Air Serbia to maintain hub and spoke model strategy


Air Serbia has said it will continue to develop its hub and spoke model, which involves transferring passengers between two points via Belgrade, despite the coronavirus pandemic strongly impacting demand for such flights. Speaking at the recent Uzakrota Online Travel Technology and Marketing Summit, Air Serbia’s General Manager for Commercial and Strategy, Jiri Marek, said, “Covid-19 completely changed the network planning approach. You no longer use really long-term planning. You still make the three-year and five-year plan but, in a way, it is an exercise which you will keep changing and adapting based on external input. The network was always driven by demand and demand is the one most affected by the pandemic. It is fluctuating both ways. It is restricted whenever you have new travel restrictions, while you have spikes in demand when something opens because people still want to travel. The question is how quickly you can adapt to these changes in demand especially with the network. What we observed through the whole pandemic is that the booking window is eight to ten days before departure where you get most of the bookings. The question is how you can make some mid- or long-term planning in such an environment”.

Mr Marek noted the airline has modified its internal practices in order to adapt to the fluctuating demand. “What we had to do is completely change the way we operate internally. We do network revenue every single day, sometimes twice per day, and monitor the bookings on a daily basis. Wherever we see some spikes in demand we adjust our capacities accordingly. What happens with the hub and spoke model is super difficult because you are not just going after point to point. However, we strongly believe we will stay with the hub and spoke model because it is one of the ways to address seasonality”, Mr Marek said. He added, “Seasonality in Serbia is high between summer and winter. In a hub and spoke model you can address and create decent loads also in the off season but for that you need to have decent connectivity and frequencies, which is a bit difficult in a pandemic. What we did is focus on some of the strong days like Monday, Friday and Sunday, where our operations are almost at the same levels as prior to the pandemic in order to provide that connectivity while significantly reducing the weaker days, which were always weak even before the pandemic, like Tuesday and Wednesday, by allocating maintenance work on those days and other matters in order to ensure that on the strong days you have full resources available to deliver your product”.

Commenting on the introduction of new routes, the company’s head of Commercial and Strategy said, “The reaction on the market is key. If you want to open a new destination, you no longer do it three or four months in advance with planning, calibration, different GDP inputs and so on. You basically see an opportunity and go after it. We proved that during the pandemic. We launched a couple of new destinations and some of them we launched in the course of two weeks. I think this flexible model will stay with us in the next five years, where you will still have to react very fast to all the changes coming. The biggest undiscovered truth of Covid is that change is possible and that the speed of change is incredible”.

Air Serbia has so far announced plans to increase frequencies on select routes such as Rome and Milan next summer, which will match pre-pandemic levels. The carrier is also believed to be negotiating potential operations to Yekaterinburg in Russia and is widely tipped to win a contract for ten routes of public interest from Niš and Kraljevo, which are to be introduced as early as next month.



Comments

  1. Anonymous09:02

    So all is not lost for long haul expansion

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:05

      I think it is. It's too much of a risk for them even though places like ORD have large demand and there are very few entry restrictions.

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    2. Anonymous09:06

      To me Canada makes the most sense i.e Toronto. Beijing/Shanghai are completely pointless especially with China closed.

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    3. Anonymous09:22

      Agree with anon @9.05. I think the biggest issue with any log haul expansion is that they will have to get another widebody aircraft. And that is expensive.

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    4. Anonymous09:24

      No it's the opposite, all is lost for long haul. He said quick intro of new routes is going to be the norm in the next 5 years. You can launch a new route in two weeks with already available A319 but you can't launch a new long haul route without a second A330. That's not possible in 2 weeks, so that means if Marek stays around there will be no long haul expansion.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:28

      Then let's hope he doesn't stay around for long, it's not like he did anything major or wow since he arrived. All he has done is take part at various conferences and speak of things they might do. All success at JU comes from the time before him actually.

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    6. Anonymous09:30

      They launched over 20 new routes under his management only in 2019 and more new routes were planned in 2020 especially ones that would feed the network like Amman. That's more new routes then they ever launched since they started operating under new name.

