The Presidents of Serbia and India have announced plans to initially provide subsidies to airlines for the introduction of nonstop flights between the two countries. Speaking at a joint press conference with his Indian counterpart, Serbia’s President, Aleksandar Vučić, said, “Both privately-owned airlines in India , as well as our flag carrier, Air Serbia, will consider the support and subsidies that both countries will give to interested companies in order to establish nonstop flights between Belgrade and Delhi. After my visit to India and meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we talked about working in various fields and furthering our business relations. We are trying to start nonstop flights between India and Serbia as soon as possible. This will help a lot in terms of business and tourism in both countries”. India’s President, Draupadi Murmu, added, “It is very important for flights to be established. Enabling travel and people-to-people exchange will broaden our economic cooperation”.
Serbia saw a sharp rise in arrivals from India during 2021, when thousands of Indian nationals underwent quarantine in Belgrade during the coronavirus pandemic in order to be able reach their final destination in the United States, Canada and the Middle East. The likes of Qatar Airways, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi and Flydubai benefited from the increased demand. In addition, several charters were also operated between India and Serbia in 2021 by IndiGo. Aiding arrivals from India to Serbia over the past few years was visa-free entry into the country, however, on January 1, Serbia reintroduced visa requirements for Indian nationals. The only Indian carrier operating flights close to the region is the country’s largest carrier – IndiGo - which maintains services from both Delhi and Mumbai to Istanbul.
Air Serbia recently said that demand for travel from India to Serbia has significantly softened since the end of the Covid pandemic, noting that its primary markets for long-haul growth were China, North America and Far East Asia. “There have been many questions about that [India], and Covid-driven demand should not be mistaken for natural tourist demand. The period in which Belgrade saw a significant number of Indian tourists using Serbia as a stopover for their trips to Europe, the US, and the Middle East has passed, and numbers have dropped significantly as a result of the latest change in travel restrictions”, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said last month.
Wishful thinking.
ReplyDeleteYou mean wishful thinking that you will read the article before posting?
DeleteIgnore him he always wants to be the first to post, just reads the headline.
DeleteLet's see how this develops. There seems to be interest from both sides. Serbia announced it would simplify visa issuance for Indian passport holders.
ReplyDeleteSerbia can not simplify visa issuance, because it will jeopardize it's own white Schengen status. This is a PR & wishful thinking of you-know-who.
DeleteIt can simplify it, it cannot abandon it. It's about time Serbia introduces tourists e-visas anyways
DeleteExactly last anon. Time to introduce e-visas or visas on arrival.
DeleteWhat about no visa requirements to enter India with Serbian passports.
DeleteI really hope that Serbia doesn't simplify the visa policy without seeing reciprocity from the Indian side.
DeleteThe reciprocity would be on the Serbian side to fulfill, since India has an e-visa regime for Serbian citizens. Only 4 countries have visa-free access to India.
DeleteSerbia previously abolished visa restrictions for Indian citizens while India kept the e-visa system for Serbian citizens. The least they could of done was offer visa on arrival.
DeleteIndian citizens who hold valid Schengen, UK or US visas can enter Serbia visa free for 90 days.
Hopefully it will be an Indian carrier. For Air Serbia, India definitely isn't on the radar.
ReplyDeleteJU could do a a few charters during the winter. There are tour groups from Serbia to India each year. They go with QR at the moment.
DeleteNo destination in India made the top 10 list of destinations by popularity for Serbian travellers outside of Europe, leaving the number at best to a few hundred per year. Visa policy of India doesn't help.
DeleteWow I'm surprised to see Indigo is now using a B777 on their flights from Delhi to Istanbul. Used to be an A321.
ReplyDeletewet lease from Turkish Airlines
DeleteThanks. I think they are also getting a B777 of their own. I saw a photo painted in their livery.
DeleteYes, that's the TK one
DeleteAir Serbia and Indigo could start off with a codeshare from Istanbul first.
