Air Serbia shelves planned Geneva service


Air Serbia has postponed the launch of its two weekly Belgrade - Geneva service, which was scheduled to commence on March 25. The airline noted it would use the allocated Airbus A319 aircraft for charter operations instead. In a statement, the company said, "Air Serbia has transferred its capacities, originally intended for flights to Geneva, to charter operations. The decision was made due to increased market interest in the past for charter services. Since last year was a record for charter operations, the company has decided to supplement its capacities with an aircraft originally intended for transporting passengers and goods to Geneva".

The Serbian carrier is in need of extra capacity for its summer leisure operations as two Boeing 737-300 aircraft, operating under its dedicated charter brand Aviolet, are in the process of being retired, leaving only two other B737s for charter flights. Last year, the airline carried out the bulk of its leisure operations, accounting for over 600 flights, with three aircraft. "In deciding to postpone the start of services to Geneva, planned for March 25, the company was guided by the fact that it already operates flights to Zurich and that charter flights present, from a financial aspect, a lower investment risk and a more efficient use of resources", the carrier noted.

Air Serbia said it still plans to commence flights to the Swiss city in the future. "The start of services to Geneva, which will become Air Serbia’s second destination in Switzerland, is postponed for the time being. Information about the launch of operations will be provided in due course", the airline concluded. As a result, Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport will no longer be linked to Geneva, as easyJet, which currently maintains the service, plans to switch its operations to Basel instead. The route was previously run by Swiss International Air Lines and Etihad Regional as well. Switzerland is the second largest air travel market from Serbia after Montenegro. The Serbian carrier plans to boost operations to Zurich this summer to seventeen weekly departures, up from fourteen per week last year. It mirrors Swiss' move to add an extra two weekly flights to Belgrade, for a total of sixteen, next summer. As a result, the two cities will be linked with 33 weekly flights by Air Serbia and Swiss during the high season.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:03

    They’ve pulled an Iran Air...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:13

      True dat.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:10

      Difference being that Iran Air has rescheduled flights for next Saturday.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:29

      True dat too.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:05

    I tako opet najava za liniju pa se odkaze!! Zar pre toga nije postojala analiza? Jel neko konkretno zna kada stupaju nove tarife er srbije na snagu?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:22

      oTkaže

      Delete
    2. Anonymous16:11

      "Je l'" a ne "jel"

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:05

    What I'm getting from this article is that the NEOs won't be arriving, otherwise this wouldn't have happened

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:10

      They could always have leased an A320CEO.
      They could have done that years ago and replace the 30+ year old 737s.
      They could have made so many things instead of this inconsistent joke of a "strategy".

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:19

      Yes, but the 737 are reliable and have been doing a brilliant job during the last 30 years, what is wrong keeping them for 5 more years until JFK becomes profitable and then arrive the 320neos?
      It will be tricky though to constantly fill them, especially to the smaller Balkan capital cities.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:49

      Air Serbia is already operating the oldest 737s still flying in Europe, and you want them to do so for 5 more years?

      I don't think they are very reliable to be honest, certainly far away from a new or newish aircraft.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:17

      You have never flown with DC9 NW.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:06

    i hope they open direct flight to Lyon from beg ofc

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous09:06

    They are focusing on transatlantic expansion instead of gastarbeiter routes.
    Leader of Balkana! :D :D :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:16

      This is one the few remaining real, legacy carriers in the region, for your own information.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:20

      You mean one of the last dinosaurs wasting taxpayer money, employing hundreds of staff more than it needs and focused on political prestige routes?
      You are 100% right!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:26

      JU has 2,450 staff members according to 2015 stats which is not that much if you include pilots, cabin crew, ground staff, etc. If the fleet consists of 21 aircraft then that's roughly 117 staff members per aircraft.
      JU does not operate any political route.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:37

      @Anonymous at 9:26 AM
      Aegean in 2016 had 2,334 staff members (less than ASL) for 62 aircraft creating over 1 billion Euros worth of turnover and serving 12.5 million passengers.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:52

      The only thing legacy about Air Serbia is the age of their aircraft. 32-year old 737s and 27-year old ATRs. Brilliant.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:09

    Nothing strange here, if U2 pulled out it's because something is not quite right with the route. I am reckoning poor load factors. Serbians remain committed to ZRH instead. Bravo JU, focus on what gives you money to eat.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:12

      Yes like JFK. And hopefully Toronto!

