The Serbian Minister for Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, Goran Vesić, has said discussions are ongoing with Air Serbia for the introduction of several new routes from Niš Constantine the Great Airport, in addition to the existing seven which are maintained as part of a Public Service Obligation (PSO) contract. “We are in discussions with Air Serbia for the opening of several new routes from Niš. I will be working on this matter in the coming period so Niš will continue to have more and more passengers”, Mr Vesić said, without specifying the potential new routes according to the "Fly from Niš" portal. The carrier currently maintains services from the southeast Serbian city to Belgrade, Cologne, Hahn, Istanbul, and Ljubljana, as well as seasonally to Athens and Tivat. It also runs a number of summer charters
Despite a record 2023, Niš Airport has been hit by sliding passenger numbers during the first two months of this year. It comes primarily as a result of fewer flights operated by the airport’s two other carriers – Wizz Air and Ryanair. During the January and February period, Niš Airport handled a combined total of 47.580 travellers, down 19% on 2023. It comes on the back of a 38% reduction in the number of flights by Ryanair, and a 28% reduction in the number of operations by Wizz Air. The airport’s management has been criticised for not doing enough to attract new airlines.
All of Air Serbia’s scheduled services out of Niš are subsidised based on the PSO contract. The value of the deal for the duration of the four-year contract, which also includes services from Kraljevo to Istanbul and Tivat, is valued at 34 million euros. Air Serbia has attempted to add flights from Niš in the past, outside of its PSO obligations. In the winter of 2022/23, it introduced a limited winter service from Constantine the Great Airport to Zurich. However, the flights were cut short due to insufficient demand. Last year, the airline invested in the opening of a new call centre, as well as an aircraft balancing service department in the city. Furthermore, it has said it would open a “special business lounge” within Niš Airport’s new terminal building. The latter is set to open this July.
Base one E jet there for hefty subsidies and everyone will be happy
ReplyDeleteI also think having 1 Embraer there would be more useful than the current Airbus/ATR mix they are operating from Nis.
DeleteThey need all the E jets they can get in BEG.
DeleteI bet my last dollar that JU will be flying half empty A319 in Belgrade in exchange for flying E190 in Nis for subsidies
DeleteYou really think an ejet would be full from Nis? You really think all the flights from Nis have 120 passengers on them....
DeleteYou really think that Air Serbia cares? In 2019 they were flying A319 from Nis to Ljubljana with sometimes only 5 pax on board
DeleteEmbraer would be a good choice, right now they need two aircraft type to operate all of the flights, so having one stationed there would be great for both JU operationally speaking and Nis
DeleteAnd now they are using the smallest aircraft type in their fleet on the route. Yet you are suggesting they upgrade it to Embraers.
DeleteMore subsidies would be great for JU.
DeleteFrom an operational perspective, Nis is very impractical for Air Serbia, requiring ferry flights, loss of time and people etc so it makes sense it is subsidized.
DeleteIf the government had any common sense they would have leased five E95 for Air Serbia with the 6th to be exclusively used for flights from INI.
DeleteA plane such as the E95 is ideal for year-round flights to places like Hahn plus JU could launch some flights that others discontinued like Berlin or Bergamo.
A form of W flights would make sense.
DeleteThe A319 tends to have extra ground time in INI before returning to BEG at 2pm and could easily fit a rotation along the lines of INI-CDG-BEG, where as the BEG-CDG crew could continue on to do CDG-INI-BEG eliminating the ground time. Its a more efficient use of aircraft and crew.
JU barely has enough crew for their current needs, I don't think they can spare extra ones for INI. If Serbia had long-term thinking they could give scholarships for pilots who want to be based in Nis and fly for JU from there. Then these young guys would be contractually obligated to work for JU and fly from INI.
DeleteSerbian government already does this with doctors.
E170/E175 would suit the most rather than an E190 in my opinion for Nis services.
DeleteBut yes, CDG is a must thanks to the huge diaspora coming from Southern Serbia and the North (Markovac, Svilajnac,...)
