LCC dominance growing across EX-YU
Low cost carriers (LCCs) now offer the most seat capacity from four markets in the former Yugoslavia and are second or third in the remaining three. Currently, budget airlines command the markets in Slovenia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, while flag carriers rule in Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, the latter being the only country in the region in which two full-service airlines take the top two positions.
Following the demise of Adria, easyJet has emerged as the biggest carrier in Slovenia, ahead of Turkish Airlines. It maintains services from London Gatwick, Stansted and Berlin to Ljubljana and has expressed interest in launching additional flights to the city. It expanded its capacity to the Slovenian capital by 10%. In both Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Wizz Air is the largest carrier. In Macedonia, the low cost airline continued to add seats on the market by basing a fifth aircraft in Skopje and is well ahead of second-placed Turkish Airlines and third-placed Austrian Airlines. Overall, Wizz Air has over 1.9 million seats for sale from the country this year, which is 18% more than in 2018. On the other hand, despite a slight dip in offered seat capacity this year, Wizz Air continued to maintain its position as the number one carrier in Bosnia and Herzegovina thanks to its operations from Tuzla. It is followed by Turkish Airlines in a distant second and Austrian Airlines.
Eurowings has stepped in following the collapse of Pristina Airport’s largest carrier, Germania, earlier this year and has based an aircraft in the city. As a result, the amount capacity offered by the budget carrier has grown over 100%. It is now the largest airline in Kosovo, followed by easyJet and Orange2Fly. Pristina Airport's Scheduling Manager, Driton Hyseni, recently said the government should do more to attract low cost carriers. “The time has come for us to offer greater support to airlines and the tourism industry in Kosovo, which would provide our countrymen with more convenient and affordable travel. Furthermore, such support would increase the number of foreign visitors to Kosovo, which would generate additional income and provide more jobs in the aviation industry, tourism sector and other services".
Croatia Airlines remains the biggest in its home market despite not adding any additional capacity this year. It is followed by easyJet, which only runs seasonal summer flights to Croatia, and Eurowings. The latter saw a slight decline in the amount of offered seats from the Croatian market this year. In Serbia, the national carrier remains the biggest player. It is followed by Wizz Air, which has increased capacity from the country this year, and Lufthansa, which has seen considerable growth thanks to the introduction of additional flights. Air Serbia’s Head of Network, Alliances and Fleet Planning, And Salt, said in October, “One key issue for us is the amount of competition on the market. In the past you had the legacy airlines which built up their own market and brand identity. These days you can see that development in the industry changes so quickly. You can have a new competitor coming up and really revolutionising who is carrying your customers around Europe. The sheer quantity of competition is an issue. This means you have to innovate and differentiate as an airline in order to survive”.
Montenegro is the only market in the former Yugoslavia where two flag carriers offer the most available seats. Montenegro Airlines increased its capacity by 6%, which was followed by Air Serbia. However, Ryanair, which positioned itself as the third biggest airline in the country has registered growth of 29% as it continues to expand its operations to Montenegro. The figure will further grow in 2020 as it adds three new routes to Podgorica, from Dublin, Krakow and Poznan, with more expected to be announced in the coming period.
0 Response to "LCC dominance growing across EX-YU"
Post a Comment