Air Serbia sees LCC competition as key challenge


Air Serbia has said that one of the principal issues it is facing is increased competition from low cost carriers (LCCs). It comes as Europe’s largest airline, Ryanair, accused the Serbian government of protectionism. Speaking at the AviaDev Aviation Development Conference recently, Air Serbia’s Head of Network, Alliances and Fleet Planning, And Salt, said, “One key issue for us is the amount of competition on the market. In the past you had the legacy airlines which built up their own market and brand identity. These days you can see that development in the industry changes so quickly. You can have a new competitor coming up and really revolutionising who is carrying your customers around Europe. The sheer quantity of competition is an issue. But also, the quality as well. There are a lot of good airlines out there. This means you have to innovate and differentiate as an airline in order to survive. Therefore, competition is one key thing”.

During the 2019 financial year (April 1, 2018 - March 31, 2019), Wizz Air held a 54.5% market share of the low cost sector in Serbia. It was followed by Ryanair with a 12.2% share and easyJet with an 8.4% market share. Once all carriers on the market are taken into account, Air Serbia’s share for the same period stood at 45.1%, followed by Wizz Air with 10.9% of the market and Lufthansa with a 5.2% market share. Despite the growing presence of budget carriers in the country, Mr Salt believes Air Serbia has a successful strategy in place to counter their impact. “Being surrounded by low cost airlines is our reality and pushes us to do better. If you have a closed market you don’t innovate, and you don’t improve. Competition for the market is great. For an individual operator it is scary, and it can be risky for the future. If you go head to head with a low cost carrier, trying to do the same thing as they do but on a smaller scale, with higher cost, with worst aircraft, how long is it going to last? It’s going to last a couple of years and then you will have to change and adapt”, Mr Salt said.

The airline executive noted, “What we have compared to some of our low cost competition in the region is better connectivity with our Belgrade hub. So, we are not only relying on our Belgrade to Paris customers. We are taking people from Tel Aviv, Beirut, Krasnodar - different places that maybe you are not considering that Belgrade could serve as a nice transfer hub for these sorts of markets. When you have these connecting markets, you can then sell 60% of seats on a point to point basis but you can fill the rest of the 40% with transfer passengers. However, low cost carriers are catching up to this too”.

Seven low cost airlines operate scheduled flights out of Air Serbia's hub. They include Wizz Air, which also calls Belgrade its home, easyJet, Transavia, Pegasus Airlines, Norwegian Air Shuttle and Flydubai, as well Vueling on a seasonal summer basis. They will be joined by Eurowings as of next May. Air Serbia competes directly against its low cost rivals on six routes - Amsterdam, Berlin, Barcelona, Malta, Larnaca and Stockholm Arlanda - although this number is significantly higher if secondary airports, to which budget carriers mostly operate to out of Belgrade, are taken into account. In addition, the low cost presence in Niš has been growing with the Serbian Civil Aviation Directorate recently refusing to issue Ryanair a permit to compete head to head against Air Serbia on flights between Hahn and the south-east Serbian city.




Comments

  1. Anonymous09:02

    Well the Serbian government is taking care of it for them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:05

      How exactly? Please give concrete examples! Did the government stop easyJet from launching Berlin or Basel? Or prevented Transavia from launching AMS and boosting it to 6 weekly this winter? Please stick to facts.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:07

      They blocked Ryanair and they did it by updating the PSO contract AFTER Ryanair applied for a permit.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:09

      How do you know when FR applied for a permit?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:09

      They didn't block Ryanair, they blocked Ryanair from launching a route that was already subsidized by taxpayers. Ryanair still very much flies to Serbia and they are even launching Malta flights in 4 days. I know people on here love to attack JU and present some doom and gloom scenarios but it's time you understood FR did it only for marketing.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:09

      They launched an exclusive PSO with LCC destinations to prevent further cannibalization of traffic originating from the south of Serbia.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:11

      Why don't they open FRA-INI? No approval needed in that case

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:11

      Because it was published online the exact date they applied and the date the Serbian government quickly updated PSO contract to include a sentence that other airlines can't fly those routes. And there is several days difference.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous09:13

      If FR really wanted to fly the route they could have launched FRA flights or even better, they could bring back Weeze which they discntinued after their base there was closed just because their employees wanted better work conditions. Are you defending a predatory corporation such as FR?!

