Air Serbia - Air Berlin partnership to end


The extensive partnership agreement between Air Serbia and Air Berlin will automatically end later this month as the German carrier plans to suspend all operations by October 28. Air Serbia codeshares on forty of Air Berlin's routes, including destinations on several European markets it does not serve on its own, such as Spain, Poland and Finland. Furthermore, Air Serbia enjoyed greater access to the United States through its partnership with the German airline, offering 61 weekly flights between Serbia and the United States via Germany to cities such as New York, Boston, Chicago, Orlando, Fort Mayer, Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco. For its part, Air Berlin also placed its codes and flight numbers onto a wide range of Air Serbia's destinations. The deal generated an additional source passengers for each carrier.

Despite the demise of Air Berlin, the Serbian airline will make few changes to its German operations. This winter, the carrier will reduce a flight each to Air Berlin's hubs Berlin and Dusseldorf when compared to last year, but will retain the same number of frequencies to Frankfurt and Stuttgart. On the other hand, its operations to Hamburg, which were maintained throughout last winter, will now be served only for three weeks during the peak holiday travel period. The airline holds just over 45% of all capacity between Belgrade and Germany, offering nearly 5.000 weekly seats between the two markets, compared to a 34% share by Lufthansa and 21% held by Wizz Air. Air Berlin itself did not operate any flights to Serbia with its own equipment. In 2015 it applied for a permit to introduce six weekly services from Dusseldorf to Belgrade, but dropped the launch plans after reviewing all economic factors.

Air Serbia has previously said that Etihad's divestment from its European equity partners such as Darwin Airline, Air Berlin and Alitalia were not having an impact on its own operations. It noted, "Despite the serious challenges facing the aviation industry on a global scale, the position of Air Serbia remains stable. Our national airline is the leading carrier in the region with a strong network of flights that serve a total of 42 destinations in Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East and North America, with passenger and freight services”. Recently, the Etihad Aviation Group's Chairman of the Board, Mohamed Mubarak Fadhel Al Mazro, said, "The Board and executive team have been working since last year to address issues and challenges through a comprehensive strategic review aimed at driving improved performance across the group, which includes a full review of our airline equity partnership strategy". Air Berlin filed for insolvency on August 15 after Etihad, its leading shareholder, withdrew its financial support.

Air Berlin flights codeshared by Air Serbia

Alicante, Berlin, Billund, Bologna, Boston, Cologne, Chicago, Copenhagen, Dresden, Florence, Faro, Frankfurt, Fort Myers, Funchal, Gothenburg, Hannover, Hamburg, Helsinki, Innsbruck, Karlsruhe, Krakow, Los Angeles, Malaga, Munich, Miami, New York, Nuremberg, Oslo, Palma de Mallorca, Reykjavik, Saarbrucken, Salzburg, San Francisco, Stockholm, Stuttgart, Tenerife, Venice, Vienna, Warsaw


Air Serbia flights codeshared by Air Berlin

Athens, Banja Luka, Berlin, Bucharest, Dubrovnik, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Larnaca, New York, Ohrid, Pula, Podgorica, Sofia, Skopje, Split, Stuttgart, Tivat, Thessaloniki, Tel Aviv, Vienna, Venice, Zagreb, Zurich

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:02

    This will have a significant impact on JU´s DUS and TXL services.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:05

      Didn't Jat fly to DUS and TXL much before Etihad and Air Berlin codeshares came along? They will survive unless Eurowings opens one of these routes.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:27

      There is more than enough p2p demand to sustain both DUS and TXL.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:56

      DUS is diaspora driven, relax.
      TXL has a good share tourists

      Is Wizz flying to SXF?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:53

      No, Wizz does not fly from Berlin to Belgrade.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:58

      W6 from BEG flies within Germany to Dortmund, Friedrichshafen, Hannover, Karlsruhe and Memmingen. Nuremberg didn't quite work out for them. They will fly this route only seasonally.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:02

    It will be interesting to see if there will be any impact from Air Berlin collapse on Air Serbia.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:05

      I think Air Berlin had much more of a benefit from these codeshares than the other way around.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:03

    Maybe now they can now look into which Air Berlin routes in Europe had the best feed from Air Serbia and maybe consider launching one or two of them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:18

      Air Serbia is incapable at doing anything.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:35

      The route they should launch and that has most perspective is Cologne.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:39

      With the current "austerity" policy at Air Serbia, we won't see them launch new routes any time soon.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:43

      Sa 11 gradova na vezi sa beg u nemackoj zaista nema potrebe. pre lion u francuskoj i redovni letnji let za napulj.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:23

      Maybe enough about Europe, how about Cairo? Air Serbia is becoming another Jat, nothing else.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:06

    sad to see Air Berlin go :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:07

      I call it "The Etihad kiss of death"

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:29

      Yeah, I am sure they would still be around today if Etihad did not invest in them... Get real for god's sake, and try to suppress that hate towards anything that does not come from Germany.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:32

      Hahaha 'etihad kiss off death'. But I agree that Air Berlin would have probably been dooed earlier had Etihad not invested.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:32

      that was supposed to say doomed

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:33

      Or is it Lufthansa kiss of death?

