Air Serbia plans to introduce an additional five aircraft to its fleet next year and is looking to add a total of up to thirty new routes in 2023, with over twenty of them already announced. Speaking to “Routes”, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek said, “Depending on market availability, we might look into a mix of dry-leases and wet-leases. Between the Covid pandemic and now, a quick reaction to market opportunities has become essential. Air Serbia is very agile as we want to be the regional leader in the wider Balkan region”. He added, “We would like to have a constantly available shortlist of aircraft with pre-negotiated commercial terms and technical reviews to be able to act promptly”.
Air Serbia has recently said it will replace the majority of its 144-seat Airbus A319 aircraft with the larger A320s. “Future replacements, once leases expire, will mostly be A320s. By doing so, we are also taking advantage of the attractive terms that exist on the leasing market right now”, Mr Marek said. Furthermore, the carrier will complete the renewal of its regional fleet, with the fifth and final ATR72-600 turboprop now painted in Air Serbia’s livery ahead of its delivery. Mr Marek had previously noted the airline is looking into further expanding its ATR fleet and is also looking into leasing a third A330-200 aircraft for potential long haul network expansion next year.
Commenting on the carrier’s ambitious network growth plans for 2023, Mr Marek said, “We are continuously capitalizing on the growing market in which we operate and are adding new destinations throughout the year. Hand in hand with long haul development, Air Serbia continues to expand its feeder network and, depending on market dynamics, we aim to introduce between twenty and thirty destinations in 2023”. The carrier is expected to soon outline additional new services. Furthermore, a codeshare agreement with a big Middle Eastern carrier operating from a major hub in the region is to be announced in the coming period, as well as a codeshare partnership with a US airline.
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Hope it will be dry leases rather than wet leases.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteHope they employ more staff, pilots, cabin crew mechanics. Return salaries before covid and increase them as all did... But i guess tha is impossible...
DeleteAir Serbia should base at least one plane at BNX and INI and start to develop network from there.
DeleteNot a bad idea. What about one plane in TGD?
DeleteWell done Air Serbia. Really looking forward to their huge development next year.
ReplyDeleteThey are really on a roll :O
ReplyDelete"We would like to have a constantly available shortlist of aircraft with pre-negotiated commercial terms and technical reviews to be able to act promptly"
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to see that they have a professional management.
It's nothing compared to Croatia Airlines LOL!!!
DeletePozdrav, you were wrong what you said about Croatia Airlines 2nd A320 not being used. I flew to London on it a few days ago
DeleteYou mixed up something mate. I was the one asking why they didn't use the second A320 to Doha if the first one had technical problems. Then some guy advocating OU said the second A320 was conserved and stored for winter. At the end, it showed that both A320 operated on that day, one of those two flights to DBV only, and one could have easily been sent to Doha, instead sending two times A319. So I am calling once again Attorney Public of Croatia to investigate this case
DeleteCroacia air has regional at best arline fleet, fewer travel destinations, fewer planes and pretty outdated fleet considering it's in EU member state.Service is poor by international rating.Nothing to brag about.
DeleteI flew with Croatian national airline and was not impressed, onboard experience was more similar to a bus ride, poor quality honestly speaking.
DeleteThe pace they are going at, they really will have 100 destinations by the 100 year anniversary in 2027.
ReplyDeleteFor sure
DeleteActually they are likely to hit 100 destinations earlier than that.
DeleteAnd I remember people laughing and writing nasty comments when that was announced this summer.
DeleteLets first wait and see. Just by opening new destinations, we are not at the success of a destination yet. In my eyes that expansion goes lit bit too fast but I wish them and hope for success
DeleteThere is not many new routes left for them to introduce in Europe
DeleteDublin?
DeleteLonger routes will need to come into some serious consideration soon. Either that or start stealing the villages and forests from W6.
DeleteBut that aside they are aggressively expanding. Even if they fail on some routes they'll have big enough network to cover it.
I think they will need more planes than this.
ReplyDeleteNot necessarily. Remember they won't need so many planes for charters next year because several routes have become scheduled.
DeleteYes. 2 ATR's, 1A330 and 2 A320's is not enough.
DeleteMaybe this is enough for dry lease and more A320 for wet lease?
^ Yes, I don't think Marek is counting wet leases here which will probably be the same as this year (I believe that was 4).
DeleteI think he was talking about Airbus A320 fleet. ATRs are not in this 5 wet lease/dry lease and A330 is just a possibility at this point.
Delete@09,17
Delete4 wet leases were needed this summer to not only operate charters but also scheduled routes. Sure, alot of charters are going scheduled, but frequencies on these former charter routes are also increasing, on top of the increases on scheduled routes. Not to mention the ATR additions (BUD 17 x pw, VIE 4 x pw, OHD, VAR, KRK). And the full list of new routes and frequencies haven't been announced just as yet. 2 ATR'S and 4 A320's will need to come into the fleet as dry leases as a minimum for next summer, on top of wet leases.
Smart
ReplyDeleteNow it makes sense why most of the new routes are scheduled with the A320s.
