Nordwind Airlines intends on further expanding its operations to Belgrade with the introduction of a new service from Kaliningrad. The carrier’s Commercial Director, Anton Mattis, noted, “We have submitted a request for a permit to fly to a number of cities from Kaliningrad, including visa-free ones. In particular, we want to fly to Belgrade. This is a classic visa-free destination that is in great demand”. Nordwind already maintains flights from Moscow and St Petersburg to the Serbian capital. Despite several flights from Rostov-on-Don to Belgrade, the airline recently terminated the service. If the Kaliningrad flights receive the necessary permits, it will mark the first time the two cities have been linked with a scheduled nonstop air service.
Nordwind Airlines plans to commence operations from Kaliningrad to Belgrade from December 1. The service would be maintained once per week, each Wednesday. Due to the termination of its flights from Rostov to the Serbian capital, Nordwind should be granted permission by the Serbian Civil Aviation Directorate to launch the new one weekly service from Kaliningrad, so as to meet the current frequency caps between Serbia and Russia, which have been introduced as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Based on OAG’s 2019 data, just 393 people flew between the two cities on a single itinerary, illustrating the lack of flights and connections available up until now.
Nordwind has filed and received permits from Russian authorities for a number of new routes to Belgrade, including from Krasnodar, Samara, Perm and Krasnoyarsk. It must now seek approval from the Serbian regulator if it wishes to exercise its rights. Nordiwnd has been expanding throughout the former Yugoslavia this year, by introducing flights to Serbia, Croatia, and Macedonia. The carrier also plans on launching operations to Ljubljana. It initially filed its schedule for a one weekly Moscow to Ljubljana service starting this November but has now pushed back its preliminary launch date to December 4. Tickets are yet to be put on sale.
They just failed miserably on ROV-BEG and from what I heard they are struggling on LED and SVO flights. Now they want this? They are beyond crazy.
ReplyDeleteAnd where did you hear that?
DeleteCovid messed up things :/
DeleteAt least they're doing something unlike some.
DeleteExotic :D
ReplyDeleteReally interesting destination. Hope it works.
ReplyDeleteAt least its a new route not served by any other airline.
ReplyDeleteIt would be a great way to access Baltics, Belarus and parts of Poland and somewhat fill the gap of the absence of Belavia.
DeleteWell Belavia is planning on resuming flights to BEG from mid-December so let's see what happens with that.
Deleteanon 09:38 - LOL, just look at the map and at connections and visa requirements. Kalinigrad is very far from being an entry point into Baltics or parts of Poland, not speaking about Belarus.
DeleteDon't be stupid.
DeleteIt's 200km from Belarus with excellent train links.
What excellent train links? A train from Kaliningrad via Lithuania to Minsk in Belarus takes 14 hours and a Belarusian needs a Lithuanian visa. You must be joking.
DeleteBy road to the closest bigger Belarusian city, Grodno, it takes 5 hours and you cross the EU border twice (entering and exiting Lithuania).
14 hours in overnight sleeper train.
DeleteHardly an exhaustion.
Point is: it makes the Belarus and the Baltics CLOSER.
I'm not sure if you can argue with that.
Yes, no exhaustion at all, especially given two wake-ups at the EU borders.
DeleteAnd yes, it bring Belarus and the Baltics closer to BEG the same way as flying BEG-CAI brings you closer to Cape Town.
You must be extremely stupid to say that.
DeleteIf for you 300km = 5.000 that i've got nothing to say more.
Thank you for your kind answer.
DeleteTravelling from BEG to Belarus via Kaliningrad (including a train from Kalinigrad to Minsk) seems to me a kind of pleasure that only Marquis de Sade would really enjoy, but I wish you a happy yourney.
And please don't forget to write a report from your trip for this site. Enjoy!
They will probably get approval since they ended one route.
ReplyDeleteGood news, this shows that the market will stay strong in the winter months.
ReplyDeleteNordwind didn't fly to anywhere in ex-Yu before Covid now they serve several cities with expanding network.
ReplyDeleteTrue. Nordwind was barely present in the region before Covid and now they fly to most countries.
DeleteWho knew Covid would create so much demand.
DeleteWell they don't fly to most. There are still no flights to Sarajevo, Montenegro and Slovenia.
DeleteThey can't fly to Montenegro. There is a ban on flights between the two countries. And as it says in the text they plan to start Ljubljana relatively soon.
