Air Serbia is preparing to take delivery of several aircraft in the upcoming days, weeks and months, including ATR72-600s, Embraer E195s, and Airbus A330-200s with the airline noting network expansion will only be announced once the aircraft are physically on the ground in Belgrade. Speaking at the Southeast European Aviation Summit in Belgrade yesterday, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said, “One thing we learned last year is that we won’t be announcing new destinations and opening sales unless aircraft are physically here in Belgrade for the purpose that we don’t get caught by surprise by maintenance delays. We took our eighth ATR last week. We are expecting, depending again on the successful completion of maintenance, the ninth ATR this week or early next week. During May we are expecting our tenth ATR to arrive. We are working on two Embraers joining the fleet. The first of two A330s was originally supposed to come in May but due to landing gear issues, but from one of the reputable maintenance providers from Europe’s north, that I will not name, it is now scheduled to come in July”.
Mr Marek noted network growth is on the horizon but warned, “Again, until the aircraft arrive physically in Belgrade we will not be announcing new flights. Once it is in Belgrade [A330], we will be announcing flights and opening sales, most likely Shanghai, and potentially also Guangzhou at the same time”. Asked by EX-YU Aviation News how its current China operations are competitive with a single weekly service to Tianjin, the CEO said, “At the moment the flight to China is profitable and it is mostly for point-to-point demand as it is one weekly. There are not too many passengers beyond Belgrade or behind Tianjin. For that, we will need to grow the frequencies, but we would prefer for those frequencies to go to Shanghai and Guangzhou where there is a lot more potential beyond Belgrade and behind Shanghai and Guangzhou. In the future there is potential to grow but long haul is a very heavy investment and our aim is to grow profitably so we won’t place capacity on the market that won’t be profitable. Therefore, we will grow steadily”.
As previously reported, Air Serbia recently added a wet-leased Bulgaria Air E190 aircraft to its fleet with another to join in June. The Serbian carrier plans to begin its own E195 operations in July with two jets. Asked by EX-YU Aviation News how the introduction of the new aircraft type within the airline's own fleet is progressing, Mr Marek said, “We set the target [for the introduction of the Embraer in the fleet] at three months with one month buffer which brings us to the beginning of July. At the moment, it is going according to plan. We have already hired several pilots. We are also working on the introduction of the aircraft into our internal systems, starting from maintenance to flights ops and others. At the moment, we believe that if everything goes according to plan, we will have them in the fleet flying commercial flights by the beginning of July”.
Did they ever have so many aircraft coming in such a short period of time?
ReplyDeleteI think maybe only in 2014 when they started receiving A319s and A320s.
DeleteIt's interesting that they have a lot of aircraft coming but not a lot of new routes.
DeleteWell I think they have enough routes, now they need to increase frequencies. I am sad to see morning and evening flights to OTP being cancelled. Hopefully they come back once more ATRs arrive. Though I don't know how many pilots they have as many have quit.
DeleteAre there any plans to expand the ATR fleet beyond the 10?
DeleteATR is a fantastic aircraft for them so I am sure they will keep on adding them. Don't forget that it can also be used on flights from INI and KVO.
DeleteI doubt we will see any expansion from them from INI or KVO.
DeleteUnless it's paid by the state, definitely not.
DeleteFinally some sense
ReplyDeleteIndeed.
DeleteI like their thinking and strategy at the moment. Smart but humble.
Agree. Smart move by Air Serbia to wait until the aircraft are physically in Belgrade before announcing network expansion.
DeleteWill they be adding more regional routes considering the extra 3 ATRs?
ReplyDeleteI think they are using them to increase frequencies like they listed in the summer timetable.
DeleteBosnia is really undeserved by JU.
DeleteWould love to see that increase with the new ATR
How when they fly to 3/4 airports
DeleteBoth SJJ and BNX need more frequencies.
Deletewhat @15:57 said.
Delete2 weekly to BNX is not enough. and SJJ needs to be double daily at least. the ideal approach would be to one day have the same level of connection with every country in the region like JU has with Crna Gora.
They would probably increase BNX if there was money to be made there. There obviously isn't. Fares are cheap so they can compete with bus companies.
DeleteSummer table will be a mess
ReplyDeleteWhat are you talking about? Why would it be a mess?
DeleteHe just has to say something negative. He doesn't know himself.
DeleteAnonymous 09:05 you are an expert for... messing around?
DeleteThis will be a much better and calmer summer.
ReplyDeleteThe new handler in BEG will also help
DeleteTheir on time performance is already pretty good so far this summer
DeleteThey learned from their mistakes last year.
ReplyDeleteI really don't remember them announcing some route last year which didn't materialize.
DeleteI think last year they moved some of the new routes to Turkey by a couple of weeks because there were not enough aircraft.
DeleteA320 (Dan Air) was delayed last year and it entered service in the second half of June instead of late May. This created the second major operational meltdown at JU. From there until winter they were going from chaos to another.
