Airport operator VINCI has said it is "committed to opening new medium and long haul routes from Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport" in the near future. In a statement, the concessionaire said the development would ultimately enable the airport to serve fifteen million passengers per year. It is expected to handle some six million travellers in 2019. Commenting on future network expansion, VINCI Airports' President, Nicolas Notebaert, previously noted, "We are working on bringing new airlines to Belgrade. We need some more time to work on flights lasting for over seven hours. We are well aware that we make a living from airlines. They are the most valuable to us. However, there is no exclusivity because in the modern world, working with a single airline is not an effective way to help a country but Air Serbia is our primary partner and we trust that we will further build on our partnership. The goal of VINCI Airports is to make Belgrade the future hub in Southeast Europe".
Belgrade Airport currently has one nonstop long haul service, to New York. Speaking to China's "TTG" travel magazine, the head of Serbia's National Tourism Organisation, Marija Labović, said Chinese carriers are interested in launching nonstop flights to Belgrade from Beijing's new Daxing Airport, which will open on September 30. Ms Labović noted that a new state incentive policy aimed at providing support for tour operators bringing in large groups of Chinese tourists is bearing fruit and will aid future flights between the two countries. The policy also involves tour groups from South Korea, India, the United States, Russia and Turkey and must involve the group's arrival or departure at either Belgrade or Niš airports. The Canadian Ambassador to Serbia, Kati Csaba, recently said flights between Belgrade and Toronto will be launched in the near future. "A final decision will be made by Air Serbia, however, it takes between four to six months for the entire process to be completed upon receiving a permit. It is still possible for these flights to be launched in 2019, but 2020 is more realistic", Ms Csaba said.
South Korea's Jin Air, which recently confirmed it would not go ahead with plans to launch flights between Seoul and Belgrade in 2020 has since told the "Maeil Business Newspaper" it has not entirely given up on operating flights to Serbia. Jin Air has been under investigation by the South Korean Transport Ministry after it was discovered last year that Cho Hyun-min, the Korean Air heiress who is an American citizen, was on its board of directors from 2010 to 2016. Korean aviation law prohibits local carriers from having any foreign nationals on their boards for security reasons. Consequently, the ministry has banned Jin Air from expanding its route network and registering new aircraft until it determines the company has corrected its problems with selecting directors, a measure it has still not taken. As a result, the airline has said that for the time being "there is nothing we can do regarding services to Serbia".
South Korea's Jin Air, which recently confirmed it would not go ahead with plans to launch flights between Seoul and Belgrade in 2020 has since told the "Maeil Business Newspaper" it has not entirely given up on operating flights to Serbia. Jin Air has been under investigation by the South Korean Transport Ministry after it was discovered last year that Cho Hyun-min, the Korean Air heiress who is an American citizen, was on its board of directors from 2010 to 2016. Korean aviation law prohibits local carriers from having any foreign nationals on their boards for security reasons. Consequently, the ministry has banned Jin Air from expanding its route network and registering new aircraft until it determines the company has corrected its problems with selecting directors, a measure it has still not taken. As a result, the airline has said that for the time being "there is nothing we can do regarding services to Serbia".
This summer, full service carriers account for 77% of Belgrade Airport's traffic. Air Serbia is anticipated to hold a market share of 50.4% in 2019, while low cost carriers are expected to maintain a 13.8% share on an annual level. Prior to VINCI's takeover late last year, Belgrade Airport identified counterparts in Zagreb and Budapest as its main competitors in securing long haul services. At the time, it said, "Our aim is to become a gateway for long haul flights in Southeastern Europe to North America, China and Australia, as well as to introduce new routes to the Euro-Mediterranean region and strengthen our regional connectivity, which would, in turn, help increase loads on flights to the abovementioned markets. The main competitors in achieving these goals are first and foremost Zagreb and Budapest".
Great! They should focus on our main markets- Russia and China.
ReplyDeleteRed Wings is still around which is great and KRR on JU seems to be a smashing success. Russia is expanding quite nicely. Hope JU introduces more destinations in the future.
DeleteAnyone have any info on those Sochi flights?
DeleteAn airline has the permit to operate it but has not exercised rights. So nothing.
DeleteYou didn't really answer my question though, are they working on it or have they given up completely?
