Air Serbia outlines regional growth strategy


Air Serbia aims to cover the majority of destinations in the region and progressively add frequencies on all existing routes in the area, with the likes of Ljubljana potentially growing up to 21 flights per week from Belgrade. The carrier’s CEO, Jiri Marek, noted recently, “For us, the region is extremely important and that is why we want to position ourselves as the leading airline in the region. We call it the wider- ex-Yugoslav Balkan region because we want to go beyond the border of the former Yugoslavia. I think we have the perfect aircraft serving this region, which is the ATR. It is the aircraft that has extremely good economics to serve regional destinations. Our strategy is that we would like to cover the majority of destinations in the region. In the former Yugoslavia we already cover fifteen destinations, and we will grow this year to include Ohrid”.

Mr Marek added, “The strategy is to densify destinations step by step and offer multiple daily connections to Belgrade. We are building growth in the region based on the strong point-to-point demand and the transfer demand is on top of that. For example, Ljubljana for us is one of the most important markets in the region. We are almost back to pre-Covid frequencies and in summer we will reach that. We will have eighteen plus flights per week. We still consider that we might even grow up to 21 weekly, which was our number of pre-Covid frequencies, which was a reaction to the collapse of Adria, plus we have two weekly flights from Niš. I believe that this market has potential to be, in very near future, up to four daily flights”.

Commenting on the possibility of basing aircraft at nearby airports, Mr Marek noted, “Everything is possible but is this feasible or reasonable for us or anyone else in the region? I think it is a complex question. We are regularly looking at other opportunities in the region. At the moment, the limitation is obviously that we are not in full open skies, so this would require us to get a European AOC and with that come certain complexities. Due to our aggressive growth, which we aim out of Belgrade, which is our priority at the moment, I don’t see it as being feasible in the next couple of years although we would never turn down any opportunities that arise in the region”.


Comments

  1. Anonymous09:00

    Bravo Air Serbia 🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous09:01

    Ljubljana going 3x daily is a surprise. Do they actually have that kind of a demand?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:05

      They obviously see it and with them adding more and more destinations to the network it demand will probably grow with transfers.

      Delete
    2. Nemjee09:25

      I think there are several factors that contributed to the success of BEG-LJU-BEG:

      1. solid O&D demand acting as an additional boost to the revenue.

      2. relatively short segment meaning the plane can leave and come back in time to catch absolutely all connections. This is not the case with ATH, IST, ARN, CDG...

      3. collapse of JP and the loss of connectivity. JU stepped in and stepped up in a market where they were already relatively strong.

      4. absence of VIE connection which could be the only real competitor on the Slovenia-Balkans market.

      That said, I personally expect BEG-LJU to be relatively high on Wizz Air's future list of destinations. The number of tourists alone traveling between the two countries is enough to fill a two weekly A321 on the route ... especially in summer.

      Air Serbia needs to boost BEG-LJU as a deterrent. The more flights they offer, the harder it will be for Wizz Air to break through their defenses.
      That said, Air Serbia should do something to get more people to fly between Belgrade and Ljubljana. They were quite successful with INI-LJU which has really good loads throughout the year. Switching certain flights from the ATR to the A319 should be one of their priorities. Place some ads and organize more promo offers in order to attract even more customers.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:34

      @Nemjee
      At Wizz, they say even BEG-VIE is a bit too short a flight for them. Hence, I doubt they would be eagar to start BEG-LJU.

      Delete
    4. Nemjee09:42

      I think BEG-VIE is not too short for them, it's just an excuse as they know it will be extremely difficult to break through the JU-OS duopoly. Both airlines might hate each other, but their common hatred of Wizz Air would unite them in no time. They did the same to Niki which only managed to get a LF of 66% on the Embraer.

      Just look at BEG-VIE this summer:

      07.00 OS
      07.45 JU
      11.05 OS
      12.35 JU
      18.35 JU
      18.40 OS

      This is their schedule on the busiest day when demand is the largest. It also doesn't help that OS is upgrading the 07.00 departure to A320 and JU renewed their ATR fleet.

