El Al Israel Airlines will inaugurate flights between Tel Aviv and Belgrade starting November 1. The carrier will operate the service six times per week (each day except Fridays from Belgrade and Saturdays from Tel Aviv), with a midday departure from Israel’s largest city. Flights will be maintained with the 175-seat Boeing 737-900ER aircraft, which features sixteen seats in business class and the remaining 159 in economy. Tickets are already on sale. Currently, Israir Airlines’ operates daily to the Serbian capital, while Arkia maintains three weekly rotations. Demand for flights from Tel Aviv to Serbia has grown significantly since mid-September when Israel dropped the country from its travel restrictions list, allowing locals to travel without the need to quarantine upon arrival back home.
The new service, currently scheduled until the end of the year, will mark the first time El Al will operate scheduled operations to Belgrade. Since 2017, the carrier has maintained a codeshare agreement with Air Serbia on the latter’s flights to and from Tel Aviv. The Serbian carrier itself has not restored operations to Israel’s largest city. All foreigners, without residency in the country, are banned from entry. Air Serbia has tentatively scheduled its service resumption to Tel Aviv for December 3, when it plans to maintain two weekly flights. As of November, El Al will maintain commercial operations to just a handful of destinations. In addition to Belgrade they include New York, Paris, London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Miami, Los Angeles, Kiev and Athens.
Israeli visitors are leading the recovery of Belgrade’s tourism sector together with Turkish arrivals. Serbia logged 29.627 visitors from Israel in 2019, with 87.828 overnight stays. Israel began to emerge from its month-long coronavirus lockdown, the second this year, on Sunday, allowing Israeli citizens to travel once again. During the lockdown, only those who had purchased tickets prior to the introduction of new restrictions were permitted to take flights. The lifting of restrictions this time around is scheduled to take place in several phases lasting through February 2021.
Further flight details for El Al’s new Belgrade service can be found here.
Great news for BEG.
ReplyDeleteBad news for JU though, hopefully they won't be discouraged from the competition and restart flights to TLV.
The French should focus on getting airlines from destinations not already served by JU.
DeleteA third airline to TLV is much less if a priority than a new route to an unserved market.
^ Do you realize that it is not the French bringing El Al. The airline is starting flights because of demand. Or what? You think they should ban them because you don't like competition?
DeleteBeggars can't be choosers. If demand exists only from established destinations then the airport needs to go for it even if it increases competition for JU.
DeleteAnd why do you think someone is begging for them? No sane business or concessionaire will turn down an airline interested in flying. Especially in the middle of a pandemic when traffic and revenue is down.
DeleteAirport operators at times like this offer incentives to airlines wishing to launch flights.
DeleteI highly doubt the Israelis didn't ask for anything.
If they have any special incentives available, they are offered to all airlines including the national carrier, not just Israeli carriers.
DeleteLY is coming because there is booming demand. Look at Israir that operates daily A320 flights. Also don't forget that LY doesn't operate any flights on Saturdays so basically this is a daily service for them.
DeleteOuch...not!!!
ReplyDeleteProbably the ouch was heard from ASL's flight planning department. :)
DeleteThere is nothing they can do. Israeli tour operators book with Israeli carriers. No other nationalities are allowed entry into Israel. So not only can Air Serbia not carry Serbian citizens but no other transfers either.
DeleteSo no ouch from ASL flight planning department. Sorry :)
DeleteSo even more competition for the few pax JU is allowed to fly to and from TLV.
DeleteDefinitely an ouch from people actually working for JU.
But JU isn't flying to Tel Aviv until December since it can literally not fly anyone. And I doubt it will start in December unless Israel reopens its borders.
DeleteJU not restarting flights to TLV is bad news for sure.
DeleteCould be that the country is protecting its national carrier and giving it priority. That said, the competition will be extremely high and prices will go down.
DeleteWe should also protect our national carrier and give it priority like the Israelis do.
DeleteOpen and free competition is good only when both play by the same rules.
The guy is in despair that El Al will start flying to BEG so he must find the way how to express his regret.
DeleteDo not worry JU will be successful in TLV together with El Al in BEG.
Ouch...not!
@ Anonymous 09:21
DeleteOr it could be there is a global pandemic and that almost all countries in the world have restricted border movement.
