This morning, Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport saw the launch of the first of five new routes which are to commence in March, while a total of six new services have been confirmed so far for the coming summer season. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many routes are still in limbo as a result of travel and entry restrictions, however, with more than half a dozen new services planned, there is some hope for cautious optimism. This has been coupled with the successful rollout of the mass vaccination program against Covid-19 in Serbia, which has been one of the fastest in the world so far. Air Serbia inaugurated flights between Belgrade and Geneva today, while low cost carrier easyJet plans to restore the same route this Friday, which will also mark its return onto the Serbian market.
During the month, Wizz Air is set to introduce services to Sandefjord and Hamburg, SkyUp Airlines to Kiev and Eurowings to Stuttgart. This will be followed by KLM from Amsterdam in May and Luxair from Luxembourg in June. In addition, Russia's Ural Airlines has shown interest in launching five new services to the Serbian capital, while Norwegian Air Shuttle has filed a schedule for seasonal summer flights from Helsinki, although these are yet to be confirmed. At this point, 1.616 flights are scheduled to operate in and out of Belgrade this month (both directions included), although uncertainty still prevails due to the epidemiological situation across the world. Carriers such as Air France, Aegean Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines and Norwegian are all set to restore operations to Belgrade in March.
Last year, Belgrade Airport’s Chief Technical Officer, Nicolas Brousse, said, “No one can say with certainty how the situation with the pandemic will evolve, but we expect a return to our more usual operations during the summer of 2021. In the coming months, we anticipate a gradual growth in traffic. If the virus is put under control, we could expect a real restart in April or May, if the health situation improves in Europe and beyond”. The National Association of Serbian Tour Operators (YUTA) said it is coordinating talks between Serbian authorities and those from key summer markets such a Greece, Turkey and Egypt over entry rights for holidaymakers this year. YUTA is pushing for vaccinated travellers to be able to enter all countries without restrictions while those without vaccines to be able to enter with an antigen test, rather than the more expensive PCR test.
Fingers crossed
ReplyDeleteAnyone know how many passengers were on the inaugural flight this monring?
ReplyDelete30-something
DeleteBetter indication will be Geneva-Belgrade.
DeleteIn any case, it does not help that Serbia is on Switzerland's red list, meaning diaspora has to isolate upon return from Serbia.
Delete40-ish passengers with 10 transfers to SKP, TGD and SJJ.
DeleteSKP <3
DeleteJU should definitely put focus on SKP from GVA.
DeleteInteresting to see that easyjet is coming back and has stuck to its original date. I guess mainly because of the new competition.
ReplyDeleteHighly likely, especially since Berlin and Basel don't start till late March/early April.
DeleteConsidering the situation having 7 new routes is quite an achievement.
ReplyDeleteBelgrade is rising again despite the fact that Serbian citizens can't enter EU.
ReplyDeleteReally amazing job done here.
Belgrade needs to redefine itself as the leading aviation hub in the region vs. BUD.
DeleteSinko, please don't compare BEG with BUD.
DeleteСинко why not? He's showing facts.
DeleteHow can you compare BEG with BUD when it's not even close to RIX to begin with.
DeleteBUD is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe and home to many universities and not to mention the real estate business and most importantly an EU capital. Nobody denies BEG performance but be realistic.
The 'being realistic' is that BEG is now handling twice the number of flights as BUD since they have no tourists.
DeleteYes, most departures with turboprops.
DeleteReally? The only two airlines operating turboprops in Belgrade are Air Serbia and Windrose. Today, turboprops make up just 28% of all flights from/to BEG.
DeleteDo you have a link to prove that most departures are with turboprops? Even OS is mostly sending the E95 and Aegean is sending the A319 tomorrow, not Q400.
DeleteWindrose is sending the E-145, not the ATR.
DeleteSorry I meant to write Air Serbia and Austrian, not Windrose.
DeleteHope things turn for the better.
ReplyDeleteBRAVO SRBIJA
ReplyDeleteAnyone know January pax numbers?
ReplyDeleteIs it realistic for BEG to handle at least 2 mil passengers this year?
DeleteDepends from the situation but I would say it is realistic.
DeleteHopefully they introduce covid passports fast.
ReplyDeleteI hope they don't
DeleteCan someone explain to me what these covid passports in Europe would mean. For example, I'm from Serbia and I have been vaccinated with both doses against covid. So would covid passport mean I could travel without restrictions to say the rest of Europe or is it merely just a place to store your documentation?
DeleteAs far as I understood, it's a fancy term for a literal piece of paper and/or QR code on your phone that will confirm that you are vaccinated. However, we are already hearing some fascist opinions from the EU advising how vaccines that have not been approved in the EU (but for example have been approved in Serbia) will not be accepted. I find that weird as I am sure EU is dying for some Chinese tourists' money, but nothing surprises me anymore.
DeleteGreece is already begging the Chinese to come and save them.
