Air Serbia plans return to Middle East and North Africa


Air Serbia is planning to restore some flights to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and is considering adding new destinations as part of its summer expansion plans. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the carrier served Tel Aviv, Cairo and Beirut in the region, although the latter was terminated just prior to the global health emergency as a result of Lebanon’s economic crisis, which has since worsened. As its replacement, the Serbian carrier planned to launch a new service to the Jordanian capital of Amman, however, those were also shelved due to Covid-19. Almost two years later, the airline is yet to make a comeback with scheduled flights to the region and is currently maintaining charters to Dubai and Egyptian holiday resort towns.

The Egyptian Ambassador to Serbia, Amr Aljowaily, recently held talks with the national airline over its return to Cairo. “We are in constant contact with Air Serbia, so we can look into overcoming the challenges of the pandemic and restore nonstop flights. I have conducted and facilitated numerous meetings in the aviation sector, with the aim of further expanding the network of flights and routes between the two countries. I look forward to positive results in this regard”, Mr Aljowaily said. Air Serbia ran up to eight daily rotations to Hurghada last summer and also maintained charters to Sharm el Sheikh. Egypt is again expected to be a major drawcard for Serbian holidaymakers this coming summer season.

Tunisia has also emerged as a potential market for Air Serbia in the North Africa region. Tunisair has maintained year-round operations from Tunis to Belgrade for over a decade, however, it suspended flights between the two cities at the end of the 2021 summer season. Facing significant financial issues, it is unlikely to restore the route this year. Last summer, Air Serbia restored charter operations to Monastir in Tunisia’s southeast after several years. The route was previously served by the airline’s predecessor Jat Airways on a scheduled seasonal summer basis. During last year, Tunisia’s Nouvelle Air also began serving the Serbian capital through summer charters.

Air Serbia has so far announced six new routes out of Belgrade for the 2022 summer season, with more new destinations to be announced in the coming weeks.



Comments

  1. Anonymous09:01

    I think they will resume Cairo and introduce Amman.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:10

      Tel Aviv too

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:33

      CAI will be relaunched for sure.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:02

    Makes sense

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous09:02

    With so many new routes this year, they will be expanding their fleet significantly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:02

      They will. Rumors are ATRs and Airbuses are coming. Plus there will apparently be a wetlease for 2 planes.

      Delete
    2. JATBEGMEL12:56

      ATR's aren't rumours, the first one is in TLS already painted in the JU livery.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:04

    Tunisia has lost its popularity in Serbia in recent years but there is a Tunisian diaspora in Serbia and there was a reason flights used to be maintained year round, so it might not be such a bad option for JU.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:03

      Tunisia has lost popularity everywhere due to security issues. But it is dirt cheap to visit.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:06

      It isn't even offered by Kon Tiki for this summer. How things have changed.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous20:07

      Kon tiki ( now owned by big blue - it is now one same agency) was not option n1 for t³unisia. For the past decade it was sunline travel - they had contract with air srb for charter ( i am former kontiki employer)

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:05

    Great to see Air Serbia continuing to expand.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:12

      Apparently another 6 will be added.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:13

      Good news for Belgrade too.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:03

      @9.12 That would be huge! It would mean 12 new routes from BEG, plus the 7 new routes from INI and KVO plus the resumption of routes that have not operated since pandemic like Madrid, Venice, Nice...

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:05

    Would it make sense to fly Hurghada as a scheduled destination?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:07

      Well Air Cairo does it on a year round basis quite successfully.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:04

      They seem to do just fine with charters though. Much more profitable than flying it as a scheduled route.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:14

    I doubt we will be seeing flights to Beirut anytime soon as the situation in Lebanon is dire.

    Tel Aviv was operating last summer and Israir has scheduled flights to Belgrade next summer. I assume Air Serbia will finally resume flights there considering Israel has reopened for international visitors.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:46

      Recently an Aegean plane got shot at.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:47

      It seems to have been celebratory fire from one of the homes near the airport.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:04

      Crazy!

