The government of Montenegro is nothing if not determined to have a national flag airline, and despite the Chrristmas-day shutdown of Montenegro Airlines, it’s announced that it will create a new, likely state-owned, airline.
The collapse of Montenegro Airlines, despite a government subsidy put in place just over a year ago, reflects a paradox. The country, once part of Yugoslavia, has become a prime tourism destination in recent years, with beautiful Adriatic beaches and mountain scenery—but most visitors arrive on other carriers, skipping Montenegro Airlines’ fleet of two old Fokkers and three Embraer regional jets. As far as Gumbo is able to ascertain, it was unique among national flag carriers in having no Boeing or Airbus planes in its fleet.
Lufthansa flies to Tivat from Frankfurt and Munich; Ryanair from Stuttgart, Bologna and Barcelona and Norwegian from Helsinki. Montenegro, meanwhile, dropped its only flight to Scandinavia. The airline had been too deep in debt to finance new planes or expanded routes. Perhaps the new airline will have better luck.
