Low cost carrier Ryanair has been allocated slots to commence flights between Dublin and Niš during the 2024 summer season, a report by Airport Coordination Limited, a slot coordination company, shows. The airline has secured 210 aircraft movements on the route, meaning 105 flights in each direction during the upcoming summer season, which begins on March 31, 2024 and lasts until late October. The airline has allocated 39.690 seats on the route (both directions included). It is still possible for Ryanair to amend plans and use the allocated Niš slots for another destination, however, the carrier has filed to use the flight times at Dublin Airport for services to the southeast Serbian city. In 2020, Wizz Air filed for slots to operate between London Gatwick and Niš over the winter but ultimately opted to use the slots for a different route.
There are currently no flights between Serbia and Ireland. Dublin is now one of Belgrade’s busiest unserved destinations in Europe based on indirect traffic flow, after the airport added over forty cities to its network since the start of the pandemic. Despite Ireland being part of the European Union, Serbian passport holders require a visa to enter the country if they are not in possession of a valid UK visa, due to arrangements between the two island nations. However, visas can be obtained through the Irish consulate in Belgrade with significantly greater ease and less cost than that of its British counterpart.
The Serbian diaspora in Ireland is estimated to be fairly small, with some 5.000 believed to be residing in the country. Niš Airport handled a record 419.013 passengers during the January - November period, representing an increase of 17.6% on last year. During the 2023 summer season, Ryanair boasted the largest number of flights from Niš since commencing operations to the city in 2016, with a total of 301 departures, just ahead of its previous best in 2018 and up 25% from 2019 when it had 240 flights. During the 2023 summer season, the airline put 55.589 seats on sale from the southeast Serbian city, up from 45.360 in 2019.
Now that's unexpected
ReplyDeleteIrosh tourists to Serbian ski resorts
ReplyDeleteDuring summer :)
DeleteOh those Irosh.
DeleteIn winter will be good for tourism
DeleteDon't think these will happen since FR massively cut INI for next summer. Corfu is back to 2 weekly.
ReplyDeleteThey haven't even finalised their network for next summer.
DeleteAre you sure?
DeleteYes as further evidenced by this article.
DeleteDublin? Smells like another unexpected destination is coming to BEG.
ReplyDeleteMark my words, JU sent email TODAY to allocate slots in Dublin for SS24.
They slept on Dublin for too long, now Ryanair will shake them
People need to realise that ExYu news doesn't post the same second that news break so there is (almost) always a delay. Air Serbia would've known about the slots for some days
DeleteThey sent an email on Saturday?
DeleteWith 6 suspended routes in winter and Florence becoming seasonal, do not see JU launching DUB anywhere soon. Do not think it is an interesting airport for them. 5 thousand Serbs and transfer traffic would be minimal because most ex-Yu require a visa. The rest of the EU capitals are already connected to DUB. Plus, don't forget the presence of Aer Lingus - a very important airline in DUB as well.
DeleteINI-DUB makes sense. Dunno how long it will last. Nearby SOF has 5 weekly DUB and weekly TUI flights in winter.
Florence is seasonal from the start.
DeleteTwo, three other routes might get cut by JU.
DeleteThis dispels the myth a certain site had been spreading how FR has contracted in Nis over the years.
ReplyDelete"Ryanair boasted the largest number of flights from Niš since commencing operations to the city in 2016, with a total of 301 departures, just ahead of its previous best in 2018 and up 25% from 2019 when it had 240 flights. During the 2023 summer season, the airline put 55.589 seats on sale from the southeast Serbian city, up from 45.360 in 2019."
Air Serbia should be given state aid to start this route, not a low cost Airline that no-one wants.
ReplyDeleteNo one is giving Ryanair state aid to start this route.
DeleteThis guy wants Ryanair to be banned from operating a route that will see passengers fly for cheap.
Delete"LC no one wants" LOL!!! You are away they are number one in Europe in passenger number? No one indeed
DeleteI am from Nis, and as most people from this city, we want more Ryan Air and much less Air Serbia.
DeleteRyanair will launch daily Niš Priština flights before LJU gets a single weekly rotation to STN or DUB
ReplyDeleteDaily Niš Priština have more sense then INI DUB.
DeleteThis is exotic for Nis :D
ReplyDeleteHope it happens.
ReplyDeleteIt could mean they are planning more new routes for INI.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea about the visa situation for entering Ireland and that they allow a UK visa as well. But does it go the other way around? Like can you enter UK with an Irish visa?
ReplyDeleteYes
Deletehttps://www.dfa.ie/media/embassyindia/ourservices/bivs-faq.pdf
No you cannot enter the UK with an Irish visa. That specific scheme is only for Chinese and Indian nationals.
DeleteYou can enter Ireland with UK Visa but you can't enter UK with Irish.
DeleteIn order to enter Ireland with a UK visa, you have to land in the UK and enter the country. At immigration, you should mention to the UK immigration officer that you intend to travel to Ireland on the same visa, reminding them of the agreement that allows the entry into Ireland on the UK visa, and let them know how long you intend to stay in Ireland, so that they would stamp your passport for the appropriate amount of time.
DeleteAll the best from Dublin.
Oh wow that is unexpected, so happy !
