German airline Lufthansa is increasing its operations across the former Yugoslavia next summer by directly serving six of the seven markets in the region, as well as increasing frequencies and introducing new routes to counter growing competition.
The airline competes with the Air France – KLM group, especially in the Croatian and Slovenian markets, where the Franco-Dutch conglomerate is expanding and doing well, especially with transfer passengers in the United States, Canada and Western Europe, reports Ex-Yu Aviaiton.
On the other hand, Air Serbia’s growing network and transfer opportunities for regional markets with new long-haul services to the United States and China also present challenges. This is why the German airline is introducing flights to Skopje this summer, as well as increasing frequencies to Belgrade, Dubrovnik, Ljubljana, Sarajevo and Zagreb.
Commenting on its operations, Lufthansa stated that it is introducing an additional three weekly flights from Frankfurt to Sarajevo for a total of ten weekly flights.
– Lufthansa expands services from Sarajevo to Germany and the European Union by introducing new flights together with Austrian Airlines, Swiss and Eurowings. Our success would not be possible without our partners and customers. We look forward to continuing to provide services and a flexible network to passengers in the region, stated Lufthansa, reports SEEbiz.
Major European hubs such as London, Amsterdam and Madrid are the most popular with Lufthansa Sarajevo passengers along with US destinations such as New York, Boston and Chicago.
In the highly competitive Serbian market, Lufthansa has managed to increase the number of passengers carried between Germany and Serbia, a trend they expect to continue.
– The Serbian market is one of the most important in Southeastern Europe for Lufthansa, and we see great potential and expect further positive developments, said a Lufthansa official.
Croatia remains a stronghold for the Lufthansa Group thanks to the close partnership with Croatia Airlines. The German carrier plans to maintain up to 68 weekly flights to the country this summer.
– We are glad that we have many satisfied customers in Croatia, which resulted in our excellent reputation. We connect Croatia with the world through our main airports and contribute to its development – they announced.
In Ljubljana, Lufthansa now accounts for 15 percent of all passengers. Europe dominates among the German carrier’s Slovenian transfers, with destinations such as London Heathrow, Amsterdam, Berlin, Helsinki, Prague and Oslo leading the way.
The Lufthansa group, as they say, recognized the great need for connectivity in Slovenia. This summer, the carrier will make a record 35 weekly rotations to the capital of Slovenia.
Lufthansa is launching flights to Skopje in three months.
Lufthansa offers Skopje as a destination for the first time from April 23 and will connect the capital of North Macedonia up to twice a day. It is planned that the flights will be attractive for both business travelers and tourists, the airline said.