ReplyDeleteCool
ReplyDeleteGood luck. Hope it happens
ReplyDeleteInteresting but I doubt it will materialize. Air Serbia probably won't accept any partnership.
ReplyDeleteCan money be made on this route?
ReplyDeleteIf they plan to offer subsidies, then obviously not. At least not in the beginning.
DeleteIf subsidies to airlines are offered to operate this route then obviously yes.
DeleteThis is great news for Belgrade Airport and Serbia.
ReplyDeleteYeah but it probably won't happen
DeleteIf they were to start, it would mean that that only BEG next to IST (in our wider region) would have non-stop flights to India. :O
DeleteThere is probably a reason for that.
DeleteHopefully, JU stays out of this, they are already stretched too much, and going to India might cause additional fleet and planning problems. They need to strengthen the routes they have at the moment.
ReplyDeleteReading the CEOs comments, it does not seem they are very interested.
DeleteI would prefer if they focused a bit more on renegotiating the restrictive bilateral for flights to Canada rather than India.
ReplyDeleteThe bilateral has already been renegotiated and it is restrictive probably because JU didn't want some Canadian airline starting this route.
Delete@9.15 Airlines are free to launch flights from/to Canada. Air agreements exist.
DeleteNumber of weekly flights restricted to just 2 weekly to airlines from each country.
DeleteI think Air Serbia can negotiate with Canada and India at the same time if they so choose.
DeleteIndigo can start the route with A320neo. They did it nonstop in 2021.
ReplyDeleteThey did it via Tbilisi.
Deleteas if anyone is willing to spend seven hours aboard a narrowbody plane
DeleteYou may notice that narrow bodies are being used more and more on long haul flights.
DeleteWhat are you talking about? Airbus and Boeing have developed narrow bodies to fly long haul routes. Whether people like it or not, they are going to have to get used to it.
DeleteCan an A321ceo make it nonstop Belgrade-Delhi?
ReplyDeleteMaybe it would, but you seat eight hours aboard a narrowbody, I won't.
DeleteFor me that idea of establishing and having regular flights between India to Serbia is certainly logical in mid future. In Belgrades ER cleaning ladies are Nepalese and that is just a beginning with the expected influx on workers needed to cover similar jobs in Serbia we'll probably, some day in mid future, have Gastarbeiter flights to India for sure.
ReplyDeleteInterested. What a strange turn of migration patterns to/from Serbia.
DeleteWhat exactly is strange? Same thing happened in the rest of Europe, just some 10-20 years ago. Serbia is just late as usual, but pattern is the same!
DeleteBalkaners and Eastern Europeans have been migrating to Western Europe for decades in search of employment because was hard to find a job at home. Now jobs are available in Serbia/Balkans just that no know one wants them because they are low paying.
DeleteRealistically, you have a nice number of construction workers from India in both Croatia and Serbia, and their number will just go up. At one point these flights might have sense.
ReplyDeleteYes, in a few years I think there will be enough people simply to serve the diaspora.
Deletewow this would be nice.
ReplyDeleteIt is impressive that Serbia is trying to establish flights to all corners of the globe and increase tourism. Not sure this will work out but I wouldn't dismiss it. Crazier things have happened.
ReplyDeleteThis is a national strategy. A small irrelevant country trying to make a place for itself.
DeleteWell, why not? Better than being a country with huge tourism potential but doing nothing to attract airlines from far away markets.
DeleteAbsolutely. It is not only about ASL making money, but about bringing people, business, tourists and "being noticed" on a map.
Delete@09:57 Serbia is the second most relevant country in the balkans after Greece.
Deletediversifying away from europe and towards the whole of asia, then hopefuly to africa and latin america is what serious nations do. the world doesnt stop at the borders of europe especially since india is richer than most of europe and will probably overtake germany in the next 10 years.
only issue is that its very unlikely they can fill a wide body for this route, they'll struggle to have a 50% load
I like the way that you are predicting a 50% load factor already.
Delete12:45 Slav.Man, could you explain how Serbia is he second most "relevant" country in the Balkans? And based on what related to aviation?
