Iran Air is considering expanding its operations to Serbia after it launched two weekly flights to Belgrade earlier this year. In a statement to EX-YU Aviation News, the Iranian national carrier said it was "extremely satisfied" with the route's performance. "Tickets are so far sold out through June and there is strong interest from both tour operators and individual travellers", the airline said. Despite announcing a reduction in frequencies on several of its key European routes such as Frankfurt and Stockholm this summer, operations to Belgrade will remain unchanged. The carrier noted it would consider either adding extra frequencies to the Serbian capital or introducing an additional service from a secondary Iranian city such as Isfahan and Shiraz, from which it sees potential for these flights.
Iran Air launched services to Belgrade this March, marking the resumption of scheduled flights between the two countries after 27 years. Since then, a further two Iranian carriers have established operations to Serbia. Under its initial schedule, Iran Air planned to maintain flights to Belgrade until September, although they have now been extended until the end of the summer season in late October, with tickets for the upcoming winter to go on sale in the near future. The airline has again reiterated that it is seeking closer ties with Air Serbia in order to strengthen and expand its operations. "We want to establish good relations and cooperate with Air Serbia", Iran Air noted. Further discussions over Iran Air's plans to boost operations to Serbia will take place next month at the Iran- Serbia Joint Economic Committee meeting.
Carriers from the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) have significantly boosted capacity or increased their operations to the Serbian capital this summer. Apart from the arrival of three new airlines from Iran, Etihad Airways will add an extra five weekly flights for a total of twelve on its service between Abu Dhabi and Belgrade this summer, Qatar Airways has applied for rights to operate an additional four weekly flights from Doha for a total of eleven, Egypt Air's subsidiary Air Cairo will increase frequencies from Hurghada from four to five per week, while Syria's Cham Wings Airlines has applied for rights to launch three weekly services from Damascus to the Serbian capital.
Belgrade just keeps on winning. Congratulations.
ReplyDeleteA lot of people were doubting this route would ever launch. Good to see it's performing well. Also I'm surprised by all the demand from the Gulf/Middle East.
ReplyDeleteWell they did delay the launch several times so you can't blame people. But I'm glad it turned out to be successful.
DeleteIran Air wants Air Serbia to cooperate but what is Air Serbia doing? Doesn't seem they are interested.
ReplyDeleteMissed opportunity for Air Serbia.
DeleteHopefully JU makes some codeshare agreement.
DeleteHighly unlikely that Abu Dhabi will allow this with the crisis between the Sunni Gulf countries and Iran.
DeleteI'm sorry but what would be the benefit of Air Serbia cooperating with Iran Air on this route. It's not like Air Serbia can get any transfer passengers from this route.
DeleteWhy wouldn't they be able to get transfers from IR?
DeleteBecause it is difficult for them to travel anywhere in Europe!
DeleteJU flies to BEY and the planes are full. Same scenario as with IKA.
DeleteFully agree with anon @ 12:34.
DeleteKondic missed big chance to fly to IKA. Now we see that it would be more than good move for JU.
With all these extra seats from the Middle East only goes to show there is a market for EK. Let's see how FZ/EK respond to all these developments.
ReplyDeleteThis shows that BEG is the real market for EK.
DeleteFZ loads to/from BEG are very strong. In both cabins. It's not surprising it was one of the first routes to get their new B737 MAX.
DeleteI wonder if they might add more flights. Maybe nighttime ones like QR.
DeleteTo be honest, I’m not sure how FZ is doing in BEG. I flew with them in Feb and few friends of mine as well, on few different flights, and LF it was always around 60%. Having in mind that Feb is a high season for transfer pax heading to Asia, I don’t really know if their results in BEG are that impressive
DeleteWhen does Mahan return?
ReplyDelete7th June, 3 times per week
DeleteGood. Hopefully all these development should help BEG have a strong summer.
ReplyDeleteWell BEG is set to have a historic summer this year. Airlines just keep on adding flights. I am especially happt about QR.
DeleteI hope Egypt Air will start flight next, from Cairo and joins their cargo planes flying to BEG.
DeleteThe list of airlines serving Belgrade is constantly growing. There will be 5 new airline serving BEG in just first 6 months of this year.
Delete@ 9.16 Agree! I wish Egypt Air introduced flights from Cairo. If Air Cairo can make it work year round from Hurghada then surely Cairo can too.
DeleteWhen Air Serbia launched they announced flights to Cairo. Then the revolution happened and they gave up. Doubt we will see them launch this route now.
