NEWS FLASH
Air Serbia and Etihad Airways have restored their codeshare partnership. It comes several months after Etihad Airways exited as a shareholder in Air Serbia and almost two years since the codeshare between the pair was discontinued. Under the partnership, Etihad will codeshare on twelve of Air Serbia’s routes, nine of which are completely new to the Emirati carrier’s network.
Commencing this Saturday, February 3, Etihad Airways will place its flight numbers and designator code onto Air Serbia’s services from/to Belgrade from/to Athens, Bucharest, Budapest, Milan, Rome, Thessaloniki, Tirana, Vienna, Skopje, Sofia and Zurich.
Commenting on the deal, Jurriaan Stelder, Etihad Airways’ Vice President for Alliances and Industry Affairs, said, "This partnership further expands our codeshare network and provides our guests with convenient access to twelve of Air Serbia’s leisure and business destinations, including Belgrade, Bucharest, Budapest, Thessaloniki, Tirana, Skopje and Sofia. We also look forward to warmly welcoming Air Serbia customers travelling from Europe to Abu Dhabi, where they will have the opportunity to explore the inviting hospitality and rich culture of our home, including the stunning beaches, world-class cultural landmarks and theme parks, and the serene desert landscapes". Air Serbia’s General Manager for Commercial and Strategy, Boško Rupić, noted, “By joining forces with Etihad we expand the reach of our services, offering our passengers a wider array of destinations and connectivity options. This translates into more choices, flexibility, and convenience for those who choose Air Serbia for their journeys. Passengers will now enjoy the ease of booking connecting flights and checking in once for their entire journey”.
As previously reported by EX-YU Aviation News back in November, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, noted the two sides were discussing a codeshare agreement. At the time Mr Marek said, “When they [Etihad] emigrated to Amadeus [from Sabre passenger service system] they stopped cooperation and they also no longer fly to Belgrade, so there is no touchpoint. However, we are discussing to renew the codeshare”. Etihad has also been considering expanding its reach in the region.
Does this mean we are likely to see EY return to BEG?
ReplyDeleteThe connections offered make zero to no sense as they currently are as they are mostly three stop connections.
Agreed. I would say that they will be making a comeback of some sort in the near future and this is preparing them. Otherwise this codeshare is as valuable as the 1 dinar coin.
DeleteSome of the fares are amazing! Belgrade-Sydney return 1200 euros... in February!
ReplyDeleteSorry, when? I just looked and the only journey matching that price is a 63-hour itinerary in each direction.
DeleteBEG-FCO-AUH-SYD there
SYD-MEL-AUH-VIE-BEG back
Who on earth would want to fly that
Well those who came to Macedonia this summer did excatly that. MLB-SIN-IST-SKP…
DeleteHow is that exactly the same thing? That's a totally different itinerary than flying Westwards from BEG to FCO, then staying there overnight, then East to AUH and onwards. Same with MUC: go north to go south plus have a layover of many hours.
DeleteWhy would anyone in their right mind do that when flyDubai and Emirates offer fast and convenient transfers for just a hundred euros more?
They wont because BEG has direct flight to DXB and AUH but with Wizz. In skopje we dont have them, that’s why people fly with two stops, one if which is eather Singapore, Jakarta or Bangkok and the other one is IST, SAW, VIE, BEG or FCO but then with Wizz.
Delete"We also look forward to warmly welcoming Air Serbia customers travelling from Europe to Abu Dhabi". Travelling how? On a donkey?
ReplyDeleteOn Air Serbia and then continuing with Etihad. You can buy BEG-FCO-AUH, BEG-ATH-AUH, BEG-VIE-AUH etc all on Etihad flight number
DeleteThat's ridiculous.
Delete@12:32 Maybe if you're looking for the easiest and/or cheapest way to get from point A to point B. (There's always FZ to DXB and short hop to Abu Dhabi / Wizzair to AUH from BEG in that case).
DeleteFor some of us avgeeks we love to fly in EY premium cabins so even with ZRH/FCO connection it's still a great experience.
Plus they offer free hotel in Abu Dhabi if you stop there.
Delete@anon 13:17 - exactly. I’m flying out of INI in August via IST to get to DPS. I have to overnight in IST but flying out of INI instead of BEG for me is the fun part. I would have done EY but their flight AUH-DPS has 0 premium seats for the entire week. So QR and Qsuites it is in the end.
Delete@01:44 So you're going INI-IST-DOH-DPS? IST - DOH is ex CX 777 usually, enjoy! Try and get an upgrade to first as it's usually cheap on that route and a rare seat on QR
DeleteWhat exactly are these "world-class cultural landmarks" in Abu Dhabi?
ReplyDeleteLouvre Abu Dhabi for starters
DeleteLouvre Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Heritage village, a whole bunch of theme parks (Ferrari world, SeaWorld, Warner Brothers, WaterWorld), Qasr al Hosan, Qasr Al Wattam, Desert Safari (and cooming soon Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and the National Museum.
DeleteQuite a lot to see and do actually…
Abu Dhabi and the UAE in general have a lot to offer. Don't forget, these are old places, despite the new buildings. Quite a lot of history there!!