      SMFH.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous23:53

      Nice spin anon @9:09

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:25

    Prilika za WIZZ tri puta nedeljno bi mogli da pune masinu.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Do they not need to be allowed first by the bilateral to fly to Switzerland which is not part of the EU?
      U2 has a separate Swiss subsidiary for flights from there.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:14

      Onda Lyon.

      Delete
    3. why can they fly from basel? or are the flights handled in the French section?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:43

      Yes, Basel falls under French jurisdiction.

      Delete
  8. Jedino prerastanje Beogradske vazdusne luke u hub od strane Francuskog koncesionara, stvorice realne uslove za rast i transformaciju Er Srbiie
    Do tada, kao i sada. U sezoni mala flota. U zimskom periodu visak aviona. Vreme za preobrazaj vazdusnog saobracaja u Srbiji i Beogradu pocinje u ovoj 2018 godini. VINCI-Airports jeste pocetak ovog preobrazaja.
    Rodney🇷🇸🇦🇺🇷🇸

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:32

      Cela ideja pravljenja "HUB" je pogresna,samo se gadjate pojmovima, cak ni aerodromi od 20 miliona putnika danas nisu habovi. VINCI nema ni jedan tako veliki aerodrom.

      Delete
    2. Postovani Anon 9:32 AM. Verovatno Vase je znanje veliko u oblasti putnicke avijacije. Za razliku od mene. Verujem da je Srbiji bilo potrebno 56 godina da predje 5 miliona putnika. Za vreme koncesionog upravljanja i razvoja "Nikole Tesle", VINCI-Airports ce podici
      Na nivo izmedju 15 i 20 miliona putnika.To je respektabilan odnos. To nije hub za Atlantu, Dubai, London, Moskvu, Tokio, Sydney... Ali bez sumlje jeste za BEG sa 5 miliona putnika, kakav je danas. Ako neko ne prihvata buduci razvoj i rast ovog aerodroma na Surcinu, pa Boze moj. Neka mu bude. Mozda ce biti oslobodjen od mojih "gadjanj pojmova"...
      Oprostite sto Vas ne shvatam.
      Ima vremena. Tek su mi 72, i 50 godina na avionima i aerodromima. Na moju zalost, vrlo malo asociran pod Srpskim nebom. Moja je nesposobnost. Izuzev, kako rekoste, izuzev "gadjane pojmovima", slaba pouka od mene. Vama uspeh i napredak.
      Radovan & Aviation Entusiast Team.
      Kraljevo & Sydney. 🇦🇺🇷🇸

      Delete
    3. Anonymous18:15

      Samo ti napisi lepo tu cifru da ne bude posle nisu oni znali sta treba da dostignu. Mangupi su kazu veliki oce lako da zahebu neoprezne. Ostaj mi u zdravlju.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:36

    The question is what are those managers getting paid for? ... this demonstrates a complete lack of vision and planning (even not for the near future) thus shadowing the reputation of the airline. Didn't they know that two B733 will retire to make plans ahead of time? Turns out into a complete fiasco!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Danijel09:48

      I dont defend anyone but maybe they expected NEOs to come. They announced them in 2018. And now when NEOs not comming they are in problems.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:48

      You are stating the frickin obvious!
      Get ready to be attacked for it by the cheerleaders.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:52

      Danijel I don't believe for a minute that when they announced GVA they weren't aware than NEOs would not be coming in this year.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:57

      Neos have always been planned to arrive at the end of the year. You can find an interview with Dane klKondic from 2 yrs ago where he says the neos start arriving at the end of 2018.

      Delete
    5. Dejan10:06

      Anon 9:57
      That "plan" has been shelved looong before the announcement of GVA flights. So lets not kid ourselves.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:38

      Anon 10:06 100% agree, It was clear 1 year ago (if not more) that NEO's wouldn't be coming.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:47

    Jatovanje starting again

    Javovanje no 1:
    We will open Geneva flights and start expansion again
    - sorry we don't have plane for that

    Jatovanje no 2:
    We will open Toronto flights
    - sorry not this year, no money for that

    Jatovanje no 3:
    We will have 10 brand new A320neo
    - sorry we will not bring those planes, but instead we will cut Boeing 737-300 fleet on half and will use some of A320 fleet from our regular routes

    Jatovanje no 4:
    We have superb product and company that is growing every day
    - and to prove that we are cutting routes for 4th season now, we are downsizing business class, cutting services, we are not boutique airline any more... And those news are "exciting" and good for passengers and Air Serbia

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:50

      Actually they never announced Toronto. The rest is fine, but there you are wrong.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:55

