EXCLUSIVE
Air Serbia sees double digit growth

Solid November start for Air Serbia

Air Serbia handled 95.330 passengers in its first month of operations under the new brand name. The November result represents growth of 12.1% compared to the same month last year. With the introduction of new aircraft, the airline’s average load factor took a dive, totalling 53.6%, down twelve points on last year. On flights to and from Montenegro the Serbian carrier handled 11% more passengers despite a drop in the number of operated flights by 4%.Scheduled services saw a passenger boost of 12% though they were accompanied by a 21% increase in the number of operated flights. Passenger numbers on charter flights and Euro Mediterranean services surged 31% and 12% respectively compared to last November.

During the month, flights to and from Tel Aviv, Copenhagen and Athens saw the biggest increase in passenger numbers. In addition, the airline recorded its highest average load factor on flights to and from Vienna, Tivat, Sarajevo, Skopje and Dusseldorf. The carrier’s on time performance stood at 85.1% (delays under fifteen minutes are not included). The majority of the delays were caused by the late arrival of transit passengers followed by technical problems. During the month, the airline utilised its new Airbus A319 aircraft on flights to Amsterdam, Athens, Abu Dhabi, Brussels, Copenhagen, Zurich, Dusseldorf and London Heathrow.

Overall, Air Serbia has welcomed 1.268.686 passengers on board its aircraft in the elapsed eleven months of the year, down 0.7% compared to the same period in 2012. The average cabin load factor stood at 67.3%, down 6.6%. The November result marks the airline’s first monthly improvement on last year since August, when it recorded a 4% passenger increase. The carrier saw its biggest passenger slide in April when numbers tumbled 16%.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:18

    Pax growth inline with BEG.
    Ontime performance much better but still needs to improve.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous09:28

    This article is basically based on the comments your readers wrote. There is nothing exclusive about is and you know it Admin.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:29

      Just go away...

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:49

      He posted on his Facebook about exclusive news way before the guy posted that info on here.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:51

    Interesting. I hope the pax growth continues to accelerate. Also, viewing things long term, would A320NEO fleet significantly reduce LF break-even? When you compare the payments vs. current planes and the fuel savings, would LF break-even significantly change or did Airbus raise its price to compensate?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous10:14

    LF is not surprising at all! Schedule is made to facilitate connections, however still almost no connections for morning departures and late evening arrivals to BEG! I guess the weakest routes are at the momment ARN, BRU, AUH ... and increased capacity for CDG, SVO, ZRH certainly had impact on LF

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:21

      Yeah, the weakest routes were AUH (lf 25%), TLV (lf 30%), BRU, ARN and CPH (lf around 40%).

      Delete
    2. Wow... believe it or not if Tel Aviv's loadfactor was 30% then it's really good.
      I remember back in the day when Tel Aviv and Larnaca were joined together, Tel Aviv would get 50 seats in the plane. They would always have between 15 and 30 passengers on there. This route in November was usually operated twice per week.

      Now that it's a daily flight and that on average they get 30 to 40 passengers is really good and a tremendous success.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous10:19

    "Scheduled services saw a passenger boost of 12% though they were accompanied by a 21% increase in the number of operated flights." That doesnt sound so good... But the good thing is that Tel Aviv and Athens recorded a growth, we need those non-diaspora destinations stable if we want to have a network that is actually different from the rest of exYu.

    ReplyDelete
  6. JU520 BEGLAX10:40

    Tel Aviv with good coonections, reliable service and competitive service is important. As well destinations such as Beirut, Thessaloniki. I think they could work out quite well for Transfer pax traffic.
    However I think we will need to be patient with the loadfactors and the yields as JU made quite a courageous approach to the market with this new schedule in the next couple months. One big advantage of BEG could be the short ways pax have to go while transferring there. If the product on ground and up air will be good and sustainable, then we sure will see progress

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous10:48

    Ex-YU why didn't you include a table of each month's performance like you did before?

    ReplyDelete
  8. On certain routes ATRs were replaced with 120-seat jets - of course the load factor would drop. Serious analysis will only be possible once all announced routes have been launched and the fleet replacement complete. During the reorganization/rebranding period numbers will be volatile, there will be ups and downs, but the statistics required for a seriuos forecast may be available as late as next November.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous11:29

    bad news for airserbia, but i hope it will change in next months. more international companies in serbia, more pax to beg. the only pitty thing is that air serbia do not have any flight from ini, or nothing at all from kvo by atr. at least to vienna, istanbul and rome...