Delete@01:07 Belgrade is the only nation develop long haul routes.
DeleteBelgrade is placed in the middle of all travel routes in the balkans. Romania and Bulgaria is majority point to point travel.
As for in general relevance. Serbia is the most developed of all the non eu nations and has greater developed ties outside of Europe than the eu nations with exception of Greece.
Possible charters, why not.
ReplyDeleteThey are not going to offer subsidies for charters. They are talking about a scheduled route.
DeleteThis would be great indeed and not totally surprising given how actively the Indian embassy in Belgrade has been promoting closer ties between the two countries.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThis all seems like they are dreaming
ReplyDeleteSimilar to the US flights from Macedonia yesterday.
DeleteNot similar at all because Serbia TO India flights will happen in couple of years max, while the others are not so probable
DeleteWhat about India TO Serbia?
DeleteBulgarians (BH) tried this a few years ago, flying to India that is. But they didn't get approval from the Indians.
ReplyDeleteWhy didn't they get it?
DeleteIndia is very strict with these things and it is very difficult to get permits.
DeleteI really hope this materialises :)
ReplyDeleteThis has been talked about for years already. Air agreements exist
ReplyDeleteThere is just demand missing.
Deletelol true
DeleteDo many Indians already travel to Serbia & Balkans as tourists already?
ReplyDeleteNot really. There used to be many Indian tourists in Serbia when there was visa free travel but it was abolished in January and numbers have dived.
DeleteThese flights could open up a new market for Indian and Asian tourists. Also do wonders for BEGs connectivity.
ReplyDeleteYes, it could really feed flights to the US really well.
DeleteVery nice. Good work Serbia on being proactive on getting long haul flights
ReplyDeleteIt would be very nice having flights to the US, China and India from BEG.
DeleteAll that's missing then would be Canada.
Delete^ it will come soon :)
DeleteAlso missing are flights to Sub-Saharan Africa and other parts of East Asia, as well as Caucasus, Central Asia, and of course Cuba.
DeleteIt's all coming bro, all good time.
DeleteFingers crossed.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me a bit of the short lived services to Iran. The demand is simply gone after lifting Covid restrictions and introducing visa regime to enter Serbia.
ReplyDeleteDemand to/from Iran would increase if visa requirements would be relaxed.
DeleteSpicejet also flew charters from India to Belgrade in 2021.
ReplyDeleteYes, they flew via Tbilisi and/or Yerevan depending on the day with 737-800.
DeleteHow many Indian tourists in Serbia during Q1 2023?
ReplyDeleteJust 1572!
DeleteThat's very little.
DeleteAnd a few years ago it was tens of thousands.
DeleteIt was not natural demand. It was being fuelled by covid.
DeleteI think only 1% of Indians would come to Serbia if there were direct flights. Wait a minute, what is 1% of 1.2 billion?
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice if we had a more effective tourism organisation to get visitors from far away destinations.
DeleteTrue dat. I love it Indian food.
DeleteWell in 2019, Chinese were the largest number of vistors to Serbia. I hope we can achive that again.
Delete90% of that 1.2 billion don't know when they will eat next so I doubt travelling to Serbia will be on their priority list.
Delete@anon 15:19- so you want to say that 120 million Indians DO know when they will eat and maybe, just maybe, CAN travel? Take 1% of upper 1% and you get 1.2 potential Indian tourists willing to visit Serbia.
DeleteYou understand game of big numbers in big country?
Vucic is dreaming again.
ReplyDeletePeople said the same about US and China. There is interest from both sides, not just Vucic.
DeleteYou have to dream and aim high!
DeleteIt's not a dream. It's called vision. Something that's generally lacking in the neighbourhood.
DeleteChanging visa policies kako vetar duva is truly a definition of vision.
DeleteIndian travelers already have a multitude of options to the US and Canada. Both nonstop as well as via the Middle East.
ReplyDelete^ Not true. The market is so huge and it cannot be properly served with current options. India is extremely restrictive in terms of who can fly and how many times. Gulf airlines want to add many destinations to India but they can't. They are restricted.
