Ryanair to Montenegro from June

The Montenegrin government and Ryanair have reached an agreement which will see Europe’s biggest no frills airline operate flights to the country over the next four years. It comes after more than a year of negotiations. Flights are expected to begin in June and will operate on a seasonal basis. From next year flights will launch at the start of the summer season, in late March. The government estimates that by 2015, Ryanair will bring some 50.000 tourists to the country. It has backed down from insisting for the airline to fly all year round, a move which is set to ignite problems with its national carrier.

An official announcement from the airline will be made once Ryanair’s Board of Directors approves the deal with the government, expected during the week. According to the Montenegrin Tourism Ministry, the airline should launch flights from London, Brussels and Milan and will increase its offering to six destinations in three years. Notably, both Brussels and Milan were suspended from Montenegro Airlines’ destination network last year due to poor ticket sales.

While Ryanair’s arrival will be warmly welcomed by both locals and foreign tourists it could prove a headache to the already struggling national carrier. Montenegro Airlines will have to compete against Ryanair to London, which it turned into a seasonal service due to low interest throughout the winter. Furthermore, the airline has said that it is not against low cost airlines but argues that that they should operate year round services rather than taking all the tourists and then disappearing over the winter season. Details of the agreement with Ryanair, including how much the airline will receive in subsidies, hasn’t been revealed.

Source: Exyuaviation

Ryanair angry at Montenegro

Ryanair is reconsidering plans to launch flights to Montenegro this June as was previously announced. Europe’s largest no frills airline was to decide this week wheatear to approve an agreement with the Montenegrin government for flights to be inaugurated from London, Brussels and Milan. However, Ryanair is angry at the media coverage its provisional agreement with the authorities created. Namely, it is unhappy with the way the government publicised what is still an incomplete agreement. It is now requesting additional guarantees from the government that all discussed conditions will be met.

The provisional agreement between the two sides states that Ryanair is obliged to operate flights to Montenegro eight months per year, every year, with the exception of 2012, as flights would launch in June and operate until the end of October. During this year the airline is required to launch three destinations. This would grow to four in 2013 and six by 2014. The six routes are to be maintained in 2015.

It is unclear as to the amount of subsidies the low cost airline will receive in the country and whether flights will be operated to either Tivat or Podgorica. Last year, the government insisted for Ryanair to operate flights exclusively to the country’s capital all year round, highly unattractive for an airline catering mostly for tourists wishing to spend a holiday on the coast. Furthermore, the deal is unlikely do go down well with Montenegro Airlines, which saw sliding passenger numbers and mounting debt last year. Currently, within the EX-YU region, Ryanair only operates flights to Croatia with services to Zadar, Rijeka and Pula.

Source: Exyuaviation