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous11:34

    It is easy to talk about load factors. Let's start talking about revenue instead. That shows the success of the company.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous11:45

    Results are worse than expect and almost a disaster..
    First of all JU is not a new airline and this was not the first month of operation - this is just the first month after rebranding.
    Second almost no new routes were introduced in Nov so you can't say figures are normal. Instead frquencies have been boosted on existing routes which indicates that there is not a decent demand for a such big increase on some routes.
    Third all this promotions 2+1, VIP's, CIP's are counted which further boosts pax numbers but not in a sustainable way.
    Forth, Price policy out of TGD, TIV, SJJ, SKP has changed completely. * Alliance and especially JP and OS are killing JU with lower prices and at the moment they're more reliable. Before rebranding JU used to be the cheapest airline (means they had a good price/quality ratio in terms of low/low which now turned into high/middle in best case).
    Fifth, Organisational problems are ok and expected but they need to settle it as soon as posssible.
    Sixth, really interested in the performance of ATH and SKG..Biggest pax increase but it may be like +40% more flights and +20% more pax. Who and how are they going to attract transits from 2 cities which are connected allmost excellently with Europe remains to be seen.
    Future will show.. I wish them all the best!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thessaloniki has pathetic connections to the rest of Europe. Many airlines have withdrawn from there and the few that have remained are charging crazy prices. It's a well known fact. The same applies for Larnaca.

      Air Serbia's fares from the region are dirt cheap and so are their promotional fares out of Belgrade. This is not done in order to sustain growth- this is done so as to make more people fly with Air Serbia in order for them to experience the excellent on board product. By having a positive experience, they will consider flying with JU again in the future.

      Airline management has said that they have a time frame of two years before they bring Air Serbia to profitability. 12% passenger growth during one of the slowest months in the year is very good. I think December will be even better with four new routes launched and many frequencies added.

      But like you said, time will tell.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:13

      With the new routes, LF and revenue will be even worse.
      My brother was flying SKP-PRG 2 days ago. Flight out of SKP delayed by 1:30min. Flew on a quite full B733. Than flight PRG-BEG on Atr, like a tuna can as he says, got a cold sandwich and a a 1hour delay. All this pleasure for 350€ booked 3 weeks ago.
      Far away from excellence for this price..

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:20

      Yeah, good for JP. Trashing fares while flying around with gas guzzling CRJ. Smart move. That will take them far.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:27

      To all people crying about sandwiches on JU flights.
      I flew Austrian yesterday on a VIE-LHR flight of 2:15 and got a choice of orange or Milka's version of KitKat.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous13:55

      Yeah but who cares about that... it's Austrian Airlines and by default they are better than Air Serbia no matter what... even if they give you a glass of water. ;)

      Delete
    6. Anonymous15:30

      Please substantiate 'by dafault better'. Planes are on par (JU's A319), while in flight service on Austrian is sub-par (as per above). Yes, you can get Star Alliance miles, but if you are not a frequent flier, that doesn't matter at all, as it would take you years to accumulate enough miles for a RT. Even then, you don't pay the Fare, but they slam you with Taxes and Fees, which are multiple of Fares since they include Fuel as a Fee.
      So, again, please substantiate your comment. Right now is rather empty.
      my2cents

      Delete
    7. Anonymous15:39

      It's not empty because it was a sarcastic comment. ;)

      Delete
  12. My mother flew on Air Serbia from Belgrade to Larnaca this past Friday. There were maybe 20 passengers on board but the service was way above the European standard.
    It was a B737-300, YU-ANJ, and she said that inside it felt like a new aircraft and that the overall feeling was that you were onboard a Middle Eastern carrier (which for her is a really good thing). She was also impressed by how well the cabin crew spoke English and how polite they were towards the passengers- most of them were transiting in Belgrade.

    When boarding was completed they were handed out menus where they had a dinner choice between:
    1. spinach and cheese pies served with a potato salad.
    or
    2. smoked veal served with a pepper dressing.

    There was also a fruit salad and a chocolate tart served with the meal. In addition to that, the menu also included the drinks offered on board among which were wines, Smirnoff vodka, Red Label, gin, Jelen, Heineken...

    Overall she was very impressed by the level of service and she asked how many passengers there were on the flight back. There were 40 of them.

    I spoke to some other people who flew on this route in November and three flights they were on were fully booked. So I do not know if the pathetic loadfactor was the norm or an anomaly. I have to point out that on Friday, flights from Moscow, Zurich and Stockholm were delayed by two hours so maybe some passengers could not make the connection in Belgrade.