Delete@nemjee
DeleteI think the current crew situation at JU is more than decent. Recruitment drives seem to have yielded decent results. I wouldn't say a crew issue is a problem. Have in mind that European carriers do roster crew on 4-5 sectors in a day, depending on their length. The example above could easily be done without much trouble with current capacities, its basically better using the existing equipment and crew in INI.
Going forward, I agree that a cadet program is definitely needed in securing future growth, especially if they would prefer to attain local pilots rather than having to rely on foreigners. JU would really need to expand their presence in INI to make your idea more feasible and I don't see that happening anytime soon.
Markovac, Svilajnac Air France!!!
DeleteJU has enough cabin crew but the pilot situation is critical and far from ideal. They have to address this issue if they want to keep on growing.
DeletePilot issues at JU persist despite continuous drives for new hires.
DeleteThat is because loads of experienced pilots move to other, better paying airlines.
That is not true . Their pilots are actually looking for extra hrs as they are not scheduled enough hrs. There are no open lines in the system to pick up as there are more then enough pilots. When paring is dropped it is gone in minutes.
Delete@Anonymous12:51
DeleteWhere do you come up with this nonsense??? Maybe ATR guys are not flying much at the moment until two more join the fleet, but Airbus guys haven't had a break since last year!! Guys are pushing 100hrs I generally the quiet months like Jan, Feb.. Please don't spread these rumors unless you actually work there!
Are u guys talking about Nov or Feb - or June to Sept?? Makes a massive difference!
DeleteWell, times of "quite" months are well behind JU so pilots get used to it. All months are "summer madness" nowadays
DeleteAMS flights needed
ReplyDeletelol
Delete@anon 16:03… this where queue all the wishful routes now. Every village in Europe needs a weekly service according to some who want to go there once in their life and can then after 6 months complain about the route being terrible and 40%LF which was wasted. To then obviously suggest their next village and repeat the same 🤣
DeleteThey will make Air Serbia fly from Nis to overturn the losses from Ryan and Wizz.
ReplyDeleteThey will PAY Air Serbia to fly from Nis to overturn the losses from Ryan and Wizz.
DeleteLast anon +1
DeleteAMS, CDG, BCN would be interesting
ReplyDeleteIs there really demand for INI-BCN?
DeleteWell if there is BCN from INI then us from SKP will use that route as well. Its better then going to SOF.
DeleteBUD please!! :)
DeleteThe last one makes sense, Bud will be probably 5 hours by train with the new high speed railway so a plane makes more sense.
DeleteIf Zurich couldn't work (and it didn't work for Swiss either), then I really don't see many routes being able to turn a profit from Nis. That is probably the reason the LCCs are also reducing flights.
ReplyDeleteJust blame Wizz and Ryan for antiNis behavior.
DeleteI'm not blaming anyone. It is obvious that the market is not there. Or you think Swiss, Air Serbia, Ryanair and Wizz Air are all involved in a conspiracy against Nis?
DeleteIf you are not from NIS.
DeleteJU had 50 to 80 passengers on INI-ZRH. This is tragic for an A319 but it wouldn't be bad on an E90/95.
DeleteIt would be great if you had 80 put of 120 on an Embraera jet
DeleteIt would be even better if they could get an E90 for INI. They could also operate many charters much easier, many of them were terminated early last year due to low demand.
DeleteThe LCC's are cheap most of the time. But the aircraft they use is around 180 seats. Doesn't matter how cheap it is, that's too many seats for INI. Even 144 seats of the A319 is too much. The aircraft to make Niš work is the ATR72, E170/75/90. Then that would work. And if they kept it affordable ofcourse.
DeleteSomeone else said it in the comments today would also help to offer routes not offered by SOF or Skopje to attract people from Macedonia and bulgaria
Do you realize how much higher operational costs of let's say an E75 would be, calculated per seat, compared to A320/738? Rough estimate about +50 to +70%. Accordingly, the seats must sell for about this much more or a third party is willing to cover these additional costs.
DeleteIf people travel from Nis to beograd in order to take a flight on an A319 or ATR or the embraers while they were operating then they can afford the flights directly from INI which would be cheapers since it is a cheaper airport to operate, and depending on destination shorter flight time. even if in the end the cost is close to what you claim, the cheap operating cost means nothing when they dont have that demand. those LCC need muuch higher load factor to make it rconomically viable.
