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| Air Serbia to launch transatlantic flights from June 1, 2016 |
Air Serbia today officially announced it will launch its first long haul transatlantic flights from June 1, 2016. The carrier will run five weekly flights from Belgrade to New York with a leased two-cabin Airbus A330-200 aircraft. "The launch of non-stop flights between Belgrade and New York in June next year will be a hugely proud and significant moment in the short history of Air Serbia, demonstrating the growth and ambitions of the airline. We cannot underestimate the positive impact the new service will have on the people and businesses of Serbia as we open this air-bridge to the United States, which is home to so many Serbian communities who will now have a unique opportunity to fly to Serbia with the national airline", the Serbian Prime Minister, Aleksandar Vučić said. He noted that the A330-200 will likely be leased from an Indian carrier (presumably Etihad Airways Partner - Jet Airways). The President and CEO of Etihad Airways, as well as Vice-Chairman of the Air Serbia Supervisory Board, James Hogan, said, “In addition to creating a safe and commercially-sustainable airline, one of the pledges we made when Air Serbia was launched in 2013 was to re-connect Serbia with major Serbian population centres around the world. We are naturally delighted, therefore, to announce the launch of the New York service which, as well as enhancing business and cultural ties between the two countries, will provide a major boost to inbound tourism to Serbia. The new service shows one of the main strengths of Etihad Airways Partners. In launching this transatlantic service, Air Serbia can call upon the expertise and resources of pilot and cabin crew training, as well as fleet and engineering support”.
The CEO of Air Serbia, Dane Kondić, said the airline will offer five weekly flights to New York since the airline will initially lease a single A330-200. He noted that passengers will be offered flights via Berlin and Dusseldorf with Air Serbia's codeshare partner Air Berlin on the remaining two days when Air Serbia isn't be operating services with its own metal. He noted that the airline is expected to receive a permit for the flights from US authorities "any day now". “The launch of the Belgrade - New York non-stop service is a fantastic example of the positive impact of the Air Serbia strategic plan, which is progressing well and continues to be on-track to meet and surpass its targets. We have been asked for many months when a new United States service will start, and we are pleased now to reveal the destination and intended launch date and look forward to welcome guests onboard our flights between Belgrade and New York, offering them our world-famous Serbian cuisine and hospitality as they cross the Atlantic”, Mr Kondić noted. The transatlantic flights will be scheduled so as to offer quick connections for passengers from Southeast Europe and the Balkans.
• "The next long haul service could be Beijing. We talked about this", Mr Vučić says. Mr. Kondić adds, "We are expecting a permit to the USA any day now. We plan to fly 5 times per week to New York since we will have one A330 aircraft. On the other two days, we will offer codeshare flights with Air Berlin via Dusseldorf and Berlin".
• Head of the Air Serbia Supervisory Board, Siniša Mali, says, "Profits in 2015 up 30%". Serbian Prime Minister, Aleksandar Vučić, adds, "Flights to New York are a big success. We will have a good aircraft, the A330-200, which I assume we will lease from an Indian company. We are showing the new face of Serbia. I hope we Air Serbia will also buy another airline in the region".
• Etihad Airways CEO James Hogan says Jat Airways was in serious decline. "Today we have a leading airline in the Balkans. Revenue is up 103%. We need the people of Serbia to get behind their national carrier", Mr Hogan says.
• Air Serbia launching flights to New York in 2016 with Airbus A330-200 aircraft five times per week. The airline is in talks with aircraft leasing companies.
• Mr Kondić says, "I have one major piece of news for you today". Beforehand, he says the airline handled more than two million passengers during the first three quarters of 2015. Air Serbia's charter brand handled 110.000 passengers on some twenty destinations.
• Today's speakers include Air Serbia CEO Dane Kondić, Etihad Airways CEO James Hogan, Supervisory Board Chairman Siniša Mali and Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić.
• Etihad Airways CEO James Hogan will speak at the conference today.
• Press conference expected to start soon. A large number of Air Serbia and Etihad Airways staff present including crew from both companies.
Comments
Good work admin, and thanks for the live stream option!
Rodney near ✈MORAVA AIRPORT✈. KVO✈SYD.
After how long? One year? Two? Five? Never?
Can I go around it in any way?
Apparently they can not launch the service in time for the summer season.
You cant expect me to write here who told me.
Anon 10:49 any airline needs several months of preparations (marketing, interlining agreements, new vendors in US, deals and promotions with travel agencies, arrangements for accommodations, offices) that are way bigger than passengers realize.
You can't just start flying a couple of months after you get the license from the authorities.
Completely agree, it is understandable, but have they issued a licence, it must be inevitable step.
INN-NS
Pa pre Serptembra je , bilo je kasnilo zbog papirologe a ne mene .
