Low cost carrier Wizz Air has announced the addition of four new routes from Belgrade. The carrier will be introducing flights from the Serbian capital to Hahn, Billund, Barcelona and Vaxjo. Flights will be added progressively between December 16 and December 19. Services to Barcelona and Vaxjo in Sweden will run twice per week, while Hahn and Billund will be operated three times per week. The airline has already added five routes out of Belgrade so far this year, including Hamburg, Sandefjord, Abu Dhabi, Santorini and Heraklion, with the latter two being maintained on a seasonal summer basis. The carrier has also upped its capacity by replacing its two Airbus A320s stationed in the Serbian capital with the larger A321s.
| Destination | Launch date |
|---|---|
| Hahn | 16.12.2021 |
| Billund | 17.12.2021 |
| Barcelona | 18.12.2021 |
| Vaxjo | 19.12.2021 |
Clink on link for details
Wizz Air faces no direct competition on any of its new routes, with exception
to Barcelona, where it will go head-to-head against Air Serbia during the
winter months, as well as Vueling over the summer. Furthermore,
it will indirectly compete against both Air Serbia and Lufthansa on the Hahn
service. Overall, the low cost airline plans to maintain twenty routes out of
Belgrade this coming winter season, once the new destinations are added to its
network in mid-December.
Commenting on the expansion, the airline said, “Belgrade has done well for us
and we try to do better for Belgrade as a result and bring new routes and more
capacity to the market. Belgrade has been operational for us through the
crisis and consumer uptake has been very strong. Even in very difficult
circumstances, consumers have been very loyal to Wizz Air and they appreciate
our service and decided to fly with us in these difficult times”. Wizz Air
launched operations to Serbia in 2010 and has since become the country's
largest low cost airline with a 50% market share, ahead of Ryanair and
easyJet. Overall, it is the second busiest airline in the country, behind Air
Serbia, with an 11% market share. In January 2020, the carrier handled its
five-million passenger from the country.
wow great news. Especially about Barcelona :)
ReplyDeleteBad for Air Serbia.
DeleteAnon 12.27, is this really necessary?!
DeleteWhat are your arguments this will be bed for AirSerbia or anyone else?! It can even be good for AirSerbia as it may boost the demenad and then some will certainly go to them, right? Do you know that wizz prices are not so low and that some might still chose competition?!
In my fling history, it has been proved many times that legacy carrier, including AirSerbia were cheaper then alternative low cost or a bit more expensive which was to compensate with much more convenient time.
So, please stop with this bullshit "bad for (whoever)" and neke some meaningful comments!
Actually whenever Air Serbia gets competition they decrease their prices and even get more succesful .
DeleteFinally some growth from Wizz in BEG.
ReplyDeleteThey added already 5 routes to BEG this year and with a total of 9. I wouldn't say they haven't been expanding.
DeleteWhat about Lisbon?
DeleteThey have grown plenty this year in BEG. Total of 9 new routes and two A320s replaced with A321s.
DeleteYet this is really bad news for Air Serbia.
DeleteDoes it mean they will base another plane in BEG?
ReplyDeleteYes
DeleteLet's see how Air Serbia performs to Barcelona now.
ReplyDeleteI think they will do just fine. They cooperate a lot with tour operators.
DeleteThey should have seen it coming since Wizz planned Barcelona in their cancelled expansion from last year.
DeleteIt will hurt more Vueling than Air Serbia.
DeleteI don't think anyone will be hurt. The market to Barcelona is big enough so I am sure there will be room for everyone.
DeleteWhy am I not surprised that Germany is again the most perspective market.
ReplyDeleteHuh? They added just one route to Germany.
DeleteI really hope Barcelona works out.
ReplyDeleteMe too. Hope they will add Madrid also and praying for some Canary Island... :)
DeleteCanary Islands are a risky endeavor for any airline operating in our part of Europe, its simply too far and requires a huge timeslot, comparable to flying the Gulf.
