Air Serbia to bring back nine routes as demand returns


Air Serbia is in the process of restoring nine destinations to its route network as the airline says there have been “changes in demand” which are heading in a “positive direction”. Services from Belgrade to Thessaloniki were restored over the weekend and will be followed by Dubrovnik and Split on May 28, Prague, Sofia, Bucharest and Krasnodar on June 4, St Petersburg on June 8, as well as Milan on June 18. “Having in mind the gradual relaxation of travel restrictions, as well as the approaching peak of the season, we have decided to re-establish flights to certain popular destinations in our network. We are glad that the summer season is coming and, judging by the apparent changes in demand, the situation is developing in a positive direction”, Air Serbia said.

Frequencies to all nine destinations are, for the most part, well below 2019 levels. Flights to Greece’s second largest city will operate seven times per week - twice daily on Mondays and Fridays and once daily on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Split will initially return with two weekly rotations, increasing to three from mid-June, while Dubrovnik and Milan will be maintained twice weekly. Air Serbia plans to run three weekly flights to Sofia - twice daily on Mondays and one flight on Fridays, as well as two weekly services to Prague, St Petersburg and Krasnodar. Operations to Bucharest will initially run twice per week before increasing to five weekly rotations by the end of June. The carrier also intends on launching its brand new service to Rostov-on-Don starting June 4. 

Commenting on the return of a number of its routes, Air Serbia’s General Manager for Commercial and Strategy, Jiri Marek, said, “We are pleased that we have the opportunity to enable passengers to plan their summer vacation to popular coastal destinations such as Dubrovnik and Split, for which there is traditionally a lot of interest because of their beauty and proximity. The air connection to the capital of Romania is also very important to us, primarily for economic reasons. Direct flights to the capitals of the Czech Republic and Bulgaria are also very important”. During May, Air Serbia became the largest carrier across all former Yugoslav markets in terms of flights on offer, with the airline maintaining 1.168 operations. It is followed by Croatia Airlines with 1.072, Wizz Air with 794 and Austrian Airlines with 529 flights during the month.


Comments

  1. Anonymous09:01

    Well done Air Serbia!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous09:07

    Good to see some demand returning.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous09:07

    I wonder if we may see some more routes return.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous09:09

    I really hope they restore Madrid and Barcelona. Spain has signed an agreement with Serbia allowing all vaccinated Serbian people (with any vaccine) to enter Spain without restrictions.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:11

      Do they accept all vaccines or just the ones approved by EMA?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:15

      All besides Sputnik. Chinese is accepted because it was approved by WHO.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:17

      Great. Thank you :)

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:18

      Even PCR test is not required if you fall within that category.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:40

      If they don't start Vueling will benefit.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:26

      We must not allow that to happen

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:11

    Nice to see them proactive.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous09:11

    Resuming Thessaloniki daily is a good amount of flights considering the situation

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:31

      First SKG-BEG had 85 passengers.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:31

      Kako 85 kada je prvi let bio na Atr-u?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:49

      Не, први је био са А319.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:13

      Prvi let je bio u nedelju na Atr-u,a ovo su verovatno podaci za ponedeljak.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous21:02

      Да, понедељак, извињавам се.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:14

    Good effort. Well done

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous09:14

    How many destinations does Air Serbia fly to now?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:18

      Getting close to 40.

      Delete
    2. Just for curiosity what is maximum number of destinations in JAT era and in current AirSerbia era?

      Delete
    3. Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Montreal, Toronto,, New York, Algiers, Tripoli, Tunis, Cairo, Beirut, Damascus, Amman, Baghdad, Tehran, Kuwait, Dubai, Calcutta, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Beijing, Melbourne, Sydney, Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, London, Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Brussels, Madrid, Barcelona, Malta, Milan, Rome, Venice, Zurich, Paris, Lyon, Vienna, Munich, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Berlin, Warsaw, Prague, Moscow, Kiev, St. Peterburg, Budapest, Sofia, Tirana, Thessaloniki, Athens, Istanbul, Belgrade, Zagreb, Ljubljana, Maribor, Portoroz, Rijeka, Pula, Zadar, Split, Dubrovnik, Osijek, Sarajevo, Mostar, Nis, Pristina, Skopje, Ohrid = 78

      Delete
    4. Anonymous03:27

      And this was just off the top of your head right? ;-)

      Delete
    5. Thank you for your this list, but it looks like there are more than 78 destinations on this list and also I could not find Podgorica (ex Titograd) and Tivat on this list.