DeleteGothenburg and Stockholm would definitely work well.
ReplyDeleteThey should get Norwegian to launch flights
DeleteThey should fly twice daily to BEG, and that`s it.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteINI and BNX
DeleteFeeding Belgrade from Nis is actually a very good idea, it would benefit both airports and most importantly Air Serbia.
DeleteThis is smart actually, and its what other airline do, such as Lufthansa, Air France, Turkish, LOT, Austrian, Tarom, Aegean and so on, you name it. Even three daily flights can work and then the problem will be solved. No need for empty flights between BEG and INI so that the aircraft can operate from INI that day, no discusions if the route from ini will work or not, simply with those three or two daily flights passengers from south Serbia and Macedonia, Kosovo and Bulgaria can enjoy the full route network of JU from BEG.
Deleteas if there are no JU flights to Macedonia (SKP and OHD), yeah very "smart"
DeleteWell if you use your brain for one second you will understand that i ment macedonians who live next to the border with Serbia, ofc us from Skopje wont go to INI…
DeleteBut you wanted to find the negativity in my comment and make your self smarter, typical Balkan mindset.
Deleteif you used your brain for a second you wouldnt have written macedonians with small letter... no place near the border is closer to INI then to SKP , just have a look on any map.
DeleteINI can be cheaper for many North Macedonians.
Delete@11:37 Again, searching for the negativity, very typical. As you can see i also wrote ini with small letters, so its made on purpose not because i dont use my brain.
DeleteAgain, check the map and see if you can find the city of Kumanovo between Skopje and Nis, maybe you will find it, who knows. Dont spread negativity if you dont have anything else to do, at least not on my comment, it is my opinion and i can say whatever i want. Making your self smarter and mentioning that JU operates to Skopje and Ohrid ( Ohrid is at least 7 hours away from Nis by car ) is only making you look stupid. Anybody with common sense would have understood the meaning of my comment, but whats more intresting is that you didnt mention that JU also operates to Varna and Sofia, so why would somebody drive from Varna to Nis when they have a few weekly flights directly to BEG, huh?
@11.56 Kumanovo-SKP 25.8km , Kumanovo-INI 172km. I cant stop laughing
DeleteYou are accusing others for "negativity" but your post are full with "use your brain for one second", "is only making you look stupid" typical victim-blaming
Ironically Kumanovo is the closest city to SKP airport. People from the western half of Skopje need longer to reach the airport
DeleteProblem with domestic flights in Serbia is its geography.
DeleteBelgrade is basically in the center of the country and very good connected to all major cities, from which you can reach BEG in ~2 hours.
Therefore, INI-BEG flights make no sense from P2P perspective, I reckon it would be (it is) used only for transfers.
Is there enough demand for transfer pax for 2 daily flights? I highly doubt it.
BNX is another story and I just don't get it how come BNX is not better connected with BEG.
Belgrade is not in the center, but more in the north of Serbia. Especially its airport. And I've read on Facebook aviation groups that some of the BEG-INI flights were packed. There are even O&D pax (why wouldn't there be?).
DeleteI hate JU is so intransparent statistic-wise - no numbers available at all for BEG-INI flights?
DeleteI said basically in the center, not exactly in the center 🙄
DeleteThe point is that it takes 2 hours drive to get to Belgrade from all major cities in Serbia and maximum 3 hours from all the rest.
Other than aviation enthusiasts, there is no point flying to Belgrade from Niš, as it takes more time than coming with a car or bus (or someday train).
That train will not run in the next 5-6 years, and buses are neither that fast, nor cheap. And also, Belgrade is quite a big a city, and it also takes some time to reach the bus terminal. From some parts of it, airport can be more easily reachable.
DeleteOh really, Belgrade is big? I didn’t notice, after being born and living almost 40 years in the city :)
DeleteIt takes at least 2.5 hours with this flight, plus you end up in Surčin from where you need another 30 minutes to get to the city, so there’s no really math to use this flight for P2P travel.