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    7. Anonymous09:43

      And they even launched new routes during Covid, something I highly doubt would have happened during past management which ended their run by discontinuing many routes and wrecking the transfer model.

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    8. Anonymous10:20

      Had the virus not happened we would have see them expand even more. I remember what their planned schedule was for summer 2020. It wasn't just new routes. They were seriously adding frequencies on existing routes. Paris was supposed to go up to 3 daily on certain days. Milan was to go 8 weekly. Frequencies were also to be increased to Prague, Zagreb, Tirana, Skopje, Bucharest, Ljubljana, Dubrovnik, Tivat, Larnaca, Madrid, Barcelona and Istanbul.

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    9. Anonymous10:24

      @9.22 now would be the best time to get a second widebody because the leasing prices are at their lowest and there are a lot of available aircraft on the market.

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    10. Anonymous10:35

      All the routes they launched had nothing to do with him. It was all proposed by a young Serbian guy who is in charge of the network. Marek merely gave the green light, that's all.

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    11. Anonymous12:10

      Oh please, Air Serbia has been expanding to new markets since 2013, it was not a new practice started by Marek. As they wold say in Serbia: filozofira.
      Either its strategic planning or whatever else, he has not achieve anything monumental besides reducing the fleet and suspending GVA which was an extremely miscalculated move that cost JU thousands.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous12:16

      You might want to have a look at what has been happening in the world in the past 2 years. You also might want to refresh your memory what Air Serbia did in 2017 when it discontinued many routes, culled its network, frequencies, deatroyed many routes which functioned on transfer model. He is probably responsible for that too even though he was not at the company.

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    13. Anonymous14:20

      Nope, wrong. It wasn't him, it was the people who worked at JU from 2013 and who actually worked on it since the restructuring and rebranding. Marek came to a fully formed team of people. All he did was to just give the green light but the execution was up to other people.

      Delete
    14. Anonymous14:22

      Did the same people execute route suspensions and frequency cuts in 2017 and 2018?

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    15. Anonymous17:03

      I will not comment on what "value-add" has come as a result of Marek's arrival. But for those who made comments about those who "destroyed" the network in 2017 and 2018, you forget that that was in response to JU's R&R Plan with regards to the EU mandated process re state aid. That was not done because someone was being reckless. It was the opposite - they had to make painful cuts due to additional state aid that came and that was the quid-pro-quo from DG Comp.

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    16. Anonymous17:07

      Yes, it was done because someone was reckless from 2013-2016 launhing a strategy of being some premium or boutique airline on a poor market and operating routes like Rome double daily.

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    17. Anonymous18:06

      anon@1707 - no one was reckless between 2013 to 2017. What punched a massive hole in the finances was the launch of JFK. That was the Govt's wish without giving full consideration to the eventual investigation which came from DG Comp. It is always easy to look back in time to judge those decisions from the comfort of the chair you sit in today. It was the right decision back then and what the team is doing today are also the right decisions. You have to manage the business with a view of what is happening in the world around you today

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    18. Anonymous08:09

      I left JU shortly before Dane was fired. He was in panic mode because there was a lot of pressure from the Serbian government to improve finances. Since he couldn't stimulate additional sales so as to boost revenue he decided to cut costs. Everyone at JU knew that this was not the way to go but no one was allowed to challenge his dogmatic views.

      I know many people who are working at JU and who regularly interact with Mr Marak. They told me that he is like a shadow, not a personality you remember, not one of those people that leaves an impression. He might have good intentions but lacks the courage to implement big moves that will take JU a step up the aviation ladder.

      He could have easily renewed the ATR fleet, the money was there, the offers were there but a colleague of mine told me that she thought he was just afraid of changing the status quo. Funds were redirected elsewhere and offers from manufacturers vanished. Today as a result of his cuts, many of the unreliable ATRs are constantly breaking down. The world witnessed how yesterday they sent the A320 of all planes to the exotic and oriental Sarajevo. Was it because Marak's sales team filled it up to the last seat or because one of his ancient, crypt-keeping ATRs broke down? How expensive would it be to get a spare ATR (even 15 years old) to help them out maintain normal operations?

