Belgrade sets sights on regional competition


Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport has identified Budapest, Sofia and Thessaloniki airports as its primary competitors in the region in the coming years and no longer sees the likes of Zagreb and Sarajevo as its main rivals, according to General Manager, Saša Vlaisavljević. The airport is investing heavily in its infrastructure to make it more competitive against its counterparts and unlike others in the former Yugoslavia handles a significant number of transfer passengers. "As an example, in 2015 Belgrade Airport had a greater profit margin than several others in the region combined (Sofia, Ljubljana, Sarajevo, Tirana and Zagreb). All of our projects are financed from our own funds without a single loan being taken out. This year we completed work on a de-icing platform which is not a common feature at European airports, giving our customers significant benefits. We are equipped to better handle emergency situations because we have what others don't in this area. It's already happening and we are being selected over other airports in the region because we offer the latest equipment and technology", Mr Vlaisaljvević notes.

Last year, Belgrade Airport saw its number of transfer passengers increase by half a million and this upward trend has continued into 2016. "Air Serbia has made a significant impact on our business. We have an excellent relationship with the airline, which has no debts owed towards us. This wasn't the case with Jat. One of the most important events was the resumption of transatlantic flights to the United States. This gave the airport an excellent opportunity to position itself in this part of Europe as the most important transfer point", the General Manager says. He adds that the airport is estimated to record at least 26 million euros in profit this year, its best on record, and a significant improvement from just 115.000 euros in 2013.

Nearby airports in the region have also been growing at a rapid pace. Thanks in-part to the battle between low cost rivals Wizz Air and Ryanair, Sofia Airport has seen 20% passenger growth so far this year and is now neck-and-neck with its traditionally busier counterpart in Belgrade. However, closer to home, the development of Niš Airport as Serbia's main low cost hub has also attracted a number of passengers from the country who had previously used Belgrade as their point of departure. "Our relationship with Niš Airport is based on cooperation. We have donated equipment and provided financial assistance to Constantine the Great Airport on numerous occasions. Developing secondary airports throughout Serbia is extremely important for our country and its citizens, as it boosts the number of tourists, business travellers and the local economy. A total of five low cost airlines currently operate services to Belgrade (Wizz Air, easyJet, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Flydubai and Pegasus Airlines, as well as Germanwings and Vueling on a seasonal summer basis. The best example that low cost airlines recognise Belgrade Airport's potential is that Wizz Air will launch a number of new routes next May, while Transavia will introduce flights from Amsterdam", Mr Vlaisavljević concludes.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:04

    I don't usually agree with Vlaisavljevic but he is correct. The airport's main competitor probably at the moment is Sofia. Passenger numbers are pretty much the same now. But LCCs will continue to expand in Sofia so Belgrade needs to find the right answer to this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:16

      One solution to all challenges - airport concession!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:19

      I don't see much BEG can do anymore. Wizz Air is expending to a respectable size, Air Serbia is doing well for the airport. The market is not as big as in Bulgaria where you have a much bigger diaspora and you are a country in the EU, which brings its own benefits for air travel.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:26

      Plus ski centers around Sofia.

      On the other hand, Sofia is in EU for 10 years already, economy is bigger than Serbian for 15 years. Diaspora is bigger for long time. I cannot turn my head around the fact that Sofia trails Belgrade for so long.
      Any explanation?

      LCC are good for traffic numbers, but not great for profit and future development. It is strange to have the capital airport in the country dominated by LCCs. Only other country in that position is Hungary, and against its own choice.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous15:39

      whose economy is bigger then Serbia's? Bulgarian? don't be ridiculous. it's the same, if not worse

      Delete
    5. Anonymous15:45

      Hate to break the party, but:
      Bulgaria GDP 2015: 49 billion USD
      Serbia GDP 2015: 36.5 billion USD

      Delete
    6. Anonymous17:40

      When did Bulgaria become part of Ex YU?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous18:51

      I don't know for GDP, but Sofia salaries are 100 euro lower tha in Belgrade, average pension lower than in Serbia, and 100% they have lower GDP PPP. Purchase Parity GDP is only valid, plus 30% of Serbian economy is not in official facts (grey economy). Thanks.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous01:00

      Serbia GDP PPP 106,5 billion USD
      Bulgaria GDP PPP 141,4 billion USD

      Serbia GDP PPP per capita 14.928 USD
      Bulgaria GDP PPP per capita 19.839 USD

      Sofia GDP PPP per capita 26.600 USD
      Belgrade GDP PPP per capita 21.461 USD

      Sofia average wages 645 EUR
      Belgrade average wages 585 EUR

      Delete
    9. Anonymous07:42

      That's because income taxes are much higher in Serbia so 90% of employers give the rest of the salary in the enveloppe.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous08:43

      The question remains. Why SOF trails BEG for so long?

