Air Serbia schedules Europe-wide network growth over winter


Air Serbia has scheduled notable frequency growth across its European network for the upcoming winter season. The carrier is set to increase the number of flights from Belgrade to Ljubljana, Skopje, Zagreb, Tirana, Skopje, Bucharest, Sofia, Larnaca, Barcelona, Vienna, Paris, Athens, Podgorica and Tivat. A number of destinations will now have the same number of frequencies or exceed the number of flights which were operated for part of the 2019/20 winter season, in the lead-up to the coronavirus pandemic. Furthermore, almost all of the routes the company launched this summer season have been extended into the winter months.

The 2022/23 winter season begins on October 30 and runs until March 25 of next year. Apart from the traditional frequency growth over the New Year and Christmas holidays, which are implemented from mid-December until mid-January, Air Serbia will increase its flights from the start of the season. Services from Belgrade to Ljubljana have been scheduled twice per day, up from the planned twelve weekly service. Operations to Zagreb will be maintained eleven times per week, up from the planned eight weekly rotations and an increase on the pre-pandemic ten weekly flights. Tirana will run twelve times per week, an increase from the planned eleven and the pre-pandemic ten weekly flights. Bucharest will grow to nine weekly rotations from the planned eight weekly service and the pre-Covid seven weekly flights. Passengers will have the opportunity to choose from nine weekly flights between the Serbian capital and Sofia, an increase on the planned four weekly rotations and the pre-pandemic daily service. A total of eleven weekly flights will operate to Skopje, up from eight weekly in 2019/20.

Elsewhere, Air Serbia will double its operations to Larnaca from the planned three, to six weekly flights. In the lead-up to the Covid pandemic, services were maintained just twice per week. Similarly, flights to Barcelona will grow from the pre-pandemic two weekly rotations to four weekly. Services to both Vienna and Paris will return to pre-crisis levels with a double daily service and twelve weekly flights respectively. Athens-bound passengers can choose from ten weekly flights this winter, up from daily prior to the global health emergency. Services to the Montenegrin capital of Podgorica will run twenty times per week, up from nineteen, while flights to Tivat will operate thirteen weekly, an increase from the pre-Covid daily rotation.

Other destinations that will match their pre-pandemic frequencies or exceed the initially planned number of flights for this winter include Berlin, Prague, Rome and Sarajevo. Services to St Petersburg have been extended for the entire winter season, rather than just a two-week holiday service.. As previously reported, flights to New York will run between three and five times per week during the upcoming winter season, up from between two and four.

Air Serbia has extended operations into the winter for almost all of the new routes it launched out of Belgrade this summer. They include Valencia, Lyon, Bologna, Hanover, Nuremberg, Salzburg and Sochi. On the other hand, Trieste, Bari and Palma will not run during the winter, although the latter two were announced as seasonal routes. Flights to Salzburg will see a notable increase in capacity, with the two weekly service to operate with the Airbus A319 aircraft, instead of the ATR72 turboprop as was the case over the summer. Air Serbia is set to make several more changes to its upcoming winter network, as well as schedule its new service to China, in the coming weeks.

EX-YU Aviation News will publish detailed 2022/23 winter season network modifications for all of the national carriers from the former Yugoslavia this October, in the lead-up to the start of the winter season.



Comments

  1. Anonymous09:01

    Impressive!

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:37

      I agree. Well done, Air Serbia.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:02

    Seems like the regional network is being strengthened for long haul. Good work.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:22

      My thoughts exactly, JU has to have stable and dominant regional market. However, there’s still space to grow.

      Potential destinations attractive for transfers: Cluj, Budapest, Split, Varna, Prishtina (once the political relations allow so).

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:00

      Air Serbia flies to Split

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:09

      I'm talk'in year-round.

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    4. Anonymous11:45

      No demand, even in summer they don't fly there daily.

      Delete
    5. JATBEGMEL12:24

      Croatian coastal destinations this summer were brought back to almost the same capacity as summer 2019.

      SPU could easily be operated at least from the start of the summer season, and I think there would be sufficient demand for at least an ATR operating a couple times a week. There is O&D traffic between the 2 cities.

      I wouldn't be surprised to see either DBV or SPU or both getting a double daily rotation in the next year or 2.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous12:55

      If JU was after O&D demand then ZAD would make more sense than SPU, which is also more expensive and is very difficult towards JU each year. They take extremely long to approve JU's request. If JU had a spare ATR in winter I'd rather see them launch a new Romanian destination like Cluj than SPU or ZAD. There are more opportunities in the east.

