Air China has said it is interested in launching flights to Belgrade, noting that a future service to the Serbian capital is looking "very promising". Speaking to EX-YU Aviation News, representatives from the Chinese national carrier at the Belgrade Tourism Fair said, "Air China flights to Belgrade are looking very promising at the moment. Presently, we don't exactly know the launch date or times. It all depends on an agreement between the Serbian Prime Minister and our Prime Minister. We hope to spread our wings to Belgrade very soon. That's why we are here". The Chinese carrier featured its own stand at the Tourism Fair for the first time last week, manned mostly by representatives from its Budapest office.
Last Friday, the Serbian Prime Minister said that a privately owned Chinese carrier would launch flights between Beijing and Belgrade, which would put the state-owned Air China out of contention for the service. However, state officials have previously noted that two routes out of China are currently being negotiated - one from Beijing and the other from Shanghai. The possible resumption of flights between the two countries after almost two decades is expected to be announced next month during the state visit of the outgoing Serbian President to China.
Initial discussions over a possible air link between China and Serbia began in late 2013, when the then General Manager of Belgrade Airport, Velimir Radosavljević, told China Radio International there was a possibility for the Serbian capital to be linked with Beijing through Air China. In 2014, the two countries signed an Agreement for the Establishment of Air Traffic. The following year, Air Serbia began codesharing on Air China's services between Vienna and Beijing, while the Chinese national carrier placed its code onto Air Serbia's flights between Belgrade and the Austrian capital. The last time a Chinese airline operated flights to Belgrade was prior to the collapse of the former Yugoslavia. Services were initially launched from Beijing in 1972 by Air China’s predecessor CAAC and were operated with an Ilyushin Il-62 via Karachi. Later on, the flights were upgraded to a Boeing 707 and later a B767. Services continued on to Budapest and Zurich, depending on the year of operation.
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PEK-MUC-ATH-MUC-PEK
PEK-VIE-BCN-VIE-PEK
Maybe they could link Belgrade with Bucharest. Both cities have strong demand for China.
BEG-BNX was also a political route but in the end it proved to be a success for Air Serbia.
Zagreb can be nicely served via CA's Star partners, OU and OS.
You really think passengers have the slightest idea which of the mentioned routes is more direct? Price > all.
It is the nusiness center of the region and Belgrade is fast becoming the business center of the Balkans.
A lot of pottential for boosting business links.
Lets hope it's not Air China.
Ako se g. "Bravo Hrvatska" zavadio sa vokativom, ne moras i ti.
Belgrade is becoming a regional center of Chinese influence which is why these flights will happen. Bank of China has already started working btw.
What massive benefit has Serbia received from German or Austrian investment in the country? At least the Chinese are transforming Belgrade into their regional hub from where they will expand their influence.
What has Germany done besides exploit the citizens of this country? Not to mention that China supports Serbia sa far as Kosovo goes.
Either way I don't think EY would mind this as JU probably does not feed AUH with too many passengers to China. As someone already noticed, SU and TK would take a much stronger hit with these flights.
And the same guy who used to call all MEB3 political toys of notorious human rights violators - up until the moment EK announced ZAG. Now at least one of these political toys magically converted into the best thing that can possibly happen to an airport.
http://www.b92.net/biz/vesti/srbija.php?yyyy=2017&mm=02&dd=28&nav_id=1235059
http://www.exyuaviation.com/2017/02/wizz-air-unveils-skopje-expansion.html
What happens when this really China friendly government leaves office? What happens when BEG is given to consesoners'? And they don't like the deal the 'previous' gov gave to Air China? How long of a political honeymoon will the route have if load factors prove to be continuously weak?
What happens if an earthquake strikes Belgrade and ruins the runway?
What happens if war breaks out in East Asia?
What happens if Chinese Yuan loses value?
https://www.adria.si/assets/Destinacije-in-leti-NOVO/Vozni-red/Summer-17-JP-conn1-SL1.pdf
No one on this comment mentioned BEG or JU, so maybe you should relax?
Don't think UA will head for Zagreb this year, no idea if any North american airline will, apart from Canadians.
Next year Air Canada Rouge might come to Zagreb, as they'll have additional 12 B7673s on disposal.