ReplyDeleteBravo JU, Bravo Serbia!
ReplyDeleteImpressive
ReplyDeleteMore ATRs please
ReplyDeleteZa sada imaju 131 let više u odnosu na prošlo leto što je 19 letova dnevno. Nadam se da će im tih 5 aviona biti dovoljno jer će pojedine destinacije sigurno biti pojačane plus nove koje budu obhavljene. Buće naporno leto za JU.
ReplyDeleteAmsterdam 10X +3
Ankara 4X +4
Atina 9X +1
Barselona 9X +5
Berlin 8X +2
Beč 18X +4
Bolonja 4X +1
Budimpešta 17X +17
Čikago 3X +3
Diseldorf 7X +2
Firenca 2X +2
Geteborg 3X +3
Hanja 3X +3
Hamburg 3X +3
Kazan 2X +2
Keln 3X +3
Iraklion 4X +4
Izmir 2X +2
Istanbul 21X +11
Katanija 2X +2
Krakov 4X +4
Krf 2X +2
Kopenhagen 7X +2
Larnaka 14X +8
London 8X +1
Malaga 2X +2
Malta 3X +3
Marselj 2X +2
Milano 10X +3
Napulj 2X +2
Ohrid 4X +4
Palermo 2X +2
Pariz 14X +2
Rodos 4X +4
Rim 12X +5
Solun 7X +2
Soči 3X +1
Tjenđin 1X +1
Varna 4X +4
They will probably increase Ljubljana in summer to triple daily on some days.
DeleteI ne samo Ljubljana,mnoge rute će sigurno pojačane do leta, Tirana,Atina,Bukurešt,španske rute...
DeleteJU could add more flights to Valencia for summer.
DeleteAny flights to central America ?
DeleteHahahah.... good one.
DeleteLets see their reality....
ReplyDeletePeople were saying the same for this year yet they launched 21 new routes, renewed the regional fleet, introduced new long haul flights and had just 1% of flight cancellations during the summer.
DeleteRecord expansion at a time when all major global companies are preparing for a recession - cutting bonuses, freezing hiring and laying off staff, and most importantly slashing travel budgets in the process.
ReplyDeleteI guess it’s easy to be audacious when the tax payer is footing the bill :)
Most major global airline companies are planning big expansion for next year.
DeleteThe insights u get fm JU crew members is not really good and yep the economic crisis is already felt on the airfreight maket (with a surprising slow market all over Europe in Q4), with people paying thousands of more EUR energy costs in certain nations if they have their own house. So wondering if those expansions will be supported by the market
DeleteWe saw a number of airlines planning to increase their regional operations: Lufthansa, Aegean, Air Baltic, Wizz... So it's not true that only JU plans expansion in 2023.
DeleteBut question is are those airlines increasing their operations compared to 2019?
DeleteAirSerbia was cut from Serbian budget for 2023, even before that AS did not get that much money from the government comparing to other major companies owned by Serbia.
DeleteI don't mind my tax money (about 15 million euros last year) being spent on a company that is of high importance for Serbian economy and it brings business for many other parts of Serbian economy. 15 million euros a year is nothing compared to what we get from it. We can all see how Slovenia, Bosnia or Macedonia are dealing with not having their national airline, or even countries like Montenegro or Croatia whose airlines are much smaller and where the market depends mostly on foreign and LCC airlines. The fact that Serbia does not depend on LCC or any other foreign airline costs money and that is perfectly fine.
Well yes...
DeleteLH has never flown 3 daily from FRA, Wizz has never had 4.plane in BEG and Air Baltic was fling to BEG about 10 years ago.
@Anon 09:15
DeleteI was talking about companies in general. Almost all of them are predicting a slowdown in business next year, so we can expect corporate travel to slow down as well. Combine that with layoffs and rampant inflation which will reduce tourism and it's unlikely that air travel will be booming next year.
@Anon 12:26
So is JU "cut off" from state budget or is it receiving "only" 15M?
The fact remains that JU can take unreasonable risks because it always has the taxpayers as a fallback. It has and will be rescued again to the tune of 100s of millions if necessary. So why not be gallant and launch as many flights as you can get away with?
OS is also reinstating the night rotations to BEG as well next year.
Delete@09,48
JU wasn't a large airline back in 2019. What simplifies things is that JU didn't have a fleet modernisation plan in place prior to the pandemic as did many airlines across Europe. The Balkans has quite a lot of growth opportunities and wasn't (and still isn't) at the levels of Western Europe in terms of flights, destinations and frequencies. Not to mention that Western Europe was practically off limits for transit TATL travel from the Balkans making BEG the convenient transit stop, bringing BEG and JU additional traffic, lowering the effects of the pandemic. Airports and airlines around BEG are still in recovery mode opening a window of opportunity for JU to expand. The pandemic has set back LOT's expansion in BUD, giving 1 less competitor in the vicinity of BEG. JU was already fighting OS on a couple of routes prior to the pandemic, now it is able to cement it's position. Wizz has also pushed JU to further it's expansion to remain competitive, even more evident the past week with added frequencies to CPH, BER and MXP. Let's not forget that the Russian market is still open for Serbia, which isn't the case for other European carriers. JU has had different circumstances and opportunities compared to other European carriers so making comparisons wouldn't be seeing the full story.
