Air Serbia tops New York JFK load factor


Air Serbia had one of the highest average cabin load factors on flights to and from New York’s JFK Airport in September among those serving the US hub. Since restoring operations between Belgrade and the Big Apple on June 6, the Serbian carrier handled 26.121 passengers on the route. Out of the 31 airlines flying to JFK’s Terminal 4, among which are Delta, jetBlue, Swiss, Aermexico, Emirates and Singapore Airlines, Air Serbia tied with KLM for having the highest average cabin occupancy rate of 67%. In second place were Etihad Airways and Egypt Air, while South Korea’s Asiana came third. The Serbian carrier operated a total of 71 flights to New York from June 6 to October 28, outstripping its frequencies compared to the same period last year. 

Commenting on its New York operations, the airline’s Vice President for Americas, George Petković, said, “We are very satisfied with the achieved results, which are a good indicator that, despite the coronavirus pandemic, the flight to New York is operating well and represents one of the strongest routes in Air Serbia’s network. The US is a very important market which is made available to Serbia and all of Southeast Europe thanks to us as the only airline in the region with a scheduled nonstop flight over the Atlantic. According to data from the New York airport, we are also at the top of the list in terms of on-time performance, i.e. take-offs up to fifteen minutes from the planned departure time”. 



Since the start of the winter season, Air Serbia is maintaining two weekly flights from Belgrade to New York. This will increase to four weekly from December 16 until January 4. All flights are operated by the carrier’s Airbus A330-200 aircraft, which features eighteen seats in business class and the remaining 236 in economy. The lease for the A330 runs until May 2021, after which the airline could extend it or replace the jet. Last year, the Serbian carrier handled 72.902 travellers between Belgrade and New York, while this year, up until October 28, it welcomed 35.094 passengers on its flights, although services did not operate from March 20 until June 6.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:03

    Congratulations, not bad at all.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous09:04

    " The lease for the A330 runs until May 2021 "

    It will be really interesting to see what JU will do in that regards.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:06

      Get better conditions and lease one more.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:09

      Hope YU-ARB comes they can add more flights.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:11

      Get 2 767s or upgrade to the A350-1000.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:13

      Why would they get 767s which are being retired from fleets. And why would they get a Boeing widebody when their pilots and crews are already trained for Airbus.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:18

      A350-1000 lol

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:18

      B767? Really?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:25

      Why not? The 767 is a perfect plane. Ask Ukraine International about it.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous09:29

      Guys, please do not feed 767 troll

      Delete
    9. Jatovac09:41

      Why would they pay for transfering pilots from A332 to 767, that is a lot of money. And 767 is plane as old as A310, should they fly A310? Ps. A310 would be cheaper because of Airbus platform for pilots

      Delete
    10. Anonymous10:04

      What about A330neo?

      Delete
    11. Jatovac10:19

      It would be a lot more logical than 767. But I think JU does not have money for neo

      Delete
    12. Anonymous10:23

      This lease expires but a renewal was already agreed upon and JU will get a 50% discount on YU-ARA.

      Delete
    13. Anonymous10:33

      Of course 767 is a lot cheaper. There is a significant number of airlines still using them today:

      - Austrian
      - Air Algérie
      - BA
      - Hawaiian
      - JAL
      - Rouge
      - Ethiopian

      The ASL livery will look stylish on the 767.

      Delete
    14. Anonymous10:46

      It would also look stylish on the A351 yet it doesn't mean there would be commercial interest for them to introduce it. By the way, Rouge retired the B767 and so did BA and ET.

      Delete
    15. Anonymous10:57

      Is the A351 too expensive for JU? Those were the prices in 2018:

      A350-900: US$317.4 million (2018) A350-1000: US$366.5 million (2018)

      Delete
    16. Anonymous11:15

      I doubt they will take another widebody any time soon. They will have more costs after retiring 737s and ATR-200s, losses will increase in the next years because of current situation and they will need to pay another part of loan.

      Delete
    17. Anonymous11:18

      Pretty much every doom and gloom predication made by people in the comments here turned to be completely false so...

      Delete
    18. Anonymous11:59

      I think the best possible fleet for AirSebia would be 10x A321xlr and 10x ATR72. The arguments about the tanks, cargo, capacity... all included

      Delete
    19. LOL Anonymous 10:57. Do you realize that the cost for one new A350=1000 might be the whole price for the company??!!!

      Delete
    20. Anonymous12:55

      Biel Cielo, does JU really cost only 370 million US dollars?

