Air Serbia to restore pre-Covid flight levels on over a dozen routes


Air Serbia will increase frequencies across its network this June, as well as introduce thirteen new routes. A number of destinations will be restored to pre-pandemic levels while flights on several others will exceed those prior to the global health emergency. The Serbian carrier will increase frequencies on flights from Belgrade to Athens, Berlin, Amsterdam, Bucharest, Copenhagen, Dusseldorf, Dubrovnik, Frankfurt, Larnaca, Ljubljana, London Heathrow, Milan, New York, Oslo, Podgorica, Prague, Rome, Sarajevo, Sofia, Skopje, Split, Stockholm, Stuttgart, Tirana, Thessaloniki, Venice, Vienna, Zagreb and Zurich when compared to this May. It will also launch services from the Serbian capital to Bari, Bologna, Hanover, Lyon, Nuremberg, Palma, Rijeka, Salzburg, Sochi and Trieste, from Niš to Athens and from Kraljevo to Tivat.

Destinations which will boast pre-pandemic frequencies this June, when compared to the 2019 summer season, include Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Larnaca, Ljubljana, London Heathrow, Madrid, Milan, New York, Paris, Podgorica, Rome, Sarajevo, Vienna and Zadar, while operations will exceed pre-covid levels to Barcelona, Tirana and Tivat. During June, Tivat will boast the most frequencies within Air Serbia’s network, served from three cities in the country. It will be followed by Zurich, Podgorica and Paris. The Serbian carrier will also continue to run two weekly flights from Niš to Cologne, Hahn, Istanbul and Ljubljana, in addition to the domestic four weekly Belgrade service, while from Kraljevo, the airline will maintain operations to Turkey’s largest city.

Air Serbia Belgrade operations in June

Destination

Weekly frequency

Notes

Amsterdam

8 - 10

10 flights from JUN 13

Athens

8

 

Barcelona

3

 

Bari

3

starts JUN 5

Banja Luka

2

 

Berlin

6

 

Brussels

2

 

Bologna

3

starts JUN 6

Bucharest

6

 

Copenhagen

5

 

Dusseldorf

6 - 7

7 flights from JUN 19

Dubrovnik

3

 

Frankfurt

7

 

Hanover

3

starts JUN 3

Istanbul

7

 

Larnaca

4 - 7

5 flights from JUN 14

7 flights from JUN 27

Ljubljana

12

 

London Heathrow

9

 

Lyon

2

starts JUN 3

Madrid

2

 

Milan

7

 

Moscow

8

 

New York

4 - 6

5 flights from JUN 15

6 flights from JUN 21

Nuremberg

2

starts JUN 6

Niš

4

 

Oslo

3 - 4

4 flights from JUN 23

Paris

14

 

Palma

2

starts JUN 11

Podgorica

20 - 21

21 flights from JUN 15

Prague

4

 

Pula

2

resumes JUN 16

Rome

6 - 7

7 flights from JUN 14

Rijeka

2

starts JUN 15

Salzburg

3

starts JUN 7

Sarajevo

7

 

Sochi

2

starts JUN 12

Sofia

5 - 6

6 flights from JUN 13

Skopje

10

 

Split

3 - 4

4 flights from JUN 24

Stockholm

5

 

St Petersburg

2

 

Stuttgart

4

 

Tirana

11

 

Tivat

22 - 35

27 flights from JUN 13

30 flights from JUN 20

35 flights from JUN 27

Thessaloniki

6 - 7

7 flights from JUN 24

Trieste

2

starts JUN 2

Valencia

2

 

Venice

2 - 3

3 flights from JUN 19

Vienna

13 - 14

14 flights from JUN 14

Zadar

2

resumes JUN 14

Zagreb

6 - 7

7 flights from JUN 13

Zurich

21

 

 

This June, Air Serbia will serve 52 destinations out of Belgrade on a scheduled basis. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine, frequencies are subject to change at short notice. The carrier’s CEO, Jiri Marek, recently said, “We are continuing the massive expansion of our network in order to complement the existing service and provide passengers the broadest possible selection when planning trips and holidays. An exciting a dynamic period is ahead of us”.




