Air Serbia has secured rights to launch operations between Belgrade and Shanghai, but the airline has said it is only the first in a series of steps required before introducing services to its second destination in China. Speaking at the Asia Connect Digital Air Travel Conference in Belgrade yesterday, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said, “The next wave of expansion for us is China. Tianjin proved to be profitable from day one and it has high load factors, so we are continuing to operate to Tianjin. Recently, we secured traffic rights to Shanghai but in China you must go step by step. Once you have traffic rights, you must go for the slots and so on. Therefore, this is only one step closer to Shanghai being the potential next destination. We are also looking at Guangzhou, Chengdu and some other opportunities as well”.
Mr Marek said he would like the airline to grow faster within the long haul sector, as it prepares to inaugurate Chicago as its third far-away destination next Wednesday. “In respect to long haul, we would like to grow faster, but the supply chain is not able to follow. During the last conference [New Air Gateway to Europe] in Ljubljana [in February], we were very close to signing the deal for the third wide-body that was supposed to come in July but then issues with the supply chain started to come up. We are still in negotiations, and we hope that by Q4 we might have the aircraft, so then the fourth one might come faster because of this delay”, Air Serbia’s CEO explained.
China remains the number one priority long haul market for the Serbian carrier. “We want to stay on the path of profitability. At the moment, Chinese routes are high priority. When it comes to North America, after JFK and Chicago, the logical choices are either Toronto or Miami. We are looking into that, but it will only come after China. As a result of Covid, long-term and mid-term planning does not exist anymore. Before Covid, when you decide to launch a new route, you make a long-term plan and usually the golden formula was that by year three the route should be profitable. Now, bookings and demand have changed so dramatically that you put the route on sale and many times it’s profitable from day one. It happened to us with Tianjin, Malaga in winter and now that we launched Lisbon, tickets were sold out in two weeks for the next three months. A lot of these things changed, and it is all down to flexibility and agility and how you react to those opportunities”.
Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, Shanghai was Belgrade’s busiest unserved long haul route. This is in part because the largest portion of Chinese nationals residing in Serbia have their origins in two provinces south of the Shanghai region. Belgrade is currently linked to two Chinese cities. In addition to Air Serbia’s weekly Tianjin service, Hainan Airlines maintains two weekly rotations from Beijing, with frequencies expected to be further increased in the coming months. Air Serbia has said it is working with Hainan Airlines to conclude a codeshare agreement.
Finally
ReplyDeleteGreat job Air Serbia!
ReplyDeleteGood. Shanghai makes the most sense
ReplyDeleteBravo Air Serbia 🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸
ReplyDeleteIt seems they will leave Beijing to Hainan, keep Tianjin and launch a third destination.
ReplyDeleteAgree. I think Hong Kong would be the best choice.
DeleteDid JAT ever fly to Hong Kong?
DeleteActually yes. Scheduled passenger flights, no, never. But JAT did operate cargo flights with full cargo version B707 to old Kai Tak airport in Hong Kong. I also think they touched down once in Hong Kong with passengers, B707 again, on one of their "tours around the World".
DeleteDid JU asked for the permission to fly to Hong Kong already?
DeleteSo these will probably start in November.
ReplyDeleteYes
DeleteOr December.
DeleteTheir growth in China is not going unnoticed.
ReplyDeleteHainan also applied to increase PEK-BEG from 2 to 3 from July. I am surprised other carriers are not stepping in. Soon BEG will have more flights and capacity to China than BUD.
CAD should definitely block them before JU receives all the permits in China for their flights
Delete^ if you read the article, you would see that Air Serbia does not have aircraft to add more flights to China until the winter.
DeleteExactly, China just gave them the rights. Problem is that Hainan is a well run airline that methodically plans everything. JU is a bit hectic and that is why they are blaming everything oc covid or supply chains.
DeleteSupply chain prblems are a real issue that some armchair CEOs are unaware of here. You can't get a slot for engine repair for the next 2 years.
Delete@Anon 9:12 you have no clue how the market is at the moment, it is quite easy to pin it all to AS. I'd say quite good move from their end
DeleteHainan is here to stay. They are advertising Duty Manager role in Belgrade (on LInkedin)
DeleteBut didn't you hear Hainan is operating charters for construction workers according to a self proclaimed analyst?
DeleteSelf proclaimed analyst is the biggest joke online.
Deleteboth online and offline
DeleteIncluding his bot friend from Austria.
DeleteI wonder how many frequencies they have been given.
ReplyDeleteHopefully they will increase frequencies too.
ReplyDeleteI mean to Tianjin.
DeleteIt would be good considering they are always sold out.
DeleteWe can realisticly expect flights to start on november 1st - with chicago increase (judging by the sold out summer schedule)
ReplyDeleteMakes most sense
DeleteInteresting that they said they might open third North American route only after they expand in China. So China is definitely a priority and a more profitable market for them at the moment, probably because there is a lot more competition to North American than to China by foreign carriers.