Delete20 year-round routes is a respectable network.
ReplyDeleteToo bad that Salzburg is not returned. Wizz started it last year but due restrictions cancelled
ReplyDeleteThey cancelled all their flights from Salzburg to ex-Yu, Tuzla and Skopje included.
DeleteI do not see why, there is a lot gastos, and also potential for tourism. Also I do not know why they do not introduce Vienna
DeleteI guess in Vienna it is about slots. They are going after more lucrative markets.
DeleteWell, wherever the market is low(er) yield, they just fly to Bratislava instead. Think of it as Flughafen Wien Ost... They're actually increasing frequencies from Skopje to Bratislava this winter to 3x per week.
DeleteIt would be great to destroy OS/JU duopoly
DeleteIf duopoly is something you want destroyed then destroying Wizz Tuzla MONOPOLY on all scheduled routes will get you really excited!
DeleteIf they base a third aircraft then I expect SZG will be back. Munch, Memmingen and Vienna are the closest airports with non stop flights to BEG and they are not that close.
DeleteMunch is the closest, a two hour drive.
Dear Nemjee, i live in Varazdin and with car i need at least four hours to reach Munich!
DeleteSo never in any world you can drive Beograd to Munich in two hours.
Im pretty sure he meant driving from Salzburg, not from Belgrade.
DeleteThat is correct Anon 21.36. I was referring to driving distance from Salzburg.
DeleteWhere is Vaxjo?
ReplyDeleteSouthern Sweden
DeleteIn Google
DeleteIs there a concretion of Serbs living there?
DeleteWhere? In Google?
Deletehahahaahahahha!!!
DeleteBillund Is a little bit surprise, since already flying to Malmö, and Hamburg is relatively close
ReplyDeleteAnd they are going to be flying 3x per week. Odd
DeleteExcellent news for Belgrade.
ReplyDeleteWhy no Lisbon :(( they announced it last year and then cancelled. The route has so much potential.
ReplyDeleteMaybe next summer.
DeleteI guess it's due to Portugal being very restrictive about the entry requirements. I wouldn't be surprised if they announced more destinations, but only for the next summer.
DeleteLet's just hope they actually launch these and not cancel the expansion. They have a reputation of doing that.
ReplyDeleteAs well COVID19 played a major role in these cancellations, you would be surprised....
DeleteThat's 10 new LCC routes this year from BEG. 9 by Wizz and 1 by Eurowings. Not bad for an airport with a good LCC presence already.
ReplyDeleteGood, especially in a year impacted by corona and travel restrictions.
DeleteBarcelona is at the biggest risk if we get some travel restrictions
ReplyDeleteI don't think Spain will be changing its entry policy. In fact, it is least likely out of all the EU members.
DeleteI don't think there will be a lot to worry about. Cyprus placed Serbia on its red list from today but the island is still fully open to the vaccinated passengers. If Spain changes something then I am sure they will implement the same model.
DeleteGasto routes
ReplyDeleteBCN gasto route?
DeleteBarcelona isn't a gasto route.
DeleteExcept Barcelona, yes
DeleteAnd?
DeleteWhy does it matter if it's gasto or not? It serves a particular market.
DeleteGood luck to them
ReplyDeletejust in time for Christmas :)
ReplyDeleteWizz Air just doesnt know how to pick the right routes out of Belgrade... This expansion will end in failure just as their prevous announcements. I mean, Billund and Vaxjo!? What were they thinking about? Serbia barely has diaspora in Denmark and its concentrated in Copenhagen. They plan to fly to BLL 3 times pw the same as to MMX. Good luck with that. Vaxjo also doesnt have that much diaspora to sustain these flights. GOT barely has 2 weekly flights and its one of their weakest routes for some time already. Hahn is a typical gasto route but they will have a lot of competition from Lufthansa and JU. They should have opted for Cologne which is unserved and has massive potential. BCN will come down to who is the cheapest and with their fares and luggage policy people will know doubt choose Air Serbia or Vueling which has improved their departure hours.