      Wizz Air would need to go big or go home in order to remain relevant on this market. That's why I think LJU is an easier prey especially if JU keeps on doing well over there.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:51

      As i wrote a while ago, WIZZ should create party plane - because most of my friends think flying to Belgrade is expensive and if they knew they can fly for 60-70€ they would all fly instead of driving.

      Delete
    6. Nemjee09:54

      That is whey I said JU needs to work on that market segment. JU is not the cheapest option when traveling from LJU to BEG. If Wizz enters the market they can offer lower fares thanks to their competitive CASM.
      Such a potentially high volume route from BEG needs to be gradually increased, first in terms of frequencies and then capacity.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous17:16

      Nemjee09:54

      Travelling from Belgrade to Ljiljana by any mean is unreasonably expensive. Buses are about 70e return for a 7h one way ride, JU charges +150e. Unlike with Vienna on Slovenia /Croatia routes there are no real competitors.
      SrbijaVoz has exited the market as the cheapest option even though the rail segment from Prokop to Ljubljana is decent and relatively fast.

      Delete
    8. Nemjee18:58

      Thank you. Do you remember how long the train took?
      I guess since JU enjoys a monopoly on the route they can afford to charge more. That is why I am almost certain Wizz Air will feel comfortable enough to enter this market. After all, they are after a price sensitive market so they don't need more than 2 weekly flights. If they can spare an A320/321 for Friday/Sunday rotation then they could make a killing.

      I don't think they would impact JU that much. The market overall seems to be in expansion mode right now. It just depends who will capture the most of it.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:03

    He acknowledges that Air Serbia isn't no.1 in the region at the moment,!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:04

      in ex-Yu they certainly are.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:17

      Is Tarom bigger in terms of pax carried?

      Delete
    3. Nemjee09:26

      Would be interesting to compare JU and W6 in the ex-YU region.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:26

      No, TAROM handled 2,3 million passengers in 2022. Air Serbia handled 2,75 million (with travel restrictions to core markets in Q1).

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:40

      @Anon 09:26
      Thanks for the info. So JU is the biggest airline based in the Balkan region (leaving aside TK and A3).
      Good job!

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:47

      @anonymous 09:26 can you please provide us where is the information about 2.3 million passengers of Tarom airlines ?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:49

      Here you go https://centreforaviation.com/news/tarom-records-2m-pax-in-2022-report-1179327

      Delete
    8. Nemjee09:56

      Sky Greece handled 3.5 million passengers in 2022 so they are also ahead of JU.
      I think FR and W6 which have bases in the Balkans also had more passengers.
      Air Serbia might be the 6th biggest airline in the Balkans.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous10:43

      @anonymous 09:49 thanks a lot .

      Delete
    10. Anonymous10:57

      Nemjee I'm afraid if we add all the capacity U2 has in the Balkans (especially Greece and Croatia) during the high season they carried more than 2.75 million passengers.

      Delete
    11. Nemjee18:59

      Indeed, then again they mostly fly there in summer so others might catch up with them during the slower months of the year.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous22:04

      Last time it did not work out well for JU on BEG-BUD route, LF was criminal (sub 40%) back than. Let's hope both p2p and connecting pax works better this time!

      Delete
    13. Anonymous00:51

      There are rumors that advanced bookings on BEG - BUD are criminal at the moment, even worse than 40%. We will find out in a month or so I guess.

      Delete
    14. Anonymous04:17

      What did they expect? They only put ads now for the route. There was no promo here or in Budapest so how did they expect for seats to sell? If they start cutting flights no one will be surprised. This was expected.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:05

    What ther regional destinations could they add down the line?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:05

      *other

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:13

      Maybe Mostar, Maribor, some destinations in Romania?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:17

      What about Portoroz?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:18

      Maribor makes more sense. Portoroz is weight restricted and limited to a few weeks in the summer. Maribor could operate year round and get feed from Graz too,

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:20

      If you are looking at Maribor as a destination it would make much more sense to launch Graz instead, and then you can get feed from Maribor, which is much smaller than the passengers you can arttract from Graz. The only question is what kind of deal you could get from the airports. If Maribor pays you to fly then I would definitely choose it over Graz if I were Air Serbia. Otherwise I think Graz is the wiser choice.

