Air France to boost Ljubljana and Belgrade operations


Air France has published its 2019/2020 winter schedule which will see it grow its operations to both Ljubljana and Belgrade. Services between the French and Slovenian capitals will more than double, with the carrier to maintain thirteen weekly flights, up from six last winter season. Through its regional subsidiary Air France HOP!, the airline will maintain two daily flights, with the exception on Saturdays. The French carrier will compete directly against Adria Airways on the route, which plans to run daily flights between the two next winter, up from five weekly services during the 2018/19 season. Although the two airlines previously codeshared on each others flights, this arrangement is no longer in place.

Air France has upgraded its seasonal flights between Paris and Belgrade, launched last month, to a year-round service. Flights will continue to operate daily during the 2019/2020 winter season. "In addition, with our partner Air Serbia, Air France will offer a total of nineteen weekly flights between Paris and Belgrade (seven flights operated by Air France and twelve codeshare flights operated by Air Serbia)", the carrier said in a statement. It added, "We are very happy to be back with a daily service. The Serbian economy is improving and is expected to grow by 4% per year in the coming period, while there is an increasing number of French investments, an example being VINCI. Therefore, Air France wanted to be part of this growth and development, but also support Serbian tourism".

Air France and Air Serbia recently expanded the scope of their cooperation to include new codeshare destinations, with the "AF" designator code and flight numbers now appearing on Air Serbia's services from Belgrade to Larnaca, Nice (as of June 6), Podgorica, Sarajevo, Skopje, Thessaloniki, Tirana and Tivat. In return, Air Serbia now codeshares on Air France operated flights from Paris to Barcelona, Dublin, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Nice and Palma de Mallorca. "This traffic also helps support the route. We have good potential to further develop our relationship. We expect that 25% of our traffic on this route will come from long haul flights, as there is a large Serbian community in North America. We expect 15% from the rest of Europe, and of course the 60% left will be the traffic between France and Serbia", the carrier noted.

Air France's only other year-round destination in the former Yugoslavia, Zagreb, will continue to operate once per day through its HOP! subsidiary. The carrier maintains a codeshare partnership with Croatia Airlines on the route.




Comments

  1. Anonymous09:01

    wow that's a really big increase for Ljubljana. Is there a particular reason?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:03

      Demand is the reason

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:05

      Demand. France always works like this. Take NCE and LYS connections to other Eastern European cities. Suddenly demand increased. Same applies for BVA.

      Delete
    3. Nemjee09:06

      Could it be that the market is in desperate need of an alternative to Star Alliance? LJU-AMS keeps on booming and I am sure Transavia carries a great number of transfer passengers.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:06

      I realise it's the demand but I'm surprised it grew so suddenly. Anyway very good news for LJU.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:09

      Finally AF is waking up. Easy to kill Adria here. Aeroflot has shown how it works. Bravo AF. Go for the hurt animals.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:14

      Yes but CDG is not SVO and Adria is putting up a fight plus I am sure they are going to fight because they have transfer passengers.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous12:51

      @Nemjee do you maybe have a numbers on cdg and ams from lju?

      Delete
    8. Nemjee15:18

      Sure thing, here they are:

      2014:
      LJU-CDG: 75.403
      LJU-AMS: -

      2015:
      LJU-CDG: 72.914
      LJU-AMS: 23.668

      2016:
      LJU-CDG: 74.414
      LJU-AMS: 33.352

      2017:
      LJU-CDG: 85.633
      LJU-AMS: 77.041

      LJU-AMS
      01-07.2017: 38.777
      01-07-2018: 61.925

      LJU-CDG
      01-07.2017: 47.441
      01-07.2018: 59.563

      Impressive growth in both markets. That said, LJU-VIE and LJU-MUC did take a hit in the first seven months of the year, FRA was so-so.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous19:53

      Wow so both AMS and CDG will hit the 100.000 passenger mark this year! Impressive.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous20:38

      Last Anon, not if JP suspends or reduces AMS or CDG.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:02

    Congratulations Belgrade!
    This is good news and now all scheduled flights in BEG are year-round. Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous09:03

    Why did they end codesharing with JP?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:08

      The arrangement probably wasn't benefiting them. Interestingly they continue to codeshare with Montenegro Airlines on Paris-Podgorica line.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:26

      Maybe they didn't want their passengers ending up flying Sukhoi jets :D

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:46

      Didn't cityjet operate some of its flights for Air France with the SSJ100?