    If Air Serbia keeps up this level of service then I see them doing really well in the coming months.

    ReplyDelete
  13. JU520 BEGLAX11:59

    how come that actually a company publishes such confident information to the market?
    I hve never seen an airline doing this. I probl could now ask on this blog for the L/f on the ZRH-BEG route and I would get an answer.

    makes market intelligence quite more simply

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:05

      I do not see what's so confidential about it. Many airlines publish their performance, especially when it's good. Turkish Airlines does it regularly and so do the American carriers.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous12:23

    Off topic- Flights at airports across the UK - including Heathrow and Gatwick - have been delayed or cancelled by an air traffic control system problem.

    Thousands of passengers have seen their flights delayed by a "technical problem" at southern England's main air traffic control centre in Swanwick, Hampshire.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:27

      Air Serbia has delayed its London Heathrow flight by 02.05.
      The weather has been pretty wild all across northern France, Belgium, The Netherlands...

      Delete
    2. BA88814:17

      ATC technical fault affecting all flights in UK and wider.

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25278163

      Delete
  15. Anonymous12:35

    Alitalia is sending its A319 to Belgrade today. I wonder if it's related to the handball championship or have the loads improved. It's quite an upgauge from the E175.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:40

      there were many a320 flights by aza in last couple of days..

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:30

      Alitalia is so deep in the shits...
      Take into consideration that they can every moment declare bankruptcy!
      If it will happen my hope is that EasyJet starts Rome-Belgrade.

      Delete
    3. Hmm or Vueling?

      Delete
  16. Anonymous12:37

    from belgrade we need routes by atr such as: krakow, salzburg, venice, bari, zadar and tirana, and a319 to: st.petersburg, hamburg, manchester, nice, barcelona, lisbon and yearround malta. also we do not need double daily to cdg, zrh not even svo. these 3 flights could be afternoon for transit ones from the region, and it could be full until the last seat on daily basis. not only that. usually longhaul flights start late evenings, so afternoon to svo, cdg and zrh for those who continue to other continents by swiss, airfrance or aeroflot can be very good projected.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:41

      No serious airline can start building a true hub without at least double daily flights to the biggest markets out there which in the case of Air Serbia is Paris, Rome, London, Moscow, Istanbul...

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:45

      I am really unable to see even smallest amount of logic in your post. Bari? Zadar? Those extremely low yielding markets will not generate profit for JU, nor will load factors grow.

      Also, I am pretty much shocked that you do not find Paris an important market for JU as it is important for years already, not to mention Germany.

      Learn some facts, then you post. Ok?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:03

      Lol, in serbia, there is around 250.000 people came from Central dalmatian territories, and every weekend, or by working days, they are using some direct bus line from belgrade to zadar, in which they spend around 15 hours to get their exhomes or visiting their parents and cousins. one atr with 66 sits could be full every day. in last two summers many of them were using beg-spu line to get there faster than by bus or cars. and about bari.. if the load factor to tel aviv is 30%, with atr-whish is important, to bari AS could have also 30%, but here everybody is into more frequences to paris, rome, istanbul. i agree, but if we have varna in our network why not bari? there are serbians living in this city and italians who would fly to belgrade. and from bari, there are no direct flights to moscow, tel aviv, amsterdam, istanbul, athens... if good plan was made for varna, why not also for bari..

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:13

      Why AirFrance doesn't fly to BEG?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous13:18

      Air France performed ok in Belgrade. Out of season their loadfactor was around 75% but their cost structure made it almost impossible to make a profit good enough to justify the route.

      However, the airline management said that they are not giving up on Belgrade. They kept their offices open and they said that they will reconsider returning to Belgrade in 2014 when their restructuring process should be completed.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous20:30

      Okay and with what loadfactor in percent Etihad or TK would have a profitable flight?
      Those both have a significant better cost structure.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous20:56

      It's not as simple as that. It depends on how much they are charging per flight but naturally it's easier for them to make Belgrade profitable because of their competitive cost structure.

      In today's aviation world the biggest challenge is dealing with fuel prices. For Turkish Airlines this is not such a big problem when it comes to Belgrade since it's not such a long flight.

      If we take Belgrade-London, on average an airline needs between €150 and €200 per passenger on an A320 just to cover the fuel expenses. That's why Jat used to charge so much back in the day and that's why Wizz Air is most definitely not making a profit on their Luton flights by charging what they charge.

