India’s SpiceJet launches Belgrade charters


Indian low cost carrier SpiceJet will begin a series of charter flights from New Delhi to Belgrade, which are planned to operate throughout July. Services are being maintained with the Boeing 737-800 aircraft with flights alternating via either Yerevan in Armenia or Tbilisi in Georgia, catering for Indian travellers heading to the Serbian capital to undergo quarantine before being able to continue their onward journeys. Indian expatriates residing in the United Arab Emirates, United States, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and several others have been stranded in India for months as countries around the world have either banned flights or arrivals from the subcontinent in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, Serbia, which is the only country in Europe not to require visas for Indian nationals, has become a popular quarantine location.

According to Indian tour operators who are selling three, fourteen and 22-day quarantine packages in Serbia, over 1.000 Indian nationals have already visited the country. Carriers operating to Belgrade have also benefited from the surge of arrivals from the subcontinent, primarily Qatar Airways, Lufthansa, Flydubai and Turkish Airlines, resulting in all of them to either increase frequencies or capacity in response to the sudden surge in demand. On select flights from Belgrade, airlines are recording over 60% occupancy by Indian passport holders. The SpiceJet flights will be primarily used by Indian expatriates from the United Arab Emirates. The UAE has suspended inbound travellers from India and other South Asian countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka since April 24. Thousands of desperate travellers have chosen to return to the UAE by quarantining themselves for fourteen days in Serbia.

Outside the Covid era, India and Serbia have seen growing demand for air travel. The subcontinent was Serbia’s sixth busiest long haul market in 2019. New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad were the largest sources of traffic between the two nations, with Delhi and Mumbai themselves accounting for 67% of all passengers between the two countries. Qatar Airways was the most popular transfer airline, handling 30% of the traffic. It was followed by Etihad Airways and Aeroflot. Serbia and India revised their Air Service Agreement in March 2017. Under the deal, Indian carriers can operate flights from any city in the country to any point in Serbia, while Serbian carriers can fly from any city in Serbia to four metropolitan cities in India, including New Delhi, Mumbai and two other points which would be specified at a later date. The last time Belgrade was linked with flights to India was just prior to the collapse of the former Yugoslavia when JAT Yugoslav Airlines maintained services to Calcutta.



Comments

  1. Anonymous09:01

    This is weirdest thing ever

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I stayed in the hotel Jugoslavija last week and there was a whole bunch of them. They were the only guests that wore masks. BTW - never staying at that hotel again, it really needs renovations in the guest rooms and ESPECIALLY bathrooms.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous07:36

      I didn't know it was open. Before the global crisis it was almost bought by Kempinski. Crisis started and they gave up. I think they are just waiting for new owners.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:04

    Non stop would have been more fun :D

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  3. Anonymous09:04

    That explains why there are more Indians on the street than locals.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:44

      Just passed in front of the Tesla museum and there were at least 20 of them.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:42

      We can't even sell Tesla properly. I brought few Chinese friends from NY to visit Tesla museum. That's what they wanted to see first. The British a selling Wax museum !!- imagine Wax museum. And we cant even sell the biggest inventor in the history of civilization. It should be line up at the entrance of museum that goes all the way to Slavija.
      The second thing they wanted to taste was Cevapi. I am amazed that whole ex-YU can not sell Cevapi like Italians sold Pizza to the world.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous18:51

      Tesla museum is moving to the termoelektrana in Dorcol. Once that happens it will be one of the best museums in the Balkans.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous19:48

      Awesome! 18:51

      Delete
    5. Anonymous07:38

      Here you can see some pics of the render:

      https://www.telegraf.rs/english/3242655-dfc-interested-in-giving-new-power-to-old-power-plant-this-is-what-tesla-museum-could-look-like

      Delete
    6. Anonymous20:42

      How yes no :( That render is a student thesis of Andrej Misic from 2015, so purely a fantasy, sadly: https://divisare.com/projects/367485-andrej-misic-institute-museum-nikola-tesla
      In fact, most of the area shown is unfortunately already sold to investors for the "Belgrade marina" and there is no way a park can be developed on that property despite all the spinning of Dr. Vesic-Minhausen: https://beobuild.rs/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=4729&sid=601de7efef28a57010f236cad9b26963&start=300

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:04

    It is amazing how this Covid crisis has impacted passenger flow.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:13

      BEG seems to have had a few of these so called balloons. First with Israeli passengers in September last year when there were up to seven daily flights to Tel Aviv, now with Indian passengers.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:19

      Luckily Israelis are making a comeback with both Israir and Arkia resuming flights, first 3 times per week and the second 2.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:05

    Weren't there talks a couple of year ago about nonstop flights between India and Serbia. I remember Indigo was involved.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:06

      Yes. Even Brnabic was involved.

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    2. Anonymous09:07

      What happened with that?

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    3. Anonymous09:10

      Well obviously nothing...

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:10

      The outcome was Spicejet starting flights :P

      Delete
    5. JATBEGMEL15:23

      Initially it was Indigo seeking to partner with JU before announcing they intend to do it themselves.

      As mentioned above, nothing has come of it.

      Unfortunately JU doesn't work adequately with tourist agencies. Wasted potential.

