Airliner World – May 2018

http://www.airlinerworld.com 53

T

he Slovakian airline
industry has ndured a
turbulent history of hope
and failure since the
dissolution of
Czechoslovakia in 1993. A successsion
of air carriers have tried to establish
themselves in the market, but low
passenger numbers and financial
pressures have conspired to put them
out of business. However, one
company, Go2Sky, has found itself a
niche in the aircraft, crew, maintenance
and insurance (ACMI) market that it is
exploiting to its full potential and, more
importantly, profitably.
While the industry here isn’t unique, it
has had its own political and
geographical considerations to over-
come that have contributed to where it
is today. During the 20th century the
nation went through considerable
turmoil. The country was created
in 1918 following the collapse of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of
World War One. It was made up
of Bohemia and Moravia
(often called the
Czech

Lands) in the west, and Slovakia, a part

of Hungary, in the east. After World

War Two, it came under communist

rule, becoming a Soviet satellite. The

non-violent 1989 Velvet Revolution

overthrew the communst regime and

democracy was reinstated. However

just three years later, on January 1,

1993 Czechoslovakia was split into two

countries, the Czech Republic

and Slovakia.

Since then various airlines have

struggled to make an

impression on the

Airliner World's Barry Woods-Turner travelled to the Slovakian capital, Bratislava, to find out why

ACMI and charter aircraft provider Go2Sky is succeeding where others have failed.

Finding its Niche

Slovak market, with several – including

Air Slovakia, Danube Wings and Slovak

Airlines – trying to establish a hub and

fly scheduled services from Bratislava.

All failed because they couldn’t attract

sufficient business. Daniel Ferjancek,

CEO of Go2Sky, explained: “There are

many factors that make establishing a

carrier here very difficult, but the pri-

mary two are that we have a very small

home market, our population is around

5.5 million people and then there is

Slovakia’s geographic location. We are

just 56km [35 miles] from Vienna,

ABOVE AND BELOW • ACMI

operator Go2Sky has

an all-Boeing 737 fleet

consisting of two -400s

and two -800s, with a fifth

example, another -800 set

to join in the summer.

ALL IMAGES GO2SKY

UNLESS STATED