      Delete
    8. You clearly have no idea how much fuel does A320 burn. On BEG-LTN flight is actually burns around 6500 litres. After deducting VAT the price per liter is below 1 €. So their A320's have 180 seats and if the flight is full then fuel cost per passenger is around 30 €.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous21:54

      I am just saying what I read in their documents a few years ago.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous12:45

    karta BEG - TLV mora biti jeftinija!
    air pegasus obavi 4 leta pa na posletku povratna karta sa svim taksama i ukljucenim prtljagom bude jeftinija za 40 eura!
    kako je to moguce???
    ako Air Serbia zeli vecu popunjenost moraju dati povoljnije karte! tacka!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:47

      Pegasus je low cost aviokompanija, normalno je da daje jeftiniju cenu karte. 40 EUR manje je OK, ako zelis da pravis kompromise oko serije drugih stvari.

      Ne vidim po cemu je to JU skup. Pa ne ocekuje se od nacionalnog avioprevoznika da dampuje cene samo zato sto ima LCC konkurenciju. Mora da bude u slicnom cenovnom opsegu ali niko normalan ne moze da ocekuje da bude jeftiniji.

      To je kao da poredis Wizz Air na letu za Basel i JU na letu za Cirih. Frogs with grandmothers.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:48

      Пегаз мора да нуди ниске цене јер покушавају да конкуришу Туркишу кој је од недавно одлучио да уведе огроман број летова са аеродрома Сабиха Гекчен. Исто тако, не знам да ли си урачунао и пртљаг када си гледао карте са њима? Тел Авив и није одредиште ка ком људи лете без пртљага.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous13:08

    The other day 8 pax BEG - AUH; return even worst only 3 pax ... SVO - BEG several says ago only 17pax...these are terrible results! On the other hand A319 is still underutilized; not one has flown yet to SVO and the latest information is that until January they will not be flying them to Russia. Catering service is better that is OK but delays are constant in/out of BEG; I think JAT was more on time that what we have now. The 80% punctuality is a joke! It seems that there is no one able to make decisions and all are afraid to lose their job after the new management took over. Mr. Kondic is a show off person but in fact not close to the real action and the daily operations to make necessary improvements. They are giving promotion after promotion not because they want to offer cheap travel but because planes are empty and sales are down 25%!!!... After the glamorous start things are not rosy at all!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:15

      Any new start is a difficult one. However, passenger increase of 12% indicates that something is done right. Rome wasn't built overnight so we should not expect the same for Air Serbia.

      The reason why the A319s are underutilized is because they still don't have their own pilots and they do not want to hire more foreign ones. Their own should complete their training soon and then they will join the airline. That's the only reason why YU-APE is still not flying despite the bird being ready to do so.

      As for the punctuality, you can find the same results at all the major international aviation institutions. They are not faking them.

      Let's wait and see how December performs. If they manage to keep a double digit growth then all of us should be happy here.

      As for your comments related to Mr Kondic, I invite you to read his CV and then read yours. I am sure he is incomparably more qualified to run the show than you are. ;)

      Local Serbs had their chance to prove how competent they are at running the airline. We all remember how well Jat Airways performed.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:23

      i agree with you!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:37

      Your comment about the comparison of CV's is immature and somewhat offending; I do not need to be comparing it to him since I work in a different industry but I can maybe tell you a couple of things that will perhaps enlarge your horizons ... I sent him a couple of official letters (e mail) and I never heard back from the gentleman although my letters were very courteous and aimed to help AS .As a courtesy one could say at least thank you!... Also other than serving torts on board inauguration flights I have never seen him give any official serious interview since he took this position.FYI I love aviation and in particular JU whom I have been supporting strongly over the past 45 years in various forms so please do not feed me with much additional knowledge about leadership, ethics and running a business ....I only hope that as you called it "Rome" will stay alive and I wish them the best but I DO NOT like what I see and the trends so far.

      Delete
    4. If he responded your amateur bitterness he would demonstrate he had a lot of spare time, thankfully this was not the case. Perhaps you may try emailing James Hogan and ask to be appointed the new CEO of JU.

      You don't like them - you don't fly them. Simply as that. There is plenty of competition, choice is yours. No need to worry about the way JU is managed - at least until you learn a thing or two about management and - more important - change management. You believe in magic wands and you are disappointed when you see they don't work. Of course they don't, Santa does not exist. Only continuous efforts bring results.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous13:53

      Wow what arrogance on your behalf. So you are saying that you are not working in the aviation industry yet you are sending them random e-mails with instructions on how to run a business they were hired for? Especially Kondic, a guy who worked for Qantas, British Airways... Yeah, no wonder they ignored your e-mails. They have far more important things to do than to respond to fan mail.
      Of course Kondic did not give any interviews. The guy had three months to revitalize a more or less dead airline and to make it a regional leader. He has his hands full. Once things improve I am sure he will do interviews and much more.

