EXCLUSIVE
Air Serbia launching Tirana service

Air Serbia heading to Tirana from September

EX-YU Aviation News can exclusively reveal that Air Serbia will launch flights to the Albanian capital Tirana this summer season. The service is expected to be inaugurated in September and run three times per week. It will be operated with an ATR72. In a related development, the Serbian carrier will boost its operations to Prague which have so far proved extremely popular with passengers. The airline will run an additional weekly flight to the Czech capital each Friday, totalling eight per week. Air Serbia is expected to make an official announcement regarding the launch of its Tirana service and the boost to its Prague flights soon.

Services between Belgrade and Tirana will resume for the first time in six years. Air Serbia’s predecessor, Jat Airways, suspended flights between the two capitals in 2008 as part of its cost cutting scheme which also saw the termination of flights to Damascus, Prague, Malta and Tripoli, some of which were later resumed. The playing field at Tirana Airport is somewhat different this time around. Albania’s national carrier, Albanian Airlines, ceased operations in 2011 while the country’s largest airline, Belle Air, collapsed in December last year. This has given other airlines an opportunity to attract transit passengers from Tirana through their respective hubs. On the other hand, Air Serbia introduced flights to Prague in December 2013, which have proved popular with both point to point and transit passengers alike.

Meanwhile, Air Serbia has announced it has established its own line maintenance division in Belgrade called Air Serbia Technical. Staffed by a team of twenty aircraft engineers and twenty mechanics, the engineering facility will perform all scheduled and non-scheduled line maintenance for Air Serbia’s fleet of Airbus A319/320 aircraft. Air Serbia Technical will also provide line maintenance services for Etihad Airways and Etihad Regional aircraft operating out of Belgrade and will have capability to deliver dedicated maintenance services for third party airlines operating from the Serbian capital. The maintenance services to be performed in Belgrade include transit, daily and weekly checks, scheduled and non-scheduled engineering services, along with fault repairs for aircraft systems and cabin issues. Air Serbia’s CEO, Dane Kondić says, “Our new maintenance facility and the capability to provide cost effective maintenance services to other airlines will further strengthen the scale of Air Serbia’s growing operations, reinforcing our position as one of the leading airlines in the region”. He adds, “The new facility will assist Air Serbia to continue its rate of expansion and improve punctuality and performance of our aircraft”.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:04

    svaka cast samo napred, koliko ce trajati jos da se opet moze leteti PRISTINA-BEOGRAD?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Probably as soon as the Serbian government lifts the ban on aircraft that have Kosovo as it's origin or destination from using the Serbian airspace.

      I believe there is decent demand for O&D traffic between PRN and BEG, if reasonably priced.

      There remain many other obstacles though and they are all political, but the ball is in Serbia's court and these could be overcome in no time: travel documents issue, authority to manage Kosovan airspace, and so forth.

      Things have moved on... if there is a political will to change this line could be opened earlier than the one to TIA.

      Delete
    2. I think we are probably about 12-24 months away from this happening, provided that JU has any interest in flying there. Sooner or later this issue will surface during the Brussels negotiation.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:15

    Will be interesting to see if Prague will receive another morning or evening frequency. My money is on the evening one!

    Regarding Tirana, these are brilliant news. It's a shame that its not more than three weekly flights but I am sure more will be added soon as they expand their Atr-72 fleet!

    Best of luck to Air Serbia! They are surely shaking the aviation market in the Balkans!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:46

      learly an evening one as they allready depart belgrade at 6 am

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:29

      Good point, I had an epic blonde moment there.

      Delete
    3. If JU's new mgmt. proved me something so far, that is that they can react to changes. Maybe not at a speed one would sometimes like but they do. With the demise of Bellair maybe they should've done this sooner but on the other hand it takes time to get all the approvals etc. If they see healthy loads on Tirana flights I'm sure they'll find a way to provide more frequencies or send a A319 every once in a while.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous16:44

      Great news for Air Serbia and Tirana, wish them good luck!

      OT: Qatar announces direct flights Zagreb-Doha 3x per week, 4x per week via Budapest!
      http://www.tportal.hr/lifestyle/putovanja/336559/Direktni-letovi-iz-Zagreba-za-Dohu-tri-dana-u-tjednu.html

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:21

    Given that the article mentions that the flight will be operated on Fridays, and there already is a morning flight, this new flight should either be a mid-day flight or an evening flight. Makes no sense to do a morning flight (for that you can just increase capacity from ATR to A319)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous09:21

    Jos samo sa Zagrebom da se povezemo!