DeleteWith JU launching Krasnodar, the chances Sochi gets flights is slim, given the two are close to each other.
DeleteKrasnodar to Sochi is a five hour drive.
DeleteAir Serbia doesn't have the aircraft needed for Russian expansion at the moment. Even if they manage to replicate the KRR success, they would still need to deploy that additional aircraft elsewhere during daily rotations and to circumvent the seasonality issues. Only if JU manages to develop other routes that have been launched recently and increase frequency, we could see the additional aircraft for that frequency increase and with that eventual new Russian destinations.
DeleteCSA tried Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Perm, Saint Petersburg, Samara, Ufa, Yekaterinburg and failed everywhere except Moscow.
Austrian is closing Krasnodar, and failed at Nizhny Novgorod, Sochi and Yekaterinburg. Only Moscow remained and seasonal flights to Saint Petersburg.
JU should be careful there.
Most Russian flights would go at night when JU has spare capacity, daily flights are only to ATH, LCA, SVO and BEY. Then you have 3 weekly to KRR and 2 weekly to CAI. So that comes out to 5 Airbuses departing BEG more or less every night. They could add 2, 3 more night departures.
Delete" However, there is no exclusivity because in the modern world, working with a single airline is not an effective way to help a country "
ReplyDeleteThis is encouraging to hear.
Not for you is not.
DeleteActively encouraging competing airlines to come in BEG is only going to bring down wields for JU.
For me it absolutely fine, thank you.
DeleteI meant JU. :D
DeleteThe way it works and probably will work is that VINCI offers a route to JU. If they are interested they launch it, if not VINCI offers it to another airline. It is precisely this what happened with the launch of Lyon flight by Wizz Air.
DeleteJU IS no longer protected by the government and foreign carriers can enter the market as they please. JU has done a good job competing and expanding its network to include more transfer passengers.
DeleteI doubt they would get an airline to fly any routes that could be of interest to Air Serbia.
DeleteWhat makes you say that? They got Air Post to launch CDG BEG which is served by JU.
DeleteThat route was announced well before Vinci took over and even they themselves said their decision had nothing to do with Vinci.
DeleteWell then you have AF which is an even worse competitor to JU and they were brought by Vinci.
DeleteThat is true but I guess JU and AF are partners. And probably it's non negotiable when it comes to French companies.
DeleteAir France announced A320 for winter so BEG must be good.
DeleteAF/KLM is a bad partner. We have a proof of that in Alitalia and they subordinate position in that partnership. In the same fashion, JU is basically feeding AF/KLM network for cheap.
DeleteWhile BUD and ZAG are served by AC, TS, EK and KE amongst others, Serbia has no single foreign long haul airline flying there. Why would AC not start flights?
ReplyDeleteBecause JU will start flights. Better to keep money with your local airline then pay foreigners to fly.
DeleteNot enough Canadians want to spent their summer holidays in Serbia as opposed to Croatia, Budapest, Greece, Italy etc.
DeleteThose flights are overwhelmingly used by Canada originating passengers.
Common to both ZAG and BUD is that the overwhelming majority of foreign airlines flying long haul are seasonal.
Delete@ Anon 9.06. Is it clear about what you write besice nationalist tones?
DeleteKeep money with your local airline? REALLY? Where does the money go for the leases of the aircraft and all the money that is involved in the training, operation and marketing of these flights?
Oh yes, the 330 is built in Serbia, Simulators are in Serbia and produced there, marketing agencies etc are in Serbia, and especially the bank financing the story is in SERBIAN. NICE! So the money stays with your local airline - soo simple. And the losses, they stay in SERBIA as well ;)
Yes we all saw how popular LO's long-haul is from Budapest. One thing I like about BEG is that they are not forcing things to happen ahead of their time. There are no major oscillations in services offered.
Delete@9.14 I would rather say your entire comment, original and follow up, is on nationalist lines, not mine. Not getting involved in a petty argument. As for me, yes I would rather fly with my local airline, with local crew, local food and products on board. But that's just me. Bye.
DeleteAnonymous at 09:17
DeleteYou forgot to write the most important local factor: Local taxpayers subsidizing your ticket price!
That's fine thanks. Rather that then subsidizing a foreign leisure airline.
