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| Air Serbia's winter sees network cutbacks |
The 2015/16 winter season begins on Sunday October 25, with Air Serbia set to make cuts to its network. The Serbian carrier will be reducing its number of departures to many destinations, primarily in western Europe. Routes that will be affected include Amsterdam, Banja Luka, Berlin, Brussels, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Milan, Moscow, Paris, Stockholm, Stuttgart, Thessaloniki, Warsaw, Zagreb and Zurich. As announced earlier, the airline's daily flight to Budapest and three weekly service to Larnaca will be suspended. Moscow will sustain the biggest reduction in frequencies, with Air Serbia to slash five of its flights on the route during most of the winter season - from twelve to seven weekly. Amsterdam will be reduced from ten weekly to daily flights, while Stuttgart, which was once served once per day, will now operate four times per week. Services to Frankfurt and Berlin will be reduced from seven weekly departures to six, while Brussels and Milan will run five times per week. The Belgrade - Zagreb route, launched last winter season with double daily flights, will shed one morning and one evening service over the weekends and will now operate twelve times per week instead. Zurich and Paris will also be affected, with the popular routes now operating thirteen, instead of fourteen times per week. Several additional flights to the Swiss city will operate during the first week of January.
As was the case last year, the reduction in flights excludes the busy lead-in and the immediate aftermath to the Christmas and New Year holidays. The majority of services between mid-December and mid-January will operate at similar levels to that of last winter season. Previously, Air Serbia's CEO, Dane Kondić, said, "Air Serbia continuously evaluates its network to ensure it is in line with passenger demand and is commercially sustainable. These decisions will enable us to place greater focus on key areas of the business that demonstrate the strongest potential for sustained long-term growth". Beirut and Tirana will receive a boost in the number of operated flights this winter. The service to the Lebanese capital will now operate four times per week, instead of last year's three, with an additional fifth weekly flight to be added between mid-December and mid-January. Furthermore, services to Tirana will run five times per week instead of last year's three. Flights to Abu Dhabi, Athens, Dusseldorf, Podgorica, Prague, Rome, Sarajevo, Sofia, Skopje, Tel Aviv and Tivat remain unchanged when compared to last winter season. Services to Ljubljana increased to twelve per week mid-way through last winter (fourteen during the peak holiday months) and remain unchanged this season too.
The 2015/16 winter season runs until March 26, 2016. Please note that the changes listed below are preliminary and based on current availability in the Global Distribution System (GDS). EX-YU Aviation News will be bringing you winter season changes for each national carrier in the former Yugoslavia by the end of next week. In the meantime, you can also review planned modifications made by Adria Airways.
| Destination | Frequency W14/15 | Frequency W15/16 | Change | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abu Dhabi | 7 | 7 | - | - |
| Amsterdam | 10 | 7 | ▼ 3 | - |
| Athens | 7 | 7 | - | 10 flights from DEC19 - JAN16 |
| Banja Luka | 4 | 3 | ▼ 1 | - |
| Beirut | 3 | 4 | ▲ 1 | 5 flights from DEC19 - JAN16 |
| Berlin | 7 | 6 | ▼ 1 | 7 flights from DEC19 - JAN16 |
| Brussels | 7 | 5 | ▼ 2 | 6 flights from DEC20 - JAN16 |
