Nordwind Airlines to launch Belgrade service


Russian carrier Nordwind Airlines plans to commence operations between Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport and Belgrade as soon as it receives government approval. Flights are scheduled to start as early as this Sunday, however, it is unlikely the carrier will be granted the necessary approvals in time and, as a result, is yet to start ticket sales. Flights between Serbia and Russia are currently capped at two per week by each national carrier - Air Serbia and Aeroflot. Serbian and Russian nationals are permitted to enter each other’s countries but must travel on nonstop flights between the two capitals. Due to increased demand, Aeroflot is using its widebody Airbus A330-300 jet on one of its two weekly services on the route since early December until mid-January, while Air Serbia has scheduled charters to Moscow with its A330-200, as well as charters to St Petersburg to carry workers. 

Based on its inventory filing, as well as the schedule provided by Sheremetyevo Airport, Nordwind plans to operate one weekly flight to Belgrade, each Sunday, until the start of the 2021 summer season in late March. Flights will be run by its 168-seat Boeing 737-800 jet. The full schedule can be found here. Nordwind initially planned to commence operations to Belgrade during the 2020 summer season, however, the service never materialised due to the coronavirus pandemic. Once launched, Nordwind will become the third airline to fly between Sheremetyevo Airport and Belgrade. Meanwhile, low cost carrier Red Wings Airlines plans to restore flights from Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport to the Serbian capital from January 18, 2021, however, these too are subject to government approval. 

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, Russia was one of Belgrade Airport’s biggest markets. During the 2019/2020 winter season, up until the start of the global health emergency, flights between Serbia and Russia ran up to 34 times per week. Aeroflot maintained three daily rotations from Moscow, while Red Wings Airlines had three weekly services between the two cities. On the other hand, Air Serbia operated daily flights to Moscow, three weekly to Krasnodar and two weekly services to St Petersburg, although the latter was only maintained during the New Year and Christmas holiday period. The Serbian carrier was to launch its fourth destination in Russia, to Rostov-on-Don, this summer.


Comments

  1. Anonymous09:04

    Great to see new airlines coming despite the times.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:09

      It is but the question remains if and when will the Russians allow it.

      Delete
    2. Nemjee09:29

      Russians already allowed Red Wings to operate so hopefully they allow Nordwind as well.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:30

      I mean they allow it in these circumstances. Currently only JU and SU can fly.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:05

    My guess is these two weekly flights by SU and JU are insufficient to deal with the demand.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:07

      Most likely. That's why Aeroflot is sneding an A330 and A321.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:37

      Nordwind has widebodies so they sned them as well if there is need. :)

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:05

    This would be great

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous09:05

    Didn't Red Wings add a fourth weekly flight in summer 2019 and JU was 10 weekly if I am not mistaken, 7 in winter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:07

      It's talking about the frequencies in winter 2019/2020 before corona started in March.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:09

    Goods news

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous09:09

    Ha yes, I seem them listed on Sheremetyevo Airport website. Hopefully it starts soon.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous09:10

    Hopefully, Azimuth Airlines also launch BEG. Would love to see the SSJ flying.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nemjee09:30

      Red Wings might send it as well. They just got a whole bunch of them.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:31

      Yes, that is really rare sight ;)

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:11

    So 4 airlines on a single route.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:12

      SU provides definitively the best service on this route

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:16

      By far

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:16

      They also had the best and most consistent schedule of flights + their on time performance is remarkable

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:20

      That's because SU has a two hour rotation between flights in Moscow so delays have to be really big for the next flight to be delayed.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:23

      More airlines fly on MOW-TIV.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:26

      Yes but on a summer seasonal basis, we also need to take that into consideration.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:27

      @9.20
      2 hour rotations? :O what is their fleet utilization then?

      Delete
    8. Anonymous11:09

      @9:20 their (SU) on time performance comes mainly because they schedule each flight time 3 hrs (one way) while it takes in fact about 02:40 average for each flight. Also they close boarding strictly 20 min prior to scheduled departure so often the aircraft sits on the ground fully ready while waiting for exact departure time. JU announced same gate closing procedures but they were never fully implemented (many times I witnessed in BEG boarding started within the last 20 min although the AC was at the gate. In addition to punctuality, SU service onboard is much better so although SU is a bit more expensive on the route it is worth the extra cost difference. These facts over the past few years + extensive SU network materialized in a much better LF for SU on the route (compared to JU). Generally, even with 3 flights per day SU had average about 85% LF which is impressive while JU couldn't compete and maintain 2 daily flights year round.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous11:14

      Well don't forget SU gets the money airlines pay for Siberian overfly rights. They are directly subsidized by their competition. Lol