      Maybe you don't like the direction the airline is going in. However, we should not forget that this plan is backed by Etihad. An airline which is 10 years old yet has managed to become one of the most influential businesses in the world.

      I am sure they know more than you and I combined times 100.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous14:57

      you guys are so funny, i support you anonymous 1:08pm... his work in qantas and AS cannot be compared at all!!! not even to compare daughters of etihad such as AS and air seychelles.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous16:00

      the guys is talking shit, on the mosocw route the loads are decent, not 10 passengers

      Delete
    8. Anonymous01:56

      Wow, 3 pax in Y, I guess you got a lot of attention from cabin crew. Did they consider upgrading these people to C if the flight was completely empty?

      I can't really believe that SVO route had only 17 pax onboard. SU is sending the A321 almost daily, their flights are packed, and they do codeshare with JU on all four daily flights to SVO. Also, if you're connecting with SU, price is the same regardless of whether you choose JU or SU for the BEG-SVO leg.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous14:00

    Until when will Air Serbia send its Atrs to Skopje? Today it's a B737 and if I remember correctly they said that sometime in December they will make the switch?
    Does anyone know how the route is performing?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:46

      Today was sent A319 YU-APC to Skopje,not a B737 http://www.flightradar24.com/airport/beg

      Delete
  20. Anonymous14:14

    If Belgrade airport recorded a 14% growth and Air Serbia 12%, then it means foreign carriers recorded a significant growth in passenger numbers? I suppose Wizz Air had a lot to do with that.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous14:37

    To anonymous at 1.37pm - awesome logic - Kondic is a showoff bcoz he didn't respond to your "courteous" letters ... dude, who's the one having a hissy fit bcoz the guy didn't respond to your 'official' email ?? Get over it you girl ... send an email to any CEO anywhere in the world offering advice - courteous or otherwise - and see how many replies you get ... zero, nada, nil ... What do you think that these guys do - sit there and wait to respond to emails from all sorts of lunatics like you ? Dude, what reality do you exist in ? It must obviously be one of your own self importance and worth .. Actually, the only showoff here my friend is you, bcoz your feelings have been all bent out of shape just because you sent 2 emails offering help and you got no reply and now you want the whole world to feel pity for you bcoz you have been hard done by - you poor soul... Haven't you heard the saying that advice is worth what you pay for it ?? he didn't pay for yours, so it's worth as much as the toilet paper you wipe your arse with ...In any event, Etihad has the mgt contract to run the airline, so I guess that means that they can put in place who they want - Kondic, the tooth fairy or even Santa clause if they like ... Given how Etihad runs its businesses, there will be total acountability to the Board of Directors of AirSERBIA, as well as the executive mgt team of Etihad - so I think our airline is in good hands ... You on the other hand, should go out and make a living from your good advice giving - I think you're onto something there ....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:43

      hahahaha !! May be we should start a blog for the airline expert guy who is in another industry !!! What a classic - haven't read something this funny in ages ...

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:08

      i was writing an email to american airlines and got response. ceo of air sebia is not much worth than any employee of american airlines. but aa sent me response after a day, and AS didnt even change website, but the colours of old one.. so please dont put kondic on such a high level. in 1 month and 10 days 4 promotional actions is such a mockery.. and every friday, happy friday. so, what is wrong with AS? where are all those passengers? its not the first month of exsitence of the company but 80 years...

      Delete
    3. Anonymous15:23

      try writing to the CEO of AA and see how long it takes before he actually personally responds .. if u sent your email to a general email address - which is what you have suggested - then I can tell you for a fact that AA has an army of people employed to respond to customer feedback - most of them in India ! JAT has never had such a department in its life and I imagine air serbia will establish one at some point .... i'm guessing that they are simply prioritising what they need to do in order of importance ... By the way, your comment that the CEO of AS is worth no more than any employee of AA says alot for how little you know about anything ... How can the CEO of AS be no better than for example, an AA airport checkin desk agt ?? Are you for real ? hand out whatever you've been smoking - it must be really good shit !

