Air Serbia has extended its record passenger run on its first transatlantic operation, to New York, with figures exceeding that of its previous best result achieved in 2018. According to data provided to EX-YU Aviation News by the United States Bureau of Air Transport Statistics, the Serbian carrier welcomed 72.327 passengers on board its Airbus A330-200 aircraft on flights to and from the Big Apple during the first three quarters of the year, representing an increase of 12.8% on its previous best result set five years ago. The figure also represents an improvement of 20.5% on 2019 and is up 24.2% on the same period last year.
Air Serbia also achieved record high load factors on board its aircraft. During the nine-month period, the average cabin occupancy rate across its New York flights averaged a high 82.9% on its two wide-body aircraft, which can seat 257 and 268 passengers respectively. As a result, the airline has recorded one of the highest load factors on flights to and from JFK Airport among European carriers.
Air Serbia's New York route performance, Q1 - Q3 2023
The airline’s CEO, Jiri Marek, recently said the carrier may further grow its operations to New York next summer, when it secures a third and fourth wide-body aircraft. “Capacity will most likely be added to New York JFK, growing beyond daily flights. That would mean that for some days of the week, we will introduce a second daily rotation to JFK. It depends on many factors, for example, the availability of slots and terminal space, which is an issue that is becoming more and more serious, especially at JFK”, Mr Marek explained. During the year, Air Serbia concluded a wide-ranging codeshare agreement with jetBlue, which has seen the US carrier place its designator code and flight numbers onto its Serbian counterpart’s flights from both New York and Chicago to Belgrade. In return, Air Serbia has begun codesharing on 26 jetBlue destinations from New York to other points in the United States and the Dominican Republic.
Time for a triple 777 for Air Serbia
ReplyDeleteAn A380 would be even better!
Deleteit's time for A333
DeleteA332 is just fine.
DeleteJU doesn't need a larger plane until JFK reaches double daily flights (in summer). Until then the A332 is more than fine as it has adequate capacity for frequency growth.
DeleteAir Serbia needs to work on further reducing seasonality on BEG-JFK so that in winter they operate at least 5 weekly flights.
@10:42
Deletelets not make ridiculous claims now about 2025. they’ve just had a court ruling to seize some of their assets. but they’re going to fly long haul?. more likely to see Iran Air or Aeroflot return to Europe in 2025.
@Nemjee, JU has a good strategy with the A330-200 now, but wouldnt it be better for the A350 or the A330-300 to be introduced. they could probably fill the larger plane with once daily service but could they maintain 70- 80% load factor with 2 daily service even on some days
@slava
Deletewhat court ruling, what are you talking about?
@11:45
Deleteit was a reply to a crazy comment from someone about an airline from neighbour country to JU starting long haul flight to JFK.
the comment is gone though. I dont know who deleted it.
Good result. I thought that Chicago might impact the numbers from May onwards but it does not seem to be the case.
ReplyDeleteI doubt there were significant number of Chicago transfers on this route.
DeleteIt was reported on here that 19% of all passengers transferred in JFK, that's not such a large number given the size of B6 and AA in JFK.
DeleteI think most BEG-ORD passengers flew via LH Group hubs. Interestingly enough, Lufthansa is actually reducing FRA-ORD next summer from 14 to 13 weekly. I think it has to do with softening demand on both ends of the Atlantic Ocean.
I ended up again using LH and not AirSerbia from Chicago to Belgrade. AirSerbia charges about 1.000 $, and LH group 630$ for a return flight in mid-January. I would pay 100 $ or so more, but 400 $ more?! No, thank you! To top it off, despite transfers with LH, I usually arrive faster than with AirSerbia - you know why.
DeleteAnyway it seems that AirSerbia has enough passengers when it can charge that much.
Interesting that 2018 was the busiest year and not 2019.
ReplyDeleteAnyone know why? What happened in 2019 for numbers to go down?
DeleteWas it 2019 when they didn't fly during February due to the airplane maintenance?
