Star Alliance member airlines hit by competition
The world’s first and largest global airline alliance, headed by Germany’s Lufthansa, has been hit by a steep passenger decline on its flights to and from Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport, as the group faces indirect competition from Wizz Air and a much more competitive Serbian national carrier. Star Alliance plays an important role in air transport in the former Yugoslavia. Its members operate the largest amount of flights to and from the region and carry the greatest amount of passengers. Star Alliance also boasts two EX-YU airlines as its members - Adria Airways and Croatia Airlines. While the alliance has been strengthening its hold at some airports, such as Sarajevo, the reverse has occurred in Belgrade. In the first two months of 2014 the alliance increased its operations to the city by 7% but has been recording a passenger decline since December last year. In January and February the group handled 104.139 passengers on its services to and from Belgrade.
Adria Airways was the first airline to buckle under pressure and suspend services to the Serbian capital after facing competition for only three months. However, the biggest decline in passengers has been recorded amongst members of the Lufthansa Group which include Austrian, Swiss International Air Lines and Germanwings. Together, the airlines recorded an average 21.5% decline in numbers. Overall, the biggest looser amongst Star Alliance members so far this year is Austrian with its figures plunging by 24%. It is followed by Germanwings with a loss of 23.9%, Aegean Airlines (operated by Olympic) down 22% and Swiss decreasing by 12.8%.
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Austrian Airlines
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15.738
▼ 24.0
The losses Star Alliance has incurred over the past few months are in stark contrast to last year, when the group recorded strong passenger growth on its Belgrade flights. With exception to Olympic, which was not a member of Star Alliance last year prior to its merger with Aegean, all other group members outperformed Jat Airways on competing routes in 2013. This year’s decline comes on top of an additional airline from the group, LOT, operating flights to the Serbian capital, which was not the case last winter. An exception to the declining trend is Turkish Airlines, which has seen its numbers grow 35% on last year.
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Turkish Airlines
PAX
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22.754
▲ 35.8
Passengers have so far been reaping the rewards from the increased competition with many Star Alliance members significantly reducing their prices on competing routes. It remains to be seen how the group of airlines will respond this summer to the increased pressure and losses it has faced so far. TAP Portugal will become the newest Star Alliance member to operate flights to Belgrade, with services to be launched on July 2. Turkish Airlines and LOT will operate more flights than last year while Croatia Airlines will also add an additional flight to its seasonal services to Belgrade.
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