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:06

    They need to start thinking of diversifying their offer now. I'm glad Transavia is starting flights next year. The real jackpot will be if like Mali said a few days two routes are launched from China in 2017. That would be impressive and make them more competitive.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:14

      + direct flights to Central Asia

      Delete
    2. Nemjee09:36

      And who will fly to central Asia?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:50

      Central Asians.

      Delete
    4. Nemjee09:55

      To where exactly?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:14

      NYC, Tivat, Dubrovnik, Venice, Bejrut, Tel Aviv

      Delete
    6. Nemjee10:28

      I am sure the market from Central Asia to Dubrovnik and Tivat is minimal while there are currently no BEG-VCE flights.

      As far as NYC, BEY or TLV go, JU's presence in all of these markets is too weak for them to win over some of the passengers. Also, what market is there from Lebanon to places like Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan?

      For the time being, Central Asia is TK's and SU's playground. Until JU can offer a strong and competitive European network it doesn't need such risky and costly adventures. Central Asia is best served through code-share agreements via SVO.

      Before thinking of the Orient, JU might want to start with serving ATH two times per day throughout the year.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:29

      Bavis se aviokompanijama kao da ih posedujes a nemas ni prebijenog cvonjka u dzepu. Dubrovnik i Tivat mogu leti da popune dva leta nedeljno kao i sardinija i sicilija preko Avioleta iz BEG.
      Ako budu sirili lokalnu mrezu letovi u centralnu aziju mogu da budu veliki pogodak za AS. Austrian tamo leti. I ne treba vise malo kavkaza i uzbekistan i kazahstan. To je tri aviona otprilike. jedan ili dva mogu da budu i codesherovi tamosnjih kompanija.
      U ATH nema sta da traze osim da podese dobro let prema NYC.

      Delete
    8. Nemjee11:49

      And why do you think Austrian Airlines flies to places like Kazakhstan?
      In 2014 alone trade between Austria and Kazakhstan was valued at €3.1 billion and there are currently over 140 joint Austrian-Kazakh companies.

      But sure, you are right... Air Serbia should fly to Kazakhstan so as to offer connections for three daily passengers heading to TIV and DBV. Not to mention that it can offer connections to southern Italy via Aviolet that is a charter carrier which doesn't operate any scheduled flights.


      I do like your logic. Fly two times per week to Central Asia to offer connections to Tivat but ignore a massive market such as ATH. Cool.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous12:19

      Druze, da postoji trziste izmedju Tivta, Dubrovnika i centralne Azije pa valjda bi prvo krenuli sa carter letovima.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous13:22

      Ko ide u Antaliju ici ce i u Dubrovnik. Carteri na Jadran stizu iz Jekatrinburga koji je jednako daleko koliko i Astana.
      ATH ima veliki aerodrom sa dobrim vezama. Treba da se iskonjoses da dobijes putnike odatle osim za NYC. Ako krece Astana imace putnici gde da idu osim BEG.

      Delete
    11. Nemjee14:02

      У томе и јесте ствар, Ер Србија је од првог дана бележила феноменалне резултате у Атини- много пре летова за Њујорк.
      Иако Атина има одличан избор авио-компанија, тржиште је велико до те мере да има места за све.
      Атина ће постати још лукративнија ако једног дана Ер Србија уведе летове за Чикаго.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous14:31

      U Grckoj sada AS moze samo da uzima deo putnika kao i OU leti. Ejdzn je suvise jak AS moze samo da kopira njihovu mrezu na aerodromima severno od Beograda. Cikago kad bude bude.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:13

    I think what is most important is PROFIT. You achieve nothing if you have 10 million passengers and record a financial loss. If they had just 115,000 EUR profit in 2013 and now have 26,000,000 EUR that's a massive increase. Shows the difference between having Wizz Air as your main customer in 2013 and Air Serbia in 2016.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:19

      +1

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:23

      Profits have increased this year because Air Serbia has also begun paying its use of the airport.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:31

      Actually that had no impact on profits. Because when Air Serbia was exempt from paying the use of the airport in 2014 and 2015 the airport would still get paid but by the government. Now it comes from Air Serbia. The difference came in 2014 because Jat had huge debt towards BEG but the government did nothing about it.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:44

      nope. airport never got reimbursed from government for that. what is the point of leaving such an obvious lie as a comment?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:07

      Air Serbia may be paying taxes now, but how long will it take to recover all that written off debt from Jat?