      Delete
    9. Anonymous09:37

      Anon @ 9.05am - you ask how exactly is the Govt "doing it" ? Are you serious ? They are distorting the market in the most obvious of ways by continuing to subsidise JU - directly and indirectly through PSO tenders that only JU can satisfy.

      No need for any further comment ...

      Delete
    10. Anonymous09:39

      Better to defend state-run loss-making "businesses".

      Delete
    11. Anonymous09:44

      And the Hungarian government isn't distorting it by having bogus tenders only Wizz can win? Polish government isn't protecting LO by delaying any expansion at WAW and by introducing a night curfew that starts at 23.00? Germany isn't protecting Lufthansa by refusing to sign an Open Skies Agreement with the Persian Gulf states? Air France isn't protected by the French government which also limits MEB3 access to the country and by helping AF overcome massive losses every year? What about the Italians and Alitalia? What about Croats and OU which just got illegal state aid?

      Please, everyone does it, we should as well. At least JU is growing and becoming a better run business as time goes by.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous09:48

      "Please, everyone does it, we should as well."

      Serbia's last 30 years described in one sentence.

      Delete
    13. Anonymous09:52

      The cro government has protected OU in Zagreb too.

      https://www.exyuaviation.com/2019/08/croatia-airlines-fends-off-lcc.html

      Delete
    14. Anonymous09:52

      Why should't Ryanair be allowed to operate a route without subsidies and instead use tax payers money to subsidize JU for the same route?

      Delete
    15. Anonymous09:59

      Because Ryanair is unpredictable. Imagine JU suspends INI-HHN and then Wizz Air suspends it a few months later like they did with Weeze? JU will be on the market for at least five years so the airprot and passengers know they can rely on them.

      Anyway, seems like some on here won't be satisfied until JU is shut down and other airlines which enjoy government protection in their home markets step in and take over the market. Like seriously people ...

      Delete
    16. Anonymous10:03

      To anon 9.44: Lo is the first to voice in favour of favour of waw expansion. Lo is also the first to voice in favour of building a new airport for warsaw by 2029. So your examples here are missed.

      Delete
    17. Anonymous10:13

      Riiiight they are pushing for a new airport but didn't object when the expansion at WAW was halted which would have added more gates and remote stands. It's one thing what they say in public and another what they say to the government behind closed doors.

      Delete
    18. Anonymous10:21

      Anon 10:13. You have no knowledge of the facts whatsover. I tell you that LO is the most intensive promotor of the expansion of WAW. They are saying everywhere that they are suffocating in WAW as it now stands and cannot be expected to wait until 2029 for the new airport. They want to grow and it is very difficult for them to do it at WAW now. Among others for this reason they are growing BUD.

      The only think that is halting expansion of WAW is government. The bureaucrats from the ministery of infrustructure cannot make their mind whether spending now for WAW expansion at least 500 mln euro and completing the expansion by 2023 makes sense, if anyway they have to build a new airport for Warsaw by 2029 and this one will be scraped.

      Delete
    19. Anonymous10:30

      Right right, of course because only JU uses machinations to limit competition. We are listening to the same song for six years now.

      Delete
    20. Anonymous10:33

      Anon 10:30: I didn't comment on JU. I just gave you facts about WAW, which you obviousely were missing. If any of these facts are incorrect, pls tell me where it is the case.

      Delete
    21. Anonymous10:57

      Like I said theory is one thing, facts are another. It's a well known fact that many airlines purposely congest their hubs to keep competitors away. If those third party slot coordinators were truly neutral such things would not happen.

      Delete
    22. Anonymous11:06

      Anon 10:57: yes, this is one of the tactics of the airlines, but it has nothing to do with the slot coordinators nor airport owners or operators. Everybody can apply for a slot if it is free and the newcommer will get it ahead of the incumbent, because that is how IATA rules for slot coordinated airports level 3 work.

      So if JU applies for a slot at FRA or WAW, provided that this slot is free (not used in the last season), and at the same time LH/LO applies for this slot, it will be YU that gets that slot and not LH/LO.

      Of course if the slot was used in the last season in at least 80%, and both the current user and somebody else apply for this slot, it will be the current user that gets it (whether the current user is LH/LO/YU).

      So there are the facts that you mention?

      Delete
    23. Anonymous11:24

      Yes and in WAW LO controls most of the slots limiting competing airlines from launching flights. If the market was fair then new entrants could take some slots from the biggest airline there and launch their own flights. Like this they are locked out.

