NEWS FLASH
The City of Niš has held talks with the Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Serbia over the potential introduction of flights from the city to the country. The two sides agreed to intensify contacts with airlines in order to secure services. “The possibility of launching flights from Niš to one of the cities in the United Kingdom is under consideration, in order to further strengthen links between the city and this country”, Mayor, Dragana Sotirovski, said. Wizz Air filed plans to launch flights between London Gatwick Airport and Niš during the 2020/2021 winter season, however, ultimately it chose to use the slots for another route. London was one of the first international destinations to be launched from Niš upon its opening for commercial traffic, with Adria Airways introducing the service in 1988. A year later, JAT Yugoslav Airlines also commenced flights to the capital of the United Kingdom. Following the airport’s reopening in 2004, Thomsonfly (today's TUI Airways) launched seasonal winter operations from London to Niš in 2006 for holidaymakers heading to nearby ski resorts. The route lasted for two years.
What about the Netherlands?
ReplyDeleteThere was EIN it didnt work
DeleteDo you know why?
DeleteThere was competition to Weeze NRN by Ryanair and EIN by W6 didn’t work, now none of them exist lol
DeleteMaybe Ryanair may see this as an opportunity to London Stansted but the real conversation is to scrap the visa rules. Then this route could be a real winner.
ReplyDeleteAir Serbia with E195?
ReplyDeleteAir Serbia with A319 to Gatwick or Luton :)
DeleteE195 is an ideal aircraft type for the route out of Niš
DeleteI dont know if there is a potential for flights to UK. Nis has a problem to fill the commercial flights to Zurich 2x/Week, despite huge diaspora in Switzerland!! How it could work for London?
ReplyDeletePlus, Visa is required for Serbian citizens entering UK.
Generally, there are only few markets that can be succssesfully served from Nis...few in Germany, Sweden and Switzerland...all gastos flights.
Paris, Rome,London, Berlin,Barcelona...someone would have already started with flights if there was enough interest from passengers.
I dont mean to insult anyone from Nis, but as long as Nis is economicaly underdeveloped, no one can expect flights to major european hubs.
I don't want to insult you, but that's exactly what some said for SKP 5-10 years ago.
Delete@14.11 did you really compare the two?
DeleteThey copied them in the first PSO tender and failed spectacularly
If Air Serbia had E170 that would be more appropriate to use out of INI. Because with Macedonia, Bulgaria and half of serbia it does have a huge catchment area itself.
Deletesmaller and more efficient planes would help to lower costs and increase number of people flying out of INI.
But i agree that the UK seems like a weird choice when there is germany, france, netherlands, swizerland to fly to first.
Really? Who wants to fly to England on vacation?
ReplyDeleteThis will be a waste of taxpayer money.
For British tourists visiting Niš as city break or Kopaonik in winter. But it has to involve tour operators and a lot of advertizing.
DeleteLondon has many thousands of Serbian tourists every year visit!
DeleteMaybe AirSerbia should be paid to base one E90 in Niš, and open some more routes.
ReplyDeleteWould that be possible? And if so, what routes are viable?
At this point its very unlikely, JU should focus on BEG, where E-Jets are much more needed and profitable.
DeleteA daily LH to MUC would do a much better job, at offering a wide range of destinations, than JU ever could, I believe that their focus should be on attracting the LH group, since they are very much present at the secondary airport in RO.
Actually it coul work with Air Dolomiti metal.
DeleteYup, either Air Dolomiti or Lufhansa Cityline with E-jets/CRJ.
DeleteMaybe Austrian?
DeleteInteresting history: INI had flights to the UK back in 1988 and not only with 1 but with 2 carriers.
ReplyDeleteBtw, the mayor has a typical Macedonian last name.
So, what if she has a Macedonian last name? Her predecessor had a typical Montenegrin last name (Bulatović).
DeleteYupp, in the eighties British tourists were brought to Kopaonik. And even in the nineties, and later.
That would be amazing. Not sure how viable it will be knowing the visa requirements but I guess if it works for Skopje it can work for Nis with lower frequency of course. Two times a week would be perfect. I am pretty sure I will be on the first flight if established.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean if it works for Skopje? Skopje is a capital city, you can not compare it with Nis.
DeleteSplit is not a capital city but beats SKP. Yes you can compare it.
DeleteSplit is a tourist city, and most flights are seasonal, while Skopje ones are year round
Delete@19:35 first of all Skopje is the third biggest city in ex-yu, second of all Split is a touristic place and has poor winter-season as a result. People are flying from Skopje from all over the country and the region. Third of all, Skopje has big destination network for its capacity, while Nis doesnt. You can compare Nis with Ohrid, they are very similar, but not with Skopje, Zagreb or Belgrade. Wizz Air had 5 weekly flights from Skopje to Luton in 2019, now they have just three because of the visa requirements, and still the flights are full. Skopje has 1,6 million seats on sale during the upcoming winter season, while Nis is not even close to that, so dont compare two different markets with out any knowledge of aviation.
Delete"Wizz Air had 5 weekly flights from Skopje to Luton in 2019, now they have just three because of the visa requirements"
DeleteYou make it sound as if there were no visas in 2019 and that the reduction is because visas were introduced.
Visas for Macedonian passport holders are more of a result of Albanians gaining Macedonian citizenship.
Delete🤣
DeleteWell if Albanians are born and raised in Macedonia, then logically they are Macedonian citizens. And visas are not because of them, but because UK has a totally weird visa policy, and well as many other awkward things such as driving at the wrong side of the street.
DeleteAgain, the article is about INI UK flights and SKP fanboys jump and make it sound as the centre of the world and forget their history. INI UK flights have potential in winter because of ski. Nobody said the flights can be year-round but they may begin initially in winter. Honestly, SKP fanboys are surreal and yes, there is a huge potential of UK INI flights as Brits adore skiing.
DeleteDid you really compare Ohrid to Niš? I know there is Ohrid Lake nearby as a tourist attraction but population of 42k is a population of Prokuplje 30 km from Niš. Skopje is twice the size of Niš and probably the same is applicable to the catchment area as a whole. If there was 5 weekly flights to Skopje a few years ago I am pretty certain two weekly especially in the winter can work out.
Delete@22:03
Deletejust no
Such a blinkered approach to life i'm afraid.
ReplyDeleteWhen is gonna start flights Nis - Split?
ReplyDeleteAirSerbia flies from BEG to LHR daily and requested more slots, but didnt get it. British Airways starts in late October as addition. If Belgrade can have 10 weekly rotations with LHR, INI could have at least 2 weekly rotations.
ReplyDelete2 weekly to LHR? gosh!
Deleteit can have a lot of inbound demand, especially in winter for skiing in Serbia.
ReplyDeleteIt can also suffice for lack of slots BEG has got and Albanian diapora from East Kosovo might also create some demand.
Besides the UK, Nis shall also have flights to Sharjah or Dubai-World Central. Current direct flights between Belgrade and the UAE are a ripoff o a lot of em transit via Turkiye, Greece, Russia, Romania...Starting a Nis bound flight would tame the fare wilderness, getting fares to normal.