Air Serbia plans further route resumptions


Air Serbia has tentatively scheduled the resumption of flights to three destinations it has not served since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in March of last year. The airline recently put on sale flights from Belgrade to Madrid, Tel Aviv and Venice. Services are scheduled to resume from the start of the winter season on October 31, although changes remain likely. At this point, the Serbian carrier plans to run two weekly flights on each route. This is compared to five weekly rotations to Tel Aviv and three to Venice in the winter months leading up to the start of Covid-19, while the published frequencies to Madrid remain at pre-pandemic levels.

On the other hand, the airline is yet to put tickets on sale for flights from Belgrade to both Geneva and Rostov-on-Don for the upcoming winter. Services to Geneva were launched last summer season and compete directly against easyJet. The route is maintained as a year-round service. Flights to Rostov were launched this June, and the airline has said it is pleased with its performance, with a high volume of transfer traffic recorded so far. “Great demand and passenger load factor on the new route [Rostov-on-Don] showed us that it was a good business decision. We will continue to monitor demand and adapt to the circumstances on the market quickly”, the airline’s General Manager for Commercial and Strategy, Jiri Marek, said late last month.

Air Serbia will continue to grow its frequencies and capacity in the coming month with the airline to operate 2.330 flights (return service included) in August, up 5.6% on July. This does not include the carrier’s charter network, which is at record levels this year. It will have 281.798 seats on sale within its scheduled network next month, up 4.6% on July. The largest volume of flights will be operated to Tivat, followed by Podgorica, Paris, Zurich and Tirana, while similarly, the largest number of seats will be made available to Tivat, Podgorica, Paris, Zurich, Moscow and New York.



Comments

  1. Anonymous09:01

    I don't understand why they have not restored Madrid so far? Spain is open and they are already flying to Barcelona.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:02

      With what equipment? Fleet is operating at full capacity. Between MAD and BCN it was more logical to resume BCN in the summer.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:23

      My conclusion is that Air Serbia was completely unprepared for the return in demand this summer. They didn't have their fleet ready and did not find alternatives for the aircraft they retired.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:24

      That's true. Thankfully they just returned an ATR back to fleet which hasn't been in operation since December.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:29

      Which one?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:31

      YU-ALT

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:33

      Thanks. How many aircraft are now in operation? Is the fleet being fully utilized?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:35

      18 planes now in use. 10 A319, 1 A320, 1 A330, 5 ATR72s and 1 B737

      Delete
    8. Anonymous09:35

      There is only one aircraft that is not operative and that is A319 YU-API which hasn't flown in almost 9 months.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous09:55

      They desperately need more ATRs in general. It's an aircraft that does well for them.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous09:56

      Re MAD/BCN discussion, it is also important to note that they have competition on BCN route from Vueling while on Madrid route they don't. So it would not be smart to leave the market to the competition and not resume flights.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous11:37

      I thought they retired all of the Boeings?
      And why isn't the A319 (YU-API) flying?
      Thanks.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous11:39

      It is the B737-700 leased from Smartwings
      https://www.exyuaviation.com/2021/06/air-serbia-eyes-smartwings-jet-wet-lease.html

      Delete
    13. Anonymous11:51

      Ahhhhh .... ok.
      Thanks.

      Delete
    14. Anonymous12:05

      Thanks.

      Delete
    15. Anonymous16:30

      There is a reason why they have more competition to BCN, it's because it's a much larger market. I am almost certain that Wizz Air will introduce BCN next year so it's good JU stayed present on this market this year. They need some cheap brand publicity since they don't invest in marketing.

      Delete
    16. Anonymous18:25

      It has nothing to do with a larger market but with Vueling having a base in BCN.

      Madrid was performing better than Barcelona prior to the pandemic.

      Delete
    17. Anonymous18:32

      Your last sentence is not true. Highlighted by the fact that they had more weekly fights to Barcelona.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:03

    Until when do they have the Smartwings 737?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:04

      It was written here until the end of September.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:03

    Considering all the Israeli carriers have resumed BEG, it would be time for them to return there.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous09:04

    I hope GCA and ROV will be staying in the network this winter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:07

      ^ GVA you mean?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:09

      Yes, sorry mistyped.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:10

      I'm sure they will. They haven't finalized the winter network yet. As we have seen with Ryanair that just this week put tickets on sale for many routes for the winter.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:12

      I wouldn't be surprised if easyJet outperformed them on the Geneva route and it becomes seasonal.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:14

      Neither would I. JU does not deal well with the competition and on this route there really is no need to fly with JU unless you are transferring somewhere via BEG. You are flying from the same airport, the service is more or less the same and the prices on easyjet are much cheaper.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:36

      +1 last anon

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:36

      How many flights does JU have to Geneva and how many easyjet?

