Air Serbia ups operations on growing demand and less competition


Air Serbia will be increasing its frequencies on flights to Germany starting in August, outstripping its volume of operations prior to the pandemic as confidence in air travel begins to return and competitors take time in resuming services. Starting August 1, the Serbian carrier will maintain ten weekly flights to Frankfurt until the end of the summer season, up from last year’s daily service. The airline has also managed to secure more favourable slots at Germany’s busiest airport. It comes as Lufthansa is yet to schedule any flights between Frankfurt and the Serbian capital before the start of the 2020/2021 winter season in October. Similarly, Air Serbia will serve Berlin ten times per week, up from seven weekly services during the summer of 2019. easyJet does not plan to resume the route before September 2.

Starting this June, Air Serbia will also increase its operations to Switzerland, wiith two daily flights to Zurich, increasing to three daily in mid-summer. Air company's CEO, Duncan Naysmith, said, "We continue to carefully monitor the situation and proactively adjust our traffic to demand. Destinations in Switzerland and Germany are extremely important for us, primarily because of the large number of Serbian citizens who live and work in those countries, but also for business people and tourists. We are closely monitoring developments regarding the lifting or extension of travel restrictions to all destinations we fly to, and we will further adjust our flight schedule in accordance with the changes". Overall demand for air travel is still nowhere near the same levels as prior to the start of the pandemic, however, the Serbian carrier has also increased frequencies on several existing services earlier than originally planned.

Since resuming operations on May 21, Air Serbia has reinstated flights to ten cities, with a further fifteen to be launched next week. A handful of destinations originally planned to resume during the second half of the month have been moved for July including Rome, Milan, Venice, Nice, Barcelona, Kiev and Tel Aviv. Germany is one of the carrier’s biggest markets, with the airline serving ten cities in the country from Belgrade and Niš.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:03

    You snooze, you lose. Let's see what Lufty does, JU's timetable is pretty good and their FRA-BEG flights are better timed in the afternoon as they arrive around 22.00 unlike LH's which are around midnight.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:07

      W6 are quietly resuming operations to HHN, so let's wait and see. You might see BEG-HHN anytime soon....

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:09

      Maybe even FRA considering Wizz is looking to take Lufthansa slots.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:12

      Are the INI - HHN popular?. If it isn't they could have a try at BEG with it.

      Delete
    4. Hopefully they can get slots that allow for actually accessing a gate in FRA and other airports. I really hate it when they make passengers from BEG and other Ex-Yu airports to take the bus from the plane to the airport. Feels a little degrading and wastes a lot of time when using transfers.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:03

    It's good that they are using the opportunity of there being less competition but it is bad that there is less competition.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous09:04

    I really do think that JU has a lot of potential before Lufthansa comes to BEG.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous09:05

    What are the new slots?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:06

      07.00 departure in stead of 07.30 which they could only get in winter, not summer.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:18

      Why is it better?

      Delete
    3. Nemjee09:20

      Well for starters now they can have morning flights in summer and in such a way offer convenient, two-way, connections to destinations that are only served at night like Beirut (when it comes back), Larnaca, Krasnodar... On top of that, with a 07.00 departure they can offer connections to ATH which leaves BEG at 12.20.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:29

      Will they be able to keep these slots once everything returns to normal?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:34

      Yes, they got these slots because airlines started cancelling flights to FRA.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:05

    Wow this is actually great great as it shows that JU is not sleeping. I still think it's a shame they didn't launch BEG-SZG before Wizz did. Now it's too late.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:08

      It looks like they have retimed Nis-Salzburg to compete against Wizz. Starts 1st of July.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:18

      Smart move.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:30

      they better use that rotation for some other destination.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous18:56

      ^ ?

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:06

    So basically they're compensating the previously announced new routes that were never materialised with the German additions. W6 style a bit. Not bad.
    10 German cities is just a lot. Probably a huge gasto community by now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:07

      Of course its the gasto community. And I assume they get a few transfers from other ex-Yu markets with big gasto communities.

      Delete
    2. Nemjee09:12

      It's not just about gastos anymore, JU has a hub in BEG and they offer a growing list of onward connections. With both FRA and TXL going 10 weekly they will be far more competitive in markets like SKP, TIA, ATH, SKG, IST, KRR...

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:12

      In other words, every 4th JU destination is German - 25% of its network. That's huge.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:27

      Huh? JU flies to about 40 destinations and they only have four in Germany: Berlin, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart and Frankfurt. It's about 10%, not 25%.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:27

      yeh as if ATH and especially IST have no Berlin flights .....

