Air Serbia is set to embark on a new development phase as it approaches its tenth anniversary since it was rebranded from Jat Airways in late October led by Etihad Airways. Although the Emirati carrier still owns a 16.4% stake in the airline, it has no influence over its Serbian counterpart. The official partnership that still exists is likely to end sometime after January 1, 2024 after Etihad's five plus five year equity investment contract in the airline comes to an end. The aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in Air Serbia's turbocharged expansion, making it one of the fastest growing in Europe this year. This summer season, the carrier is the 42nd largest European airline by available seat capacity, up from 59th in 2019.
Air Serbia will unveil several novelties in the lead-up to its tenth anniversary in just over two months. Furthermore, the carrier is planning to grow its long-haul network with the addition of a third Airbus A330-200 aircraft and imminent expansion in China. A fourth A330 jet is also being sourced for further expansion in North America. A recent wide-ranging codeshare agreement with jetBlue will be expanded in the coming period, which will see the US airline add its designator code on Air Serbia's European flights as well. In the short-haul sector, the Serbian carrier plans to put a greater emphasis on densifying its network with additional frequencies, while the addition of new routes is also expected if aircraft availability permits. Fleet-wise, the carrier is looking to replace the majority of its A319 jets with A320s, while additional growth of the regional ATR fleet is also planned, with the seventh aircraft of the type scheduled to arrive this month. The airline is due to take delivery of its first Embraer E195 aircraft this week, which will be operated by Greece's Marathon Airlines but is expected to eventually come under the Serbian registry. Further growth of its Embraer fleet is expected by the end of the year.
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| First E195 in Air Serbia livery, image curtsey of TangoSix |
This summer has seen the airline face a number of challenges, including the late arrival of contracted aircraft due to supply chain issues. Additional problems have been caused due to a lack of staff at its hub airport, construction work and frequent severe weather disrupting its network. The airline has been criticised for growing too fast while aware of the state of the aviation sector and the adverse impact it will have on passengers. However, it's CEO, Jiri Marek, has argued the airline could either take opportunities following the pandemic or stagnate. Despite the ongoing issues, the carrier is on course to handle a record 3.5 million passengers this year while its net profit in the first half of the year is said to have exceeded its total end-of-year profit in 2022 which amounted to 21 million euros.
I expect that next month they will announce new winter routes. My guess is Porto, Manchester, Baku and Guangzhou/Shanghai.
ReplyDeleteManchester?
DeleteIn 2019 they asked for slots at MAN.
DeleteWould love to see Amman on the list as well.
DeleteLast year they put Amman on sale for summer and discontinued sales after some time. Either sales didn't go to well or yields were low.
DeleteHelsinki, I think
DeleteNo Baku please ...
DeleteYes Baku please.
DeleteТбилиси.
DeleteWow the E195 looks stunning in Air Serbia’s livery.
ReplyDeleteIt really does. Only thing that throws me off is why they only painted half of the wingtip.
DeleteI agree. The AS livery in general is awfully pretty in my opinion. Well done to whomever designed it.
Deletesorry but this livery design is so 2000'.
Delete@ 9:23
DeleteIn what way and what would you suggest..?
Well, LOT livery is so 1930... ans still shining.
DeleteImagine being so hyper tik-tok brained that you require an airline to change their livery every several years or else it becomes "so 2000"
DeleteThis is a classic design and it transcends eras. But keep on endlessly chasing fads and trends.
@ 9:43
DeleteExactly. And see what happens when you ask why they think so? You hear nothing but the sound of crickets.
The livery is okay. It just need to be tweaked in the coming years, in the way AF or KL did. JU could only change the engine design to resembles the tail, make the lines horizontal. Billboard titles are okay but unfortunately the typeface clashes with the window line and itallic lettering really does look dated.
DeleteAll their winglet fleet is diffrent painted if we compare, A330, A320 and now the embraer?!?
DeleteWondering what the new things are that they plan to announce for tenth anniversary.
ReplyDelete"Good morning".
ReplyDeleteBefore expanding any further, they need to get themselves in order. There are too many severely delayed and cancelled flights at the moment. They have obviously overstretched themselves, but blame it on everyone else.
ReplyDelete+1
Delete+2
DeleteTrue as well. Flew AGP-TSF yesterday and the AS flight was quite badly delayed (does 3 hours' delay count as "badly"?). I heard a few passengers talking about it on a Serbian tour bus, on which I had mistakenly got but was then thrown off as I wasn't part of a group; but that's another story.
DeleteThey are doing a great job considering soo many uncontrollable factors. Airport has soo many issues, as well exttreme weather conditions.