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:36

      Considering they turned around most companies they invested in, I wouldn't say so.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous13:27

      Not difficult to turn around companies with such massive debt write-offs by their home countries.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous04:32

      And Ryan air will be the end of Lufthansa, empires rise and fall, history repeats itself.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:08

    They had quite a good deal with them on US flights. I think they will have to find an alternative there. They also used Air Berlin as backup in case there was a cancellation of their New York flight, which has, truth be told, been very rare.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous09:10

    The major loss are the codeshares to the US. This way they could earn some money by selling tickets from BEG to say Miami, LA, Chicago...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:11

      Well they have Alitalia.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:13

      AlItalia is next in line for collapse...

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:14

      Umm Alitalia is going down the same road as Air Berlin. And besides, their US network can't be compared to AB which had much greater coverage.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:20

      No way Alitalia is going to collapse. Relax. You don't know Italy ;)

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:45

      Agree with anon 10.20. Italy is much greatet magic box than the Balkans.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous22:14

      +1

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:11

    Prices were not competitive enough for European markets and for US ASL has code-share agreement with KLM-AF to substitute AirBerlin demise.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:13

      They don't have a codeshare with Air France-KLM to US. They have only an interline agreement.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:15

      What is the difference for passengers?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:17

      Not for passengers but a difference to how much money Air Serbia gets from selling the ticket.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:20

      The difference is that a ticked issued on an interline agreement contains two airlines with their separate rules. If you are a FF Member of JU you cannot use the lounge in CDG for instance. In the Codeshare case it is done as if the entire journey is ops by the same carrier with their rules on lounge policy, bag policy etc.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:12

    now JU can expand code-share with AF/KL into US via CDG and AMS. after all, they do have a good partnership

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:21

      Interestingly Delta codeshares on Transavia's Belgrade flights.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:13

    Another one bites the dust. Next in line Montenegro Airlines, followed by Croatia Airlines. Air Serbia will have its turn soon after.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:30

      And you will finally be happy in life when all of this happens?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:28

      Of course I will. I'm a big fan of Lufthansa and I want it to conquer the European market.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:15

    Does JU have codeshare with some other airlines to the US?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:16

      Don't think so. They applied for a codeshare with Etihad years ago but that got denied by the FAA because of Delta's MEB3 protest. But they have interlines with quite a few airlines.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:12

      they should expand code-share with AF/KL

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:18

    Undoubtedly JU will loose some passengers due to the sheer size of their cooperation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:22

      True I'm surprised at how many destinations they codeshared on.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:52

      I still don't think the loss will be major. Like someone said these JU-AB tickets were not that competitive and I doubt many people used these combinations.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:23

    The biggest loss here is access to certain German destinations.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:23

      which will now be taken over by Lufthansa passengers who will travel via MUC and FRA on a single ticket.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:25

      Not - certain - but all. Air Serbia no longer has a partner in Germany.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:06

      Hence, Air Serbia should acquire smaller jets and launch service to some more German airports, and also increase frequency on the already served.

      Delete
  13. Air Serbia should expands codeshare with KLM on the US and Canada flights and start flying to Spain and Portugal in the next season.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:49

      Bobane AS leti Gironu sto ce uskoro biti Katalonija, za Madrid i Lisabon nema dovoljno putnika za svaki dan mozda po tri puta nedeljno. Iz rumunije imas dosta direktnih letova za spaniju znaci nema transfera.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:27

    A lot of passengers fly TXL/DUS/STR/HAM via BEG and AUH to Asia, bacause it is really cheap. With the suspension of the AUH flights JU will lose lots of PAX on the German routes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:52

      sorry but this is rekla-kazala. DUS has EY and EK and Cathay and ..., TXl has Qatar ... the fraction that is flying 2 stops to Asia is minimal

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:27

    Considering Etihad and Lufthansa are now buddies and have codeshares, Etihad engineering recently signing deal to maintain LH's long haul fleet, we could see Air Serbia becoming much closer with LH and Eurowings.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:32

      haha nope.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:34

      Don't see why not. It was unthinkable that LH and EY would ever cooperate especially since LH was taking EY to court as early as last year but it happened.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:42

      These few things they are doing now is on request of EY and a part of the deal for the takover of lagre parts of AB. It is just an alibi and will sooner or later come to an end.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:15

      as I understood those comments after the LH-EY negotiations in may this year, EY agreed in principle to integrate JU into Eurowings Europe, but for various reasons the implementation will not start in 2017 and not in 2018 either

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:20

      Maybe because the deal between Etihad and Serbian government runs until JAN1 2019. So they probably plan to integrate it into Eurowings then.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:59

      That would be a very sad outcome. After 90 years of having a national airline you become Eurowings.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous12:02

      The separate brand would probably remain, they wouldn't merge it.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous12:51

      LH is not interested in getting a few 319 and 320. They want it big. So why would they ever want JU?