      Marak will come and go like many of these foreigners have over the past many years. His legacy won't be remembered because there won't be anything worth remembering.
      Whoever is familiar with historic Serbian-Czech economic ties will know that Prague always tried to milk Serbia and to get more out of the deal than we would. I guess it's the same with Mr Marak.

      If he wants to leave a legacy then he should start doing his job and get some cojones. Lease another 330 for ORD and YYZ, fix your regional fleet to offer more connections, improve your onboard product and keep on expanding. And Mr Marak, please remember, a demoralized staff is never productive. Make sure you and your top management people create a healthy work environment. That is one of the main reasons why top talent is leaving you.

      You might be sitting in your office shivering from covid related uncertainties but the world is slowly moving on. Just look at OS which is operating out of a locked down Austria yet they still manage to keep an impressive network. Same with the rest. Many airlines are starting to look ahead for the next summer and to make plans while you make them a week in advance.

      Marak, omicron is already labeled as a weaker covid variant meaning that the pandemic is coming to a close. You have no brand to work with, you have no planes to organize your network, you have no marketing department to help you penetrate new markets so what do you have? Besides your strategic planning and a misty concept of digitization while your competition grows stronger in Belgrade.

      Take a page from Dane's book, that man at least understood the value of a good ad. You wonder today why ATH performs so well? Could it be because they had ads on their buses and trams some years ago? What ads did you have in Rostov which you recently suspended despite so many Russian tourists coming to Serbia?

      Anyway... just my 2 cents.
      Regards from AUH.

      Delete
    19. Anonymous09:36

      +10000

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:02

    And I remember a few days ago when Kondic said they would focus on point to point.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:27

      Air Serbia started getting back to the original plans from 2013 of making Belgrade regional hub after Dane left, but this time more carefully, with more balanced approach.

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    2. Anonymous09:43

      *years ago not days.

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    3. Anonymous17:08

      Point-to-point is THE most profitable way to fly ... you get the highest yielding pax, moreso than flying transfer traffic. But as is always the case, you make these judgments based on the prevailing market conditions, where the balance between volume and yield needs to be analysed. In the high season, you should always go for P2P and in the off season, you focus more on transfer traffic. You can't look at comments from years ago and judge it based on the market conditions of today.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:05

    It has turned into a smart strategy not only during the virus but also competing against LCCs and something Croatia Airlines should do now to a bigger extent to compete against Ryanair.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:08

      +1

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    2. It's something Croatia Airlines should have done over decade ago - when Malev went bankrupt, Jat Airways barely existed, Aegean not big enough, Air Bulgaria and Tarom weak and struggling, Bosnia, Macedonia and Albania with no carrier, LCC'S in region almost non visible, tourism in Croatia started booming, 2008 crisis coming to an end and fuel prices acceptable. But when I say that I get attacked by Party bots and Uhljebs

      Delete
    3. but if they did that then the other events wouldnt have happened

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    4. Sure other events would have happened. But the markets tend to grow and develop and services to mature, bringing bigger numbers and better yields. Doing it then, it would be much easier today to survive and even be profitable, not counting corona times, of course, despite all other events happening meanwhile. But small, undeveloped, positioned as feeder, not present at most big potential transfer markets, today make the situation much more difficult and probably impossible to survive

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:07

    Interesting that they focus just on a couple of days a week.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:17

      They have been adding flights on slower days but we're very conservative and cautious about it.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:08

    Which market do they get the most transfers from?

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    Replies
    1. Avionlet14:45

      I would say that there is a lot of transfers are from KRR, TIV, TGD, all of them don't have a lot of direct flights during the winter or at all. They also have a lot of transfers to the US.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous01:05

      They get quite a few from/to Larnaca, as well as Thessaloniki.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:10

    So what is the percentage of transfer passengers vs. O&D at JU? Anyone have any idea?

