Greece’s Aegean Airlines will introduce two additional routes to Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport this summer, complementing its existing operations from Athens. The carrier will introduce services from Rhodes and Heraklion to the Serbian capital from May 31. Both will run twice per week. It comes just days after Wizz Air announced the introduction of new services from Belgrade to Heraklion and Santorini, which will begin in mid-June. The new Aegean flights will be sold through tour operators and run until September 30. Aegean restored its operations to Belgrade last month but only maintained two rotations before suspending the service until June 2. The carrier has now filed a preliminary schedule indicating the route’s return from April 26, however, tickets from that date have not been put on sale yet.
Greece and Serbia inked an agreement last week to restart travel between the two countries. In order for Serbian nationals to visit Greece, they must either be vaccinated, have tested negative or recovered from the coronavirus. Starting May 14, Serbian citizens vaccinated against Covid-19, with a jab from any manufacturer, will be able to enter Greece without restrictions using a new digital certificate which will be issued by Serbian authorities. Those that have not received the vaccine will have to take a PCR or antigen test prior to arrival. Serbia is the fifth country Greece has concluded such an agreement with, which will enable the broader resumption of flights between the two countries. The Greek Minister for Tourism, Harry Theoharis, said the implementation date of the agreement will likely be brought forward before Orthodox Easter, which is observed on May 2, as Serbia’s mass vaccination program is advancing rapidly.
This summer, Air Serbia will maintain operations from Belgrade to Athens and Thessaloniki and is expected to run a number of charters to Greek holiday destinations. In addition, Aegean will operate flights from Athens, Rhodes and Hearklion, while Wizz Air will run services to Heraklion and Santorini. Starting June 4, until the end of September, leisure carrier Ellinair will also maintain flights between Heraklion and Belgrade, every ten days. Tickets for the service can be purchased online. In the pre-pandemic era, Greece was one of Serbia’s biggest summer travel markets, however, due to entry restrictions introduced in 2020, only services to Athens and Thessaloniki have been maintained.
Great news
ReplyDeleteI guess the resumption of those Athens flights depends on what the minister said, if the new rules are brought in before Easter.
ReplyDeleteTheir preliminary resumption date is in line with what the minister said. They are probably waiting for confirmation before putting it on sale.
DeleteSeems like Heraklion will be in high demand.
ReplyDeleteIndeed
DeleteThe more airlines and routes the better.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Air Serbia will now reconsider introducing Kraljevo-Thessaloniki.
ReplyDeleteWhy would they?
DeleteBecause people will be able to enter Greece without restrictions.
DeleteGreat news for BEG! So BEG-HER will have three carriers: Aegean, Wizz Air and Ellinair.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately Ellinair's founder Boris Mouzenidis died the other day from covid. :(
He was only 60 years old.
I'm pretty sure Air Serbia will be flying some charters to Heraklion too.
DeleteWith so much competition? Don't think so. I mean they didn't even respond after the agreement was signed. Not even an extra flight to Athens.
DeleteJU's "secret" is its relationship with tourist agencies. They will most definitely be doing charters to HER.
DeleteAnd who is Aegean going to be working with if not the same tour agencies JU was working for years now?
DeleteYes, JU secret is travel agencies. Because if we work with them hurghada, antalya it is more simple to do Heraklion as well. Because of the contracts, payments and everything. So yes, also JU will fly charter there.
DeleteLowest fares on BEG-HER on Wizz for 12.06 and 19.06 are already sold out.
DeleteLittle surprise then that we already have three airlines confirmed on this route.
DeleteIt's crazy since this route was only announced a few days ago. I think a third weekly will be added especially you can't freely book on Aegean.
DeleteGreat news
Delete4.699 fares (lowest) are all gone for the month of June. I guess many have started booking in advance. This route might be a success in the end.
DeleteSantorini is selling even better! I checked for June so the first month and on 23.06 one way ticket is already selling for 8.229! They seem to know what they are doing.
DeleteI read the other day that travel agencies have seen booking skyrocket since this deal with Greece was signed. So who knows, maybe we see even more flights.
ReplyDeleteSpain announced the other day that people will have to wear a mask on the beach and a fine will be €100 if you don't do it. Don't see many rushing to Spain this summer.
DeleteI am sure more flights will be added. I hope someone else launches BEG-ATH, maybe FR.
What are the entry requirements for MNE if you are coming from Serbia?
ReplyDeleteNone. You are free to enter. And you don't even have to adhear to curfews which have been introduced in some cities.
DeleteAnd if you are fully vaccinated you don't need a PCR to come back to Serbia?
DeleteCorrect, if you were vaccinated in Serbia.
DeleteHopefully demand picks up especially since the West is on self-destruction mode right now.
DeleteSo far 37% of Serbs received at least one dose of vaccine.