DeleteNo, they flew in feb 2019. Most flights were operated by Etihad plane.
DeleteWasn't the Etihad A330 with more business class and less capacity capacity overall?
DeleteOh wait nevermind I'm thinking of their A320
DeleteSo in summer 2024 possibly 10 weekly?
ReplyDeleteIf they manage to find a plane.
Delete“As a result, the airline has recorded one of the highest load factors on flights to and from JFK Airport among European carriers”. Lol with not even one flight a day u cant compare it to others. Imagine lufthansa or British with one flight… LF would be 110% lol
ReplyDeleteYour theory does not really work. They could have 1 flight per week and have a LF of 50%.
DeleteIf you are OU lol
DeleteAnon 09:06 I was just gonna mention that . There was no need the comparison as the matter of load factor with other european carriers since lets say British airways in summer 2024 they are going to have 9 daily flights to New York.
DeleteSo triggered.
DeleteIt's a matter of a true but totally pointless stat comparison for anything other than PR
Delete@anon 09:12
DeleteThey have 9 daily flights as they have demand for 9 daily flights. Nobody is forcing them to fly so often.
In Belgrade there is a demand for 1 daily flight, but with excellent LF...unfortunately for you.
Anon 09:37 unfortunately for me ??? Well unfortunately for me I'm not a share holder nor in British airways or Air Serbia so I dob't care ! There is no point of comparing load fsctors with other european carriers and that's a fact.
DeleteAnd I doubt 82% is one of the highest LFs on transatlantic routes.
Delete^as long as you say so. I mean you probably know better that the US States Bureau of Air Transport Statistics.
Delete@9.14 agree, so many of them getting upset.
Delete@ 09:42 Actually, in business, you need to compare your figures with either previous periods or a benchmark (industry average, for example).
DeleteWhat is your suggestion, how would you compare performance of a company?
By looking at isolated figure?
Mr BALKAN FOOTBALL, you just look your own company and how you can have a better product and programming with no delays and cancelations for your customers because in the end of the day the customers are giving you their money and not the comparison with other carriers for who has better load factor but who gives the better product.
Delete^ you basically had no response so went on an unrelated rant.
DeleteThat is the same guy saying how JFK is not going to last more then 3 years . He is constantly complaining about everything and anything as soon as they mention JU on here .To me sounds like he has never really flown much and has no clue about the other airlines and their current services and operation.
Delete@Anon 14:09 Really !!! " To me sounds like he has never really flown much....." Well is that your predskolsko responce ???
DeleteUS Bureau of Air Transport Statistics does not say whether a certain airline recorded one of the highest load factors on flights to and from JFK Airport among European carriers, or not. They just publish the data without any comments and the company like here may add a usual corporate spin to it. Normal.
DeleteIf you want to compare, tell me the month between Jan and Aug and I will give you the LF for major carriers from Europe to JFK. Still LF is of course only part of the picture.
So so triggered. Better use your time on something more productive than seeth about Air Serbia's load factor to New York.
DeleteI am poster 15:54 and it was my first post. Why would I be triggered?
DeleteI am certain. You seem to be very upset at Air Serbia's performance on this route.
DeleteYou guess the results are good and I should be upset?
DeleteWhy? I live a happy life and am not triggered if somebody else were to be succesful.
And by the way: I see good things and bad things. For example:
Good: LF is good (although by far not the best). Congratulations, if you want these.
Bad: The cargo is definately laying behind. There is no growth of cargo despite the increased number of flights.
Anon 15:54, 16:15.
Yes, your behavior and condescending tone really shows it. First you are upset about the high load factor, then you say that load factor isn't everything insinuating a poor financial performance, then you say cargo is bad.
DeleteOk we get it. I hope your city gets flights to the US soon so you can be happy again and channel your negative energy elsewhere.
My city has flights to the US:) I really feel sorry for you.
DeleteAnon 15:54, 16:15, 17:11.
As do I for you :)
DeleteDoes the jetblue codeshare have any impact on numbers?