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:15

    I'm surprised there isn't more demand for Jordan from Serbia. It is a great destination. Amman in itself is interesting let alone Petra and Aqaba. Also visa is issued on arrival.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:19

      Around 10 years ago (maybe even a bit more). there were flights to Aqaba every summer. Kon Tiki used sell tour packages. Don't know why it stopped.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:22

      I think the tours were rather expensive

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:24

      In 2008 Royal Wings even operated one weekly flights from Amman to Belgrade. Lasted for just one season for two months. Their plane used to arrive at 5.10AM and depart at 06.10.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:32

      What equipment did they use?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:41

      A320 operated by RJ

      Delete
    6. Anonymous12:05

      Shame these didn't continue but I guess they were only aimed at tourists. And it is true that spending your holiday in Jordan is more costly than alternatives like Egypt, Turkey and Greece.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:15

    Hopefully JU brings back AMM

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous09:17

    Kuwait City would be a good destination for Air Serbia. There is quite a sizable Serbian diaspora living there and I think it has constantly been the top unserved destination in the Middle East based on previous articles here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:20

      It would be a good alternative for them in GCC region considering they can't compete to Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:21

      I doubt they are looking to fly that far away anyway.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:00

      Serbian nationals require an airside visa to transfer through Kuwait, hence no way until it changes.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:03

      I believe it is visa on arrival.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:26

    Good. Hopefully this should help BEG in its recovery.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous09:27

    It makes little sense for Air Serbia to fly to the Middle East with its current hybrid model

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:29

      Why? Flydubai has hybrid model but flies successfully to Belgrade. Wizz is a LCC but flies successfully from Abu Dhabi to Belgrade.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:33

      Service on Flydubai is much better than service on Air Serbia. Business class is incomparable.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:57

      They already tried and failed with hybrid model in Abu Dhabi.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:27

    If Air Serbia was smarter and worked on the transfer model they could have had a more active role in the Middle East and Central Asia. Now foreign carriers are eating the cake.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:29

      There are still opportunities

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:33

    JU should have restart CAI, TLV and maybe AMM too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:36

      These routes are important for hub operations.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:34

    Great move for JU!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:42

      Excuse me but what do you see as great move here? the article itself is just pointing to some potential destinations but nothing specific so to call it a "move" is a bit exagerated!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:47

      ^ You will see ;)

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:35

    They should have brought Cairo back earlier.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:38

      Agree. Should have done it last year. Very few restrictions, Egypt has also become very popular with Russians who are very limited in where they can travel, they could have benefited from fewer transfer options.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:30

      Didn't CAI have poor results even before pandemic?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:42

      Where did you get that from?

      Delete
  17. Anonymous09:35

    Proves a lot of people wrong who always have something negative to say about this airline.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:27

      But also proves a lot of people right who always have something positive to say about this airline.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous09:36

    Slowly but surely there seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:38

      Seems so. Really happy to see them starting to look towards the end of this crisis.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous09:36

    Good luck. Hope there is more good news soon.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous09:39

    I'm surprised they generally don't have a more extensive route network in the Middle East.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous09:39

    In the future they could add: Baghdad, Teheran, Baku and Tbilisi.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:41

      Are you serious?

      Delete
    2. Didn't Mahan start Teheran Belgrade flights already?
      Bagdad is to far away, Baku or Tilbisi same at the moment.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous09:41

    So pretty this summer they should restore almost their entire pre-Covid network plus add a few new routes.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous09:42

    There is only so much you can plan for in situations like these.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous09:53

    Air Serbia plans return to Middle East and North Africa but does not plan return to Far East and North America.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:54

      Yes, because this plan does not require them to lease a wide body plane which is not cheap to run.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:10

      At least Air Serbia is now honest about having no interest in long haul expansion. Hopefully we won't be hearing their executives trying to convince us about "Air Serbia looking at China, US and Canada" like they did last year.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous20:35

      They'd be crazy to look at China now. That country will not open to travel before the summer schedule 2023. And even then, it is a question of how fast, how much and how practical the travel to China will be.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:29

      Meanwhile, the largest unserved diaspora community (CHICAGO) remains without a flight.

      Delete
  25. Anonymous09:54

    Let's hope these materialize.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:13

      CAI and TLV will for sure. I'm pretty sure AMM will too.

      Delete
  26. Anonymous09:59

    Air Serbia shall consider Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. It has enormous diaspora in the West, Germany and Sweded in particular, also there are some ties between Serbia and Kurdistan. Erbil is the fastest growing airport in the Middle East. And unlike Amman or Beirut it does not have a strong airline based and seated there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:07

      Does Austrian still fly to Erbil? They benefited a lot from a lack of other foreign airlines there.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:09

      They do

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:19

      Is there an agreement to enable flying to Irak?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:22

      Surprisingly yes!

      https://www.exyuaviation.com/2017/05/serbia-and-iraq-ink-air-agreement.html

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:19

      Nice

      Delete
    6. JATBEGMEL16:30

      EBL is way too far to fit nicely in their main waves.

