Air Montenegro

Is Air Montenegro safe?

Yes, with the caveat that there is not much record to judge yet. Air Montenegro got its operating certificate in May 2021 and has had no accident since. It is IOSA-registeredIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary, and Montenegro applies EU aviation rules. We score it 80, two points below Air Serbia and level with TAROM.

The points it loses are about age and place, not events. Five years with four aircraft is a short history. Its jets are older first-generation Embraers. And its second base, Tivat, is one of the harder airports in Europe.

Is this the old Montenegro Airlines?

No. Montenegro Airlines, the state airline since the 1990s, stopped flying in December 2020 and was liquidated. The government set up a new company, which got its own certificate in May 2021 and took over two of the old airline's Embraer E195s.

Montenegro Airlines' accidents stay with it. The best known happened on 25 January 2005, when a Fokker 100 from Belgrade overran the slushy runway at Podgorica in snow and darkness; the nose gear collapsed, and two crew and two passengers were hurt. That is outside our 20-year window anyway, and it belongs to a company that no longer exists.

How good is oversight in Montenegro?

Montenegro is not an EU member and not part of EASA. It has signed the European Common Aviation Area agreement (ECAA), under which it adopts EU aviation rules and EASA inspects how it applies them. The European Commission's 2025 report on Montenegro said an EASA inspection in February 2025 found a good level of implementation in air crew licensing. No Montenegrin airline is on the EU Air Safety ListEU Air Safety ListThe European Commission's list of airlines banned or restricted from flying in EU airspace because they do not meet international safety standards.More in the glossary. Montenegro is not on the FAA's IASAFAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary list, because no Montenegrin airline flies to the United States; that is a gap in the data, not a downgrade.

One case in 2025 showed both the pressure and the checks. Air Montenegro leased a third E195 that Air Serbia had just returned to its owner, reportedly because it could not trace the origin of some parts after the previous operator, Great Dane Airlines, went bankrupt. The transport ministry said it had not been consulted, and a governing party leader was accused of pressing the regulator to register the jet; Air Montenegro called the attacks politically motivated. The Civil Aviation Agency cleared the aircraft in July 2025, only after a physical inspection, a full review of the documents, and corrective actions by the airline on the discrepancies its inspectors found. The regulator held its line, and that is what we want to see.

How old are Air Montenegro's planes?

All four are first-generation Embraer E195s, a fly-by-wireFly-by-wireA flight control system in which the pilot's inputs go to computers, which then move the control surfaces. Many such systems also stop unsafe manoeuvres.More in the glossary regional jet. The two the airline inherited were built in 2008 and 2009. The third is the jet from the 2025 dispute, which the airline bought outright in June 2026. The fourth, about 15 years old and previously flown by Azul in Brazil, arrived in July 2026 after delays.

To cover that delay, Air Montenegro wet-leased a 31-year-old Boeing 737-400 from the Turkish charter airline Tailwind. Tailwind's crew, maintenance and certificate applied on those flights. It has done this before: Heston Airlines supplied an A320 for summer 2023 and Trade Air one for summer 2024. The airline says it is looking at a new-generation Embraer E2 as a fifth aircraft, which would help the fleet score.

Flying into Tivat

Tivat sits on the Bay of Kotor with mountains close on several sides. It has a single runway with no parallel taxiway, room for seven airliners on the apron and not enough lighting at the airport and on the surrounding terrain for night flights, so it closes at sunset. On 24 July 2026 a large flock of birds on the runway stopped all landings for more than three hours, and flights diverted to Podgorica, Tirana, Bari and further. Days later, apron congestion forced more diversions, including an Air Montenegro flight from Istanbul. Podgorica, the capital's airport, is flatter and easier.

How to fly Air Montenegro well

• Leave margin on Tivat flights. A late-evening arrival can divert to Podgorica if delays push it past sunset or birds close the runway, so plan the onward trip to the coast with that in mind.
• Check who operates your flight. In busy months a wet-leased aircraft may appear on your booking. Its operator's record is the one that applies.

How we scored it

The accident record (88) is clean but short. Oversight (82) reflects EU rules and IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary but no FAA assessment and a small regulator. Incidents (80) show nothing serious, though the record is thin. The fleet (64) is the weakest factor because of the older E195s, and the environment (72) because of Tivat.