      Delete
    6. @Uros
      Absolutely correct. I accidentally omitted TGD and TIV. So, it was 80, not 78. Sorry.

      @An.03.27
      I worked for JAT for 6 years, when JAT flew to all of these destinations on scheduled services. And I was interested in aviation long before I started working, some 10 years, I had collected timetables and had followed development and growth of JAT. And yes, it was just off the top of my head, the best proof is I omitted more than obvious two important domestic destinations, and I also know it is difficult to believe some people keep in their heads what today is kept on digital lists and clouds only

      Delete
    7. Anonymous04:43

      Thanks bro.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:15

    wow interesting to see Air Serbia had more flights than Wizz Air had from all of ex-Yu.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:27

      More flights than OU too which has a substantial domestic network.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:23

    That is great news!

    One thing everyone is forgetting is that we are all trying to compare ourselves to a year 2019. However, 2019 was an extraordinary year of profits for the entire global aviation. And while that was a great year, it is almost not fair to be always using stats in comparison to 2019. It will take years or never (according to the "great rest" clowns) to match that year again!

    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous09:33

    Are there any hopes about restoring flights from Cacak to Wien and/or Salonica this summer?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JATBEGMEL12:18

      KVO-VIE will be relaunched on 01.10.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:36

    So what about INI subsidised flights. Are they still receiving subsides for those routes even they dont fly them or what is the deal now? I just read yesterday they only fly to HHN so far our of 11 granted routes? Anyone?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:38

      No, they are not receiving subsidies for any routes as they are not operational.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:42

      Any addition to INI network, apart from TIV?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:05

      Salzburg apparently should be coming back. Heard also Podgorica... I know it wasn't on the initial list of 11 cities but its just a rumor

      Delete
    4. JATBEGMEL12:50

      The choice of destinations for the rigged tender was soo well thought out that 1 out of 11 routes are currently operational.

      INI-TIV starts from 16.06

      Nothing else is showing at the moment.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:51

      They could hardly predict a global pandemic.

      Delete
    6. JATBEGMEL13:44

      And pre pandemic was amazing? BUD didn't last a full season. I dont expect to see all 11 routes operating due to the pandemic, but 1/11 doesn't give the impression of success, considering they are subsidized routes.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous14:27

      So they should be spending govt money flying empty planes while most Serbian citizens have been banned from those counties for well over a year now?

      Delete
    8. Anonymous14:37

      They've already received that government money and are not flying from INI other than HHN.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous15:17

      They haven't received all the allocated funds, they received a portion for the flights that were operated.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous16:07

      I think they should considering BVA flights instead one of those routes

      Delete
    11. JATBEGMEL16:19

      As I said earlier, the choice of destinations was poor from the beginning, hence why only 1/11 destinations is operating. Had they planned the tender better, I dont see why another 2-3 destinations wouldn't work. Do you not think CDG and AMS would work from INI for example? Both destinations where JU have codeshare partners that offer a large amount of transfer options.

      Some traffic obviously does exists otherwise JU would not operate them at all. Perhaps not on 100% CLF but enough that with subsidies it breaks even. The whole purpose of those subsidies was so that Nis is better connected for its citizens and potential investments. I dont see how destinations such as SZG, HAN and FKB is benefitial there since they are gastarbeiter routes more suited for one of the ULCC's.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:38

    I had the same idea, but it seems EU airlines will continue flying to Minsk.