      Delete
    9. Anonymous13:00

      They want the market. Not A319s and A320s.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous13:07

      And did anyone care about MALEV tradition?

      Delete
    11. Anonymous14:25

      Etihad has only 49% of Air Serbia. If EY wants to sell their share to LH in Jan 2019 they can't turn Air Serbia over to Eurowings without the other 51%.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous18:25

      @aon 2:25: that is technical right, but not of much practical relevance as we just learned with darwin.

      EY owned only 33% of darwin, but somehow (pure magic?) 100% were "sold" to a new owner. there is not much that the majority owner can do, as long as the minority owner is the sole lessor of aircraft and some other important assets...

      the 49%/51% structure is only decoration to please some local spectators :-(

      Delete
    13. Anonymous23:27

      @anon 6:25

      Nonsense. Etihad is not leasing company behind all Air Serbia Airbuses. Ethad can cash out their 49% at the end of the contract if they really want to get out of the deal, and majority owner can then keep the ownership 100% or offer partial or full ownership to someone else.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:30

    Interesting that Wizz has only a 21% share yet they fly the most routes from Serbia to Germany.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:51

      right- but only twice a week most of the routes.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:55

      Yes, but they mainly fly approximately 2-3 flights which makes a total of maybe max 25 weekly flights per week, which is nothing compared to JU.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous09:37

    The biggest impact of this will be the huge expansion that will be undertaken by Eurowings. Let's wait and see whether this region will be included in their expansion plans but it looks like it most certainly will.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:41

      Yes. The first round of expansion when they leased AB aircraft was focused on Croatia. Next one will be on wider region, which we are already seeing with Mostar. Next will be Podgorica.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous09:42

    Ironically Air Berlin was Air Serbia's first codeshare partner. They made the deal while it was still called Jat.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous09:45

    When Alitalia goes they will loose access to even more destinations. They should be urgently searching for alternatives.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:48

      Niki will probably go to although they are not insolvent. Air Serbia and Niki also codeshare on a handful of routes.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:51

      Although the deal with Adria Switzerland has been kept in tact after Darwin transferred from Etihad Regional.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:51

      Niki is goint to be taken over bei LH!

      Delete
  20. Anonymous09:52

    After AB, next is AZ and finally EY unless they don't change their business model to LCC

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:54

      EY with LCC model? LOL I suggest you fly with Etihad and have a good look at their loads in premium cabins.

      Delete
  21. Air Serbia defines itself as a leading carrier of the region? Define ‘leading carrier’. Posting a Euro40 million I guess is leading in terms of unprofitability.
    Not sure why JU thinks that EY won’t divest in them given that EY are culling all their loss making partnerships

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:55

      Because Etihad made an initial investment in Air Serbia in form of a loan which is now being paid back by the Serbian government. They don't pay anything to Air Serbia anymore. Wht would they divest?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:56

      Leading airline based on passenger numbers, network size, fleet size, revenue, load factor.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:59

      What region exactly?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:01

      former Yugoslavia. The term "region" is used in Serbia for the former Yugoslavia, like it is in many other ex-Yugo states. You can go on to their news websites and you will see a "region" tab. You will see which countries are included there.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:25

      That is plain stupid.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:40

      The largest fleet? That’s if you would want to include those ancient 737s and ATRs

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:49

      Yes the largest fleet. Those aircraft are operative. The age does not define whether the aircraft are included in the fleet count if they are operative. What a stupid comment.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous12:23

      Bad news for Air Serbia

      Delete
  22. Anonymous09:54

    US DoT approval for Air Serbia JFK route was based on Air Berlin partnership. Is that approval in danger?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:57

      No it wasn't. When you apply for a license you don't base it on anything but your own operations.

      Delete
  23. Anonymous10:04

    So who are they going to have left as partners in Europe when all these airlines shut down?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:09

      They have deals with Air Europa, LOT, TAROM, Air Baltic, Adria, Adria Switzerland, Aegean, Air France, Bulgaria Air, KLM, Aeroflot and Atlasglobal. I think that's all unless I forgot someone.