DeleteSince Hungary has started inoculation with the Sinopharm vaccine and Sputnik will be administered in several EU countries, EU's plan will fail. Luckily.
Deletehttps://news.err.ee/1608126439/ak-how-will-a-vaccine-passport-work
DeleteIt is good to see that some new routes will launch next month.
ReplyDeleteYou mean this month :)
DeleteThis will depend on the EU limitations. It will also depend on the gastos and whether or not they are considering visiting their home countries. This will also mean people will less prefer to make transfers and stick to a direct, non-stop flight if they can.
ReplyDeleteI think people will rush to book whoever is the cheapest.
DeleteI think so too. Look what happened with bookings the second the UK announced its timeline to exit the lockdown.
DeleteCongratulations BEG
ReplyDeleteI like that there are two European legacies starting flights - KLM and Luxair. But also great to see some more LCC lines.
ReplyDeleteIs it me or is Wizz lagging behind the competition?
ReplyDeleteWhy it be you.
DeleteIf you consider there is travel ban into the EU this isn't all that bad.
ReplyDeleteHow many flights out of BEG today?
ReplyDelete33 departures
DeleteOf course this is 33 scheduled commercial departures. I'm not including private or cargo flights.
DeleteThis is very good. Last time there were over 30 departures per day was in early September last year when there was a lot of charters to Turkey and Egypt. So with no charters now, this is great.
DeleteYes, for these times that's a very good number of flights.
DeleteFor comparison, Budapest has 14 departures today.
DeleteOn average Belgrade had twice the flights of BUD during the last period.
DeleteHelps that JU has transfers. Aegean returns tomorrow and RO with a new schedule at the end of the month.
DeleteSource for RO return?
DeleteTheir website. Duh.
DeleteBUD has fewer flights but it still managed to close 2020 with 4 million passengers compared to BEG's 1,9, even being much more closed and restricted.
DeleteBEG managed to reduce the difference from 2.5x to 2x which is good.
DeleteBUD wasn't much more closed and restricted until October of last year.
DeleteThere again, Belgrade's advantage was for only for a month or so after what Serbia was put on EU's red list.
This clearly shows that BEG has healthy O&D demand while BUD is extremely reliant on tourism.
DeleteJust like ZAG which pretty much had the same collapse.
DeleteI think many tour operators are only discovering Belgrade now. Look at the Ural interest.
DeleteBEG closed 2020 with 1,9 million passengers behind MSQ. Nothing more to add.
DeleteIt might be worth adding that your information is wrong.
DeleteBEG - 1,903,337
MSQ - 1,901,086
https://i.ibb.co/RGX7hhK/beg.png
Source: Airports Council International
So before writing nonsense, it might be worth consulting other sources other than wikipedia.
Actually, even Minsk is far from an insignificant airport, yet they have a huge passenger drain to Moscow/Kiev/Riga, especially the latest with its low-cost options, similar to BEG/BUD in the past.
DeleteThey have a respectable national carrier with a good network over Eurasia.
They fly as far away as Almaty if i remember.
Talking about Belavia, during a recent flash sale, Belgrade was their top 5 selling destination behind Istanbul, Kiev, Odessa and Warsaw.
Now, THIS is a good example to compare: MSQ. Yes, it can be considered a competition. Belavia fleet is quite new with an elegant livery and pretty decent coverage.
DeleteBEG and MSQ show the importance of having a local carrier which offers transfers. That's one advantage they both have over BUD.
DeleteJust because BUD was on top before covid it doesn't mean it iwll stay like that. Just remember where BUD was in the 1980s and where BEG was. In conclusion, BEG is working on REGAINING it's old dominant position.
Oh no it's the BEG vs BUD guy again. Why do you feel the need to compare them all the time?
Delete@11:55 - How can you be a "dominant player" if you have 20 planes?
DeleteThe 80s era was 40 years ago...time to move on. BUD was always and will always be ahead for a long time.
BEG was in '80s capital of the country of 22 mil people and now BEG is the capital of country of 7 mil people.
DeleteHuge difference.
BUD was not always ahead but like for 20 years following sanctions, that's out of 100 years of civil aviation in total.
DeleteWhat do you mean that BUD was always ahead when that's clearly not the case?
DeleteLatvia is a country of some 2 million people yet RIX handles over 7 million passengers. What matters is that BEG is moving ahead, full steam. Look at the new announcements and you will see what I am talking about. Btw what's interesting is that BEG growth is very diverse, it's not JU pushing it which gives us hope that things are indeed looking up.
Between 2000 and 2016 Latvia lost due to emigration 12% of its population (Lithuania some 15% and Estonia some 5%). This is the main reason behind the number of pax at RIX. A very sad race of the poor who will have more pax. I very much prefer tourists at BUD.
DeleteHungary also lost a great deal of its population, there is more to the country than Budapest. There is a great deal of ethnic traffic out of Budapest.
DeleteI very much prefer the transfers and tourists at BEG, which is crucial in this period.