Delete^Anon you forget that you are not allowed to like anything from your own country. If you do, then you are a nationalist.
DeleteAnon 09.17
DeleteEither way someone will be subsidized so you might as well spend you tax money on a local company that hires your compatriots, uses local food, is maintained by local mechanics...
Look at the poor Hungarians subsidizing a Polish company to fly out of Budapest and to have a 20% LF to ORD. At least JU has a decent number of frequencies to JFK and a decent onboard product.
I doubt Air Canada and Air Transat are getting any subventions from Italy or Greece to fly there.
DeleteI am not sure if the Croats are paying them anything to fly in ZAG.
Couldn't even one of them fly seasonally to BEG without government money?
Toronto could work on a year round basis like JFK but for that we need JU to launch it. Their network in the region could help fill seats.
DeleteMore like it is subsidies that would keep the flights going. Their regional network would just offer cheap travel to foreigners at our expense. You know, the JFK method of operation.
DeleteThat comment is getting really old. I bet your tax money isn't even enough to cover printing of boarding passes even less so the whole flight.
DeleteIt's always funny seeing argument of wanting to have local food on a 10-hour long haul flight to a destination with completely different culture and cuisine.
DeleteAnd it's always funny seeing arguments that somehow flying a foreign airline is better.
DeleteWell why shouldn't JU serve local food to New York? Why not promote Serbian cuisine to foreigners who are transferring in Belgrade? What should they serve, Big Mac? Dunkin Donuts?
Delete@petar 10:14
DeleteZagreb has incentives for long hauls for sure, financed by goverment
Mahan's IKA-BEG is the coolest addition in a long time. I wonder which local agencies are they working with. I have no doubts it will be a success especially since they have a Chinese website selling cheap flights.
ReplyDeleteI hope they do start those flights on Sunday. With Iranian carriers you never know. Remember Iran Air rescheduled their flights to Belgrade each week for months until they finally launched the flights.
DeleteBiggest difference is that this time they are not not relying on Iranians coming to Turkey but on Chinese who are coming in growing numbers. I mean right now they fly on SU, QR, LH, TK... so Mahan is just another option out there.
DeleteSorry, I meant Iranians coming to Serbia, not Turkey.
Delete@9.43 The Sunday flight is still on sale on Mahan Air's website so my guess is flights will go ahead as announced.
DeleteI dont understand flight announcement in like 10 days early, and its medium haul flight, not just one regional addition. Who will fly with it, and actually what people make so fast decision to fly from IKA to BEG... really dont understand?
DeleteI hope there will be live coverage or some spotters taking a video of it arriving! Ex-YU do you think you could see to get it, I am sure many would love to see it? I suppose there are spotters who took videos of their A340s last year.
DeleteThe flights are obviously for Chinese tourists or groups from whichever country because individual ticket prices are through the roof (especially the inaugural flight which probably means it's also quite full). Also they have been selling these for 3 months already. Remember it was meant to be Banja Luka. They just shifted it to BEG a week ago, which is also an indication to me that these flights are for prebooked groups and not for individual travellers.
DeleteI remember someone posted on here a few days ago that they have a Chinese website version that sells flights to Belgrade for around 560 in economy class which is quite ok. I think China is their point of sale and that's what matters for them. Good for them, they are spotting a business opportunity and they are going for it.
DeleteThat must be a hell of an organization, that shifts tourists and flights from BNX to BEG like potatoes. lol
DeleteWell the tour group would go to Serbia and Bosnia anyway. That's what they said at BNX airport from the start so does it really matter if their point of entry is Belgrade or Banja Luka?
DeleteThey are tourists going on holidays not businessmen who have a tight schedule. They will still see the same things in the end.
DeleteWhat are their prices to other European destinations?
DeleteAnonymous 26 July 2019 at 10:59
DeleteThey stopped flying to all other European destinations apart from BCN.
They fly to Barcelona and Milan in Europe.
DeleteDon't forget Moscow, St. Petersbourg and Athens.
DeleteThey didn't return to Athens though and since Aegean cut IKA there are no more flights between Greece and Persia.
DeleteIn summer Mahan also flies to Varna !
DeleteGood luck BEG. I think the most realistic new long haul route will be Toronto but who knows. We will see.
