SkyEurope

Airline Code: NE

About SkyEurope:
SkyEurope was established in November 2001 and started operations on 13th February 2002 (domestic flight Bratislava-Kosice operated with 30 seat turboprop Embraer 120 ER Brasilia). It was founded by Alain Skowronek (Chairman) and Christian Mandl (Chief Executive) and financed by EBRD, ABN-Amro and EU funds. Although some criticized the decision to base an airline in Bratislava, Mandl saw the effect that the low cost carriers were having in Western Europe and envisioned it going a step further with a low-cost carrier in a low cost country. Mandl and Skowronek were cognizant of the catchment area of Bratislava Airport. The airport is located within a one-hour drive of Vienna, Brno and Győr, covering a catchment area of four countries: (Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia).

On 27 September 2005, the airline went public on the Vienna and Warsaw stock exchanges. The initial public offering price was 6 EUR, valuing the company at 120 million euro.. The IPO on the Vienna and Warsaw stock exchanges was the first by a central European low-cost carrier and the first by any Slovak company. In the following weeks, share price decreased to 5 EUR/share. On 10 November 2005, investment bank CA-IB, member of HVB Group, issued a buy recommendation with target price 6.5 EUR. The bank assumed that first-mover advantage, a term often used during the previous dot-com bubble, would "provide competitive edge".

In 2006 SkyEurope announced it will cut ticket prices to minus 10 koruna, claiming to become the first airline that pays people for flying with it. The advertised negative price did not include fees charged to the passenger.

SkyEurope Major Hubs:
M. R. Štefánik Airport (Bratislava)
Ruzyně International Airport
Vienna International Airport
Košice International Airport



Fleet Size: 4 (+10 on order)

No. of Destinations: 30

Airline was founded in: 2001