Low cost carrier easyJet has announced the launch of two new routes to Pristina. The airline will introduce a daily service from Zurich starting October 26, and two weekly flights from Lyon beginning October 28. On the Zurich route, easyJet will face competition from Edelweiss Air, Chair Airlines and GP Aviation, while it will be the sole operator on the Lyon service during the winter season. ASL France began seasonal summer flights between Lyon and Pristina just yesterday. These additions will expand easyJet’s Pristina network to five routes, complementing existing services from Basel, Berlin, and Geneva. Previously operated routes from Amsterdam and Milan Malpensa, introduced last winter, have since been discontinued. Tickets for the new services are now available on the airline’s website.
With the addition of its new routes, easyJet will now match Wizz Air as the leading low cost carrier in terms of destinations served from Pristina. In 2022, easyJet was the airport’s busiest airline, but it slipped to third place in 2023, overtaken by Wizz Air and GP Aviation. Last year, easyJet maintained its third-place position, handling 505,000 passengers, ranking ahead of carriers such as Eurowings, Condor, and Wizz Air, which dropped to fourth. Earlier this year, Pristina Airport introduced a new four-year incentive program aimed at attracting additional airlines and new routes.
In a statement to EX-YU Aviation News, easyJet said, “easyJet is always evaluating new options in the Balkans and opportunities to be more profitable and continue growing, with the primary short-term focus on strengthening our presence in core markets”. The airline added, “easyJet periodically assesses opportunities based on market research. We develop business cases for several routes and ultimately select those that prove most attractive to our customers”. The new services to Pristina come on the heels of easyJet’s recent announcement of new routes from Paris to Belgrade and Manchester to Ljubljana launching this winter. Further flight details for the new Pristina - Zurich service can be viewed here, while additional information for the Lyon - Pristina route can be found here.
Nice to see them being a bit more proactive in the region lately.
ReplyDeleteZurich is going to be a blood bath. Lots of competition but I think they have the upper hand.
ReplyDeleteLet’s see if all of them survive the winter.
DeleteWith Zurich going daily, we might see Edelweiss or Chair reduce frequencies. Too much capacity on a single route.
DeleteIsn't Zurich the busiest route by far?
DeleteLet the price wars begin.
DeleteDaily service from Zurich is great, but let’s see how sustainable it is with three other airlines on the route.
Delete@9.59
DeleteZurich–Pristina fares are always sky-high in peak season. easyJet entering the game could bring some much-needed relief.
I think Lyon has something to do with Wizz route from SKP, plus they are returning GVA-SKP, i hope easyJet wins over Wizz.
ReplyDeleteYes, it will be interesting to how LYS-SKP will be impacted.
DeleteEven now some flights are operated with below 50% LF on the way to LYS.
DeleteASL also just started Lyon from Prishtina
Delete09:06 how you know the LF on the route when there is no any official results yet ?
DeleteI can not tell you the source.
DeleteOk now I believe you. Dont blame yourself please ;)
DeleteIt's kafič info. And still waiting for SEN-LJU flights :)
DeleteExcellent news.
ReplyDeleteeasyJet’s passenger result from last year is by far the most impressive considering they achieve that figure with just 3 routes to PRN!
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteActually there were 5 routes at certain period, MXP and AMS
DeleteGreat additions
ReplyDeleteWill these be year round?
ReplyDeleteThey start them in winter so it's safe to say they will operate in summer too.
DeleteNo it isn't at all. Aircraft availability in winter allows for routes like this.
DeleteBravo PRN!
ReplyDeleteNext will probably be resumption of CDG.
ReplyDeleteWhy if it didn't work out for them already?
DeleteThere is now an inctentive policy in place.
DeleteAnd Kosovo citizens do not need visas anymore.
DeleteWill PRN be in front of ZAG this year?
ReplyDeleteFor sure.
DeleteLiterally no chance.
DeletePRN is still ahead of ZAG in this year and we all know that starting from September / October PRN will on the monhtly basis have again more pax than ZAG.
DeleteTherefore it is very realistic estimation that PRN will be ahead of ZAG this year.
PRN has not been ahead ZAG for 2 months.
DeleteInteresting move by easyJet. As Wizz and Ryanair fight each other all around eastern Europe and the Balkans, easyJet is adding flights to an airport that is being overlooked by Ryanair and Wizz which hasn't done much from PRN in the last few years.
ReplyDeleteExactly
DeleteI can't believe they failes on AMS and MXP routes.
ReplyDeleteEasyJet keeps playing musical chairs with their Pristina routes. Dropping Amsterdam and Milan so quickly shows they’re still testing the market.
DeleteAny word if easyJet plans to bring back these routes at some point? Or are those permanently scrapped?
DeleteU2 already has a strong presence and brand-awareness in pristina. Good luck with new routes.
ReplyDeleteWizz Air has better brand awareness.
DeleteNot really, easyJet was there much earlier than Wizz. easy was the first LLC in the country.
DeleteGreat to see easyJet growing again in Pristina! A daily Zurich service is a solid addition, though competition on that route will be tough.
ReplyDeleteThe Lyon route is a smart move. There’s a big Kosovar diaspora in France, and having a nonstop winter option is long overdue.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that Wizz Air fell behind easyJet in total passengers despite more destinations last year. Shows load factors matter more than just network size.
ReplyDeleteThese new launches probably wouldn’t have happened without the airport’s new incentive program. Clearly it’s doing its job.
ReplyDeleteThey launched AMS and MXP last year without subsidies.
DeleteAnd that turned out well...