      Delete
  24. Anonymous10:13

    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-emirates-airline/emirates-willing-to-cooperate-with-rival-uae-airline-etihad-idUSKBN1CG0PJ?il=0

    EY and EK are moving ever so close to the unthinkable.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:17

      A merger would be fantastic actually and a win win for both of them in my opinion.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:30

      Would be interesting although I'm not sure if the politics will allow it. Officially it's all smiles but the governments of Abu Dhabi and Dubai can't stand each other. In fact none of the 7 Emirates can stand each other.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:52

      didnt Abu Dhabi helped Dubai recently?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:01

      Of course they helped but it certainly came at a price. They even ordered Dubai in return for bailing them out to name their pride - the tallest tower in the world after the Sheikh of Abu Dhabi, which they did.

      Delete
  25. Anonymous10:39

    I really hope Air Serbia manages to shake off this period of uncertainty at Etihad and returns to growth next year. I'm sure that the finances will be improved this year because all of the cost cutting. As far as I am aware passenger numbers are exactly the same as this time last year, which is not that bad considering the number of cuts they have had in their network.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:51

      The cost cutting has gone way too far. They have reduced catering,introduced charges for better seats, cut dedicated business class seats, closed all sales offices outside of Belgrade, cut frequencies, cut routes, reduced lounge work hours and the latest is that they introduced new rules for their Etihad Guest members. For example I can no longer use the lounge in Belgrade even though I'm an Etihad Guest Silver member. When does it end?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:01

      +1 last anon.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous19:29

      It ends when you decide their status is not worth it and start always buying the most convenient ticket rather than building loyalty, which is what I have done. If the status brings me little beyond a different colored card, why bother? As a customer you vote with your wallet.

      Delete
  26. Anonymous11:23

    Won't this shake-up their JFK service (transfer passengers via DUS and BER)?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:04

      unfortunately I think it will cause a big damage. I don't know how and via where they will reroute these passengers.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:02

      oh lord, BER and DUS have direct flights to New York!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:09

      Of course they have, but Air Serbia was selling JFK route also via DUS and BER.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous15:51

      you seriously think that someone from EUROPE is flying to JFK with two stops?? not to mention AB's direct flights to US from both cities. come on! JU is feeding their JfK flight mostly from the region (draw a triangle LJU-OTP-ATH)

      All i want to say the JFK flight is not gonna be hurt that , and im saying this from a non-fanboy position

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:52

      GOD, do you understand me at all???
      I'm talking about Serbs who bought tickets via BER or DUS, not about Europeans with 2 stops.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:31

      Oh

      Delete
  27. Anonymous11:24

    Air Serbia should join SkyTeam and use CDG and AMS for many destinations they do not serve.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous11:29

    During W17 (21 weeks) airlines will fly from BEG on German routes at this volume :
    JU total 476 flights (DUS 132, TXL 126, FRA 120, STR 89, HAM 9); equipment A319/usually 140 seats on sale
    LH total 563 flights (MUC 292, FRA 271); MUC equipment mostly CR9/86 seats, also A319/138 seats; FRA equipment mostly A319/138 seats, rarely A320/168 or 174 seats.
    W6 total 219 flights (DTM 48, FMM 45, HAJ 42, FDH 40, FKB 40, NUE 4); equipment A320/180 seats always.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:50

      Quite a lot. You got to wonder if the German market might be getting saturated from BEG with so many seats on sale.

      Delete
  29. Anonymous12:03

    So, the big news is that they are cutting HAM and it becomes a seasonal route :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:08

      Well it's not new since it was published before ;)
      http://www.exyuaviation.com/2017/09/winter-201718-air-serbia.html

      Delete
  30. Anonymous12:33

    Time for Air Serbia to find a new equity partner if you ask me.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous13:22

    Well that partnership between JU and AB was a really good one. Unfortunately in that game minus and minus do not equate a plus.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Anonymous13:51

    Lufthansa buys Air Berlin, latest news.
    https://www.welt.de/wirtschaft/article169565664/Lufthansa-unterschreibt-Kaufvertrag-fuer-Air-Berlin.html

    ReplyDelete
  33. Anonymous13:52

    AB has been bought by LH (most of it) about an hour ago. 3,000 of the workforce to be kept, 81 aircraft included in the transaction. LH will now dominate the German market. LH will not take over AB liabilities nor will honour sold tickets but will provide 'favourable' fares to affected passengers. The saga seems to be over.

    easyjet scored AB Technik.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:55

      Lufthansa expects the EU to formally nod the deal by year-end. So they picked out the best pieces and left the rest to waste... smart move by LH.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17:40

      90% share of domestic market. No problem, if you are LH

      Delete
  34. Anonymous17:18

    So, has EY said anything official about the JU management contract that is valid for 5 years? i.e. next year

    ReplyDelete
  35. Anonymous22:50

    JU should introduce Munich and Madrid

    ReplyDelete
  36. Anonymous22:58

    Omg Air Serbia will vanish until next year

    *starting the party, gettin some popcorn

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous23:30

      Najedi se kokica jer taj film neces gledati. Svakako ne pre Montenegra, Adrie i Kroacije.

      Delete

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