DeleteYesterday's delays were caused by major storms and hail on Saturday afternoon which had a ripple effect across their network into Sunday.
Delete+1000 @anonymous 09:03 . And when I saw the expansion in March I said to Air Serbia passengers to prepare yourselves for many delays in summer. And of course I was attacked by the cheerleaders. As everybody sees I proved myself right.
DeleteThere are many delays right across Europe and America with many airlines.
DeleteAnonymous09:29,
DeleteThey are doing what they can, I agree, but aircraft shortage and crew (specifically captains) are making things very difficult for JU. They can't let that happen again next summer!
Oh I'm afraid they can.
DeleteThe market doesn't really care, they will be full again next Summer.
DeleteI’ve made similar comments a few times and saw similar discussion before, so without even reading replies I can see the arguments that will come:
Delete- it’s the weather/storms and they could not refill the planes.
- it’s the problem all over Europe and the USA (actually not)
- all the airlines have problems with the staff (actually not)
- it’s the airport (why would a passenger care?).
What I tried to explain a few times is that no matter the reason, the passenger will remember that they had a bad experience and may not come back. The reply is, normally, the Balkan passenger is price-sensitive. And what I would say: I thought Air Serbia wants to be something more than an airline for the Balkans…
Normally, the discussion ends here, without any reply.
Here is reply: you can be OU and wait for the"right time" or be bold and go for it. Simple as that.
DeleteOK?
Discussion ends with Air Serbia on track to record 3.5+ million passengers this year and 4+ million next year. Mrzitelji na aparatima.
Deleteyou should apply for a management role at the airline...
DeleteNo need, current one is already delivering this growth. Anon 12:55 on the other hand will never get any job
DeleteSamo hrabro i samo napred!!
ReplyDeleteBetter planning required for next year after the mess this summer with delays.
ReplyDeleteI like the air bridge sticker :D is that in BEG?
ReplyDeleteYes, this is in BEG.
DeleteYes
DeleteCool
DeleteNo, this has to be JFK, of course it's BEG lol
DeleteThey put the stickers on most of the C air bridges, since they are now exclusively using the C wing at the airport.
DeleteThey need more planes and less wet leases.
ReplyDeleteGood livery on Embraers.
ReplyDelete"This summer season, the carrier is the 42nd largest European airline by available seat capacity, up from 59th in 2019."
ReplyDeleteImpressive
I don't see why JU couldn't become a top-30 airline in Europe.
DeleteIt will
DeleteCan't wait to see what next year brings.
ReplyDeleteMore growth
DeleteMy guess:
Delete- Frequency growth: JFK, ORD, CDG, ZRH, LJU, ZAG, SJJ, OTP, SOF, KRK, BLQ, PRG, MAD, AGP, BNX, SPU, DBV.
- New destinations: MAN, EVN, CLJ, YYZ, DUB, VNO, AMM.
- Seasonal: KGS, EFL, KTW, CAG.
- Relaunches: HEL on the ERJ, BEY.
They should look into strengthening frequencies on destinations they are flying twice or three times a week. Plus they could use embraers for the flights where ATR is slow and A319 too big. Maybe even return to Geneva, and add points in North Africa, Russia and Causauses.
DeleteWhere is ERJ?
DeleteTrue, with more frequencies they can cut back on delays a bit. They don't have to wait for passengers that are late on transfer if there are more flights that day.
DeletePlus it does help with transfer passengers to have more options.
@18.01 in Athens. If you read the article from last week it enters service for JU on 12.8
Delete@14:37
DeleteBRU, BNX and MAD are the only destinations that are not new and not seasonal that have 2-3 pw frequencies. More routes in their network are daily or more.
MAD was boosted this summer from 2 to 3 pw.
GVA has shown 4 times that it can't sustain multiple carriers, so unless easyJet pulls out I don't see JU relaunching the route.
When could we expect the new China routes or route to begin?
ReplyDeleteMy guess is December like Tianjin.
DeleteIf they manage to find planes.
DeleteAny hard data about "lack of captains" right now. Link will be fine. Ty
DeleteThey haven't yet master the present phase and times and are already talking about the future developments. They are building a roof on a very weak foundation.
ReplyDeleteAre you for real?
DeleteYes indeed and seeing the airport online board on daily basis I do not see that they mastered today's development phase. Just check out yesterday PM flights and let me know if you would select that airline to fly with. Not me even for za dzabe!
DeleteAŠ that board you see online is affecting your health. Wait till you hear about next level expansion :D
DeleteThey need to grow CDG above 2 weekly and start Sarajevo night flights. Both were planned for this summer but they didn't have the planes.