DeletePRN is becoming a real battleground for LCCs. Wonder if Ryanair will finally make a move or stay out completely.
ReplyDeleteWhere do you see the battle going?
DeleteWizz and easy in top 5 airlines
DeleteThey are not head 2 head in any of their routes. There is no battle going on.
DeleteHopefully U2 will eventually open a base in Pristina.
ReplyDeleteNo chance whatsoever.
DeleteWhy?
DeleteThey have any bases in Eastern Europe.
DeleteNo, they don't.
DeleteStill no UK–Pristina flights with easyJet?
ReplyDeleteLGW and CDG are the next bases with most potential for U2 to start flying to PRN. Lets see.
DeleteWould be great if these new routes stick around long term
ReplyDeleteHopefully
DeleteWill Easy Jet be adding any more new routes for next winter in general, not just PRN?
ReplyDeleteAnd they still can't find Sarajevo on the map...
ReplyDeleteOr Bosnia for that matter.
DeleteEasy is coming to Sarajevo in SS26
DeleteNow we need more legacy carriers.
ReplyDeletePRN has the poorest presence of legacies for an airport of its size in Europe.
DeleteThe benefit of the legacies being ?
DeleteConnectivity
DeleteMore often LCC's provide better connectivity than "legacies".
DeleteHighly unlikely, especially since it is inpossible to transfer using LCCs. You must leave the airport, pick up the bag if you have one and then recheck in.
DeleteMaybe on the same carrier, but it is not an "inposible" task to transfer. A bit more hassle maybe but not impossible. Not sure what you mean by leaving the airport. And if I save a considerable amount of money by flying LCC's, for almost the same level of service, but spending a bit more time at the airport, I'd do it time and time again.
DeleteI transfer all the time with LCCs
DeleteGood news for PRN. Odd fhey don't fly to ZAG.
ReplyDeleteThey used to fly to ZAG. From Gatwick, Paris and Dortmund. But they were chased away in order to protect OU, which turned out to be very bad decision, because OU should be protected from itself only
DeleteZRH will work like a charm.
ReplyDeleteI have one question for GP Aviation. What currency does GP Aviation accept? Swiss franc, lev, euro? It's interesting. Swiss company based in Kosovo.
ReplyDeleteMore like Bulgarian comapny.
DeleteI paid with euros on board, if thats your question
DeleteOn board is Euro only
DeleteGlad to see easyJet not giving up on Pristina despite dropping Milan and Amsterdam. Hopefully Zurich and Lyon perform better.
ReplyDeleteNow let’s get some routes to Nantes or Toulouse too!
ReplyDeleteI would prefer Paris, Barcelona and London as next. All current routes are diaspora heavy. Paris and Barcelona would be a change for a start and London needs another player to compete with Wizz.
DeleteInteresting that easyJet is growing in the Balkans again. After years of stagnation, maybe they’re finally ready to compete with Wizz seriously.
ReplyDeleteI hope easyJet reconsiders the Milan route. A lot of people fly to northern Italy from Kosovo. The demand is there.
ReplyDeleteWould be amazing if easyJet introduced flights from Brussels or Vienna.
DeleteWould love to see some low cost long weekend options from places like Rome or Barcelona. Not everyone flies for family visits!
DeleteI wonder when they start. they failed Amsterdam because they launched it a week ahead with zero advertising 😅
ReplyDeletePRN is desperate for a leisure destination in the EU.
Barcelona or Valencia or Sicily would work like a charm. But apparently airlines in Prn only interested in 'secure' routes.
DeleteThe safer bet would be Paris as a start, a mix of VFR and leisure destination. Plus it being a major airport and the biggest major metropolitan area in EU, with current incentives, it could work.
DeleteMaybe true.
DeleteBut France does not have any appeal to youngsters whatsoever.
Spain on the other hand- hell yes! Thats why planes to there from SKP and Tirana are filled with travellers from Kosovo.
Lol
Delete@admin did GP Aviation increase the numbers of flights between PRN - BRE ?
ReplyDelete5 new routes from Easyjet to ex-Yu so far for this winter.
ReplyDeletePRN-ZRH
DeletePRN-LYS
BEG-CDG
LJU-MAN
SKP-GVA
Not bad
DeleteAll of these PRN routes are diaspora-driven. Until tourism grows, we won’t see much diversity in destination types.
ReplyDeleteDemand is already there - its PRN who doesn't offer anything!
DeleteThere are 10.000 land border crossings w Greece any given weekend!
There are 4-5 daily flights to Antalya alone!
Demand is there already. But nothing by air - except to Turkey...
Five destinations from one LCC is not bad at all.
ReplyDeleteCurious if Wizz will respond now with even more frequencies or new routes. PRN is definitely heating up.
DeleteWizz has silently been adding frequencies on existing routes, its just that PRN is underreported sometimes.
DeleteFor instance PRN-VIE used to be 3-4, or up to 5 weekly flights iin the summer.
Now not only its daily, but on select days there are double flights running from Wizz.
Dropping Milan and Amsterdam but adding Zurich daily is a smart move.
ReplyDeleteThey should’ve kept Milan. It had great potential with both leisure and business travelers. A missed chance, honestly.
DeleteMilan and Amsterdam doesnt have gasto people living there :D
DeleteMilan works a charm with Wizz. Amsterdam scheduling was a non starter.
DeleteeasyJet, Wizz, Chair, Edelweiss, ASL France, GP Aviation… Pristina’s LCC mix is more diverse than Zagreb or Sarajevo right now.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn’t put GP there. Their tickets gets you cabin bags, 20kg checked bag and seat selection.
Delete