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:28

      They do but you should have learned by now that many people fly based on price, not whether that is a nonstop flight or not.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:30

      exactly and JU is gonna top Ryanair/Easyjet/Pegasus when it comes to prices. Tz Tz

      Delete
    8. Nemjee09:30

      Anon 09.27 I thought that by now we wouldn't have to discuss such basic things on an aviation portal.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous10:31

      I fly often BEG-FRA and there was always many people on transfer flights from Greece and Albania

      Delete
    10. Anonymous12:08

      My Greek friend lives close to Frankfurt and she told me that when she flies back to Athens you can rarely find a one way ticket without luggage for less than €100 on Aegean. Usually return is 250 to 300 Euros.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:09

    What are the entry requirements regarding Corona?
    It's surely is not like you can just buy a ticket and fly to Germany.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:10

      If you live in Germany (residency), if you have German citizenship or if you work in Germany you can. The majority of people traveling to/from Germany to/from Serbia fit one of the three.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:12

    So they will have 20 flights just to Berlin and Frankfurt. Plus they fly Hahn, Friedrichshafen, Stuttgart, Dusseldorf, Hannover, Karlsruhe, Nuremberg....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:55

      Correct, that's 25% of their network. Impressive!

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:12

    Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea for them to start Munich

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:15

      I doubt they could compete against LH.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:20

      They should have started Salzburg/Innsbruck.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:21

      Too late now with Wizz.

      Delete
    4. JATBEGMEL12:53

      Wizz is only 2 pw so I wouldnt say its too late.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:55

      But what's the point? Wizz will be significantly cheaper.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous13:07

      You mean like they charge 29.000 to BVA without luggage? Wizz might be many things in BEG but cheaper is not one of them.

      Delete
    7. JATBEGMEL15:26

      @ 12,55

      Wizz 'being' significantly cheaper still hasnt brought them much success on a fair few routes they competed with JU.

      Wizz focuses on O&D while JU would also have the transfer traffic to boost loads. 2 pw isnt that much to begin with.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:15

    Good news

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous09:17

    I simply can't believe LH won't resume FRA-BEG before winter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:18

      They will probably eventually schedule it for August or September.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:20

      They're a total mess.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:28

      lol if they are a mess what are the exyu airlines then?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:29

      LH is about to cut 22,000 jobs

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:33

      That's what I said few days ago and I was convinced at that time it is "only temporary" and that flights will be back in LH system "soon".
      Obviously LH continued to decrease flights to BEG. Even MUC is now only one daily.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:36

      Well it was something like three weekly a week ago so it means they increased it.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:41

      No, it was double daily

      Delete
    8. Anonymous14:59

      LOL. The route was definitely NOT double daily a week ago. Have you heard of this pandemic thing?

      Delete
    9. Anonymous15:03

      It was. I was following their flight schedule every day as I have their ticket to BEG.
      Now you can keep looling

      Delete
    10. Anonymous15:09

      It was not scheduled as double daily. I looked at their schedule last week.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous17:44

      Last week they changed it.
      Before the change it was double daily (MUC) and in the middle of May there were still direct flights FRA-BEG double daily.
      Now only daily MUC remained

      Delete
    12. Anonymous22:57

      I see that from 19.06 LX increases Belgrade to daily. I guess loads are good.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:23

    From August Russia reopens for international flights. Do they expect transfer passengers to Germany too?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:17

      Where does this info come from about Russia reopening international flights? Sitting in Russia and until now Rossaviatsiya hasn't announced anything on this topic. Everything is nothing more than a wish from many of us.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:23

    The only thing they have left to launch in Germany is MUC.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:26

      Has JU ever flown to Munich?

      Delete
    2. Nemjee09:28

      They did up until 2008 I think. In 2007 I flew BEG-MUC on YU-ALS and it took us 2 hours and 45 minutes. Hell on earth.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:29

      Or they could try and make Hamburg work.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:34

      Before crisis they cancelled HAM as it did not work

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:26

    Good to see some growth but it's a drop in the ocean.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous09:27

    I wonder what is the reason for this decision. Is it because of the lack of Lufthansa and easyjet?

    ReplyDelete
  16. Nemjee09:31

    I like Lufthansa and I have been flying with them on a regular basis since 2006. Unfortunately the quality of their product has deteriorated while fares have become more expensive. On top of that, their behavior during the bailout negotiations was disgusting and they behaved like a bully. I am happy Air Serbia is finally upping their game and making their life a bit more difficult in Belgrade. I am sure Lufthansa will bring forward their FRA-BEG flights otherwise they risk losing all of their point to point passengers. Let's not forget that until now they had a more convenient schedule on the market.

    FRA-BEG

    LH 11.05-12.55
    JU 09.50-11.40

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:36

      JU was not flying in the morning from FRA whole summer. Only few days weekly in winter

      Delete
    2. 5 star Lufthansa is worst than Air Serbia! Okay NEMJEE whatever you say....

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:50

      There is very little difference between JU and LH short haul product.

      Delete
    4. JATBEGMEL12:57

      5 star Lufthansa recieved their 5th star because of a planned product they were going to launch, contradicting the requirements for that 5 star rating.