      I'm sure Wizz payed all the taxes from day 1 on time.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous12:05

      JAT is irrelevant now, it is history. We are now talking about Air Serbia.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous15:28

      Funny, when you talk about tradition, everybody mentions that Air Serbia has a long history, beginning in 1927, but when it comes to financial legacy, suddenly we are at "that was Jat, this is Air Serbia".

      Delete
    8. Anonymous15:52

      Naravno sada su delimicno gazde Arapi. Popisano je sta je drzava Srbija morala da plati. Tradicija je bitna zbog iskustva letenja i usluge i izdrzljivosti na trzistu. Nece Dinkicevci da ugase nacionalnu avio kompaniju.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:29

    Id rather see 10mil pax and zero profit than 5mil pax and 10mil eur profit. Airport should be foundation for every economic growth. More people means more economic activity,more hotels,more jobs...in the end of the day state would benefit more...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:41

      You certainly know very little about economic principles. Your comment is amateurish, to say the least.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:50

      Ok then anon 9:41 please explain so we all understand .

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:18

      Prosto zalazes se za plansku ekonomiju. To je gotovo za BEG.
      To moze da radi Zadar koji ima putnike dva i po meseca. Beograd zivi 12 meseci.

      Delete
    4. Of course 10 mil pax and break even is better than 5 mil pax and 10 mil profit.

      Each pax brings much more to the economy of Serbia than a couple euros in airport taxes. Even it is better than 5 mil pax and 26 mil profit.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:27

      Guys, you better keep on working with salary and never try to run your own business.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous12:16

      Anon 11:27am you sure are the same guy with anon 9:41am I'm still waiting please explain to us ignorant.

      Delete
    7. Alen Šćuric Purger12:45

      Airport can not be categorized as pure business. It is strategic resource which is motor to all other economics fields (tourism, trade, industry, company and politics representing offices in city).

      That is why it is much better to have 10 million passengers with zero profit (than 5 million with huge profit) who will bring to local economy much more money and benefits.

      Let me give you example of LCC. Today short break tourists (and most of modern younger tourists up to 55 years are short break) are used to come to city with LCC. So without LCC there would be no huge number of short break tourist in city. And they don't fly with LCC because they don't have money. They just don't want to spent a lot of money for 2 hours flying and instead they spend it on good hotel, food, drink, rent'a'car, shopping... And short break tourist spent huge amount of money in those 2-3 days in city. That is much bigger benefit for local economy that just tax on airport.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous13:10

      Then one has to state it that way: An airport with 10 million pax and no profit is better than 5 million pax and 10M profit "for the overall economics of the city". In that case you should forget about privatizing the airport and maybe try to nationalize other privately operated companies to support the city and country's economics.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous13:24

      Polovina tih short break su studenti i mladi bracni parovi koji NEMAJU novca.
      Spavaju po hostelima i sl. To je za siromasne zemlje kao Hrvatska i Srbija puno, ali sve je to proleterska beda koju crpi FR WIZZ. Kapitalizam i za njih ima sarenu lazu da se osete srecnim.

      Delete
    10. Alen Šćuric Purger15:24

      Apsolutno neistina. Bojim se da ne znate što su to short break. Studentarija koja ide okolo sa vrečama za spavanje ili po najeftinijim hostelima gdje dijele sobu sa još 20 osoba je potpuno druga kategorija i oni rijetko kada koriste avione. Oni putuju auto-stopom, autobusima, vlakovima ili polovnim kombijem (gdje ih se nagura 8 ili 9 i u njima najčešće i spavaju), štedljivim autima ili motorima...

      Ja govorim o short-break turistima, a to su poslovni ljudi koji zbog svog stila života i manjka vrememena godišnji odmor razdjele u više dijelova, pa ljeti odmaraju 7-10 dana, a par puta godišnje imaju kraće odmora po nekoliko dana (2-5). Takvih ljudi danas ima vrlo mnogo. Od juppyea do srednjeg staleža koji doslovce odlaze na provod u jeftinije gradove.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous15:31

      Srbiji je svaki novi turista bitan. Nasa ekonomija je toliko slaba. Ako spancima ne smetaju turisti koji dolaze na par dana i potrose po malo para, zasto bi nama smetali?

      Delete
    12. Anonymous17:59

      Because Serbia is not Spain?

      That is what Purger is again unable to figure out - his analysis is perfect assuming we are talking about Croatian airports. They need passengers rather than profit, because their LCC passengers are tourists?