      Delete
    8. Anonymous09:42

      JU has just two flights per week and easyjet had 4. So choosing easyjet is a non brainer.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous09:43

      Yep seems like they are being well and truly outperformed by easy. This winter easy will keep 4 weekly on this route and have 6 weekly from the end of November. Meanwhile Air Serbia hasn't even put tickets on sale.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous09:46

      Not a good sign. Looks like it will become a seasonal route for Air Serbia.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous09:49

      It's not uncommon for Air Serbia to do that with new routes. Operate first year year-round because they get an incentive from the new airport they are operating to and then turn it seasonal the next.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous09:54

      Didn't they only start Geneva when it looked as if easyjet would not come back?

      Delete
    13. Anonymous09:55

      Yes. They planned to start it first in 2018, started ticket sales and then cancelled it. Then they randomly announced it last summer when it looked as if EasyJet would discontinue the route. Same was done with Oslo. They started when it looked like Norwegian would not come back, but they eventually did.

      Delete
    14. Anonymous09:57

      Yup, they did last Anon. They thought the same for DY and OSL. However DY is much easier to beat than easyJet which has a strong brand and active marketing, two things JU doesn't have. I wouldn't be surprised if GVA becomes seasonal. Of course for us passengers it's always better to have competition.

      Delete
    15. Anonymous10:00

      The difference being that they are performing really well in Oslo and they are constantly increasing it. It's now at 4 weekly. Norway has now also lifted quarantined requirements for Serbian citizens (this is for non-residents, they actually had to go to hotel quarantine!)

      Delete
    16. Anonymous15:26

      People always complane how AirSerbia is expensive, but my experience is different. So, would anyone give some comparison on Genève route?

      Delete
    17. Anonymous10:06

      Air Serbia has better slots than EasyJet on the Geneva route for diaspora wanting the travel to BEG for the weekend. There is a Friday evening outbound from Geneva and a Monday early morning inbound, so no need to take time off work. If you book a few weeks in advance prices were on par with EasyJet, taking into account that EasyJet now charges for all but the smallest carry-on bags. In-flight drinks and snacks are way cheaper on Air Serbia as well. Another advantage of Air Serbia is seat comfort and space. I don't get how EasyJet out performed them on this route. I fly the route at least twice a month. Really disappointed that Air Serbia seems to be suspending it.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:05

    How many routes does Air Serbia currently have?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:06

      I think it is 40 now.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:08

      Not bad at all

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:05

    Will Kraljevo-Vienna finally come back in winter?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:06

      They don't have any flights on sale between Kraljevo and Vienna in winter.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:09

      That's a shame. Their network from Nis is also woeful. In winter they basically will have 2 routes.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:37

      Let's wait and see. Remember Kraljevo-Thessaloniki was only announced a month before it started.

      Delete
    4. I read yesterday that a group of civil society in Nis complained that JU is not fulfilling its contract on the tender that they won for INI flights. If they got 2.5 million euro for that tender then that would be enough to lease an entire airplane bre!

      Delete
    5. JATBEGMEL13:49

      No surprise that routes out of INI are failing. 0 thought was put into choosing the destinations.

      @ 10,04

      YU-APK joined the fleet when JU 'won' the tender.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous16:32

      Air Serbia is pretty retarded at times. In stead of flying half empty to HHN they should have put a greater focus on charters. Barcino flights to AYT are sold out. What's crazy is that JU blocked Egyptians from flying to INI yet they are ignoring this market.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:06

    And still no Cairo :( makes no sense to me

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:08

      To me neither. Cairo is popular with tourists and they could get transfer passengers too. Plus Egypt is open to the entire world.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:11

      It has been discussed before. It's a long rotation and many Egyptians can't enter anywhere in Europe so it makes transfers less likely.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:13

      Hope it eventually returns to the network.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:37

      Cairo will come back sooner or later. It hasn't been discontinued.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:41

      Fingers crossed. Hoping to go there in November :D

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:58

      BEG should work on bringing MS, their A220 would be perfect for BEG.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous12:01

      MS?