      Delete
    6. Nemjee09:32

      Well, Budapest is a big regional destination that starts in less than a month. We will see how well they do there. As far as regional markets go, BUD is the second largest that can be efficiently served by the ATR, VIE being the first.
      This will be a big test of their maturity in terms of strategic planning.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:43

      Could Varna and Burgas airports work for JU?

      Delete
    8. Anonymous09:44

      They are launching Varna this summer.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous09:46

      https://www.exyuaviation.com/p/air-serbia-belgrade-varna.html

      Delete
    10. Anonymous14:11

      Brac

      Delete
    11. Anonymous18:20

      Sorry but Mostar would not work. They would not have more then 5 passengers on plane.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:05

    Interestingly, talking about regional growth strategy and mention just one route, LJU.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:51

      Aha, then my mistake. I always think something else when use term strategy, but when they talking that is totally different. Understood 😉

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:52

      ^ Your comment makes no sense. Read the article again where they do outline their strategy for the region.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:13

    ATR makes many regional destinations work financially.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:15

      +1

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:21

      They will need more of them.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous16:16

      10 -12

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:16

    It would be good to keep destinations such as Split in winter, at least a few times a week.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:17

      Maybe during winter 23/24 they will. Didn't they operate Rijeka for a few weeks around New Year this winter?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:45

      Pula. Not Rijeka.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:59

      Ah true, my mistake. I wonder how those performed

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:09

      Very poor.

      Delete
    5. JATBEGMEL19:53

      BEG-PUY was the first winter scheduled route (although for a short time) to the Croatian coast since 1990/91. They did a charter to ZAD a few days ago as well.

      A good start would be to at least bring forward the season start to the Croatian coast, while operating some service over the peak holiday period during winter.

      Delete
    6. Nemjee21:33

      I think JU scheduled and even operated a few RJK winter flights some years ago. These were subsidized and still had atrocious loads. They were suspended and weren't brought back.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:25

    By EU AOC do they aim PRN OPS?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nemjee09:35

      I don't think they'll launch PRN any time soon. In reality, it's an unnecessary operating complication for them. Better to focus their capacity on markets that have more potential for them. Furthermore, I don't think we should see a JU plane in PRN before they change the name of the airport.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:08

      I’m sure that will happen just to receive one or two daily ATRs from BEG

      Delete
    3. Nemjee19:01

      If circumstances were regular then the ATR would have been too small for BEG-PRN. Transfers alone would fill an A320.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous23:52

      I think you are severely overestimating it

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:48

    What is their most frequent regional destination at the moment?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:51

      Podgorica

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:58

      IST

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:33

      How many frequencies will Tirana have this summer?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:45

      12

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:55

    I was shocked yesterday when I was searching for a flight from Zagreb to Belgrade in April on a Tuesday or Wednesday. There are no direct flights. Didn't expect that and it ruined my plans.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:59

      They haven't loaded their summer timetable for destinations in the region yet.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:11

      Do you know when this could happen? I would then wait with my flight booking.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:01

      It will be on Monday afternoon

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:59

    If they start flyinf 4 daily, could they add early morning flight? To catch New York and Chicago flights?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:00

      I think they will add the times they had in 2019 when Adria went bankrupt. Not sure which ones those are though.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:06

      A midnight departure would be perfect

      Delete
    3. Anonymous15:15

      4 daily would mean flight in the morning, midday, evening and night. In all 4 banks. With that, every single connection is possible and convenient.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous18:37

      Not really. It means departure at midnight, arrival at 1.30am and flight to nyc or chicago at 7ish. Which means at least 5 hours waiting at not so comfy airport. I would never book that.

      Delete
    5. Nemjee19:02

      Which is why JU will most likely upgrade some flights to the A319. They have the JFK departure at around 13.15 and those connect perfectly from LJU.
      I think the flight on the A319 would be around 45 minutes.