      And who uses lowcost to fly to BEG? Tourists who spend money on short breaks? Right, that's why almost all LCC routes from BEG are clone routes of legacy carriers aimed at diaspora. Take Wizz, for example - their only route that can be described as short break tourism route is LUT. Everything else is there to serve diaspora who want to visit their homeland at low cost - these guys don't come to spend any short break money.

      Delete
    13. Alen Šćuric Purger21:08

      That was logic also in Zagreb some 10 years ago. When they change that logic number of tourist start to increase and tourists from Korea, China, USA, Australia, Spain, UK, Germany… become massive appearance.

      Of course Diaspora is biggest number of passengers, especially in LCC. But still more than 30% of LCC passengers in BEG are tourists. But even if just Diaspora flies with LCC that is again huge benefit for local economy. Diaspora brings a lot of money home, if they have good and cheap connections they will travel back home several times per year, even month, will invest in houses and at the end will come back home with money they earn abroad. If not they will bring their families with them out of Serbia, and will be assimilated, never to come back. Responsible country wants Diaspora to come back as much as they can end to spend money in Motherland.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:32

    Impressive results. I think two key things have been reiterated here. That there is no "parasitic" relationship between Air Serbia and the airport - no debts are owed by JU towards BEG. This argument is being used over and over again on this forum, to discredit both. Secondly, that the airport is beeding money and is non-profitable. For a GoS company, $26 million is an impressive result. Even more so, when we know that a concession will be issued during 2017 on the management of the aiport. A strong profit like this will allow the government more maneuvering ground when negotiating the final price.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:40

      well, there are no debts because airport had to write them off.
      secondly, let's wait and see financial statement of airserbia and see if there is a symbiotic relatioship between the the two, or is it a parasitic one where parasite cannot make money once it had to start paying for the airport services.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:41

      You can already see that Air Serbia is making all payments for its use of the airport. Quarterly financial reports are all published for this year.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:44

      No, you are wrong. This is once again the type of gossip that gets regurgitated here over and over gain. There is no debt write-off. This might have been the practice during the first two years of Air Serbia. It is no longer so. There is progressive discounting based on volume, which in not a write-off.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:49

      i am speaking of financial results of airserbia which are certainly not coming out on quarterly basis. they started paying, but what impact will it have on their profit?
      by knowing they had a couple of millions profit in previous years with tens of millions of unpaid airport taxes, which airport later had to write off, most likely it will be a loss.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:56

      @9:49
      i am really worried that this post-truth thing is getting a for grip on this discussion forum.
      this type of posts are either made because you are not reading/comprehending correctly or just to create a murmur and avoid any proper discussion.

      until 2016 - airserbia did't pay taxes, airport needed to write them off
      https://www.krik.rs/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Zakljucak-vlade_Air-Serbia_aerodrom-30.12.2015.pdf

      post 2016 - airserbia does pay taxes, but there is not clue what is the impact on it's bottomline results

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:30

      If JU has losses in 2016, it will not be because of BEG. It will be because of JFK. They announced they count with losses because of JFK until 2018.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:32

      They said that JFK will be loss making until 2018 not that their entire business will be.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous15:31

      Another extremely profitable national carrier in exyu... Only 22 mio USD written off, good for them.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous17:35

      Show me Wizz profits in the first 10 years of operations... not a single EUR of profit

      Delete
  6. Nemjee09:35

    Finally. This is something most of us have been saying all along. That said, I don't know how much of a competitor SOF or SKG are for BEG given that both primarily rely on O&D passengers with almost no transfers. They are more in the same league as ZAG.

    My personal opinion is that BEG's main competitors are OTP, VIE and ATH. Even though BEG is the smallest of them all they are, just like BEG, seeing a mix of O&D and transfer passengers. If JU keeps on growing and actually expands their network then we might see BEG handle six million passengers in the next three years.

    As for the upgrades, once complete, I think BEG will look quite nice and modern.

    I still hope nothing will become of the concession, after all it's no guarantee for a success.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous09:45

    OT: Lufthansa will take over Air Berlin completely! Etihad to cut up to 2000 Jobs. Alitalia bigger problem than anticipated. Lets see what happens with Air Serbia, wehen Etihad pulls out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:46

      and you know it will pull out. lol.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:59

      Clearly someone with no business sense whatsoever.

      Your logic dictates that Etihad will pull out of their single successful European venture because the others are struggling?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:05

      No, but it's much easier for them to pull out from Air Serbia, than from Alitalia or Air Berlin.