Again I am not talking about what other airlines are doing. I am talking about the fact that corporate travel will decline next year because all companies are slashing expenses and preparing for recession.
DeleteOnce again here in Serbia we will pretend that the global recession is our “opportunity” and keep our heads in the sand as we spend tax payers money like drunken sailors. The spirit of Dinkic lives on :)
Marek should have called you and asked you to bring your crystal ball. At the same time they should have announced the end of all flight operations. To make you happy :)
Delete@14,31
DeleteCorporate travel was never a huge factor in JU and the focus for next year is definitely not on corporate travel. Alot of the new destinations are leisure routes. A decent number of new routes are former charter routes which will be strengthened with the possibility of taking on additional O&D travelers planning individual trips as well as transit traffic. Even during sanctions and hyperinflation JAT had summer flights from Užice to Tivat. The leisure segment has shown to be fairly resilient than other segments. JU's biggest obstacle is having adequate staff for their expansion and not the possibility of a recession.
And what do you think will happen to leisure travel during worldwide recession and mass layoffs?
DeleteLots of what ifs in your comment. Airlines in 2019 were not betting on a global pandemic in 2020 but they still managed. People still traveled despite the difficulties to do so, the quarantines, testing, prices, restrictions.
DeleteAnon 9:14 it’s easy to be audacious when the tax payer is footing the bill :)
DeleteOpet govoriš o OU i Montenegru kad nije tema?
^ i love how you cheer in hope for their failure.
DeleteAnon 16:29 what do you think will happen to leisure travel during worldwide recession and mass layoffs?
DeleteKako si zaboravio da to pitaš Wizz kad su najavili baziranje četvrtog aviona u Beogradu sledeće godine? Samo prinosim ogledalo kako bi prepoznao vlastitu hipokriziju u odnosu na Wizz, OU, MNE...
Anonymous18:11 ^ i love how you cheer in hope for their failure.
Delete...Za razliku od tvoje konstantne mržnje Er Srbije. Nikad nisi dao pozitivan predlog da Er Srbija bude još bolja i veća, samo želja da se ugase...
Privatization will never happen because Air Serbia is not a viable business and no sane investor would buy it.
DeleteMass layoffs?! Where? When?! Western Europe is desperate in need for anyone to work after the COVID. Companies are struggling to hire sufficient number of people exactly because they did (in) reasonable layoffs during COVID crisis and now they cannot fill in the positions no matter how much they are willing to pay for. If anything happens, mass layoffs is not happening for sure.
DeleteAnonymous 21:02 I just want it privatized and off the taxpayer dole.
DeleteTvoje mišljenje je apsolutno nebitno jer očigledno nemaš ni minimum znanja zašto to nije moguće, a nisi ni dovoljno pametan da naučiš iz primera sličnih aviokompanija jer bi pametan do sada shvatio. Ni tvoj glas na izborima nije bitan jer nema partije koja bi to uradila, osim onog jadnika koji bi "vratio Er Srbiju Beograđanima". Možeš samo da maštaš kako ćeš komentarima promeniti svet. Tužno.
Komentarisati protiv državne zaštite koje imaju tri avio kompanije u regionu i žalbe na trošenje para poreskih obveznika tri države je besmisleno. Ni jedna država više neće dozvoliti ono što se desilo Adriji bez obzira na novac. Svaki komentar koji pominje taxpayer je nebitan.
DeleteOvaj kao da uplaćuje milione na poreze Srbiji pa ponavlja kao papagaj "taxpayers money" na svakom članku o JU ako je nesto pozitivno i dobro. Nama koji želimo i hoćemo da te pare idu u AiSetbia neka idu i dalje tamo a tvoje eto neka zadrže za gradsku čistoću.
DeleteDobro je što ti želiš da pare idu u 'AiSetbia'
DeleteДобро је што Ер Србија у наредној години неће добијати паре из националног буџета. Уколико тако остане и даље онда ће све претходне инвестиције бити оправдане.
DeleteThis can be a big success or a big mess next summer. Fingers crossed!
ReplyDeleteEach year many times we read this ... At the end a lot of delays (like everywhere else), 1% of cancelled flights for different reasons, somethimes out of AirSerbia's influence, record number of transported passengers and new plans for expansion... In one moment they will have to stop, to consolidate, restructure and to scale up internally, but they are on clear road to success.
DeleteAnd please, no "tax payers money" comments.
dude, im just saying there is no middle way. chill
DeleteI don't get people who wrote a comment and than see reply to it as attack to them personally.... And we are both signed as Anon.
DeleteDude, I am not fighting with you nor discrediting you, just trying to have exchange of opinions and some discussion on the topic... If possible. So, chill you. ;-)
well for a discussion next time write something that will actually have something to do with the comment. your reply was hardly a reply since you didn't write anything connected to my comment. if i write that this type of huge growth can go only one way or another and you bring into discussion "what other says" and "government support" than that is hardly a discussion on a same topic. and just a hint. my comment had nothing to do with airserbia but expansions on this scale in general...