      Delete
    7. ZAD did very well this summer.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:03

    I can only conclude they are going out to kill Air Montenegro. 20 weekly to TGD and 13 to Tivat in winter is a lot.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:06

      They are dominating this route since Montenegro Airlines went bankrupt.

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    2. Seriously doubt that. The politics would kick in. They will form some sort of JV to make it work as a duopoly.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:06

    Very good

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  5. Anonymous09:08

    Barcelona really seems to be a hit for them. They are basically keeping the summer frequencies during winter. I can see this grow up to daily flights next summer.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:11

      Spain was extremely popular this summer. Especially their new route to Valencia too.

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    2. Return tickets for December are around 40.000, maybe even less. It's great deal for a long weekend getaway.

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    3. Anonymous20:10

      40000 is crazy expensive for an intra European flight 3 months in advance. Few people will be going on a short city break at those prices. Thank god for Ryanair at INI :)

      Delete
    4. Anonymous21:29

      Thank God for what when there are no flights from INI to BCN on Ryanair.
      I don't know where he found return flight for 40.000 when JU sells on way to BCN in December for 5.590 Dinars which is a bit more than 50 Euros.

      Delete
    5. Ok, firstly, sorry. I forgot to write that I meant for two.
      Second, just checked it out again, for the holidays 22.12 - 25.12 is around 21k per a person.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous12:49

      That's around €170 per person which isn't bad since it's the holiday period and people are already starting to book flights.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:11

    Don't remember LCA ever being served 6 times per week in winter. Plus there are 2 weekly Wizz Air flights. Seems to be doing really well.

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    Replies
    1. JATBEGMEL12:29

      I think Jat did when DXB operated via LCA (2008).

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    2. Anonymous12:50

      I think they had to do it as their B733 could not make it to DXB without stop on the way.

      Delete
    3. Nemjee12:58

      LCA had a stop on their way from BEG to DXB, AUH and TLV. Dubai was added when the war in Lebanon broke out. I think that summer there were 5 weekly to Dubai.

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    4. @Nemjee, does this LCA stop to DXB, AUH and TLV has anything to do with the JAT B733 range or it was due to market conditions?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous14:50

      It was due to range. The plane could make it nonstop only one way (from BEG) and only if it was not full. They had fifth freedom between BEY and DXB and carried lots of pax since they were very cheap on that sector.

      Delete
    6. Nemjee15:18

      Indeed, it was due to range issues. Actually, B733 could make it all the way to Dubai nonstop but it wouldn't have enough fuel in case it had to go into a holding position. So they kept on moving the stop first from KWI to BEY and then to LCA.

      TLV was never a stop on the way to Dubai as political circumstances didn't allow it back then. TLV and LCA were merged into a single flight due to low demand to both destinations.

      Delete
    7. JATBEGMEL18:18

      JU relaunched DXB if I remember right in 2002, the flights went via BEY. In 2006 they went temporarily via LCA when Israel attacked Lebanon and ended up becoming permanent (except for a brief couple of months it went via BEY).

      BEY became linked with DAM operating BEG-BEY-DAM-BEG before both were cancelled (2008?).

      In May 2009 DXB was cancelled and AUH launched at 2 pw via LCA. A disagreement between Jat and EK came about that year after EK increased fares for Jat passengers, switching to EY. That didn't last long and DXB was relaunched roughly a year later, again via LCA, first 3 pw increasing to 4 pw in 2011 before being cancelled in October of that year. TLV I believe in 2011 was 2 pw via LCA during the summer, but in the winter that year the flights were operated as BEG-PFO-TLV-BEG.

      Delete
    8. Nemjee19:29

      Actually I think in the early 2000s Dubai was operated via Kuwait, I remember some family friends flew like that but I can't remember when it was exactly.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous17:38

      It was via KWI in 2005. when I flew there.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:12

    Barcelona is constantly growing, wow !!
    It started as 2x in the summer season now it’s 4x in the winter season !!!

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:18

      JU underestimated the Spanish market quite a lot and it has yet much more to discover. This is a very good and rich market even in winter. Barcelona is just Barcelona. Can be visited basically anytime of the year and you will never get bored of it.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:12

      Barcelona is more than 'just' Barcelona. It has so much to offer.
      Barcelona is Barcelona.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:01

      No it's not. CDG and AMS are among the biggest hubs in Europe.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:35

      14:01 - It has got nothing to do with hub bs. BCN is literally one of Europe's most beautiful cities. It probably has more European direct connections compared to Madrid. I bet you even haven't been there or have no clue about the city. It has many many visits, connected to high-speed trains, tourism, technology, you name it.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous14:55

      What about direct connections compared to CDG i AMS?
      BTW, you lose the bet, I've been to Barcelona and love it.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous17:50

      Regardless of what someone personally thinks of Barcelona as a city, it cannot be compared to AMS or CDG in terms of importance as an airport. That’s what the 14:01 person meant and you still have not got it.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous21:00

      What do you mean by "importance"? AMS is important because it has transfers but in reality it remains a small advanced village. Besides BCN has a way much more developed domestic, regional network and it's not even a capital. I am not even gonna talk about MAD.
      Please, when it comes to aviation do not underestimate Spain with 1 sole airport in the Netherlands. As for CDG, yes simply because it's a way much bigger city and yet again in reality in France you only have 1 more important airport compared to at least 2 in Spain.