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:04

    Where is that guy who was hysterically claiming CDG-BEG would be seasonal?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:10

      I was asking. And it was not hysterically, it was normal question taking in consideration winter flights to BEG were not their system on the day they started flying to BEG as you informed it will be.
      I am very glad to see AF flying all year to BEG

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:29

      You were in fact claiming they won't return, that it shows the route is unprofitable and that there is too much capacity.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:37

      Well, it wasn't me then.This is my comment dated 26.03.2019

      "Let's see.

      On their web page is says

      "For the 2019 summer season (March 31 to October 26, 2019), Air France will offer its customers Belgrade (Serbia) on departure from Paris-Charles de Gaulle"


      I was not thhe one talking about too much capacity. Maybe that one could say few words now

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:04

    Good news for LJU! This shows how the market share is nicely increasing amongst the foreign carriers. I suppose U2 and TK are enjoying good LF, too.
    I do think LJU will need to secure more LCC routes with W6, too.

    Good year expected for LJU, in spite of JP network reductions this summer. More London airports connected.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:58

      Aeroflot too it seems. They sent an A321 yeasterda on their Moscow-Ljubljana flight.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:04

    Thats now 3 daily from Paris to Ljubljana ! Well done Slovenia

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The current winter schedule LJU-CDG is:

      JP 322 06:40 08:45 x27
      AF1037 12:20 14:20 D
      AF1187 15:10 17:10 x6
      JP 342 17:05 19:05 5,7

      Meaning there will be 4 daily flights on Fridays and 2 on Saturdays.
      Seems to be more business demand.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:13

      That is really impressive in my opinion. Easyjet should have been smarter and started Paris before AF grew.

      Delete
    3. Yes, you are right. Given this huge sudden demand, HV can easily consider LJU-ORY given that LJU-AMS is apparently doing quite well.
      BVA is also a possibility not to disregard, neither. W6 can consider launching flights too.

      Delete
    4. Nemjee09:21

      I don't think HV would consider ORY-LJU at least not until JP is around or until AF's CDG flights mature to the point that ORY wouldn't affect them.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous13:51

      Winter schedule will be soon changed leaving just Air France flights as Adria is unable / more correctly they don't know how to compete with any carrier.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous20:35

      HV cannot consider anything originating in FR, that's TO. Even though the branding is the same, they are separate carriers.

      AFKL employee.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:07

    wow. hope these prove succesful so we can expect AF to start other yugo-capitals.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous09:08

    Good news. Now we are just hoping for easyJet to start daily flights to Orly and we can finally have convenient and affordable option for those traveling directly between the two cities.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous09:09

    Maybe it is time to upgrade LJU to Air France mainline.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:43

      If LJU would manage to get AF instead of Hop! and KLM instead of Transavia that would be great.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:45

      Would be nice. Judging from the frequencies, both cities are very popular from LJU.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:49

      What’s the difference? HOP is now facing restructuring measures, including the merger of all operations under the AF flight codes of parent Air France. And EU flights service is exactly the same.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:51

      Larger capacity aircraft under mainline.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:52

      @9.43
      Both are a good alternative to MUC or FRA for transfers.

      Delete
  10. Nemjee09:10

    Air Serbia needs to cozy up to AF-KL as it's a good balance to Star Alliance which keeps on expanding in Belgrade. This AF flight was desperately needed as without it a great number of connections via CDG had a really long layover. Also, AF is quite weak in ORD, I think they fly it daily in summer and five weekly in winter. I am sure they hope to use the large demand from BEG to boost their presence there. Overall I think AF sticking around is bigger news than LH's third daily from MUC.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:15

      Star Alliance has a strong grip on ORD: UA, LH nnd LO. LO have crazy prices via WAW and will be hard to compete with.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:16

      Add LX with two daily flights from ZRH!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:36

      Well, they seem very cozy with them and SkyTeam partners in general...

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:58

      Any chance that Air Serbia might become a Sky Team member?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:39

      With Etihad around: NO!

      Delete
    6. Nemjee11:04

      Etihad doesn't care if JU enters an alliance, especially not now when their own collapsed. All EY cares is that it's BEG flights perform well and that they keep on getting passengers from JU's regional and European network.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:56

      JU must enter some alliance. Sky team would work, but it would be way better to join Star Alliance and negotiate better position in covering main diaspora markets - Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Politicians should concentrate on helping with that.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous12:49

      Star Alliance makes absolutely no sense with JP, OU, A3, TK and OS so close to BEG.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous13:38

      Nemjee, I dont think that Etihad doesnt care about JU entering alliance.
      Simplest reason is - in such case, JU should divide tunneling traffic to the East between Etihad & alliances members. So, number of passengers from local network would be affected.
      However, we should note that Etihad cooperation with SkyTeam members is even more strong.

      Delete
    10. Nemjee15:23

      Alliances are the only thing Etihad never cared about and they always encouraged JU to make as many partnerships as possible. Sure it made sense for them to oppose them entering an alliance while they had their own but now they don't care.

      I think finding another partner for the east would be wise especially now when EY announced new cabins on their A320/321 that won't have any IFE and will have reduced seatpitch.

      Delete
    11. I hope that Air Serbia can negotiate a better code-share agreement with AF/KLM. The last one pays very little per passenger to AS. AF/KLM get most of the revenue from code-share flights.

      Delete
    12. Nemjee20:40

      Those Jat deals were re-negotiated back in 2014.

      Delete
    13. Anonymous22:15

      @ Nemjee
      Again, maybe they don't care about alliances, but they care about taking away passengers from them. It looks to me that you are not big fan of EY ;)

      Delete
    14. Nemjee06:44

      I am completely indifferent towards them but I do believe they are incompetent. After all, look at the mess they created in Abu Dhabi and how they are spiraling out of control. They completely lost their compass and that's a fact. A few of my friends flew with them recently and they told me that the cabin of the aircraft was really worn out and one of the seats was actually broken. On top of that, they introduced massive cost cutting measures in terms of onboard product which is a bad move as they are helping TK, EK and others get their customers. Love them or hate them, they are no longer what they used to be. Let's see if they manage to stabilize themselves the same way JU did. Because of all the issues they are faced with, I don't think they really care about smaller matters like JU and alliances.

      Delete
    15. Anonymous08:38

      Well, this Etihad is for sure different then previous one. We'll have to wait a see how do they handle this pile of s*it in airline and how much patient sheik will be. I've read recently that CFO driving this turnaround left company after 1 year approximately.
      Nevertheless, I don't see this relationship between JU & EY breaking up in very near future, for various reasons unless something really huge happens on EY side.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:16

    Interesting how Air France and Transavia have only success in ex-YU in LJU and BEG. Anyone know why?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:18

      AF foes fly to Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik in Croatia.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:19

      *does

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:24

      Isn't SPU or DBV just for 2.5 months? Also it's a shame that ZAG is lagging behind especially LJU which will have 13 flights a week!

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:40

      DBV started before easter, it's a full STT ops

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:59

      Yes and Split is a new destination this year, so it will probably be operated for the entire summer next year.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:44

      Croatia is well covered to Paris, let alone all other points served by Volotea, Transavia, ASL, Easyjet, Ryanair etc..

      ZAG: CDG by AF and OU
      ZAD: CRL by FR
      SPU: CDG and ORY by EZY, OU, AF and Transavia + numerous charters
      DBV: CDG and ORY by EZY, OU, AF and Transavia + numerous charters

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:47

      And what about winter season, which this article is related to?

      Delete
    8. Anonymous10:59

      Well the article is, but the discussion is ... wll look it up...

      Delete
    9. Anonymous11:01

      In winter there is just ZAD-CDG by AF and OU.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous12:50

      Ouch.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous12:51

      Sorry that was meant to be ZAG-CDG not ZAD.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous12:57

      I am sure ZAD would love to have winter flights to CDG on OU and AF. :D

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:18

    Now its time for easy and wizz to expand their operations across Europe ! We have seen that there is demand and airlines have been adding frequencies and new destinations to LJU ! Easyjet’s LJU-Berlin route was a win for them, those flights constantly have 90-95 % LF so this proofs that they should add something like Barcelona or start flights to Italy... anyways great job LJU !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LJU has been delivering good results lately. I would say, that Fraport has been doing a good job. Significant improvements:

      - Arrival of SU
      - Arrival of BA (seasonal but still a good start)
      - U2 11 weekly LGW + STN service
      - TK regular A321 service
      - W6 - CRL & LTN with additional flights during summer peak
      - 2 daily JP + LO service to WAW

      I may have missed something but still, well done LJU.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:19

      Wizz also upgraded its LJU-LTN to A321 !

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:29

      Also Onur air is sending their A321s to LJU instead of A320

      Delete
    4. Anonymous19:19

      In same time 27 less flights for Adria pet week with 9 routes less. So in total LJU is very bed this year.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:22

    Don't get why Air France doesn't try SJJ and/or SKP with Transavia France. I'm sure they would do well, especially to SJJ.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:31

      especially?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:50

      Yes because there are no flights from Bosnia to France. At least from Skopje you have Beauvais flights.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:23

    Good to see. Hope they include more ex-Yu routes soon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:34

      I think on a year-round basis this is as good as it gets. Seasonally they will have a flight here and a flight there but yeah... they are not as strong as LH and its gang.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:44

      +1 last anon.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:44

    Good news for passengers and consumers in Slovenia & Serbia.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous09:47

    When will we finally see flights from SKP-CDG? :( Air France please consider.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:48

      Considering that Skopje is one of the codeshare routes with Air Serbia, I don't think they will be adding SKP soon.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:25

      Has Air France ever flown to Pristina?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:29

      I don't think so.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:30

      No they have not.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:48

      Easyjet tried but it wasnt a success

      Delete
    6. AF has never served PRN.

      U2 flew from CDG to PRN for two seasons only and eventually suspended the route.
      The now defunct ST was last to serve CDG from PRN last summer season.

      If Schengen visas are ever waived for Kosovars then I predict this route will be one of the first to be reopened as the market is there but it's too fragmented to sustain operations until travel restrictions are removed.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous12:44

      you have BVA with Wizzair.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous12:46

      For an LCC they are crazy expensive on this route.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous12:58

      Well it's a long flight, what did you expect?!

      Delete
    10. Anonymous13:04

      It's even longer from Skopje but it's less expensive.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous13:16

      Unlike SKP, flights in PRN survive without subsidies.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous13:24

      Are flights in SKP still subsidised?

      Delete
    13. Anonymous14:24

      new ones yes, old ones no

      SKP has turned out to be the biggest success story for W6 in Ex-yu

      Delete
  17. Anonymous09:55

    Great to see Air France and Air Serbia expanding their cooperation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:30

      Yes and they are ripping off passengers with the price as part of their cooperation.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:34

      Maybe ASL will help

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:40

      ASL is a good option price wise. Unfortunately, they will only fly during peak summer and considering their minuscule promotion, I'm not so sure they will be back next year.

      Delete
    4. Nemjee11:07

      I see that ASL's last flight from BEG is on 28.08 but I am sure they initially scheduled them until 05.09. Seems like bookings were horrible in September.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:23

      Literally no one knows anything about this airline, so I'm not surprised.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:23

      Also they were quite unlucky to decide to launch this route the same year Air France does.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:28

      Good thing is that they didn't cut in August so loads must be good then.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous13:11

      Not sure where you saw this info, Nemjee. Last flight is on the 2nd September:

      Détails de votre voyage
      Belgrade Beograd - Paris CDG
      Départ : lun. 02 sept. 21:40
      Arrivée : mar. 03 sept. 00:05
      Montant : 132,18 EUR
      Direct
      5O 914

      Belgrade Beograd lun. 02 sept. 21:40
      Paris CDG mar. 03 sept. 00:05
      Appareil : BOEING 737-700

      Delete
    9. Nemjee15:24

      My bad, I was looking at Amadeus and missed it. That said, the fare has gone up quite a bit, I hope that means their loads have as well.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous18:25

      But your theory is right. I don't think ASL will sustain any flights next year.
      AF will join powers with JU and ASL will be destroyed, completely.
      Similar to LJU, BEG will enjoy up to to 3 daily flights to CDG - 19 weekly + 4 weekly BVA = 23 WEEKLY.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous10:22

    I'm surprised by all the demand for France.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:38

      Well... it is France.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous10:26

    It's nice to see that AF is keeping Belgrade daily in winter. Route must be performing well for them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:22

      They did say their advance bookings were rather good.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:51

      They mostly send A320 so that's good as well.

      Delete
  20. Anonymous10:30

    Hop!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous10:59

    Good to see Adria will at least try and compete against Air France by keeping it daily in winter this year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:22

      Yes it's good to see they didn't just give up like they did with Aeroflot.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous11:21

    Congrats LJU and BEG!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous12:14

    Fraport finally realising it can no loger rely on Adria.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous12:16

    Which aircraft will they use to LJU in winter?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:26

      I think I read somewhere it will be A321 and E95.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:10

      In booking system it's mostly E90 for the first and E70 for the second rotation.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous16:25

      Hop has not E195.

      Delete
  25. Anonymous18:23

    Air France codesharing with JU on Nice - Belgrade route is good news.
    Does anybody know how advance bookings are for this route ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous20:57

      This route will not last for long. It will be cannibalised by the new BEG-LYS Wizz Airlines route.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous21:05

      HAHAHAHHAHAHAHA yes, BEG-LYS will destroy BEG-NCE even if the two cities are 470 km apart yet BEG-LYS will be unaffected by easyJet in GVA which is 100 km away. Sure.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous21:12

      W6 French entry to BEG is definitely bad news for JU. It doesn't matter if both cities are 470km. The catchment area is around 3 million. People use TGV.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous21:14

      The Belgrade-Nice route is a leisure route and is seasonal.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous21:17

      You do realize that there is no Lyon-Nice TGV line, right? It stops in Marseille. Maybe you should do some research before starting your anti-JU rant.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous21:23

      You do realise that France has one of the world's most developed railways and here is a proof a direct line costing as little as 35€, mon cher:

      OUI.sncf

      Passenger 1

      26-59 years

      €35
      €35.00

      TGV PREM'S

      Ticket may not be changed nor refunded.


      Journey details

      Fri 10
      Choose your seat
      06h286 hours 28 minutes
      LYON-PART-DIEU
      TGV6805 |2nd class
      4h454 hours 45 minutes
      Access for disabled travellers
      Buffet car
      11h1311 hours 13 minutes
      NICE CITY
      Go to the price list
      Select this outbound journey at
      €35
      €35.00

      Delete
    7. Anonymous21:27

      You do realize how long it takes to travel on the SNCF? Fastest train takes 04 hours and 33 minutes. Why would someone waste 9 hours and €70 of his life to save €80 on an airfare?

      Like I said, if LYS is competing with anyone then it's GVA...mon cher.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous21:41

      We will who will be biting the dust by October end... <3

      Delete
    9. Anonymous21:42

      There are certain routes in France where the TGV 'code-shares' on the SNCF lines. However whoever has been to France or has lived there knows that even though the network is extensive, trains tend to be old, late and unreliable.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous21:43

      So stop being cheap and fly via a European hub, it's after October, tickets are not as expensive. ;)

      Delete
    11. Anonymous22:25

      BEG-NCE vs BEG-LYS we will see. Ah...and also BEG-BVA 4 times a week ;o)
      Vive la France et la Serbie.

      Delete
  26. Anonymous22:40

    The AF-JU codeshare,seems to be working quite well..I was returning from BEG today, on BEG-SKG, and the A319 was packed (all 144 seats full) with lots of French pax...Good for BEG!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nemjee06:46

      You flew on JU from SKG to BEG? Then those passengers were actually connecting onto JU's CDG flight at 17.10. :)
      AF's flight doesn't really connect onto anything in Belgrade. In winter they are changing their timetable so there will be more opportunities.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous21:53

      Υes but the french connecting pax were on the return flight on BEG-SKG

      Delete
    3. Nemjee07:48

      I think that was still from JU's CDG flight since AF arrives too late, I think even after SKG departs.

      Delete
  27. Anonymous21:52

    Υes but the french connecting pax were on the return flight on BEG-SKG

    ReplyDelete

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