DeleteCongrats, you won.
DeleteHave a good day!
Sounds like you don't mean it.
DeleteBravo Air Serbia 🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸
ReplyDeleteThis is just the beginning of their growth. Many more good things expected next year.
ReplyDeleteAlways good to see an airline from the region continue to expand and add routes.
DeleteAlways good to hear good new from the ONLY company from the region that deserves calling itself an airline. Real airline.
DeleteBravo hrvatska! (Sorry mon ami, I couln’t resist hihihi)
DeleteNo need to be sorry, I agree, I will add bravo Kradeze as well !!!
DeleteIf they can only fix their interpersonal employee-management relationship and contract issues, then I would fully agree with you mu friend.
DeleteI would love to see one of the cities in caucuses within their destination network.
ReplyDeleteThey will come eventually. Baku most likely.
DeleteYerevan and Baku for certain. Probably in a year from now.
DeleteGood luck Air Serbia!
ReplyDeleteSaid it before and I will say it again. Only proactive airline in the region.
ReplyDeleteRather than the "only proactive", I'd say "the only" airline in the region.
DeleteI except TradeAir from the above.
Hey mate, we just wrote same thing same time frame - the only real airline in ex-yu 😃
Delete🤘👍🙏
DeleteI'm a bit disappointed that Portoroz didn't materialize after their talks. I guess it just wasn't worth waisting an ATR for this route.
ReplyDelete*wasting
DeleteWell there is more new routes to be announced, so you never know.
DeleteHope they will consider Mostar one day.
DeleteBrac
DeleteOr Brač.
DeleteWe can speculate all we want but so far Air Serbia has two major developments working in their favor:
ReplyDelete1. their November 2022 results.
2. the fact the government isn't planning any direct subsidies in 2023.
I always said that a business can't shrink itself into profitability. Airlines need volume and they need to grow and that is exactly what Air Serbia is doing right now.
Let's not forget that they have some things working in their favor. Most important thing is that they are building a hub at a time when there are fewer hubs in their immediate environment. Tarom is turning into a joke, CSA is already a joke, Malev and Adria are dead, Croatia Airlines is consistently decaying and merely fighting for survival, LOT withdrew from their BUD hub...
Austrian Airlines, LOT, Turkish Airlines and Aegean are their main competitors but none of them is located within the same catchment area and doesn't pose a direct threat.
Air Serbia is simply making the most of the new geopolitical realities.
Despite all this impressive growth and positive developments, we are still seeing JU struggle with developing the commercial aspect of their business. If they want to become a serious player then they need to invest in modernizing their product, having a competitive loyalty program which also includes a corporate loyalty scheme and so on. Mind you, they still don't offer online check-in at all of the airports. From what I can see, they plan on having 8 weekly to BCN next summer yet their customers still can't check-in online.
BEG might also be a problem for them especially if they don't sort out their chronic shortages when it comes to employees. There has to be synergy between the airport and its main customer. When planning their growth, Air Serbia absolutely must keep in mind what can be realistically expected from the airport. That said, Vinci has more than enough time to prepare for summer 2023 so if anything goes wrong it will be down to their bad planning.
Long-term, BEG's positive developments come at a time when BUD is struggling to regain its dominant position within the region. Their November results were especially bad (-25%). Another airport that might be affected by all this is TSR. All in all, 2023 will be extremely interesting to follow. If this trend continues then we might see BEG further consolidate its position within the wider region. Just look at the BEG-LCA offer, next summer there are going to be two carriers on this route offering a total of 19 weekly flights. This is more than any other airport in the area.
+1
DeleteTotally agreed. They are growing, and that is commendable, but they also need to grow up.
DeleteVery interesting trend is the overall performance of the Romanian airports. TSR hasn't seen growing for quite a long time. Same with Arad and soon. Oradea will soon lose all their Ryanair flights. Air Connect was delayed to March launch and have quite a few number of frequencies. Brasov is expected to officially open in June and they have scheduled only 1 weekly charters to Turkey. Wizz have stagnated in Cluj as well.
DeleteTake other airports with similar trends such as Debrecen, which saw many routes being cut and Hefiz no longer has scheduled flights since the beginning of December 2022.
Speaking of BUD, JU flights did not go well in the past and having a sudden 17 weekly rotation from scratch is a bit overoptimistic but lets see.
In 2023, the most interesting in the region will definitely be Tirana. Yes, it has many seasonal routes but is continuously receiving new routes. Mind you their traffic is almost similar to Belgrade!
BEG: 5,134,427
TIA: 4,830,165
Similar to Belgrade, they will also have a Wizzair expansion in July with an additional aircraft.
There are strong rumours that Ryanair are also considering adding more aircraft in January 2023, will be interesting to see. And also lets see what will happen with Zagreb's future expected Ryanair expansion.