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    8. Anonymous21:32

      Are you aware that France has 50% more people than Spain? Also Paris the most visited city in the world.

      The two combined airports in Paris had 105.000.000 passengers.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous00:45

      Are you aware that Paris is only 1 city representing the whole country? Spain has many more worldwide cities compared to France. Sorry. The first thing that pops up on your mind when you say France is Paris. The first thing that pops up on your mind when you say Spain is Barcelona, Ibiza, Mallorca, Madrid, Sevilla.
      Just look at what happened with JU when they seriously stepped into Spain. Wanna deny facts?

      Delete
    10. Anonymous06:16

      Ano 00:45 you are really ignorant about France. People think more than Paris when it comes to tourism. Have you heard of Bordeaux? Lyon? Nice? And btw Paris has two international airports: CDG and ORY.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous07:03

      And so you are you about Spain. I have heard of those French cities and I speak French as well, fyi. I have been to France and know their culture but so should you open your eyes about Spain. Did you know that there will be currently 3 low-cost high speed trains in the country starting this fall?
      I am not ignoring the importance of CDG or ORY but just look at connections offered in both MAD and BCN. Mallorca being a small island generated 29 million passengers in 2019 vs 14 million in your beloved Nice, which is the country's 3rd largest.
      Why did JU not launch BOD, LYS or NCE based on your logic and chose MAD, BCN and VLC instead?

      Delete
    12. Nemjee07:57

      Are you seriously comparing Palma and Nice? One which is the epicenter of mass tourist and cheap package holidays while the other is an entry point to the French Riviera. Completely different markets, yields and business models.

      GDP of the Balearic Islands was 26,789 million in 2020 while the city of Nice (not the whole province) generated $47,700 million that same year.
      Mind you, Nice metropolitan area has more or less the same population as the Balearic Islands.

      So obviously passenger numbers in this case are not indicative of how strong a region's economic activity is. France has chosen not to promote cheap, mass tourism the same way Greece, Spain and Portugal have so their passenger structure is quite different.

      Delete
    13. Anonymous09:02

      Nemjee, you are absolutely clueless about Mallorca. There is a significant niche of luxury tourism. No need to discuss with people who have no idea.

      Delete
    14. Nemjee09:32

      It's ok Anon 09.02, at least we are all lucky to have you to enlighten us all.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:13

    Great news, although the author could tell us what the frequencies are

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:14

      It says in the article...

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:14

    FRA is 6 weekly increased from 5

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:14

      It used to be daily before corona.

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    2. Anonymous09:31

      Yes, but not last winter and in the schedule for this winter it was 5 weekly up to now.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:56

      And Istanbul from 7 to 10!

      Delete
    4. Nemjee13:19

      They had to increase FRA, they had no other choice. Lufthansa is planning on being aggressive this winter. In November they have double daily on the A320 and on some days they even scheduled the A321. If they don't end up cancelling flights and if they pull this off then I wouldn't be surprised to see a third daily added either from FRA or MUC.

      BEG-MUC is also planned as double daily.

      I think both JU and LH will do fine now that Wizz Air has turned HHN into a summer seasonal service. I guess this is another market where they failed when they don't get preferential treatment.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:19

    What’s the SKP increase?

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:24

      It says 11 weekly, up from 8.

      Delete
  11. Nemjee09:20

    Very good to see LCA perform so well. This is what happens when you remain committed to a certain market. When covid hit, JU was one of the few airlines not to leave LCA. They operated the one weekly rotation and kept their presence there while airlines such as LOT, Lufthansa and even Austrian Airlines discontinued flights.
    Soon after they finally introduced daytime flights which proved to be a massive success both with locals and transfers.