DeleteTrue, forgot about that
DeleteThis year they actually have reserve aircraft so summer should be fine.
DeleteHope so. The first major test of the season comes next week.
DeleteThird A330 was originally scheduled to arrive in 2023, not this May.
ReplyDeleteThey explained a 100 times what happened with that aircraft.
DeleteThat doesn't change the fact third A330 was originally expected last summer.
DeleteLufthansa announced the introduction of its new Allegris business class cabins in 2017. It is now 2024 and it still hasn't introduced them. Aviation is unpredictable.
DeleteI wonder if the Embraer pilots they hired are former Air Montenegro.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure the Montenegrin pilots from Marathon will be joining.
DeleteYeah after the Marathon episode it's likely that some of them still need a job
Deletethey are from air pink embraer fleet
DeleteMore interesting than the fact they will have 10 ATRs this summer is that they will have 10 ATRs this coming winter season. Naturally some of them will undergo regular maintenance meaning they will have approximately 8 to 9 ATRs in service at all time.
ReplyDeleteHopefully they prepare on time by securing enough pilots and by putting flights on sale on time. I hope for their sake that with so many ATRs this winter season they will have double daily flights to ATH, SKG, TIA, SOF and OTP while BUD and LJU should go up to triple daily.
They will have to grow so it's time to address some underlying issues in order to set up a sustainable growth model, something that was lacking for many years now.
A lot more pilots will surely be needed.
DeleteThey are hiring them
DeleteI can't understand your idea of attracting transfers from Romania. OTP is wonderfully connected to the world, Europe even more so. They now have flights to New York, soon to Canada.
DeleteIST is wonderfully connected to the world yet on each JU flight from IST there are at least 20 transfer passengers. Some people really don't understand how aviation works.
DeleteWhy does someone from Istanbul need to come to Serbia to go to Moscow or Zurich or New York?!?!
DeleteWell the fact that you have to ask shows that you don't know much about pricing, aviation or how passenger flows work.
DeleteThere are BEG-OTP-CLJ-FRA enthusiasts everywhere...
Delete^ it would be wise to stop embarrassing yourself. You have already proven you know little about aviation.
DeleteI hoped we got over that outright stupid argument regarding transfers. Do you honestly think JU's night flights to Bucharest are filled with locals? Sure, everyone loves arriving to the shady looking OTP in the middle of the night.
DeleteAm I missing something regarding JFK flights or are you referring to that Romanian lowcost and their flights? Will you praise them like you did Gulivair? Will you present them as the biggest threat to JU's long-haul market because I remember people writing such things when Gulivair announced their own plans. In the end nothing became of all that and I think OTP-JFK will have the same fate.
Flights to Bucharest were always filled with transfers. It was like that in pre-Covid era and it is same now.
DeleteI don't know but Hi Sky is the fastest growing romanian airline.
DeleteChicago was announced in July 2022 for flights starting in May 2023. New York was announced in Nov 2015. This new policy of announcing flights only after aircraft lands in Belgrade will shorten the time between announcement and actual service launch.
ReplyDeleteI believe Marek said Shanghai would launch in November or December. So f they get the plane in July and start sales then that's 4-5 months in advance.
DeleteWell I doubt they will announce a new long-haul route a few days before it's launch. I suppose the third A330 will be used as a backup or to boost existing flights to JFK or ORD.
DeleteChinese destinations will most likely start in winter. By then I hope they work on fixing their onboard product.
A friend of mine flew ORD-BEG recently and her seat was almost falling apart (Pupin).
Yes, the existing 2 need to be refurbished ASAP, especially YU-ARC.
DeleteThey said these two will be refurbished when the other two arrive.
DeleteXi arriving in May in Belgrade won't be able to announce new China service? US Ambassador at the conference was also an opportunity to announce Miami, but this new tough policy changes things.
DeleteI don't think it was ever the plan for Chinese President to announce Air Serbia flights to China. The flights themselves have been announced. It is just a matter of putting tickets on sale.
Delete@09:43 Flights to China have NOT been announced. If you read the news article, Marek clearly says: "we will be announcing flights and opening sales, most likely Shanghai, and potentially also Guangzhou at the same time". They WILL be announcing them, so they have not been announced so far. It also means it is not yet known what airport(s) will be announced, at what weekly frequency and start date. Mentioning some cities does not constitute service announcement in the industry.
DeleteThere are still a few regional routes they should add
ReplyDeleteOSI, TSR, KVO
DeleteThey already fly from KVO.
DeleteBut still not selling KVO - BEG as transfers. Does anyone know why? There are already domestic gate(s) in BEG.
DeleteI don't know why they don't out the KVO ferry flights on sale like BEG-INI.
DeleteMost likely to conserve fuel as KVO doesn't have fueling for aircraft. INI on the other hand does have fueling.
DeleteKVO even misses fuelling services? Apart from the runway restrictions, how do they ever want to develop that airport further like this
DeleteWasn't aware about the fuel.
DeleteWhat could be potential new short haul routes?
