Danube Wings Adds Flights from Czech Republic

Slovakian carrier Danube Wings is to launch its first ever scheduled flight from the neighbouring Czech Republic with a link to the Austrian capital Vienna from the Eastern city of Ostrava. Located close to the border with Poland and Slovakia, Ostrava is the third largest city in the Czech Republic, but the second largest urban agglomeration after Prague and the administrative center of the Moravian-Silesian Region.

The regional carrier announced at the recent 18th World Route Development Forum in Abu Dhabi that it intended to launch this new routeand has now confirmed this will begin from November 12, 2012. The airline plans to eventually operate two flights every weekday using an ATR 72 turboprop but has no service at weekends. It will operate a morning and evening service but confirms the evening rotation will not operate from December 21, 2012 until after the New Year.

There is currently no direct competition on this route although there has previously been non-stop services linking Ostrava and Vienna. For a long period this was provided by Air Ostrava which offered a weekday rotation between May 1992 and March 1999 using a mix of Let L-410s and BAe Jetstream 31 turboprops. The link was revived in November 2005 by Central Connect Airlines and at times up to three flights were offered a day, although services ended in February this year.

"We have noticed the enormous interest shown by the regional government and the city of Ostrava to resume a route that will benefit business travellers as well as transfer passengers,“ said Ján Rostáš, Chief Executive Officer, Danube Wings. "We are pleased to have come to an agreement to start the route this year. If we can make this route a success we may be able to continue with other projects with Ostrava airport.“

This route is more than just about point-to-point demand but about onward flight options from Vienna International. When Central Connect Airlines served the route it had a codeshare with Austrian Airlines, allowing a significant number of connection opportunities from the Austrian capital on the flights of Austrian Airlines and its own Star Alliance partners. Official data shows a significant decline in O&D demand over recent years although transfer traffic has remained strong and provides a sustainable demand to support the route despite fluctuations in traffic.