      Delete
    6. JATBEGMEL20:14

      @09,59

      All inbound flights from JFK, ORD and TSN connect to LJU.

      LJU-BEG doesn't connect to:
      * JFK 3 times a week (Mon, Tues, Wed)
      * ORD 1 flight a week (Wed)

      @10,00

      JU's third daily schedule was:

      JU192 BEG LJU 1310 1435 AT7 Mon, Wed, Fri
      JU193 LJU BEG 1520 1635 AT7 Mon, Wed, Fri

      @18,37

      A midnight schedule would like something like this:

      JU196 BEG LJU 0030 0155
      JU197 LJU BEG 0410 0525

      Delete
    7. Anonymous07:43

      No you can't connect on NYC flight every day. You can connect only on certain days - when departure is at 13.15. and not on days when departure is at 7.50. the rest is long wait. Which is stupid to buy since you have Lufthansa, Airfrance, LOT, KLM/Transavia offering shorter connection and cheaper flights.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous10:33

    I'm sure they will introduce a late evening arrival/early morning departure from Sarajevo once the airport finally extends its work hours, apparently from May.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:44

      +1

      Delete
    2. JATBEGMEL20:22

      A split morning/evening schedule would work great as well.

      Destinations such as JFK, ORD, TSN, OTP, SOF, TIA, LCA, SKP, TGD, TIV, INI, IST, LHR, ATH, SKG, VAR, OHD, FCO, VIE, BUD, CHQ, RHO... would all be possible.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous10:34

    Good to hear

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous10:40

    Maybe Brac will be next...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:43

      Or Mostar.

      Delete
    2. What is the point of Brač? It's too close to Split and ferryboat connections can't compare. To me it only make science for tourist that stay on Brač and I don't think that could ever be enough. Maybe if concessionaire (company that owns a hotel chain on the island, if I remember correctly) offered them some good subsidies...

      Delete
  15. Anonymous10:41

    We really need SPU year-round. Well, I do that is. :D

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous10:42

    Turkey and Romania seem like two big markets with a lot of growth potential for Air Serbia. They have started work on Turkey, hope they begin expanding into Romania soon as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:44

      Cluj-Napoca first!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:20

      Romanias forgotten treasure trove : Iasi !!!

      Delete
  17. Anonymous10:44

    Why?

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous10:59

    It would be nice if they had some plans to grow out of Nis and Kraljevo too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:01

      Belgrade Airlines? Sure...

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:06

      Why expand from Nis which has proven to be unprofitable for them outside of subsidized flights?

      Delete
    3. JATBEGMEL18:04

      KVO has no fuelling possibilities and is limited to what an ATR can bring in from BEG to operate the flight.

      JU tried unsubsidised flights from INI to ZRH which should of been a success and it wasn't entirely considering the length of operation was reduced.

      It's either make less money forcing INI and KVO or make more money with as much operations from BEG as possible.

      Full flights also don't mean profit which we saw with FR pulling out of BGY-INI.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous11:00

    Trebinje and Bihac coming online soon :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:30

      Trebinje - That would be amazing can you imagine an over night stay to enjoy the wine!!

      Delete
  20. Anonymous11:01

    Anon 10:44
    Because A320 classs aircraft are just too big for most of their network most of the year.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous11:29

    I know lots of talk of Wizz v Air Serbia but I think they can compliment each other to make Belgrade a hub for the region. If you look where Wizz is growing its presence in Yerevan in Armenia and in Georgia then maybe that is for the benefit of Belgrade airport. Of course it’s interesting Wizz’s play in Istanbul but if Air serbia hopefully go down the Turkish airlines loyalty route it would close that off. However other places are still at play like Tel Aviv etc. . Greater connectivity for Belgrade will benefit all

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous12:03

    ATR is a perfect fit for them.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous12:04

    Densifying destinations is not a new idea. Kondic spoke about going double daily to regional destinations. In reality, you can densify TIV TGD LJU but not destinations like INI or BNX.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:45