ReplyDeleteWe need INI-BVA, INI-BER and some others destinations like INI-FCO and that’ll be fine
Many years ago when I was in Niš visiting friends, I ended up translating for an Irish girl who didn’t speak Serbian obviously. It turns out that there was a small group of Irish people living in Niš at the time. I’m not sure what it’s like now but this was some 20 years ago.
ReplyDeleteThis is the winner. Ryanair starts route for Irish diaspora in Nis. Yaaay!!
DeleteCan't wait!
DeleteIf this starts, I'm sure there will be some Irish people booking it by accident instead of Nice 😀
ReplyDeleteIt's actually been a common occurrence on Wizz and Ryanair.
DeleteMaybe Ryanair also got confused and asked for slots for Nis instead of Nice :D
DeleteLast year I was flying to Nis via BEG and while I was checking in the gate agent was convinced that my final destination was in France.
DeleteHonestly I don't see the rationale in this. Who is going to fly on this route?
ReplyDeleteWell, maybe citizens of serbia who would like to explore ireland and dublin? Is that weird? And maybe occasional irish tourists visit serbia?
DeleteSlovenians 😃 They are that much in ZAG that it can't be handled any more. INI comes to help 😃
DeleteZAG is 120 km from Maribor and Ljubljana, it takes less than 1h 30 min with car, and ZAG is closer to most Slovenes than LJU. The number of Slovenes is over 2 million on rather small area, the standard is highest in all of the ex-yu countries. So yeah you are right, no way any Slovene would ever use ZAG!
DeleteYes, but you have to know that Croats are just after Slovenes by standard in ex-YU area. So there are a lot of passengers in Zagreb, both Croats and Slovenes.
Deletetruly bizzarre!!
ReplyDeleteI somehow disagree with "significantly greater ease" at geting an irish visa because Ireland and UK share a common security territory and they actually scan your application to see whether you are a threat to the UK
ReplyDeleteProcessing time for Irish visa is half of the time it takes to get a UK visa. Cost is 30 euros instead of 150 (fast track is 600) and your passport stays in Serbia with the consulate instead of being sent to external agencies. So definitely easier.
Deleteyes but my point is its as diffciult to get an Irish visa as UK visa because they look also for UK entry requirements
DeleteIreland is definitely not on my bucket list and like England it's cold, rainy, and the food is horrible. Having said that, my wife and I may consider a short trip during the summer.
ReplyDeleteDuring late spring and summer, Ireland is beautiful. It rains a lot in winter, but little in summer. And local food isn't that bad, especially in small pubs around countryside. But if you read American guides, everythings is bad except cheeseburger.
DeleteThat's all they eat normally.....
DeleteWhen I was in Massachusetts years ago we were just wondering about the people there….
Instead of sitting down to eat a grill in a tavern like in the Balkans, they go to Maca, KFC.....
NYC is actually colder than Dublin during Nov-Apr period.
DeleteWhy is Wizz Air not flying to Ireland, are there any regulatory issues, requirements?
ReplyDeleteWhy would there be?
DeleteThis must be for some small six seater bizjet. 210 flights means 1260 passengers which is probably real demand between DUB and INI
ReplyDeleteWhat on earth are you talking about?
Delete"The airline has allocated 39.690 seats on the route" - this exactly works out as there will be 105 flights in each direction with 189 seat B737-800. 105 x 189 is 19,845 seats, which is exactly half of 39,690.
Basic math.
What is the current indirect traffic between Nis and Dublin? Is it more than a thousand two-way passengers annualy? Bizjet reference was a joke to remind people there is not much demand between two cities, certainly not enough for a 210 return flights on a 738. Ryan might end up reassigning some of the slots to another destination.
DeleteINI-BUD please :D (you know, its a public interest ;) )
DeleteI like it.
ReplyDeleteI've been twice in Dublin.
Yes! Direct flight Cleveland Dublin and direct flight Dublin Niš. 2 flights instead of 4! I will certainly take it.
ReplyDeleteLucky you lol, ill be patiently waiting for a dublin to Sarajevo which may never happen so i can go CLE-Dublin-Sarajevo LOL
DeleteQuite a nonsense. To obtain visa, you have to go to Belgrade twice, so that's first obstacle for people from south of Serbia, among others (inattractive destination, money shortage, etc.). So if you starting this route, it would be more logical do it from BEG
ReplyDeleteINI has a much longer and more sensible relationship with Ryanair. BEG still has zero experience with them. They would go for something familiar and cheaper for them. INI is much cheaper than BEG.
DeleteAlso, everything is online and no need to visit the embassy.
https://www.irishimmigration.ie/coming-to-visit-ireland/how-to-apply-for-a-short-stay-c-visit-tourist-visa/#who
If nothing changed since last year, you still need to submit your documents to the Consulate in Belgrade. It might just be possible to do so via registered mail, which should be checked with the Consulate.
DeleteAll the best from Dublin!
Niš-Prag bi bio dobitna kombinacija,dosta ljudi sa južne pruge rade u Pragu i okolni...a i turizam bi bio dobar,Prag je prelep.
ReplyDeleteTako je. A moze i jug Spanije ili Portugal i Pariz i to je to.
Delete