Crystal ball much? Having 4 carriers at a time will be too much and we all know it. Plus LY schedule time is similar to Israir,, a clear indication they wanna get rid of them.
Delete^ It seems you are the one with the crystal ball.
DeleteDoesn't El Al part own Israir? Maybe Israir will hand over the route to El Al.
DeleteCorrect, Israir is the low cost arm of the El Al group.
DeleteThe similar timing would suggest El Al will replace Israir.
DeleteThat would be great indeed because LY can send the B789 when demand grows which it will no doubt. If this is bad news for anyone then it's Arkia which has competition now.
DeleteWhat LY saw is that yields are great so they can kick Israir out of the market and take over. Guys they are introducing a plane with 16 business class seats which shows what kind of money there is to be made in Belgrade.
Israir is not part of LY group...Sundor is. LY had agreement to merge Israir with Sundor but Israeli government rejected that
DeleteThat was unexpected. Nice to see
ReplyDeleteEven in these difficult times BEG gets important airline! Well done!
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThis is great news. But it all depends on weather we stay on Israel's green list. Considering the virus situation, I'm not sure it will be the case for long.
ReplyDeleteTrue dat, it's getting out of hand now.
DeleteIt's out of hand in Ukraine but they are flying there without a problem.
DeleteNot as bad as it is here.
DeleteActually it is much worse in Ukraine.
DeleteBut Ukraine sees a lot of Jewish arrivals also in normal years, which Serbia doesn't. For historical reasons, obviously.
DeleteWell it's changing and it's obvious from growing demand and more flights being added.
Delete"As of November, El Al will maintain commercial operations to just a handful of destinations. In addition to Belgrade they include New York, Paris, London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Miami, Los Angeles, Kiev and Athens".
ReplyDeleteIt is nice to be among all these other cities.
+1
DeleteVery prestigious indeed.
+100
ReplyDeleteNeighbours have at least 3 different carriers such as OTP and SOF.
Romania has a large Jewish community and one of the biggest emigrations from Europe to Israel was from Romania so it's not surprising.
DeleteActually Romania has a big Jewish diaspora because they were forcing them out. Actually at the Congress of Berlin in 1878 Romania was told that they have to stop persecuting them if they want to get their independence. The UK took in 70.000 Jews in that period.
DeleteIt seems that TSR might aspire for Israeli flights as well. CLJ already has been connected to TLV for many years.
DeleteTSR had flights to Tel Aviv but they were suspended due to abysmal loads. Not even Wizz Air could make it work, that's how bad it was. :(
DeleteWhat is their product like, anyone flown with them?
ReplyDeleteIzraelski EL Al jeste najznacajnija avio kompanija koja u ovoj godini pocinje letove iz Beograda. Verujem da je EL AL
ReplyDeletenovi pocetak u razvoju buduceg Haba Belgrade Airport.
Ocigledno se otvara porencijal i mogucnosti Aerodroma Beograd u izgradnji i rekonstrukciji.
U tom smislu, Izraelski EL AL je dobro dosao.
Rodney Marinkovic and Aviation Enthusiast Associate Group. 😀✈♥️🛫
Great news. Good luck
ReplyDeleteWill they keep their codeshare with JU?
ReplyDeleteDon't see why not
DeleteThat should be a MUST !
DeleteThey should work to expand the codeshare. Especially now with El Al flying. El Al should codeshare on some regional JU routes. As for JU, it can't do much. Tel Aviv is not a transfer airport.
DeleteAny new arrival is more than welcome.
ReplyDelete+1 !
DeleteGreat but I don't believe anyone is coming until they actually land considering the times and uncertainty we are living in.
ReplyDeleteNice!
ReplyDeleteThere fares are quite good
ReplyDelete*their
DeleteYes, they would be very competitive against JU.
DeleteHope they stay after covid too.
ReplyDeleteLet's see if it launches. Considering all the last minute travel restrictions that happen. We saw what occurred with Windrose from Kiev to Ljubljana. But I certainly hope these flights start.
Delete* But I definitely hope the flights will happen :)
DeleteWelcome :)
ReplyDeleteThe more the merrier to tbh
ReplyDeleteGood to see some positive news
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised El Al never flew to BEG. Not even during Yugoslav times?