ReplyDeletePeople will choose Air Serbia to Barcelona which has similar luggage policy and is double the price? Don't think so.
DeleteAlso I wouldn't say their expansions have been failures considering they are flying to 20 cities.
DeleteWhen Wizz doesn't add new routes: They haven't expanded in so long! They are stagnating in BEG, we need new flights!!!
DeleteWhen Wizz adds new routes: What are these gasto flights?! They don't know how to pick the right routes!!
20 cities isnt that much considering how long they are present on the Serbian market. Look at Tirana and Sarajevo for example. They are much newer bases but have similar or even more routes. And its not about gasto routes. Its about the fact that they open diaspora destinations that have minimal potentional and end up closing them within a year.
DeleteWhat destinations do you suggest? If even diaspora destinations have minimal potential nowadays, which destinations can actually have potential?
Delete@Anonymous 13:21
DeleteYes, it is much enough. Unlike SKP, SJJ, TIA, TZL, ZAG, ZAD... in BEG none of LCCs does not enjoy any incentive scheme, so there is no massive flights to wherever...
On the other hand, what is the problem if some or all routes from any airport is gasto routes? Look at PRN! Do they complain about "10" flights to ZRH a day?
good mix of destinations
ReplyDeleteMore than unreasonable. What kind of success do they predict? Borders of EU will be closed.
ReplyDeleteWow why are you worrying so much? Are you paying for these flights?
DeleteMost EU borders are partially closed but flights still operate. For example, there are 3 airlines flying between Oslo and Belgrade despite Norway officially having the strictest entry policy for third countries in all of Europe. It is followed by Poland.
DeleteDidn't expect BEG-VXO. It seems that they are entering Plovdiv for the very first time and compete with FR on the London route. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteWith what planes?
ReplyDeleteThey have 2 A321s in BEG and they will probably base a third aircraft since all these new routes seem to be operated by A320.
DeleteWizz fleet is a mess. They are wetleasing planes from others or cancelling routes all over the place. Many complaints on social media about bad experience from Wizz. Consumers are not loyal as Wizz is saying. Many travelling to London or Paris switched from Wizz to Air France or Air Serbia as Wizz prices are similar but to distant airports. Don't expect some of those announced routes to materialize.
DeleteNot here to defend Wizz, but I'd rather have my flight operated by a wet-lease company, than being canceled. They had to wet-lease 10 aircraft for that reason, and that doesn't come cheap.
DeleteThis is fantastic news
ReplyDeleteNot so much for JU though. :D
DeleteJU will be fine
DeleteAir Serbia has nice codeshare with Air Europa out of Barcelona to Madrid and Palma de Mallorca. Wizz doesn't even have transfers to own flights LOL.
DeleteWell both airlines manage to coexist on BEG-LCA. Even though I am happy JU survived on this market, I am equally happy that Wizz Air is sticking around.
DeleteW6 really brought down the average fare. Before Wizz Air entered this market, JU used to charge €340 for a return fare! Now you can fly with JU for as little as €120.
Lower fares have stimulated demand which in its own turn enabled for the market to grow and expand.
Tickets are already in system
ReplyDeleteThese are good ones .
ReplyDeleteBut i hope others like Charleroi, Friedrichshafen, Cologne and Lisbon resume next summer too.
+1
DeleteI think we'll see another round of expansion next summer.
DeleteFingers crossed
DeleteThey will also launch HAM-BNX.
ReplyDelete^ Yes, on the 17th of december .
DeleteFantastic !
Interesting that BEG-HHN will leave he same time as JU's and LH's morning FRA.
ReplyDeleteBring it on Wizz Air!
What about Vizer in Kraljevo? KVO-MMX, KVO-CRL, KVO-FMM??