DeleteThey could add a few more frequencies on IKA-BEG route although I would be even happier if they added one of the cities they mentioned.
ReplyDeleteI think it will go three weekly.
DeleteGreat news. Good to see this route performing well.
ReplyDeleteThis is unexpected I must admit. Good work.
ReplyDeleteWith Serbia being the only European country not requesting visas for Chinese, Indian and Iranian citizens I think there is great potential for growth of air traffic.
ReplyDeleteLet's hope those Indian flights materialize.
DeleteAnon 9:24 Remember, everything comes with a price. Having a flood of Iranian visitors might sound tempting in the short term, but keep in mind there's a reason all European countries and US apply restrictions to them.
DeleteBesides, considering Trump's determination on Iran, one can't stop wondering the future of 500.
Serbia has been shaping it's own, independent diplomatic approach and it has worked just fine for us.
DeleteJust because Washington and Brussels do something doesn't mean Belgrade needs to as well.
Anonymous 9:45 - In which Universe do you live?
DeleteIn the same universe as you but more specifically in Serbia.
Delete3/4 sveta ima normalne letove u Iran samo ih Amerika nema. Ko ih je spucao? Voljeni Saudijci.
Delete@9:35
DeleteDoing the exact opposite of what US does is in most cases the right and fair thing to do.
I agree with the anon@12:21, but in most cases this brings a lot of (economical) consquences. And mostly it doesnt end up well for majority of ppl, but yes, u preserve dignitiy and your own diplomacy. Its not fair what israel is doing (with the support of Riad and Washington) but noone goes against this shit.
DeleteSix million us becoming more and more realistic.
ReplyDeleteNot in 2018 I am afraid.
DeleteWell it all depends on the summer but growth has been steadily increasing.
DeleteBetter in 2019 with good balance of legacy and LCC lines.
DeleteeasyJet should boost numbers really nicely with their daily flights this summer.
Delete6 million is very difficult in 2018 as it would mean increasing of more than 12%.
DeleteLet's not forget we are talking about the busiest airport in ex-yu and 12% in BEG is much more than 12% on any other ex-yu airport.
10% is realistic though.
DeleteNice!
ReplyDeleteI am especially happy that Etihad is responding to market realities unlike Wizz which is ignoring easyJet.
ReplyDeleteSmart move. I expected this route would perform really well for Iran Air.
ReplyDeleteGood luck Iran Air. Great news.
ReplyDeleteSo it is little wonder now why Turkish Airlines wanted to send A330-300s to Belgrade double daily. Too bad they got restricted for the most part.
ReplyDeleteI think eventually they will get it.
DeleteWould be nice if they increased capacity by using an A321 or even A330 :D
ReplyDeleteYou never know. Mahan was using A310s.
DeleteGood for BEG, there is demand and it will rise especially with sanctions from the rest of world towards Iran.
ReplyDeleteBEG could become connection between Iran and west
Koji rest od the world? BA i LH lete u Teheran. Prestanite zamisljati svet i spoljnu politiku, a da ne pogledate ni ko leti.
DeleteAbove anon is correct. The only country that introduced sanctions towards Iran is the US and neither the Europeans, Russians, Chinese followed.
DeleteSo basically only Air Serbia failed on flights to the Gulf and Middle East.
ReplyDeleteYes.
DeleteAir Serbia failed on many fronts.
DeleteThey fly to Beirut and Tel Aviv quite successfully.
DeleteJU lack the connectivity that the Gulf airlines have.
DeleteWith their current low cost/hybrid model, Air Serbia is unsuitable for any market in the Middle East past Lebanon.
DeleteIf Air Serbia was smarter and worked on the transfer model they could have had a more active role in the Middle East and Central Asia. Now foreign carriers are eating the cake.
Delete+1
DeleteNice additions. I think it will be a good year for Belgrade overall.
ReplyDeleteExcellent news for Belgrade Airport.
ReplyDeleteGreat news for BEG. Not sure I would try those Iranian airlines, knowing their track record on safety but they will certainly add some pax to BEG.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how much media coverage there has been for the Iran Air flights to BEG outside of Serbia. Even Reuters reported it.
ReplyDeleteU nekolicini svetskih novinskih agencija rade pojedini ljudi koji su karijeru napravili na Balkanu pre 25 godina i normalno je da pisu. Inace smo neinteresantni vise.
DeleteIran Air tickets from Tehran to Belgrade are ridiculously expensive. What gives
ReplyDeleteProbably because there are just a few available seats.