      Samo raste im broj putnika.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:58

      They did not? Well several articles even in this blog demand you:

      http://www.exyuaviation.com/2017/10/air-serbia-mulls-second-long-haul-route.html

      http://www.exyuaviation.com/2017/12/serbia-negotiating-new-long-haul-flights.html

      Quote: "The Minister for Construction, Transport and Infrastructure further noted that the government is anticipating the introduction of flights to Canada in 2018. "We are talking to and working with Canada as well to try and secure nonstop flights", Ms Mihajlović said. Last month it was reported that Air Serbia is considering launching services to Toronto as its second long haul route. In a statement, the carrier said at the time, "We are working on a complete analysis and we are seriously considering all aspects."

      http://www.exyuaviation.com/2018/01/air-serbia-flights-to-toronto-unlikely.html

      And OK, let me be more precise on this one:

      Jatovanje no 2:
      We are serious conciser Toronto flights and will do our best to open this route in 2018
      - sorry we can not do that this year

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:01

      Again where did Air Serbia announce flights to Toronto? Does Zorana Mihajlovic work at Air Ssrbia? Has she mentioned Air Serbia as the operator of these flights? And the last link you gave even says that Air Serbia has never officially announced flights to Toronto. So just admit you are wrong and move on.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:23

      As I said the "seriously consider" and work hard on it.

      It was not announcement just typical Jatovanje with bombastic plans, press information and at the end nothing! Typical Jatovanje.

      And yeas, Zorana Mihajlović is representative of Air Serbia 51% owner.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous January 20, 2018 at 9:47 AM
      +1000!

      Delete
    7. Anonymous17:26

      Vinci mentioned in concession related news they will support Air Serbia long haul plans and everyone knows Toronto is one of the top unserved long haul destinations. Air Serbia kept Zagreb plans well hidden until just weeks before first flight, but info about developing Toronto route have been all over the place for months. Denying the effort at this stage only makes it worse. Their PR could have been more proactive in sharing the news.

      Air Serbia still seems to be in denial about their and Etihad failure to make expanded long haul network a cornerstone of Air Serbia efforts from day one. Cries about costs are just a cover for bad planning. Single plane, single destination is not sustainable in the long term and lacks flexibility and options.

      In the wider region, Toronto will this summer have nonstop connectivity to Vienna, Zagreb, Budapest, Bucharest, Athens and Istanbul, which was not the case couple of years ago. Did Air Serbia ever quantify opportunity cost for missing the window to connect some of those and many other regional destinations to Toronto via Belgrade?

      Delete
    8. Anonymous02:32

      Zagreb 6pw to Toronto
      Vienna 7pw to Toronto
      Budapest 4pw to Totonto
      Bucharest 4pw to Toronto
      Athens 7pw to Toronto

      all nostop. Why would they fly 1stop via BEG?

      Delete
    9. Won't ZAG be 5pw since Air Transat and Air Canada Rouge will be flying once a week on the same day?

      Delete
    10. Anonymous15:14

      @Anon at 2:32

      That was not the case when Air Serbia started. Only Athens and Vienna had service at the time. Air Serbia could have also offered transfer service to Sofia, Tirana, Skopje etc.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:49

    And what about those experts here which said that EasyJet is not pulling out of Geneva route. We who said they are out was called hater and, of course, they know the fact EasyJet will stay on Geneva route.

    Bravo experts with so good source of information!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This was announced by Matteo Tadei, an easyJet spokesman for the Balkan region. He reiterated this on several ocassions over the course of three months for several different media.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:01

      But still most of sources announce that EasyJet will stop that service.

      And we all know how spokesman are doing real information like "Emirates will not open routes in Balkans" and just few days after that they announce Zagreb-Dubai flights.

      Delete
    3. I will have to correct you there as that announcment was made by Emirates' Area Manager for the region, Martin Gross, also on several ocassions, several months before Zagreb was announced. Airlines do make changes to their plans.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:57

    The NEOs were always tied to Etihad, and seeing as that relationship is very unsteady at the moment, it would appear that the NEOs are also on hold and possibly gone. Don't Air Serbia currently lease their Airbus fleet from Etihad?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous11:31

    I don't mind charters as long as it gets them profit.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous11:49

    This is a poor excuse and they have free capacity. They reduced IST, WAW, AUH, downgraded in summer many routes to less flights (and introduced almost nothing new compared to 2 summers ago - while with same fleet) so basically this is just a lie and poor excuse.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:02

      It is not same fleet:

      In 2016 summer they had CRJ-900 from Adria + two more 737-300, so it is 3 more planes than they will have in summer 2018. Of course they have to cut routes and frequencies if the have 14% cut in number of planes.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:45

      Ne verujem da je to u pitanju za dva leta nedeljno, imaju avion viska koji je leteo za bliski istok, nisu ni carteri oni obicno idu uvece. Ko ce ih znati. Sad krece izborna kampanja mesec dana bice udri po AS kad ne mozes nista drugo.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:13

      Completely untrue. Charters for the past 3 years have been operating during the day.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous12:14

    Is EY pulling out from ASL?