ReplyDeleteNot until the runway expansion project is completed. A320 can't land there.
DeleteYes it can. Like in Cluj-Napoca, runaway is just 2040m and Wizz is in a regular operations. Or Florence with just 1560m runaway, there is landing 319.
DeleteKVO have a 2265m runaway. So, it's just about AirSerbia subs by taxpayers. End of story.
Stvar je nosivosti piste a ne duzine i sirine
DeleteI still feel Lisbon, Turku, Kutaisi & Krakow (once Polish restrictions ease up) amongst others would be good picks for Wizz Air.
ReplyDeleteKutaisi?
DeleteYep, Wizz flies there already from a number of airports & Serbia is missing a Caucasus connection. AirSerbia is clearly nowhere near opening Tbilisi so it could be a great alternative.
DeleteFrom a number of diaspora destinations that is.
DeleteWizz is not able to operate flights to NON-EU countries from NON-EU contries.
DeleteMakes me wonder if they will bring a third plane to BEG, an A320, with which they will launch these routes and then in a few months from today announce more destinations that will operate from summer 2022.
ReplyDeleteAll the routes they announced today either have modest demand or competition so using a smaller plane makes sense. Who knows, since Heraklion and Santorini proved to be successes maybe next year we will see them introduce destinations such as Athens, Rhodes and so on.
This is definitely a message to JU and others that Wizz Air isn't backing down from BEG. Hopefully Air Serbia and others respond to this.
Btw it's interesting that Hahn is just 118 km from Luxembourg. Hopefully this route does not affect Luxair ... though from what I've see they are not cheap.
Wizzair does not care about Air Serbia and they even did not care much about Belgrade.
DeleteBut they care about Ryanair and if they dont be more assertive in Belgrade in shortest of time Ryanair will take Belgrade from them in front of their eyes .
I think Wizz Air is the kind of airline that cares about every kind of competitor, both strong and weak. They might not be afraid of JU but I am certain they notice what they do and they pay close attention to where they are expanding to.
DeleteI think BEG does pretty well for them despite having so much competition. Naturally as long as they are keeping BEG management satisfied they will not go looking to make a deal with FR.
Wizz Air might not like JU but I am sure they are happy they have them to deal with in BEG rather than FR. I think Ryanair knows that the market is too crowded in Belgrade right now. On top of that, foreign airlines keep on adding more and more flights meaning airport management isn't too desperate to strike a deal with FR.
Air Serbia is making BEG happy. Wizz Air is making BEG happy. Foreign carriers are making BEG happy ... so FR doesn't have a good bargaining positions ... at least not right now.
You touched a very important point i think.
DeleteBelgrade airport management is happy if they dont have to give subsidies to airlines.
Wizzair and Ryanair will get no cent and thats good!
Still if Belgrade gets crowded it will get even more so in some years .
I pity the greedy Ryanair which has to have a base at the much smaller Zagreb while Belgrade is whiggling its booty straight next door ..
Well, BEG gives subsidies in the form of discount based on total volume of pax by a given airline plus for transfer pax. Their tariff is online, so everybody can check.
DeleteBut a discount is not a subsidy ..
DeleteI also heard that BEG provides discounts for newly launched routes and I am sure Wizz Air got them for these ones, just like I am sure Luxair got them as well. This is a normal practice all over the world. I remember some years ago, Oslo was trying to attract cargo flights so they were offering no charges for the first 3 years!
DeleteI don't think any airport in the world is happy to give discounts. However they do it because they have to as was the case with FR in ZAG or with W6/FR in BUD after MA.
Personally, I think BEG's offer isn't all that bad. Sure it could be better but what matters is that things are slowly improving. We have JFK which has survived and developed quite nicely, we have JU expanding into places no LCC could due to low O&D demand (KRR, ROV, FLR before covid and so on), they also have a good regional network which helps. Also many airlines from the region have a decent presence at BEG (Tarom, Aegean, Turkish Airlines, Pegasus and almost LOT from BUD). There is no JU protectionism from BEG so airlines from the EU keep on expanding as we've seen with KLM and Luxair this year.