As for BEG airport, those serious expansions MUST be backed with well prepared staff. A recent official report suggest that the population declined to 6,6 million. It will be hard to quickly hire more quality staff, English-speaking and not to mention about the personnel. There must be more buses (local transport) as traffic is expected to grow.
Ryanair is considering adding more aircraft in January 2023. In which base are you talking about?
Delete11:50 Read it in other aviation forums yet no official data. Region, means CEE and the Balkans. Possibly ZAG as it was previously reported here:
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2022/12/ryanair-eyes-zagreb-expansion.html
Finding English speaking staff in Serbia is not hard at all, the only thing is that many companies offer English speaking positions in the city itself for much more money and for better working conditions so there is no reason for qualified staff to travel to Surcin for work every day and lose time on commuting when they can work and earn more in the city itself.
DeleteIndeed, you don't need someone to read and interpret Shakespeare but rather to be able to handle a basic conversation in English. This should not be a problem.
DeleteMain issue is the salary and working conditions, from what I heard this is where BEG needs to improve the most. Next year will be a major one for them, hopefully they take all these announcements seriously and start preparing.
As for TIA, will be interesting to see how far this growth goes. It's exclusively based on O&D so there is a limit, we just need to see where it is. Wizz Air is a pretty good fit for this price sensitive market. They sure have the right cost structure to support their growth.
BEG and JU are growing so they are making themselves much more competitive compared to their competition. With these regional airports struggling, both have a pretty good opportunity to get access to a whole new clientele. Their performance in December should be interesting to follow.
People are taking advantage of the fact that it is hard hiring people, but in the same time lets be honest many companies won't to pay less based on the minimum salary official statistics. If you go to Budapest, you will see they are actively hiring bus drivers for approx. 1300€ gross salary which is still not that bad but quite low compared to Western standards.
DeleteSame for Serbia, with this continuous rapid population decline especially in the south the government must take immediate measures to motivate the people to stay. Give them good salaries, focus on training, bonus for performance, etc,, etc.
In some EU Eastern European countries, it is better to be a cashier in Lidl than to work for the airport for almost the same money and this is a huge social and economic problem.
The airline industry and airports are a more prestigious and need to ensure people stay as much as they can.
Look at all the chaos that happened in the bigger European airports this year and especially around the holiday period. Many governments did not expect this massive travel wave once again and logically there was less personnel. Good example is AMS airport which became the joke of the year. At the same time, their leftist government is concerned about reducing flights because of the "environment" - an airport with 6 runways which also relies heavily on transfer traffic.
As for BEG, like someone mentioned above they need to work very closely with JU, the municipality like many other airports do and work together to create an organised system.
We repeated this many times, but an airport hotel is very important and it needs to be a good one with an international brand to increase awareness such as ibis, Best Western, Hilton, etc and not the average family run hotel. This is a sad fact but international travellers look into those details.
It is still too early to judge, but they also need to ensure more greenery in the airport. This is also very important. When you travel to international importants even in SE Asia, they are full of plants and this gives a very pleasant feeling. Even DOH installed a green garden similar to the one in Changi. Checked out the arrivals halls gallery. It looks good but needs more urban architecture to make it look less "sterile" especially with those tiles.
The details are a lot if you want to have a good, working and efficient airport.
BEG did recently have a recruitment drive in Delhi for ground staff. I guess we can expect Indian workers at BEG next year, just like we see Sri Lankan bus drivers for GSP. It'll be ok for the short term, but long term BEG will really need to better the conditions to attract local staff long term. Increased automatisation would help as well.
DeleteAirport hotel is also in the plans, not everything can be done at once. The entrance is already a zoo due to the construction works, we don't need more construction to exacerbate that further. Greenery is also planned, patience is needed. Lots of renders show what the final product will look like and there will be a lot of greenery. Alot more than what it was prior to the construction works.
https://www.exyuaviation.com/2021/04/belgrade-airport-expansion-masterplan.html?m=1
'codeshare agreement with a big Middle Eastern carrier operating from a major hub in the region is to be announced', is it EK or QR?
DeleteAnon 18.21, it can be EK, QR or even MS. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
DeleteAs for terms of employment, many shops in Belgrade have realized this and have boosted their salaries. At some point BEG will have to do the same. Next year they are going to see major traffic flows so it remains to be seen how serious they are about running a smooth operation. Morning wave will have around 35 planes departing within a time frame of some 90 minutes. At the moment BEG doesn't have enough staff to handle all this. They constantly advertise open positions which can lead us to the conclusion that they didn't get enough people who accepted their job offers.
Then again, BEG staff is some of the most rude out there. This is something else they need to work on.
Ljubljana posted on the website that Air Serbia will have 18 flights to Belgrade and 3 flights to Nis this summer season
ReplyDeleteWishful thinking by a desperate LJU management. JU won't go more than 14 weekly.
DeleteWishful? Lol
Delete18x weekly is the same frequency as it was announced for 2020 summer schedule before pandemic, so it's more realistic than wishful...
DeleteJU increasing LJU to 18 weekly is highly likely. They are increasing frequencies on almost all routes and adding them to the system. Just the other day they increased Larnaca to double daily for next summer.