| Bucharest | 7 | 7 | - | - |
| Budapest | 7 | 0 | ▼ 7 | - |
| Copenhagen | 7 | 4 | ▼ 3 | 6 flights from DEC17 - JAN12 |
| Dusseldorf | 7 | 7 | - | - |
| Frankfurt | 7 | 6 | ▼ 1 | - |
| Istanbul | 7 | 7 | - | - |
| Larnaca | 3 | 0 | ▼ 3 | - |
| Ljubljana | 12 | 12 | - | 14 flights from DEC20 - JAN17 |
| London - Heathrow | 7 | 7 | - | - |
| Milan | 6 | 5 | ▼ 1 | - |
| Moscow | 12 | 7 | ▼ 5 | 11 flights from DEC18 - JAN18 |
| Paris | 14 | 13 | ▼ 1 | 14 flights from DEC20 - JAN17 |
| Podgorica | 21 | 21 | - | - |
| Prague | 10 | 10 | - | - |
| Rome | 6 | 6 | - | 7 flights from DEC22 - JAN12 |
| Sarajevo | 7 | 7 | - | - |
| Sofia | 7 | 7 | - | - |
| Skopje | 7 | 7 | - | - |
| Stockholm | 5 | 4 | ▼ 1 | 6 flights from DEC19 - JAN16 |
| Stuttgart | 7 | 4 | ▼ 3 | 6 flights from DEC19 - JAN16 |
| Tel Aviv | 4 | 4 | - | - |
| Tirana | 3 | 5 | ▲ 2 | - |
| Tivat | 7 | 7 | - | - |
| Thessaloniki | 5 | 4 | ▼ 1 | 6 flights from DEC21 - JAN18 |
| Vienna | 14 | 14 | - | - |
| Warsaw | 6 | 4 | ▼ 2 | - |
| Zagreb | 14 | 12 | ▼ 2 | 14 flights from DEC19 - JAN17 |
| Zurich | 14 | 13 | ▼ 1 | - |

Comments
They are very important for airlines operating the hub-and-spoke model.
It is the only way that ASL could maintain yields, loads, and high frequency year round.
As for Italy it is hugely seasonal (like Scandinavian routes). Remember that even Wizz Air and Easy Jet could not sustain flights to Rome and these were suspended before Air Serbia came around.
Down with reality!
If I am a Greek person wanting to fly to Copenhagen. Last winter I had daily flights, that is daily connections. This year I will have just four which is horrible. But JU's competition will offer a great number of frequencies, that is a greater number of seats, which in theory should mean cheaper fares and more flexibility.
In other words, JU's winter timetable will make them less competitive on the international arena. Those who might find this appealing are those who will be flexible with their dates just to chase the cheapest fare around- and those passengers are not loved by any airline.
Rodney & Team of AIR SERBIA fan✈✈✈. Kraljevo✈Sydney.
OS radi vezebe Preko PUY sa B772 posto neki prelaze sa A320 i B763 na B772.
INN-NS
Pa eto znate moje ime sto se sad vi ne predstavite da znamo dalje :)
INN-NS
It can not be expected to offer passengers and espesially high paying passengers the frequensies that they desire and fill A320s at the same time.
It needs RJs to fly to airports like Kiev, Barcelona, Geneva, Thessaloníki, Larnaka, Budapest, Stockholm, Saint Petersburg, Yerevan, Tbilisi, Cairo.
Is also needs them to increase frequencies on it's existing routes.
Air Serbia FAIL!
INN-NS što bi sa onim ATR-om koji će doć. Jel to isto ko i A330 za Peking - Kasper avion. Niko ga ne vidi osim tebe?
The new lounge, the business seats and the Wi-Fi will be used by business passengers. And to them frequencies to fly to their meetings when they need to are far more important than things like metal cutlery and porculan dishes.
Samo je Jat dobiovao manje subvencije (odnosno dugovi su mu bili manji nego što Air Serbia sada dobiva subvencija).
Znači danas Air Serbia košta porezne obveznike više za isti broj letova.
INN-NS
- 2,7 miliona EUR tzv. "profita"
- da nema subvencija Air Serbia bi bila 68,3 miilona EUR u gubitku
No čak i taj tzv. "prihod" je sumnjiv jer je 9,2 miliona EUR knjiženo iz "čudnih" ostalih prihoda.
Subvencije su iznosile 44% prihoda od prodaje putničkih karata!!!!!!!
I još se Beogradskom aerodromu ne plaća. Znači još dodatan novac uz subvencije koji je "udio u financiranju" jer se nema para da se uloži u posao kao i Etihad.