      Delete
    24. Anonymous12:12

      You really believe in this? A slot is a property right and is and must be subject to the same rules of protection as any property right or otherwise nobody will invest in opening routes. Somebody invested in a route using a given pair of slots and you would say he cannot continue the route into the next year, just because somebody new wants to give himself a try with these slots, maybe just to make life difficult for the first airline and force the first airline to close the route, lay-off people at the other destination, close cargo and pax contracts with clients at both ends of the route etc.

      So imagine somebody comes to BEG and wants the slots YU uses to fly to JFK and applying your logic YU would have to close the route to make space for the new entrant.

      Delete
    25. Anonymous12:45

      Which airline is YU? And why not if it's at an airport that's slot constrained big time.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:03

    I'm surprised by Ryanair's share considering they only fly from Nis. Good on them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:10

      Why don't they come to BEG - Air Serbia's main airport?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:24

      Because fees are too high.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:24

      Easyjet doing quite well too.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:27

      Not only easyJet but Vueling, Transavia, Wizz Air... they want better conditions than their competitors so that they can dominate on the market. Look at what BUD did, it took them a decade to record a minor profit just because they relied on LCCs.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:30

      "They include Wizz Air, which also calls Belgrade its home, easyJet, Transavia, Pegasus Airlines, Norwegian Air Shuttle and Flydubai, as well Vueling on a seasonal summer basis"

      For all of these LCC's it is not expensive to fly from BEG but FR it is.

      Pathetic

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:37

      Wizz would have already put 3+ planes five years ago if they were guaranteed the same volume deal as Air Serbia. But they know the whole thing's a scam so it will never happen.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:45

      Wizz Air brought the second A320 without any promises from the airport and the government. Nothing is stopping them from bringing in a third and competing on an equal footing like the other airlines do in Belgrade.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous09:48

      They can't have equal footing if they have planes based there and bring so many passengers to BEG. Just like JU gets fee cuts because of its volume at BEG (which was precisely determined to fit their traffic numbers) so should W6.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous09:51

      There is no equal footing with JU mate.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous09:59

      And there is with Wizz Air in BUD where they basically dominate the market and where they get special discounts? Is there equal footing with LH in MUC where they took all the good slots? Is there equal footing with LO in WAW?

      Give it a rest ... mate

      Delete
    11. Anonymous10:00

      Really? Is that why foreign airlines keep on adding flights to BEG left and right?!

      Delete
    12. Anonymous10:31

      re anon 9:59.

      All the airports you mentioned (MUC and WAW) are IATA slot coordinated level 3. This means that airport owner or operator doesn't decide about slot allocation, but this is compulsorily outsourced. In these particular cases this is outsourced to Airport Coordination Limited, a reputable English business doing slot coordination worldwide (also for Heathrow, Luton, Gatwick and some other major airports).

      And, as mandatory for slot coordination airports level 3, they are doing slot allocation according to IATA rules of slot allocation, where there is no place for any preference for a national flag carrier.

      Delete
    13. Anonymous10:41

      Right which is why LH absolutely dominates in MUC or BA in LHR or KL un AMS and why other airlines struggle to expand there. It's one thing what it says in theory and another in practice.

      Delete
    14. Anonymous10:50

      They struggle because there are no NEW slots available and not because of discretionary limitations imposed by airport owners or operators or whoever!

      Just read about slot coordinated airports level 3!

      When reading you will find that as a rule if an airline has a slot it can expect to retain it during the next season, provided it used it in at least 80%. This is one of the reason for dominance of the encumbents. But I guess this is quite understandible, so that you can continue with your route network from one season to another.

      However in relation to new slots (ie slots not yet used) there is a preference for newcommers over the incumbents.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:04

    Air Serbia should not complain, they are lucky Wizz Air is extremely passive in Belgrade. What's their plan for BEG in 2020? They are only increasing Belgrade-Baden from 2 to 3 weekly.Not to mention that they are extremely expensive to places like BVA where they sell €200 return tickets without luggage!