      Delete
    21. Anonymous17:14

      Anon 12:55, are you for real? Komercijalna Banka was just sold with the valuation of 465 mln euro for the entire bank. The price was established at 6 times estimated earnings (profit) of the bank for 2019. How much would that be for JU?

      The whole equity of LH group is valued at 4,6 bln euro and the company made 2 bln euro profit in 2019.

      Delete
    22. Anonymous17:48

      Anon 10:33 almost all of these airlines you mentioned are retiring it. B767 would be bad for JU

      Delete
    23. Anonymous18:51

      What's wrong using the retired aircraft for a couple of years until the rest of the fleet is upgraded? The 767 is an extremely reliable and the aircraft that best suits JU.

      Delete
    24. Anonymous18:53

      Anon 9:25

      -The 767 is a perfect plane. Ask Ukraine International about it.

      LOL, please call Boeing and tell them to stop making 787, 767 is perfect!

      Delete
    25. Anonymous19:33

      Lol do you even know how much it would have cost JU to get b767? Another a330 is the best option

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:05

    The best answer to all those who critisized opening BEG-JFK route.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:09

      Nobody criticizes anything. This spike happened thanks to Corona and the EU banned flights.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:11

      JU has had quite good loads to JFK for a very long time. With or without corona. The question is whather they make money from the high LFs.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:56

      It is real easy to have relatively high load factors when you sell tickets below cost and thus you subsidize travelers from the US to Greece, Albania, Israel and Croatia.
      Brilliant strategy!

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:57

      ^ You obviously have never looked at their fares, especially for this summer.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:11

      Poor guy. He really thinks JU has dumping prices on JFK flights.

      FYI ==> Greek citizens can't fly to USA before spending 14 days in Belgrade first.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:20

      JU prices to JFK from Greece is always the cheapest option.
      I hope their tourists are grateful that we offer them such good prices.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:25

      Anon 10.11 actually they can if they are green card holders or have a residence permit for the US. Greek citizens going for holidays to the US can't enter. US introduced a mandatory quarantine for all those transferring at a Schengen airprot, that does not apply to JU or BEG.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous10:34

      Random dates when JU has the cheapest price from ATH to JFK

      4.12 - 19.12

      LH = 354 EUR
      KL+AZ = 369 EUR
      AF+KL = 371 EUR
      BA = 434 EUR
      JU = 473 EUR

      Really Air Serbia is the cheapest.


      Delete
    9. Anonymous10:46

      Because TripAdvisor is American and we are talking about JFK today and you mentioning Greece and ATH, it is worth mentioning that the reviews are going down from Greeks travelling to and from JFK via Surčin.

      https://www.tripadvisor.com/Airline_Review-d8729096-Reviews-Air-Serbia

      The management finally started answering but have now stopped. Americans trust TripAdvisor a lot and this must change! Reviews went from 3,5 to 3.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous10:47

      Haha at least now we know how KL got to such a high LF in JFK. They are dumping all around.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous10:50

      Poor Dutch people. They sponsor now Greeks flying to JFK

      LOOL

      Delete
    12. Anonymous11:41

      Well, they will need to dump prices now that their bailout was voted down. let's see who runs out of money first, them or Swiss as both have enough for the next two months or so.

      Delete
  4. Jatovac09:09

    Surprised. It would be great if they are considering one more A332 for ORD, LAX, PVG or YYZ. Do not forget that BEG was one of the unserved routes from PVG with biggest demand. The second A332 should be in normal livery!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:18

      I hope this one will return to normal livery soon

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:24

      Me too. I really dislike the Serbia Creates livery. The standard one is much nicer.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:32

      Both are quite boring and mediocre in my oppinion.

      Delete
    4. Jatovac11:37

      They should have a special livery in my opinion, but not on a plane which is single in its type. And special livery should be more attractive than this one.

      Delete
    5. Now would be the best time to start preparing ORD, YYZ & PVG, it takes time and work to make such routes regular and profitable - but it's a good investment. We have never seen such low prices for widebody aircraft! Plus it's like the aviation industry has just clicked on a reboot - providing a more levelled playing field in terms of market share.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous13:44

      And guess how much JU have money? And how much they need to repay? And what about aditional costs after retiring 737s and older atrs?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous17:15

      People think those 733s are cheap to operate. First of all they are older now, there are not as many spare parts and they need to be taken care of more often than new aircraft.Not to mention that A319s are more fuel efficient.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous22:05

      That is not a major problem when i say they will have aditional costs after retiring them. These 3 737s and 2 ATRs 72-200 are owned by JU. So that means after they retire them, there will be aditional cost for aircraft leasing.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:09

    good job JU

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous09:10

    Seems like JFK is paying off.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:18