    It's because of all this that they are able to plan almost daily flights in winter time. Hopefully they grow some cojones and plan LCA as double daily next summer. Let's look at November and see how they compare to their competition:

    OS: 8
    LO: 0
    LH: 7 (MUC)
    LH: 4 (FRA)
    LX: 5

    Since Wizz Air has scheduled their winter LCA flights at 05.40 in the morning, Air Serbia won't have to worry about losing the O&D market. This will considerably boost their revenue this winter season.
    In addition to O&D they will also have all the Russia bound traffic so now it's time for their revenue management to become aggressive and to offer competitive pricing for transfers to Western Europe. They have the perfect opportunity to steal passengers from their competition and to further consolidate their position in Cyprus.
    They have also profited from Wizz Air destroying LO in Cyprus and Blueair pushing RO from LCA.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous09:24

    They are truly becoming a serious player in the Balkans.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous09:26

    LJU seems to be hungry for new flights. Good job with the double daily frequencies.
    OTP, I was expecting more agressive attitude and frequencies as Blue Air will be left only with 5 planes this winter it seems and if they survive.
    SOF, 9 weekly was what they originally used to operate. Morning departures seem to work well.
    TIA, no surprise there. The airport closed Jan-July with figures nearing levels of BEG, SKG and SOF almost. Crazy!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous09:31

    Is Prague still served with ATR or is it moved to Airbus?

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:45

      It was always an ATR

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    2. Anonymous09:59

      ATR continues to serve PRG.

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    3. Anonymous10:06

      How long is that rotation to PRG on the ATR? Is it its longest ATR flight?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:06

      That's a shame, thanks for reply.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:11

      Block time 2:10h and 1:55h.

      Yes, it is their longest ATR route, a bit longer than VCE.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:12

      It is 2h 10m long flight...nightmare in ATR although it might be better with new model.
      Interestingly, when ever I have using that flight it was almost full. I wonder why the don't move it from ATR...

      Delete
    7. Nemjee10:45

      Before covid this route was increased to 10 weekly. I suppose they want first to increase it to double daily before upgauging individual flights. Frequency over capacity. It's a valid concept especially if you are trying to build a hub.

      Personally, it would be embarrassing for the CEO is Prague underperformed. If anyone should be familiar with the market it's him. With his background BEG-PRG should thrive. We'll see how it performs this winter and especially next summer.
      The Czech Republic no longer has a reputable or strong national airline. This has left an opening for other airlines to step in. Air Serbia is among them.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous13:45

      No Germans puppies with decent airways, LO is recapitalized as well as OU same with Baltic. Just acquireing new debts.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:58

    The target should be double daily for all regional routes.

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    Replies
    1. Nemjee10:05

      Their target needs to be triple daily in summer because of long-haul flights that arrive after 05.00.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:05

      I don't think there is enough demand for so many flights from some airports in the region.

      Delete
    3. Nemjee10:20

      Of course that is why they need to aim for the larger markets like OTP, SOF, IST, ATH, SKG and TIA.
      LO plans double daily flights to SOF and I doubt there is much O&D demand between these two markets. LOT is mostly carrying transfers, a market that JU can steal from them. That market is within their reach, it's up to them what they do with it.

      I think it's a mistake that they don't insist on night flights to SOF at least on days when JFK departs in the morning.

      Delete
    4. Charlie11:25

      JU should aim to be the LOT of the Balkans (excluding TK & Aegean of course).
      The transfer market is there.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:47

      Maybe in a few years when they get a competent sales team and a marketing strategy.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:48

      Nemjee, LO used to operate 3 daily to SOF on weekdays before the crisis with early morning departure flights and yes, you are right, JU night flights/early morning departure and the ones on Mondays are quite important. If JU had more planes, 2 daily SOF is quite doable as prices and MCT via BEG are quite reasonable.
      Lets hope strongly that they coordinate their timetable with the future ORD flights as it will compete directly with LO.

      Delete
    7. Nemjee13:03

      Eventually two daily to Sofia is a must for them in order to optimize connections in Belgrade

      Delete
    8. Hey @Charlie, my friend ☺,
      Actually, OU should have aimed to be the LOT of the Balkans, because it has the same size diaspora as Serbia, incomparably bigger tourist traffic than Serbia, no open issues with important transfer market of Kosovo, and even better, more western position, with entire Balkans "behind", and with Slovenia easily accessible by ground transportation. But I regularly got spit at when saying this, by people either blind, or paid to write so by those who made OU pathetic feeder and humiliated servant, instead the LOT of the Balkans. And that's why I keep my fingers crossed and wish all luck at least to JU, to achieve that goal and make it happen.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous14:50

      POZDRAV........Boring once more !

      Delete
    10. Nemjee15:23

      I don't think OU could ever become LO of the Balkans.
      Local market market is fragmented, extremely seasonal and its main hub doesn't generate enough demand without transfers. OU could have become a small regional carrier with a mini hub but never more than that. ZAG's numbers are enough proof of that.