DeleteWho would have though this airline would become the main Russian airlines between ex-Yu and Russia.
DeleteI think this airline is running out of markets to serve since it does not have the possibility expanding in the EU so much.
DeleteGreat the more new routes the better.
ReplyDeleteI hope Nordwind also increases frequencies on its BEG routes. They are all once per week.
ReplyDeleteThey can't. There is a cap on frequencies. For example Air Serbia as Serbian airlines flies 8 weekly to Moscow. Russian airlines also have 8 weekly frequencies - 7 for Aeroflot and 1 for Nordwind. But this is Russian rule, not Serbian.
DeleteI honestly don't get these silly Russian caps and limits on frequencies. I don't believe anymore it has anything to do with corona.
DeleteNordwind getting a bit crazy over BEG
ReplyDeleteHad CAD not blocked others we would have at least two more airlines flying several routes to Russia.
DeleteThey had to grant Nordwind rights because they risked JU losing its permits for flights other than Moscow and St Petersburg.
Delete@9.19: Correct - Ural, S7...
DeleteBoth are the best airlines in Russia.
DeleteS7 would be the jackpot.
Overall not bad for BEG this winter. Four new Wizz Air routes, new Anadolujet flights, new Nordwind flights and new Nis flights :)
ReplyDeleteKeep the new routes coming!
DeleteConsidering the situation having all these new routes by different airlines is quite an achievement.
DeleteI would actually love to visit Kaliningrad. They say it's a beautiful city. Hope the fares are reasonable.
ReplyDeleteWhen in Russia you have to visit Uzbek restaurants so called chaikhonas which actually means "teahouses".
DeleteVery good and also affordable cuisine and extremely popular by Russians as the Russian cuisine itself is very bland.
You find them in every bigger city and Kaliningrad is no exception.
What's up with Nordwind scheduling flights less than a month before they start. I mean how can they get a good result when they put tickets on sale 3 weeks or less in advance?
ReplyDeleteOnly one flight a week that is probably filled with tour operators well in advance, so they sell just a few tickets online in the beginning.
DeleteGood news. But flights between Belgrade and Russia are an absolutely rip off.
ReplyDeleteAgree. Very expensive
DeleteFares are like that because there is high demand and limited number of flights due to bilateral.
DeleteAeroflot and Nordwind must be happy that Belavia can no longer fly to BEG. They had a big share of Russian transfer passengers.
ReplyDeleteSame as Air Serbia has been profiting from there being no flights between Montenegro and Russia.
DeleteI wonder why JU does not start flying to Minsk. I think they would have great result there.
DeleteAnd before anyone mentiones flight ban to Belarus I would like to let you know that LH scheduled their flights from Frankfurt to Belarus capital for January next year.
There was an article here that they are negotiation with Belarussians to launch flights. Maybe after they saw LH would fly they decided not to pursue it. JU doesn't deal well with competition.
DeleteI know they don't like competition, but it is not realistic from them to expect nobody will fly to MSQ only in order they would have enough passengers there.
DeleteFrom the other side LH flying to MSQ is just the sign Western countries will soon forget about flight ban and return to Belarus capital and when it happens it would be good JU to be positioned there already.
I agree but this is JU we are talking about. I also think their fleet is becoming thin.
DeleteTheir reaction on opening new routes is no longer slow as it was in the time of Jat Airways. They do not have fear to open new destinations now and I like it.
DeleteFrom the other side they do not fly anymore 2 times weekly to ROV, so they could use that plane to start MSQ.
LH flights to Belarus in January will not happen. They are postponing these flights every couple of months simultanousely as the flights ban is prolonged by the EU. The same with other EU airlines.
DeleteExactly. Those flights are not going to happen any time soon.
DeleteI am aware that they postponed it only once - from October 2021 to January 2022.
DeleteIt would be logical to start planning this flight once the EU permission arrives and not on this way where passengers buy the tickets for the flights which might or might not happen.
09,45
DeleteI think this is not exactly true. JU has direct competition in CDG, AMS, OSL, SVO, LED, ATH, ZRH, IST, FRA, BER, OTP, VIE, BCN, plus more indirect competition through Wizz and other airlines, both O&D and transit. JU isn't a large airline and at some places they will compete well, some place not soo well. No airline likes competition, for example LH has for years pushed the German government to restrict access to EK.