      Delete
    4. Nemjee10:09

      But why should they pull out of Air Serbia? Etihad needs full government support for their business model to work and that's what they have in Serbia. As long as it's there they are not going to think of pulling out.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:12

      well you should think in sizes! why should Etihad care about the few cents that Air Serbia is generating for them? In the end it is not as strategically important as Air Berlin or Alitalia would have been.

      Delete
    6. Nemjee10:18

      Actually Air Serbia is becoming extremely important for them since both AZ and AB are failing. If AZ goes belly up then EY will be discredited and their business model proclaimed a failure. Given the nature of AB's demise they might just avoid this scenario.

      By turning Air Serbia around they could always use it as their poster child for any future 'adventures.'

      The last thing EY wants is for governments to demand guarantees before they hand them over their failing carriers. Then again, given the dire situation at EY, I highly doubt they are looking to 'save' any more airlines from imminent bankruptcy.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:22

      Kad krene atlantsnko rerutiranje preko Beograda imacemo dva dnevna leta za NYC. Sve sa Etihadovim masinama u bojama AS.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous00:18

      Kada ce to biti?

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:45

    People forget that Belgrade added 1.5 million passengers in a very short period of time and that definitely had a positive effect on the business. I think in 2017 there will be much bigger growth and it will be interesting to see who actually applies for the concession. I think it is in the best position from other ex-Yu airports which have been put up for concession in the last few years.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous10:06

    He is delusional about BUD. 11,5 million pax this year and growing 10% yearly (based on the last 3 years).

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous10:11

    So according the text, the de-icing platform is completed.
    Can somebody confirm this who has seen aircrafts been de-iced at the platform?
    Btw I'm flying today with LX ZRH-BEG, maybe I can answer my question myself :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:12

      It is completed but officially starts work from January
      http://www.exyuaviation.com/2016/12/belgrade-to-open-de-icing-platform-in.html

      Delete
  11. Anonymous10:14

    "no longer sees the likes of Zagreb and Sarajevo as its main rivals"
    what a pretentious thing to be said by this apparatchik!

    zagreb will finish its upgrade and is a member of eu and is no longer a rival? lol

    there is no real source of growth for belgrade airport in the future. the numbers plateaued with only some modest growth possible.
    this growth of 1+mil passangers was only thanks to airserbia whose numbers peaked, as we all saw, with only low single digits increases in the future possible. transatlantic flights are already here. i don't believe there is much potential to have a profitable connections with china and central asia, so if those flights do happen it will last a season or two. not much more lcc potential...

    So our dear Saša is being delusionall again. Same as when he wanted to pour 30mil€ in Sava Centar

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:16

      You might have missed the part where Wizz Air is basing a second plane in the city.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:21

      Or Transavia launching flights. I guess they will just steal from other airlines since we peaked.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:01

      хахаха what a hateful comment.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:24

      that's peanuts. next time this year airport will have a 2-4% growth (this year it is impressive 2% in passengers 0% in movements) or something like that, along the line of the natural growth of the industry.
      how the hell do you plan to take on budapest with that? and how exactly do you overlap with thessaloniki and sofia?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:26

      Do you seriously think that with Wizz Air bringing another A320 growth will be 2%? The aircraft alone will bring at least an additional 300.000 passengers.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:38

      @ 11:24 po broju putnika sofija ima malo manje solun malo vise sve u 10-15%.

      Delete
    7. Nemjee11:38

      Why are you so shocked by the SKG and SOF comparisons?

      These are their numbers in 2015:

      SKG: 5.341.293
      BEG: 4.776.110
      SOF: 4.088.943

      SOF might be recording crazy numbers but I don't think it will overtake BEG. Both airports will have about the same number of passengers.

      However, let's not forget something here. Sofia's booming numbers are not a result of organic growth. They are there because the market is artificially stimulated as a result of an ongoing feud between FR and W6. What will happen after the war is over? What if Bulgaria Air doesn't make it?

      Just like ZAG, without connecting passengers Sofia will hit a ceiling. There is only so much natural growth a certain market can stimulate. Same with BEG but thanks to Air Serbia we can exceed our natural expectations and grow beyond what's expected of a certain market.
      In a way, BEG's future is tied to Air Serbia.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous12:03

      @11:26 add 300k from where? as i saw new routes are mostly gastarbeiter destinations. it will be mostly taking from other airlines. it's not like they will add some transfer passengers. also count on scale backs from others.