      Even if you removed transfer numbers from WAW, numbers are still respectable. Unless you have billions to spend like Arab governments do, you still need strong local demand to support your growth. That's why TK has it easy. They have both.

      If OU went ahead with their expansion in the 1990s, then it is highly likely they would have ended up like MA or OK.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous15:44

      +100

      Delete
    12. @Nemjee
      Let me just remind you that Croatia has 11 million air passengers, Serbia 6. Let me remind you Emirates, Qatar, Korean, Air Canada, Air Transat, United, American and Delta have flown to Croatia during last 3-4 years. So yes, OU could have become LOT of the Balkans. I was not referring to exact LOT numbers, which would be insane because of size of Poland and their NA diaspora, but about the principal of operations and business model.

      Delete
    13. principle, autocorrect

      Delete
    14. Nemjee19:41

      Well, those 11 million are kind of irrelevant as they are spread out over several airports meaning it would be very difficult for OU to cover the whole market. Furthermore, all those airports with the exception of ZAG are dead in winter. What would OU do with all that capacity once summer months are over?

      That is why when evaluating the potential of OU, we first and foremost need to look at ZAG and its potential.

      Even Aegean which operates out of a much bigger and more lucrative market than Croatia is focused on ATH and then a few airports where they play a minor role. I believe their biggest presence is in HER, an island that is home to 600.000 people and where they have 3 A320s based in summer. Before covid hit, HER welcomed 8 million passengers per year. One airport alone had roughly 72% of all air traffic in Croatia.

      Aegean is what it is today because it is based in Athens, a market that welcomed 25.5 million passengers just before covid hit. That is why they can afford to operate seasonal bases in a few other airports. For OU, the 3.5 million ZAG generated before covid simply isn't enough to sustain their expansion.

      Serbian market maybe generates less traffic than Croatia but at least seasonality isn't handicapping JU or any other airline that is operating out of the market. That is why from a long-term perspective, Air Serbia will have an easier time consolidating its operations and taking it from there one step at a time. At this point I am no longer speaking about theories or hypothetical potential for JU but about it all slowly becoming reality.

      Delete
    15. All you say is OK, and acceptable, and true, except for you basically agree to what OU is (not) doing. With adequate strategy, which btw does not exist, good management, whose results are btw zero, with less crime, corruption and nepotism and with less incompetence and inertness, at least one part of croatian domestic fragmented market could have been funnelled to ZAG, as well as significant parts of ex-yu and wider Balkans markets. That chance was missed some 10-15 years ago when Jat Airways barely existed, Malev went bankrupt, Tarom down, Aegean was not as big and as strong yet, the presence of LCC'S in the region was almost non existent and economies and tourism started to get back to normal. I am really surprised you of all people are not able to see potentials of croatian market, combined with ex-yu and Balkans markets, what I am talking about, and all lost chances and opportunities of OU, and you basically find excuses for their feeder status, servant mentality and incompetence, overstaffing and low work productivity, which are the reasons why they didn't position themselves as the LOT of the Balkans, exactly the same what Air Serbia is recently trying, and succeeding to do, on the smaller domestic market, with less tourism, and in less favourable environment.

      Delete
    16. Nemjee11:14

      In my comment I said that they could have run a small hub with a decent coverage. Just like Aegean did in Greece, they would have to focus on ZAG and maybe one other airport, SPU for example.
      For operational reasons other airports would be left to their competition.

      They could profitably operate a fleet of maybe 20 aircraft if they played their cards right. I don't see the market sustaining anything more than that especially since ZAG isn't generating a massive amount of demand.

      What Air Serbia has going for it is Belgrade's fast development which will generate additional inbound and outbound demand. Just look how crazy demand to Istanbul is these days.

      Delete
    17. Anonymous12:47

      It's impossible to compare BEG and ZAG at the moment because they are in completely different situations. On one side you have BEG with an ambitious flag carrier that is continously expanding every year and then you have ZAG with stagnating irrelevant servant of LH. BEG handles a substantial amount of transfer passengers every day, while that's not the case for ZAG. And of course we have the huge outbound demand for holiday charters which Croatia will never have for obvious reasons. Put an airline like OU in BEG instead of JU and you will see similar numbers for both BEG and ZAG. Yes, BEG would still be a little higher for sure but not such a difference that would justify BEG to be a potential hub for ''LO of the Balkans'' and not ZAG.

      Delete
    18. Anonymous12:52

      Transfer passengers in BEG make up 20% of all traffic so local demand is strong and that is why next to JU others perform quite well. Also BEG catchment area is becoming much wealthier each year and this will not change in the future. There is a reason why so many foreign airlines do so well here.