ReplyDeleteWould be interesting to see if sales in the US grew after the code-share was signed. B6 should have brought them additional business. Overall B6 is a great airline and the best possible partner for JU. Air Serbia just needs to make sure they have enough morning departures to JFK so that they can connect onto jetBlue's entire network.
DeleteNemjee, just the other day you were saying how so many pilots and crew members have left JU, and how there is no interest in JU pilot positions. Since then we saw how they promoted a record number of pilots that are going to be available for the next summer season.
DeleteYes, and? Those pilots were promoted from existing copilots, that is from people who were already working for the airline. It's a fact that many pilots have left and that is why they had to put breaks on expanding this winter and most likely next summer as well. We will have to wait and see how successful their hiring spree is going to be.
DeleteMost flights from New York to Belgrade were sold out throughout June and July.
ReplyDeleteThird widebody is a must
ReplyDeleteShould have already been in the fleet.
DeleteThird and fourth. Third needs to be used for US flights while the 4th needs to be used to Chinese destinations such as PVG and CAN.
DeleteObviously TSN isn't such a strong performer and if JU had a normal commercial department they would have partnered up with the Serbian Tourism Board to promote Serbia in TSN.
Honestly, they should launch A330 winter flights to Dubai. Flights are full with FZ while the overall flying experience is horrible... typical LCC. They need to move fast before FZ gets their B787s.
Nemjee, I mean Tianjin is not really a destination frequented from Europe, US or Middle East. It is a more regional airport and therefore agree about TSN being a weak destination.
DeleteFZ flying experience horrible?! Why? FZ is not a "typical LCC" and also nothing wrong to pay 50€ flying to Abu Dhabi instead of 400€ OW. If you think 787 will be deployed to BEG and the region, I really doubt it. Maybe on very punctual dates with very high demand similar to what QR does. The Max and FZ are the exact right of product and BEG is still not ready for Emirates especially daily 777. Even OTP does not have them.
Fully agree with @Nemjee about FZ being totally LCC and cheap in all segments, except prices which are all but LCC. I also agree Dreamliner will be deployed by FZ to both BEG and ZAG, BEG primarily for cargo, year-round, and ZAG for Asia and Australia transfers, seasonally, which will probably result in EK not starting BEG and not reintroducing ZAG
Delete@Pozdrav, I fly Flydubai at least four times a month, albeit I always purchase the emergency exit seat.
DeleteThe experience is very, very consistent.
They're never late and the product is always the same.
LCC only in name.
Third A330 needs to be used for US flights? First two already cover it: JFK 9pw + ORD 3pw, with room to spare. Third is needed for China expansion as talked about before.
Delete@nemjee
DeleteWhat makes you think TSN isn't performing well for JU? With little promotion, TSN seems to be doing more than great. Passenger numbers are quite good, cargo was something that specifically stood out.
I don't see JU launching seasonal flights to the UAE, especially not with the A330. Too much capacity. DEL or BOM would be better use of that capacity.
TSN is not Beijing. Beijing is where the money is. There is no reason to stay in TSN, unless there are no slots available in Beijing. Staying in TSN is only an attempt to hide lack of the appropriate slots. All European airlines were forced during covid to fly to towns around Beijing like TSN instead of Beijing, but all of them now moved back to Beijing. There is a good reason for that.
DeleteCargo from China to Europe is down. Check out what happens with maritime cargo. The same happens with air cargo and train cargo from China. The same is with passengers. For this reason European airlines are temporarily downgrading China flights. JU is no exception.
@14.16
DeleteYou can fly FZ every day if you enjoy it, I don't mind, on the contrary, I am happy for you.
I flew FZ twice, ZAG-DXB, and back, transferring to/from EK. Next time, and next time, I bought VCE-DXB, in order to have entire flight EK. FZ, never again, unless life or death situation.
FZ is full from BEG so they will have to find a way to grow. Right now there are three options going forward:
Delete1. adding a third daily departure on some days with the MAX.
2. wait until 787 arrives and boost capacity over frequencies.