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous12:18

    I wonder if anyone bought tickets for this route. They were on sale for at least a month.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:25

      I doubt they would have cancelled it if there were too many bookings.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous13:07

    Sa iskustvom od 10 godina vodjenja jedne od najvecih turoperatora u Srbiji, pre godinu dana su mi nudili posao u JU sektoru tarifa i web prodaje. Odbio sam posao bez imalo ustrucavanja jer i svise nego uspesno vodim svoj biznis.
    Tada sam troici ljudi koji su donosili odluke na prodaji predlozio kako da povecaju prihod i LF zimskim mesecima, svima je ideja o jeftinim transferima delovala odlicno. 10 praznih mesta dosnosi nulu, a 10 punih bar 1000e po letu.
    Pokusali su da speovedu ceo biznis plan, al im je iz brha kompanije zabranjeno da dampinguju cene na pojedinim rutama.
    Danas vidim da amateri vode kompaniju istim putem kao nekada Jat Airways i da nemaju pojma o modernom turizmu i modernom dobu u avio indistriji.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous13:21

    Charters are safe cash.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous13:23

    What kind of amateurs are running this company.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous16:10

    Chaotic, not more to say. Same as going for a couple of years. Like announcement of Cairo, Kiev etc? Opening and closing of routes is not like putting a stand of tomatoes on the market! In serious airlines, there are market studies, marketing studies, preparation of the route with the handling agents, airports, staff etc. Not to speak of passengers, who will loose confidence with such behaviour. Also, the travel agencies are more or less "forced" to book series of charter flights with ASL because the Serbian DCA is very restrictive with allowing foreign carriers to operate to Belgrade.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nemjee18:46

      The Serbian DCA can be restrictive only with non-EU airlines. They can't do much when it comes to EU flights, especially those to Greece. That's why we had three airlines fly from Crete to Belgrade last summer.

      If I am not mistaken, Serbia and Tunis signed a new ASA making it easier for Tunisair to add flights.

      Delete
  21. Nemjee18:42

    Jesus Christ people. They are cancelling a destination that was supposed to be operated two times per week. The airline is in a desperate need of cash so let them carry tourists if it means that they are going to become more stable. Don't forget that this year they won't have the ASGS employees meaning that the charter income will be used to stabilize the airline. The new management seems to know what it's doing, give them time. I think they won't disappoint us.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:56

      +1

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:04

      The question is why the airline is in a desperate need of cash after so many millions were poured into it primarily by the Government but also from Etihad?

      Delete
    3. Nemjee19:27

      I think we all know the answer to that question.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous20:27

      Nemjee how did you reach a conclusion that new management knows what they are doing based on cancelling GVA? There have been no other changes since Kondic resignation.

      Real test is going to be relationship with Vinci. Unless Air Serbia can provide sustainable growth Vinci could turn to other airlines for growth. There are indications Vinci will build a lot less than what was predicted. True second runway and adjacent terminal on the west side are not going to be built at all. Most likely:

      https://postimg.org/image/8xd496q0r/

      One variation of this plan is new terminal in place of current ATC tower, instead of being 90 degrees to the right of C7-C10 stands as in the picture.

      Delete
    5. Nemjee20:46

      No, the GVA decision had little to do with that. The interim CEO seems to be a really great guy who genuinely cares about Air Serbia and its future. He understands how difficult his task is yet he is determined to rebuild what was destroyed over the course of the past few years.

      Time will tell but I am certain he will not disappoint us.

      Shutting down ASGS was the right thing to do especially since the people in charge of it were never too interested in attracting other customers even though they were supposed to do it.
      It was so badly run that even Alitalia considered going back to BEG.

      I am sure the extra income from charters will do wonders for them.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous01:01

    ju also quietly reduced other routes: ham, led, sof, kbp. those were neva mentioned

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous01:07

      JU does not fly to KBP.

      Delete

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