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:13

      I would put it at 30/70 for Air Serbia.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:16

      It is obvious that the number of transfer passengers is significantly up when you pass through passport control at BEG since you can see people sleeping on the chairs and the JU transfer desk always full of people.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:22

      I would say 35/65 for JU.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:12

    Air Serbia will really develop transit traffic when the airport finalizes its expansion.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:18

      At the expense of which other airports?
      VIE? OTP? SOF? IST? ATH? SKG? FCO?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:28

      A bit of all I guess, expect FCO. I don't think it is used much for transfers from the region especially with the demise of Alitalia.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:29

      ^^^
      LOL dude. Not the new wings of Europe nonsense again!

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:31

      You can LOL all you like. Number of transfer passengers increasing significantly in last few years do not lie.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:40

      Yes we can see than in the financial loses.

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    6. Anonymous09:44

      Financial losses have been reducing year after year as well. That you can also see from the financial reports.

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    7. Anonymous09:51

      LOL, sure they have!

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    8. Anonymous09:51

      They have. Look at their financial reports.

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    9. Anonymous10:13

      Interestingly Italy was becoming one of Air Serbia's main markets before the pandemic with lots of transfers, especially from Russia headed to Venice. I guess that was the idea with their plan to launch Florence as well.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous10:16

      They had a lot of transfers between places like Milan and Cairo as well. Air Italy used to run ten weekly flights and even before their bankruptcy JU had like 25 transfers per flight.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:13

    What's the next long hual route we can expect?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:14

      None I guess!

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    2. Anonymous09:17

      Yeah I'm sure you know.

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    3. Anonymous09:18

      First you will see Beijing go nonstop

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    4. Anonymous09:21

      I'm guessing Canada though I have little hope these flights will start anytime soon.

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    5. Anonymous09:25

      According to my opinion they should not start yet Chicago, Beijing or Toronto. The European network needs first to rebuild and recovered and show its results and once proven to be successful new wide body routes to be introduced.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous15:19

      I know some people who claim Air Serbia should not expand long haul but at the same time want another small airline in the region to get A321XLR and start flights to the USA. Interesting.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous15:27

      "According to my opinion" ahahahah... I love it.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:14

    I assume that the number of transfer passengers increased a lot when JFK launched.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:15

      It has, especially to the region. Despite the many resident 'experts' here saying how no one would transfer with an airline named Air Serbia.

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    2. Anonymous09:28

      After Turkish airlines and Aegean Air Serbia positioned itself as third biggest Balkan airline.

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    3. @ANONYMOUS 09:28, in terms of passengers carried, aren't Blue air or Tarom bigger than Air Serbia?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:11

      I think JU overtook RO even before covid.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:17

    They have the right idea

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  11. Anonymous09:20

    Smart

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous09:24

    Good luck JU.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous09:37

    Interestingly Hemopharm started advertising on JU planes on the head rest covers and they offer Probiotic samples to all passengers (I kid you not :D)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:53

      So you use the toilet less during the flight haha.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous10:08

    Good news because it means they will keep growing.

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  15. Anonymous10:09

    It would be interesting to see which of their routes generate the most transfers.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:12

      I would assume JFK.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous10:14

    Since Covid they have stopped a lot of transfer feeder routes like Cairo and Beirut. I wonder if we will see them reinstated.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:21

      Beirut is definitely not coming back until the economic situation improves there and that does not seem to be anytime soon.

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    2. JATBEGMEL10:59

      BEY was canceled before Covid.

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    3. Anonymous01:07

      Amman would be a great transfer destination.

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  17. Anonymous10:20

    Maybe their new booking systems helps them in this strategy lol.

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  18. Anonymous10:23

    Most of the planned 2020 expansion was targeting transfers. I mean they certainly didn't think there would be much point to point traffic between Belgrade and Chisinau.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous10:26

    I think it is a good strategy.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous10:29

    It seems transfer traffic for them remains strong despite Covid.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:34

      Summer charter traffic is the one that has been the strongest for them.

      Delete
  21. Anonymous10:32

    Air Serbia has a great load factor considering all the adverse circumstances with Corona, related travel restrictions and subsequent worldwide stagflation.

