skeets

Does anyone know if there is a genuine problem with reliability of some of the European airlines? I am particularly interested in those that fly in and out of Eastern Europe. SkyEurope and Wizz seem to be having a mud slinging match on the web. I'd like to book a flight out of the airport near Krakow in June but Wizz says blah, blah about SkyEurope and SkyEurope says blah, blah back. However, SkyEurope's homepage is not up, at least not for the last couple of days so I don't know which to believe or if there is really a problem. Many of these airlines seem to run their business at such low fares I don't understand how they stay in business. Are some more reliable and stable than others?

If this has been addressed before on the forum, I'm sorry for bringing it up again. I couldn't locate the thread. Please point me to it if it has. I'm a rookie at planning a trip like this and any reassurance or info will be very appreciated.

molker

Sky Europe is the leading low cost carrier of central Europe.
I was on their website this morning . everything seemed normal. Yes, some airlines here are more reliable and stable than others.


Sky Europe is probably the best capitalized low cost carrier in this area as they were recently listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange with good results. They have been flying since 2002.

They recently announced opening a major hub and resulting flights to / from Prague. A big increase of flights.
Two new Boeing 737 join their fleet of 12 in March 2006.

They recently announced First Quarter financial results( a slower time usually for airlines) with passengers up more than 40 % from the same period last year.
Revenues are up accordingly and deficit narrowed to 12 million euro.

I only know this as I follow this stock on the Vienna Stock Exchange- I am in no way part of the airline.

Wizz ( I think based in Poland, along with others in addition to Sky Europe are in a fierce competition - The " Mud" gets tossed.
Wizz proudly announced the fact that Sky Europe dropped some service in Poland ( they quietly dropped service also.
But Sky Europe seems much better equipped to survive than most.
I would not hesitate to fly with them.

molker

One thing that I forgot to mention.
many european low cost carriers fly to airports that are not really close to their quoted destination.
You will find some flying to Vienna ( small print says Vienna East Airport) It is actually Bratislava Airport , an hour base or train ride from Vienna.

Frankfurt Germany is the same with flights not to Rhein-Main, the large hub airport to Frankfurt but to Hahn Airport many kilometers from Frankfurt with resulting time loss and cost.
This can be a particular problem with some having connecting flights thinking they were both to and from the same airport.
This situation is true for many low cost carriers- check departure and arrival airports carefully.

Maria_H

I had no problem using them between Manchester and Krakow in December. Flights were right on time both ways with reasonable leg room and friendly service - I'd certainly use them again.

risab

I used SkyEurope two years ago flying out of Bratislava to Paris(took the train from Prague-booked train easily through Cedok travel services). We then took SkyEurope back to Bratislava and went on to Vienna. Bratislava is very close to Vienna. SkyEurope was very easy to book ( I called them direct). I also reserved a shuttle bus from Prague to Vienna. We arrived in the late evening and the location that the bus lets out is not well populated and there were few cabs around. A lovely gentleman who became friendly with my husband called a cab for us. We found the plane to be a bit cramped but for a short flight it was just fine and the attendants were extremely polite.

meadowbay

After building a 30 day vacation which includes 2 Skyeurope flights, their computer sent me an email 2 days ago regretfully informing me that reservation # has been cancelled (they have decided to no longer fly the route). As compensation, they would like to offer me a free rebooking or a full refund. To get this deal, I need to phone them at my expense. My return email has not yet generated a reply. Of the two flights, they cancelled the one that I can replace with a 12 hour train ride. But they have left me worried that they will cancel the other flight, and will totally mess up my schedule. Do I wish that I had never booked with Skyeurope? Yes.

risab

oops...noticed in my post above that I said I booked a shuttle bus through SkyEurope from Prague to Vienna---a mistake---it was a shuttle bus from the Bratislava airport to Vienna.

Michael

We flew SkyEurope Paris-Budapest RT with no problems.