3. hand over the route to EK ... which I don't see happening anytime soon.
Personally I would rather have an additional daily departure with the 737 than the 787 but given the fact that it's not a short route and that passenger volumes are there, I could see them boosting capacity over frequencies. I guess only time will tell.
Maybe someone who is a frequent flyer on this route could tell me but is FZ still serving a snack on flights to BEG? I remember in the past them serving something like a burrito. A friend of mine flew with them last week and he told me that they got nothing (both ways).
As for TSN, I guess this route does ok on a seasonal basis but they are obviously struggling during slower periods. As mentioned in my previous post, JU and Serbia could promote Belgrade as a destination for locals. Like that they could get some extra O&D to fill seats. This is a rare occasion where I agree with Marek. TSN is definitely a route that is worth keeping but more investment is needed for it to truly do well. I think it could eventually grow to 2 in winter and 3 in summer (maybe even 4).
Next time, and next time? Twice would suffice.
DeleteI assume cargo has also increased a lot.
ReplyDeleteGood to hear. Those figure are very good
ReplyDeleteI'm glad this route is doing well.
ReplyDeleteAny idea on what percentage how many passengers are point to point and how many are transfers?
ReplyDeleteSomeone mentioned around 19%. Not sure about source reliability.
DeleteMany of them are transfers from SKP and TIA
DeleteThey should now work on improving in-flight service. JU used to be, without doubt, one of the best airlines in terms of on board service and catering on flights to New York. Now not su much.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteSame goes for short haul flights
DeleteThey neglected passenger service in favour of profits unfortunately.
DeleteEconomy class is decent with JU, it's business class that needs more attention.
DeleteCatering and legroom are good while the IFE is extremely outdated.
DeleteInflight service doesn't seem to be as bad as the cabin maintenance, judging by a number of comments the past several months. Broken seats, inoperative screens and tape being used to hold things together. This has to be the biggest problem JU has and not service. Service however has really seen some nice improvements the past several months. Kit bags are back in business class, plastic cups are no longer used in business class on short haul, sandwiches for short haul economy class service instead of cookies, IFE is being reintroduced on the short haul fleet. IFE selection is ok, screens are really slow to respond.
DeleteI know when I said before many said I was wrong but Air Serbia should focus long haul growth on North America. More premium passengers and more people will be willing to transfer via Belgrade for it. Emirates and Turkish have east sorted along with the Chinese airlines but also less premium passengers overall. Air Serbia is competitive for business and economy fares but feel they need to follow the trend and add a premium economy cabin which has good margins.
ReplyDeleteYou also forget that flying to America is much more costly. I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm just saying that making conclusions like this is difficult if you don't know the cost per passenger the airline has on each route and essentially how much money they make on each route. In China they are restricted by frequencies to have any meaningful growth. They can now add more destinations, but they obviously have no planes.
DeleteFrom a strategic point of view, Air Serbia needs to put India on its radar. India's economy is rapidly growing and they are becoming increasingly interconnected with the rest of the world. With TK being blocked from expanding in India due to their support for Pakistan, Air Serbia needs to make sure they position themselves over there before this changes.
DeleteTK has teamed up with Indigo but the onboard product on the B77W is beyond disgusting.
Flying time from BEG to India would be between 6 and 8 hours so it would be easier to schedule flights so that they offer connections to both Europe and the US. This would make much more sense than flights to Japan and South Korea Marek spoke of.
Jasmineeeeeee!!!! Dje si? Dobro jutro! Pije li se kahva? Sta kaze stampa? Bogu hvala sutra vikend, dje cemo? Ocemo'l sa servis kartom? Il' sluzbenim voz'lom? A i pemzija ce brzo. 'Ko je vido' pred pemziju talasat. Kaki Njujork kaki bakraci, klimaj glavom i uzivaj... Al' nekako ja da sam ti, ipak bas ne bi mogo' s veceri zaspat. A ni u ogledalo se pogledat. I djon obraz vidit. Aj' vozdra!