Comments

  1. Anonymous09:02

    They seem to be holding up in Amsterdam since they are fully returning frequencies. Three years ago they didn't have competition from double daily KLM flights.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:19

      Yes, surprisingly they have managed to withstand KL.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:21

      Don't they codeshare with each other?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:40

      They do but only for transfer passengers, KL doesn't sell JU's flights for O&D passengers.

      Delete
    4. They do offer connections with AirCanada in Amsterdam and those get filled with transfer passengers from Canada.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous14:33

      To, being a key word. Do let us know when they actually do it. Otherwise, this is nothing more than potential news from a possible future.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous16:14

      So true

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:04

    This is nothing wow, June is a strong month for everyone around the world. I will be impressed when they boost their frequencies in winter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:04

      Yeah everyone is introducing 13 new routes.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:08

      JU has a lot of catching up to do, that is why they are introducing so many new routes.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:10

      Yes you are right. They should be spat at.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:12

      Catch up to who exactly?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:21

      European carriers that operate a hub and spoke system. Look at JU's passenger numbers and then compare them to some others like BT for example.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:27

      Or even Tarom that successfully flies to places like Beirut, Amman and Cairo. Three destinations where JU failed. They fly there at night for transfers.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:29

      Catch up to TAROM? An airline serving a market which had 13 million tourists in 2019 compared to 1.8 million in Serbia? A market that has a population of almost 20 million people and a diaspora of around 8 million people?

      Delete
    8. Anonymous09:34

      Every airline in the world can introduce 13 new routes with 2 or 3 weekly frequencies ! It is not that hard !

      Delete
    9. Anonymous09:35

      Sure

      Delete
    10. Anonymous09:43

      Anon 09.29
      Have you looked at the geographical location of Romania and where Bucharest is located? Romania's population makes no difference here because someone from Iasi or Targu Mures will not drive to Bucharest to catch a flight. Heck, Belgrade is closer to Timisoara than Bucharest is.

      As for tourists, once again depends where they were going because OTP doesn't serve the whole country. On top of that, in Bucharest RO has fierce competition from Blueair, Wizz Air and Ryanair yet they still manage to survive and remain competitive.

      To see it sounds as if you are Marek trying to justify his lack of success so far. Like I already said, JU has a lot of catching up to do especially since their marketshare at BEG collapsed to below 40%.

      If you think that is an indicator of success then sure, live in your dream land.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous09:43

      People need to realize that Serbia is still a relatively poor market with low levels of business travel. Yes, most people travel once a year, most to Antalya and Hurghada but you can't compare to most other markets in the region which have high number of tourists, lots of business travel, bigger population size etc. All of these things significantly impact on how much an airline can expand and develop.

      I personally think JU's network is more than respectable at this point and in this situation.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous09:45

      @9.42 oh ok it's you. The guy obsessed with Marek. Should have realized. Nothing further to add.

      Delete
    13. Anonymous09:46

      JU's market share in BEG hovered between 38% and 40% before Covid. So I don't understand what it collapsed from? From 50% during Covid times when few airlines flew to Belgrade?

      Delete
    14. Anonymous09:47

      Anon 09.45
      Thank you for letting us know you were out of arguments.
      JU's pre covid marketshare was between 45% and 55%. Even when Jat was around it never fell under 40%, that's a fact.

      Delete
    15. Anonymous09:48

      I am not obsesed with Marak, he is the CEO and he is leading the airline. If JU is not performing well then he is to blame for his lack of competence. If a ship goes down you don't blame the bar tenders but rather the captain.

      Who is the captain at JU? Marak is.

      Delete
    16. Anonymous09:55

      I think over 50 routes in June, relatively quick recovery of frequencies on many routes and fleet renewal is quite a good start.

      Delete
    17. Anonymous09:56

      Yes and that is what I said however you can't be a successful airline if you have a decent network between June and September. You need to work on having it the whole year.

      Delete
    18. Anonymous10:41

      Taking in consideration the circumstances JU together with Marek are doing great job!

      And those who miss Jat Airways times (surely not including me) could only suffer. I feel sorry for them.

      Delete
    19. JATBEGMEL12:16

      @09,48

      I think Marek is doing fairly ok considering the circumstances.

      @09,21

      Considering the state of Jat that was nearing bankruptcy, EY and their expensive adventure in JU that costed hundreds of millions of Euros (the money wasted could of easily financed a large order for brand new ATR's), the need to swap expensive EY leases for cheaper ac combined with an aging fleet of ATR's and B733's, an A330 burning more money than it makes and 2 changes to their operating model, they are quite ok for where they're at, and most importantly they're growing.