DeleteTell me you haven't been to Abu Dhabi without telling me lol. There's so many landmarks to see there, comparing to Dubai which has nothing except burj khalifa, dubai mall and lots of concrete. Plus there is cultural district in a development on Saadiyat Island, give it a look. It will be stunning once completed. Mosque, Church and a Sinagoge next to each other covered in a white marble.. can't wait to see that!
DeletePeople take their bimbos there, they are not interested in museums. They make selfies from 34th floor of hotel and they are happy with that and with shopping malls. They earn more money then Paris from such guests. Just check how much money they earn.
DeleteI’m gonna assume you’ve never been to the UAE and are talking from your instagram experience.
DeleteThere is actually quite a lot of family tourism everywhere you look.
The fact that a certain type of people from our region goes there in mass does not refflect on the whole planet. Most tourists in the UAE are not even European but from other countries in the wider ME region.
@anon 13:04 - Abraham's house just opened few weeks ago (Three religious objects next to each other as you mentioned) and it is beautiful. Louvre had exibition "Words of light" with three religions interconecting each other. Islam in Catrier is still there in Louvre. Abu Dhabi is such a gem and it is 10 times better than Dubai.
DeleteNect to Louvre Guggenheim is in construction, also National Museums, Art Lab, Natural museum and the rest of Saddiyat district. Really...for winter vacation, no better place than Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi is basically your Novi Sad in Serbia. Smaller, yes, but far better and less intense than Dubai. Plus you can get from one to the other in about 1.5 hours on the road.
DeleteFinally announcing publicly. I just flew to NRT with this codeshare (bought ticket 2 weeks ago) via ZRH then AUH from Belgrade.
ReplyDeleteAlso forgot to add - tickets are very cheap atm too!
DeleteI don't think you flew with the codeshare. You flew with their internline agreement, which is more or less the same but you don't have Etihad code on the Air Serbia flight. The codeshare starts, like it says, this Saturday.
DeleteAhh true but even that wasn't possible just a few months ago.. I only noticed tickets available for sale at beginning of January and it came in very handy and cheap for NRT. Upgraded to business class on AUH - NRT as well and it was an amazing experience! Their economy on 787-10 is great too.
DeleteYou are right, it wasn't possible for almost a year because it seems that their interline was also discontinued. You should do a trip report :) Also, if you don't mind me asking, how much does the upgrade offer cost in Etihad, or is it still a bidding system? Thanks
DeleteI fly this route frequently since I study in Tokyo, Etihad by far offers the cheapest flights and they are very comfortable even in economy. You could buy tickets to NRT for a long time now from BEG, so I believe it was just an agreement they had, not a codeshare. I am flying between Japan and Belgrade 3 times in the coming month, and it is around 350 Euros one way.
DeleteEconomy ticket was 348 EUR when I purchased it and I bid 410 EUR for AUH - NRT leg and got the upgrade.
DeleteLayovers weren't too long either (2-3h) & new lounge at AUH is amazing, comparable to Al Mourjan at DOH.
Also, compared to Qatar I find Etihad's economy more comfortable. Qatar may have better meals in eco, but legroom and seats on EY's new aircraft are definitely superior.
DeleteThanks :)
Delete"počnimo ljubav ispočetka"
ReplyDeleteIt's funny that Etihad made Air Serbia migrate from Amadeus to Sabre (because EY was using Sabre)... and now they are going to Amadeus (which was used by JAT)
ReplyDeleteYeah, and because Sabre is trash, after the contract ended, EY went back to a bit better trash - Amadeus.
DeleteWill Air Serbia go back to Amadeus?
DeleteI still cannot believe that almost ALL multi-billion dollars companies use the same trashy programs stuck in their 80's and 90's and nobody is coming with better solutions!
DeleteI mean...Sabre, Amadeus, MXP, AMOS...all are PURE TRASH, and atill, from the smallest airline or cruise company to the largest players, all use AMOS
Exactly, they love to drain money from the others, let's start from AirBerlin... JU, "brace, brace" again...
DeleteWas proven that EY was not guilty for AirBerlin's failure. Yet you keep throwing accusations
Deletehttps://www.ch-aviation.com/news/114498-etihad-airways-wins-uk-court-battle-against-air-berlin
DeleteFor all haters.
To me this is indicative that AirSerbia won't have its own frequent flyer program. I believe with the way they are developing, a FF would really improve their brand and reputation.
ReplyDeleteRidiculous, whatever EY toches, can't recover for years...
ReplyDeleteCrew's salaries been reduced, and they still dream about to be "the company that everyone wish to fly" 🙄
JU, "brace" yourself again...
Can't recover from being the best you mean? JU got an amazing lounge under EY, had a proper business class...
DeleteNow that they restored this codeshare partnership, all the prices went by 50% up. Prior to this, Beg-Syd return with an interline agreement one could get for around 1200 euros, now it's at least 1800 euros. Similarly, Beg to Tokyo return was starting at around 600 euros for a choice fare, now it's over 850 euros for a value fare, lower on the scale in terms of benefits.
ReplyDeleteExactly.. Glad I bought my NRT return ticket a day before 😂
Delete