In a short statement, Eurowings said the flights will be discontinued on October 27.
This spring’s statement by Osijek Airport general manager Davor Forgić, when he announced that Osijek would be connected to Stuttgart and Cologne throughout the year, was received by many locals with delight. No wonder they were surprised to be told that they could not buy tickets to any of these two destinations for flights after October 28, reports Glas Slavonije on September 13, 2019.
“It is sad that the flights will be discontinued due to the winter season. We are left with just one year-round flight to Basel, by Wizzair,” said Maja from Osijek, disappointed by the fact that Eurowings will fly to Osijek during the summer schedule, but not in the winter months. “This can be checked on the internet, which I did, so I was shocked to see that the tickets to Cologne were not available because the winter season starts,” wrote Maja.
Osijek Airport general manager Davor Forgić confirmed the news, saying that Eurowings sent a letter to the airport, without any prior info, that it would end its flights to Osijek on October 27.
“Starting from October 28, we will not have a single Eurowings flight. We are left only with Wizzair's service to Basel, which is a year-round service with two fights per week, on Mondays and Fridays. Unfortunately, we have not received an explanation why they made such a business decision, so I cannot give you any more info,” said Forgić. He added that he was informed in a phone conversation that the flights were cancelled due to lack of capacity.
Forgić explained they were told that Eurowings had failed to increase its fleet the way it planned. In other words, some of their other services were more important than those to Osijek.
It is clear how damaging the move will be to the airport. “Disaster! What can I tell you! We had a promise that it would be a year-long service and I informed the public about it a few months ago. Unfortunately, it turned out not to be so, because Eurowings has no obligation to execute a single flight. The so-called low-cost airlines fly as long as they want, and when they do not want anymore, they can literally take their aircraft and depart, without any explanation,” Forgić said, adding that the contract signed by Osijek Airport and Eurowings allowed it.
Given the possibility to cancel the original agreement, they received an information that there will be no more flights just ahead of the winter season.
“I do not have any other information for now except the one I told you. We are looking for new solutions, but we shall see how successful we will be,” Forgić said.
Translated from Glas Slavonije (reported by Marija Mihelić).