      Dane said many things but in the end he made a mess and was fired.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17:31

      Dane tried to do what government politicians asked him to do. Seven years ago:

      Air Serbia's Chairman, Siniša Mali, has said the airline is looking to develop its regional fleet in the coming years in a bid to strengthen its network."Our strategy is to start flying double daily to a number of cities and to get new regional planes. We will see whether they will be turboprops or jet-engine aircraft. With these, we can cover points in the region", Mr Mali said

      from: https://www.exyuaviation.com/2016/04/air-serbia-to-develop-regional-fleet.html

      Delete
    3. Anonymous04:18

      He really did try, he did his best but his best was just not enough. He chased away many high quality people with his crazy and horrible mobing and in the end there was no room for him at JU.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:00

      Topic was Air Serbia's new strategy: "The strategy is to densify destinations step by step and offer multiple daily connections to Belgrade". Turns out it was not new strategy at all, Air Serbia had it back in 2016.

      Instead you tried to derail converstation and talk about your petty grievances.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous01:10

      I thing double daily from BNX to BEG would be good deal for JU and for passengers. Now passengers from BNX make connections in Berlin, Brüssel, Nürnberg, Stockholm and other not BEG

      Delete
  24. Anonymous13:29

    LOL, ATR is horrible for flights over 2 hours long. Which is about 1000 km distance.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous15:40

    Hopefully they'll also increase ZAG, TIA, SKP, SOF, OTP, SJJ at least to 14x weekly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:42

      ZAG won't happen; there is no way that they will be paying 19€ per pax on atr, when their LF is 70% or so on the route now

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:31

      Last Anon +1

      Delete
    3. Nemjee19:07

      Well they seem to be doing fine in ZAG, this winter they had more flights than they had in summer. If demand is there then the price hike should not impact them so much. After all, when people from Zagreb are considering flying to the east, it's not like they have much choice. It's either JU, OS or TK or FR to several destinations with a really low number of frequencies.

      Delete
  26. Anonymous16:34

    It seems they're celebrating birthday today - 95 years since the first flight to Zagreb by Aeroput. Good luck to Air Serbia. I hope they'll have good season this year and many good years to come :)

    ReplyDelete
  27. Nemjee19:04

    I don't think JU has any flights that are two hours on the ATR. Longest is Prague which is 2 hours (block) but roughly 01.40 flying time. This isn't that bad.
    Worst regional flight on the ATR had to be SJJ-CPH on JA. I think that flight was well over 03.30!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous20:07

    ATR🤮

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous22:57

      Take your private jet instead.

      Delete
  29. Anonymous01:32

    Maybe one day we can 8-10 A330, & 20-30 A220. All A330 will depart at the same time to JFK, ORD, MIA, YYZ, DTW, two for China, 1 for Austrlia via something (maybe A350 can reach Australia).
    All the A220 will arive at BEG from all Balkan Airports 2 hours prior A330 depart (great connections). After that all A220 Depart for Europe (great connections again). Late night A220 back to Balkans, not only ex-yu, but also Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania etc.

    Dreaming is Free 😃😃😃

    ReplyDelete
  30. Cestitam Anon 01:32. Nadmasili ste me u zelji za razvoj nase nacionalne kompanije. U sledecih 25 godina nije realno da flota Er Srbije predje brojku od 40 aviona.
    Veoma dobro je voleti napredak u bilo kom poslovanju.
    Ali zelje ne kupuju avione i Aerodromske slotove...
    Iskreno se pridruzujem Vasoj prici. Ipak to je samo zelja.
    Bar za 20 i neku godinu.
    Pozdrav, Rod. 😀🛫

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous12:07

    It is a shame that Air Serbia has only two flights weekly BNX BEG. Air Serbia ignores BNX for a long time, but other air carriers not.

    ReplyDelete
  32. notLufthansa08:50

    Forget night ops at LJU, first of all, airport is closed and extra opening hrs are mind blowing

    ReplyDelete

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