Montenegro blocks Pegasus Airlines’ Istanbul service

The Montenegrin government has revoked Pegasus Airlines’ permission to run flights between Istanbul Sabiha Gocken Airport and Podgorica and has prevented the budget carrier from introducing services from Turkey’s largest city to Tivat. The decision comes as a response to the effects Pegasus Airlines’ presence on the route has had on Air Montenegro’s performance. Pegasus Airlines, which commenced operations between Istanbul and Podgorica last July, will be forced to discontinue operations on the route as of next week. The last flight is scheduled for Monday, April 15. Both Air Montenegro and Turkish Airlines maintain services between Istanbul’s main airport and Podgorica. Pegasus also runs flights from Ankara and Izmir to Montenegro’s capital, which will remain unaffected. It maintained daily flights between Istanbul and Podgorica with a mix of Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft.

Pegasus Airlines was able to commence operations to Montenegro last summer after the Montenegrin government relaxed the stringent bilateral air service agreement between the two countries, which had previously only enabled the flag carrier of each nation to operate flights. Commenting on the restrictions being imposed on Pegasus Airlines, Tihomir Dragaš, the President of Air Montenegro’s Board of Directors, said, “Last year, an official from the [Montenegrin] Ministry of Capital Investments signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Turkish aviation authorities, which created a so-called open sky policy between the two countries. This Memorandum of Understanding is completely illegal and does not have the approval of the government. The number of flights has now been limited and Pegasus Airlines will not be able to fly between Istanbul and Podgorica from April 15”.

Mr Dragaš noted that Air Montenegro has subsequently lost several million euros because of Pegasus’ Istanbul – Podgorica service. Under the MoU, Pegasus was obligated to pay Air Montenegro ten euros for each passenger carried on the route, however, Mr Dragaš argues the airline would have earned much more had it been the one to carry these passengers. Furthermore, the President of the Board of Directors noted that due to a weaker performance on the Istanbul route, Air Montenegro saw its passenger numbers decline some 4% during the first quarter of the year to 54.500 when compared to 2023. This summer, Turkey is Montenegro’s second largest country market based on available capacity after Serbia. Air Montenegro serves Istanbul from both Podgorica and Tivat and earlier this month inaugurated a new three weekly service between Tivat and Izmir, Ex Yu Aviation news reports.