ReplyDeleteOr Chicago.
DeleteI think Toronto and a route in China has the greatest chance.
DeleteLots of Serbians and others in Toronto area would welcome this flight with open arms. Would that be enough to make it success is hard to say.
DeleteWhat's the next long hual route we can expect?
ReplyDeleteMy money in on Toronto or Chicago.
Delete**is
DeleteMaybe another attempt at China? Daxing will have enough free space and I am sure the airport will give out incentives to new airlines.
DeleteI still think Shanghai is the much better option then Beijing.
Delete+1
DeleteI would add Chicago to the list of potential destinations that could be successful from BEG.
DeletePlease not Beijing again. Shanghai first. It's the most important destination out-there.
DeleteI think a lot of people are forgetting how highly seasonal Toronto is.
DeleteSame as New York.
DeleteI know it is not a long haul route but after the hiring announcement I think Wizz Air will be expanding in Belgrade soon, maybe a third aircraft? Destinations such as Eindhoven, Malmo and Dortmund could easily be daily. I think MMX almost became daily some years ago.
ReplyDeleteVinci partnering with Wizz would be a big mistake. There is no benefit in getting 501MM Eur from concession if it leads to growth of key competitor of government owned flag carrier. Vinci should stay away from Wizz for growth.
DeleteAnonymous at 10:07
DeleteThere you go again trying to limit the growth of BEG and travel options for travelers in order to protect an expensive government owned dinosaur.
It is 2019 people, not 1979!
No one can stop Wizz from expanding. Does anyone know what their marketshare has been over the years? I think it has been going down since they were stagnating and only this year have made some changes in order to grow. While they were sleeping others have been adding flights and increasing their passenger numbers.
DeleteAlso Wizz Air doesn't get massive discounts in BEG nor are they subsidized so the airport isn't losing money from them.
Wizz is the one limiting travel options for passengers in Belgrade. They refuse to register AOC in Serbia and start flying to locations that customers want.
DeleteAlso according to theirs and BEG website Memmingen will be kept as 2 weekly after runway reconstruction while the third weekly will be kept at FKB until the end of the winter season. Quite strange.
DeleteThey are not keeping FKB. Flights will resume normally to Memmingen after the runway work is complete. It's a glitch on the website. I know you see flights on the calendar when you go to booking but click on one of the dates in October or November and see what happens.
DeleteSomeone needs new glasses. Air Serbia added new routes and charters this year. They are more agile and adaptive than some of the yonger airlines out there. If Wizz wants to take on dinosaurs, let them take on BA, AF/KL and esp. LH.
DeleteAnon 10.48
DeleteNot only that but they are still not flying to destinations where they don't need a Serbian AOC like PRG, OSL, CRL, VIE, BCN, PMI, LIS...
Wizz does not have any non EU AOC so they won't be getting a Serbian one. It is not their fault that Serbia is not an EU member and it is not their fault that Serbian government is limiting foreign airlines from launching flights to Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Egypt, Montenegro etc.
DeleteThey can always make the choice to have Open Skies polities.
Also you seem to be very upset if Vinci encourages them to open new destinations like they are doing with JU.
You only want us to use JU and pay through our noses.
Like they already told you we are not living in the 70s and most importantly we do not want either!
Hapy tacpayer what you write is not true. Wizz Air can't operate from any non-EU country to other non-EU country because these are regulated by bilateral air agreement. Even if Serbia wanted to include Wizz in these agreements, it is often the case that the other side would not accept it. They don't fly from Skopje to any non-ECAA country, and they have full support from Macedonian government. Why do you think that is? Also when they wanted they took out foreign AOC, like they did in Ukraine.
DeleteThey have a Ukrainian AOC. ;)
DeleteIts easy being a king in a small town like TZL or trying to bully small player like JU. If Wizz is any good fighting dinosaurs as they think, let them start LHR-FRA or FRA-MUC. Come back if you survive a year giving "choice" to consumers.
DeleteHuh? Why should Serbia allow a Hungarian company to fly from Belgrade to Russia or from Belgrade to Israel? There are others who do it and it's not like we are forced to fly on JU.