ReplyDeleteDaily dose of Pozdrav......:))))
DeleteI need it.
DeleteDoes anybody know the LF on the Chicago route?
ReplyDeleteThat's some serious loads.
DeleteGood result
ReplyDeleteAny actual news on the 3rd 332?
ReplyDeleteThe airline said in November that they hope to sign a deal to lease it by the end of November but that with painting, maintenance it will arrive by the end of Q2.
Deleteend of Q2? That is 30 June 2024
DeleteSorry, my mistake. He said before the 2nd quarter.
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2023/11/air-serbia-hopes-to-finalise-third-a330.html
"we will try to be ready before the second quarter of 2024. "
+1
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to see the seasonality on this route but it looks much more flat than before, which is very good.
ReplyDeleteDoes Air Serbia have an office in the US?
ReplyDeleteYes they do. It's the only place they have their very own representative office (not GSA).
DeleteAir SERBIA 535 Fifth Avenue New York
DeleteThanks, didn't know. That's a good location in NYC.
DeleteNo they don't have that office. Check Air Serbia offices on their official site.
DeleteThey do have that office but it is not listed on the site because it is not a sales office, they don't work with the general public there. Their Chicago GSA works with clients (it's listed in Elevate Magazine) but the New York office is where their VP for Americas is based.
DeleteI'm happy about the results and it was to be expected with the growth of their network and larger number of transfer options on offer.
ReplyDeleteNice but Pupin plane on the photo needs an overhaul (on the inside)
ReplyDeleteI would not be surprised if it gets cabin makover in a couple of months
DeleteI am scheduled to Fly with them Begining on January to JFK, in the reservation it says JU
ReplyDelete500 Airbus A330-200 UAB DAB LT za Air Serbia. What is UAB DAB LT is this some new wetlease or this 3rd aircraft? They changed aircraft configuration (seat assigment) 3 times alreadys since booking in November. Does anyone know what is going on? Same thing for flight back from Chicago end of January
All JU US flights are currently showing as operated by Air Serbia in January.
DeleteAt least in the system that is
DeleteI found this
Deletehttps://www.iata.org/en/programs/safety/audit/iosa/registry/dat-lt-uab/3929/
That's DAT. Weird
DeletePositive news for Air Serbia. Overall Air Serbia is having a stellar year and is the main driver behind Belgrade Airport's record year. JU and BEG keep extending already massive lead over the second-best in the region.
ReplyDeleteI will tell you that I am not suprised with a NY numbrs since Belgrade become new Casablanka 😊
ReplyDeleteJoking aside, there are 2 things developing in economy that Mr. Marek can utilise:
1) massive immigration numbers from south east asia to north america for belgrade transfers
2) europeans due economic hardships becoming increasingly summer seasonal passengers:
So develop competitive BG transfers to croatia, montenegro, greece, turkey
To focus on these 2 things would bring massive numbers.
I would love to see Air Serbia expanding transatlantic flights from other Balkan hubs, like Sofia. I hope it happens soon with the additional wide body deliveries 👍
ReplyDeleteLol
DeleteGood numbers were provided by demand from the Russians. I flew with AirSerbia to NYC in January and 80% of the passengers were Russian.
ReplyDeleteOh so now it's Russians. The guy above said it's because of Albanians. Waiting to hear the next person say it is because the Chinese,
DeleteYes, because now this is the fastest route from Moscow to New York, since Air Serbia can offer them short connections, for example on March 12 and 21 a flight from Moscow to New York and back takes only 14 hours, check the alternatives and see the difference. As I said in January, it seemed that everyone in the plane spoke Russian.
DeleteThe increase on 2018 is just 12%, so I highly doubt it is being filled by Russians.
DeleteI read the same about LCA yet every time I flew there were more Germans or Slovenes onboard than Russians.
DeleteTruth be told, JFK flights from INI would work.
ReplyDeleteAny plans in a future for direct flights Toronto to Belgrade????????
ReplyDelete