      Delete
    4. Anonymous15:30

      3.08 anonymous - why is it a mockery to have initiated 4 promotional actions "in 1 mth and 10 days" ? A good, strong reason, supported by a logical argument would help your case ... as it is, you're standing on rice paper ... So let me tell you why it ISN'T a mockery .... A new brand, a new beginning, new product, new catering, new network structure, 50% more capapcity than in the previous month ... So what is the logical thing to do here ?? PROMOTE, PROMOTE AND PROMOTE !!! You must have missed the marketing 101 class ...

      Delete
    5. Anonymous15:31

      you should just TRY to understand that ceo of AA and ceo of AS are not the same.. with 10 aircrafts AA make in one morning flights from washington to New York, ok??? I hope I am absolutely clear... so please ceo of AS has no so much work in his office except if planning how to make Varna profitable, than I will excuse myself.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous15:37

      You do realize that the response you got from the US airlines did not come from the CEO, it probably came from some intern or as someone said an Indian assistant. The CEO of any big company has people who deal with stuff like this. It's funny how naive you are.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous15:38

      if promotions in 1 month and 10 days last for aproximetly 10 days per promotion, it means they dont need to make promotions but to put the fares like on promotion. so, the only lets say positive thing they made in the whole network is prague, with one year promotion something like 129e.. but with atr 1.000kms, 66 sits, the prize can also be 79e beg-prg.. and still those 79e would not be lowcost prize, but acceptable one!!! prize of airticket in serbia is the same as in germany or france, and the average salary in serbia is 10 times lower. thats the point.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous15:44

      It's a marketing trick people. If you tell the masses that there is a promotional sale at the airline then there is greater chance more will flock to check out what's being offered.
      If you advertise it normally then they will be like: meh, ok...

      Delete
    9. Anonymous15:58

      hahaha.. what masses? what tricks with serbians earning 250 euros per month and promotional fare to paris 199e. i agree its good for diaspora and business travelers. like someone already said the highest numbers of passengers are those who use wizzair which on every route from beg has maybe 10-20 empty sits. lets check beg-bru, beg-arn and beg-cdg LF on AS. our politics is terrible, we dont have enough tourists, we dont have enough good salaries to fly.. we are renting pilots to fly AS. everything happened soo quickly. we dont even have any direct flight to barcelona, but preparing sofia because of transits!!! hellooooo!!!

      Delete
    10. Anonymous15:58

      Anonymous at 3.08pm. Bro, the word is SEATS; not SITS: PRICE not PRIZE; go to a non english blogsite - that's the point !

      Delete
    11. Anonymous16:03

      Anon @ 03.58

      Jat Airways carried roughly a million passengers per year while Belgrade airport handled well over 3.000.000 passengers which were O&D. Out of these let's say 300.000 flew with Wizz Air. I believe that the number of people ranging from 2.5 to 3.0 million can be considered as 'masses'.

      I think it's a very good thing that they are trying to attract more transit passengers. Only like that they can build an efficient hub system. Have you ever wondered why everyone is avoiding flying to Barcelona? Could it be because the market is so low-yielding that no airline can make serious business within this market? Only now we have Vueling which is a lowcost and which can make a profit by selling tickets for €100. Air Serbia can't and few legacy carriers could. That's why Air Serbia is probably waiting to set up a true hub before launching these flights. Hellooooo do you understand now or do I have to put it in retard simplicity for you to understand the argument? :*

      Delete
    12. Anonymous16:54

      You TRIED to explain without explanation smthing without any proove, smthing like noone can make serious business on beg-bcn market.. hahahaha.. I cant believe how retarded our people are. Than tell me whys AS flying to BNX. I would like to remind you on years (2 years) when JAT was flying beg-bnx and lost millions. And dont forget thjat spanair was flying to beg until the last day. Spanish dont know what kind of market is beg, but serbians know very well what kind of market is Barcelona, except many of you here, experts. And what about taps plan for belgrade for next year? They are smart people, researching these markets. But lets pray AS to get Odessa, Lviv, Kosice, Plovdiv, Debrecen flights, cause its regional and we can have transit passengers and we will become great hub, just we need some years.. Banja Luka is terrible politic desision. And you will see that in year or two, like it was the last time. And one more answer, from 3,5 mil of begs pax, at least 2 mil were diasporas and foreigners, 200 thous charter flights (travel agencies), so maybe, but maybe around 500.000 serbians from serbia, and all the rest transits, so, more than 3 mil do not care if its promotional PRIZE or not.. they fly when they or their companies decide, they do not wait happy fridays or blue mondays!!!