      Oh yes

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:04

      highly doubt that with 67% LF any route is "paying off" but u know

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:26

      Anon 10.04 but you do know? They can make a profit with 20% if they are charging a premium for people to fly. Since JU isn't cheap to JFK I doubt they are losing money.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:13

      If they ars not cheap that doesnt mean they make money. OU was always the most expensive option to fly out of Croatia and still it is losing 10 million a year.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous17:16

      Yes they were most expensive but it's questionable if they managed to fill those seats.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:10

    This last Saturday the flight (from BEG) was packed again.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous09:12

    35.094 passengers in the year of corona without any flights for 3 months and a decimated network thereafter is a really good result actually.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous09:12

    Tiha voda breg roni.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous09:14

    Time to start ORD.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous09:14

    Results would be even better if they had a codeshare partner in the US.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:15

      +1

      Delete
    2. If they had codeshares the LF would be higher and they could fly daily to JFK, ORD and other places.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:18

    Considering the competition that is really good news. Good on them for using this current situation to their advantage.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous09:21

    Really happy to see BEG-JFK becoming successful

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous09:22

    People should not forget that JFK was among the first routes JU restored, much before transfer passengers could use it from other cities.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous09:22

    Has Austrian resumed flights to New York?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:44

      To Newark yes

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:27

      With much reduced schedule and exclusively operated by the small and ancient fleet of B767s.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:41

      Ancient, but with style ;) OS is indeed and will remain the airline of Central and Eastern Europe.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:46

      Air Serbia can say the same about B733...Ancient, but style :-)

      Nice try.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:58

      Just flew OS 2 weeks ago, mediocre to say the least...

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:09

      OS has better at least real window seats in bussiness on 767, and better in flight entertainmet system.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:28

      Better than A332 you mean?

      Delete
    8. Anonymous11:36

      The B733 is on its way out and is not the backbone of JU's operations. That said, OS' B767 is not going anywhere anytime soon and it is the backbone of their long-haul fleet, especially now when all the B777s were grounded.

      Nice try though.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous11:37

      Seat pitch:

      JU 32
      OS 30

      Comfort is much better at JU.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous11:48

      People do not understand how bad the situation is at OS. They just suspended seven, yes seven, destinations from November. Germany and Switzerland and Belgium introduced travel restrictions for Austria. Demand has collapsed, flights are being cut left and right and losses are accumulating. It's bad, very bad in Vienna.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous11:58

      I was there few weeks ago and it was a ghost town.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous12:09

      OS has 31 seat pitch on 767 and 33 on 777. 1.5 centimeters more are not going to make you more comfortable on flight as better food, better IFE system...


      Delete
    13. Anonymous13:58

      Anon 11:58 Can confirm. Had a hellish 5 hour transfer alone. It was surreal, kinda scary but interesting at that time. Just 1 year ago i could have never thought i would have VIE for myself. As the nightly OS Balkan flights bank neared, the gates around me were slowly filled by my fellow countrymen and neighbours...

      Delete
    14. Anonymous17:06

      Many people continue to nag about pitch etc., but they continue to flock OS, because the price is the most important factor in their decisions and because other airlines are not that much different in their offer. Sometimes I even think those complaining were never actually onboard, but are just fanboys of the competition.

      Delete
    15. Anonymous17:17

      OS seatpitch on the 777 is 31, not 33.

      Delete
    16. Anonymous17:20

      I'm also certain that most people that have a meltdown whenever there is some positive news from JU have never flown with them.

      Delete
    17. Anonymous17:35

      Anon 17:20. You are probably right, but to me they usually nag about financial performance of JU rather than service:) And in order to comment on financials of an airline on an aviation forum they don't need to fly it.

      Delete
    18. Anonymous19:31

      OS head to toe blood red uniforms are scary. Their cold, smileless service made me feel I was in the flying version of The Shining movie. Couldn't wait to get out.

      Delete
    19. Anonymous22:08

      Anon 17:20
      People here just have a conversation about their expirience on board these two airlines. By using your rethoric i can then say "people have meltdown when somthing positive is said about OS". Overall, you seems to me as only person which has a "meltdown" because somone is not sharing your oppinion about JU.