DeleteHungary enjoys a high level and volume of tourism similar to Croatia and Chinese real-estate business men. It's a year-round destination and has way much to offer.
DeleteComparing BEG with BUD is like comparing LAX with CYS in Wyoming.
Replying here is useless back and forth, but one more time: for the same period the net migration in Hungary is positive: +2% (more people migrated into Hungary than from Hungary abroad). Natural change (more people dying than newly born) is however negative: -6%.
DeleteBut who cares here about facts. Go and make the biggest hub in the Balkans and southern Europe if that makes you happy. Just like RIX.
Source: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-12092-4_3
Clearly we can see the amount of ethnic traffic now that all the airports have lost their tourists and expats.
Deleteanon 15.03
DeleteWhat tourists? In 2019 Hungary 16,9 mln international tourists staying for at least one night. Serbia 1,8 mln international tourist arrivals.
You are very ridiculous comparing BEG to an airport that doesn't even have scheduled flights.
DeleteRight now BUD or ZAG are more looking like that.
There again, have you read the title?
Stay tuned for some new announcement that will shockingly prove you wrong.
@15:10
DeleteThat again confirms how reliant on external tourism BUD is.
If with 10 times more tourists they have 2 times more pax that explains you why the situation is getting more even now.
Even in one of the worst years for tourism in years, BUD carried 3.8m pax compared to BEG 1.9m. Keep dreaming
DeleteThose 3.8m are from Jan, Feb and first half of March 2020. Budapest was not worth a penny after that. Yeah, BEG didn't do much better after March so why split hairs. Focus on 2021.
DeleteWhat I love the most is the hate brigade that has been coming here for years telling us to keep dreaming about this or that. However most of our dreams have turned into reality so it makes sense for things to keep on improving and for BEG to once again become a major player in the region. Don't forget that BUD is highly unprofitable and even the Hungarian government had to use some shady mechanisms to keep them afloat. I guess those passenger numbers came thanks to serious price dumping.
DeleteThings would improve much quicker if the EU travel ban was lifted.
ReplyDeleteRecovery will be long and hard everywhere.
ReplyDeleteThe number of airlines flying to BEG isn't that bad actually.
ReplyDeleteNice to see Qatar Airways sending its A321 to Belgrade again.
ReplyDeleteFlight is full incoming from DOH. Not such a light load on the way back either. Tour groups and also Chinese living in Serbia coming back from New Year holiday.
DeleteQR is actually sending their Dreamliner to OTP and SOF the whole week.
DeleteWell, it is two routes combined after all. It operates DOH-SOF-OTP
DeleteI saw on Instagram that's because of cargo.
DeleteI've been following this blog for a while now and it looks like Belgrade is the one which is ahead of the pack in this region (and this coming from a non-Serb ). It would make the blog even more diversified if the admin would include now and then other non-Ex YU airports in the region as topic of discussion.
ReplyDeleteOf course.
DeleteWe've been telling that for a long time.
DeleteWould be nice to add Albania and Bulgaria as well.
DeleteOther ex-yu airports are the topics of this blog
DeleteNational Association of Serbian Tour Operators (YUTA)
ReplyDeleteI still the remnants of Yugoslavia still live on :D
At least some optimistic signs. Wish them and the VINCI team all the best.
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to see what is the busiest market at the moment from BEG. Is it still Switzerland?
ReplyDeleteMy guess it's Montenegro
DeleteThis month there are the most flights from BEG to Podgorica.
DeleteWe will have an eighth airline start new flights this year if ToMontenegro is successfully formed.
ReplyDeleteGood luck
ReplyDeleteI hope there will be recovery as we see the EU is doing everything it can to hamper economic growth in this region with its bans on certain peoples.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteSerbia has much more to offer tourists than just Belgrade. And while Budapest is a great draw for Hungary, what else can tourists see in Hungary? Long term, BEG is the clear winner as the regions best airport. This will be clear once connections are established between Belgrade and Toronto, Belgrade and Chicago and Belgrade and China.
ReplyDeleteDude, you are probably living in America and have no clue about the situation in Europe. Hungary is not only about tourism. Have you ever been to Gyor, Debrecen or the Balaton area? Plus, BEG has much more connections to North America and China compared to BEG. Seriously, those comparisons are crazy.
DeleteThey are not.
DeleteThere is nothing in Debrecen.
Hungary hasn't either sea or mountains.
It actually has the most boring landscape in Europe.
That's why they're promoting the only thing they actually have.
Exactly!
DeleteHello, how far is Belgrade from Budapest? Is there a direct train service or something? I have a HU passport, arriving from the US and want to avoid transfer at all cost. Other option is Vienna.. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThis is too funny
DeleteThere are too many toxic comments as is with EXYU coverage. Expanding to other countries in wider region would make this blog unreadable.
ReplyDeleteLooking at JU summer schedule I see many flights to Tirana are already upgraded to A319!
ReplyDelete