      Delete
    8. Anonymous12:21

      Egyptair. They call their county Misr down there.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous17:48

      ^Misr Um al Duniya = Egypt is the mother of the world !
      Misr = Egypt
      Um = mother
      Duniya = world
      The only arab sentence i know
      :D

      Delete
    10. Anonymous19:26

      Interesting, thanks.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous11:00

      CAI is being sold for Winter 2021. Tuesday, Friday and Sunday from Belgrade; Monday, Wednesday and Saturday from Cairo. However there has been no official announcement that they are resuming CAI.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous11:06

      Not on their website.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:11

    The amount of charters they are operating at the moment is crazy and from what I've heard all these flights are packed to the last seat.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:16

      Today alone they have 16 charters, which on a Wednesday which is the slowest day is pretty amazing.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:16

      And 7 of them are to Hurghada!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:22

      There would be even more flights to Hurghada if Air Serbia had the capacity. But they didn't and they told tour agents who requested more flights that they don't.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:24

      Crazy. They should have wet leased another plane. This is easy money.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:25

      Imagine had they not leased the 737 from Smartwings.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:27

      Antalya also has a lot of flights.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:30

      Hurghada has several daily flights each day. On Sunday they had 9 flights.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous09:33

      They didn't have to lease an extra plane. They have A319 YU-API which has been sitting at the hangar since November 2020.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous09:38

      What's wrong with it? Stored or mechanical issue?

      Delete
    10. Anonymous09:40

      I think it is just stored.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous09:46

      I highly doubt they just stored it. There must be some issue with it. Why would they not bring it out of storage instead of leasing a Smartwings plane? Does not make sense.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous09:59

      Would be interesting to know if they are still paying the lease for that AC that is parked for 9 months!? Seems very similar to the story we had in the past with ANH ... that one became a donor plane and never flew again after it entered the hangar.

      Delete
    13. Anonymous10:00

      YU-API is in long-term storage so it would cost a lot to make it operational again. The plane was not in the best shape to start with. They should have leased capacity from elsewhere even on a short term basis (two months). There is enough demand in charters to justify it.

      Delete
    14. Anonymous10:02

      YU-API is returned to leasor and waiting for new company, stored

      Delete
    15. Anonymous10:04

      I do believe YU-API is a power by the hour lease so if they keep it on the ground they don't pay for its use.

      Delete
    16. Anonymous10:20

      And then you read here how JU gave up on Greece because of competition. Lol yeah, especially now that Ellinair is out. JU just moved to more lucrative charter markets (lucrative = safe and reliable, since Greece may ban Serbian citizen at any point like it did last year). Wizz isn't doing that well on their flights to Santorini - lots of available seats for August, the peak month.

      Delete
    17. Anonymous16:34

      JU didn't give up on Greece, it was pushed out of Crete. Big difference.
      Aegean and Wizz Air are making a killing on HER-BEG.

      As for Wizz Air to Santorini, don't forget that the route was upgraded to A321 just last month. So far this month average LF to Santorini is 82% from what I was told.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:12

    Will there be any new routes this winter?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:24

      Currently none but who knows.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:00

      GVA will be replaced by LYS.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:13

      LYS? Are you sure?

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:14

    wow Tirana now in top 5 in terms of frequnecies.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:25

      It's quite popular this summer. And Albania has absolutely no entry requirements.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:27

      It's in the top 5 in terms of frequencies but capacity wise no. I'm assuming most flights are with the ATR?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:39

      This week 7 flights are operated with ATR, 3 with A319 and 1 with 737-700.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:03

      Nice to see they are also operating jet engine aircraft on this route. Demand must be good.

      Delete
    5. JATBEGMEL13:55

      It would be nice to see TIA finally get upgraded to the A319 permanently, at least the midday departures.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:28

    Good news!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous09:28

    When will Italy lift the ridiculous entry ban?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:40

      Doubt before next summer.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:31

    This is a good sign because these three were not on sale until recently.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous09:33

    Still no news about resumption of city JU served three decades ago? YYZ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:40

      Next summer, best case scenario.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:18

      When would tickets go on sale?
      (not to mention with what plane).

      Delete
    3. JATBEGMEL13:58

      Would be nice for at least Christmas charters twice a week to test the route, since they have the capacity to do so. Problem perhaps will be staff, as they will need to hire crew.

      It could push their cause with the Canadian authorities for additional frequencies if the route does well.