      Simply putting OU in BEG will not be enough. RO failed in OTP, MA in BUD and so on. All markets with bigger local demand from BEG. JU has a vision and knows what it wants to become. That is most imprtant thing.

      Delete
    19. Anonymous13:37

      Rijeka, bore off!

      Delete
  16. Anonymous10:05

    Honestly, when they announced the new routes for summer I thought maybe 1 or 2 would survive to the winter. But great to see almost all of them are continuing in winter too. Something tells me we won't see Trieste back next summer. Just too many routes in that part.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I hope they start Lagos in the future as well

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:13

      I think this is becoming "local" joke :) Various people posting about Lagos, all of them inspired by original poster :)

      Delete
    2. Why joke? It is just a good idea? Air Serbia needs to think out of the box!

      Delete
    3. Actually JAT Yugoslav Airlines, back in 1990, before the disintegration of the country, and with planned arrival of 6 MD-11's, in addition to 3 DC-10 's which were sold out and leased back, so with fleet of 9 long haul units, had plans for opening of several new long haul routes on all continents. One of them was Belgrade-Lagos-Accra. And at those times, the route would definitely be a success. However, the times changed, and I am not sure LOS is making any sense for JU today.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:23

      Is there any demand to LOS today? Just checked that the airport is served by a decent number of airlines.

      Delete
    5. JATBEGMEL12:45

      LOS might be an interesting destination to look at in the next 5 years. Especially if JU goes ahead with their planned China expansion.

      LOS is close enough to be served with the A320, however cargo could be a big problem, as it has been with TK (insufficient cargo space compared to the demand). Also, the JU A320 configuration is horrible for long sectors. Perhaps once the A320 fleet grows large enough they could look into having a couple A320's with a better, premium configuration, especially for these longer flights.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous14:51

      Okay, but why were there flights to LOS at first place? If so, why would they be beneficial in 5 years time and not now? Maybe Pozdrav remembers, he has elephant memory :)

      Delete
    7. The technology advanced significantly. Now JU does not need widebody for 6 hour flights. That opens up many possibilities. TK serves numerous destinations in Africa with B738. Someting similar could be applied in JU's case. Deploy A319 on long thin routes and connect them to North America or Asia.

      Delete
    8. JATBEGMEL16:21

      @14,51

      JAT never flew to LOS. In fact, their only African routes were CAI, TUN, TIP and ALG.

      There isn't a Nigerian community in Serbia, nor a Serbian community in Nigeria. Nigeria is not a tourist destination, while Nigerians visiting Serbia is next to none.

      Regarding trade, Nigerian exports to Serbia for 2021 was roughly US$96.000, Serbian exports to Nigeria US$8 million - practically nothing.

      JU also don't have the routes or frequencies (yet) that might be of interest to Nigerian travellers (ie China). Cargo demand is huge between China and Africa. I think that if JU succeeds on their Chinese routes, Sub Saharan routes might be something interesting to look into.

      Delete
    9. @ An.14.51
      There were no scheduled JAT flights to Lagos, or anywhere else in Africa, as JATBEGMEL correctly said. There were PLANS to launch Lagos-Accra and Nairobi-Johannesburg, at times when Africa was much worse connected to the World than today, and JAT was growing a lot and shifting its focus to carrying more and more transfer passengers

      Delete
    10. Anonymous21:06

      Ah, ic. Thank you guyz :) yes, it made sense back then but now Africa seems to be connected more and more but that does not mean it is enough. Живем-поживаем like Russians say. Lets see what happens with Europe first.

      Delete
    11. Why do you need NIgerian comunity in Serbia? Hundreds of Nigerians are moving out every day with visas in hands. There are millions of Nigerians in Europe. They will always, but always go with any ticket they have. They even fly to Doha and from there to Europe. No tickets all sold out. I can bet that flight to Lagos would be huge success to Air Serbia as 95% of the flight would be transfer pax. As I said already many times I have been in the plane for Lagos more than 50 times in last few years and it was always full up to the last seat! You can attack me as much as you want but I never said to start Windhoek, Accra, Walvis Bay or Luanda as those flights have always been 50% full but Lagos is full with all carriers every single time!

      Delete
    12. Anonymous01:02

      metropol area from Lagos has 21 million inhabitants and Lagos airport had 7,3 million passengers in 2019. Which is considering it's population not really much and 7,3 million passengers is not a really big market. KLM and Air France both fligh daily to these destanations and offer Lagos for 630 euro. Not sure if Air Serbia will be able to offer that for that price. Besides there is concurention from Lufthansa, Turkish airlines, Emirates and even Royal air Maroc which actually should offer the best deal considering it's location and frequncies to west europe. But maybe if Nigerians want to visit Serbia and vice verca it could work in the future. But for now Lagos relies to much on transfer and Nigeria is appearently in an ecnomic situation where most people can't afford to buy a plane ticket.