I think 2022 will be even better and I expect another round of expansion from Wizz Air. Hopefully JU expands its fleet so that they could keep up with their competition.
If Wizz adds the destinations they intended to launch last year their presence in the Belgrade market will be secured whatever may come.
DeleteAnd discount is money you earn back after some years while a subsidy is burnt money that is lost forever.
So there is nothing bad with discounts!
Indeed, discounts exist everywhere and they are a regular practice. I guess now we just have to sit and wait for Wizz Air's next move and how others will respond to that.
DeleteI am curious to see if LH will react in any way to their HHN flights. Maybe we finally get a third daily from FRA even if it is on a CRJ.
I doubt JU will respond to this.
No ASL protectionism, Nemjee?? What is your explanation blocking the Russian carriers and Turkish Airlines a couple of years ago? Please, save us your continuous, non-biased theories and oh, LCA is the centre of the universe.
DeleteHey Anon 09.08, I actually started to miss you and your hysteria! :)
DeleteIf you bothered to read my comment more carefully then you would see that I wrote that there is no protectionism from BEG. Russian and Turkish carriers were not blocked by BEG (code for Belgrade airport) but rather by the Serbian civil aviation directorate, that is a government institution. There is a clear difference between the two.
In simpler terms, BEG, that is the airport, is not protecting JU in any way and they are actually continuously working on bringing new business even if it creates additional competition for their biggest customer - Air Serbia.
Do you see the difference between the two or do you want me to put it in even simpler terms?
Cyprus is a pretty cool place, you should definitely check it out... leave your basement once in a while. :)
From the 4 new destinations, only 1 of them is primary sadly and no LIS, TLV or PRG for instance. Hahn, Billund and the Swedish village of Vaxjo are definitely gasto routes although I have my doubts about Barcelona as well as it home to a large and growing Slavic diaspora especially from Ukraine. But yeah, obviously there is more gasto demand, no problem.
ReplyDeleteTel Aviv can't be operated by a non-Serbian or non-Israeli registered airline. I don't see what Ukrainian diaspora in Barcelona has to do with their Barcelona-Belgrade route.
DeleteWhy are people obsessed with gasto routes? Airlines fly where people want to go. Simple as that. Wizz Air flies to several non-gasto routes such as Larnaca, Santorini and Heraklion. I suppose Malta qualifies as a gasto route at this point.
DeleteDon't forget that a vast majority of Serbs goes on holidays via tour operators. Until that changes don't expect many scheduled flights to holiday destinations.
That said, I think Wizz Air can try its luck on BEG-LJU. I think there is enough demand to fill a two weekly flight, maybe even three in summer.
Larnaca non-gasto? Lol what joke is that?
DeleteHey again Anon 09.04! Do you mind expanding on what you wrote, you know add one or two arguments to back what you wrote. I think that would be pretty cool and a nice change from what we usually read from you on this portal.
DeleteFYI there are around 700 Serbs left in Cyprus meaning the market size alone is not enough to warrant so many flights. Right now you have 8 weekly and a vast majority of people flying between the two airports are tourists and transfers.
What about flight Belgrade-Prague???
ReplyDeleteIt could be either Wizz Air or Eurowings. JU is crazy expensive on this route so some real competition would be more than welcome.
DeleteWizz cloesd it's PRG base due to the high cost, so I doubt they would launch new destinations that aren't lucrative.
DeleteHow many times did they announce to add a 3rd aircraft to BEG? Two, three? Itt might as well happen some day.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I know only once until now.
Deletehopefully they will add route Frankfurt-Belgrade anytime soon also....
ReplyDeleteThey won't, they suspended flights from FRA once discounts expired. Hahn is as good as it gets.
Delete