      Delete
    13. Please don't bash AS CEO, Mr. Tilden is such a fine man, and also, it is an american company. :)
      http://www.alaskaair.com/content/about-us/newsroom/as-executives.aspx

      Delete
    14. Anonymous17:08

      @Anonymous 3:58 PM
      I'm a Serb , work in a public sector, and I earn, like many others, 800 EUR per month. So don't bother wih this aspect.

      Delete
    15. Anonymous17:29

      @Anonymous 5:08 PM
      I am a Serb, working in private sector, and I earn, like many others, 230 EUR per month. So don't bother with this aspect.

      Delete
    16. Anonymous17:35

      @ disillusioned anon at 4.54

      I said that few airlines can make BEG-BCN profitable and that's why this route attracts the lowcosts. Air Serbia is a legacy carrier hence why it will be harder for it to make money. Spanair was a lowcost airline if you did not know that. ;) Also, we can see how successful their model was since they went bankrupt. I think Air Serbia should not follow in their footsteps.

      Jat Airways did not lose a single cent when it flew to Banja Luka because it received subsidies for it. ;)
      FYI TAP just expressed interest in launching flights, they have not made their final decision. When they do come and talk to me- anyway they are more or less a lowcost too, and a shitty one while we are at it.

      But I guess you know what's the best 'prize' at this point.

      Like I said, there is a reason why no legacy carrier launched flights from Belgrade to Barcelona. Naturally, feel free to correct me.

      You make it sound as if Air Serbia is flying only to secondary airports. Their network is a decent one and as time goes on it will only get better. Anyway, I was in Barcelona twice and I did not like it. I love eastern Europe so for me their expansion in this region is a welcome one. Don't be such a snob.

      @Vasingtonskver

      :D I always think of the same thing when I see someone write AS in stead of JU. The same way people have a tendency to write CA in stead of OU. :D

      Delete
    17. Anonymous17:48

      @ Underpaid anonymous at 5.29

      Well, then you should do a better job and find a connection so as to advance higher within the institution you work for. ;)

      Delete
    18. Anonymous18:04

      too boring.. and there is a reason for CA to fly to bcn instead of OU? i know too many people who were flying to bcn from zag. finally, after many years of existence gea decided to make new routes, just wondering why.. dont forget how many of citizens of serbia are using tsr for bcn flights. i love eastern europe, but prefer western. but lucky you, soon you will tell us how it was on beg-var flight. enjoy your eastern flights!

      Delete
    19. Anonymous18:10

      @ Overpaid anonynous at 5.48
      You should say no word as a worker in public sector. And do not move out of Belgrade, cause apparently you're not aware of the condition of the state you live in.

      Delete
    20. Anonymous18:14

      @ last anonymous

      It was not the same anonymous. I work in the private sector and I earn well over €1.000 per month. I am not complaining.

      Delete
    21. Anonymous18:31

      @ last anonymous

      Bravo for you, I work in public sector and earn €420 per month. And I am complaining. If you want to know, I work in parking service.

      Delete
    22. Anonymous19:18

      Well, that's a reason why I am not working for the government. Last year I got an opportunity to work for one of the ministries and when I heard that the salary was 26.000 I said thanks but no thanks. I waited a bit more and found a job in the private sector. More people in Serbia should rely less on the government to employ them.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous14:50

    Few days ago A319 was flying over Slovenia, I was working as a controller and a pilot who is I don't know where from was not saying in initial call Jat but Đet :D OMG

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Similar thing happend to me at BEG TWR, when pilot of JU A319 requested start up he said Julliet Alfa Tango :) I didn't answer until his captain didn't said JAT correctly :)

      Delete
  23. JATBEGMEL15:03

    I think the growth is a good indication of things to come. They rescheduled and renumbered the entire network, brang in an improved product, began a fleet renewal program, change in management, preparing for a renovation of Terminal 1 and added new destinations to their route network, For a typical underperforming and slow month of November to show a 12% increase is excellent, imagine the result for months such as august. More is still to come once frequencies start to increase to better accomodate the transfer pax. SAW for example does well with transfer pax, offering competative prices. Try a random search from SAW and you will see alot of Air Serbia fares being offered.

    As for Abu Dhabi, Etihad had minimal amount of pax when they opened BEG. July was bad results, but in august when i flew with them they had upgauged to the A320 that day due to the high demand and were still full. My return in early september to AUH was with 23 seats overbooked with most of those pax on staff stand by tickets!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous15:34

    Can someone provide us with Jat's passenger numbers month by month for 2013?

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous16:28

    Have any other airlines or airports reported their November numbers?