ReplyDeleteYugoslavia broke up diplomatic relations with Israel in solidarity with Palestinians .
DeleteAnd it was Miloshevich who renewed the relationship in the early nineties .
How things have changed :)
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2017/06/serbia-and-israel-see-flight-boom.html
No matter of bad or non existing diplomatic relations between Yugoslavia and Israel, EL AL did fly to Yugoslavia at scheduled bases, Tel Aviv to Zagreb, back in eighties of the past century. And EL AL ZAG service which was interrupted during ex-yu wars, started again some 10 years ago. Congrats to BEG, nice to have two LY destinations in ex-yu now
Delete*three LY destinations. You forgot DBV.
DeleteToday Arkia also begins flying to Belgrade with their A321 Neo .
ReplyDeleteAnd also next flights are all sold out .
wow
DeleteThat is quite high frequency for a brand new route.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteInteresting how some routes have prospered during Covid
ReplyDeleteAnd hopefully serves as a good basis for the future when things calm down.
DeleteArkia to Belgrade :
ReplyDeleteToday A321 neo - flight is full
Friday A321 neo - flight is full + Embraer195 - flight is full
Monday A321 neo - flight is full
Wednesday,Thursday,Friday - all with A321 neo
Sunday A321 neo
...
This is really nuts. What is going on?
DeleteIt says in the article. Israelis don't have to quarantine on return to Israel and they don't need a PCR test to enter Serbia. People don't realize how difficult it is to get a PCR test done in most countries (if you are not exhibiting symptoms and just need it for travel)
DeleteThis is fantastic for Serbian economy, it will really boost the GDP. Metropol was opened thanks to them.
DeleteArkia aircraft flying to Belgrade today has registration 4X-AGK
DeleteNice to have full birds coming in
DeleteThat's beyond impressive. Hopefully more israelis discovering Serbia means they will be more open to booking or choosing options available on JU in the future.
DeleteThe A321neo did not fly anywhere in a long time. Nice to see it brought back only because of BEG )))
DeleteThree flights to TLV tomorrow, two on Arkia as mentioned above and there is also Israir with their A320.
DeleteHope it happens.
ReplyDeleteNew legacy carrier coming, great
ReplyDeleteAs it turns out the TLV BEG on Fridays RONs in BEG until 1900 on Saturdays. Sunday through Thursday the schedule is as posted
ReplyDeleteSo from 2pm until 7pm the next day
DeleteWow their plane will sit in BEG for over 24 hours.
ReplyDeleteThat's crazy :D
DeleteOne of the more interesting scheduling I have seen
DeleteIt's because of Shabbat. El Al does not fly from Friday evening until Saturday evening (anywhere)
DeleteAh I see
DeleteLet's see if this will mean Israiar ends its flight to make way for El Al.
ReplyDeleteThey will have to because of the bilateral. LY owns Israir so they will just replace their charter flights with scheduled flghts. What's great is that this shows yields were really good in BEG if LY can make it work with their high costs.
DeleteFinally El Al in Belgrade!
ReplyDeleteI'm curious to see what gate they will use in BEG because of all the security measures they take.
ReplyDeleteIsrair uses various gates. yesterday A1, today C4. What I have seen is that when there is a Tel Aviv flight they partition off an entire area at check in where extra checks are carried out.
DeleteYes but LY is special, they usually require a military vehicle to be parked next to it and there are special security measures at the gate. All their planes are equiped with anti missile systems and so on. Israeli government provides them with subsidies for these extra expenses.
DeleteThese do not apply for airlines like Arkia or Israir, that's why LY doesn't operate turboprops or regional jets.
That's interesting. Didn't know some of those details.
DeleteWho would have thought we'd ever be able to transit from eastern Europe to Dubai via Tel Aviv!
ReplyDeleteYes but on Arkia :)
DeleteWhy?
ReplyDeleteRead the article.
DeleteI dont think so this will go well. Too much capacity on this route. But nice to see more international airlines taking their share at BEG.
ReplyDeleteTell us more please because from what I can see Israelis just can't get enough of Serbia and more and more of them are looking at coming here these days to escape strict measures at home. I think LY is aware of the potential which is why they put such a long rotation in BEG... we all know what that means. :)
Delete