      Delete
    20. Anonymous22:25

      Amazing comment 22:08!
      If you don't agree with them, they begin searching for other airline's temporarily, new stuff such as slashing routes or cutting staff to survive because of Covid and it's all doom and gloom. They forget about the billions of euros pumped since 2013 and with a breakeven project that has never made it to profit.
      But yeah, lets compare ourselves to a Star Alliance company with 90 airplanes and 120 destinations and a worldwide hub.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:23

    Hopefully they win over some customers for next year too. Many people had no other choice but to fly with JU this year on the route and used it for the first time. If they were satisfied with the product, they will come back.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous09:24

    Nice!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous09:25

    Nice to hear some positive news for a change from wherever it may be. It gives everyone some glimmer of hope.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous09:32

    Really good result considering last year in September their LF was 78.9%. Now with a global pandemic, entry bans plus a significantly smaller network on offer, JU had 67%.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous09:33

    Good performance, nice to see it has developed well. It s an important flight in the region

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous09:40

    Introduction of second long haul destination will allow them to improve utilization during winter months. What are they waiting for?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:41

      Agree. And even though it might sound crazy, this current pandemic could prove an advantage for them when it comes to a second long haul.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous09:41

    Good results. Hope their numbers keep improving.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous09:42

    What is impressive is that there have been no major delays or cancellations for 5 years now and they have managed to keep these flights with just 1 aircraft. I remember the comments and hysteria when they launched and how flights would be delayed and cancelled.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:43

      True. Let's hope they keep it up.

      Delete
  24. Anonymous09:42

    Thank you for those figures. Interesting stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous09:43

    Any idea on what percentage of these pax were O&D, and transfer?

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous09:43

    The only thing that matters is profitability.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:50

      They estimated JFK will become profitable after 5 years and they are surely on the good way to achieve that

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:53

      I'm glad they stuck to it and that the route stayed part of the network. Good luck JU.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:18

      LOL dude, 67% load factor on long haul flight means it is highly unprofitable!

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:23

      LOL dude have you noticed there is a deadly virus going around?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:28

      JFK makes them money in period May-end of September. It's the period after that which is problematic for them.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous18:37

      Profitability is NOT the only thing that matters.If it was, Wizz wouldn't make it to fifth birthday.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous22:09

      Wizz was unprofitabile for 5 years?

      Delete
  27. Anonymous09:48

    Congratulations Serbia!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous09:51

    And when I remember all the comments on here how these flights will all be empty, cancelled in less then a year, that with one plane their flights will always be delayed and cancelled and all the other BS.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Anonymous09:52

    Are there any plans what they are going to do with this A330 from May?

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous09:52

    In winter they are keeping the same schedule as last winter which is amazing considering the circumstances.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous09:54

    Very nice that JU is improving it's position with regards to this flight. But the lack of engagement for the aircraft in the winter months is something they could work on.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Anonymous10:05

    Solid results in these bleak times.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Anonymous10:07

    makes for a good headline for sure but being profitable with 2/3 seats full on long haul is science fiction

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:22

      Don't forget that many costs are cheaper now...Fuel, leasing costs, air control taxes etc.

      Delete
  34. Anonymous10:18

    After so many bad news from the region it's nice to see at least some goods news from our airlines. JU is on the right track in building this route

    ReplyDelete
  35. Anonymous10:18

    I still think they should have introduced Chicago first.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:24

      New York is the single biggest market from BEG.

      Delete
  36. Anonymous10:24

    I hope they keep working and improving this route.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Anonymous10:31

    Many EU travelers are now flying to the US out of Belgrade. Yes, this is temporary, but even if 10% of them come back after corona, it is a big plus for JU.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:25

      Are there any Hungarian travellers?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:42

      I think the border crossing is closed but I saw passengers from VIE, BRU and ZRH onboard JU JFK flights. Before it was cut, there were also pasengers from BCN.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous17:19

      Are you sure about BCN? It would be crazy for both pax and an airline.

      Delete
  38. Anonymous10:48

    Nice to see Air Serbia continue what AeroPut started back in 1927. They are really shaping Serbian aviation quite nicely. I can't wait for this to pass so that they can fully employ the extra two A319s that arrived.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Anonymous14:28

    Is it posible for JU to find codeshare partner in the USA?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Possible yes, likely no.

      But it should be high on their priority list for croos- atlantic operations.

      Delete
  40. Swan song for aviation industry...

    ReplyDelete
  41. Great, maybe next year they finally get another widebody and start flying to Canada, maybe even squeeze in ORD once a week.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Anonymous16:58

    Do you know what are the load factors for airlines flying from other JFK terminals, in particular Lufthansa, Alitalia, LOT, Air France, British Airways? I don't expect much, given the restrictions but would be interesting to know.

    ReplyDelete
  43. 767 is only 5 years older than the "modern" A320 (1982 vs. 1987).

    ReplyDelete

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