Deleteis there any chance they add early morning departure from Ljubljana? Just like Lufthansa and Airfrance?
DeleteI hope for early morning arrival to Ljubljana (around 1am) just like they are doing with some routes, but I'm not sure it's gonna happen
DeleteEarly morning (1am) arrival wont happen as it would mean LJU had to stay open longer (probably until 2.30am+expected delays in summer) and the amount of airport fees LJU gets for an ATR with 50 pax wont make them change the opening hours. If JU decides to deploy the A330 on this hypotethical late night flight, that would make a difference :)))))))))))))
DeleteLju is open until 3am on Mondays nowadays, not to mention that charters are operating at around 1/2 in the morning in the summer.
DeleteGood to see YU-ALZ finally in service (the 4th ATRA72-600). it has been a while since it arrived in BEG.
ReplyDeleteI've noticed that it is taking a long time for JU to put aircraft into service after they are delivered to them. What's going on?
DeleteIt's not down to JU. It is Jat Tehnika's fault which is chronically understaffed and is taking much longer time to turnaround aircraft when they come for checks (and all new aircraft arrivals must be checked). Czech owner should be asked why and why they don't have such an issue in Ljubljana for example.
DeleteInteresting and depressing at the same time. I assume the issue is a lack of mechanics. Most have left to work for better pay elsewhere.
DeleteThey don't have that problem in Ljubljana because Adria Tehnika has its own management
DeleteSerbian CAA is the problem.
DeleteAnd not the staffing issues, no? Ok, if you say so..
DeleteActually, YU-ALZ has been flying for a few days now. It's first flight was to VIE.
DeleteWhich new routes will be load Air Serbia ? Dublín? Tenerife? Which more?
ReplyDeleteSome Middle East + Caucasus destinations and I personally hope for opening up towards subsaharienne Africa, although I don't think that will happen so soon.
DeleteMaribor, Portorož :)
DeleteLook, options are immense, even that JU launched most of Europe already :)
DeleteLets see- Manchester, Liverpool, Dublin, Belfast, Reykjavik, Bergen, Tromso, Helsinki, Lisbon, Porto, Tenerife, Las Palmas, Baku, Tbilisi, Yerevan.
Those are just in Europe. Long haul will be their playground.
What I see that they are doing is that they are scheduling A330 to European destinations too, so we can see future development in that direction too.
Is Africa considered as long haul, destinations like Ethiopia, Kenia, Nigeria? What is the definition for long haul?
DeleteYes, places like Tromso, Bergen, Yerevan and Belfast are definitely one of the busiest unserved routes from BEG. The demand for these cities is extremely high. lol
DeleteThe biggest risk for 2023 has to be BUD. Going from 0, to 17 weekly is either extremely risky or very bold. We'll see. Good luck.
DeleteLagos 😍😍😍
DeleteLAGOOOOOOOOOOS
Delete@anon 12:34- do you understand that there are no more "bussiest unserved routes" left anymore? Thats it! JU covered almost all of them. All 10.000+ unserved routes are DONE!
DeleteNow JU must start creating new demand. For example, if Yerevan+Baku+Tbilisi have a lot of transfer potential for Norway, they must schedule all three arrivals at the same time and then transfers to Oslo+Bergen+Tromso+Stavanger. Thats how its done. And thats why I said its time to create new demand
Also, weird to see that Kukes is not on their destination list. Although TIA is making wonders for transfers.
Also, Amman, Riyadh, Baghdad, Beyrut, Tehran...must happen sooner or later.
And again...JU is creating demand where it does not exist based on transfers.
HUB people...HUB...
11:53 - Interesting destinations you listed, However, Belfast is a quite seasonal leisure hotel and do not think is a good choice:
Deletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belfast_International_Airport
Tenerife is a very potential destination but they will need more aircraft as it is probably more than a 4,5 hour flight. With no work with the local touroperators it will be difficult to fill seats.
Dublin is an option but Ireland still requires visas for Serbs and there is not a big diaspora there compared to the Croatian one.
18:22 Kukës? It's worthless
DeleteYou can't be a "Regional leader" with a small bag of chips and a bottle of water . A passenger always appreciates a good price combined with a better inflight product . Watch Aegean airlines slowly they are bringing back the hot meals and this always is a plus for a passenger to prefer this or that !
ReplyDeleteYes, eating some microwave warmed up meal is the reason why I fly. Also free coffee and definitely jumbo package of chips or family pack of Noblice or somethis like that. Come on guys, more that what they give is really not necessay for European flights. If they are to give something for free, I would like more through loyalty program and points exchangeable for in-flight food or drinks for those who wants it.
Deletesame here. i would rather see to have more "free" flexibility when it comes to tickets rather than free meals...
DeleteAnonymous 11:44 , you need to get back in reality. Whoever you ask what they prefer , a ticket BEG-ATH-BEG costs 160 euro with chips and water or the same price on the same route with a hot meal , coffee or orange juice and beer or wine , I think you know what the obvious answear will be !