      RO is far from being the example for JU to follow. Huge losses for their size making JU look amazing. One thing I agree on is the lack of ME flights.

      @09,56

      Winter is slow for everyone, not just JU. Serbian Government needs to do alot more to invest in winter tourism, which will help lower seasonality issues JU experiences. Bulgaria has done this and it has worked well for them. Bulgaria has had a massive head start in this aspect. If the government can support illegal construction projects on our mountains and in our national parks it can certainly support campaigns to attract foreign tourists. That is not JU's fault.

      Delete
    20. Anonymous13:32

      We'll see JU's financial performance and what great job Marek is doing. So far his biggest achievement was bringing JU below 40% marketshare.

      Delete
    21. Anonymous14:05

      His biggest achievement is restoring the majority of the network relatively quickly and finally renewing the turboprop fleet. You have an unhealthy obsession with the guy and I'm starting to think more and more that you got fired by him.

      Delete
    22. JATBEGMEL14:12

      @13,32

      You do realise Marek only became CEO 5 months ago?

      And I don't think you know that Marek also lead the massive expansion in 2019 which saw losses stabilised at 9 million Euros despite introducing over 20 new routes that year, with another 10 set for 2020. His team also quickly reacted to the collapse of JP and KK. His team has also finally fixed the issue of the outdated ATR fleet, got rid of the B733's and has been running the airline during the worst aviation crisis since WW2. I think he has done a fantastic job so far considering everything.

      The below 40% market share was temporary when restrictions across Europe were put in place. Before that, it was over 50%.

      Delete
    23. Anonymous16:15

      Marek might have become CEO five months ago but he has been the CCO for much, much longer.
      I'm surprised he didn't bring his valuable experience from CSA, Alitalia,Malev... to JU.

      Lolz

      Delete
    24. Anonymous18:17

      lolz to you, Anon 16:15. Varadi got his experience from Malev too, so what?

      Imagine what could have Air Serbia done if they had access to same funding as Wizz.

      Delete
    25. JATBEGMEL18:30

      Lolz all you want, he was part of LOT's transformation in 2014 that finally brought profitability to the airline after 7 years. LOT was sanctioned by the EU for the subsidies it received prior to this restructuring.

      It's also worth mentioning that direct sales and ancillary revenue has jumped since he has come to JU.

      Delete
    26. Anonymous18:42

      Varadi left MA to run W6 which we know where it is today. Marek went from MA to LO to AZ ... all that is missing is OA. haha

      We will see when winter comes how successful he is at running the airline. So far this winter was disastrous. Even the campaign they launched isn't that smart. You can barely read on the billboards what writes with the white background and thin black letters.

      Tick tock time will tell to us how successful he is.

      Delete
    27. Anonymous19:12

      Do you really think the CEO of the airline decides on billboard fonts?

      Delete
    28. JATBEGMEL20:09

      This winter we had the Covid restrictions. What's your strategy, fly empty aircraft around Europe so we can show frequencies and market share in departures ex Belgrade? If this winter they managed to conserve cash, I wouldn't say it is disastrous. The fact that the whole ATR fleet is being replaced in 1 season seems to suggest finances weren't that bad.

      Delete
    29. Anonymous21:58

      Anon 18:42 Varadi left MA to run W6 which we know where it is today. True but it wasn't his short temper and business acumen that created and grew Wizz, it was nearly unlimited funding and business directions he got from across the pond.

      Delete
    30. Anonymous22:04

      Regardless he created Wizz as it is today. We gotta give credit where credit is due.

      Delete
    31. Anonymous22:48

      Anyone could have created it with those funds and directions. You could have created it.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:05

    Great to see Oslo at 4 weekly. Looks like they are doing well there. It could go to daily in a year or two.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:11

      It has developed rather well. Even though Norwegian is back on the route I think majority migrated to JU.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:44

      What do you mean by the majority migrating to JU when DY is going to outperform their pre pandemic frequencies on OSL-BEG?

