Air Serbia handled 26.140 passengers on flights between Belgrade and New York during the first half of the year, reaching 86.6% of its pre-pandemic numbers on the route, with figures in May and June outperforming those three years ago. The overall numbers represent an increase of 4.5% on the same period last year. The carrier uplifted 1.841 tonnes of cargo on the route, up 77.3% on 2019, according to data provided to EX-YU Aviation News by the United States Bureau of Air Transport Statistics. “Our flight over the Atlantic is working out well and represents one of Air Serbia’s strongest routes, with a reduction in its so far highly seasonal character”, Air Serbia recently said. Last year, the US market generated the greatest amount of revenue for the airline.
Air Serbia's New York route performance, Q1 and Q2
Overall, there were more passengers from the Big Apple heading to the Serbian capital during the first half of 2022, with 14.734 travellers boarding Air Serbia’s Airbus A330-200 aircraft in New York. A total of 11.406 passengers flew from Belgrade. Notably, the airline saw its busiest June on the route on record with numbers up 3.2% on the pre-pandemic 2019, fuelled by the launch of new destinations providing new transfer opportunities, as well as recovering demand. The route will likely see a complete recovery in 2022. Between 35% and 40% of passengers on the service are transfers. Podgorica is the busiest transit market, followed by the likes of Tirana, Skopje, Athens, Tivat, Thessaloniki, Zagreb, Ljubljana, Vienna and Bucharest.
Air Serbia will grow frequencies on the route in 2023, with the carrier to maintain daily flights between Belgrade and New York during the peak summer period. Furthermore, the major expansion of its European network is expected to provide additional feed on the route. Air Serbia will also inaugurate flights to Chicago in May of next year and is considering adding Miami as its third destination in the United States during 2023. Although the carrier boasts an interline agreement with both American Airlines and jetBlue, a codeshare deal with a major US carrier is expected to be finalised and announced early next year.
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What is avarage load factor with this published numbers?
ReplyDeleteI don't know that but I remember that in 2021 the average load factor for the entire year was 80%.
DeleteA codeshare agreement is dragging on for years. I hope they manage to negotiate it in 2023.
ReplyDeleteThey said they will announce it at the end of this year or early next year. My guess it will come into effect from the start of the 2023 summer season in March.
DeleteAs far as transfers, it seems JU is slowly getting where it was before the break-up of the country, catering for the other republics.
ReplyDeleteGreece is a nice additon. Veterans here can confirm or not if this was also the case earlier, and for Albania and Romania I suppose it is not, as they were behind the iron curtain.
@ Anonym 0938h
DeleteI flew only once BEGORDLAX, 1989 and the flight was pretty much full with transit passengers fm India and the Middle East.
For the rest, a veteran working that time, has hopefully more insights
Veteran here 😃 JAT long haul, especially 1985-1990 had huge numbers of transfer passengers. First kind of transfers were ex-yu passengers living both in ex-yu and on other continents, transferring through BEG or ZAG to North America and Australia. They made roughly one quarter of transfer pax. The second quarter were pax from India, Turkey, North Africa, Near and Middle East (at that time EY and QR didn't exist and EK had fleet of 8 planes, TK single long-haul destination was JFK via BRU on 310). The third quarter were European passengers heading to Thailand, China, Singapore, Australia, predominantly British, with DC-10 operating BEG-LHR nonstop on Thursdays, when AUS flight had morning arrival and evening departure, in addition to daily B727 BEG-ZAG-LHR, to cater basically for transfers only. A lot of Italians used the Far East flights as well, but interesting fact is that Italians made significant number on North American flights, mostly from Milan, and mostly via ZAG. Finally, the fourth quarter were pilgrims from the US, Canada, Philippines via BKK (service to Manila was to be introduced with MD11 joining the fleet) and AUS heading to Medjugorje, but to the Eastern Europe as well. And due to the Iron curtain, there were almost no pax from Eastern Europe. Very very very few. . Shortly, vast majority of JAT long haul passengers were transfers, very healthy mixture of domestic and international ones, making airline literally day by day more and more important Global player. Keeping my fingers crossed for Air Serbia to repeat that kind of success, but in today's changed situation and environment, really doubt JAT fame and JAT results could be achieved ever again
DeleteGreat stuff, thank you!
DeleteI also have a healthy dose of scepticism, very different dynamics today, but I also keep my fingers crossed to them
Absolutely great. Thank you Veteran iz Rijeke 😊
DeleteWhats your source Pozdrav? Or no source as usual?
DeleteMy source is what I am proud of until the very day today - being part of JAT Yugoslav Airlines, with close and personal insight into its operations and numbers, during its top times 1986-1991. And your bitterness is not good for your health.
DeleteBravo Pozdrav!!
DeleteI wonder if launching Chicago will impact JFK.
ReplyDeleteIt will take away more passebgers from LOT and Lufthansa than from Air Serbia's JFK route.
Delete* passengers sorry
DeleteGood to hear. Those figure are good
ReplyDeleteCongratulations. With May and June ahead of 2019, I'm sure the rest of summer kept the trend.
