Montenegro Airlines (Podgorica) is in talks with Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International) over a possible codesharing agreement. Quoting local daily, Pobjeda, EX-YU Aviation News says Serbia’s Deputy President for Cooperation with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Mladjan Dinkić, is a key facilitator in the talks, which were held in Abu Dhabi last week. As Serbia's ex-Minister of Finance, Dinkić helped engineer Etihad's acquisition of a 49% stake in Jat Airways (Belgrade) leading to the establishment of Air Serbia (JU, Belgrade).
Montenegro is the latest of the former Yugoslav republics to attempt to privatize its national airline following in the tracks of B&H Airlines (Sarajevo), Adria Airways (Ljubljana), and Croatia Airlines (OU, Zagreb Franjo Tuđman).
During the Montenegrin government's first attempt at selling off a 30% stake in its carrier in 2011, Etihad reportedly purchased tender documentation but did not submit a formal bid. While Podgorica has again offered up a minority stake in the carrier to private investors, it is uncertain whether or not Etihad will participate this time around.
Alongside increased competition from the likes of Ryanair (FR, Dublin International) and Wizz Air (W6, Budapest), the loss-making airline has also had to contend with a regional economic slowdown exacerbated by floods in Serbia and the crisis in Ukraine. Its overall cumulative debt is estimated to stand at EUR69million (USD85.836million).
Using a fleet of three E195s, one E190, and two Fokker 100s, Montenegro Airlines currently serves Belgrade, Copenhagen Kastrup, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt International, Ljubljana, London Gatwick, Lyon St. Exupéry, Moscow Domodedovo, Paris CDG, Rome Fiumicino, St. Petersburg, Tivat, Vienna and Zurich.
