NEWS FLASH
Air Serbia is increasing operations between Belgrade and Vienna this coming summer season with the carrier to maintain up to three daily flights on select days for a total of eighteen weekly rotations. As a result, the carrier is adding an additional four weekly services on the route. The new early afternoon frequencies will come into effect from March 27. They will run on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. The airline will deploy its ATR72-600 turboprops on all flights to the Austrian capital. Air Serbia competes directly against Austrian Airlines on the route. During the 2023 summer season, the two carriers will have a combined total of 39 weekly flights between the two cities.
Is AS planning on returning KVO-VIE flights, since during the short period the route existed it was usually packed with people and provided the necessary connection diaspora of that region needs?
ReplyDeleteWasn’t there only 7 people on the first flight after the resumption in 2021?
DeleteWere entry restrictions/mask mandates in force then?
DeleteAvionlet14:15
DeleteLoad factor was terrible during October and November of 2021, that`s true. However, during December alone carried almost the same number of travelers as in two previous months.
Planes were full during the holidays (i forgot to state that in the previous comment), I think it could do the job at least seasonally for the diaspora. We hade INI-ZHR line for the same reason, plus KVO-VIE was subsidised by the government and had almost no marketing at all, a lot of people even from Kraljevo itself did not know the route even existed. If 18 rotations can work from BEG, and 4 rotations from INI can work, probably KVO would do well during the holidays at least.
Anonymous14:45 Yes, many routes did not perform well at the time, not only KVO.
DeleteI can only guess that JU is in need of aircraft in BEG. Throwing in routes from INI and KVO reduces the possibility of growing the BEG hub, which needs more frequencies for forming their hub structure to fuel further growth.
DeleteKVO lacks fuelling facilities so it further limits the range of operations, nor does it have a crew base, so all that has to brought in from BEG.
INI could do with a couple of routes. INI-ZRH is the first route without subsidies and doesn't seem to be doing the best considering the duration has been shortened. CDG I think would be a nice addition, along with an enhanced code share agreement with AF.
How hasn't Wizz still launched this route?
ReplyDeleteWizz`s metal can`t land at KVO...
DeleteYou mean, how hasn't Wizz still NOT launched this route.
DeleteATR is the biggest aircraft that KVO runway can handle.
DeleteThe right question here is why JU in its second massive network enlargement does not see neither KVO nor INI...
DeleteAnonymous14:46 Neither KVO or INI have the potential BEG has, with extra rotations on many daily routes, BUD introduced and long haul expansion AS probably prioritised transfer passengers rather than point to point travelers from INI and KVO.
DeleteDon`t forget that new routes form BEG are not subsidized.
@anon 14:39
Delete100 seater jets could work at KVO but both JU and Wizz don't have it.
@ Anon 14:56
DeleteThank you for reminding me and all of us on potential of INI and KVO. No doubt, you are right, and that is also my opinion.
However, as a tax payer, I believe JU has to invest in INI and KVO from its own budget, at least a little bit, not only from GoS`s declared PSO.
Don`t forget, development of the route requires investment.
Since all SRB airports plus JU (more precisely 83+%) are in hands of Govt, wouldn`t be reasonable to expect that mentioned legal entities, other than Govt, invest in their business from its own pockets? For the sake of development of other parts of the country, for exapmle?
I am the original commenter and I was referring to BEG-VIE, not sure why KVO came up. Anyways....
DeleteAnonymous15:25 We just continued a discussion after Anonymous14:15 comment lol
DeleteWho cares about KVO?
Delete@15,17
DeleteSure, money from the budget is going into JU but there is a limit as to how much the EU will tolerate before they jump in. GoS can't just give endless supplies of cash into JU and not expect European carriers to not react to unfair competition. Although Serbia isn't in the EU, it has signed a couple of agreements that benefits our travellers (less beuracracy, increased competition, lower fares, more travel options, better connectivity). Being kicked out of the agreements for distorting competition would be a huge set back for our travellers. There have been complaints and investigations against JU in the past. FR, W6 and JP have been 3 carriers to complain about JU, Croatia tried to block JU from allowing pax to transit BEG. There is also a need of responsibly spending that cash, which is why INI-BUD lasted barely 3 months even though it was a PSO route. If demand (and most importantly yield) is there we will see carriers react. Niš is kind of in a tricky position as it's within close range of BEG, SOF and SKP which all offer a much better selection of flights, schedules, airlines and frequencies. Tourism is also fairly underdeveloped in the south and that doesn't seem to be changing anytime soon unfortunately and another segment you can't really rely on for further boosting demand.
@15,13
Problem is also that there is no refuelling capabilities at KVO which really limits operations.
I've noticed a massive impact that increased flights to INI have had in Nis tourism and hospitality economy. It also impacted property values because owners of apartments converted to daily rentals, investing in renovations and profiting significantly.
Delete+1
DeleteExactly. It is not story about chicken and the egg.
You should invest in accessibility in order to gain overall benefits.
That is what governments and para-governments (JU, Airports of Serbia...) should do!
Bravo Air Serbia 🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸
ReplyDeleteAustrian is responding by upgrading the night flight from E95 to A320.
ReplyDeleteGrand!
Just imagine Ryanair opening VIE to BEG... they'd clean up both JU and OS with their abysmally low fares... too bad they don't have the rights
ReplyDeleteDoubt it, they failed on some markets. They are not impossible to defeat.
DeleteFR would struggle to compete with 6-7 daily flights offered by OS and JU, who could easily kick out FR with price dumping. Similar situation was seen with Niki when they launched BEG. FR could try to take some pax that travel by bus but the distance isn't that far, while bus allows taking on alot of extra luggage, which FR again would struggle capturing as their fares aren't typically that cheap once luggage is included.
DeleteWell, first of all they wouldn’t go after the same market, they’d be a choice for those that aren’t looking for a perfect time of departure or arrival, nor the connection or 1 day trip, also not the business travelers. I think there is space for a low cost option on the route, 2-3 times per week would be a good start. I’m really surprised that both FR and W6 are not looking into that market.
DeleteINI itself can create its own demand with its catchment area and by the time you reach Nis from any point of Vojvodina or Belgrade, you’re half way to VIE with a bus/car.
Anon 17:48 Are you saying Ryan does not have rights to fly VIE BEG route? If so, can you produce any evidence for this laughable claim?
Delete@21,41
DeleteINI already have W6 and FR which operate VIE-INI. BEG and SOF is really not needed, unless perhaps for those wanting to travel to main hubs and use VIE for transiting.
BEG on the other hand has not only the frequencies but capacity that would be a struggle for any other carrier to compete with. It's not just about the CLF but having a decent yield and this is where any LCC will struggle with imo, regardless of which ever market they target. I don't think the demand is large enough for a third carrier, while any competition would quickly be killed off through price dumping by OS and JU, which has happened before. Perhaps BTS-BEG could be a better alternative but I don't think any carrier has talked about that route since 2006. Great alternative to VIE and there is a Slovak community within close range to the airport.
They will increase frequencies on most of the routes, but it seems that they‘ll have to cut SVO to 9x weekly.
ReplyDeleteThat’s a really weird decision from Rosaviyatsia...
how do you know
DeleteBecause they issued permits for the next summer season, not so sure if changes are possible.
DeleteHow many flights did they request?
DeleteI assume 14/15x weekly, as it was also originally planned for the previous summer season before the war broke out.
DeleteI hope someone will ask Rosaviyatsia do they want sanctions from last European country that didn't impose them. But before the answer it would be good for them to consult the higher authorities.
Delete