ReplyDeleteDid they have more flights this year compared to 2019?
DeleteCargo figure is impressive
ReplyDeleteBased on these figures, is anyone able to calculate the load factor?
ReplyDeleteAbsofrutely:
DeleteJanuary - 61%
February - 54%
March - 63%
April - 60%
May - 67%
June - 75%
How exactly can you calculate that. You know the number of flights and seats they had?
DeleteYes
DeleteInaugural year 2016 for BEG-JFK route was loss making but had some months with over 85% LF. Goes to show LF without yield doesn't reveal much.
DeleteThe only thing that matters is profitability.
ReplyDeleteThey have said several times that the route has been profitable since 2020.
DeleteThey could have achieved profitability sooner if they didn't have that outrageous YU-ARA lease.
DeleteDo you understand without YU ARA lease would not be that line?
DeleteHow can they reduce seasonality on this route?
ReplyDeleteI guess reduce fares but you risk impacting your bottom line that way.
DeleteThey could generally improve their product. Improve IFE for economy passengers, improve catering and bring back the many extras they got rid of in business like PJs, amenity kits etc.
DeleteCompletely agree. They need to improve their product.
DeleteThey could start by offering the same hard product on the two planes that fly this route.
DeleteThey will from March. I think it was important to them to atart Tianjin ASAP which is why YU-ARC didn't get the same seats. It proved to be the right call.
DeleteTheir latest expansion will also reduce seasonality, as it secures new transfer passengers. I wouldn't be surprised if their announced JFK's daily summer operations continue through winter, or at least 5 weekly during the lowest season.
DeleteI don't think they will keep it daily in winter but definitely will be more than 2 weekly.
Delete@10,36
DeleteIt was mentioned even before the arrival of ARC that it wouldn't have the same cabin for the first couple of months of operations. ARC will have its cabin reconfiguration during its D check. More cabin reconfigurations will come next year as well.
@10,26
Definitely IFE needs improvement. Even the information about the company on their IFE is outdated.
That's a good mix between O&D and transfer passengers.
ReplyDeleteI'm positively surprised by there being transfers from/to Vienna on this route.
ReplyDeleteI guess they offer a good price. They used to have a lot of transfers from Tel Aviv as well.
DeleteTheir fares from TLV were amazing. Not surprised.
DeleteYes there are always a few cities where they have very good fares to New York. This year there were some great deals from Prague to JFK with Air Serbia.
DeleteAustrian is struggling with their JFK flights. I think they have fewer flights to there than Air Serbia.
DeleteJU can attract a lot of transfers to their Italian network from this flight next year.
ReplyDeleteThey could also attract a lot of pax from the Middle East if they restored their network in that region.
DeleteSoon
DeleteThank you for the loads
ReplyDeleteGood news for Air Serbia. I'm glad this route is improving.
ReplyDeleteI remember when some experts were predicting in 2016 that this route would be discontinued.
ReplyDeleteSome were saying it would be cancelled before ot was launched.
DeleteI'm glad they stuck to it and that the route stayed part of the network. Good luck JU.
DeleteJU is lucky to be surrounded by airlines in a deep coma.
ReplyDeleteEU.
DeleteI thought they were to make one more announcement about new destinations. What has been announced so far is wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI thought they would announce by the end of the year.
DeleteThere are things such as slots that have to be secured at various airports around the world.
DeleteGood performance, nice to see it has developed well. It s an important flight for the whole region
ReplyDeleteWhich route provides the biggest feed to New York?
ReplyDeletePodgorica. It says in the article.
DeleteIt will be interesting to see which route gives the biggest feed to Chicago. Any guesses who it might be?
DeleteWho has the biggest diaspora in Chicago from neighbouring countries?
DeleteThe entire Balkan Diaspora is huge in Chicago
DeleteI flew two days ago from Copenhagen to Belgrade on a Montenegro Embraer. Apparently they are so busy that they hired Montenegrin plain and crew. Flight was on time and full (close to 120 people). At first I was a bit concerned but but everything was just fine in the end. Crew was professional and friendly.
ReplyDeleteYes, they have leased it till March of 2023.
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2022/12/air-serbia-wet-leases-air-montenegro.html
Glad you had a good flight.
After seeing this huge difference in seasonality, it's no wonder that they're postponing the launch of YYZ. I'm also a bit worried about future ORD performance in the slowest months.
ReplyDeleteOnce they reduce the obvious gap between the seasons in the long haul service thanks to more regional connections they'll probably go for YYZ as well. I think that differences are going to be already visible starting from 2023.
Postponing the launch of YYZ? When exactly did they announce the launch of YYZ for them to postpone it?
DeleteMany people forget that one of the main issues with YYZ is the cost of using the airport. It is one of the most (if not the most) expensive in the world. And with the seasonality, it probably wouldn't make money for JU flying from such an expensive airport.
DeleteWhat seasonality? There can be no talks about seasonality when it comes to YYZ! Excluding Portugal, Rome is the ONLY place in the southern half of Europe with flights to Toronto in the winter, and only x3!!! Belgrade-Toronto can ONLY be done as summer seasonal!!!