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous17:26

    Hellooooo!
    Zelim BEG - LIS vec u 2014!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:46

      Hello to you too!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:14

      Mozes da zelis do sutra, nema Lisabona do daljnjeg. Svi vi nesto zelite tu. Ajde boga ti, te barselona, te Lisabon. Na sta to lici? Cekaj da Air Srbija stane malo na noge. Pa do Stokholma ne mozemo da napunimo avion, a kamo li do Lisabona. Osim ako se nadas TAP-u. To bi bila druga prica.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous20:41

      Helloooo ! Hvala na iscrpnim informacijama!
      :)
      Ipak se nadam i dalje!
      Moze i TAP.
      Samo da je direktan let! Zasto ne?
      Oh! Wow!

      Delete
    4. Anonymous21:39

      Direct flights for both BCN and LIS will start by the end of June next year, Vueling and TAP, Air Serbia is not interested to open these routes.

      Delete
  27. zoki18:26

    You people want fly to Portugal?
    With Easyjet you can fly via Milan and Geneva to Lissabon and so many places elsewhere in Portugal and Spain.
    And for good prices,especially in summer!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:33

      Thank you zoki, but we want an direct from Belgrade.

      Delete
    2. zoki20:36

      Me too,but as long there will be no direct flight i will advise everyone to take Easyjet!

      Delete
  28. Anonymous18:51

    Why do all the armchair CEO's refer to Air Serbia as AS. AS is Alaskan, a well run airline in the USA.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Anonymous20:23

    To see if Air Serbia had success we will wait for a whole year.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous22:00

    The CEO from another industry is star alliance's undercover agent. Back in 2008 I flew to kathmandu via frankfurt and Delhi. Few months ago via doha. On the way back auh-beg. Few weeks ago direct beg-dxb, unlike in the past when I had to fly via fra, muc, ist...i fly often and I don't remember when was the last time i touched down in Germany or turkey. Long live air Serbia and BEG. Great knowledge on this blog, keep up the good work.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous22:13

    YU-APC/-APE can fly to every JU destination, while A6-SAA/-AAB can't, if is it true, why so? 319s daily to ZRH, ATH, SKG, TGD, SKP, sometimes FRA, DUS, AMS, BRU, CPH, LHR, MXP? What about SVO?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous22:51

      A6-XXX are registered in UAE, so they get to buy fuel at subsidiesd prices.

      Delete
  32. Anonymous03:05

    Prague on Monday with A319

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:41

      beg.aero also shows that there will be four A319 flights. They did the same last week but then it ended up as only two. I think they had previously loaded the timetable that should have happened and now they have to make last minute revision.

      I wonder if APE is still parked at Belgrade because of the pilot shortage. Would be great to know when it will enter service.

      So far, the A319 should fly to:

      Stockholm, Paris, Prague and Dusseldorf.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:35

      Now ,it is only Stockholm and Prague

      Delete
    3. Anonymous15:25

      It's what the schedule was originally supposed to be.
      Still, I think it's really good that Prague is being upgauged. :)

      The third A319 will be in AUH during the morning wave of departures.

      Delete
  33. Anonymous10:53

    Belgrade airport has finally decided to pull it's act together and they have placed the code-shares on their website.

    Air Berlin codeshare appeared on Air Serbia's flight to Dusseldorf, Stuttgart and Frankfurt.

    On Monday Etihad's codes will appear on Air Serbia's flights to Brussels, Podgorica, Tivat, Sarajevo and Stockholm.

    Interestingly, Aeroflot also codeshares with Air Serbia to Tivat. I am sure they are getting a fair share of passengers from that route.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Anonymous11:33

    A guy who works for BEG airport handling told me that Etihad has roughly 100 passengers per flight. I guess that should put an end to speculations that the flights are departing empty.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. an anonymous post citing "his friend" as an authority. yep, that sounds like a final word to me.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:04

      Oh here's good old Doot... coming to hiss and bitch as usual.

      Well, he works for SU-port and during this season he is working quite a lot on that flight. Furthermore, there were a lot of people on here who have been posting the number of passengers on EY's flights to BEG and they were always decent.

      Delete
  35. Anonymous15:31

    Banja Luka - Belgrade was 30% full today. (08.12)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. C'mon dude, I asked on FB, so I supposed to post that info here :) Just kidding, I forgot....

      Delete
    2. Anonymous21:28

      Hahahaha that was you? :D Sorry then. But kudos to the guy running the page. He has some truly great photos there.

      Delete
    3. Yes, it was me :D For unofficial page, it's great. Really great work done by that guy.

      Delete

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