DeleteIn my opinion, they must gear up the buy-on-board programme, the same lousy sandwiches available for the past few years. Other airlines are able to generate a serious portion of their revenue with inflight sales. For example, Swiss does an excellent job with their Swiss Saveur programme, just visually, they are in a different league than JU: https://www.swiss.com/content/dam/swiss/pdfs/LX004_SWISS_Saveurs_2022_V6_f04_FlyPad_RGB.pdf .
DeleteAlso, on several occasions, I saw JUs crew carrying the sandwiches from the aft to the front of the aircraft in a huge plastic bag, which doesn't really make me want to buy them a few minutes later.
AS has lower fares than Aegean for the same route, mostly every time, depending on when you travel.
DeleteBEG to ATH with AS can be found for 95e return with hand luggage and a small snack (for a 1 hour and 20-minute flight), that type of product is more than enough for such a short flight, plus the prices are decent if you book reasonably in advance. I flew to ATH and AS is really decent on that route.
But Anonymous 13 :38 if you book in advance with Aegean you also get a good price with a much better inflight product than Air Serbis ...... So ???
Delete90% of all bookings are still being made 7 days or less prior to travel.
Deleteit is 2023 almost and people are still demanding silverware serviced meals on shorthauls
Deleteplease stop
Swiss has better offer, no doubt, but the price is 50% higher or even more.
DeleteSandwich + soft drink+ cookie are 9€ in AirSerbia, 10€ if you opt for beer. Sandwich+soft drink in Swiss are 13.5.
This is nice to see for all those complaining how AirSerbia is expensive.
Anyway, I would like to see some changes, although I like their sandwiches, it would be cool to taste something new next time.
@11,30
DeleteJU already experimented with a full service product. Problem is passengers don't want to pay the premium for having it, while JU had the highest losses during those years. Passengers typically want the cheapest fares. Competition with LCC's means having to unbundle alot of products and services to remain competitive. If you want hot meals, buy it.
A3 has a great product and it'll be great to see JU slowly bring in that level of service to their flights. I think the more important thing for JU is to be financially independent while offering our market increased connectivity and decent fares.
Talking about in-flight service, I was more than surprised about a week ago flying Tarom MUC-BUH-AMM in Business and there was NO meal service. At all. They have 2-2 seat configuration in Business on 737-700, wide leather seats, very nice crew, on time arrival, but I was really surprised to have just a glass of water inflight. Kind of strange for C class.
DeletePozdrav, indeed. That's because they cut all service during covid times and they literally did not bother bringing it back. RO struggled big time as a lot of their pilots and cabin crew left, most of them switched to Wizz Air and Blueair. That's why Blueair's bankruptcy was a gift from God to Tarom. It gave them some breathing room.
DeleteTarom is actually going through a deep identity crisis as they are struggling to find their own business model. Their network is rather modest, just look at the list of their destinations in Italy and Spain, and their fleet structure is a mix of different models. Only good thing they did was to replace the ageing ATR fleet with newer models.
Their business class product is the result of a much deeper crisis. However, they did announce that they plan on fixing this catering issue in business class.
I meant 11:30 not 11:44
ReplyDeleteInteresting that Air Serbia does not 'sponsor' sports teams or events the way Jat Airways did in the past, not to mention JAT. I realize Jat was much more of a political tool back in the days. But still, you rarely hear that JU is sponsoring some events .
ReplyDeleteWell, that's the way for pulling money from state owned company. After Air Serbia was introduced Serbia gave management to somebody else, and likely they won't take it back.
DeleteIt just means Air Serbia pays more attention to money than Jat Airways.
DeleteWell done Air Serbia!
What about Air Serbia Center instead of Štark Arena?
Deletehahahh wonder what the fee would be for a 10 year 'sponsorship' of the arena would cost?
DeleteWould be great promotion for Air Serbia if Belgrad gets the final four again in a few years and the games are played in ASA - Air Serbia Arena.
DeleteI like the way that sounds.
Deleteplan sounds like they have a good dealer
ReplyDeletein other news, krešimir mađija became the CEO of air mauritius
fleet is 6 widebodies and 2 atrs
You missed the news a month ago
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2022/12/former-croatia-airlines-boss-confirmed.html
yeah, i barely read these days.
Deletethanks!
It's called lessor, not dealer.
DeleteWas on a visibly aged ATR72-200 about a week ago. Happy to hear they're refreshing the fleet of ATRs. That thing was OLD!
ReplyDelete'codeshare agreement with a big Middle Eastern carrier operating from a major hub in the region is to be announced', is it EK or QR?
ReplyDeleteEK would make sense if they replace FZ and start BEG. Not likely until they receive plenty of 787s and that will take a while.
DeleteQR on the other hand could work, they already fly to BEG. AA and QR have a partnership so JU announcing codeshare with both AA and QR sounds plausible.
That would really put beg on the map as a hub airport
DeleteIf it turns out to be QR does that mean less chance that EK would start flights to BEG?
DeleteI don't feel good when I think about how many delays and complaints there will be.