      Delete
    4. Balkanunion16:45

      Good idea.
      My friends from Toronto tell me that 4x weekly in summer, and 2x weekly in winter would definitely work. Plus all the ex-yugo transfers.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:46

    How come that nobody is mentioning the latest happenings at JAT Tehnika and how it can potentially influence the operations of Air Serbia? I think some planes are to enter scheduled maintenance at end of the summer and that was done at JAT tehnika but now they lost their EASA license so who will be doing the heavy maintenance and at what cost?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:47

      Jat Tehnika will get their EASA license back next month.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:20

      They don't need EASA approval to perform maintenance on Air Serbia fleet, as aircraft are registered in Serbia.

      Delete
    3. JATBEGMEL15:22

      @ 12,20

      That is not how it works. Regardless of where the aircraft is registered, the airline still has to follow the regulations of the country they fly to or risk being black listed.

      Besides, it leaves a bad reputation to the airline using maintenance companies that don't conform to international safety standards.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:15

      The earliest Air Serbia plane is scheduled in late September, they will get things sorted by then. Getting certificate frozen temporarily is not uncommon, especially outside EU where thy are very strict with rules

      Delete
  16. Anonymous11:06

    Good decision, although Venice seems like an odd route to bring back considering the travel restrictions and winter period.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:19

      What about Rome and Milano first.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:21

      Rome and Milan have been in operations for months now.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:32

      True. Didn't have my morning kafa yet.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous11:35

    Nice news but I am wondering why didn’t JU expand their network in other cities such as Tuzla, Mostar, Nis, Kraljevo, Cluj-Napoca or even Pristina in order to attract more transit passengers via BEG.
    To operate these flights, adding 2/3 ATR would be ideal.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:59

      For many of these destinations a 30 seater would work.
      Like uncle Rodney mentioned in the past.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:15

      @11:35
      What do you mean by 2/3 of an ATR? JU needs 2-3 small aircraft for this kind of regional network.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:56

      Ok, then tell me which 30-seat aircraft exist ? I don’t think it exists anymore

      Delete
    4. Anonymous19:54

      Saab 340

      Delete
    5. Anonymous22:03

      Does Adria still have those Saabs lying around?
      Maybe JU can grab a few on the cheap.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous22:35

      Stay far away from these Saabs that Adria had.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous23:00

      Smaller regional cities that can be served from BEG with the Saab 340 are:

      Mostar
      Tuzla

      Osijek
      Zadar
      Rijeka

      Varna
      Burgas

      Cluj-Napoca
      Craiova
      Timișoara

      Szeged

      Kraljevo
      Niš

      Delete
    8. Anonymous09:07

      Would be nice.

      Delete
    9. Noone has ever had success with 30 seater props unless the routes are heavily subsidized or part of much larger network. None of which would be the case for any cities mentioned above. ATR 72-600 would be the only way to go. Low operating cost and can cover anything within one hour range from Belgrade.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous11:56

    Any word on MSQ?
    It was mentioned here as a possibility a few weeks ago.
    I know the EU wouldn't look kindly on that, but I think it would work considering Belavia is banned.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous12:06

    No demand from and to KBP? Windrose will be flying 2 weekly in winter and SkyUp gave up very quickly. What about JU?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:10

      Would be nice to see KBP back in JUs rotation.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:56

      That or LWO/KIV.

      Delete
    3. What about BEG-KIEV?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous18:09

      If they return to Kiev they should fly to IEV instead of KBP.

      It's much closer to the city center and more competitive.

      They should have used the void left by Belavia and opened Minsk as well as Kiev.

      Delete
    5. They may have been "surprised" by the surge in demand, but it is still better to be cautious and remain conservative. If anything has been proven, it is that we have no idea what is yet to come. When this Covid ordeal ends, sadly there will still be planty of unused planes to lease, numerous airlines are shrinking and will not be returning to pre covid operations.

      Delete
  20. Hope, Air Serbia wil have three more aircrafts up to therty seat in fleet. And one or two Tprop aircraft for cargo traffic. Connection to regionals city's like Nis, Mostar, Kraljevo, Banja Luka, Cluz, Osjek, Ohrid, Tuzla, Kukesh, Temisoara... and Trebinje and Saranda when come to be ready for trafic. Balkans world is in change. Regional service have to be too.
    Tim will tell.
    Rod.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Hope, Air Serbia will have three more aircrafts up to therty seat in fleet. And one or two Tprop aircraft for cargo traffic. Connection to regionals city's like Nis, Mostar, Kraljevo, Banja Luka, Cluz, Osjek, Ohrid, Tuzla, Kukesh, Temisoara... and Trebinje and Saranda when come to be ready for trafic. Balkans world is in change. Regional service have to be too.
    Time will tell.
    Rod.

    ReplyDelete

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