Montenegro Airlines and Israel's national carrier El Al announced that charter flights between Montenegro and Tel Aviv will start in May of this year.

Zoran Djurisic, Chairman of Montenegro Airlines and Haim Romano, Chief Executive Officer of El Al, made the announcement at a news conference in Podgorica earlier this week. Djurisic and Romano expect the charters to become regularly scheduled flights as soon as a bilateral agreement between their respective governments can be reached.

The two companies signed a Special Prorate Agreement (SPA) contract covering ticket pricing. A code share agreement, which will allow both companies to sell tickets for the charter flights independently, is expected to be signed soon. 

Mr Romano told the news conference that El Al sees Montenegro Airlines as a valuable and equal partner, adding that the partnership will allow the companies to operate more efficiently in the highly competitive air industry. 

Asked if El Al is interested in buying 30 per cent stake of state-owned Montenegro Airlines, Mr Romano answered that his company is open to negotiations, further stating that the charter flights agreement is a first and very important step in cooperation between the companies.

Mr Djurisic told reporters that despite global crisis, Montenegro Airlines flew 8 per cent more passengers in the first quarter of this year than it did in the same period in 2008. The company is commited for this positive trend to continue throughout the year.