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:12

    Good work

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous09:12

    Seems that from the middle of June another aircraft will join the fleet.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous09:15

    Nice. Hope they will have enough aircraft to support this network.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous09:15

    Add to that charters, it is impressive

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous09:20

    What about Rostov and Krasnodar?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:21

      They resume at the start of July if the airport are reopened.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:21

    Good to see growth across the board although frequencies on some routes, particularly in the region are quite low

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JATBEGMEL13:05

      Biggest drop in frequencies in the region compared to 2019 is ATH, SKG, DBV, BNX, ZAG and LJU. Half of those routes have fairly high fares which puts off some travelers. It might be worth mentioning that their fleet is quite stretched this summer which I think is also affecting frequencies.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:10

      From June Ljubljana has the same frequencies as in the summer of 2019 (until October when they increased because Adria went belly up).

      Delete
  10. Kada zapocinje gradnja nove piste na Aerodromu Morava?
    Boingovi i Erbasovi avioni nemogu leteti na postojecu (vojnu) pistu. Vec pocinje treca godina i umesto gradnje piste i Kargo centra, ostaje dedovina i djedovina.
    Nada zadnja ostaje. Ali na nadi putnicki i kargo avioni nikada ne slecu. Na kraju, kao i na pocetku u Kraljevacki Aerodrom Moravu je u zadnjih trinast godina ulozeno toliko novca koliko vredi "dedovina i djedovina".
    Rodney Marinkovic and Aviation Enthusiast Associate Group 😀✈🌐🛫

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous09:30

    I still don't understand the logic of not resuming Tel Aviv.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:36

      Israel is still not fully open to foreigners and is a country which makes rule changes over night as they did throughout Covid.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:45

      At least there is Arkia which is obviously competent enough to make this market work. They are just boosting flights to three weekly.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:50

      Arkia can succeed because they handle Israeli tourists. There are still far fewer flights by Israeli operators to Belgrade then there were before Covid. Israeli tour operators send local tourists on Israeli airlines. There is nothing JU can do about that. JU didn't handle Israeli tourists on their flights before Covid either. And before you start how they should, they simply can't. It's the way the Israeli market functions. So there needs to be enough Serbian people traveling to Israel, enough transfer passengers and enough business traffic for flights to work for Air Serbia.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:55

      Funny how foreign carriers can carry Serbian tourists (Aegean is a good example, Nouvelair another) yet JU simply can't carry any foreign tourists because that's how the market is.
      How about JU actually taking part is some tourism fairs and making connections with tour operators there like foreign carriers are doing in Serbia.
      To me that sounds like a lazy excuse and lack of a good sales strategy.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:59

      You don't understand. Israeli market is extremely specific and this has always been the case. Air Serbia can take part in any trade fair it wants, it won't be handling Israeli tour groups. Israelis when going on holidays fly through tour operators and tour operators only who partner excessively with domestic carriers. You can't actually buy a ticket with Arkia between Tel Aviv and Belgrade because they are handling Israeli tourists only.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:23

      They should have started Amman.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:23

      You can literally buy a ticket with Arkia for TLV-BEG, I just checked and tickets are around $160 one way. They are not cheap but they are on sale.

      Also Turkish and Greek carriers carry Israeli holidaymakers to seaside resorts. There are numerous charters every summer.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous12:38

      Such a shame for not introducing Amman.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous13:33

      Amman doesn't fit into their Wizzier than Wizz strategy.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous14:06

      And maybe sales were poor and it was better to redirect aircraft on routes that will bring the airline money.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous16:17

      That's definitely cheaper than investing in marketing.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:37

    Can they manage all these increases with current fleet?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JATBEGMEL13:07

      No, that's why more aircraft is set to arrive next month. It was mentioned here several times that more aircraft will be joining the fleet.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:37

    They seem to be putting up some competition to Wizz in Larnaca.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous09:38

    35 weekly between Belgrade and Tivat, as well as flights from Kraljevo and Nis! Nice :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:51

      It is increasing to over 40 in July.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:53

    Very nice developments from JU this summer.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous10:00

    ATH pre covid was 14 weekly.Sad to see only 8.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous10:30

    Anyone know how they are performing on their new Valencia route?