ReplyDeleteManchester, Dublin, Munich, reintroduce Cairo...
DeleteMunich is a must!
DeleteI think slots are an issue. They need good times to remain competitive vs Lufthansa.
DeleteGiven the fact that LH shifted its focus from FRA onto MUC, I don't see the airport being too willing to give them a good deal (discounts). Munich is a Lufthansa fortress hub and they are going to fight everyone and anyone for it to stay like that.
It's not just good times but also decent frequencies to be competitive to LH and Wizz (Memmingen). This is where the ERJ's will definitely be useful.
DeleteIt's not just good times but also decent frequencies to be competitive to LH and Wizz (Memmingen). This is where the ERJ's will definitely be useful.
DeleteI was expecting JU to have at least a few charters to Munich for the Euro football championships. Instead, Wizz Air will have flights to Munich.
DeleteWill both incoming E195 be former Marathon planes?
ReplyDeleteI believe so, but they are actually leased from Great Dane Airlines.
DeleteThey are teasing with some new "crew member" on their planes on social media. Anyone have an idea what that's about?
ReplyDeleteSaw that. Wondering as well
DeleteMaybe the Chinese crew on TSN flights?
DeleteThat might be it. They are not actually crew members. They just help out the crew. Their main job will be to translate between passengers and crew and between ground staff and crew in China.
DeleteIt will be some complete non event I can feel it.
DeleteThey're hyping up Chinese crew helpers for 1 weekly flight? Interesting
DeleteWe are just guessing. They haven't said it's that.
DeleteSmart
ReplyDeleteOne thing that will have to be done is to gradually replace the A319, some of which will soon reach the age of 20. What is very good is the announcement of an A320 simulator in Serbia without the pilots leaving the Serbian soil.
ReplyDeleteThey said a year ago that the A319s will all gradually be replaced by A320s.
DeleteMarek literally said that instead of increasing Tianjin, they want to use frequencies elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, that destination was a bit weird choice from the start, especially with Hainan as a strong competitor in PEK. I wouldn't be surprised if they discontinue the route.
Did they get a certain amount of frequencies to China and can now distribute them among the cities?
DeleteNo but they will have a certain amount of aircraft.
DeleteFrom 2026 there will be another player in the balkans for medium-long haul destinations . Aegean will get initialy 4 brand new a321LR or XLR with at least another 2 options .
ReplyDeleteHonestly that's still incomparable with A330
DeleteAnon 11:26 maybe you are right but they said the a321 gonna have less than 180 seats , with flat beds in business class and full IFE systems in all seats.
DeleteAegean lacks proper infrastructure to be a competitive player. ATH is in desperate need of an expansion and until a new terminal is constructed I don't see them being much of a threat. Have you experienced ATH in summer? It's extremely overcrowded and the terminal leaves a lot to be desired. Aegean's situation is starting to remind me of TK and the old IST.
DeleteBefore Aegean competes with carriers in neighboring regions they first have to beat all those who are flying to ATH. Those A321XLR will most likely be used on flights to India. With such a light configuration they could make it without a problem.
I think they are looking at profiting from TK being limited by the bilateral. India is refusing to renegotiate it due to Ankara siding with Pakistan on geopolitical matters.
But NEMJEE I don't think Aegean has to beat someone ! In an Airport that is gonna have 33 million passengers in 2024 there is room for more players . Aegean does not aim in US or Canadian destinations . They said they are aiming for India the greater middle east like Oman or Bahrein and countries in central Africa .
DeleteNemjee 12:19
DeleteAegean will fly those 4 A321XLRs to DEL, BOM, ALA, LOS, ADD, Nairobi, Oman, DOH and BAH as they already announced. The plan is to start with 4 A32XLRs and getting more on a second time. ATH is already starting its expansion as the passengers number is about to increase a lot this year. Also Greek and Indian carriers can fly between every airport in Greece to India and the opposite without limits in frequencies. Thats what Aegean will do and in some years I will not find it weird if they have direct ATH-Bangalore,Chennai,Amritsar,Hyderabad etc.
Their punctuality still leaves a lot to be desired, too many flights are delayed up to 60 min out of BEG for various organizational issues, waiting transfers, security checks, waiting on aircrafdt etc. Starting summer it will only get worst.
ReplyDeleteStigao 8. ATR i krenuli su sa ulistavanjem letova. Zagreb je sa smanjenih 9 vraćen na prvobitno planiranih 16 letova.
ReplyDeleteZagreb je od starta planiran da ima 16 letova
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2024/03/summer-2024-air-serbia.html
Good to see Air Serbia's fleet expansion plans taking shape! Looking forward to hearing about the new destinations once those aircraft touch down in Belgrade.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteReassuring that their Embraer introduction is on track.
ReplyDeleteThey are really doing it very quickly. It will be 3 months maybe from the moment they decided to get the E195s until their introduction.
DeleteMarketing is fantastic. This was the 100th time they announced a network growth without mentioning any destination.
ReplyDelete