MSQ would be an interesting addition especially in the summer months for transit pax. JU is competitive with LH on our regional market: TGD, TIV, DBV, SPU, PUY, TIA, SKG, SKP, SJJ, ATH, IST, LCA.
Wow there were very few pax flying KGD-BEG.
ReplyDeleteThe good thing is Nordwind will create a new market.
DeleteLet's see...
DeleteShame there are still no flights between Russia and Nis.
ReplyDeleteIs there demand?
DeleteI believe so, especially since it was reported that most Russian tourists are going to Kopaonik which is closer to Nis than Belgrade.
DeleteIt would probably involve INI airport and its management actually doing something. You can't just sit on your hands waiting for someone to come to you. They had a very proactive management a few years ago that brought Ryanair, Wizz Air and Swiss. Then they replaced them and now you have what you have.
DeleteBut we still have all of those at INI...
DeleteOff course. Or you think so that only people from Belgrade use airplanes? Huge number of workers from Western Serbia fly to Russia. People from Kragujevac, Užice, Novi Sad... also travel to Hurghada and Antalya in huge numbers.
DeleteYou think so that all of them like Bg or they fly from there because its the only one offer?
I don't think that only people from BEG fly, but if there were so much demand I would expect for flights to have started already.
DeleteNice!
ReplyDeleteGreat. It's good to see more and more secondary Russian cities served from BEG.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest I wish them all the luck and I am glad to see new destinations will be connected to Belgrade, but I truly doubt this KGD-BEG would be successful especially in pandemic time.
ReplyDeleteI wish I was wrong.
I'm also not so sure this route will be able to be sustained but let's see.
DeleteEvery two months they pick some random route :D
ReplyDeleteHope they launch Krasnoyarsk-Belgrade which they asked for permit. I think they would have to operate this route with the A330 or B777.
ReplyDeleteYes, Krasnoyarsk-Belgrade is an almost 7 hour flight.
DeleteA330s, B777s... Their fleet is really impressive actually.
DeleteIndeed 9 A321s, 4 A330s, 12 B737-800s, 9 B777s
DeleteDon't forget Pegas Fly which is operated by the same company - they have 15 planes including B737-900s and B767s.
DeleteAwesome news
ReplyDeleteWell done Nordwind!
ReplyDeleteGreat to see more and more connectivity from BEG to Russia.
ReplyDeleteFrequencies are still way down of pre pandemic levels. Even though more cities are served compared to before.
DeleteI hope these flights will materialize
ReplyDeleteKaliningrad is charming European city so I hope people from Serbia get some interest in it too. Curonian Spit is outstanding. Nordwind needs to up their marketing efforts a bit for all destinations they serve from Belgrade.
ReplyDeleteSplit*
DeleteКурсшкая коса
I believe it's Spit. Google confirms. Anyway, it's breath taking.
DeleteDo you guys think Nordwind will increase frequencies to BEG once the caps are removed or they will just keep everything once per week?
ReplyDeleteIf the demand is there they should.
DeleteLoads on Nordwind flights would be further improved if Serbia no longer required compulsory 48 hour PCR test for fully vaccinated foreigners.
ReplyDeleteOr at least allow antigen test, which is cheaper and quicker or standardize the required time for PCR to 72 hours like the majority countries in the world.
DeleteMost countries still require covid test despite vaccine.
DeleteVery stupid.
DeleteAnyone know the loads of N4 flights to BEG?
ReplyDeleteWill they have code share with JU?
ReplyDeleteThey don't codeshares. Air Serbia's Russian codeshare partner is Aeroflot.
DeleteDoes JU have its codes on Aeroflot's flights from Moscow to Kalingrad?
DeleteWell done Belgrade
ReplyDeleteIt looks so nice with the black engines!!!
ReplyDeleteAir Serbia would even be better on that route because of transfers.
ReplyDeleteFrom Kaliningrad to Europa you have to backtrack via Moscow which is a hassle.
LOT flies almost daily to KGD. Only European destination from Kaliningrad.
DeleteLOT doesn't fly to KGD. At least it no longer does.
DeleteProbably suspended due to covid.
DeleteBut that route must have been great for LOT, having one of the few direct flights to KGD from Europe.
Funny thing is that Kaliningrad IS IN Europe !
DeleteWho would have thought that ..?
This would've been a great opportunity for Air Serbia. Air Serbia missed it again.
ReplyDelete