Air Serbia has posted solid operational results for the first half of 2017, with growth registered in a number of key areas, including passenger figures, cabin occupancy and cargo. The Serbian carrier welcomed 1.12 million passengers during the first six months of the year, representing an increase of 3% on 2016 when it welcomed 1.08 million travellers on board its aircraft. Passenger carrying capacity, measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs), stood at a record 1.93 billion, up 16% year-on-year. Air Serbia achieved an average cabin load factor of 70.5% in H1, showing an increase of 3% against 2016, with particularly strong seat occupancy in the second quarter, standing at 73.3%.

The airline’s cargo operations recorded significant double digit growth of 54.6%, with 2.988 tonnes of mail and freight uplifted in the first half of 2017, compared to 1.932 the year before. The growth was fuelled by the airline’s New York service, which sees notable cargo loads. Meanwhile, on-time performance at its hub in Belgrade came in at 88.8%. Some of the major developments at the airline during the first half of the year included an IT upgrade to Sabre, the retrofit of ten narrow-body Airbus aircraft, the launch of flights to Venice and the suspension of its Istanbul route, as well as the first flight in its history operated by an all-female crew. Furthermore, the carrier put into effect its new business strategy, which saw the introduction of new ancillary services such as seat selection, mobile boarding passes and annual Premium Lounge passes. Over the past six months, Air Serbia also marked the 90th anniversary of commercial aviation in the country, the first anniversary of its long haul service to New York, and won the 2017 Airline Market Leader Award from Air Transport World.

Commenting on the results, Air Serbia’s CEO, Dane Kondić, said, “Our operational performance in H1 has been strong across the board, with passenger numbers and cargo volumes both rising since last year. We continued to introduce new products and services during this time by reconfiguring our narrow-body Airbus fleet with new seats and upgrading our sales, boarding and check-in systems to Sabre”. He added, “These developments are designed to strengthen the business in what continues to be a very tough and competitive operating environment. We recently celebrated our 90th anniversary as the national flag carrier and are proud that we are continuing to grow and solidify our position as the airline of choice in Southeast Europe”.