    Maybe it would be interesting for JU to fly to MSQ . Belavia and Air Serbia already have SPA so it would mean B2 could fly these passengers further to their eastern destinations.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous09:41

    Seems the Russian market is quite important to them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:43

      It is not surprise at all taking in consideration that political relations are very good, economic ties are growing, Russian market is huge, there is no visa regime etc.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:41

    What were the frequencies to Moscow, St Petersburg and Krasnodar in summer 2019?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:43

      Moscow was 10, St Petersburg 3 and Krasnodar 3.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:45

      So almost pre-pandemic frequencies this summer

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:47

      Seems they increase St Petersburg to 4 per week (according to information from beg.aero)

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:44

    Good

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous09:45

    I wonder how Oslo is performing?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:46

      Well since they are increasing it to 3 weekly.

      Delete
    2. JATBEGMEL13:01

      OSL was reported to be one of the better routes in the JU network.

      Third weekly starts 11.06.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous09:46

    BEG is also slowly recovering.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous09:47

    I wonder which route is performing best for them now

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous09:47

    I must say they have brought a lot of routes back quickly.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous09:47

    All EU based airlines have announced that they stopped immediately all flights to Belorussia.
    Plus Belavia is not even allowed to use EU airspace in order to fly to a third country i.e. Serbia, Albania or Montenegro. So it could be a good opportunity for JU but it might upset the EU authorities and it might not worth the negative publicity.

    Just my2cents

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous09:49

    Not really. They are operating flights normally to some EU cities like Prague, Vienna and Warsaw and are operating normal flights to other destinations overflying EU airspace.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous09:50

    Helsinki, Rome, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Barcelona all operating normally today by Belavia.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous09:51

    Great. Keep on growing.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Аэrologic09:52

    JU should fly to Ukraine (Lviv, Kiev, Odessa...) cause with Belavia out of the picture there's a huge market left to connect Ukraine and Russia, especially places such as Rostov and Krasnodar, besides the void left by Belavia on Ukraine-EU market.

    - BT is banned from flying over Belarus thus flying to Kiev/Odessa is prohibitive
    - TK has limited presence in Russia
    - The only remaining airline is LO with a huge backtrack

    Belavia had 40 weekly frequencies to Ukraine and six destinations (including two Kiev airports) prior to this hiccup.

    https://bit.ly/3hZMHzr

    Here's an adjacent article on the topic.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous09:52

    I like their approach and quick reaction also in this case. They even opened new destinations.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous09:52

    Since EU banned all airlines (it did not say: only EU airlines) flying to/from Belarus from using EU airspace, I would be very interested how Air Serbia would fly to Belarus.

    Only possibility that I can see: From BEG overflying Kosovo, Albania, into Libyan, then Egyptian airspace, then via Turkey and Ukraine to Belarus. Flight time possibly 6 hours instead of 2?

    ReplyDelete
  28. JU would be an excellent bridge for Minsk to North America/Tivat and could be very profitable. Belgrade should take advantage of it's neutral position and commence the flights asap. If the EU makes an official complaint in a few months then the route can be removed, but in the meantime a LOT of money could be made.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Anonymous09:55

    @9.52 it is not true what you wrote. Belavia is flying normally to many EU cities today.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous09:58

    Guys please check your info once again. There is no EU-wide or Europe-wide ban on Belavia flights or overflights. Only certain countries have banned them - Ukraine, UK, France and Lithuania. They keep flying other destinations, both in EU and those outside EU overflying EU territory.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous09:59

    Great news! What about Beirut?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:01

      Situation in Lebanon is catastrophic, and that is putting it lightly. Economy has collapsed. Most foreign airlines have suspended flights.

      Delete
  32. Anonymous09:59

    I'm surprised it took this long to restart Sofia. Serbian citizens were allowed to enter Bulgaria with a negative PCR test since last year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:00

      SOF is mostly route for transfers.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:01

      There is a good highway linking Belgrade to Sofia so you can reach it quite easily

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:42

      @10:00

      That's the surprise part, because SOF was mainly for transfers.

      Delete
  33. Anonymous10:01

    Hopefully this is a sign of things improving

    ReplyDelete
  34. Anonymous10:04

    Good to see. Let's hope more are to come.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Anonymous10:11

    The point is that EU wants to ban Belavia flying to EU or using EU airspace, but EU does not ban EU airlines flying to MSQ. If some of them cancelled their flights it was their own and not EU decision.