INN-NS
2. Malev did not have a strategic partner to back it up. Without that partner there would be no ASL and Jat would die.
3. Any airline can go bust, it is a tough industry. But Malev and Air Serbia are not really comparable scenarios. If Air Serbia fails it will be first because of politics which is its weak spot. Other than that it has some potential - which of course does not mean that potential will be fulfilled.
Slobodno recite ako imate sta ali nemate zato necete ni da kazete .
Jeste radostan za mene a za vas cisto sumnjam.
INN-NS
Of course, politics also had to do with it.
Mind you, Gauss (their CEO) went on to run BT and look at what he did there.
INN-NS
INN-NS
Nazalost JFK nece biti jos objavljen, zbog cekanja na odgovor Amera.
No one said that they weren't stealing from it, they were but that wasn't the primary reason for the airline's demise- it was one of the factors but not the primary one.
I can't complain, it's thanks to Malev (and OS) that I got a chance to fly on one. :)
Ali dovoljno je i ovo sto sto ce biti objavljeno.
INN-NS
INN-NS
INN-NS
http://tangosix.rs/2015/09/11/tango-six-otkriva-dokumenti-ministarstva-odbrane-dokazuju-da-ministar-odbrane-nije-govorio-istinu-o-muzeju-vazduhoplovstva/
INN-NS
If you want to put a ad for something you pay a lot green $$$$ and voila there you have it satellite tv stations. simply as 1+1=2 nothing strange
INN-NS
A333 cena je 250-900
INN-NS
Anyway congratulations to Air Serbia for this, I was expecting from them to announce some flights to airports like MAD, BCN, CAI, LED, KBP, OSL, PRN but never mind.
INN-NS
INN-NS
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society.php?yyyy=2015&mm=11&dd=04&nav_id=95938
Don't worry about the two hours extra time in BEG as opposed to VIE, MUC, FRA etc. because sometimes in those airports the connections time could be 4+ hours. So it works out to be about the same.
Good Travels
Drago mi je sto ce ponovo u bivsoj Jugoslaviji biti letova preko bare i iskreno mogu reci da sam predpostavio da ce BEG biti prvi ako opet bude nekadasnji letova jer je najveci aerodrom u regionu i ZAG je ipak mali sto se tice broja putnika godisnji. Nema ni 3 miliona putnika i to ti nije nista.
Jedino mislim da Air Serbia uzima riziku i da je 50-50 dal ce biti profita i dal su uopste spremni za ovaku veliku stvari jer njihova mreza nije dobra (malo je to uporedeno sa Aegean) i jos su se neke destinacije ukinule i mnoge su smanjene. Takoder i skupo je letiti za USA i puno ce njih para ovo kostati.
Za kraj, nek se pripreme na jaku konkurenciju. Idu sa jednim A330-200 protiv Lufthanse, Alitalia, KLM, Air France, British Airways i Turkish Airlines. Ja mislim da Vucic ne zna kakva je konkurencija.
Any hints? Montenegro, B&H?
American would be really good because Air Serbia could then launch ORD as well.
B&H? What is there to buy?
So for the people who always attack the critical commentators and label them 'haters' can take a break today.
-- Charlie
INN-NS
As great as it was to hear the news today, there was still so much missing from the announcement today.
Turnaround times will be very tight and what will happen if the plane goes tech? Horrible planning. This is a disaster waiting to happen.
http://www.bhstring.net/tuzlauslikama/tuzlarije/viewnewnews.php?id=66327
JU shouldn't have issues with ac going tech. The A330's will be relatively newer than the B767 GW was using. That aside, the maintenance on the aircraft will be significantly better than that of GW which had some appauling issues with their ac ie: the oxygen masks.
Worst comes to worst, EY group have the ac (AB, AZ, EY, 9W) and pax could easily be transferred over to AB and AZ, not to mention the other airlines available ex JFK to Europe.
1) it is amazing that you will choose to fly a Serbian carrier rather than the Star Alliance options you have ex LJU ie: OS, LH, LX, JP etc.
2) I am sure you have seen that JU prices fit your budget for travel and find the timetable more convenient compared to LH, JP, OS etc?
3) And since you talk on transit times lets touch again on the timetable. So you know the timetable of JU for the JFK flights, so it will be nice of you to share this information with us. You already know that you will loose time connecting in BEG, so do share the timetable with us :)
Svaka cast Ceo G Hoganu G Vucicu i svim zaposlenim a posebno Pilotima.i drago mi sto sam od pocetka bio upravu.
INN-NS
The argument of price dumping doesnt work. Ofcourse we will expect initial sales and incentitives for pax to fly JU transatlantic but this will be less and less as the route matures. The same as we have already seen the past 2 years. Nothing new.