UA might come next year too, but it is early days. Aer Lingus, SAS, TAP and Vueling might be coming to Zagreb this year. EasyJet and few others next year.
Even with only current carriers and Emirates, Zagreb is looking at 3.2 million pax comfortably.
Next year if 7 additional carriers come to Zagreb, 3.75 million.
Things are finally moving for the better.
To make it clear, same goes for ZAG or ZAD or whoever has the dreams of "signing a magical deal" and expects "Chinese tourist and money" rain! I'm telling you, this is not the reality and it won't happen anywhere. Nevertheless, sweet dreams!
For the rest of claims, I guess you addressed to the wrong person.
And Vueling already flies to ZAG.
The new terminal seems to attract loads of new service.
And new, flash terminals do attract airline service.
Serbia has a lot of Chinese investment, and the Croatian port of Rijeka is of significant interest to the Chinese which isn't far from Zagreb.
Take your pick, both Belgrade, and Zagreb have a good chance of getting a Chinese Airline, maybe both get it.
Honestly the Chinese have ordered so many aircraft they will have to fly them somewhere.
That's why ZAG has significantly more passengers than BEG.
Oh wait.
Also, growth past year wasn't as spectacular. Even in January you were one of the few ex-YU airports not to have double digit growth.
It needs the current space modernised and better re-arranged to provide better F&B options and it is in dire need of baggage sortation facilities. Beyond that, once traffic grows, it needs slot coordination.
A new terminal would only result in an increase of airport charges for airlines, which would then make BEG uncompetitive vs other airports in teh region.
It has a long way to go before it needs a new terminal. What it has is already under utilised and poorly managed
Sure, Air Serbia can add a departure to Sofia at 10.00 but what would be the point of that?
Belgrade might not need a new terminal but it definitely needs more gates.
More remote gates (like most other airports have) would satisfy the needs of a shortage of gates in the peaks.
Sorry if it gets people angry.
Your suggestion involves longer flying.
A similar increase to Dortmund was already announced.
It makes a difference though in flight time.
Thank you for suggesting that I can start my own carrier, but I have neither the time nor the inclination to venture into the aviation business.
Мислиш шала?
SU is a big winner on the route because of one thing: generous baggage allowance. For their Chinese flights, they allow 2x23kg in Economy, and that's really important for a lot of travellers on this route. Plus it's a relatively short connection with almost no backtracking. Less than 3 hrs to SVO, plus 7ish to China.
LO? They've never been on my radar and I fly there a lot. Not really relevant. As for QR, both QR and EY are very much similar when it comes to price and service, and while I prefer EY to SU, it still takes more time via AUH and for cheapest Y tickets only one bag is included.
But, as with JFK, some people would pay a premium to fly direct. Personally, having a lot of experience with CA on domestic routes, I don't see myself switching over to them.
Well, have you seen what FCO looks like past 8AM in the morning, with all the AZ flights departed? It's deserted. So, there are three or fours rush hours daily. That's how it works with airports which serve as hubs for an airline.
Naravno odlicno bi bilo da HU leti sa 788 i da ce CA leteti sa A330 leteti za BEG imati uspeha na tim letovima za BEG.
INN-NS
If it needs new terminal in 6-8 years and terminal needs 3-4 years to build, it means new terminal should start construction in 2-3 years. If BEG didn't put any money in T1 renovations and just shut it down instead, they would have to start new terminal construction just about now.
There are quite a few connecting passengers as well.
That being said i think that best metal for this route would be CRJ900 or a similar aircraft, since there are still people who avoid turboprops. I think many more people would opt for ASL considering their prices, especially when you introduce a good new aircraft and eliminate the "fear factor".
BEG-Shanghai: 15,500 pax (both ways), 80% with SU, about 3% via AUH.
BEG-Beijing: 12,500 pax, 34% via SVO, 19% IST, 4% AUH.
ZAG-Shanghai: 5,500 pax, 28% via SVO.
ZAG-Beijing: 5,000 pax, 26% via SVO.
BUD-PVG is 12,800 pax, BUD-PEK is 24,000 pax.
BEG-NYC is a little over 51,000 pax per year, of which JU has a 61% share.
BEG-ZAG is non-existent at around 7,000 pax, 11% of whom are connecting via BEG to get to/from NYC.