The national airline To Montenegro ended last year profitably, transporting more than 500 passengers for the first time, said CEO Vukadin Stojanović, adding that another aircraft is expected to join the fleet by the end of the second quarter.
Stojanović said in an interview with the Mina-business agency that the company's profit will be more than double what it was in 2024.
"We faced a lot of challenges and emerged from some situations much more mature than we thought we were, and for the first time we exceeded the figure of 500 thousand passengers transported annually and ultimately recorded really good results," said Stojanović.
When it comes to the company's operations, Stojanović announced that they have not had any financial challenges and that they are absolutely liquid.
It was expected that last year would be less turbulent for the national airline than it actually was. The company had to lease various replacement aircraft and lost huge funds, but it still managed to add a third aircraft to its fleet in the middle of last year.
There were also challenges after the Montenegrin government abolished the visa-free regime for Turkish citizens.
"Our traffic suffered there, however, we respected the instructions and steps of the Government, as our owner, and made every effort to fly all traffic to Istanbul in November and December, even with significantly lower occupancy," said Stojanović.
When it comes to the fleet, the company introduced its third aircraft into service in the middle of last year, which, according to Stojanović, transported over 80 thousand passengers in six months of operation.
The company is currently in negotiations and is very close to finding another, fourth aircraft, which should join the fleet by the beginning or at the latest by the peak of the summer tourist season.
"We will do our best to make it happen as soon as possible, even in April if possible, but that does not depend to a large extent on us, but on the suppliers. What is a limiting factor is the lack of currently available aircraft of this type on the market and what we are looking for is not really on offer to a significant extent," said Stojanović.
He announced that charter traffic to an Italian destination will soon be established in cooperation with a hotel complex.
"It's about the Maestral and the flights to Bari that we are returning, but we will disclose this together and inform the public about everything when the time comes," said Stojanović.
Last year's traffic should not suffer any significant changes this year, unless there is a force majeure that can affect it.
"It doesn't seem like anything like that will happen at this point, and we are considering a few more destinations that we could fly to this year. However, due to some agreements and negotiations that are underway, we would not announce them yet, because we are not sure if it will be possible to realize it so easily," Stojanović emphasized.
As he explained, this could be influenced by several factors, primarily the congestion that will be at the Podgorica airport, so it will not be easy to add flights.
Commenting on the fact that Wizz Air will open a base at Podgorica airport in March and launch new routes to key European cities, Stojanović assessed that this is a significant and big deal for Montenegro, because something like this has not happened for a few decades.
"As a national airline, we cannot have any reservations when it comes to such things, but rather provide some support to increase air accessibility. We can do one part and it is good for someone else to do another part," said Stojanović.
He explained that the passenger structure carried by the national airline is somewhat different from Wizz Air's, but that it will still be challenging.
According to Stojanović, the national airline will learn some new things through this type of competition and understand how it can further improve its service.
When asked to what extent seasonality and market structure have affected the company's operations, Stojanović replied that seasonality has a great impact, but that last year they fought against it through the classic stimulus of the average traveler, primarily Montenegrin.
"We had a lot of stimulating policies, we stimulated students and university professors, we did a lot for culture and for people who had certain medical needs. In general, we went with a lower level of ticket prices and managed to have an aircraft occupancy rate of almost 80 percent. I think that on an annual basis it will be 78 percent, which is a historical maximum for the 31-32 years that Montenegro has had a national airline," Stojanović specified.
Speaking about the challenges in business, Stojanović said that fuel prices were stable and maintenance costs were standard. However, he sees the biggest challenge in the lack of aviation personnel, stating that an environment should be created for people in Montenegro to be educated in this field.
When asked what the company's impact is on the economy of Montenegro, especially during the summer season, Stojanović replied that he does not like to emphasize the airline as someone who has a dominant importance for Montenegrin tourism.
He believes that the role of the national airline is much more significant and complex and is reflected in connectivity and openness.
"I believe that the company is a complex participant in the Montenegrin economy and the common good that it can provide for Montenegro, so I would not look at it from the perspective of seasonality, but whether seasonality affects our business, yes, it certainly does," said Stojanović.
He wished passengers and partners a happy New Year and Christmas holidays and told them that the company will take care of them in the same way as it has done so far, with certain improvements that will be recognized throughout the year.
Bonus video:
