Air Serbia will station an aircraft at Niš Constantine the Great Airport and launch twelve new routes this July after winning a tender to carry out scheduled air services declared to be of public interest from the south-east Serbian city. The airline was the sole bidder, despite interest from other carriers. As a result, Air Serbia will be the beneficiary of five million euros per year over the next five years in order to maintain the flights. "Several carriers showed interest in taking part in the international tender, which was carried out in line with European regulations, however, Air Serbia was the sole bidder. No objections have been made concerning the tender process. A contract will be signed with Air Serbia in the coming days", the Serbian Ministry for Construction, Transport and Infrastructure said.
The Serbian carrier will launch flights from Niš to Baden Baden, Bologna, Budapest, Frankfurt Hahn, Friedrichshafen, Gothenburg, Hanover, Ljubljana, Nuremberg, Rome, Salzburg and Tivat throughout July. All routes will be maintained twice per week on a yearly basis, with exception to Tivat which will be served seasonally three times per week. "The routes declared to be of public interest were selected based on analysis and interest shown by distracts in southern Serbia. The Government of Serbia and the Ministry for Construction, Transport and Infrastructure seeks to aid the growth of underdeveloped regions through the launch of these new services and offer the public inexpensive air fares to some of the most developed areas of the European Union", the Ministry noted. The airline will be required to base an aircraft at Constantine the Great Airport with the capacity to seat at least 125 passengers.
The development marks an end to Air Serbia's single base model. Furthermore, it will see the carrier serve Ljubljana, Rome and Tivat from both Belgrade and Niš. The subsidised flights will also result in the airline's return to Budapest after four years. It previously served the Hungarian capital from Belgrade until late 2015. Air Serbia will also resume services to Gothenburg, which were last operated from Belgrade by its predecessor Jat Airways in 2013. The new destinations will see the Serbian carrier serve a record ten airports in Germany, as well as four in Italy and two in Austria. In another first, the carrier will commence flights to a number of secondary airports, which are primarily served by budget carriers. The new services from Niš will top off a significant summer expansion for the airline, which will see it add a total of 21 new routes.
Nice, so people will now wonder why JU flies BEG-INI-SZG like OU flies ZAG-SPU-FCO/ATH.
ReplyDeleteThere will be a plane based in Nis, so the flights won't originate in Belgrade.
DeleteWhere do you see BEG-INI flight?
Delete"The new services from Niš will top off a significant summer expansion for the airline, which will see it add a total of 21 new routes."
ReplyDeleteThat is huge :O
It is more or less 50 frequencies so doable with 2-3 aircrafts. But sounds cool :)
DeleteSponsored by the Serbian taxpayer. :)
ReplyDeleteWould have been sponsored by taxpayers no matter who got the contract.
DeleteThe same as it is sponsored in the neighbourhood
DeleteIt would have been ludicrous to give state money to a private foreign airline when you have your own.
DeleteDouble taxpayers sponsorship. First the subsidies for INI and then at the end of the year whatever is necessary to present JU as a profitable business.
DeleteHonestly who cares. Serbia wastes so much money on subsidizing foreigners that giving it to a local company comes as a pleasant change. What would you rather have? JU going bankrupt and getting more flights to Baden Baden and other random German villages by Wizz Air? No thanks.
DeleteFor giving money you first have to have it- that is generate that money somewhere. The difference is however that the state does not have the money and lends the money somewhere, which is given to support a serbian company which does not have planes etc.
DeleteSo in the end it would be better not to give money to anyone and if there is real demand then a business would find its niche. This is a wast of money and a much bigger than just support Wizz or FR on 2 or 3 important routes.
Just wonder how long this adventuere will last?
ReplyDelete5 years at least.
DeleteHonestly such a great news for south Serbia and future growth of airline industry in Serbia. AS did a great job this year and even better by adding INI airport under their wings. Good luck and do not worry about negative people and their negative comments .
DeleteSo what are they going to do fleet wise? They won;t be able to maintain this schedule with just an additional CRJ900 leased from Nordica.
ReplyDeleteThere is a rumour 4xB738 will come to Aviolet meaning some B733 might fly out of Nis
DeleteLol... they are not getting 4 B738, that plan is dead. They are getting one A319 for INI.
DeleteThere was talk they would lease A320 from Trade Air.
DeleteThey will get A320 from Etihad.
DeleteI do not think EY A320 will be flying out of Nis.
DeleteIt is "reserved" mostly for BEG-LHR-BEG
Yes but that aircraft will also operate some other rotations, so it might free up another plane.
DeleteI'm sure LF on INI-LJU will be close to 100% on A319/320. Best aircraft for the route.
DeleteOne JU 319 is completely absent from JU regular schedule of S19. That plane will fly charters till mid July and then be replaced by third 733 (probably YU-AND) which will complete maintenance works by then.
Deletelol, no route to LJU from the region is even close to 100%
DeleteAccording to tender procedure aircraft should not be more than 11 years old so no B737 for INI
DeleteNo, it says it must have been produced no later than 1999. That's 20 years... but that still rules out the B737s :D
DeleteCorrect
DeleteTnx for correction. Read the documentation a month ago and realised they will not be able to use B737. It is 22-25 frequencies a day so it has to be a newer plane.
DeleteEtihad A320 will not fly any other route besides LHR, the A319 is coming for INI, they are getting a new one, not one from JU's current fleet.
DeleteCongratulations Air Serbia.
ReplyDeleteSurprise, surprise.
ReplyDeleteI am glad the money will stay in Serbia.
ReplyDeleteit will stay in Serbia only if the business is profitable, otherwise it will come from somewhere else and go back there with interest ;)
DeleteDouble digit percentage of current INI passengers come from areas closer to SOF, PRN and SKP. Majority of other passengers are diaspora, therefore money already is and will keep coming from somewhere else.
DeleteJU at 10 airports in Germany!
ReplyDeleteAnd two in Frankfurt :D
DeleteIt means JU will be getting the money from customers and from Government, but at the same time they will be flying to the airports that charge much less airport tax.
DeleteI do not expect ticket INI-HHN-INI to be cheaper than BEG-FRA-BEG, but for sure JU will have lower costs flying to HHN.
Actually not bad at all.
They will never be able to fill the planes with the average prices they need. Like wizz or ryanair they can charge 10 Eur from those destinations, but with one planes and their costs, its gonna be hard to fill the flights with the prices they need.
DeleteWhy Budapest?!!
ReplyDeleteI truly believe the government was trying to get Wizz to bid. Half the routes were designed for them.
DeleteIn the end Wizz didn't even apply.
DeleteThey might code share with LOT in transatlantic flights or in future asian routes.
DeleteThat would create unnecessary competition for themselves.
DeleteThey should rather launch BEG-INI and BEG-BUD.
DeleteThey should code-share with Air Baltic.
DeleteJU does codeshare with BT.
DeleteI mean codeshare through BUD.
Deletepeople from Niš are funny. first, they complained why Air Serbia is not flying from Niš, called it Air Belgrade etc. now, they're complaining why they won the bid, and are going to fly from Niš O_o
ReplyDeleteAgree
DeleteIf they have had introduced flights under the same conditions as airlines that currently operate from fly Nis that would be absolutely fine, but 5mil a year is a bit too much, bearing in mind that we have one of the worst airport terminal in region if not in Europe!
DeleteMoney laundering!
a tek bice funny when they complain about the ticket prices
Deletepisi propalo
ReplyDeleteWhat a poignant, well-argued statement. Please continue to amaze us with your aviation expertise.
DeleteMoney laundering! :)
ReplyDeleteIf this is all for Air Serbia, it look like they are about to establish an LCC subsidarry in INI.
ReplyDeleteLCC subsidarry means there will be LCC prices...
DeleteAnd I do not think JU will be offering LCC prices out of INI
I think they will offer LCC prices out of INI. Just look at their prices on BEG-BNX which is also subsidized.
DeleteThey can easily find 140 people 2 times a week who will be flying INI-BUD or SZG for 250€ year round to make money here.
Delete5mio to cover losses on 12 routes? i hope they have done the math
DeleteBEG-BNX with JU ATR72 costs in average more than INI-SXF with FR B738
DeleteTherefore I honestly doubt they will offer FR and W6 price level
sry bit south serbian diaspora is VERY price sensitive. 250€ is science fiction
DeleteINI-BUD 250€??? , made me laugh mate
DeleteHungarians are price sensitive too. BUD-INI would work for Wizz prices starting from 10€. If AirSerbia will offer that price, many Hungarians will visit south Serbia. Otherwise, the planes will fly empty :D
DeleteI hope that route gets scraped.
DeleteThey are not allowed to scrap any route or the entire deal is off.
DeleteBudapest is a beautiful city which is worth to explore! I hope, Air Serbia will offer cheap prices.
DeleteThink they will need at leat 150€ return with 70% occupancy which is around 100 passengers per flight.
DeleteSo it should be subsidized by Hungarian tourist board, not Serbia.
DeleteHow is that route of Serbian public interest?
There are many other cities worth to explore.
We all have our doubts about BUD. I do think, we are really underestimating this destination. This is an airport generating a traffic of 15 million passengers compared to various ex-Yu and non ex-Yu airports combined.
DeleteI think it might somehow be related to the previous Hungarian government "Balkan strategy" by connecting more airports:
https://www.exyuaviation.com/2016/05/wizz-air-bids-for-new-ex-yu-routes-from.html
So maybe both HU + SR governments negotiated this new INI-BUD route.
How does that benefit Serbia?
DeleteShouldn't HU be subsidizing it?
90% of those 15 million are LCC to Germany, UK, France etc.
They do not need to make money from this operation.
Delete99% of the hungarians have no clue where Nis is therefore not much passengers can be expected from this side.
DeleteMagyars love to explore cheap places. INI has brilliant hotels at extremely affordable prices.
DeleteNis city, Devil Town, Motorcycle Race, Pirot, Serbian exquisite cuisine and much more!
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g295382-Activities-Nis_Central_Serbia.html
Rest assured that this will make many Hungarians visit the region. After all, Serbia is not about Belgrade or Novi Sad.
99.99% of Chinese people have no idea where Nis is, yet we have more and more Chinese visiting us. I will never understand why some people from Belgrade (especially people from aviation and in government) have this need to denigrate the south so much, we are the same country and we should support each other in order to succeed. Not everything has to be centralized in Belgrade at all costs.
DeleteHow do you know where he is from? The only one that is denigrating and in a state of hysteria is you. I actually doubt you are from Serbia at all.
DeleteBelieve me, they don't know where it is. The first 5 people I asked had to search it on a map altough they work for an airline actually flying to INI...
DeleteJU will have 3 million passengers per year.
ReplyDeleteGood for JU, good for INI airport, good for passengers from Nis
DeleteIt is funny how no INI passengers today fly from BEG.
DeleteAnd I'm assuming the last piece of news from JU will be the launch of new transatlantic flights this winter or summer 2020.
ReplyDelete+1
Deletehaha, mafia
ReplyDeleteBizarre, only LJU and Tivat make sense
ReplyDeleteTo me only the seasonal TIV makes sense and they will probably manage to fill those planes. How come LJU makes sense? Who are they going to fly from there?
Deletefrom a Air Serbia point of view. what has JU lost in Friedrichshafen and all the other regional lo-co airports?. i do agree i dont see the O&D potential
DeleteLJU makes sense in what way? It is covered to all the sorrouding airports - BEG, SKP, PRN, SOF, TGD. So catchement area is only south Serbia.
DeleteIn FDH region (Southern Germany, Western Austria/Vorarlberg and Eastern Switzerland) living a lot of Serbian people, so I guess there is a demand for "family" visits.
DeleteDidn't one genious said that routes to holiday destinations are waste of national capital? So why is Serbia financing flights to TIV then?
DeleteAnon at 10.00: For me LJU makes sence - I have no intention to fly to SKP or PRN (?!?) when I go for busines to Nis - until now I flew BEG and rent a car, no I will fly direct!
DeleteAlen said something interesting in his regular column few weeks ago. He said that under rules of tender it is possible that Air Serbia finds a partner company to operate flights. For example Air Serbia will not fly to Hahn that is for sure, that line will be left for Ryanair. Some of you guys remember talks between government and Ryanair so I will not be surprised if that partner company is Ryanair (not bad in my opinion). Zivi bili pa videli :)
ReplyDeleteHad they done that, they would have had to make it clear in the tender application and the ministry made no mention of Ryanair, which I'm sure it would have because it would have been good PR.
Deleteuhm
DeleteDoubt it. Karlsruhe is already added in Air Serbia's drop down menu for ticket purchase.
DeleteBut Nis isn't :-)
Deletelets be honest, this has improved now the chances of having a 6th Wizz aircraft at SKP. They have blocked every single possible Wizz destination from INI. wow
ReplyDeleteNot sure... Wizz would be able to fly for 10€, I doubt AirSerbia will be that cheap.
Deleteif they were interested they could have applied. its even 3x more money on the table. and they are not flying against JU, just look at BEG
DeleteWizz will probably leave after their 3 euros handling agreement is up. I doubt the government will extend that agreement and W6 certainly won't pay full price to fly from Nis.
Deletewhy not? As is argued by the government planes will be full for any price. So if Wizzair is charged full handling prices and can just sell the routes for much more. I always thought thet the strategy of low coster is to stimulate demand by offering prices for 5€ and then look that costs are low, including handling fees.
DeleteBut obviously JU will also able to offer prices much more expensive and fill the plane.
Долазак Ер Србије на Нишки аеродром јесте стратешки добар потез Владе. За извесно време тај аеродром неће бити профитабилан током целе године. Међутим доградња и проширење терминала и модернизација аеродрома са
ReplyDeleteILS, новим ATC торњем и побољшаном пистом и ручном стазом Нишки аеродром биће у стању само одрживости.
Логично да ће направити карго терминал. Будући привредни развој Нишке области оправдање улагање у Нишки аеродром.
TIV and SZG will be interessting also for passenger from Macedonia.
ReplyDeleteDid not see that one coming LOL
ReplyDeleteCompletely logical choice, even if there were more airlines that applied.
DeleteThe day before yesterday, there were doubts about JU and so are the doubts now clarified.
ReplyDeleteThis is really good news for Niš and the region. At least the traffic will be guaranteed for 5 years.
Hence the model applied for Skopje should, a priori, work for Niš, too.
Basically JU will play a double role: serving primary airports from BEG and secondary ones from INI.
The German airports are purely low-cost and not typically served by a standard carrier but rather (U)LCC.
I am very curious about the performance of SZG, LJU and BUD ;)
SZG should do fine, BUD makes no sense.
Deletebut can JU afford to be low cost?
DeleteI think you are probably judging the previous BEG-BUD dropped by JU.
DeleteThat was then, this is now. The aviation market is dynamic and changes all the time.
Do you know if the INI terminal will be able to handle an additional A319 + the existing W6, LX and FR regular services? I read in a trip report that when 2 jets arrive at the same time, the terminal gets cramped.
I'm judging as to why they don't launch INI-BEG and BEG-BUD.
DeleteIt would make much more sense.
Why does Serbia need to subsidize Hungarian tourism?
It's about making people in south happy.
DeleteWinter is coming.
Elections are close.
:)
Do you think W6 and FR will stay? I am not sure
ReplyDeleteBut Hanover is close to Berlin, GOT will compete for passengers from central Sweden with Malme and Stockholm
German routes of W6 will be also endangered, I mean FMM vs FDH
Bratislava is half-empty and will be history soon.
I see no risk for Milan & Vienna, but no airline will stay for 1-2 routes
Yes they will because the new routes are not really directly linked to them.
DeleteBTS half empty? Are you saying this because of the continuous low prices? It is massively 9€ .
Do Slovaks visit south Serbia ?
Slovaks visiting South Serbia? Really? This is purey a gastro route that is a mere 35 km from VIENNA.
DeleteWizzair costs 9,99€ next week from Vienna to Nis. Considering those prices in May one can safely assume that the route will be cancelled anyway. Probably not so many Serbs living in Vienna from Nis area.
DeleteBUD or HHN is a different story and since no passenger today from NIS is flying FRA-BEG, there will be no cannibalisation on the new route.
Apparently both VIE and BTS have appaling loads, no room for both.. but I think VIE alone is sustainable.
Deletethis will be interesting fleet-wise
ReplyDeleteoption 1: get new jet to cover the additional traffic
option 2: cut worst BEG performers and transfer free capacity to niš. then share in BEG drops (again) and this connectivity idea goes further down the drain
option 3: i wouldn't be too much surprised if the JU planes are so underutilized, after several years of cuts, that they will manage to keep all the routes in BEG and send one plane to INI
Well, as expected. They will be getting 5 mil eur a year for one aircraft and 22-25 weekly frequencies. Their unfavourable leases for A319 are not more than 1.5 mil per year. They have to pay 10 pilots and 15 cabin crew + maintenance. They will certainly have some revenue from tickets so hopefully be able to pay for fuel, airport charges and all taxes. All in all, they will have 2-3 mil net subsidy for JU project from this operation.
ReplyDeletefuel burn, airport / navigation charges, gha....? also depends on the ticket pricing. it is hard to guess if don't know most of the numbers behind this.
Deletemaintenance will be interesting to see. i do not know who currently provides line maintenance at INI and will JU try to establish some operation there?
same goes for catering
In any case JU will be making a lot of money out of this newest scheme.
DeleteAdmin, little correction, they will serve four airports in Italy, not three (FCO, VCE, MXP, BLQ)
ReplyDeleteFixed, thank you.
DeleteSo they will fly with bigger plane from Nis to Ljubljana then they do from Belgrade to Ljubljana. Comedy.
ReplyDeleteExcept that they fly from Belgrade 12x weekly, while from Niš 2x.
DeleteIt is not a comedy it is a well thought strategy with a lot of winners. Do not look for any economic logic in flying to BUD or LJU pls
DeleteTHis serves so many interests actually
1. Calm public society in Southern Serbia and show that SNS & AV are interested in the development of the airport -> happy voters for the elections
2. Scare off the Wizzair and Ryanair -> happy Vinci and AS
3. Pump public money into AS -> happy AS
4. Withdraw AS after the deal is over, saying we have done everything we could but there is no demand, come fly from BEG -> happy Vinci and AS
5. Tretiary airports so no harm for BEG -> happy Vinci
I think the Serbian taxpayer has another song to sing and their bitter, harsh theory.
DeleteThis project is not cheap.
INI has to be destroyed at any cost, that is and has been Belgrade's strategy since ever. This is just a way to subsidise JU while chasing FR and W6 away with a final goal to close INI airport in 2021. Best case scenario INI doesn't get closed but only JU is flying out of it and it is serving as a workaround to EU subsidy rules.
DeleteWhat I like is that the money + interest rate for this adventure will be coming from the countries that are served, who will be most happy :)
DeleteI actually see no drama. BEG is 2h away and has flights to 4 continents. An airport is an expensive endevour, all this agony and money burning is to calm people down. Retionally the region can be perfectly served by BEG.
DeleteWhy don't we let the market and consumers decide where they want to fly from? If FR, W6 and Swiss can fill planes out of Nis, why does Belgrade need to get involved and sabotage that?
DeleteAt the end of the day, BEG and INI can coexist and complement each other. There are many people from Belgrade and central Serbia (even northern Serbia) who are willing to travel to Nis for rock bottom fares. There are people from Nis who are willing to travel to BEG for better connectivity, flying to main airports etc. There are people visiting Nis and the region who are willing to fork out extra to fly straight to Nis (via ZRH on Swiss for example). No need to limit one airport or the other, but what is happening here is pure corruption and anti competitive practices.
How is Belgrade "sabotaging" anything? All of Serbia, Belgrade included, is paying Swiss, Wizz Air and Ryanair to fly to Nis due to 3 euro handling charge. Same as all of Serbia is paying for Air Serbia to fly in general and now to twelve destinations from Nis. On top of that European airlines are free to introduce flights to Nis at their own free will. So who is exactly sabotaging Nis?
DeleteWhy did Belgrade have to take over the airport and replace the competent and successful local management?
DeleteIt wasn't the city of Belgrade or the citizens of Belgrade who changed the management. It was the government and ruling party, voted overwhelmingly by the citizens of the city of Nis and districts in southern Serbia where they have their biggest stronghold, that replaced the management. It was the local government in Nis, voted by the people of Nis, that approved the change in management, not the citizens of Belgrade. You get what you voted for and I'm sure Nis will vote for the same people in even bigger numbers at the next elections. It was the Nis district in which the governent in power until 2012 had the lowest number of votes.
DeleteFamilies supported by the new jobs for exmaple in the cable industry eg Leoni are more than the number of locals flying around Europe for leasure and biz. Easy explanation how people will vote.
Delete@ Anonymous 8 May 2019 at 12:37
DeleteSpot on! Exactly as you wrote!
And those factories are also subsidized by the state. Unfortunately, majority of Serbians still have the communist mentality, they want a big leader who will provide jobs for them and control everything. Until that changes there can be very little progress in our country.
DeleteHow big is the INI catchment area?
ReplyDeleteHuge especially if you consider NMK, KiM and BG
DeleteNMK - Kumanovo and Kriva Palanka: 300,000
DeleteKiM - ?
BG - Sofia region and Blagoevgrad: 2,5 million
So around 3 million?
NMK can be crossed within 1-2 hours, come on, the catchment area is everything near the highway to Greece. So much more than Kumanova.
DeleteSo how much according to you? Above 3 million? Roughly?
DeleteI think NMK alone is easily 1m as most cities are along the highway and easy access to INI - Tetovo, SKP, Kumanovo, Veles... :)
DeleteWhoa! o_0 You nailed it, mate!
DeleteNo wonder why there are 4 airports in this area with millions of passengers operating.
SOF - 7 million
SKP - 2 million
PRN - 2 million
INI - 400,000
Totals of nearly 10 millions! All around 200km apart.
Sure, SOF and SKP are within INI catchment area. But they already have flights to most of the airports, and most of the flights are LCCs, which people will take. Nobody will drive 3 hours across the border to catch a 300 EUR JU flight, when they could take the 30 EUR flight with an LCC.
Delete300€ JU flight? Which one are you referring to?
DeleteIn my opinion, BEG-INI daily ATR should be introduced now, JU is legacy and will bee flying to LCC airports, so people from those airports should have conection xxx-INI-BEG-anywhere
ReplyDeleteDelete this.
DeleteThere is no shame of JU becoming a LCC and operating to smaller villages. If this makes money, why no ¿
DeleteThe only legacy about JU is the old ATRs and the Aviolet B737s.
Delete"Air Serbia has a long history, being the successor of Aeroput – formed in 1927 – and JAT Yugoslav Airlines. In 2016, it was the fourth-largest legacy carrier in Central and Eastern Europe. The airline was formerly known as Jat Airways until it was renamed in 2013."
Deletehttps://www.routesonline.com/airlines/13755/air-serbia/about/
Sorry to disappoint you. JU remains a legacy carrier since....you know perfectly when since when.....
Baden Baden - Nis - Belgrade - New York for 599 in business :)
ReplyDelete"Poreski obveznici" mozda i ne trebaju da brinu toliko? Ukoliko letovi budu profitabilni subvencija nece biti,jel tako? AS ce u Nisu aerodromsku taksu placati 15e manje u odnosu na Beg,ako isto toliko manje placa na neki od sekundarnih aerodroma na kojima ce leteti uz popuste istih koji se obicno dobijaju kada se uspostave novi letovi to bi moglo da bude i 50e manje po letu. Ako je prosecna cena karata iz Beg 150e,iz Nisa bi mogla biti oko 100e sto je prihvatljivo. Cestitke za AS i novu ekspanziju.A ako subvencije i budu bile potrebne kome ce mo ako ne nacionalnoj avio kompaniji.
ReplyDeleteThey had better hire a new head of Revenue Management to operate this Nis subsidiary, because the sort of legacy/inflexible pricing they are deploying in BEG will simply NOT work in Nis. The world doesn't anymore need €189 lead in pricing for return tickets to nearby destinations. It's 2019, not 1989.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with that.
DeleteFew weeks ago I was flying Riga-Tallinn which is 50min flight for 380eur return ticket with Air Baltic. So, 180e would be a bargain :)
DeleteAnd of course they found another way to subsidize Air Serbia... LOL
ReplyDeleteTaking into account JU's CASK @ 6.2 produces a ~250 EUR return ticket as break-even at 70% LF.
ReplyDeleteCongrats and good luck!
Wizz had a chance to bid and win part of those routes. Subsidies were better than in SKP and more importantly, Wizz had a chance to own routes to new destinations in the same catchment area it already serves from INI, like existing FMM and now FDH. Proposed INI-BUD was perfect for W6 self transfers, and unlike other regional W6 BUD destinations this one would not have to be subsidized by Hungary. Then again, Wizz needed three attempts to nail last tender at SKP...
Delete+100
DeleteDid Wizzair decide not to bid to prove that juvenile "wannabe monopolist" statement about JU?
DeleteDid you guys misclick or are you pretending you're responding to my message?
DeleteTranquilis, rhetorical question: did you account for 5 mil eur per year subsidy and 3 eur per pax INI fee (vs BEG fees) in your 250 eur "calculation"?
DeleteI would say that the tender was designed to further protect JU and also a dialogue betweeen Belgrade and Abu Dhabi.
DeleteThe idea is to keep INI happy to an extent but not pass the million mark but to also secure more BEG routes. It was easier starting with France and this is what happened with AF and ASL.
This is also the reason of the lack of French connections from/to INI.
This might change depending on the situation.
My god Nuremberg to Nis in winter ...
ReplyDeleteNo more than ten passengers on these flights !
And Friedrichshafen.
How much will be the loss in the first winter ?
Probably not less than 20 million euros .
A Baden Baden ima da se zove Niška banja.
DeleteWill Air Serbia cancel flights if load factors are in the single digits ?
ReplyDeleteWhat worries me is that JU will self-cannibalise itself. It will have dual routes and this might affect the BEG figures.
DeleteFor example if BEG-FRA and BEG-HHN or BEG-GOT and INI-GOT or most importantly BEG-VIE and INI-SZG. People will become confused and wonder which route to take if cheaper.
What also worries me is the brand of the airline. Will it become a legacy or a low-coster? It is clear that the INI routes are pure low-cost.
Also worrying are the future reviews on Internet, especially Skytrax and TripAdvisor.
People will confuse a legacy airline thinking it´s a low-coster and viceversa.
JU does not fly BEG-GOT ;)
DeleteWith 0,5 milion euros per year, they could provide much better destinations (France, Norway, Greece, Holland etc..) with same SC. We will pay 5 mil €/y for what? Friedrichsafen, Hahn, Baden Baden? We saw how subsidies work in Niš. And this is that great strategic plan of GoS? So stupid.
ReplyDeleteJU flies to these destinations from BEG. They didn't want any competition/cannibalization from INI. So we are stuck with Friedrichsafen, Baden Baden and Bologna...
DeleteIt wasn't Air Serbia that decided the routes, but the Government.
DeleteLOL Anon @21:16
DeleteThe Government and JU management are one and the same thing.
No, they are not.
DeleteThey sure are ... Malovic = Government
DeleteExactly, they should have just left the airport alone with local management and existing modest subsidies (which have been proven to work!) in place.
DeleteNis - Tivat, what is that like a 20 minute flight?
ReplyDeleteIt will be around 40 min.
DeleteLarge number of Air Serbia critics, as expected. But do they know what are they talking about? Quick check:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.danas.rs/nedelja/novi-gubici-er-srbije/
Q1: "zašto je Etihad uopšte naručivao nove avione za Er Srbiju čija efikasnost ne može da dođe do izražaja na kratkim destinacijama na kojima Er Srbija isključivo radi"
A1: Short haul according to Eurocontrol is below 1500km and Air Serbia now offers 11 routes above that limit, not including JFK. Strike #1
Q2: "Consolidated Airlines (Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia i Vueling)
A2: Consolidated Airlines does not exist. IAG is used in literature and as a stock symbol, while full name International Consolidated Airlines Group is used where required, but never Consolidated Airline. Strike #2
Q3: Konsolidacija regionalnog trzista: "Na radaru“ je nekoliko propalih ili posrnulih aviokompanija – Alitalija, Adrija ervejz, Kroacija erlajns (traži strateškog partnera), Er Srbija (otkup Etihadovog udela ili kupovina cele kompanije), Montenegro erlajns, B&H Airlines"
A3: B&H Airlines stopped flying and had AOC revoked in 2015. Strike #3
It's suicide to operate a base (ie. year round flights with late evening arrivals) on an airport without an ILS.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't INI have ILS? Is it like TIV? :-O
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2019/01/tivat-airport-committed-to-night-flights.html
Nis is primarily a price sensitive low fare market. JU is a high price quasi hybrid airline. Unless JU positions its price point for the Nis market at levels similar to W6 and FR, this initiative will benefit no one other than JU.
ReplyDeleteIf they do go down to W6 and FR price levels, it will create brand/positioning problems for JU - effectively having the same product serve 2 markets at vastly different price points.
Best would have been for JU to create a new low fare brand (similar to Aviolet) to serve the Nis market
Completely agree. This is why you have airlines such as Iberia creating the Iberia Express brand.
DeleteYou can't just expect the MAD-ZAG price to be the same as MAD-VGO be for instance.
Other good examples are Air Europa and Air Europa Express.
Air France > Joon (soon to be ceased) but still to give you an idea.
JU should either:
a) Create Air Serbia Regional or Air Serbia Balkan Express
b) Deploy Aviolet, although YU-ANI is already operating JU regular flights to MXP and SOF for instance.
You will have INI-SZG for 300 quid and BEG-ROM for 60.
Cemu ovo lupetanje? Cemu nova aviokompanija? Ljudi putuju u Temisvar i Tuzlu zbog niskih cena karata. Cekali su da FR otvori BEG da razbiju duopol Wizza i AS oni ukinuse Temisvar. Do Nisa ce bar brze da stignu.
DeleteAnon 09:04, you are right buddy.
DeleteIf you go the Fly from Nis FB page, you will see there are lots of comments of unhappy people complaining about prices:
> "Ništa, ponovo preko Sofije, Skoplja... J*bi ga, u zemlji Srbiji lepe stvari su obično jako kratkotrajne..."
> Ovo je tragedija u najavi... ostaje ajde cene da vidimo, ali iz "aviona" se moze videti i pretpostaviti da je sve dogovoreno unapred i da se nece dozvoliti konkurencija bg aerodromu i njihovim nikad skupljim kartama !!!
> Najskuplji avio prevoznik
> I ovde nema Francuska (This one is very important - no French connection from/to INI)
As you can see, something needs to be done with the prices. South Serbians are not happy.
No matter wht you do they will not be happy. It is the matter of mentality.
DeleteRight, it's because of the mentality not because of excessive centralization, government racketeering and corruption.
DeleteLets blame centralization that provides to southern regions more money than they can earn. Bad, bad centralization!
DeleteYes centralization is bad. Planned economy and government interference in the market is even worse. And all of this combined with lack of democracy, rule of law and abundance of corruption is the reason Serbia is poor. It's not rocket science.
DeleteBtw, do you have any proof for your claim that the state is giving back the regions more than it takes away in taxation from that region?
You were not complaining about "government interference in the market" when Hungary gave subsidy to Wizz to fly from Budapest to couple of Balkan cities. You were not compaining when SKP/OHD ("planned economy" in reality) needed three tries to gave money to Wizz (and no other airline applied). Hypocrite!
DeleteGod bless you Air Serbia!
ReplyDeleteThey could use the planes they actually own (B733 & A72) for the flights from Niš, That would somewhat lower the fixed costs for the new routes and could provide competitive pricing, in line with market requirements.
ReplyDeleteHowever "could" and "would" are not something I would rely on.
BR, Eight
No, they can't.
DeleteThe planes operating this route need to be max 20 years old and all planes they own are older than 2that
Missed that condition. Thanks. BR, Eight.
Delete