    ReplyDelete
  18. Sasa10:31

    This is a very good network, Air Serbia is the best run flag carrier in EX YU. All 3 flag carriers burn taxpayer's money to some degree but in AS case results are growth, quick adapting to the market conditions and a vision of a real regional player. Far from perfect but far from pathetic OU and Air Montenegro. Respect

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous10:31

    Good luck with their new routes but I'm not sure how well they will do on so many routes to Italy. Italy isn't the biggest market out of Serbia so I'm surprised with their obsession with this market.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:54

      I'm also thinking the Italy market is oversaturated but let's see what sticks after summer.

      Delete
  20. Anonymous10:32

    Long haul will be last to recover, they said. Short haul capacity recovered and then some. Long haul is back to 6 per week so it can be considered recovered.

    Next: expanding long haul network by adding more aircraft and destinations.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JATBEGMEL13:16

      Short haul hasn't fully recovered. Frequencies are still down all over their network and JU will overall this year be short of about 2 aircraft compared to 2019. Lets wait for their financial report for 2021 and see how their recovery has been moving along before making that judgment if they are ready for long haul expansion or not.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:25

      The number of departing seats from the Serbian market will reach 110.4% during the third quarter compared to 2019. Frequencies are a bit down but overall BEG market including Air Serbia is expected to be generally recovered going forward. We didn't have to wait for 2021 financial results to see new European destinations launched so that's not a show stopper for expansion. Some also complained how Air Serbia had to take care of other priorities first such as replacing retired 737 fleet with more A319 and replacing old ATR fleet. Both are ongoing and will be completed in coming months. Others pointed out BEG airport needed more widebody gates, now you have them. There's really nothing stopping Air Serbia from making new new long haul destination announcement for 2023.

      Delete
    3. JATBEGMEL16:37

      They are replacing close to 50% of their fleet in 1 season, which is massive for any airline. That will be completed by the end of the summer season. This is far more important than adding another A330.

      Launching short haul and long haul are 2 very different things. Short haul capacity is very flexible to work with, long haul isn't. Short haul brings results quickly, long haul doesn't. Long haul requires larger investment, short haul doesn't.

      Judging by their comments on social media, something is in the works. Personally, it would be awesome for them to announce a long haul route in time for the Christmas travel rush, getting customers accustomed to the new route in time for summer 2023 and have another aircraft joining the fleet in April next year. Let's wait and see what will happen. The fact that YU-ARB has been fairly active outside of JFK is encouraging.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous18:34

      Ever since its creation in 2013, Air Serbia has managed to sustain only JFK as a long-haul destination. I guess it already takes a huge stake of the company opportunity. Having s second big plane is obviously not in their plans because they cannot afford it.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous18:44

      JFk only happened because the government made it happen. If it was up to JU it wouldn't have happened.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous19:20

      No, airline wanted long haul even during Jat Airways days and had goals of getting 767 for the task. Jat was managed poorly and the airline was in a bad shape.

      Long haul was specified as one of goals in the first presentation by Dane Kondic on the day Air Serbia branding was unveiled in 2013. Efforts started almost right away to get FAA Cat One (got it by March 2014 I think) and other approvals. Airline was/is majority owned by the government so their support is par for the course.

      Delete
  21. Anonymous10:44

    Please start Lisbon!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:52

      I think the best we can hope is Wizz Air.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:04

      Doubt we will ever see JU start these flights.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:37

      I think it is way too far for JU.

      MAD is already their farthest European destination and it takes too much time for one rotation taking in consideration their fleet size.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous10:47

    That's really a lot!
    Anyone can estimate the percentage of people with Serbian citizenship, permanently resident in Serbia (no "workers abroad") in this huge amount of flights?

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous11:08

    Siguran sam da bi mnoge linije bile pojačane ali treba ukalkulisati i 1000 čartera ovog leta.Nategnut red letenja tokom leta a da što manji broj aviona bude prizemljen tokom zimskih meseci.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous12:04

    52 destinations is impressive.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous12:04

    This is a good year for JU with new destinations and new aircraft.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous12:10

    Good to see Air Serbia growing

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous12:14

    35 weekly flights to TIV is serious stuff! Their MNE coverage is stunning. Also given the much bigger market in OTP, it is quite surprising they didn't add more flights. They also seemed to reintroduce the early morning departure flights from SOF where Mondays will see 2 daily flights and Saturdays early morning flights too. Fares seem to be quite competitive and the MCT is sometimes less than 1 hour in BEG which is pretty good bringing the total trip time to an average of 5 hours.
    The general conclusion is that they might need to maybe have an extra ATR or 2 in the future and to maybe reintroduce Aviolet. Winter charters are also very important and why not deploy the A330 on long-haul leisure such as Seychelles or Mauritius or Punta Cana that became quite popular during the pandemic for many Europeans.
    But, the overall network is respectable and especially connecting almost all Balkan capitals.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:38

      In regards to Tivat I think they have taken over a lot of Montenegro Airlines' passengers.