    No other airlines in BEG pursues aggressive pricing like Wizz Air tends to do when they want to kill someone.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous09:04

    If Ryanair came to BEG and opened as many lines as in SOF, it would be the end of JU's short-haul profitability, with or without transfers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:06

      Would it really? They didn't kill Bulgaria Air, LOT or Aegean.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:08

      Ryanair will come to Belgrade. The only question is when.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:09

      Or airBaltic

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:15

      AlanRyan is not coming to BEG

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:23

      FR won't come to BEG. Vinci wouldn't let it. And I'm sure Vinci has some gentlemen's agreement about new airlines with JU just like ADP has in Zagreb.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:28

      They don't, what they do have is a price list that airlines can either accept or turn down. After all, Vinci brought Air France and ASL both from Paris where JU already flies to.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:38

      @9.08
      No chance. Unless they are given huge discounts which I doubt.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous09:39

      FB doesn't need to make profit to be useful to their owners.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:05

    Key challenge Air Serbia is facing is uncertainty, not LCCs. Uncertainty over Etihad contract, leadership, fleet development, long haul expansion...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:10

      What Etihad contract? That contract expired at the beginning of the year and since then JU has been doing much better.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:13

      Contract has been extended for another 5 years until 2023.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:29

      Nope, the consultancy contract was terminated and certain departments were moved from AUH to BEG.

      That's great as EY plans on firing 130 pilots, they are really not doing well.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:31

      They have numerous contracts. Equity contract was extended which is why EY still owns 49% of JU.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:38

      Nope, there is no such thing as equity contract. Etihad will own 49% until they sell it to someone out there.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:43

      There is shareholder agreement (which covers 49% stake) which is in force and was renewed.

      From this site:

      "Etihad signed a dozen agreements with the Serbian government upon its partial takeover of Jat Airways almost five years ago. They include an Investment Agreement, Shareholder Agreement, Management Services Agreement, Agreement for the Provision of Grants to Air Serbia by the government, Training Agreement, Travel Services Agreement, Convertible Loan Facility Agreement, Frequent Flyer Migration Agreement, as well as separate agreements relating to the long-term commercial arrangements between Air Serbia and Belgrade Airport, fuel provider NIS and maintenance provider Jat Tehnika".

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:07

    Yesterday

    JU334 BEG-FRA
    Y144/144
    C 8/8

    01.11.2019
    JU335 FRA-BEG
    Y140/144
    C 1/8

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:20

      Champions league game this week, i expect at least 5000 passengers just coming for the zvezda game (our diaspora) not including english fans who will be around 2000 aswell

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:30

      Actually BEG FRA should be 8/132 since total capacity of the 733 is 144 seats, not 152.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:32

      There could have been babies on board :)

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:33

      I was talking about A319, not B733

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:38

      A319 and B733 have the same capacity.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:57

      Yes, and it is 144 in Y

      https://www.airserbia.com/footer_menu/kompanija/nasa_flota/cinjenice-o-nasim-avionima

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:09

    Kako je Niš odjednom postao toliko interesantan svima... A do prije koju godinu nikome se nije isplatilo da leti sa Niša (vele nema tržišta).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:31

      Nis je LCC trziste.

      To se vidi i na primeru LX koji se povlaci iz Nisa

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:38

      Primer je kvaran. Air Serbia (Vlada Srbije) je pokrenula subvencionisane letove i ubila liniju koja je upravo bila dobila treci let nedeljno.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:39

      Свис се повлачи из Ниша јер је Ер Србија увела Ниш-Фридрихсхафен.

      Иначе Свис ће се сконцентрисати на Београд те већ од првог дана летње сезоне повећава летове са 9 на 17!

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:55

      Molim te mi objasni logiku

      Nis ima liniju za Bazel sa W6 koji ima LCC cene 2 puta nedeljno. Bazel je udaljen od Ciriha 1 sat voznje i to ne steti Swissu, cak sta vise Swiss otvara liniju za Nis posle Wizza.

      Nis ima liniju za Fridrihshafen sa JU 2 puta nedeljno sa nizim cenama. Fridrihshafen je udaljen od Ciriha 2 sata voznje i to steti Swissu koji odmah zatvara svoju liniju.

      Ni W6 ni JU ne nudi konekcije iz BSL i FDH kao sto je Swiss nudio iz ZRH.

      Meni ta tvrdja o FDH i da zbog njega LX odlazi iz Nisa stavrno ne drzi vodu


      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:42

      Luckily INI had a fantastic October, so far this year they added some 44.000 passengers.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:02

      @ Anon 09:55

      iskreno, ni meni ta logika nije jasna

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:28

      FDH was the straw that broke the camel's back, it was the route that added way too many seats onto the market. LX probably realized that focusing on BEG is much wiser, after all of its NA transfers who flew into INI will just switch to BEG. Belgrade and Nis are connected by a highway and the ride is about 2.5 hours especially now when there is a ring so you don't have to drive through the city anymore.