Deletethis is bad news. for bus companies
ReplyDeleteBecause the same people traveling to the north of Greece/Chalkidiki are the ones taking the plane to RHO/HER? Bus tours to HER are in jeopardy now? :D
Delete@09:41 Heraklion is on an island.
DeleteBEG is definitely improving. For example today these are departures from airports in the region:
ReplyDeleteBEG 21
BUD 12
ZAG 14 (5 PSO)
OTP 60
TIA 16
SOF 32
Bucharest is crazy busy!!!
DeleteFor a 2 million capital and 18 million nation, that's even low. BUD was always ahead.
DeleteBEG has two A330 today, JU to JFK and SU from SVO
DeleteBucharest have far bigger population than 2 million. Also only today there are 8 flights from OTP to Hurghada. 8 flights.
DeleteAnd we shouldn't forget that Romania has a population of almost 20 million.
DeleteThis is good news ,more competition less prices, theory says. But those flights will run as charter flights, so even if there left some empty seats, agencies will sold them with 250+ price. Elin air had in pervious years 2 week flights with possibility to buy tickets online. I have traveled back in 2018 in late September for 80 euros return ticket to HER.
ReplyDeleteWell the good news is there is Wizz wirh cheap fares.
DeleteI am SO happy to read this, they are not giving up on BEG. In 2019 JU was all the rage on BEG-Greece routes - for some reason, A3 was never able to outdo them. So when the pandemic hit JU was definitely in a better shape to weather the storm on BEG-ATH route and indeed A3 suspended the route. However, A3 seems to be serious about BEG - they even added business class to their BEG flights (used to be all-economy). Please stay A3, we love you for P2P as well as transfers.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteI think they were not as committed to BEG in the past as they are now since back then they were focused on much larger markets. Aegean's first serious international expansion was to Italy. After that Spain and southern France followed.
DeleteSince covid is raging in the West, they have to look for opportunities elsewhere. Since Serbia is a massive source of passengers in summer it only made sense for them to fight for their own piece of the cake.
I still believe BEG-ATH on Wizz Air will come sooner rather than later. It can easily work on a summer seasonal basis. Aegean would do good to establish itself on the market before that happens.
Nemjee +100
DeleteHow much do the Ellin Air flights cost?
ReplyDeleteI selected 4th of June departure and 14th of June return it comes out 242 euros (only hand luggage).
DeleteWith 23kg checked in baggage it is 312 euros for the same dates.
DeleteThanks. That's very expensive though.
DeleteI guess that's because they are selling flights to tour operators. €312 is still cheaper than via ATH on Aegean especially once you add luggage.
Delete^True
DeleteWhat a corrupt state Greece is. They will force you use tour operators to board these flights which does not make them much different from charters, and it only benefits big hotels and hotel chains. They wont sell single tickets for those who want to self tailor their holidays and save using small hotels, resorts and airbnbs.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean? What does Greece have to do with Aegean's flights? You can fly on Wizz Air non stop or fly via ATH if you want to create your own Cretan experience.
DeleteWuuut? What does Greece have to do with A3, a private company owned by the same family that owns the Hertz franchise in Greece. I've been traveling solo for years to Greece and I always book everything myself (A3 tickets, ferries, accommodation).
DeleteNot surprised about Greece being the alternative to Spain, thus taking advantage and connecting more of its islands to Beg and neighbouring capitals. However, if Spain eases the restrictions it will be hard for Greece to restore the current flights. Mallorca, Málaga and not to forget Sevilla that boomed a lot pre-Covid. A truly amazing city.
ReplyDeleteThat said, FR is quietly expanding in the Italian coast as well this year.
Spain had no where near the number of tourists from Serbia as did Greece.
DeleteSpain was becoming increasingly popular though, especially Barca.
DeleteJU doesn't even plan to restore flights to Spain before winter, although Vueling will fly from Barcelona to Belgrade.
DeleteAegean flights are charter flights to RHO and HER sold to tour operators these are not scheduled flights,are not in GDS and not open for commercial sales. Air Serbia have these flights every summer this is not something surprisingly. Wizz Air flights are low cost and open for sales so Wizz will hit hard Aegean
ReplyDeleteYes, you are completely right with part about Aegean. But also we will have situation like with Cyprus flights where tour agencies buy tickets on Wizz air and sell it as a part of travel packages, and price will automatically go up
DeleteWell if anyone will hurt JU then it's A3 since they are going after the same market: tour operators.
DeleteHowever the market will be so big that there will be room for everyone. Before JU did't have THAT many flights to HER, they were mostly to other places in Greece.
Do we know where JU will be flying to in Greece as part of their charter network this year?
ReplyDeleteThe more the merrier :)
ReplyDelete@ Admin: These routes only seem to be charters, might be good to highlight this in the header or at least in the article.
ReplyDeleteAnd what's the difference between a two weekly regular charter by Aegean and two weekly flight by Wizz operating during same time period? Plus if you bothered to read the article you would see it says it's sold through tour operators.
Delete