ReplyDeleteYou meant CDG growing up to 2 daily right ? Not weekly lol
DeleteSorry, I meant growing above 2 daily. They were planning 18 weekly flights this summer but ended up with 14 weekly because they didn't have the planes.
DeleteThey will need at the least the 3rd daily flight, particularly as AF has withdrawn from the route and given the Olympics next year.
DeleteIt may be better to find another destination for France then to add more flights for CDG. Nantes may be good choice.
DeleteHow many wet leases will they have this winter?
ReplyDeleteA lot since they will keep most of their summer network while in winter planes have to go for regular maintenance.
DeleteUnfortunate all these wet leases. Makes service very inconsistent.
DeleteAnd my guess the new development will be financed by a recapitalization by the government that will squeeze out Etihad's 16%.
ReplyDeleteMost likely.
DeleteThe SNS way
DeleteMajority owner government buys out minority owner Etihad. Money flows from government to Etihad.
DeleteWell...its not really a rocket science... With arrival of 3rd and 4th A330 they will need to have at least 10 ATRs, those few Embraers and a bunch of A319/320/321 in order to be able to transfer all transfers.
ReplyDeletePlus Russia...plus Turkish...plus USA...plus European network....
I must say, I am quite impressed with JU. China growth...USA growth, 80+ regular destinations.
They DO HAVE ISSUES, but who doesn't???
The pace they are going at, they will have 100 destinations in 2025.
DeleteThe only problem is that connections in Belgrade are not so simple anymore. The night wave is constantly delayed due to delayed inbound flights from all over Europe. 30 minutes connections are not viable in Belgrade, especially in current environment where luggage stays behind.
DeleteBEG is really poorly connected with the UK and Ireland. Yes, BA announced LHR resumption but UK has lots of potential especially important destinations such as MAN as somebody mentioned above. BHX, LPL, EDI. Serbia needs more advertisment in the UK as well. In this case we are talking about incoming tourism and not only. No flights to DUB is also a huge shame.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, BEG seriously needs to invest in at least 1 proper business or international brand airport hotel as many other bigger European cities. SOF for instance has 2 for a long time.
Also, FR should finally operate from BEG even with 1 route. This is one of the biggest and important airlines in Europe even if you like them or not. Authorised and exclusive taxi companies should be made to get rid of the taxi mafia. But, a proper airport hotel is really a must especially with brands such as Ibis, Best Western, Hilton, etc just because those brands are huge and well known internationally. Of course the lack of rail or metro also a huge problem for a big European city in the 21st century. OTP, SOF, ATH all have them as well. Even much smaller VNO has it.
Yes, many good improvements have been seen in BEG but the one basics and essentials are also needed.
When there are no visa requirements for Serbian passports for the UK then there will be expansion to the UK.
DeleteWas a hotel not part of the airport reconstruction? Seems a missed opportunity there as you are right. However instead of a hotel the spot they could have used is going to be a Walter Restoran !!!
DeleteLooking at the BA slot times, I feel Air Serbia with closer co-operation with BA still has better time slots. The early morning from Heathrow to Belgrade is a little tight for the rush of incoming Asia and North American flights into Heathrow
DeleteAnon 09:52 is right for everything especially for Dublin flights, Ryanair coming to BEG and a rail connecting the city with the airport (which is already expected due to 2027 World Expo, btw there was an article published on this website mid-June dealing with it, you should see it)
DeleteFR should at least fly to some destinations such as PFO, BTS, ALC, MAN, HEL, OPO, DUB (even if I’d prefer Aer Lingus to DUB to be honest)
I doubt there is justification for that much of expansion to the UK, there is small diaspora and there is limited trade/tourism between Serbia and the UK.
Deletejust flights to Dublin and Manchester would be enough with the Embraer. 2 or 3 weekly would be enough.
Slav.Man yes, for sure for a start. Yes, UK is out of EU but still a huge and important country. Brits love the Balkans and especially the nature and history. I mean there are destinations with lots of potential. Look what happened to Spain. Serbia was barely connected and now you see a huge boom especially BCN. So, why not UK and Ireland? There used to be ski charters to INI in the past as well. Some of us remember. Serbia can gain a huge O&D traffic from UK and Ireland. DUB is an important destination.
Delete@12:06 you can't compare Spain to the UK in terms of discovery. Spain has so much to offer + the coast and is many times cheaper than UK so your "discovery formula" would not work as well in the UK as worked with Spain. Personally I would always favor Spain against G Britain.
