Published on : Thursday, May 7, 2020
Montenegro Airlines has officially extended its flight suspension until May 15, but the carrier does not expect to start commercial operations until at least the month of June. Montenegro’s flag carrier mentioned in a recent statement that in light of the latest measures against the COVID-19 pandemic provided by the national coordination body, the first flights are expected to fly in June.
It was back around March 16 that the airlines suspended all commercial flight operations as a part of the mass airline grounding in Europe. Though Montenegro was the last European country to report a positive coronavirus case, the flight suspensions took place following the imposition of strict travel restrictions to the country.
The carrier mentioned that it is currently on a mission to bring as many tourists to Montenegro this year as possible. On May 15, the airline has planned to operate its first flight in two months and fly to Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. However, there are continued uncertainties about the date as Serbia does not expect to open its airports until May 18 at the earliest.
Montenegro Airlines said that its first flights would be regional operations. The carrier is aiming to immediately resume operations in routes that do not rely on tourism alone but also sustain through general demand. Ljubljana in Slovenia and Moscow are destinations where similar flights can e operated. Meanwhile, operations are also likely to launch in Frankfurt, Paris, and Vienna as the airline acts as a feeder to various major carriers through these hubs.
The airline will only resume flight operations to its wider international network only after it establishes the second phase of its emergence from flight suspension. Even after that, the intensity of international networks will be much reduced. From March to June 2019 the carrier recorded revenues in excess of €13 million ($14 million). The finances of the company are bound to suffer this year as the fleet remained grounded for most of the similar time period.
In the near future, the plunge in passenger demand will continue to be noticeable due to the harsh impact of the pandemic in the global aviation sector. The airline is still hoping to reduce its losses by generating as much revenue as possible.
Tags: Coronavirus, Covid-19, Montenegro, Montenegro Airlines