      Delete
    13. Anonymous03:16

      @Owo
      millions of Nigerians in Europe?

      Delete
  18. What a wrong strategy, how many wrong decisions, to grow your european network, start growing long haul network, get new aircraft into fleet, reduce seasonality, create proper hub at your base airport, increase connectivity, and maybe even make some money out of it, if not immediately, in the future for sure. Very very very wrong. Instead, Air Serbia should have paid millions to BCG, and many others before, to be advised to open four weekly turboprop for two months, and to be pathetic feeder and humiliated servant to LH Cartel, on behalf of its tax payers. And now for real : Congratulations JU, hat down and deep bow!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:55

      +1

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:30

      Pozdrav, you da man!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:46

      +1

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:52

      POZDRAV......Boring once more !

      Delete
    5. Anonymous18:32

      @ Pozdrav

      Same with Adria. I agree, congrats AS.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous10:54

    Guys, I do not understand how LJU is the third busiest route of JU?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. notLufthansa10:56

      People have money and desire to travel.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:59

      Cartel is chasing away airlines so there are not a lot of options..

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:47

      Well they serve it with the ATR, had 19 flights before covid and BEG is the fastest way to get anywhere in the Balkans from LJU. JU did well to push through in this market.

      Delete
  20. notLufthansa10:55

    It is only a question of time when AS will change its name to appeal to all ex-Yu coutries and take over aviation sector.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:10

      Only if they name it "Open Balkan Airlines" :)

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:43

      Maybe they could use huge magnetic labels so that on flights to Croatia they cover Serbia so that it reads; Air Croatia. Same for Bosnia, Macedonia, and the rest of the Balkans.
      Or maybe Air Serbia can be viewed as something positive coming from Serbia. An airline that offers great connections via BEG, at fair prices and good customer experience. And people who don't want to fly Air Serbia don't.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:49

      They are never going to change their name, it would be highly unpopular in Serbia, as if we are ashamed of the country or something.
      Also why should they change it now when people obviously got used to the name and when they are becoming more and more popular.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous19:37

      Anon@11:43
      Ahahahahahh +1.5

      Delete
  21. Anonymous11:15

    It would be nice if, instead of ATR, they added A319 on some flights in September and additional flights already in October to Bucharest.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous11:45

    How about Madrid? Is it staying with 2x per week?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:45

      Yes

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:10

      Next year, it would be great if they add Malaga. At least 2x a week.

      Delete
    3. JATBEGMEL14:52

      The focus next year will be turning a few of those charter routes into seasonal destinations rather than adding more routes to their network. However, I wouldn't be surprised to see all the Spanish routes have frequency increases as well. My guess is that PMI and VLC will be 3 pw, MAD 4 pw and BCN 6-7 pw.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous16:07

      They announced approximately a dozen (12) new routes next year as well in order to achieve their goal of flying to 100 destinations by its 100th birthday

      Delete
  23. Anonymous12:43

    I wonder when the new destinations will be revealed- I thought it’d be together with the winter timetable!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous13:20

    Does anybody know why both Etihad and Air Serbia abandoned Abu Dabi route? The flights were more or less full in pre covid times. Now, they just gave the whole link to the region to Qatar, Fly Dubai and now Wizz. Any logics behind that? They made also the whole code share network useless.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nemjee13:24

      After Hogan was fired Etihad started spiraling out of control. Onboard service in both classes went downhill and they started cutting their network left and right. At that time there was very little love between JU and EY so BEG-AUH was no one's priority. Both airlines decided to terminate this political marriage and to focus each on its own thing. This was a true blessing for JU as that is when things started to improve.

      Etihad is slowly rebuilding their network but I don't think BEG is going to be their priority especially not now when there is Wizz flying from AUH and when JU covers all of Asia and Africa via IST.

      I can see either FZ going triple daily to BEG or them keeping one daily while EK takes over the other.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:22

      As for regional routes, I’m glad they are finally really upgrading Skopje! I hope they offer more and better connections at more affordable flights from MK.

      However, for years I’m wondering, why does their Sarajevo service NEVER change? I feel like 10x weekly + introduce evening flights would gain them so many more transfer passengers and up their share @ SJJ : bring down prices..