    Therefore I see no problem that JU starts flying to MSQ and making good money there.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Anonymous10:17

    I think Nice will be announced soon as resuming too.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Anonymous10:17

    Good to see the situation improving.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Anonymous10:17

    They should have brought Cairo back! No entry restrictions for Serbian citizens, good for transferring passengers...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:22

      +100

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:24

      I was thinking exactly the same thing. Cairo (and down the road Helsinki) should be brought back!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:03

      They probably calculated that the yields would be too low.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:37

      It's also a very long rotation. And they need the aircraft.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:44

      Agree re the yields at the moment, however it's a good opportunity to establish themselves as a solid transfers choice, now with the limited options at the moment. It'd be a good investment for when things back to normal.

      Delete
    6. JATBEGMEL13:04

      There was talk here that CAI was heavy on transfers, particularly to Italy. The long rotation to CAI doesnt allow for many options for transfers via BEG. Im assuming this is why they have delayed returning to CAI.

      Delete
    7. Finland is quite restrictive, even workers from estonia nearby country were banned to cross border... only citizen of finland, locals were allowed to enter. As i know now things not changed very much

      Delete
  39. Anonymous10:21

    The ban is coming into effect by Friday.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Anonymous10:22

    JU is slowly rebuilding its network. Of course frequencies are not the same but they reflect reality.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Аэrologic10:35

    Then JU should definitely start Minsk.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Anonymous10:39

    Ponedeljak,petak i nedelja su odlično popunjeni,četvrtak i subota solidno,utorak i sreda su dani kada trebaju da pojačaju broj letova.U nekom trenutku može se pojaviti problem sa flotom jer imaju 4 aviona manje u odnosu na prošlu godinu.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Anonymous10:52

    Аэrologic agree fully.
    JU could be the only realistic option for Belarusians traveling to Europe and Europeans traveling to Minsk other than going through Russia.
    Ukraine is also seriously thinking banning Belavia.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Anonymous11:03

    Good luck. Hope there is more good news soon.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Anonymous11:15

    From what I understood, all of EU space and airlines will be banned. They fly today normally because they announced it will take a brief moment for the legal matters to be sorted for this. That's why they are flying today.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Anonymous11:40

    Each country's national aviation authority must ratify the EU decision and publish the relevant advisory. It takes a few days until all 27 member states do so.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Bravo JU, and shame on you OU, for the hundredth time!

    ReplyDelete
  48. Anonymous14:23

    What are the chances of Air Serbia resuming flights JU558 or JU520?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:29

      Nobody cares at this point as we are hoping intra-EU travel gets back to normal ASAP.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:38

      Intra Europe, as Serbia is not in the EU. It will get back to at least 70-80% of 2019 levels in the next 2-3 months if vaccinations and border openings continue as planned. It already happened in the US and will happen between US and Europe, see DBV as an example.

      Delete
    3. JATBEGMEL15:28

      I feel that next year we will see YYZ.

      As for LAX, not for a long time. PVG, ORD and PEK are all being talked about. That will keep them busy the next 5 years.

      Delete
  49. JATBEGMEL14:24

    Im surprised JU hasn't returned to KBP, considering 2 airlines have started the route. Or at least went ahead with launching LWO. I can imagine that Ukraine and Belarus would be popular for transfers bound for Montenegro, Albania, Croatia and Greece, possibly LCA.

    ReplyDelete
  50. Anonymous14:30

    @09:53

    "JU would be an excellent bridge for Minsk to North America/Tivat and could be very profitable."

    What are you talking about? JU has one destination in North America called JFK.

    If the timing was right connections could be made for many of JUs flights, not just Tivat.

    ReplyDelete
  51. Anonymous14:51

    Slovenia just agreed to accept Serbian vaccination certificates. Hopefully more people fly and JU boosts LJU.

    ReplyDelete
  52. They forget Helsinki 😒

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. sad dog15:07

      They didn't forget, they just deemed it as not viable at this time.

      Delete
  53. Niš to varna and tirana could be winner.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

EX-YU Aviation News does not tolerate insults, excessive swearing, racist, homophobic or any other chauvinist remarks or provocative posts with the intention of creating further arguments. A full list of comment guidelines can be found here. Thank you for your cooperation.