A Beogradski aerodrom je toliko rekordno profitabilan samo zato što
- "sretnom" okolnošću Država je uplatila 2.100.000.000,00 dinara onih prastarih dugova Jata koje je na sebe preuzela baš predzadnji dan 2004. godine
- još toliko starih dugova uplatila u 2015.
- zbog toga je Aerodrom Beograd bio u rekordnom dobitku, i bez tog novca bio bi u ogromnim problemima
- isplatom dividende večinskom vlasniku, taj isti novac je vračen državi, znači profitabilnost aerodroma zapravo se temelji tek na prebacivanju novaca sa računa na račun i nazad
- toliko o tome kako skoro 300 miliona EUR starih dugova Jata neće biti teret poreznim obveznicima
A što iduće godine kada više neće biti uplate "starog duga"?
A sa kojim novcem će se nadograditi aerodrom, kupiti oprema, sortirnica, prilagoditi aerodrom letovima za SAD?
Kreditima, novim dugovima? Jer oni koji plačaju odlaze, režu linije i frekvencije, a Air Serbija i dalje neće plačati, dakle novaca je sve manje i manje i manje!
Trebao je doći još jedan ATR a možda i ne dođe!
Neće biti rezanja u zimskom redu letenja, ali eto ipak ih ima i ogromna su.
Air Serbia je profitabilna, no da nema 71 milion EUR subvencija bila bi 68 miliona u gubicima, ali to se sada ignorira!
Aerodrom Beograd je profitabilan ali zato što mu je Srbija uplatila deo subvencije 29.12.2014. a ostatak od 2,1 milijardu dinara u 2015. koje je dobar deo vratio kroz dividendu. Znači nije profitabilan od poslovanja nego od kreativnog knjigovodstva. I ovo ignoriraš.
Sine, jesi li naučio lekciju?
INN-NS
- Network still completely imbalanced by the fact that over 70% of destinations are to Western Europe. They accused OU of that but with JU the problem is even bigger. You don't connect pax from AMS to CDG via BEG.
- South-East Europe with exception from Greece and Romania (due to its high population) unable to feed a Western network even on this scale coupled with very low-yields from the surrounding countries. Turkey absent from the picture cause of the absence of night flights to Istanbul and thereby of connectivity to a number of destinations. Even if IST is "doing well", it could do much better. Destinations such as KIV still not covered and not even in the plans.
A line to Spain is also needed in order to boost the lines to Romania, Bulgaria and Moscow which is reduced to an abhorrent and abstract 7 per week.
- No network reaction from Air Serbia to the banning of Russian airlines from Ukraine by opening Kiev or Odessa by Atr (most of pax on Aeroflot surprisingly connected to Europe), neither to the imminent Iranian opening that airlines such as A3 or PS didn't loose time to place the right bet on. Complete lethargy by the management in this regard.
- Warsaw is a disaster, i see it as the next line being cut next winter season once LOT returns. AUH staying the way it is, it's a positive sign they were able to improve the figures.
- The ME3 method of ripping O&D passengers (from rich Gulf states) while allowing the transit ones to get reasonable if not sometimes ridiculous fares subsidised by the first doesn't work in Belgrade. Three day promotions of different destinations each weak (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) not enough and can't replace the constant affordable if not reasonable fares for the local population, Air Serbia has branded itself as an expensive carrier and Serbs will stay away from it, Wizz will grow again and rightfully so.
While the ME3 can allow themselves to place the greatest focus on the transit passenger and disregard the local ones, Air Serbia has to do the other way around, at least until its network grows to a scale of a real transfer airline (most of capital cities/regional centres within 2.000-3.000 kilometres covered).
- Another mistake of porting the ME3 model - fleet unadapted for the purpose. The absence of regional jets seriously hurting the airline. JU's fleet should look like a mix of LOT and UIA modes albeit on a smaller scale. A319 could have justified itself only in the case of large presence of cargo on flights to say LCA or EVN (long light-load routes) if it was to be opened but that so far ain't happening.