    When all this is over, the major impediment to off season demand growth will be limited business opportunities in Serbia, compared to similarily sized cities in Europe. Without major corporate offices, world class trade shows and conferences, frequent vocational congresses, and intergovernmental organizations seated here there is no big business demand. And an average business traveler is much more attractive for an airline than a tourist or ethnic traveler. Business travelers are not always looking for the cheapest ticket/route and are more eager to buy higher class ticket and top it up with ancillary services (albeit by my flying experience JU manages to upsell ancillary meals to more than half of all its pax in Economy).

    This is why hub and spoke is the only long term strategy that fits Air serbia. It will be helped with improvement of the existing airport which is now basicaly a huge building site.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:59

      I think the second point you are talking about is changing. Many companies have opened their regional offices in Belgrade. Bloomberg is the latest. Conferences and congresses are on the rise and I'm sure there will be more once the renovation of Sava Centar, which is the largest congress hall in the Balkans is completed. Work started this September and 80 million is being invested.

      But I do agree with your views in general.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:59

      I also think tourist board and the airline should work more on promoting Belgrade as a tourist destination.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:00

      They started this year with the boarding pass promotion. You keep your JU boarding pass and get discounts and tourists sites and restaurants. Also JU offers a free hotel stay if you have a transfer of over 12 hours at BEG.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous11:01

    A lot of things will change for the better, including at Air Serbia, once the airport project is completed. First positives of that will be seen next year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:32

      Especially if they (airport) manage not to be surprised by 15 cm of snow in December that provoked complete chaos yesterday while the national newspaper Politika had an article stating that the airport is open and some flights are delayed. Funny enough the reality was somewhat different; more than 10 flights were cancelled and delays were from 2 hrs to 12 hrs.

      Delete
    2. Vlad12:00

      To be fair the issue is not unique to BEG - I was flying to SFO through FRA 10 days ago and it was complete chaos at FRA, with feeder flights all over Europe being 2-3 hours late, consequently delaying long-haul departures too.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:12

      About a week ago there was a snowstorm in VIE and everything was delayed for like 4 hours. Total chaos.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous15:31

      Yesterday BEG had 'once in a couple of years' snowfall and only about a third of flights were cancelled. Airports like ORD, YUL, MKE and BUF get a lot of snow but even they get at least a couple of days every year where similar percentage of flights get cancelled or severely delayed.

      Delete
  23. Anonymous11:03

    Some people seem to dislike him but Marek seems to know what he is talking about.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:22

      Really great guy for Air Serbia.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:13

      Yes, his CV is very impressive. He gained a lot of experienced at renowned airlines like Alitalia, CSA, Malev...

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:17

      ^you are obsessed with him. Same arhument day in day out complaining.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:24

      How can I be obsessed with him when I am commenting on a topic where he is the focus? LOL
      Also, was my comment wrong? I mean what was JU thinking hiring someone who went from one failed business to another? What kind of success can he bring to JU? What kind of relevant and positive experience could he get from working in all those mismanaged airlines? All I see is him being obsessed with his own PR and self-promotion.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous14:25

      Well no, he is not the topic. You make every single JU topic about him. He must have fired you or something.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous15:40

      Still waiting for JU executive to deserve a thumbs up by opening another long haul route. It was all thumbs down since Kondic.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous16:04

      So the launch of 20 new routes in 2019, reinstating normal business class service and free economy snack was a thumbs down for you but a thumbs up for you was Kondic's butchering of the network in 2017, termination of 10 routes, transition into LCC airline, introduction of check in fee at the airport, business class service comprised of a flat box with salad thrown inside and cancellation of A320neo order was a thumbs up?

      Delete
    8. Anonymous16:50

      All those improvements are really good, and some of the bad decisions needed to be fixed. But the really big step that will be in JU history books is expansion of long haul. No one managed to deliver it since 2016. It's a fact.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous21:32

      "Na greškama se uči".

      Delete
  24. Anonymous11:04

    "We do network revenue every single day, sometimes twice per day, and monitor the bookings on a daily basis. Wherever we see some spikes in demand we adjust our capacities accordingly."

    Paging Croatia Airlines.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can page them as long as you want. They left the pager at Party headquarters

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:24

      HAHAHAHAHAHHAHA Pozdrav, you just made my day

      Delete

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