      @11:38 AM i was thinking that they have a small number of overlaps in passengers they are serving. they might be competing in numbers, but is a big question of they compete for the same audience. SOF growth is mostly o-d pax. and thessaloniki, well, they are similar only in numbers.
      and they definitely have more overlaps with zagreb, so why diminish and dismiss them as rivals??? because we like to add more fuel to raging stupidity in relations between two countries?

      Delete
    9. Anonymous12:06

      All of W6 destinations are for gasterbajters but still they increased passenger numbers so the same will happen now. BEG will have 5.4 next year.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous12:26

      then see you in 12 months in these comment string for ceremony of giving "you were right" award. who will win?

      Delete
    11. Anonymous12:32

      Or why wait 12 months? Let's wait and see how BEG performs in December.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous12:32

      No it is not. BEG needs two LCC with base on airport. Wizz with two airplain is not enough. We need connection with Ireland, North Of England, South of France,

      Delete
    13. Anonymous13:04

      @ NemjeeDecember 19, 2016 at 11:38 AM

      "...SOF might be recording crazy numbers but I don't think it will overtake BEG..."

      Unfortunately, Sofia is going to surpass Belgrade by the end of the year.
      At the end of November the difference between the two was around 72.000 passengers with Sofia overtaking Belgrade by 100.000 passengers in November. The same could one expect in December, so...

      Delete
    14. Anonymous13:20

      Sve i da je tako kakve veze Beg ima sa Njofrom koji ima upola manje putnika?

      Delete
    15. Anonymous15:37

      Bulgaria Air is not such a major player in SOF. W6 and FR have larger combined capacity already, don't forget that there are a lot of flights from other carriers (OS,LH,EZY, ...) as well.

      Delete
    16. Anonymous15:43

      Bulgaria Air capacity market-share in Sofia is falling below 20%, so it is certainly not such a major player.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous10:20

    Such a tasteless boasting. You have to be good for your own sake, for the sake of your passengers, not just to be "better" than others.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous10:25

    it's peanuts. next time this year airport will have a 2-4% growth or something like that, along the line of the natural growth of the industry

    ReplyDelete
  14. I think Zagreb and Belgrade will always be competitors by default. With the new terminal I am sure Zagreb will become more appealing to people from the region as a transfer hub. They may not take much away from Belgrade but it is still regional competition. And if OU manages to get its act together and places a larger emphasis on transferring passengers through Zagreb than they could have a real impact on JU and therefore Belgrade. Both OU and JU would be targeting very similar regions so it would be more competition for JU.
    A good OU CEO should be asking themselves how did an airline not far from us add and extra 1 million passengers in three years. If they could do it why couldn't we!?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:34

      That's the thing, ZAG doesn't get any serious feed for the time being. JU and OU only compete in SJJ and SKP which is only a fraction of JU's regional network.

      If OU doesn't make it then there won't be any transfers at ZAG, no matter how great the new terminal might be.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:41

      Ti si u potpunoj zabludi. AS uzima posao OU kao i druge kompanije iz Evrope sa transferima na Jadran i
      tu nista ne mozete i Kucka kad smenite.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:52

      What about OU and OS? That's a much bigger threat.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:19

      Bez uvrede, Zagrebu su konkurenti Ljubljana i Grac. Beograd i Zagreb su razliciti po vise osnova i mogu eventualno biti takmaci u privlacenju cargo saobracaja.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous14:07

      Q400 - I'm afraid that the biggest problem is that OU has some kind of for political/mental obstacle, to digest opening ZAG-BEG route.

      There is no way in hell that they have bigger market in SJJ or SKP, than in BEG, but for some reason, OU is still in the early 1990s with Serbia.
      Their main message is "we don't need you" and for some people it is still hard to see that it is a message of the past.

      There is another misapprehension. That time when Serbia was completely politically isolated and in a total free-fall was an aberration, not a standard, as some people tend to believe. The sooner the people realize it, the better.

      JU is using all that to its advantage.
      Agrokor and other Croatian companies operate in real world.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous14:14

      There is nothing for OU in BEG, they can't compete with JU's double daily flight with really great times. You snooze, you lose.

      Delete
  15. Alen Šćuric Purger13:22

    BEG CEO made political statement, not a airport business one.

    BEG competitors are not related to size, but how many passengers they can take out of Belgrade, or Belgrade can take from their market. In this point of view SJJ was never, but never any competition to BEG. It was always just and only BEG (ZAG, LJU, VIE, IST) feeding destinations.