ReplyDeleteObviously demand is soft, otherwise they wouldn't be offering subsides. But they obviously think demand would develop with the introduction of flights and I think they are right.
ReplyDeleteNormal Balkan practice similar to NMK. Almost all flights to SKP are subsidised as well.
DeleteSKP has for 2024 just 770k(maybe it will come to 1,2 million euro depends on traffic) for subsides planned nothing compared to what other airlines get. What I don't understand why only SKP is mentioned on this blog when it goes about subsides. It's after Montenegro and PRN the least subsidized. Nobody is talking about LJU when they gave in 2022 1,83 millon euro on subsides when they don't even have half of SKP traffic(LJU this year 5,5 million). Nobody talks about losses of Adria and OU the past 10 years which is indirectly subsidizing of routes. Or when JU received 20 millon euro in 2020 from the Serbian government. Or when Nis subsides 24 million euro for 10 routes 2 years:https://www.exyuaviation.com/2021/11/four-ex-yu-markets-plan-airline.html. But when SKP give some peanuts to Wizz everyone remembers,
DeleteBravo, all valid points.
DeleteAgreed, except nobody talks about OU losses. I do, all the time. And even being called boring and annoying for that, and asked to be banned here, by Party bots and Uhljebs who don't want it to be discussed
DeleteParty bots and uhljebs that don't want topics that have nothing to do with your Hrvatska to be dirtied with your broken record
DeleteSeek help
DeleteThat's pretty ironic
DeleteIrritatingly boring and predictive posts. Get a life, brush up on your English and stop being dismissive and aggressive!
DeleteSomeone or all from government/ASL, use psihoactive drugs,100% forbidden for ordinary people.
ReplyDeleteWhat is a goal, to overflow Serbian work force market with, People from India?
Or final revenge,
# I will do it and u will ever,never,see EU membership #
What are you talking about?! Indians will steal our jobs, is it that?! Same like we stole jobs from Germans, Austrians etc. People, stop being stupid, educate yourself, read, travel and enjoy the life. Be positive! Kakve su ti misli takva ti je duša
DeletePure malice, benefit of Air Serbia is not of your concern at all.
DeleteAnon@12:34 nicely said bratko.
DeleteThere is not demand for such flights. I don’t think any Indian airline is interested on BEG.
ReplyDeleteThe same talks were with Azeri president few years ago. And no flights to Baku yet
ReplyDeleteCould end like flights from Iran! After transporting thousands of asylum seekers that ended up in the EU -stopped under pressure.
ReplyDeleteOf course that the situation is totally different.
DeleteAt that time when BEG had direct Iranian flights visa regim with Iran was suspended.
Now we have the situation that talks withh India are held despite the fact that visa regime has been re-introduced.
JU didnt lease 3rd A330 yet let alone 4th or even 5th needed for India.
ReplyDeleteAll in good time my friend.
DeleteAgreed my friend. That means if the flights are to start as soon as possible, it has to be Indian carrier for at least a year or two.
DeleteFlights won't start until 2024 at the earliest. So lotsa time for AS to gets planes to fly to Delhi and Mumbai.
DeleteI am a bit apprehensive about the dreaded longhaul destination evaluation process by Air Serbia. Last year it was evaluation of Chicago vs some expensive airport. Earlier this year it was evaluation of Miami vs that same expensive airport. I am scared of potential evaluation of Delhi/Mumbai vs that same expensive airport.
DeleteAir Serbia will have direct flights to that same expensive airport in 2024.
DeleteBack in 2019 I flew twice Belgrade to India.
ReplyDeleteFirst time I did it with SU. In early July flight was full of Indians, with few Russians/Europeans on board A332. I returned via Dubai, also flight full of Indians. Second time I went thtrough Qatar from Stockholm. Indians all the way. Back then I thought it would be a gold mine for any airline in our region to start serving India.
Delhi is extremely large and confusing airport, but its clean and tidy with new terminals.