      Delete
    6. Well, not so sure few Spicejet charters for corona are exactly what was hoped and negotiated for, but generally, my hat down for BEG taking any opportunity to get more traffic and do good business. JAT, 35 years ago, spotted opportunities in huge markets of China and India and commenced flights to both. And all ex-yu carriers are not aware, or are not allowed, to take advantages of these lucrative markets

      Delete
    7. And once again we are on the same page @JATBEGMEL, even same time ☺

      Delete
    8. JATBEGMEL15:53

      @ pozdrav iz Rijeke

      Haha as usual ��

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:05

    Smart move by Serbia. They still require PCR to enter so there is minimal risk of infection and like this you boost your local economy especially the hotel industry which has been struggling.
    Tourism numbers from India have been on the rise for a while now. Shame someone like Air India didn't go for this market since their B788 would be perfect.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:07

      These people from India take more precaution than others. They have to have PCR test on arrival and then they go to do another for their onward journey. I also noticed most wear two masks on the street. Anyway the delta variant arrived in Serbia from two young Serbian passengers arriving from Moscow.

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    2. Anonymous11:18

      Yeah and because of this we with the serbian passport entering Serbia with the aircraft need aswel PCR test

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    3. Anonymous11:31

      Not if you are vaccinated

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    4. Anonymous11:32

      Exactly, vaccinated Serbs enter without any restrictions

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:08

    How often will these flights operate?

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:09

      From what I've seen sometime they operate day after day for three days then a couple of days apart. It's not a set schedule

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:12

    Like I wrote here a few days ago my Lufthansa flight from Belgrade to Frankfurt the other day was mostly passengers from India. Business class was all Indians and economy over 80%. Considering the list of connecting routes they read out on the plane it was all to Canada plus Houston. The plane from BEG was an A321.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous09:12

    So now we know why QR sent A350 recently and is back to daily flights.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:16

      Good for them to respond quickly to changing market conditions.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:15

    Belgrade, Yerevan, Tbilisi, Addis Ababa and Mexico City are now main transfer points for Indians to reach any place in the world.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous09:19

    This will the most exotic flights to Belgrade in addition to regular Conviasa A340 flights :D

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous09:20

    This is really cool. I wonder if they are staying in hotels or if they are renting flats.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:26

      Hotels. I saw a few ads popup on linkedin and it is mostly 3 and 4 star hotels that they are offering.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:42

    How long does the flight take from Delhi to Yerevan and then from Yerevan to Belgrade?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:20

      I think about 7-8 hours from Delhi since they can't overfly Pakistan.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:00

      You mean Delhi-Belgrade nonstop? Or Delhi-Yerevan?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:33

      To Yerevan. To Belgrade via Pakistan would be around 07 hours and 20 minutes

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:35

      And the 737 can make such a long journey?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:44

      Yes with some weight restrictions, probably not more than 130 passengers onboard.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:47

    That must be one uncomfortable ride.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Transavia is flying 737-800 from AMS to Dubai and Caboverde, 6-7 hours flights. No one complaints.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous10:21

    Very good addition for Belgrade. With Indian numbers on the rise hopefully someone like Indigo, Air India or Vistara takes a closer look at flying to Belgrade once covid is gone.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:00

      Agree. It could actually result in someone taking a closer look and studying the destination.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous10:25

    I can't wait to see how BEG performs because number of daily departures has grown over the last couple of weeks. This is great news because it means the airport will get more busy, will hire more workers and will make money. This is welcome news at a time when many airports around the world are recording massive losses.

    Sunday 76
    Monday 87

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And have Corona cases on the rise. Canada stop all incoming flight from India. I wonder why?

      Delete
  17. Anonymous10:59

    So random haha

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous14:21

    I'm surprised Aeroflot used to have transfers from India to Serbia. Interesting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:56

      Technically from DEL since they only fly there.

      Delete
    2. Why would it be interesting? It's one of the options. Very often the most convenient and very affordable one. I personally flew from ZAG to DEL and back from BOM to ZAG on SU via SVO few years ago

      Delete
    3. Anonymous07:39

      I think people forget SU is a global airline these days operating a brand new fleet. Some still think they fly around with Il-86 and Tu-154 and being nicknamed the flying gulag.

      Delete
  19. Keep em coming. Serbia needs tourists and business revenue.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous21:34

    A evo ga stize i prvi carter let iz Delhija za Beograd preko Jerevana. ��
    SG9023, stize u 00.05!

    ReplyDelete
  21. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous22:15

    14days of quarantine in Belgrade actually means: walking around without any test taken upon arrival to Belgrade, sightseeing, eating in restaurants, shopping.. it's unbelievable what our government allows.. bastards!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous00:12

      For a disease that barely kills no-one and is mostly a hoax?

      Seems reasonable to me.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous00:43

      Thats not tue!
      Dont spread lies.
      Tests are taken upon arrival.

      Delete
    3. I was in BEG enroute to ME and spent 15 nights. It's was a fabulous time for me and hospitality was excellent. I spent more than 0.5million RSD on my trip and sure must have helped BEG economy. Now let me tell you I was by far the most careful and covid-appropriate behavior person. Most on the street seem to be covidiots in front of me. Now tell me who is wrong -- your government or your puny brain.

      Delete
  23. please help for how to book flight from Delhi or Mumbai to Yerevan. flights goes daily but no body knows how to book. even Spicejet pass me to charter department. please help to find the travel agency who sell this route flight

    ReplyDelete
  24. Can I get some content number to buy that flight

    ReplyDelete

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