DeleteOr maybe because they know most tickets will be bought by tour operators, they don't want to encourage individual travel.
DeleteProbably both
DeleteSo how many passengers in total can we expect in Belgrade this year?
ReplyDelete5.7 tops my opinion. But I do think tat in 2019 it will surpass 6 million.
DeleteAir Serbia should codeshare on these flights.
ReplyDeleteto where?? they need visas dude
DeleteSure they need visas.
DeleteI wonder how LH and BA do not know it as they keep flying to IKA?
Large iranian diaspora in those countries
DeleteAnd what about Austrian Airlines or Aegean? ;)
DeleteDiaspora or not... It is irellevant.
DeleteJU could use this chance by code sharing with IR
There are large diaspora in greece aswell many many iranians studies there and have stayed since
DeleteAnd its not irellevant since you asled how other airlines could fly there.
The same diaspora could fly with JU if they offer better conditions.
DeleteIn that sense it is irellevant if it is diaspora or not. There is a traffic between these countries and JU could have connected them
i hope they are not exploiting this visa free situation for trying to enter... it would end soon otherwise
ReplyDeleteCrazy to think that there are 3 airlines flying from Tehran to Belgrade!
ReplyDeleteGood work. Shows what visa abolishment can do.
ReplyDeleteThis is the second route to come out of abolishing visas.
DeleteMahan Air is actually increasing their flights to BEG to 3 per week. That means that there will be 7 weekly flights between BEG and IKA
ReplyDeleteMonday - Mahan Air, Qeshm Air
Tuesday - Iran Air
Wednesday - /
Thursday - Mahan Air. Qeshm Air
Friday - Mahan Air
Saturday - Iran Air
Sunday - /
Wow are the three on the 310?
DeleteThere will be more as there is Qeshm.
DeleteWhen will Mahan launch flights? June?
Delete7th of June.
DeleteWhat about the refugees?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcEhqtZhMSc
What about them? They were arriving even before these flights.
Deletewatched the video?
DeleteSo from BEG this summer
ReplyDeleteSAW: 4
IKA: 7
BEY: 7
TLV: 12
DOH: 11
DXB: 7
AUH: 12
PEK: 2
Impressive. 19 weekly flights to the UAE alone.
DeletePotentially DAM as well with 3.
DeleteAh yes forgot about DAM.
DeleteTK applied for ESB-BEG but they were turned down by the Directorate.
DeleteUnbeliavable for ESB!
DeleteI found news where it was mentioned that after Vucic's visit to Turkey JU and TK will make code share and now we see this...
Talks about restarting Belgrade - Cairo route are in the news today. Did Air Serbia talk about Cairo being one of the planned routes back in 2013 or 2014?
ReplyDeleteIt's not in the news. The news is that they discussed there being more flights between Egypt and Serbia but they did not mebtion Cairo. And it's funny anyway since the Directorate didn't allow FlyEgypt to fly from Hurghada this year so it's just empty words. As for Air Serbia, yes they wanted to fly to Cairo. It's in the discussion a few posts above.
DeleteNije bas tako, Ministarka je bas rekla da je potraznja tu i da treba uspostaviti direktne letove Cairo - Beograd. Znaci spomenuti su letovi za Cairo.
DeleteFound the news on biz section of B92:
DeleteEgipatski ambasador je primetio da postoji potreba za uspostavljanje direktnog leta između Beograda i Kaira.
Seems like fans start to arrive tomorrow:
ReplyDeleteArrivals
08.20 IST TK A332
10.55 KUN KLJ B735
13.30 WAW LO E95
17.40 IST KK A321
18.50 SVO SU A333 (!!!!)
19.15 MAD IB A319
19.25 IST TK A333
What about jfk or hainan? Will there be too?
DeleteSerbia and Albania signed an agreement to offer a joint tourist package. This is the same deal as with Macedonia and Montenegro.
ReplyDeleteSerbia will also sign agreements with Croatia and Bulgaria.
This is a smart move to make BEG a starting point for regional tours.
OT: I flew on W6 BEG-LCA 5th od May, LF over 85%, and yesterday LCA-BEG I would say over 90%. Apparently Wizz is killing on this route, I’ curious to know how’s ASL doing on this route? How on earth would go on vacation with 4am flights if you can fly cheaper with Wizz with much convenient flight times?
ReplyDeleteLast night JU 506 had 43 in economy and 3 in business.
Delete