Passenger numbers on flights from Turkey to Montenegro have seen a pointy decline over the previous few days, after Montenegro briefly suspended visa-free entry for Turkish nationals, a choice triggered by a violent incident in Podgorica, the place the stabbing of an area man allegedly by Turkish residents prompted large-scale police actions and heightened public unrest. For the reason that introduction of visa necessities, flights from Istanbul to Podgorica have averaged simply forty passengers in response to operator Airports of Montenegro, down from a mean of between 120 and 150 per flight. Regardless of the numerous dip in figures, the variety of flights between the 2 nations has remained unchanged thus far. Turkey is Montenegro’s second largest market by passenger numbers, behind solely Serbia, accounting for 15% of all travellers through the first three quarter of the 12 months.
Commenting on the developments, Airports of Montenegro advised the “Pobjeda” day by day, “Since October 30, when visas have been launched for Turkish residents, there was a noticeable drop in arriving passengers. Airports of Montenegro doesn’t have entry to passenger nationality knowledge, as that’s dealt with by the Border Police. We wish to remind that Turkish Airways, one among our most valued companions, had deliberate to extend its variety of flights this winter season, which in aviation started on October 26, from the earlier fourteen to eighteen weekly flights to Podgorica, in addition to introduce three weekly rotations to Tivat”.
There are at the moment 36 weekly flights between Montenegro and Turkey, providing 5.787 seats per week in every course. Along with Turkish Airways’ eighteen weekly rotations between Istanbul and Podgorica, Air Montenegro operates three weekly providers on the identical route. Pegasus Airways maintains three weekly rotations from Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen, in addition to flights from Izmir to Podgorica, and runs two weekly providers between Ankara and the Montenegrin capital. In the meantime, Turkish Airways’ three weekly flights to Tivat are complemented by Air Montenegro’s 4 weekly rotations on that route. For now, it stays unclear when, or if, Montenegro will carry the visa requirement, or whether or not Turkey might in flip introduce visas for Montenegrin residents.
Two-way passenger site visitors between Montenegro and Turkey, 2024