      Great news for INI. Just checked and in October they had 42.949 passengers up from 29.885 last year, that's 44% more! I am sure they will have around 410.000 this year!

      Delete
    8. Anonymous12:13

      If LX thought there are too many seats available from Switzerland to Nis they would not have launched ZRH-INI in the first place.

      Mind you, W6 was already flying BSL-INI that is much closer to ZRH than FDH with A320 before LX introduced their flight.

      And now JU was the final straw and their FDH that is 2 hours driving from ZRH.

      Who is next on the list of guilty airports? FKB that is 2,5 hours driving from ZRH?

      Nonsense.

      Poor Swiss, they are so weak.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous12:48

      Then what's your opinion because I see no argument from your side, just attacking others.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous13:43

      I wasn't attacking anyone, I was just commeting the excuses being used and repeated here million times without actual thinking.

      LX did not make so much money in INI as they could do it on some other destination annd they left.

      It just became convinient JU to be blamed due to timing all of it happened (introducing FDH flights matching with LX withdrawal from INI).

      Delete
    11. Anonymous13:53

      And right after I finished my above post (13:43) I saw this article

      https://www.exyuaviation.com/2019/11/ryanair-to-end-stockholm-nis-service.html

      ""This route from Niš to Stockholm Skavsta will not operate from April 2020, as we continually review each of our 2.100 routes and put together a schedule based on many factors including base availability, historical route performance and market demand"

      Conclusion is more than clear

      Delete
    12. Anonymous14:45

      It's not clear to me so ...

      Delete
    13. Anonymous15:13

      Routes dropping like flies. First it will be the LCCs and then JU. Great success!

      Delete
    14. Anonymous21:40

      Yes, I heard they are dropping Malta next ... oh wait ... that one is being launched. Silly me.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:12

    ASL is quasi LCC on flights out of Nis base. More or less they offer the same product as Wizz and Ryanair. If they cut where it hurts and lower their costs we might have in future national airline with transfer options available and pseudo LCC product embeded into it that can survive among other Euro LCCs and ULCCs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:39

      They will *NEVER* achieve 2 cents ex fuel.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17:13

      No national airline will ever be truly LCC, even if they try, because there is just too many employees per aircraft. Add to that mindset of the people, which is very difficult to change.

      To prove me wrong, name one full-service airline that has successfully transitioned to LCC.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:14

    If Air Serbia complains about competition in LCC, then why don't they make low cost subsidiary and make real head to head competition.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:15

      For that they would need to get new (or newish) planes and for that they don't have money.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:15

      Maybe the Sukhoi purchase which was mentioned would be for an LCC subsidiary.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:17

      ^ that would be interesting :)

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:41

      Dispatch reliability of SSJ vs B737/A320 when doing LCC 8 sectors per day.

      Yeah, that would work great :)

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:15

    One thing that is great for JU is that OS is in deep crisis right now. They announced that they will fire 500 pilots, cabin crew and ground staff. On top of that Wizz Air is expanding all over from Vienna destroying yields on most markets. As an example, Wizz Air is launching VIE-TIA this December while in the second half of January OS has already downgraded TIA from 12 to 11 weekly. On top of that their loss in H1 grew so overall not a good time to be Austrian Airlines.

    This means that in the region JU will have some breathing room, upgrading TIA to A319 three times per week and adding more flights was a fantastic move.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous09:17

    I remember a few years ago Dane also said something like that they fear LCC "onslaught".

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous09:19

    I think JU's current hybrid model is best at competing against LCCs. Like the executive rightly says they need to offer something different but their prices need to be competitive, which they really are.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:21

      Their prices are compeptative only on routes where they have competition. Berlin was really expensive until easyjet came and JU was forced to massively reduce prices. Now it's one of their cheapest western European destinations. Look at prices for regional routes where they don't have competition. 220 euros to Zagreb. Are they crazy?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:26

      Talking about the prices is the same like talking about preferences.

      If you want to fly tomorrow to ZAG maybe it will cost you 220 EUR, but if you want to travel to FRA in January or February you could have purchased the ticket for 92 EUR only.