ReplyDeleteAMS was a horrorshow during summer. FRA and MUC had so many complaints about lost baggage. Wizz cancelled so many flights.
DeleteReally? I was reading about many JU delays, especially regional. You remember TIV, LJU etc?
DeleteI like the way that if AMS, FRA, MUC and other big time airports have huge dalays, than it is OK for the BEG to have same issues.
DeleteBut it doesn't
DeleteNo other airport or airline experienced delays this summer, just JU and BEG. Maybe every single media agency forgot to add Serbia to the list thinking it's Siberia.
Deletehttps://samchui.com/2022/08/05/data-worst-airports-and-airlines-for-delays-july-2022/
Jatbegmel, U2 has the same number of planes as JU only on LGW-BER or CDG-BCN daily. FR has around 620 aircrafts, so please don't mix grandmothers and frogs please.
Delete^ I really don't know why you somehow foresee that Air Serbia will have many delays and complaints. Is it something you are hoping for?
DeleteKaže se apples and oranges, ako već hoćeš da izgleda kao da znaš. Ja ne znam sve, ali znam da svaki put kad su odlične vesti o Er Srbiji, ovde dođeš da vodiš tvoj mali psihološki rat protiv njih. Daš prvi gol, sav si važan, a onda te pametni ljudi napucaju činjenicama i izgubiš ubedljivo sa 7:1.
DeleteKao Brazil od Nemaca pre nekoliko godina.
Delete@22,58
DeleteTo start, plural of aircraft is aircraft and not aircrafts. Second, regardless of the number of aircraft, percentage is a percentage. Basic mathematics. The more aircraft the more inconvenienced pax, which makes things worse, not better as you try to make out. We already saw the numbers from a super exclusive aviation analyst who wrote exclusive and first to announce reports on those delays this summer only to be surprised himself that it wasn't as high as he thought. I'm not denying that JU had issues with on time performance this summer, but it was very far from the worst. Emphasis on very far. BEG at least had 0 restrictions on capacity, frequency and number of pax compared to global hubs such as AMS and LHR where it was a dumpster fire at best. BEG did not have 4-5 long hour queues to enter the terminal building nor did it struggle to turn around half load A319's in 2 hours. What BEG struggled with was handling hundreds and hundreds of bags dumped onto it at once from all those global European hubs such as AMS, FRA and LHR. JU struggled alot as global world class hubs such as AMS, LHR and CDG couldn't turn around an A319 in under 2 hours creating a knock in effect in BEG not only with the next departures ex BEG but crew legalities. You are more than welcome to share data as well to show how bad JU's delays were. Publicly available information isn't illegal to share so please do.
JU should fly 2x daily to SJJ to get a greater share of the transfer market.
ReplyDeleteAdmin wrote this the other day on Wizz Air to reduce Sarajevo article:
DeleteBased on OAG data, Austrian Airlines is the main transfer carrier on the London route, holding 46% of the market, followed by Lufthansa, then Croatia Airlines and then Turkish Airlines.
@20,25
DeleteWhat's that got to do with JU flying double daily to SJJ?
My guess is that it supports the previous comment. Their absence in London transfers may be an example of how JU needs to be more aggressive there.
DeleteThey have a lack of Sarajevo transfers to London because the connecting time for the flight is 18 hours. JU can't change its slots in Heathrow to accommodate the Sarajevo flight.
DeleteSJJ needs 24 hour operations
DeleteWith another daily flight the waiting will be cut down to a few hours.
Delete@23,54
DeleteDepends when it is. 6am departure from BEG to SJJ will make it in time for LHR, but means nothing for the return from LHR. 6 pm departure to SJJ is great for the LHR pax connecting to SJJ, not for the return flight from SJJ.
@23,02
Correct. JU applied for more LHR slots (10 slots - 5 departure, 5 arrival) and we're rejected.
@23,19
Not really. SJJ doesn't have many options going east (ie OTP, ATH, SKG, SOF, TIA, SKP). JU could profit there with split morning and evening schedules. JFK arrives in the morning 3 x a week, midday departure another 3. Not to mention the new flights from midday (FCO, KRK, BUD, VIE) plus O&D traffic especially business traffic. SJJ could essentially go 3 x daily in the next couple of years with JU's current expansion and O&D demand plus connection options.
That's what i'm talking about. JU has to go 3x daily to:
DeleteLJU, ZAG, SJJ, TGD, SKP, TIA, SOF.
Some of these cities have already reached that level, or soon to be.
2x daily: SPU, BNX, TIV, OTP, BUD, DBV.
These are the core market for BEG, both O&D, transfers.
This is what JU needs to fill all those flights next summer.
DeleteI love all the comments and funny arguments but I really don't want to see a cheap hotel like Best Western at Beg Airport. Hilton yes. Holiday Inn, maybe. But Best Western?
ReplyDeleteAgreed.
DeleteShould be a 4* hotel
Any international brand is more than welcome. We also have even much better quality hotels compared to others. The important thing is to have it quite close to the airport terminal. An airline wanting to create a hub should definitely consider that alongside with the (light) rail or metro service. Very crucial for a big city.
Delete