      If they can work on more Western European flights departing BEG around midday arriving by 19:00, a 20:30 departure as they do with ROV would work perfectly.

      10am departure is too early for anything from Western Europe, 1pm wont get then back into BEG before 8pm, while 11pm misses many arrivals and departures on the return.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous20:37

      I could not agree more! Erbil could be a great potential feeder for JU, it's a great network and market fit in my opinion, and JU is more than capable with competing with LH and TK (they've demonstrated it in BEY). And I mean - if EW made it, there is no doubt JU can nail it. :)

      Delete
    8. Anonymous21:48

      Yes indeed Erbil would be great. There is ex-Yu community both in Erbil and Baghdad. Why not Iraq. Traditionally we have good ties with Iraq.

      Delete
  27. Anonymous10:06

    Good to see they are planning for the future.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous10:13

    What is the current situation in Algeria? Algiers can be the option only if the visa regime is abolished and if JU finds oportunities for connecting traffic to somewhere "on the other side"... China perhaps?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:16

      Algeria is open

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:20

      I wonder how people fly there from BEG now. I remember most using Alitalia to reach Algiers (I know a few people who had to travel there often a couple of years ago).

      Delete
  29. Anonymous10:16

    What happened with Morocco? There was lots of talk about possible flights a few years ago. In 2020 Air Serbia even had charters planned to there but were cancelled because of Covid.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:18

      Morocco still has a ban on international flights. I don't think it is a viable option.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:19

      Oh and also they still require visas for Serbian citizens which is a deterrent.

      Delete
  30. Let hope to renewable fleet. Including for long destinations. Air Serbia is national airline. 🛫🌐✈

    ReplyDelete
  31. Well done Air Serbia! Please don't judge me or attack me but don't they need extra planes for this expansion? It's not nice to have delays 2 or 3 hours during the summer season, unless those routes will be served once or twice a week.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:48

      They will be getting ATRs and it seems like they will lease Airbuses too.

      Delete
    2. JATBEGMEL15:55

      @Bel Cielo

      It's a little hard to not judge your comment.

      You have a fair few articles lately you can refer to. The first of the new ATR's is already painted in the JU livery so new ATR's are joining the fleet. More aircraft are coming.

      https://www.exyuaviation.com/2022/01/air-serbia-to-take-delivery-of-first.html?m=1

      2 A319's have left since the summer season while 2 were leased short term during the peak months, which means they are down by 4 aircraft for next summer. Logic would have that at least 4 A320 family aircraft will join the fleet next summer. Do you honestly see Air Serbia as an airline that schedules flights without having the aircraft to operate them?

      Delete
  32. Anonymous11:19

    Can't wait to see al of JU's new routes.

    ReplyDelete
  33. China before all.
    After that Baku, Tbilisi, Kuwait, Baghdad, Tehran, Ankara…

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous00:18

      China is completely closed. In fact, China at the moment does not allow anyone in from Serbia.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous21:44

      I vote for Kuwait and Baghdad too. There is a big ex Yu community in both Kuwait and Iraq.

      Delete
  34. Such a shame JU didn't get BCG to "consult" them LOL

    ReplyDelete
  35. Replies
    1. Referring to fraudulent contract OU has with "Boston Consulting Group", the results of which are zero changes in OU and increased rip off of tax payers

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:38

      Fraud is a serious accusation. I strongly doubt BCG would sign a fraudulent contract. Have you read the contract, and final report/recommendations? Has there been any investigates by Croatian media into this?

      Delete
  36. Anonymous20:05

    What happened with those two middle eastern airlines that were interested to fly to Belgrade this summer ?
    Ex Yu wrote about them in december .
    Belgrade airport should give incentives to Flynas and Jazeera Airways .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous00:17

      It is only January, there is a lot of time for new route announcements.

      Delete
  37. Waiting still BEG-HEL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous00:17

      I think they said when they stopped flights that it is a permanent termination, not a suspension.

      Delete
  38. Anonymous21:43

    I have just looked on Air Serbia site for the tickets to/from Amman. Noone mentioned that there will be a stop over in Istanbul. Sorry but it would not suit majority of passengers. Travel time is 9 or 10 hours. At first when I heard the news about new destination to Amman I was happy. Now, not anymore.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous22:08

      There is no stopover in Istanbul. You are looking at the wrong dates and days. They don't fly to Amman every day, so on days they don't fly there you get the alternative via Istanbul.

      Here is the schedule:

      https://www.exyuaviation.com/p/air-serbia-belgrade-amman_25.html

      Delete

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