One of the important factors of a successful summer tourist season is the connection of Montenegro with the main tourist markets, and a special focus is placed on the national airline Air Montenegro, which should serve as the main generator of tourists who come to Montenegro by air, according to the operations analyst Lazar Dašić of Wizz Air.
He says that in 2022, Air Montenegro transported about 350,000 passengers, which represented about 18% of the total number of passengers who passed through Montenegrin airports.
– Although this figure represents a solid result considering the specifics of 2022 due to restrictions in the first quarter, as well as the capacities of Air Montenegro, two Embraer E-195 aircraft and another leased during the summer season, it is indisputable that the national aviation the company needs additional capacities and additional development of the network of destinations, in order to fulfill its potential and, in the final, become a profitable and self-sustaining airline – points out Dašić.
He believes that Air Montenegro, in cooperation with the authorities, should define and present a capacity increase plan for the next few years.
– This is especially important considering that there is a third embraer E-195, which is currently parked at the Podgorica airport, but is still not being used, even though it was allegedly purchased from the Government. Additionally, the increase in the fleet should be carried out so that it is unified, ie. that the planes are from the same family (for example, Embraer E). This would reduce operational complexity and increase the standby potential of the crew, as they would be licensed and prepared to work on all aircraft in the fleet. Due to the increased volume of traffic during the summer season, the previous practice of national companies, including the former Montenegro Airlines, was to lease a larger-capacity aircraft (erbAs A320 or Boeing 737) through an ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance, Insurance) arrangement. Although useful in increasing capacity in the short term, the arrangement is one of the most expensive solutions. Therefore, by increasing its own capacities, Air Montenegro would be able to reduce a good part of its costs – emphasizes Dašić.
Regarding the development of the network of destinations, as he added, it can be said that Air Montenegro is conditioned by limiting factors, such as a relatively small and seasonal market.
– In addition to transporting tourists, we should also focus on creating connections between the country and the rest of the world. This is especially important considering that the road infrastructure of Montenegro still does not provide a sufficiently fast and easy connection with the rest of Europe. Therefore, one of the goals should be to establish connections with the main “hubs” of Europe, such as Frankfurt, Munich, London, Istanbul, Madrid, Amsterdam, Paris and Zurich. Some of these cities are already covered by seasonal flights, but due to the lack of capacity, Montenegro remains denied most of these destinations during the winter season, excluding Istanbul – says Dašić.
However, as he states, Air Montenegro managed to develop a solid network of charter destinations, so in the summer schedule for 2023, it will operate charter flights to Poland, Yerevan, Cairo, Riga, Vilnius, Tallinn, Tel Aviv…
– In addition to the benefits for tourism, an additional benefit for the company is that during charter flights, agencies purchase the entire plane, so Air Montenegro does not bear the risk of a lack of sold tickets. Another positive item in the development of the network is the recently announced launch of flights to Sarajevo. These flights have additional value if it is known that Air Montenegro will operate seasonal charter flights from Sarajevo to Tirana through the so-called W pattern (Podgorica-Sarajevo-Tirana-Sarajevo-Podgorica). This move can be a good indicator of whether Air Montenegro could continue organizing flights with other cities in the Balkans, because the embraer E195 is the perfect type of aircraft for regional flights. However, it should be borne in mind that these flights also bring certain operational risks, primarily due to the possibility of a technical failure occurring at airports other than Tivat or Podgorica, which would mean a disruption in operations, and this could be dangerous for a small number of aircraft in the fleet – concludes Dašić.
Enable more affordable ticket prices
Dana’s interlocutor points out that it is particularly important for Air Montenegro to become a member of IATA (International Air Transport Association).
Membership in that association is important in order to be able to realize so-called codeshare agreements with other companies. These agreements would allow Air Montenegro to sell tickets of other airlines on the routes it operates (eg Podgorica-Istanbul flight also operated by Turkish Airlines), but also for other airlines to sell Air Montenegro tickets on their platforms. Codeshare agreements are also important because of the easier organization of so-called connecting flights. In addition, in order to modernize its offer, Air Montenegro could consider introducing an Economy Light tariff, which would be equivalent to the tariffs that passengers receive through low-cost carriers, and thus enable more affordable prices for its passengers, as well as the introduction of an online check-in procedure, to reduce crowds at the counters – says Dašić.