      Delete
    2. JATBEGMEL13:46

      Minimum connecting time in BEG is 40 minutes.

      By the end of the summer season, the ATR fleet will be fully renewed, which will set them up for future expansion on that end.

      Out of those 3 charter destinations you mentioned, only SEZ made the top 10 list in BEG for 2019 (7th place - roughly 1.500 pax). MRU was 12th or 13th with slightly over 1.000 travelers. HKT, DPS, BKK, MLE, CMB, ZNZ are all more popular destinations. Problem with these flights, especially Thailand, is that yield is trash on these flights due to competition. Our market isn't large enough to support these flights on its own. A seasonal flight 2-3 times a week with cooperation with a few agencies in the region might help make it more sustainable.

      As for Aviolet, you do realise that it was created to distance the Air Serbia brand from the B733's?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:25

      JATBEGMEL, always loved your enjoyable comments. Thanks for the facts about those leisure destinations. When you say the market cannot support it on its own then which other bigger country can you include which is non-EU or where "passporting" is available? Also, why does the airline not collaborate with the Serbian agencies? Which ones are the biggest?
      True dat about Aviolet. It's a pity though because they had the right product, simple typical leisure logo with no complications. Maybe one day, they can lease some 738s. Fingers crossed.

      Delete
    4. JATBEGMEL18:15

      @14,25

      Thanks for the compliments :)

      Not many Serbs can afford long haul leisure travel, which shows in the statstics. It's a growing market, but a very slowly growing one. Alot of people pay in installments for flights out to HRG and AYT for example, which are 2-3 times cheaper than those long haul destinations. Just a bit of an insight into our market.

      What might work, with focus on the word might, is for those flights being scheduled as seasonal routes (ie BEG-CMB) which will be available for booking for regular pax as well, with connections via BEG to their Euro-Med and JFK flights. Having connections with agencies in Slovenia, Croatia, Romania, Hungary, for example, where pax can transit in BEG and certain amount of seats is guaranteed by these agencies, will compliment those taken by Serbian agencies. On average, around 54 people traveled each week between BEG and CMB in 2019, which isn't much. It is also safe to assume that almost all traveled Economy.

      As for a dedicated charter company for JU, much larger airlines such as LO and OS don't have it. It just dilutes the core brand while adding unnecessary expenses with dedicated branding. Plus passengers do complain when the aircraft of the airline they have booked with isn't the one taking them to their destination, with JU previously being critised for it in the past. Mixing the fleet with 2 different aircraft types for the same segment adds costs, especially for a small airline such as JU. Even large airlines avoid this.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous20:18

      Ok, so those charter numbers are really low :( personally I have visited CMB and Sri Lanka is a very cool and interesting country but would not praise their beaches though.
      Maybe a combination with Slovenia would work out good as it is currently struggling to increase its traffic. The other day, there was a report here that it is almost the last in Europe just after Belarus! So, JU might want to consider combining packages with Slovenia if the strange EU laws allow it that is.
      OS and LO do not have their charter divisions but Serbia did. I agree that they made a mistake deploying Aviolet on some non-charter routes in the past. But, you might want to agree that you need to make the first move towards charter creation. Sri Lanka, Dominican Republic or Tanzania are quite cheap countries where many can afford a 10 to 14 day vacation. During the pandemic even airlines like Animawings, Bulgarian Air Charter, some Baltic carriers flew to Zanzibar with a stopover in Aswan or Egypt to refuel. You think they cannot find 150 people to travel every week from Serbia during winter? For Tanzania the visa is applied online. No visa required for Dominican Republic for instance, etc.
      We clearly see that the standard of living in Serbia has been modestly increasing during the last couple of years. Thing is, that there is most likely a lack of larger touroperators that would work throughout the whole year and collaborating with the airline.
      Yet again, we already see that smaller INI is now connected for instance with Corfu and it was an airport that barely had any flights 10 years ago for example with a couple of flights per week to TGD. But hey, maybe I am wrong about the touroperators part and missing something important. Feel free to add your comments! :)