    Za Tiranu: ovo je pun pogodak, i ocekujem da se frekvencija uskoro posle predstavljanja leta podigne na bar 5 nedeljno.

    ReplyDelete
  5. JU520 BEGLAX09:23

    Anzur of JP said recently in a interview that JP plans other flights out of TIA (BRU CDG)
    So interesting to see that they get now fierce competition fm BEG...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:10

      I think there would be enough space for everyone.

      According to Wiki, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, actually whole Scandinavia is not served at all. Also no flights to Amsterdam, no flights to any other German city except Frankfurt...

      I would rely on huge Albanian diaspora in western Europe and Scandinavia. And that would be enough to get maximum out of these flights.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:15

      Sorry, there is Munich also, but still pax can fly to Berlin, Stuttgart, Dusseldorf, with AirSerbia.

      This is better than directly competing with Adria, in my opinion.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:46

    Does anybody knows how the LF BEG-TIA was during JAT times?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:48

      Above 90%

      Delete
    2. When Jat Airways flew between the two cities, a few months before discontinuing the route, the loadfactor was 25% on a good day.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous15:40

      Gospodine Nemjee bio bi vam mnogo zahvalan ako bi mogli tog pametnog Managera za Route da pitate sto JU neleti za Innsbruck kad postoji ogroman potencijal. Hvala unapred :)

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:54

    JU treba, pored planiranog broja, bar još 2 a319 i 2 atr-a da bi mogla da pokrije kompletan region i održala evro-mediteranski saobraćaj + čartere. Dakle 12 a319/320, 7 atr72 i 4 b737.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous11:27

    And ethiad regional? There was a story thaht they would launch a new line. Maybe Lyon?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:31

      Banja Luka for Air Serbia

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:43

      I believe they will add 3 more weekly flights to TIA complementing 3 JUs flights.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous11:51

    Really? From an official source?

    ReplyDelete
  10. OT: Skopje May 2014 - 109.029 pax
    May 2013 - 87.992 pax

    *Very Nice number !!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Congratulations to Skopje! Wish you all the best!

      Delete
  11. I think that Air Serbia should expand its fleet with maybe 2 A319 and 2 A320 so that they can add destinations like Saint Petersburg, Munich, Madrid, Barcelona, Hamburg, Helsinki and Amman.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aэrologic18:34

      Madrid is eventually planned from the winter season, it would help lines such as Varna, Sofia and Bucharest to thrive and/or survive. Munich will be operated by Air Berlin metal most probably.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous20:03

      Madrid is not currently in the plans.

      What you mean that it will make Bucharest and Sofia thrive/survive? Both routes are doing well.

      Delete
    3. Aэrologic22:24

      If you read better you will see that it was written "thrive OR survive". The line to Varna is doing very badly (could possibly be cut after summer) and would be boosted by a connection to the Iberic peninsula, same as Sofia and Bucharest, or you have something against possible additional pax?

      Spain is one of the main markets from Bulgaria/Romania, besides Italy.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous03:11

      Friend, Varna is not doing that badly actually. Most of the days it better than Banja Luka.

      Delete
    5. Aэrologic04:00

      I would be more than glad if it improved in the meantime.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous13:54

    Yay for Prague :) and they have just added it to the GDS. The new flight is on Friday as ex-yu said in the evening. Good move.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous14:09

    Nemogu da verujem da za Tiranu lete 3 ned,a za Innsbruck gde zivi više od 6500 Srba nemogu 2 ned.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:34

      Pa ne prevoze oni samo Srbe. Vidim Austrian isto leti za BEG.. potencijalno trziste

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:33

      Nisam ni reko da lete samo Srbe i dosta Austrijanaca bi letelo.

      Delete
    3. Dear guy with Austrian schools, please consider using English as it is the language of this site. Evan Google translated English would be better than this "half Serbian".