    So, there are two types of airport competitors to Belgrade:

    1. Airports near to Belgrade who try to attract passengers from Belgrade or part of market is in same target aria for both airports. Those airports are: Budapest (Belgrade and North of Belgrade), Timisoara (Belgrade and East of Belgrade), Niš (Belgrade and South of Belgrade) Tuzla and Osijek (North and East Bosnia, Slavonia), even Sofija (South Serbia) and Zagreb (Slavonia). Of course, some of them are so small to attract just few hundred passengers (Osijek from West Vojvodina), but some are important and attract several hundred thousands (Budapest, Timisoara and Niš because of LCC).

    2. Airports that are direct competitors to BEG as they have same connected routes for feeding. And here biggest competition is IST (Turkish), VIE (Austrian), MUC and FRA (Lufthansa), Athens (Aegean), Prague (ČSA), ZAG (Croatia) and LJU (Adria). OU and JU have just two all year feeding destinations where they compete (SJJ and SKP), but in summer there is much more (PUY, SPU, DBV).

    3. In same time some of airports takes some passengers from BEG feeding destinations because they are near to those destinations. And here ZAG is the biggest competition. Lot of passengers from Banja Luka still fly from ZAG as it is very near, and because of that does not use JU BNX-BEG feeding flights. Same think is with DBV for Tivat potential JU passengers. Also lot of Slovenian passengers (especially those South of Slovenia) use ZAG instead of LJU-BEG feeding route. Every new flights from ZAG are less potential passengers on ZAG-BEG route to feed BEG.

    So to say that ZAG is not main competition to BEG is at least funny. I remember that CTN CEO had same illusions when he was "sure" JU will not be any competition to OU. To believe in such a thing can cost you in air business a lot. But, as I said I don't thing BEG CEO made here business statement but political one

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:06

      Prague (ČSA), ZAG (Croatia) and LJU (Adria)

      I laughed when I read this. All three airlines are minimal players when it comes to connecting flights, JU is light years ahead of them.

      Delete
    2. Alen Šćuric Purger15:47

      Now you are joking right?

      ČSA has fleet almost similar to Air Serbia, same size: 17 planes including one A330, and as in those are not leisure routes as those are served by their shareholder Travel Service size of fleet is same as Air Serbia. They have almost same number of destinations. But in same time they have connections via PRG which is much bigger than BEG. There they have connections to their partners: Travel Service (owner), Korean (owner) and 22 other airlines they have code-share with. Just combined to Travel Service (as owner of CSA they are de facto one company) they are bigger than all 4 exYU airlines together. CSA flies to Zagreb, Skopje, Dubrovnik, Bucharest and Beirut where they are direct competition to Air Serbia. To say that OK is minimal player comparing to JU is total ignorance.

      And as I said, if one does not understand that LJU and ZAG are direct competitors to BEG (of course not the biggest one, but for sure they are) concerning number of potential passengers to use those as feeding or attracting out of BEG feeding routes than one is in illusion just like CTN CEO who does not see danger to OU from JU.

      I made one article where I show that in most of market where JU has competition from OU or JP they are behind. How can one say that for example in SJJ OU is not attracting more passenger than JU if that is a fact, or in SKP where JP is winner. So, that means ZAG and LJU takes some passengers from BEG. For sure much more than SOF or SKG does, which BEG CEO mentioned as competition. Airports which does not have any feeding routes BEG has (exempt Varna).

      Delete
    3. Anonymous16:05

      Air Serbia fleet:

      8 A319
      2 A320
      1 A332

      4 B733

      6 Atr

      Total: 21 aircraft

      And no, Aviolet and Travel Service are not the same. Aviolet is basically Air Serbia with a different brand, no own website, no own IATA code... while Travel Service has all that.

      PRG-BEY summer seasonal
      BEG-BEY 5x in winter

      PRG-SKP nothing yet
      BEG-SKP daily

      PRG-OTP 4 weekly*
      BEG-OTP daily

      *some flights operate with Atr, three hours

      So how exactly is OK a more serious airline than JU? They don't even fly to London for the love of God.

      I don't see who is the ignorant one here... Purger, King of Spin

      Delete
    4. Anonymous16:06

      Even RO has a better network than OK. lol

      Delete
    5. Anonymous17:03

      Anonymous 4:05 pm I disagree with you in the Aviolet matter.Air Serbia must immediately get rid of these B733 they are a disgrace for Air serbia.And that's because you have to see the disappointment on the passengers face when they expect an airbus and suddenly it's changed to this awful B733.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous17:20

      Great analysis Purger!