DeleteJU should focus it's development in a direction of developing friendly countries. There is the future. EU and GB are, sadly, on a ride to be less and less important re. economy.
DeleteIt's too early to prepare for the year od 2350.
DeleteDon't want to sound rude, but you should look at this year World bank data/report. You'll be surprised.
DeleteThe demand towards UK is there, at least to LON when we'll have 3 carriers soon. So I think, despite visas, it has to be enough demand for 2pw MAN for a start.
Delete@12:06 ofcourse if there is demand grow the route to UK. no reason to leave money behind.
Deletebut like other comments mentioned I would also prefer growth to the developing world. to grow tourism and business to those countries, africa, asia and latin america.
its a shame they getting rid of all the A319 they have a really good range, that can reach New Dehli. so wont have to try the route with a wide body. and it can reach most of africa also
Slav.Man it is much better to have a 2 weekly MAN route from BEG compared to Uganda or Venezuela. Yes, UK economy went down but still is a much wealthier and developed state. Not saying that Uganda has no potential but how many people will afford to visit Serbia, make business, understand your culture much easier, etc. Same applies for Ireland. Small population but rich country. It hurts but many Anglosaxon nations have a different yet way advanced mentality. You will also see them perfectly promoting the country and advertising it for free. So many Americans promoting Serbia and the Balkans on YouTube same goes for the UK, Irish, Canadian, Kiwis, etc. This is why it is important to have such routes and not some German village.
Delete'way advanced mentality' what it means?
DeleteIf UK ever abolishes visas (not likely in the next 5-10 years with the way things are going) we might see flights expansions. Until then LHR transfers will continue to dominate, and Wizz will cover the modest VFR traffic via Luton.
DeleteOther UK cities can be easily reached via AMS, FRA etc. but I would assume the number of people flying these routes to be very small.
Imagine having a unified product across fleet. Seems like every aircraft has different type of cabin.
ReplyDeleteEspecially on long haul.
DeleteThey first need a third AC in order to have slots for cabin re-configuration. But that is probably going to be difficult, just look at LH's new cabin being pushed back (again) to 2024.
DeleteA321 has disappear from radar
ReplyDeleteThey mentioned the A321s as a possibility in late summer. So there is still time.
DeleteMaybe finally a proper loyalty program wouldn’t be a bad starting place to celebrate. Rewarding the loyal customers, with many on this forum. If Etihad no longer involved then a perfect time to leave Etihad Guest and go with one of the programs mentioned before, or an Air Serbia one that benefits local businesses and connects to some of the loyalty programs we already have in Serbia, so wider benefits.
ReplyDeleteThey already mentioned this a month or two ago
Delete“The frequent flyer program is the last piece we are still cooperating on with Etihad. We have explored the option of joining Turkish Airlines’ Miles & Smiles, as well as Air France - KLM’s Flying Blue program. We still have those options on the table, and they would still be happy if we joined, but currently, with our aggressive growth and passenger numbers, we are going in the direction of introducing our own program soon”, Mr Marek noted. Air Serbia’s Head of Ecommerce, Srdjan Prokić, added, “The Etihad loyalty program is attractive for our passengers because they can reach destinations that are beyond our network. It is true that we are improving our cooperation with Turkish every day. Their Miles & Smiles program is very attractive and I’m sure it would be very valuable for our passengers. The Etihad Guest program is designed for a completely different market. To reach the next tier you must travel twenty times per year which is a lot for the Serbian market. In that sense, we are considering developing something on our own. We are still in the early days, we are scanning the technology market, the vendor market and thinking about the business model, which is the hard part since questions like are we going to partner up with a bank, which one, which retailers and so on, come up. It is a very complex project, so we will probably develop something in the mid-term in the next year or two”.
A change is really needed in the loyalty programme. The additional benefits are very limited after reaching the Silver status (mainly one additional bag). All the other benefits like fast-lane, lounge access and pre-boarding can be purchased for a few Euros.
DeleteNew loyalty program could be easily adopted if they just joined an alliance.
DeleteI think they are replacing DanAirs A320 with KlasJet 737s,can anyone confirm that?
ReplyDeleteI think at least 4 are flying with AirSerbia now
Dan Air isn't being replaced by KlasJet. Both are flying for JU.
DeleteComparing where we were this time 10 years ago with Jat Airways and now with Air Serbia is impossible.
ReplyDeleteTrue. Air Serbia handled more passengers in the first half of the year than Jat Airways did for the whole year in 2012 (last year of full operations).