      So, it all depends how far is flying date, what is the time of the year, if there is promotion or not etc.

      Of course the competition on certain route is also important, but it is not the only factor

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:31

      Everyone does it, look at Wizz Air prices to places like Luton and you will see the same tactic.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:40

      Right, it worked wonders for Air Berlin and Adria. And all others. It's a defunct business model which belongs in history..

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:46

      9:31

      It's not the same model at all. Let me enlighten you -

      Wizz Air's pricing model is exclusively demand driven. Pricing is fully variable. If prices go up it's only because people have bought up the cheaper tickets ahead of time.

      At Air Serbia it's centrally planned, thus suffers from the effect you describe - pushing your luck with inflated pricing classes and hoping it will stick. People here have only ever been exposed to this model so they project it to everything and everyone, including Wizz and Ryanair, while it couldn't be further from the truth. There's persistent elementary ignorance at work here preventing people from reasoning properly.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:52

      Aha so it means that high prices are because of full planes and since they are purposely not expanding by adding planes to their Belgrade base they are ripping people off on purpose. Cool.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:18

      Re anon 10:52.

      Wizz is after profit. If they have a route 2 weekly and they extend it to 3 weekly, they increase it by 50%. Will they find so many more pax and at what prices? They cannot add a smaller plane to increase it by for example 20%. They are after expat routes - can they find enough of them to justify basing yet another plane? It is understandible that they may prefer to charge more on the existing pax numbers on this route then to increase the pax numbers, but get in total the same amount of income.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous11:29

      They can increase it to A321 like they did in Luton. Why doesn't Wizz Air replace one A320 in BEG with A321? Also their network in Belgrade is rather weak, there is definitely room for more flights.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous12:50

      Wizz is ripping people in ex YU to cover their losses in Vienna.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:25

    I see easyjet as a potential threat to Air Serbia in Belgrade. I think they are the ones to look out for and they will expand.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:27

      Wizz Air is their biggest threat with 2 planes in BEG. They are passive at the moment but they could decide over night to base a third plane and challange JU on many routes. Their more recent expansions have included head to head competition - Larnaca, Malta...

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:27

      I wonder why they didn't do it up to now especially as Vinci has excellent relations with U2

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:28

      But they can't open INI-FCO :-))

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:32

      ORY-BEG with easyJet would be phenomenal or even London, Wizz is sending the A321 on a regular basis now.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:51

      EasyJet has brutally high ancillary prices. And it is very important for airline decision makers - how well they can sell ancillary. They downgraded TXL. I flew it last month and the plane was full, but it was Sunday, Wonder how they do on business days on the route. I paid a small toast and 0.25l Coke can almost 10 EUR. Luggage limit is 15 kg, compared to JUs 23kg. Although I think they would do better if they switched these ops to SXF which is much better connected with Berlin city proper.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:56

      Coincidently I flew easyjet to Berlin last Thursday and came back yesterday morning. I was deciding between easy and Air Serbia. Price with baggage (easy 15kg, ju 21kg) was 20 euros cheaper on easy but I decided to go with easy because it meant I didn't have to get up at 4.30 in the morning on Thursday to catch the flight. Plane was full both ways.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:09

      If you fly with easyJet with cabin luggage only there is no weight limit, but with Air Serbia it is 8 kg in economy

      Delete
    8. Anonymous11:29

      JU doesn't even check the weight of cabin luggage, at least they never checked mine.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous11:30

      Its a marketing - size of luggage is limited, so you can't put 20kg in it unless you are carrying bricks ;)
      Also, Air Serbia gives you 1 additional piece (so total of 2) as carry on bag even on cheapest fares, Easy does not.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous12:05

      Marketing or not it has always helped me. I pack everything I can pack and don't care about the weight. It would be great that kind of "marketing" to be offered by all legacy carries as well as LCC's. But, unfortunately it isn't. As far as I know U2 is the only one offering it.

      If you make check in at the airport Air Serbia always check the weight of hand luggage. And the second piece can't be heavier than 4 kg and must fit the space under the seat in front of you.

      So, better to have 15 kg in one piece above your seat than 8+4 in 2 pieces

      Delete
    11. Anonymous12:52

      Look on the bright side, at least what JU offers is better than W6 which allows nothing.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous13:11

      Second piece of luggage on JU does not need to fit under the seat, stop posting bs.
      Also, as convenience, if you check-in online or using kiosks at airport, nobody will measure weight of your luggage. In addition to that, often you can spot passengers boarding even with third piece of luggage ;)

      Truth is, after few months of "hybrid" era, enforcement of their luggage policies become more relaxed.