      Delete
    4. Anonymous17:05

      Gospodine Nenade i ako iz Engleskog imam srpsku 5. Necu da pisem na Engleskom posto u Austriji isto niko nepostuje moj jezik ni ostale Ex Yu.Zsto bi ja onda piso na Engleskom :)

      Delete
    5. You should respect the work of the site owner. If he created the whole this in English and you are able to speak English but you are not doing that, than you are showing a big disrespect to him and his work. The other problem is the language you are writing, it shows you are completely "nepismen". I understand, I also live abroad and start to forget my mother toungue but I don't have to show that to everybody around.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous20:23

      6500 ljudi nije nikakva baza za uvođenje linije, to bi trebalo da znaš. Čak i kada bi svi bili voljni da lete avionom u Srbiju, a zapravo govorimo o najviše 20-30%, 6500 nije dovoljno. Da je dovoljno, Air Serbia bi letela u svako selo u Evropi.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous20:41

      A za Tiranu ima potencijal.
      A nebi samo Srbi leteli.
      Austrijanci idu najvise u Aziju na odmor.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous20:45

      I zaboravio sam da kazem da Petkom iz Innsbrucka za Srbiju ide 15 Kombija i 5 Autobusa.
      Povratna karta je 140 Eura,svako bi leteo da je karta 180-200 Eura nego da se vozi 20 sati Busom do NS ili 11 sati Kombijem do Ns:)

      Delete
    9. Anonymous15:47

      LF to / from Tirana will be catastrophic!

      Delete
    10. Anonymous12:12

      Stop spamming for God's sake...
      You have a crystal ball or what?

      Delete
    11. Anonymous15:00

      No, I do not have it. I am just skeptic knowing how much Albanians like you.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous14:17

    Any information on flight schedule from and to Tirana?

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous14:53

    Very good news!! Air Serbia opening service to Albania :)
    Belgrade - Tirana - Belgrade :)

    I hope as soon as the Serbian & Kosovo politics calms down Air Serbia will open service to/from Pristina also.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:52

      LF to/from Pristina with Air Serbia will be catastrophic!

      Delete
  16. Anonymous16:39

    They rip passengers off on Prague line. 160 EUR minimum fare with ATR 72 they have break even at 80 eur per return tickets with taxes if they really have this good LF

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:43

      The last time I checked Air Serbia was a business whose aim is to make money, they are not some sort of charity organization.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:54

      +1 hahaha

      why in earth would they care about how much they need to break even??

      They opened many lines so far, they have/had problems with the load factor, and now when they are doing well, they should reduce the prices :D

      Delete
    3. Anonymous19:15

      At 300$ one-way during the season they're really pushing it.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous20:26

      When they dump prices, it is no good. When they push for maximum profit, again no good. It is really difficult to please the audience in Balkans.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous21:06

      Znas kako narod kaze? Moze im se.

      If the prices are so high, then why CSA doesn't open its own route and make some competition, so that we would fly cheaper.

      Delete
    6. Aэrologic22:18

      Because CSA has no markets on where to effectively compete from Belgrade, while Air Serbia draws passengers to markets that are poorly connected with Prague (Balkans, South-East Europe, Middle East...).

      Delete
    7. Anonymous23:38

      Ok to, znam, nego kazem ako je vec skupo toliko, nek se CSA pojavi i nek oduzme deo o&d putnika... Al naravno da znam da se to nece desiti...

      Delete
  17. Anonymous18:41

    OMG a man from Innsbruck
    "We have a bomb"
    Israeli media reported that the man had attacked on the flight other passengers verbally and then physically attacked a flight attendant. According to the Wiener Zeitung the 25 -year-old man had jumped suddenly from his seat and would have roared loudly: „Here are the terrorists! We have a bomb. You will all die, like the people on 11 September in the air. „He had run down the center aisle of the plane, but was eventually overwhelmed by an "Air Marshall ". Immediately after landing in the Bulgarian capital the rampage was taken over by the local security authorities
    EL AL flight Tel Aviv-München
    B737-800

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous18:43

    OMG a man from Innsbruck
    "We have a bomb"
    Israeli media reported that the man had attacked on the flight other passengers verbally and then physically attacked a flight attendant. According to the Wiener Zeitung the 25 -year-old man had jumped suddenly from his seat and would have roared loudly: „Here are the terrorists! We have a bomb. You will all die, like the people on 11 September in the air. „He had run down the center aisle of the plane, but was eventually overwhelmed by an "Air Marshall ". Immediately after landing in the Bulgarian capital the rampage was taken over by the local security authorities:
    Tel AVIV - München
    B737-800

    ReplyDelete
  19. We should see which flights will remain in the winter timetable. It is not viable to adjust the fleet on the basis of the summer timetable only. AirSerbia will be stuck with them during winter as well.

    One aircraft needs three to four profitable rotations per day to make some sort of money, one decent destination needs at least two more on any given day to make things work.

    ReplyDelete

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