Turkish Airlines to launch Tivat flights, expand EX-YU operations

Turkish Airlines has announced the launch of scheduled flights between its hub in Istanbul and Tivat, its second destination in Montenegro, as the carrier expands its operations across the former Yugoslavia this summer. In a statement, the company said, "Our Board of Directors has decided for the airline to launch flights to Tivat in Montenegro and Bergamo in Italy, depending on market conditions". As previously reported by EX-YU Aviation News, the carrier will likely commence a four weekly service to the coastal city. Air Montenegro, which itself operates seasonal flights between the two, and plans to increase operations on the route this summer, has strongly objected to Turkish Airlines' plans and has appealed for the local regulator not to issue a permit to its Turkish counterpart.

Elsewhere in the region, Turkish Airlines has increased operations to Belgrade as of yesterday where it is maintaining three daily rotations, each morning, afternoon and evening. As a result, the company has added an additional seven weekly flights to the Serbian capital, outstripping its pre-pandemic operations. In Sarajevo, the airline is increasing services to up to twenty weekly flights this summer, just one short from its 2019 levels. It is maintaining two daily flights from Istanbul to Podgorica, Pristina, Skopje and Zagreb, as well as ten weekly to Ljubljana. In Dubrovnik, Turkish Airlines' frequencies will increase from the current two weekly flights to up to seven weekly rotations during the peak summer months.

Turkish Airlines' lower cost unit, AnadoluJet, will also be operating a number of routes to the former Yugoslavia this summer. It will continue to maintain two weekly flights from Ankara to Belgrade, launched over the winter, and has restored three weekly rotations between Istanbul's Sabiha Gocken Airport and Pristina as of yesterday, while two weekly services from Bodrum will return on June 18. Furthermore, it will restore flights from Antalya to Sarajevo and Skopje, on April 28 and May 1 respectively.

Source: EXYU Aviation

Cover Photo: EXYU Aviation