Montenegro Airlines: "We suffer enormous damage. Connection with Belgrade is best regional line"
MA (Montenegro Airlines) has opened branches in Podgorica and Budva today, and ticket sales are starting
The executive director of Montenegro Airlines (MA), Vlastimir Ristic, said that the national airline suffers extremely great damage due to the ban on landing at Belgrade's Nikola Tesla airport, because that is the best regional route, for which there is always great interest by passengers.
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"We are still eagerly waiting for information about when MA planes will be able to land at the Belgrade airport again. Our interest and the interest of passengers is great. These are traditional connections, business connections, students, health services. We are connected in many ways," Ristic told the morning program of the Television of Montenegro (TVCG), stating that Montenegro Airlines is ready to renew flights as soon as the issue is resolved, RTCG writes.
"We can't imagine surviving without that route. It's a route that is a generator of demand, we always have great interest there and it is very important for our tourist economy and development. We are suffering enormous damage because of that," said Ristic, and added that "Covid-19 has devastating consequences for the aviation industry".
"For example, we at MA have obligations regarding the leasing rates for aircraft, loans, these are obligations that we cannot avoid. There are certain minimums in the flight operation, how much our flight crews have to fly. Any breaking of those terms can cause problems later in training," Ristic explained.
He said that Montenegro Airlines has opened branches in Podgorica and Budva today, while sales will start today.
"Yesterday we released the first flights through the system. We plan for the first flight to be on June 12 to Ljubljana, and on the 14th to Frankfurt," said Ristic, announcing a re-launch of lines to Paris and Vienna.
He believes that Montenegro should have a good national airline and conscientious management of it: "We will try to affirm it, to grow the company, to make our citizens proud to have their own national airline and for investing so much into preserving it."
(Telegraf Biznis)