DeleteOpen Skies with Russia and Israel is already in place but BOTH sides agreed to allow only Serbian and Russian/Israeli airlines to operate flights, that's why today you have Air Serbia, Aeroflot and Red Wings flying from Moscow and Air Serbia, Israir/Trade Air and Arkia flying from TLV. So do you really need Wizz Air? Why should either Serbia or Israel prioritize a Hungarian company over their local ones?
How about doing some research before posting your traditional anti-JU rant.
Anonymous at 11:07
DeleteThey have abandoned their Ukrainian AOC years ago!
Also Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and Israel have opened their air markets. Serbia did not. Serbian government instead is limiting Turkish and Egyptian carriers from increasing flights so that we have to travel with Aviolet...
Last year they announced that they are getting back their Ukrainian AOC!
DeleteUkraine, Georgia and Moldova have opened up the same way Serbia did so no difference there.
DeleteHappy taxpayer, you said W6 would not be getting Serbian AOC. Wizz never said that officially. Are you the one making that call?
DeleteIf Serbia not being in the EU is a limitation, then please do tell how is Wizz expansion at ZAG progressing?
Anon 11.19
Delete+1000
Or how long has it been since they added a new destination from LJU. Let's face it, in ex-YU, Wizz Air had more luck outside the EU than in it and that's a fact.
Vinci knows better than to rely on Wizz for expansion. Mix of traditional airlines, Easyjet, Air Serbia and few smaller ones is healthier for growth.
DeleteWizz fanboys are nowhere to be found to apologize for the chaos Wizz made when they flew LIL-BEG last night and just left passengers waiting whole night at Paris BVA for their flight to BEG.
DeleteCan you tell us more about that? I don't think many are aware of that disaster!
DeleteIt's not an airline disaster, just a mess when Wizz abandoned passengers:
Deletehttps://www.danas.rs/politika/dacic-pomoc-srpskim-drzavljanima-u-parizu/
https://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2019&mm=07&dd=26&nav_category=12&nav_id=1570649
Wow only 70/174 passengers to Beauvais during summer?! What a disaster. Then people wonder why W6 is not expanding.
DeleteWhat a disaster to think you can calculate a route's success based on a single one direction flight. Any route under 90% LF is cut by Wizz Air. Beauvais has been operating for years with full service carrier prices.
DeleteWell if they cantc fill it in summer what makes you think they can in winter?!
DeleteThe fact that they have been flying the route for over 3 years. Certainly not for charity.
DeleteServes them right for not flying on JU/AF from CDG .
Delete"Serves them right" who are you to say which airline people should fly on. JU is regularly delayed from Paris and a month ago flight was delayed over 24 hours when their plane broke down and no replacement was sent.
DeleteYet people were rebooked on other flights and no person was left behind. Here the Serbian embassy had to intervene which is a disaster. So yes serves them right for not flying on carriers that take care of their guests.
DeleteHuh? CDG has not seen a major delay in forever so I don't know where you got info that it is constantly delayed.
DeleteHope they sue Wizz Air well in EU261.
DeleteYou really need to be an idiot to travel 100km to Beauvais to catch a legacy priced flight.
DeleteLet's not forget ASL France stepped in which flies from a normal airport and not a barn.
I read on various forms and Facebook pages that tickets from Paris are generally expensive even from BVA. People complained that very often they pay 300 Euros!
DeleteI think they might be looking at more flights to China without nonsensical stops along the way. So far the third daily on SU is packed with Chinese passengers heading to BEG.
ReplyDeleteGood luck Belgrade!
ReplyDeletePretty much every single foreign airline has boosted frequencies or capacity for S2019 so I'm looking forward to see what 2020 may bring. I expect some announcements soon.
ReplyDeleteIf there are any new long hauls then I do expect announcements to be made by the end of the year at the latest.
DeleteLast time Vinci said they would support Air Serbia long haul expansion. Did Air Serbia drop their long haul (PEK, YYZ etc) ambitions?
ReplyDeleteI don't think they dropped them. I think 2020 is likely for those. Remember how they said that this year's expansion was in preparation for future network growth?
DeleteIt's unfortunate they are not considering long haul leisure charters in winter.
DeleteIf it's 2020 that is planned, then it should be March or April. This the preparations would already start and be visible until now...