      You gotta love Russia.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous12:11

      There is a saying "business is business, love is love".
      I doubt that SU subsidies come only from overfly rights but they do from the Russian budget. Same as JU gets it's subsidies! Regardless of either way who is and how subsided there is a fact that Aeroflot adopted Sky Team service quality reference targets that are reflected in good organization and good overall quality standards. Air Serbia in that respect is far behind as we all know.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous13:18

      I think it's silly to compare JU and SU starting with the fact that Russia is a super power and SU's hub has more people than all of Serbia put together.
      If we compare JU and BT then we can see that they are similar in terms of product.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous13:50

      What does SU's service have to do with whether Russia is a superpower? I mean Qatar is not a global superpower but they have some of the best service in the world.

      Delete
    13. Anonymous13:59

      Qatar is the richest country in the world so they can afford it. Aeroflot has gigantic domestic and international demand which helps SU big time. JU doesn't.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:12

    Good luck

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous09:12

    Are the fares between BEG and MOW expensive?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:15

      They are not cheap. Around New Years they are 500 euros return

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:27

      Yes but that's because of New Year

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:14

      @9:15 / @ 9:27 They are expensive in general compared to other destinations. Both JU and SU are milking the cow until they can. For peak holiday date the ticket is around 670e return (light economy) which is insane! They are abusing the fact that there are only 4 weekly flights operating for now.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:19

      They are not abusing it, the Russian government is at fault here. Flights are full otherwise JU would not be sending the A332 to Moscow, same with SU. People can still connect in Istanbul or Minsk.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous13:49

      @13:19 JU A332 is sent for a few charted flights performed for Velestroy (construction company) and is not representing increased demand. SU332 represents holiday time because of temporary increased demand as a way out for Russians to Europe via Belgrade. People (Serbian citizens) can not easily connect through Istanbul as they are quite a few rules in effect on who and how is permitted into Russia.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous14:02

      If there were enough empty seats on non stop flights then there would not be any charters. So obviously there is increased demand, bigger than the amount of seats offered right now. SU A332 is not just about holiday demand as the first one took place ten days ago.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:17

    Anyone ever flown with Nordwind? Any info about them?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:17

      I mean are they low cost/full fare?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:21

      Google is your friend.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:28

      They are very similar to Air Serbia in terms of on board product.

      Delete
    4. I have. Old planes, LF is about 95%+ service is correct dares are generally lower then competition. On SVO they have farest pisition riched by bus, similar as RedWings on DME. Not joyful when windy and rainy... In summary, I'm happy if they get permission, JU will probably get new russian routes as bilateral equity

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:19

    That is bad news for JU.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:39

      Everytging is bad news for JU when viewed from your city's perspective, we know that.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:22

    From Russian carriers I expected S7 or Utair but not NW

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous09:23

    Good. At the moment anything new you get is good news.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous09:28

    How about Moscow-Nis?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous19:57

      Why would this be required?

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:29

    And just a year and a half ago there was a duopoly on this route with very high fares.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:30

      It is a duopoly at the moment again :p

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:34

      Only temporarily because of corona

      Delete
  17. Nemjee09:35

    BEG-SVO is massive ...in relative terms of course. It's also a market that has been growing for a while now:

    2017: 250.059
    2018: 256.277
    2019: 329.543

    In 2019 it was the second busiest route (even without DME) behind only Zurich and ahead of Podgorica.

    With tourism between the two countries on the rise, I expect more airlines to launch flights between Belgrade and Russia. Nordwing is using COVID to their advantage while their competition is limited.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous19:57

      Those are some huge numbers.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous09:37

    We want Rossiya from LED to BEG please!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous09:42

    This is great and not too unexpected. Hopefully they approve them, we need more competition. It's also good to see BEG not blocking JU's competition.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous19:58

      Why on earth would BEG block any airline? The more of them, the more money they get.

      Delete
  20. Anonymous09:47

    So BEG becomes the second busiest airport to Russia in the Balkans after IST.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:55

      Is this route busier even than ATH-Moscow? Impressive!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:34

      Absolutely, for example in winter SU operates double daily flights to Athens and triple daily to Belgrade. Aegean has three weekly in winter while JU has daily. In summer BEG has more even with slight increases from Athens. ATH doesn't have flights to KRR like Belgrade for example.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:29

      Тhis is just the beginning for Belgrade

      Delete
  21. Anonymous10:01

    I hope they manage but I'm not sure they will be able to repel SU and JU to/from SVO.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:04

      I agree, JU and SU are just too strong. But good luck to them.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:06

      They are not looking to kick JU and SU out of BEG-SVO, they are just looking to get a piece of the growing cake for themselves.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:35