      Btw, are you the same guy, coming constantly with this EasyJet luggage marketing? :)

      Delete
    13. Anonymous13:35

      You should read air serbia luggage policy , Mr. BS.
      https://www.airserbia.com/en/information/baggage/hand-luggage/hand-luggage-weight

      It means small camera, laptop bag etc. All bulky luggage :-)

      In your genius perception you do not see that after some JU flights departures from BEG it needs to return. And other airports except BEG do not have JU kiosks for online check in. So, it means if you did not make online check in or even if you did not print out your boarding pass (in case you don't use mobile phone for it) you MUST visit Air Serbia check in counter where your hand luggage will be checked for weight.

      Last but not least...there is number of airports where you can't make online check in for the flights with JU to BEG. And what are you going to do with hand luggage if you don't wish it to be checked for weight ? Hide it in the toilet? :-)


      Delete
    14. Anonymous15:17

      Guys, fact is that people are taking all kind of normal sized backpacks, bags, etc. as second item on JU flights, and passengers are not forced to place it under the seat. If luggage compartments are full, some passengers will be asked to place smaller bags under the seat. As with every other airline.
      I personally always carry a full sized 15" laptop backpack as a second item, usualy heavier then 4kg. Nobody ever measured a weight of it, or made any kind of objection, regardless of airport I was flying from. I think that once of twice I was asked to put it under the seat in last 2 years when flights were extremely packed.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:29

    As long as Air Serbia is partly used as a government possy - hiring party bots, removing a plane from service to fly the president to Shanghai via Novosibirsk, it will never be able to compete on the free market.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:34

      +1

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:41

      +1000

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:49

      Just like TK is for the Turkish government or Aeroflot for the Russian one. <3 I don't mind as long as JU is growing and expanding. We all benefit from that. Imagine if we were still paying to have an airlines like Jat Airways. :O

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:14

      "Imagine if we were still paying to have an airlines like Jat Airways"

      Imagine if we had a free market and we weren't subsidizing all the loss-making state companies.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:31

      Subsidies to JU are not hampering BEG's growth so it's not an important factor.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:32

      Free market does not exist, it is ilusion

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:35

      Have a look a LJU, free market over there is really booming...

      Delete
    8. Anon 10:14

      Imagine if adults didn't believe in Santa Claus...

      Free market (which is neither free or market)? Thanks but no thanks. I'd rather give some money to JU or any domestic airline than to a "market" that is "free" for turbocorporations and megarich individuals from certain part of the world, while everyone else work for a spoon of rice per day.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:34

    Wow JU share is quite low.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:35

      It probably increased to over 50% this year with all the new routes from BEG and INI.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:41

      The thing is that foreigners are also adding flights to Belgrade in large numbers. Look at LH's share, they added a third seasonal flight from MUC while the A321 from FRA is extremely common these days. They do really well here.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:37

    Funny how Vueling revised their schedule to BEG to fly on the same days as JU next summer. JU tricked them by already adding a third weekly. Your move Vueling!

    Vueling's schedule on Monday and Saturday is especially fantastic ... not.

    Monday BEG-BCN 01.30-04.05
    Saturday BEG-BCN 02.15-04.50

    Air Serbia will have a flight on Saturday as well:
    BEG-BCN 06.45-09.25

    With such a schedule Vueling should really not complain.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:04

      Don't understand what was Vueling's strategy of scheduling flights on the same day as JU?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:05

      To hurt JU on the route obviously by offering cheaper prices and taking over P2P passengers, which make up the largest passenger type on this route.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:06

      But with this flying schedule?

      It is nonsense

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:07

      Because that's when they have aircraft free. Their planes are busy with more lucrative routes during the day time.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:13

      Therefore I am sure JU will beat them on this route.

      And they should

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:14

      I expect that too and it will probably result in Vueling suspending the flight and JU inflating fares afterwards.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:32

      As long as you expect it.

      Delete
    8. Nemjee13:18

      You can say many things about JU but one great thing about them is their timetable. Very convenient if you are starting your journey in Belgrade.