DeleteYet dozens of seasonal routes between YYZ and Europe exist, airlines have no issues with that. If they are profitable from same airport paying same fees, so will be Air Serbia. Enough of those fake arguments about Pearson being most expensive (it is not) and fake concerns about winter flights (there won't be any)!
They can fly winter season October till May to Miami and summer May 1st to September 30th to Toronto three times per week.
DeleteAir Serbia can only fly twice a week to Toronto. They could ask for increase.
DeleteToronto should not be seasonal if you understand current demographic of ex-yu diaspora. We used to fly in summer when kids were at school. Now, retired or close to retirement, our trips are longer and most of us are trying to avoid hot summers. On the other hand, our kids are staring to travel to ex-yu and they go in summer.
DeleteAlso, YYZ is the only option even expensive one, because of connecting flights to rest of Canada. Hamilton is mainly cargo airport and passenger traffic options are not even close to Toronto's.
Again, destinations like Barcelona and Athens don't have year-round air service to Toronto. If that doesn't tell you enough about zero chances for year-round flights to Belgrade you should stop reading further.
DeleteNow that we established summer seasonal is the only way to operate Belgrade - Toronto, keep in mind sensible route launch is to have late start and early end of the season, for example start on 1 Jun and end on 30 Sep. If flights prove successful, move start and end dates and ask for increased frequency or consider larger A333. IATA defines summer season as:
Start of Northern Summer Season is 26-MAR-2023
End of Northern Summer Season is 28-OCT-2023
If Air Serbia launches Toronto and then extends seasonal service to those start/end dates, you would be able to fly to Belgrade as early as March 26 or come back as late as October 28.
Perhaps they should take LAX into consideration
ReplyDeleteToo far away. They already said MIA is their next destination.
DeleteNext destination in the US that is.
DeleteIn the US but not in the North America. From Belgrade and back, Toronto has 3 times more passenger demand than Miami.
DeleteDemand could aleays be generated with good regional network and traffic pax.
Delete*always
DeleteFor JFK route, BEG side generates couple of times more transfers than JFK side. Same would also apply in case of Toronto. There is far more demand for travel to/from YYZ in the Balkans area than for MIA. Coupled with 3x more O&D, launching BEG-YYZ route has a clear advantage over BEG-MIA
DeleteNot bad at all. Most European airlines are not expected to make a full recovery on transatlantic flights until 2025.
ReplyDeleteIf they have interline with Jet blue and American, is it likely that one of them will be their codeshare partner?
ReplyDeleteYes. My guess is AA. We will find out soon enoguh
DeleteMost likely AA and Qatar/Emirates.
DeleteThe US requiring all arrivals to be vaccinated against Covid might be an issue for many people from this region wanting to travel there.
ReplyDeleteI cannot say for sure what is required to enter USA on paper, but I flew to Honolulu, HA from Vancouver, Canada 4 weeks ago, and was not asked to show the proof of vaccination. My friends fly to California frequently from Vancouver, and neither they need to show the proof.
DeleteI entered the US yesterday and they asked me in BEG to show the proof of vaccination and fill out a form attesting that I have been fully vaccinated
DeleteI find it fantastic that their performance to the US is improving compared to last year when many people were actually forced to fly with them because EU airlines were not flying to US due to restrictions for EU nationals and those flying could not take any transfer passengers (except US citizens and residents). So for most it was either flying with JU or TK.
ReplyDeleteIt is offtopic question. When AirSerbia starts to fly seasonally to the Croatian coast from Belgrade? I am planning the trip in the first half of the June. Does it fly to Rijeka or Pula in 2023 since I am interested in that part of the coast/islands?
ReplyDeleteRijeka starts from June 14th, flights are on Wednesday and Saturday.
DeletePula starts from June 15th, flights are on Thursday and Sunday.
Changes are still possible since the timetable is not finalized, but it will probably stay like this.
DBV and SPU typically start during the last week of may.
DeletePUY has some flights this winter for the first time since 1991. It would be great to see all the seasonal Croatian routes launched earlier next summer.
Thank you both of you. if I am forced with time to travel in first week in June then maybe Split and some of the islands in vicinity of Split. When they usually finalize the summer schedule? It would be nice if summer travel options are widened a bit from later in May. July & August crowds are getting larger and larger every year.
Delete@Boris
DeleteNo problem. If you haven't been, Split and the surrounding areas and islands are awesome. The flight from Belgrade to Split has some spectacular views, especially on approach, so definitely get yourself a window seat :)
Split starts on May 25th, twice weekly, but frequencies are increasing to 5 weekly in July and August
DeleteI have not been to Split or the surrounding area although I was born in Belgrade , Yugoslavia.
DeleteSo I think Split is the better option due to flight availability in early June. Thank you both of you.
Great news! I hope they'll have similar results on their Chicago route as well.
ReplyDeleteIt will take some time but I'm sure it will do well.
DeleteCan't wait for the third A330-200!
ReplyDelete+1
Delete