      Delete
    7. Anonymous17:54

      Belgrade airport should increase fees once A gates and T1 is renovated. It should also increase requirement for airlines to receive discount to 2mil passengers, with additional discount at 3mil passengers. This will be incentive for Air Serbia to reach 3mil passengers, and will push away Wizz.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous18:51

      And in whose interest is for W6 to be pushed away? Definitely not in the passengers' interest.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous19:45

      Anonymous 05.20 great sucking up

      Delete
    10. Alen Šćuric Purger19:53

      1. I did not say that Ok is MORE SERIOUS airline than JU. I am just saying it is competition. Competition can be smaller, less serious, but still is competition.

      2. And OK is not smaller Company. OK is company of same size as JU. Aviolet is charter division, part of business OK does not have any more, but insted of it Travel Servis does that as an owner of OK.

      3. But even if OK is smaller than JU it is still competition. Number of frequencies is relevant but it still acumulates some passengers to OK.

      4. By same logic that OK is not "serious" Company because it does not fly to London, one can say that JU does not fly to Munich, Madrid, Barcelona... That is not an argument.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous21:09

      London is a much bigger and important market than Munich, Madrid and Barcelona, you can't compare then to LON.

      Aviolet is a charter division but the B733 are part of Air Serbia operations on a daily basis something that is not the case with CSA and Travel Service. So in a way JU offers far more seats and frequencies to key markets around. Air Serbia is a far more serious player than OK which has become a hopeless airline turning into a joke. We've all see their plans for PRG-ZAG-SKP.

      Air Serbia is a bigger player than CSA is. Don't forget that OK doesn't even fly to ATH and until recently they didn't even fly to ZRH.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous21:26

      Anonymous 6:51 I am a passenger and it is in my interest for W6 to be pushed away. They don't fly where I need to go and if one airline has to prevail, it is better for Air Serbia to survive.

      Delete
    13. BA88800:10

      Slightly of the topic Pruger...

      (Area north of Belgrade is called Vojvodina...)

      Delete
    14. Alen Šćuric Purger01:14

      BA888 not just Vojvodina, but also potential passengers from Slavonia and South Hungary.

      Anonymous 9:09
      Even if CSA is much smaller company than Air Serbia it is still a competition. As it is company which fly to big airport with huge connections to Travel Service, Korean and other 22 companies from PRG it is important competition. Let me point that PRG was just one of airports that I mention as competition. Which are real competition to BEG, as SOF and SKG for sure is not near to that.

      Delete
    15. Anonymous07:30

      BA888 if you want to nitpick the areas north of Belgrade could also be called Srem, Backa and Banat or simply just northern Serbia. ;)

      Purger,

      If you want to bring KE into this then we can also bring EY which has a much more convenient base than Korean and a much bigger and wider network. So JU is still better there and they actually sell two stop connections via AUH.
      OK relies primarily on p2p passengers, connections are as big as at OU (proportionally). So even though they might offer some, they are so small that they shouldn't be counted as a serious player.

      Also JU has 18 codeshare partners and it offers both flights to Asia, Africa and Australia via AUH AND it has flights to JFK and an interline with AA and B6

      Delete
    16. Anonymous07:55

      AnonymousDecember 19, 2016 at 9:26 PM

      What a truly selfish comment. Since when does the world spin around you? Just because you don't fly anywhere Wizz does it means that they need to be kicked out? What about those 450.000 passengers that use them every year? Are they supposed to fly on JU and pay €300?

      Delete
  16. Anonymous14:22

    BEG ce imati znatno vise putnika ako se ostvari sve sto je planirano so se tice novih linija sto se ja nadam.
    I nadam se da ce se sve ostvariti to i da ce BEG imati 5,5 Mil pax.
    INN-NS

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous14:57

    If you believe in conspiracy theories, successors of Austro-Hungarian Empire want to split aviation market in colonies the following way:

    Austria (Austrian Airlines and parent): dominate legacy connections to primary airports and transfers within Europe and Long Haul

    Hungary (Wizz Air): dominate LCC point to point connections to mostly secondary airports

    Why would anyone believe in conspiracy theories like this? Reality is completely different, right?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alen Šćuric Purger15:53

      In same time Ottoman Empire airlines also attack (Turkish and Pegasus). So again Middle Age war on our territory again, but this time with airliners. :-)

      Delete
    2. Anonymous16:07

      And OU behaves as it's still in the AH Empire. :P Only serving the Germans.

      Delete
    3. @Purger
      will you publish an analysis over the recent deal EY/LH?

      Delete
    4. zahvaljujem :D

      Delete
  18. Anonymous15:01

    illuminati airlines consultant over here

    ReplyDelete