      Delete
    6. Anonymous20:58

      Worth adding, Boeing 738s won't be entering AirSerbia any time soon for the aforementioned reasons regarding two aircraft types and maintenance reasons, as well as the fact that any remaining pilots in AirSerbia (whose type ratings from the Aviolet 737s haven't yet expired) are trained on 737 Classics, and not 737NG :)

      Delete
    7. JATBEGMEL00:09

      @20,18

      Aviolet was just a livery and barely anything more. Air Serbia flight numbers, Air Serbia crew, even the Aviolet uniform didn't last the entirety of the brand. There is a reason why JU was fast to abandon the brand. The charter season is focused around 4 months of the year (June-September), for 8 months there is barely any. 1-2 aircraft dedicated for charters in the peak season isn't enough. You see this already with 4-5 aircraft one after the other departing for HRG. At some point you have to use the mainline aircraft for charters, so whats the point of investing all that money for a charter brand when it can't fully do the job?and what happens with those aircraft for 8 months when there isn't charters? Parking them is too expensive, sending them on regular routes dilutes your brand. Hundreds of dedicated uniform pieces is not cheap either.

      As for Zanzibar, just over 1.400 pax flew there from BEG in 2019. Thats 28 pax per week. To expect 5 times the number of pax to fill an aircraft for a 1 weekly flight is unrealistic. Dominican Republic not even 1.000 pax. It's not JU that initiates the charters, it's the agencies. Agencies can't find enough passengers for a dedicated aircraft to fly to these destinations.

      As for standard of living, thats very debatable. Average salary is one thing, most commonly paid salary is another. Minimum wage doesn't cover the average cost of living. As of Feb 2022, according to the Serbian Statistical Office, 50% of Serbia's population earns a salary up to 450€ while national average is around 600€. Salaries are growing, however so is inflation and the cost of living. Air travel has also become cheaper with added competition on the market. INI saw an increase in flights the moment fees were reduced, attracting ULCC's, which cater to mostly to the gastarbeiters. Ticket prices are significantly cheaper now compared to before because of these ULCC's which is why INI has this demand. CFU has really low fares, you can get a ticket for 12€ 2 weeks from now. Add a zero to the end of that number and you will see demand drop.

      Delete
  28. Anonymous13:02

    Venice, Trieste, and Rijeka — brave but exciting! Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. and Pula, Ljubljana and Zagreb - 6 airports in 200 km radius. Much bigger players with bigger networks don't have it - LOT for example

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:10

      & Pula

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:30

      & Ljubljana

      Delete
  29. Anonymous15:30

    All nice but delays are already at JAT level, what will be in June?!?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:19

      I noticed that too, at least they are consistent

      Delete
  30. Anonymous16:55

    I see a lot of frequencies to TIV and also TGD. I am not Serbian can someone explain what kind of travel this is. I know a lot of Serbians go there on holiday. But Chalkediki is also full of Serbians and SKG has 4 frequencies. Most Serbians go by car to Chalkediki, but Montenegro is also a 8 hour drive from Belgrade like Greece is, so I assume also a lot of Serbians also go by car to Montenegro. I know also a lot Montenegrins study,work,party or visit Serbia but the amount of Bosnians who visited Serbia was 2 times higher and the amount Macedonians similair to Montenegrins. I also understand that a lot of Russians visit Montenegro and at the moment AirSerbia has a monopole posistion to Tivat from Russian market and to Podgorica only concurention from Turkish airlines. But still 50 frequencies is a lot can someone explain maybe some other reasons by this huge demand.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Russians, Americans a lot transfer passengers via BEG go to Montenegro for leisure.

      Delete
  31. Anonymous20:07

    Ovo su naravno odlicne vesti ali jednako je velika steta sto se toliko zapostavlja Afrika i Bliski Istok gde postoji ogroman potencijal ali se iskreno nadam da ce sledece godine biti konacno i to uzeto u obzir.
    INN-NS

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

EX-YU Aviation News does not tolerate insults, excessive swearing, racist, homophobic or any other chauvinist remarks or provocative posts with the intention of creating further arguments. A full list of comment guidelines can be found here. Thank you for your cooperation.