Did you have good time in Serbia?
DeleteJasmineeeee!!!! Gazda Ivaneeeee!!!!! Olezeeeee!!!! APeeeeee!!!! Dje ste???? Znate li koliko Indijskih turista ima u Hrvatskoj? Kol'ko nasije idje tamo, samo kod Sai Babe a dje je sve drugo? Kol'ko ima radnika u nas iz Indije i Nepala? Neka ih svih na Air Serbiu... Sram vas bilo, kad bi znali sta ta rijec znaci
ReplyDeleteKako svi stojimo, ni Sai Baba nam ne pomaže..
DeleteThere is such insane demand from India to ZAG that airlines are lined up waiting to get permission for the launch of this much-anticipated presitigious route
DeleteSome Burger thinks only flights FRA, MUC, ZRH, VIE etc are prestigious.
Delete@16.17
DeletePlease check official number of Indian tourists to Croatia
Please inform yourself about the number of Indian and Nepalese workers in HR
Please ask Indian Embassy in Zagreb about the number of HR tourists to India
Please learn the basic facts about both India, the most populated country in the World, and aviation and possible Indian transfer traffic, which could also help reducing seasonality,
or,
raise high your Party booklet, and continue living in 1950's
I'm waiting for Indian airline to make good use of this huge demand
DeleteThe airlines in india keep failing and struggling, so we will see.
DeleteIt is true that Indian travelers already have a multitude of options to the US and Canada. But they could have more options and more frequencies.
ReplyDeleteSamo opet da pripreti EU i neće biti ništa od tih letova. Držimo se mi Kine. Nas i kineza 1,4 milijadi ahhahahhaahah….
ReplyDeleteDobro je sto ta ista EU nema letova iz Indije...Oh, wait!
DeleteTa ista EU ima letove i za Ugandu i za Kambodzu i sve redom ALI ne menja viznu politiku kako dune vetar i da olakša svima da dođu pa da preskaču susedne granice
DeleteHere comes Monday insanity😂
ReplyDeleteEveryone seems to be neglecting the Indian side. AI announced a couple months back a massive order for 470 aircraft. I see an Indian carrier (AI) operating flights to BEG to target transit pax for SE Asia and Australia.
ReplyDeleteGood news again from Beg. Indian transfers are huge in western Europe. Air Serbia and Tesla airport have much to gain if an Indian carrier flew to Beg and if Air Serbia signs a code share agreement.
ReplyDeleteI think the main competitor for BEG is ATH and if ever an Indian airline is interested in the Balkan market they will fly there instead of BEG.
ReplyDeleteBEG is less expensive and slots are available anytime. BEG had great regional and Euro-Med connections.
DeleteIndiGo could operate this route. They have a big network passengers could connect to.
ReplyDeleteYes making this route happen seems to make more sense for an indian airline. but the indian comapanies all seem to be having constant problems, so only time will tell.
ReplyDeleteI am glad opportunities are being looked at outside western nations. hopefully more will be tried soon.
but still need just australia and canada to be connected
They should stop dreaming and try to focus on the current schedule and operations, which are disastrous. They have 2, 3,4 hours delays today across the network - almost complete collapse. They are just not prepared in any sense for the current increase of flights.
ReplyDeleteHave you even read what Air Serbia said?
DeleteIn the last paragraph of this article. The article is related about flights to India. You wrote they they should stop dreaming and try to focus on the current schedule. Had you bothered to read the article you would see that they are not dreaming as they don't have plans to fly this route. But, obviously you couldn't care less about reading the text.
DeleteOf course he doesn't care less reading, because he flies daily and he is so much personally affected with the delays on all lines and he is so upset, that he had to say it.
DeleteIndian airlines don`t even fly to Russia despite both being in BRICS !
ReplyDeleteAeroflot has flights to DEL and a number of charters fly to Goa.
DeletePlease do not fly to India.
ReplyDeleteTraveling to Mumbai twice per year, that would be a better addition if you ask me (compared to Delhi)
ReplyDelete