I won't repeat everything that was said by the poster down-bellow.
- Biggest problem and hardest to solve: internal forces within the company that didn't allow this to happen.
+1
A što je sa ATR i A330?
A uz to je Srbija uplatila krajem 2014. i u 2015. još 4,2 milijarde dinara aerodromu Beograd na ime starih Jatovih dugova zbog čega je AB bio profitabilan.
Upravo zato da se ne vidi kako je 71 milion državnih subvencija pravdan kao prihod, a bez čega bi Air Serbia bila 68 miliona u minusu.
Duplo većem nego što ga je imao Jat.
znaci 71 milion evra prihoda od drzavne subvencije koji se knjize u prihodima
+ nize aerodromske takse koje mogu da se vide u manjim rashodima
LOL, that is INN-NS talking?
UA uvodi od 25 Maja EWR-ATH 7pw sa B763
OS uvodi ODS koju ASL iz ne znam kog razloga ignorise i PEK takodje uvode.
LX je uveo bezbroj novih destinacija u ovom regionu.
LO uveo bezbroj konkurentnih Prekookeanskih linija .
Jedna velika graska je bila sto ASL nije uzeo od HG Embraer 190 koji su na kraju zavrsili kod 2L.
Nazalost uz velik trud EY je doslo do ovog rezanja .
INN-NS
AY je pre nekoliko godina slao za INN E190 a sad salju A320.
INN-NS
http://www.gcmap.com/map?P=&R=1864nm%40BEG&MS=wls&MX=540x540&PM=*
In North America those aircraft are flying even longer distances.
I would add to the above destinations also AMM, Alexandria, AYT, ESB, HAM, DUS, HER.
-13% fro JU!
INN-NS
ASL shouldn't wait because the competitors don't!
To install wifi on the rest of the Airbus fleet as planned by 1Q 2016, one Airbus needs to be offline almost all the time, as is YU-APC right now. For scheduled maintenance that require prolonged time off like C checks, it is likely couple of planes will have to go offline for a couple of weeks during winter. If at least some 737s are going to be retired, even one or two jets less in a Boeing fleet is a significant capacity drop. When you take all of this into account, network has to shrink for the winter, so those cuts are not surprising at all. Tide will turn next spring with JFK flights and additional planes joining the fleet.
+1 :D
Because JU is reducing it's flights by that much.
I takodje hvale minimum jos 4-5 ATR72.
INN-NS
Kao šlag na tortu imamo i LOT koji.počinje da leti za manje od tri meseca.
Stefan
13% reduction is compared with last winter's schedule, not this summer's.
INN-NS
Moscow's reduction is too big!
Why is JU surrendering this market to Aeroflot?
INN-NS
Ovo smanjenje frekvencija za cak 70 letova nedeljno jeste katastrofalno i po mojoj licnoj proceni ce zbog manjeg broja konekcija, pa i konkurentnih aviokompanija u regionu samo smanjiti broj putnika, ali da sad ceo dan pljujem po blogu i tvrdim nesto iskljucivo na osnovu svojih procena koje su vama vecini iskljucivo pesimisticne evo ne znam.
http://tesdfdfd.blogspot.rs/2012/10/jat-airways-winter-20122013.html
Now THAT'S a drastic cut. Complete capitulation to TK.
INN-NS
Cityjet of Ireland has today announced their order for 15 Sukhoi Superjets.
This may be the ideal aircraft for ASL because they can then have an aircraft with about 65-70% of the capacity of a A319 while still being able to offer:
-Better passenger comfort compared to other RJs.
-More range than most other RJs.
-Quicker availability than new Embraers.
-More cargo capacity than many other RJs.
-Lower purchase price than other RJs.
-Maintenance and support is close by (Venice).
I heard that the Russian government is teaming up with their bank to offer very inexpensive credit or leasing options.
INN-NS
It is 70 less flights a week.