      With 300.000+ plus passengers there is room for growth.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous10:01

    Russians can't travel to most countries either so I would not be surprised there is increased travel to BEG. Same as vice versa.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:25

      @10:01 yes but for the time being Belgrade / Serbia has very little to offer since most places are shutting down early in the evening and limited work hours on weekends. Most Russians according to the local media are staying home this winter season. Some use Beg as a transit point for sure but now that PCR has been introduced it will probably slow the demand.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:34

      Work hours have now been extended to 20.00 on all days. If you are only transferring through Serbia within 12 hours you do not need a PCR test to enter Serbia (even if just picking luggage at the airport and checking in again)

      Delete
  23. Anonymous10:10

    Hope Nordwings will bring more opportunities for us to travel.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous20:38

      Nordwind - N4
      Red Wings - WZ
      :-)

      Delete
  24. Anonymous10:11

    I wish them success, but I am not that optimistic.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous10:11

    when will they introduce flights or when will they tell us the dates

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:13

      When the Russian government allows more than the flag carriers to fly this route.

      Delete
  26. Anonymous10:11

    Can anyone elaborate the current SVO loads?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:18

      If Aeroflot is sending A330 and A321, one would assume it's good.

      Delete
  27. Anonymous10:14

    Why are they limiting to just 2 airlines?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:18

      So there is a controlled number of arrivals. Frequencies are also limited to 2 per week per airline.

      Delete
  28. Anonymous10:27

    Is there any chance Air Serbia will resume Krasnodar and launch Rostov on Don?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:36

      KRR is closed for non-CIS international flights.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:42

      Ah didn't know that

      Delete
  29. Anonymous11:00

    Is this privately owned airline?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:02

      Nordwind Airlines was founded in August 2008 by the Russian and Turkish branches of tour operator Pegas Touristik.

      Delete
  30. Anonymous11:01

    Северный ветер

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous11:01

    They have a fleet of 32 planes! not bad at all

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:42

      And over 4 million passengers per year.

      Delete
  32. Anonymous11:40

    Good news. The flights between Belgrade and Moscow are an absolutely rip off, last time I checked it was in the region of 500 Euros one way.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:52

      Belavia says hello.

      I think they profit the most from high fares.

      Delete
  33. Anonymous11:41

    Demand is also probably increased by the fact that there are no other flights to Russia from the region.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:53

      Belavia increased BEG to four weekly about a week ago, I am sure they are an exciting and convenient alternative to non-stop flights.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:20

      Unfortunately with poor connecting times / options. Also the fact that Belavia (most flighst) lands in Zhikovskyi which is not well connected to the city of Moscow makes trasfer through Minsk not so easy and plaisant.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:40

      @11:53 Citizens of Serbia are allowed into Russia without special permit only on direct service flights between BEG-SVO. All Serbian citizens arriving through a transit point into Russia are required to have a special admission permit issued by the respective ministry and with checks from police / FSB authorities (quite complicated procedure to obtain and must be sponsored by an accredited RU based organization registered with the respective ministry). In average takes 3 weeks to obtain and requires the traveller to stick upon arrival to the designated airport. I.e. admission into the country will be denied in case if you land at another RU airport not initially specified in the original request.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:47

      Yes but citizens of Russia do not need special permission. There are many Russians living in Serbia due to a lot of Russian companies operating in Serbia.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous14:03

      According to the last census there were over 5.000 Russians in Serbia.

      Delete
  34. Anonymous13:47

    I assume they will use B737-800?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:47

      Umm yes, it says so in the article

      Delete
  35. I have flown to Moscow several times and I prefer Air Serbia over Aeroflot. And off course, flying to New York no other airline from Europe comes close to providing the service and comfort Air Serbia's A330 provides. I am a tall man and the legroom on Air Serbia's A330 is the best in the industry. And I am supporting our airline!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:33

      I like this comment! As a tall person I appreciate comfy seats and extra legroom.

      Delete
  36. Danas je otkazan let AirSerbie za SVO sa A330, nije stigla dozvola ruskih vlasti..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous19:35

      Одмах забранити летове Аерофлоту до даљњег.

      Delete
    2. Nemjee20:30

      They just received the permit. Flight leaves at 22.30.

      Delete
    3. Evo odoše posle 10 sati čekanja..

      Delete
    4. Nemjee07:13

      Битно да је добијена дозвола, ово није било до ЈУ. У сваком случају лет је пун из Москве, сигуран сам да су им јавили да не долазе на аеродром док није све било потврђено.

      Delete
  37. Anonymous20:26

    Ah... They wish.

    ReplyDelete

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