DeleteVery proud and hope that Air Serbia continues to grow
ReplyDeleteHopefully they will consider growing out of Nis and Kraljevo in the near future too.
ReplyDeleteIf the state is willing to bankroll it...
DeleteThey have overstretched themselves. Too many new routes, too few planes.
ReplyDeleteThey need to regroup in winter. But it seems they plan to add even more routes.
DeleteJU's network practically doubles in the summer months, so they have a fair bit of room to grow in the winter despite aircraft off on maintenance during that period. JU has alot of summer seasonal routes and frequencies which expanded this year plus charters.
DeleteWinter expansion tends to be a couple of routes with small frequencies with the exceptions being ZAG (14 pw from the start) and IST (7 pw).
Fix your poor support!
ReplyDeleteI finally got a response on my claim after 1.5 years, as an EY Platinum customer, telling me that they are still processing it...
DeleteI must say, earlier this year I had a few flights booked with JU and I had to cancel. Part of my ticket was refundable and I was expecting they wouldn't refund it for more than a year. In the end they gave the money back in under a month, which was a surprise.
DeleteDoes anyone know what happened to YU-APN after diverting back to BEG? Already on the ground for 10 days.
ReplyDeleteI believe it was a bird strike.
DeleteIncident happened at FL360 in French airspace. It was certainly not a bird strike :) It had IDG 2 (ENG 2) failure, and returned all the way back to BEG. Aircraft is AOG (on ground) until spare parts for the engine arrive. Avia Prime took the maintenance for this.
DeleteThanks! Though, 10 days is an awfully long time spent AOG. Do you know who is the component provider for JU? Is it Avia Prime too?
DeleteIt is not long, if we have in mind how much problems supply chain experiences since Covid (engine manufacturers especially). Avia Prime is only MRO provider, they get spare parts new either from the manufacturer, or used on the market. They were getting used batteries for A320 for example from Swiss. Not a chance to get them new, simply none available.
DeleteEven bigger issue is that, once those shipments arrive, they wait for several days at customs because our Customs Department could not care less. Welcome to Serbia.
I saw YU-APN being towed to the hangar at BEG on Friday morning.
DeleteIn flight engine shutdown not an idg problem
DeleteUnfortunate they are not thinking about alliance membership. It would bring a lot of benefits to passengers.
ReplyDeleteWith ASL size as of this moment, they would still give more instead of what would they receive. I think that it is perfect they are staying out of alliance, at least until they grow more. Once they have lots to offer to other airlines, and are treated equally - not like a simple feeder from this region, it would be a right call to join alliance (SkyTeam preferably) - although I still believe something is cooking with the oneworld.
DeleteWhat are the differencies between alliances regarding membership benefits. It appears StarAlliance takes more than it gives, but what about the other two. Which one is more "friendly" towards smaller members?
DeleteSkyteam
DeleteWill the painted E195 will have a Serbian registration like (YU-ARC, YU-APO, etc)
ReplyDeleteMaybe. They don't know yet if and when they'll take them into dry lease. Poor planning, as many underlined in the comments...
Delete^ actually you are completely off in regards to Embraers and considering you don't know anything about it, one has to wonder why would you spread misinformation. They were always planned to be wet leased from a capacity provider. This was said from day one. Yes, they will be dry leased eventually. You have to be an idiot to think the aircraft was painted in full livery so it is returned after a few months. It will be registered YU- when it is dry leased. Certainly not now.
Delete+1
DeleteWould be cool
DeleteSo the answer is: maybe.
DeleteHopefully, they will finally update and revamp their catering.
ReplyDeleteThey just did on longer flights.
DeleteNeat, I am glad that they brought some of the amenities back.
DeleteAlthough in C the catering offering out of BEG looks quite poor compared to the outstations. With the low cost base (vs. US), so much more could be possible.
C?
DeleteC class = J class = business class
Deletethanks
DeleteTime for full privatization
ReplyDeleteAny future expansion should be one of frequencies.
ReplyDelete2-3 times a week may be good for Wizz or charter airlines but not for JU..
Hope to see AirSerbia growing from KVO and INI. They deserve more destinations. It is a shame to have an airport (KVO) with only one whole year destination and two seasonal. INI is not growing as it can.
ReplyDeleteGrowth is preferable with less diversification of the fleet. If there is one Only Embraer for example with an unforeseen technical issue you mess up. If you have 15 Atr or 15 320 series in background everything will go smooth. That's indeed an issue. Of course seeing more types of aircraft on the first looks interesting and nice.But it is not working. One spare parts section for every type destroys any economy of scales. Avoid that diversification of fleet at any cost.
ReplyDelete