Anonymous09:16
DeleteWell, Belgrade-Nis has more than 30 daily connections by bus, return tickets go from 20e upwards (sometimes much cheaper). For price sensitive passengers it will do the jobs since you can reach Nis in 2.5 to 3h and catch a way cheaper flight (to ARN, VIE, CFU, ATH or IST) and save a decent amount of money.
Some people would rather spend more time then money, and a market for those people exists in Serbia and its not that small.
Well, there's Surčin, there's Batajnica, there's Zemun-Gornji grad... there are also Borča, Petlovo Brdo, Vidikovac... all of them being 'Belgrade'... and also some towns and boroughs that are not legally Belgrade but are positioned around airport - featuring lots of businesses actually - and from those spots it is either easier, or an equal hassle reaching airport rather than bus terminal.
DeleteAnd there are also folks who would simply... choose flying over riding on a bus, or driving. It consumes some time and energy (and also money) to reach Niš by road, it is no suburb of Belgrade.
Anonymous11:22 True, I agree, however I was not talking about business travelers as much as price sensitive ones.
DeleteMy friends and myself use INI whenever the price difference is 70+ euros that could be used for something else, and generally time difference is no more than 4h. Considering that, by public transport, I need at least 1.5h to reach BEG from home, INI is not that much of a difference. Last year for example, 3 days in Istanbul in a 3* hotel with the tickets from INI with JU cost as a return ticket BEG-IST. So it does make a difference.
Truth being said, a lot of people dont mind paying extra so they dont bother wasting time.
It’s very simple math, there has to be either financial or time value in order to choose between different options.
DeleteFlying to Belgrade from Niš doesn’t meet neither of those.
This was to be expected. Who else are they building the new terminal in Nis for.
ReplyDeleteGoran Vesić aka Del Boy ...
ReplyDeleteMix of Rodney and Del....
DeleteĐurić je Rodney ...
DeleteSo we could expect new routes this year?
ReplyDeleteZAG would be great choice - even OU should consider it
DeleteAny idea what is Nis's busiest unserved route?
ReplyDeleteProbably Zurich
DeleteYeah thats why they discontinued it.
DeleteAnonymous11:24 Truth being said, it was a short seasonal route.
DeleteIm sure there are many unserved routes from Nis which would turn a profit. Malta flights are full all year each way.
ReplyDeleteThe problem Is Nis has been a side note for Air Serbia for many years. And bigger airlines like Turkish, Wizz and FR prefer daily loads.
Political move. JU doesn't have the necessary aircraft.
ReplyDeleteWhatever this is, it's very far from free market economy.
DeleteThere is no such thing in Europe as free market economy. Brussels bureaucrats love their red tape and promoting all sorts of nonsense, CE Mark being one of great examples.
DeleteIf we were to enforce true market economy then a huge number of EU airports would have to be shut down.
@Nemjee
DeleteFully agree. Brussels bureacrats right now especially are having a field day coming up with excuses to stop the ITA-LH merger, and taking bribes and kickbacks to allow the IAG-Air Europa merger.
The first is an example of them stoping clearly beneficial market trends while taking bribes from the French, the other is upholding and strenghtening an oligopoly, and soon effectively a monopoly
About time.
ReplyDeleteWhich routes could be launched?
ReplyDeleteCopenhagen, Berlin, Beauvais, Madrid, Izmir (summer), St Petersburg and Geneva. These would be my picks
DeleteThat's a pretty random choice of destinations.
DeleteNis-Kraljevo :DD
DeleteNiš-Lagos :D
DeleteMadrid?
DeleteNis-Toronto for sure and Nis-Shanghai
DeleteI think JU could jump in with friday evening flight from VIE to INI and on sunday in the afternoon flight back to VIE.... this time slots are important to visit the family..... ryanair and wizz air cutted it off!
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to see how many passengers each of the three airlines at INI carries each month.
ReplyDeleteI can tell you that for sure JU has the lowest load factor.
DeleteDuring the first PSO contract from Nis, Air Serbia had 12 destinations. Maybe some of the ones that didn't make the cut for the second PSO contract will be launched.