      As for Vueling, they deserve to have their ass kicked in Belgrade. Since they launched flights their timetable has only gotten worse. On top of that they have chronic delays, some are even a few hours. Imagine the feeling when your flight is scheduled to depart at 01.30 but due a delay you leave at 04.15. That was very common with them this summer.

      Maybe if they commit to the Serbian market they will have better results. Given JU's absolute success in BCN this summer, the market is there.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous07:41

      VY is the queen of delayed flights. Never reliable during summer. In July 2016, there was a huge scandal in Spain because of the delays.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous10:03

    LCC will surely hurt ASL but I don't think they can take ASL to bankruptcy. ASL will feel LCC expansion on routes where majority of passengers are leisure travelers. On routes where majority of travelers are transfers to some far destinations or business travelers they won't be hurt. The new tariffs ASL introduced last year are to minimize impact of LCC on destinations with significant number of leisure travelers.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous10:10

    The best way for JU to compete against LCCs is by evolving and improving their transfer passenger model. It's good to see they realise that and think the same.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:24

      Issue is transfer pax are the lowest yielding.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:28

      But better that than empty seat

      Delete
  19. Anonymous10:22

    "Air Serbia’s Head of Network, Alliances and Fleet Planning, And Salt"

    This made my day :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How do you think those little salt packets make it into the airline meals?

      Delete
  20. Anonymous10:26

    Air Serbia is at least preparing themselves for the higher influx of LCC airlines in Belgrade ... Air Serbia understood their position, they know what is comming in the next few years and they now are building a strategy and infrastructure for that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:40

      At least LCC's are in BEG not unofficially forbidden like on some other airports

      Delete
  21. I am amazed that JU let anyone who is not CEO or that TV guy speak publicly. Good direction

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:50

      TV guy?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:51

      I think he meant their spokesperson who appears on tv from time to time.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:53

      Their CEO is rather invisible in public relations matters.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:59

      TV guy LOOL :-)

      Delete
  22. Anonymous11:05

    I think Air Serbia has four main groups of passengers:

    1. Gastos coming home and their family and friends visiting them
    2. Leisure travelers
    3. Business travelers
    4. Transfer pax (which can probably also be subdivided in the upper three categories)

    Does anyone here happen to know which group accounts for how many percent of the entire cake?

    I think any reasonable strategy should start with an analysis like this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So VF&R are actualy "gastos"
      Call IATA to update terminology :)

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:18

      I think it would do Air Serbia good to indeed look at them as gastos rather than VF&R. It's a more nuanced definition which can help them understand how these passengers think.

      Delete
  23. Anonymous13:20

    In the article they said innovation is one key to ASLs success and survival... I am not disagreeing to that, but how do you innovate with aircraft like ATR 72-200s or vintage B737s. Yes, I heard all those comments how they are paid off and etc.... here's one example this morning JU170 aborted landing because of winds...not the first or last time this happened. MGXs Embraer landed after and Ryanair before JU flight.

    Same issue with fog in Belgrade or Sarajevo every fall/winter for this old bird....and then A319 has to cover the mess....but then again, ASL regional fleet strategy has been on the table since late 2013....and we are here almost at the doorstep pf 2020. Just saying

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:22

      Maybe Embraer and Ryanair were heavier so not as affected by winds as the Atr.

      Delete
  24. Anonymous18:21

    Of course they're lighter but that's not why it can't land. It is pretty unstable in windy conditions.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous01:39

    I'm surprised someone at Air Serbia hasn't come up with the idea to launch a tender for all routes that Air Serbia operate from Belgrade and design it in the same way as Nis and Kraljevo so only Air Serbia can win. Then, add that clause about no competition allowed and then boom - all Air Serbia routes are a monopoly! In reality, if Ryanair complained to the EU DG Tren, then the Serbian CAA would have to stand down. They tried that sh*t with easyJet when they entered the market in 2013 to block MXP-BEG because some of the easyjet flights were on the same days of the week as Jat's. One phone call to Serbia from Brussels and the decision was reversed. If it weren't JU planes would have been blocked from EU airspace...

    ReplyDelete
  26. The biggest problem with INI-BUD was the timing of the flights; I wanted to take a weekend trip (as would others) but the days were completely wrong for this combination. This applies to a lot of the gasto tourism - a lot working abroad might want to just visit their families/friends for the weekends. I noticed that for the Wizz flights between Bari and Timosuara the flight was FULL - but it was a Friday evening flight.

    ReplyDelete

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