      Delete
    3. JATBEGMEL14:36

      I think Wizz could easily be kicked out of the route, if competition was to start. Their AUH-BEG flights almost always guarantees a delay of 2+ hours, that is if the flight isn't canceled. Wizz has a horrible reputation with the ex-YU community in the UAE, while here on the Balkans Wizz is the best thing since sliced bread.

      I think JU returning to DXB would be great. It has a decent sized ex-YU expat community, tourism to the Balkans is growing from the Gulf, decent amount of tourists from the ex-YU countries visit the UAE, connection options via DXB, growing trade amongst others.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:46

      For the period of 2016 until 2021 Etihad generated around 8 billions USD of loss.
      Now, in H1 2022 they succeeded to be back in green (~300 millions $) which might end in a full year on a plus side.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous14:46

      14:22 SJJ has gained more new destinations during the last year compared to SKP and we witnessed the launching of various new destinations. Makes sense for JU to look into SKP where there is less competition with the big sharks and an airport with clear stagnation. If you also check, LH used to deploy its A321 to SJJ in July and now has a mix of A320 and A319 on its Frankfurt route. Austrian early morning flights from SJJ are also sometimes operated with A320.

      Delete
    6. Nemjee15:29

      There are two factors which are handicapping JU's growth in SJJ:

      1. airport closes at night. BEG-SKP departs well after midnight and by that time SJJ is long closed. This is a huge problem for JU as SJJ would have to depart even before its western European flights return. That is why JA's BEG adventure failed so miserable.

      2. taxes and surcharges. If there was political will to reduce charges and taxes for this flight (same as BNX) then demand would boom, especially if they do it before the highway opens.
      BEG-BNX has phenomenal loads but since its a subsidized route, JU isn't rushing to add more flights. They could easily run double daily flights on this route based on O&D demand alone.

      Delete
    7. JATBEGMEL15:58

      @14,46

      There is decent O&D travel between Belgrade and Sarajevo, while Sarajevo and the surrounding areas is becoming more popular for tourism from Serbia (Belgrade). There are no highways linking the 2 capitals, trains stopped operating about 10 years ago, while busses from Belgrade, for some stupid reason, only goes to Eastern Sarajevo (in Srpska) rather than the city itself (Federation). The air fares with JU are regularly around 20.000 din without luggage! JU could easily add a second daily, especially considering the connection options and the short rotation time needed for the aircraft.

      JU110 BEGSJJ 0700 0750
      JU111 SJJBEG 0820 0910

      Outbound gets TIA, OTP, SOF, SKP, SKG, ATH, IST, JFK, LCA, SVO, AER, KZN. Inbound LCA, IST, TIV, TGD, SKP, SOF, OTP, ZRH, JFK, LHR, ATH, SKG, TIA.

      Perhaps a split schedule could be made for the route:

      JU114 BEGSJJ 2020 2110
      JU115 SJJBEG 2140 2230

      Skopje on the other hand isn't as popular with Serbian tourists, while Belgrade and Skopje are linked by an excellent highway. Busses regularly run between the 2 cities, while the rail line on one of the sections on the route is being reconstructed.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous19:42

      Air Serbia catches mostly transfers pax on SKP and SJJ. There are 5-6 busses per day. the balkans is a really price sensative region where price goes over comfort. Air Serbia is 2,5 times more expensive than the bus. So Air Serbia do not really profit from those big demand between the two countries.

      Delete
    9. Nemjee19:49

      Yes but let's not forget something else, most bus lines from Belgrade to Skopje have stops along the way. I am looking at departures for tomorrow and there are only two nonstop buses.

      For example Fudeks leaves at 15.30 and arrives to Skopje at 21.45, that's a 6 hour 15 minute ride. On the other hand a flight takes less than an hour. I am sure many people wouldn't mind flying if fares were more accessible.

      Someone told me once that costs per ticket on BEG-MNE flights come out to be €70. That is when you add up everything that the airline has to pay per passenger (beyond airport taxes and so on). Very often fares are expensive because of all the various government imposed surcharges that need to be paid. That is why BEG-BNX is so cheap, both governments agreed to suspend many different taxes.

      Delete
  25. Anonymous15:26

    Is there any chance for Air Serbia to return flights to Helsinki?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:24

      Would love to see that.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:43

      JU must not forget Madrid, which has much potential .
      Next summer they have to fly there at least four times daily .
      And instead of increasing Valencia they should start Malaga with two flights a week .
      Malaga and Valencia are like siblings, they complement each other perfectly .

      Delete
  26. Anonymous13:52

    And what is about Berlin?

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous14:32

    What about TLV? Is it not interesting fot ASL?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:36

      You have Arkia, fly with them.

      Delete
  28. Anonymous21:57

    Just FDH (Friedrichshafen) is missing.

    ReplyDelete

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