteHope so!
DeleteThis is a start. Good to see.
ReplyDeleteStep in the right direction
DeleteExcellent. Would love to see them regularly in other cities too as they meanwhile have a good USA network too. For example ex LJU from April until October with 2-3 weekly flights and not just during August peak.
ReplyDeleteI'm really disappointed they didn't extend Ljubljana this year. The current schedule is useless. It's just mostly for Spanish tourists. I agree they could be a good transfer option.
DeleteAre they at least operating with larger aircraft this summer?
Delete^ Yes.
DeleteWith A320s.
DeleteWouldn't charters to Tivat make more sense?
ReplyDeleteTivat gets scheduled Vueling from Barcelona :)
DeleteIt’s great to see Iberia adding these charter flights! Podgorica and Sarajevo definitely need better connectivity to major European hubs like Madrid. Hopefully, this leads to regular scheduled services in the future.
ReplyDeleteFinally, a direct flight from Madrid to Podgorica, even if it’s just a charter! Montenegro needs more routes to Western Europe, especially during the summer season. Hope Iberia considers making this a permanent route.
ReplyDeleteIberia increasing flights to Croatia makes sense but I’d love to see them try seasonal service to other Balkan destinations.
ReplyDeleteThere’s definitely potential there.
DeleteIn general, Oneworld has a really poor presence in the region.
DeleteTrue that
DeleteI think they started Tirana in 2024 or are starting flights this year.
Delete^Started last year.
DeleteThank you
DeleteCharters are nice, but we need more low-cost options from Spain.
ReplyDeleteSurprised Iberia hasn’t looked at Belgrade. Demand for travel to Spain from Serbia is huge. Number of Spanish tourists in Serbia has seen massive growth and there is a Serbian diaspora in Spain too.
ReplyDeleteMarket is already well covered by Air Serbia and Wizz.
DeleteIberia could also offer connections to South America and the US.
DeleteSeems like a missed opportunity.
Delete^ agree. Could have ruled the market well before JU.
DeletePeople forget that demand for Madrid isn't that huge. Most of the demand is to Barcelona and the coast. Iberia is Madrid based.
DeleteThere is much demand for Madrid.
DeleteLufthansa, Swiss and Easyjet from Geneva have many transfers.
Iberia has no clue about the market thus Air Serbia has it all for itself.
Also Croatia Airways and Ryanair will take care of them in Zagreb.
Why not extend these charters into the summer peak months?
ReplyDeleteBecause it is a spring holiday package. In summer Spaniards go to the sea.
DeleteNo Skopje flights this year? I guess last year’s trial didn’t work out?
ReplyDeletelol
Deletelocal MK DMC's switched to the german tour operator that will start tours this month. Sama moved their two AL_MK tours to BiH-MNE so now they are 4
DeleteThanks
Delete35 weekly flights from Madrid to Croatia in August—wow!
ReplyDeleteIt's not so wow considering they used to fly year round to Croatia and that they alsp used to fly to Zadar.
DeleteForgot that they used to fly to ZAD.
DeleteGreat.
DeleteIberia should expand beyond just Croatia in this region. There’s a lot of untapped potential
ReplyDeleteThey can't recognize anything east of Croatia.
DeleteThey do fly to Tirana (since last year) and Bucharest. But yes, overall very low pressnce in the region.
DeleteEven in Croatia it is just seasonal. TIA is seasonal too.
DeleteSo their only year round route in Eastern Europe is Bucharest?
DeleteYes
DeleteSame with Air Europa too.
DeleteAt least Air Europa has a codeshare with Air Serbia to many destinations in the Balkans.
DeleteDoes Iberia codeshare with anyone in the region?
DeleteNo
DeleteLet’s hope this is just the beginning!
ReplyDeleteGood news especially since TGD needs all the flights it can get. Don't know if anyone has noticed that they have very few new flights this year. Just some from Air Montenegro, which will cut frequencies on other routes to accommodate the growth since they will have one aircraft less than last year, which probably means no charters. Ryanair's almost complete withdrawal this winter is really impacting numbers. So far looks like a disappointing year for TGD unless something changes.
ReplyDeleteCompletely true unfortunately. And Podgorica actually used to have year round flights to Spain. Ryanair flew to Barcelona.
DeleteIt's because the airport increased its fees a lot. So not surprising.
DeleteAnd then they lowered it just for some LCCs. Crazy.
Delete^Does not seem to have worked for this summer.
DeleteVery nice.
ReplyDeleteGreat news for Sarajevo!
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteCEO of Airports of Montenegro said today that he expects there will be scheduled flights between TGD and MAD from next year.
ReplyDeletenot gonna happen
DeleteWhy not exactly?
DeleteI think there is a much greater chance of Sarajevo getting flights.
DeleteSpain cake is big in Croatia.
ReplyDeleteI am happy for Croatia Airlines decision to fly to Madrid and eat something of that one!
Ryanair will also go after it-no doubt.
Iberia has all of its eggs in the same basket that makes them vulnerable.
If competition offers better prices or services customers will switch easily.
Croatians will switch to OU, i think so too as people prefer their national airline.
DeleteIts everwhere so i think..
What? Have you seen the prices Jasmin charges. IB is far better and offers many connections.
DeleteI cannot confirm that we Croats prefer to fly with Croatia Airlines. Some of my friends even try to avoid their old planes, because they don't feel save :-D For Croats important is the price and the flying schedule.
Delete