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to see what is the percentage of transfer passengers on JU flights from BEG to China.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteSome more great news. With all these additional destinations the one thing that is key is finally sort out the loyalty programme.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, there are no significant benefits for status customers, as a Silver customer you get the most significant ones. The benefits for Gold and Platinum customers are almost irrelevant (except the lounge, but I doubt frequent fliers hang around at a lounge at their home airport).
DeleteWith Etihad Guest it is difficult to amass enough miles with (just) JU flights, and then almost impossible to redeem them. There are some really simple things they could do like a guaranteed empty next seat (if available), or a special hello from the crew like LH is offering for their Senators. As silly as it sounds, but things that don't cost a cent, yet massively increase customer loyalty.
Jasmineeeeeee!!! Dje si? De ohani malo, ubi te tol'ki rad, sve mi te zao
ReplyDeleteOoooohhh. Thank you for this.
DeleteVia Frankfurt to the whole world ;)
DeleteAhahahahahhahahaha I was just thinking where is our friend calling for Jasmin😂😂😂
DeleteFriend's posts about Jasmin were twice erased during last few days by @ex-yu. Nothing irregular, nothing offensive, just a bit of irony and criticism as always. I don't know why @ex-yu did it but that's the case. And thank you all for understanding and support 😃
DeleteI saw some comments on the analyst-that-must-not-be-named's website saying how the admin here is, brace yourself, anti-Croatian because of your comments. So I think he might be trying to limit you a bit. I think he still loves you - we all do :D
DeleteIn this case you cant criticize Air Croatia. Serbia needs china, so these long haul to china are more necessary for air Serbia. Croatia doesnt have as much connection to china so its unreasonable to want Air croatia to have such a route.
DeleteCriticizing air croatia for not have long haul to north america, that would be fair.
Air Croatia?
DeleteNever ever in my life I criticized OU for not having flights to China, neither was I suggesting them. I am constantly speaking about North America, and was also mentioning Seoul, Bangkok and India as the possibilities. And OU is not Air Croatia. Something like that doesn't exist. It's Croatia Airlines, pathetic feeder and humiliated servant
Delete"We are also looking at Guangzhou, Chengdu and some other opportunities as well”.
ReplyDeleteSmart. Hope they consider Hong Kong or Shenzhen too.
+1
DeletePriorities are :
Delete1. Shanghai
2. Beijing
3. Hongkong or Guangzhou
Good work. They seem to be committed to long haul expansion.
ReplyDeleteExciting times
DeleteAir Serbia has a huge potential in China
ReplyDeleteI remember all the experts writing how China will loose money for JU, that 1 weekly is unprofitable, that it is madness to start flights while China is still closed... so much for that.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteSo you are saying they are NOT losing money on this route? :D :D :D
DeleteHow dare you to ask all these "experts" about the statements they made just 6 months ago? 🤣
DeleteHopefully they conclude the codeshare with Hainan.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure they will. It will be beneficial for both airlines.
DeleteHas China dropped all Cpvod measures?
ReplyDelete*covid
DeleteYes. There are still limitations as to which countries Chinese tour operators can organise groups to but that's about it.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAnd?
DeleteI expected Tianjin would only be a temporary move but it seems like they will stick with it.
ReplyDeleteWould make more sense than compete against Hainan to PEK.
DeleteMaybe they can think about Daxing in Beijing
DeleteMarek mentioned several times that TSN would stay if they were satisfied with the results.
DeleteTianjin is super well connected to Beijing by high speed rail. Given the time it takes to get to the city either from Daxing or Capital Airport, depending on where one is going to in Beijing, any of the three airports could be the best solution. For example, for Northeastern Beijing, past the 3rd ring road, anything other than Capital is a bad choice. If around the Southern Railway Station, on the other hand, Tianjin could possibly be the best choice there is.
DeleteFor the sole reason Daxing also connects to Southern Station, I would opt for the Capital Airport.
Does Air Serbia fly via Russian airspace to China?
ReplyDeleteNo, they haven't used it at all.
DeleteBut Hainan always uses Russian airspace for their flights.
DeleteThanks. They's interesting. Wonder why JU avoids it considering they are able to use it.
DeleteCould be because of plane lessor restrictions.
DeletePupin is allowed to fly through Russian airspace, but still it is not happening.
DeleteI think that their current routing does not add any extra time to the flights.
DeleteGuys you doesn't fly via Russia because it's cheaper not to pay Siberian overflight rights. Flight is longer by some 10 minutes so it's not a biggie
DeleteYU-ARB is used for TSN due to the larger cargo space. That aircraft doesn't operate (land or overfly) into Russia due to lessor restrictions.
DeleteYesterday YU-ARC flew to TSN, also via the southern route. I think it has to do more with parts availability in case of a mid-flight malfunction and emergency landing
DeleteTo where in China and with which airlines does BUD have flights to?