      Delete
    5. Nemjee13:12

      Bel Cielo, what exactly makes them a five star airline? Nothing. Their long-haul product is especially bad, IFE outdated with limited selection of films and tv shows, their lounges are mediocre at best and the seats they have onboard are bad. On short-haul flights they are generally ok but medium and long haul is where they fall short of their five star rating.

      You are more than welcome to prove me wrong, I'd love to hear your opinion on this.

      Delete
    6. No it's okay NEMJEE, you are right and 20 million people that voted for them in skytrax awards are wrong.

      Delete
    7. Nemjee15:32

      You still didn't answer my question though.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous17:19

      Must agree with Namjee, LH doesn't deserve a 5 star rating and we all know that Skytrax awards can be bought out. They are decent and ok but nothing spectacular to brag about and if something out of the ordinary happens they tend to be even rude.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous17:46

      They are clean, cold and safe.

      No more, no less.

      Delete
    10. I agree with Namjee as well. Definitely not even a 4* . Very basic and super expensive fares that offer not much . Lots of outdated aircrafts and bad looking uniforms, does not apeal to me .

      Delete
    11. Nemjee22:59

      Lufthansa is reliable and convenient, that's all.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous09:32

    LH's flight to FRA are/were mainly for transfers. JU'S FRA flight is a terminator flight. You are comparing here two different things

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:34

      So you are saying that JU doesn't carry transfers on this route? Go on, tell us what else your crystal ball says?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:37

      No, LH flights to FRA were not mostly transfers. There were transfer passengers but JU had them also via BEG for flights to SVO, SKG, TIA, LCA, BEY etc

      Delete
  18. Anonymous09:43

    What is Air Serbia's largest market?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:44

      Germany or Switzerland I guess.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:48

      I think BEG to ZRH is the biggest market in all of ex-YU, not just Serbia.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous19:01

      Would be interesting to know the passenger numbers for last year for example.

      Delete
    4. Nemjee23:00

      From what I remember it was around 325.000 passengers.

      Delete
    5. Nemjee05:44

      I guess my memory is failing me.

      BEG-ZRH

      2019: 418.746
      2018: 380.187
      2017: 361.524
      2016: 359.825

      Top five markets in BEG in 2018:

      1. ZRH 380.187
      2. TGD 269.956
      3. IST 261.766
      4. SVO 256.277
      5. FRA 246.458

      Delete
    6. Anonymous07:09

      Hvala Namjee, verovatno je IST postao broj 2 u 2019. godini jer je JU uspostavila letove za Istanbul. Rast ciriha je impresivan.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous09:43

    Hope it stays this way and they don't change their mind.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous09:45

    I'm glad they are using every opportunity they can get at these times.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous09:47

    I'm not sure they will be able to sustain these frequencies without cooperation with Lufthansa.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:49

      Why? There is a large Serbian community there, they offer connections in Belgrade and they have a pretty good timetable.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:51

      Why did they do this only now? Frankfurt has been 7 weekly for years. The current corona bubble and lack of competition won't last forever.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:52

      People were not sure about many things until now. Not sure Etihad was going to buy Jat (even Purger claimed it would make more sense to get OU), they were not sure JFK was going to happen, they were not sure anyone in TIA or ZAG would fly with them, they were not sure KR would work out, they were not sure... they were not sure ... but here we are today.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:53

      Anon 09.51 read the text more carefully. They couldn't get the slots they wanted in order to boost FRA.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous09:54

    Why is anyone surprised? Are you forgetting they were also supposed to boost MXP to 9 weekly and that's not a typical gasto destination. They are obviously getting more and more transfers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:06

      Milano is a gasto destination. It's one of Italy's richest cities.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:10

      Yes but not enough gastos there for 9 weekly flights.

      Delete
  23. Anonymous09:59

    increase JFK and take better slots if needed aswell for LHR

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:28

      What is the way to obtain better slots at Heathrow? If i recall well, the slots AirSerbia has are inherited from JAT and can't be changed easily (for free that is)

      Rgds,8

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:34

      You have to buy slots at Heathrow and they are very expensive.

      Delete
    3. JATBEGMEL13:11

      Is there any point to change the slots in LHR considering that, due to the flight duration, it wouldnt fit into any of the waves?

      They could just increase the amount of regional flights connecting with it. That way, even JFK gets more regional connections.

      Delete
  24. Anonymous10:10

    Congratulations. Good to see a Balkan carrier thinking progressively, about the future and not stuck in the rut of post-Socialist economic doldrum.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous10:27

    Any other routes being increased?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:31

      Considering the situation, we should be happy with this

      Delete
    2. Anonymous01:46

      There is an additional flight to JFK on Monday

      Delete
  26. Anonymous18:54

    It's good to see some growth. I hope that by the start of winter the entire network can be reestablished.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous18:55

    Great news but I do think LH will be back, especially since the European Commission just issued recommendation to reopen EU borders for Western Balkans from 1st of July.

    ReplyDelete

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