NEWS FLASH
Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport registered a notable increase in travellers on two routes during the last quarter of 2021, despite a reduction in general demand for travel due to surging coronavirus rates across the world. According to operator VINCI, passenger numbers to Dubai increased 19% compared to the same quarter in the pre-pandemic 2019, while figures on the Istanbul route were up 8%. Dubai is currently served ten times per week from the Serbian capital, which is up from seven weekly flights two years ago. In addition, Air Serbia also maintains one to two weekly regular charters to the Emirati city. The number of services between the two will increase to two daily this coming summer. On the other hand, Turkish Airlines is operating its pre-pandemic two daily frequencies between Istanbul and Belgrade, while Air Serbia runs a daily rotation, up from three weekly flights to the city it commenced on December 11, 2019. Pegasus Airlines continues to maintain four weekly flights. This coming summer season, Turkish Airlines will add an additional daily rotation for a total of three.
I am not surprised about IST. Many people transferred there on their way to the US while there was that Schengen transfer ban. There are almost no travel restrictions between Serbia and Turkey so tourism boomed on both ends. This just goes to show how useless all these restrictions are and how damaging they are for the aviation industry.
ReplyDeleteDon't know about "useless", I was surprised to see Australian death numbers during this Nole saga. However, IST performance is amazing and I really like the fact JU (re)launched it just before this mess. The best news is Serbian-Turkish air market is still not saturated, hope to see even better figures in the following years.
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