ReplyDeleteRight now there are no passenger flights to China but they will get PEK in June 2 times per week. So less than what BEG has.
DeleteThanks for the info. Really surprised they have no flights considering how popular Budapest is with Chinese tourists and the amount of Chinese people living in Hungary.
DeleteBecause BEG and VIE rushed to secure their own flights so many Chinese who visit the region are arriving at those airports and then continuing their trip. BUD will no longer be relevant for passengers from China.
DeleteThey will be for Korea though. South Korea, not North Korea that is.
BUD at the moment has 3x weekly PVG by Shanghai Airlines + 1x weekly CKG by Air China. From June Air China will reinstate 2x weekly PEK.
Delete^ Thanks for the correct info. Thought it was very odd that BUD didn't have flights from/to China.
Deleteif air serbia grows china and north america then belgrade will have the best connection in the region. the balkans is really poorly connected outside Europe.
Deleteso there is opportunity for long haul to be very successful since no one else has year round flights.
You can check airlines and destinations for airports on Wikipedia.
DeleteI'm very happy to hear from Marek that Malaga and Lisbon are doing well. Good choices. Wish they could launch Shanghai sooner as it will be a moneymaker too.
ReplyDeleteWhen is Lagos launching? 🤣
ReplyDeleteIt's a joke now, but after expanding to North America and East Asia, an African expansion would be a clever move. There are lots of people there who would benefit from it, and not enough airlines at the moment.
DeleteLagos will be launched when JU will start to fly to Portorož with the A330
Deletethe golden route would be australia if they wanted to. would be just like Taijin
DeleteKada bi dobili dozvolu Australijske vlade za uspostavljanje saobracaja, proslava stogodisnjice bi bio vise nego dobro obelezavanje jubileja.
DeletePotencijal za saobracaj uvek postoji. Ipak politika ne dozvoljava razvoju otvorenih odnosa. Kamo srece da nije tako u zdnjih 33 godine. Ako bi se odnos poboljsao, i sanse uspostavljanja saobracaja bi uspesan bio. Australijske kompanije ne vide trziste u Srbiji za sada. Naravno da reciprocitet je neizostavan.
Rodney Marinkovic and Aviation Enthusiast Associate Group. 😀✈🇦🇺🛫🌐✈🇷🇸🛫
West Ryde Sydney Australia.
You would either need to fly via SIG or lease an a350...which they won't
Delete@XYZ. I know it's an old plane and that they don't make them anymore but if air serbia could negotiate with airbus for new engines. They could use the A340-500 It has a range of 16000km and could make it to Sydney. There are some of the planes left used by governments or azerbaijan airline recently parked theirs and want to sell it probably.
DeleteIt's a plane that's available and maybe they can use it for this route until a suitable A350 becomes available in 5-6 years
European airlines don`t fly to Australia, except for the BA; the competition of those "in between" is too fierce.
ReplyDeleteTako nekako. To je kao da pucaš slobodni udarac s 30 metara, a ispred tebe živi zid od 10 igrača visine 2,20. BA isto slijeće u Singapuru. Koliko znam Qantas jedini ima izravan let Perth-London. Ako Turkish ne leti iz Istanbula za Australiju, a iz Istanbula se leti svuda, onda je logično da nitko iz Europe ne leti direktno za Australiju.
DeleteMarek said yesterday at conference that they will launch Australia when teleporting is invented. So they have no plans.
DeleteAnonymous17:28
DeleteTurkish announced Australian flights by the end of 2023. Not that this information has anything to do with prospects of Air Serbia doing the same
Turkish is not an European airline.
DeleteIt is both European and Asian.
DeleteIt is actually Middle-Eastern.
DeleteOnce Shanghai starts hopefully in Q4, busiest unserved routes from Belgrade will be Toronto (in the long haul category) and Manchester (Europe category). Toronto is very likely starting next spring so placing my bet on Manchester as the next Air Serbia destination in Europe.
ReplyDeleteHighly likely
DeleteHow much you gonna bet?
DeleteI wouldn't put more than a 100eur because of this: many airpots with less demand were launched in previous/current announcement batches but Manchester was skipped: Cologne, Bologna, Trieste, Malaga, Krakow, Valencia and Catania all went ahead of MAN but had less demand. There has to be a valid reason why JU went for them but not MAN, probably visa restrictions, smaller diaspora and limited tourist and transfer potential. Still, MAN has enough demand to be launched sooner or later.
DeleteNo way Toronto will be launched.
DeleteYes way it will.
DeleteJU sutra u sva 3 dnevna talasa ima po 4 leta na A320.
ReplyDeleteWhere is YU-ARC?
DeleteU Barseloni, trenutno
DeleteBarcelona? It’s in Tianjin
DeleteFantastic news.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see they are thinking about routes in Guangzhou region.
ReplyDelete