ReplyDeletethey didnt make the cut because they were chosen with no rationale (remember BUD or SZG)
DeleteEX-Yu admin do you have any load factor information for existing services out of Niš?
ReplyDeleteRoutes that could work from INI: ORY, LTN, BCN, FCO, ARN, BER, and maybe SVO with Russians. (In my opinion)
ReplyDelete*all routes with 2 weekly flights and one E195
As well as VIE (Wizz is cutting this route in 7days)
DeleteThey could try INI-ZAG and INI-SPU (seasonal)
Delete@10.56 BER and FCO didnt work, ARN is downgraded to seasonal
DeleteThey opened line Niš-Zurich with abnormal ticket price. It was much cheaper to fly to Belgrade. Offcourse, they canceled that line and it's easy to repeat every day "What do you want, you couldn't fill even line to Zurich, People from Niš don't fly, People from Niš are poor" and similar things. People need offer and marketing. Many people didn't know for flights from Niš.
ReplyDeleteHuge amount of travelers from my surroundings (tourists, business people) need same time to travel to Belgrade or to Niš airport. I'm talking about few thousands of travelers just from my surrounding in Western Serbia. Some people here also thinks that only people from Belgrade use Belgrade airport.
Exactly. People from Nis do fly a lot, but they like everyone else prefer frequency and good flight times. Many fly from Sofia even to destinations covered from Nis because the flight times are better and you need to use fewer vacation days.
Deletethey like cheap lets be honest
Delete@Anon11:12
DeleteOptimistic. Abnormal ticket prices? Are you sure those arent just regular prices for such flights?
As we could tell by the nonsense media panic everytime a route from INI is changed or even worse cancelled, people there have gotten used to either artifically cheapenned PSO flights, or 30 euro FR flights.
If you dont believe me, just remember FR representatives comments when INI-BGY was closed. He literally said whenever they increase avg. prices by a few euros, up to 40-45, the plane ends up flying half empty. Then they lower them back to 30, plane fills up again and the cycle continues, while FR barely reaches break even
30€? maybe return fares because I had seen one way fares well bellow that for Bergamo
Delete@Anon 12:14
DeleteYou think that 600 EUR is normal price for Zurich-Niš? One time, I used their line to Bergamo, LF was 100%. I'm just telling that many people would change Belgrade with Niš if they have offer from Niš. Just good marketing and offer.
What about changing management which can't provide new flights? That's Minister's responsibility, not talking with airlines about flights. But this is pure politics, elections in Nis coming this summer...
ReplyDelete+1
Delete“We are in discussions with Air Serbia for the opening of several new routes from Niš."
ReplyDeleteFailing to understand this obsession with growing and growing. JU need to fix their current fleet issues and network and avoid any future expansions unless they secure a more solid fleet or just simply buy new jets on leasing. Why not opt for the E2 or A220 instead of working with random shady airlines like Dan Air or Marathon?
Normal people don't fail to understand your obsession with Air Serbia growth expansion. We all understand Air Serbia success hurts you a lot. Your proposal for E2 or A220 is exactly the opposite of what Air Serbia needs right now, and JU management already explained why they are not the right choice at this moment. JU is taking care of the fleet and network as published here in previous days and weeks. If you have any evidence Dan Air is a shady airline, you have to contact appropriate EU authorities.
DeletePrilika za Ryanair više nego odlična da ubaci još neku liniju, na primer Prag,Barselonu,Krakow...Mislim da bi to bio pun pogodak
ReplyDeleteSad the airport stoped trying to attract any new airlines.
ReplyDeleteDo LCCs in Niš still have just a 3 euro charge for handling?
ReplyDeleteI don't get JU's plans for a Nis airport lounge when they don't sell business class from there
ReplyDeleteNis je prioritet Aerodroma Srbije. Slede Morava, zatim Ponikve. Pa se nastavlja sa povecanjem mreze sekundarnih aerodroma Srbije. Ukljucujuci i gradnju aerodroma kod Novog Pazara. ✈🌐🛬
ReplyDeleteNiš-Ohrid. Leti u Ohridu ima dosta turista iz Niša. ATR dva puta nedeljno u julu i avgustu.
ReplyDeleteim with you on this
Delete