Lets not jump the gun and talk of ticket prices when that changes with the basic economics of supply and demand. No destination in no airline has a fixed price. We are talking about an airline company and not city public transport.
Last but not least, JAT America was years ago, and much has changed in aviation since then. Aviation in Serbia has changed alot in the past 2 years in itself let alone in the days of JAT America. I am sure enough analysis has been made and they see an opportunity and will see how it works out.
Final approval was supposed to come a couple days back according to Kondic in the press conference. It should come within the week he expects. This is probably why ticket sales havent started or a schedule released.
But who knows, maybe we will see 4x ORD, 4x YYZ, 5x JFK, later on when they add another plane.
AZ is in the same alliance as JU.
LH and AF are going from strike to stike which could have a possitive effect on JU in the region.
I did earlier speculate that JU could be used to compliment AZ and AB who both have morning flights JFK but nothing in the late afternoon, which works well with JU's regional network.
I would also assume a RO, A3 and AZ codeshare to be put onto the flights.
Depart BEG @ say, 13-14:00.
Arrive JFK @ 17-18:00 (local time).
Depart JFK @ 20-21:00
Arrive BEG @ 9:00 or so.
Does that make sense in terms of travel time, loading at gate, disembarkment etc.?
I read Marko's post as meaning two additional hours of flying. That is, of course, different to hours of travel. But personally I would rather have a 4 hour connection in FRA than a one 1 hour connection, say in IST, and spend 3 additional hours flying (particularly Y class). In such a hypothetical scenario, the travel times would be identical, and assuming the origin departure times are the same, I would prefer the shorter 'air' time and longer connection enjoying a drink or shopping at a world class terminal (something BEG does not offer, I am certain you would agree).
Also, perhaps Marko was being a little cheeky, sorry I can't mind-read, but at least he's considering flying JU. You should take that as a positive.
Finally, do not underestimate the response from TK. While JU can restrict the number of TK flights to BEG it cannot stop them from dumping prices for JFK flights from its Balkans destinations to the point where JU bleeds so much money it may have to drop the route. Remember, Serbia is behind JU, not UAE, Qatar or KSA. TK flies to essentially every destination that JU does and is extremely well positioned to cause incredible damage to JU. A different scenario altogether would be if EY decides to channel some of its traffic via BEG to overcome its expansion issues in North America (in which case TK will not lose much of its transatlantic passengers from the Balkans). It will truly be fascinating to see what will happen over the next 2-3 years. I, for one, am rooting for JU to do well and for all the Balkans passengers to have better options to fly to JFK (something different to *A would be healthy).
Best wishes.
What do you think is a better schedule?
BEG 0900 - 1300 JFK
JFK 1500 - 0600 BEG+1
That along with modifications in the entire schedule.
That schedule could work well however i tend to give more importance to destinations such as TLV, BEY, SKG, ATH and IST (if a night flight is introduced) than the Ex-Yu region all combined. I am in favour of a third daily to Zagreb at night time. Anyway it wouldn't fit in either of the two schedules as it currently stands.
INN-NS
And also HER during summer would be a smart addition.
sto mislite da je Adria nova krila Evrope, to je Vase misljenje. Lepo je misliti jer Vase misli ne menjaju fakt. ✈R✈
INN-NS
Air Serbia has a lot of positives going for it at the moment and I think the investments they made in the service they offer while most of the European and American airlines are going backwards here will definitely help boost their chances here.
If these investments end up profitable for the airline, well it will be a huge coup because they are bucking the trend here.
In saying that, I would take any talk of profitability with a grain of salt, even or especially if it comes from Hogan. At least for the next few years regarding Air Serbia but I'm sure the flow on benefits will make up for part of it.
The A330 is a great choice too, one of the most comfortable planes to fly on in my opinion.
Interesting point however the midnight wave would need to be boosted, that is, to have more flights. Not only that, most connections can only be made in 1 direction ie: BEY departs BEG at 23,45 whilst in your proposed schedule the JFK flight would arrive at 6am. The arrival time comes into the wrong waves. South and East is 1 wave group whilst the North and West is another. JFK (west) will be arriving in your schedule in the South and East wave.
Finally, I dont think many in the region will be willing to travel in the middle of the night to BEG to be catching the connecting flight to JFK, especially not the elderly.
lets not under estimate JU here. For an airline its size it has a decent number of frequent fliers (loyal customer base) whom if offered would choose JU over other airlines.
TK I doubt would hurt their yields on such a flight for a drastic period of time. Many destinations transfer to their N American network too not just the Balkans. Having said that BEG-IST is alot O&D.
Where JU can hurt TK is that JU better knows the domestic market. The Serbs in the diaspora would always choose Serbian over foreign. People of the ex-YU region would no longer have the language barrier when travelling such a distance, something TK, LH, OS, LX, KL, AZ, AF etc can not offer.