DeleteHow would it be visible to you exactly? And it's more likely to launch in June (peak summer) then March, just like New York.
Delete* than
DeleteThey should focus on China and then Canada.
ReplyDeleteI hope some of this materializes.
ReplyDeleteLess talk, more action.
ReplyDeleteThey have done ok. Lots of new frequencies and destinations from BEG this year.
DeleteAnd close to 40 extra frequencies this winter.
DeleteNice!
ReplyDeleteI look forward to seeing the next new destination.
ReplyDeleteWhile back, JU flew to Chicago with a stop at Clevelend. Could something like that work now, BEG-JFK-ORD-JFK-BEG
ReplyDeleteNo because times have changed since then and there are much more options today. JU would lose its competitive advantage to ORD if it operated via JFK.
DeleteWell they can fly to ORD alone. I mean it would be more profitable than YYZ and maybe even PEK. On Swiss 90% of the passengers connecting in ZRH are passengers going to BEG. Last year I went via JFK on Air Serbia. It was a 6 hour connecting time and they codeshared with JetBlue. On the way back we got delayed and stayed in New York for 3 days!!!! Their codeshare flight is the problem. You don't codeshare with a low cost carrier!
DeleteBEG has good predispositions for more long hauls with a lot of regional links.
ReplyDeleteWhile Vinci is busy with Belgrade let's see if Munich Airport will do the same with Sofia when they officially take over.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately FB is a mess so they can't play the same role in SOF JU plays in Belgrade.
DeleteThat's a very drastic measure the Koreans took with Jin Air. It's unfortunate. Had that not happened we would have flights to Seoul next year.
ReplyDeleteSerious country where rules must be respected.
DeleteThat serious coutry had it's fair share of scandals, corruption cases, corporate suicides and so on.
DeleteLet's not forget the cases about Samsung or the ex-President.
* outcry
DeleteWould be nice to get someone like Volotea to launch a destination like Catania. There are a lot of charters to Italy this year so there must be demand.
ReplyDelete+2 .
DeleteCatania, Palermo , Palma de Mallorca and Malaga ...
perfect for Volotea or Ryanair !
Air Serbia is already flying charters this summer to Palma de Mallorca PMI, Alghero AHO, Palermo PMO, Catania CTA and Lamezia Terme SUF. They used to fly to places like Naples NAP and Girona GRO.
DeleteYes but those were sold by tour operators, you couldn't purchase tickets with them.
DeleteAviolet which flies charters to these destinations since many years, has shown that there is a market for the likes of Wizz,Ryan or Volotea.
DeleteTwice a week in summer would be a good start for them.
Venice was the same, a market that was ignored forever now survives the whole year with a lot of success.
DeleteBelgrade Airport will surpass 6 million pax figure this year without any doubt, 6.050.000 is realistic figure. And ASL pax market share in 2019 will be some 46%, during current peak summer season with plenty of charter flights their market share is barely above 50%.
ReplyDeleteI belive that medium haul is much more important. BEG needs Baltic and Caucasus flights and more African destinations.
ReplyDeleteHow they plan to handle all these pax? They cramp luggage From three flights to one luggage Belt at a time. And the airside Is tiny. There is almost nothing to entertain passengers with long connections. Few options available. No word about sleeping options. No transit hotel, no sleeping capsules, no angle chairs for resting...The only great thing about BEG is that bag scanning happens at the gate so no rush to lose a connection over common security areas.
ReplyDeleteYou have angled chairs in two areas from what I know, one between A5 and A6 and the other in the C area after the national museum exhibition.
DeleteIt was reported on here that BEG is already working on an expansion and I am sure more will be announced soon.
I was flying to Belgrade today, there is a building next to apron for construction workers. TERNA and VINCI are written on it and I've seen that there are some construction vehicles already there, so expansion should start soon.
DeleteWhat airline did you fly on? Just out of curiosity? :D
DeleteSochi, Amman, Lisbon and Riga for the next medium haul expansion. Maybe even Baghdad- it seems to be getting back on track.
ReplyDeleteRiga on BT is long overdue, they could handle the same traffic Belavia carries.
DeleteAman ljudi.
DeleteAmman bre aman !
DeleteChina is a must. Shanghai hopefully.
ReplyDelete