Emirates has unveiled the first set of routes to be operated by its new incoming Airbus A350-900 aircraft from September. The new type, which joins the airline’s fleet of almost 250 Boeing 777 and Airbus A380 jets, has given former Yugoslav markets a greater chance of being included in the carrier’s vast network. The airline had only previously maintained flights to Zagreb, until the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, with the region now solely served from Dubai by its partner Flydubai. Among the first nine routes that will be operated by the 312-seat A350 is Edinburgh, a destination it discontinued at the start of Covid-19, similar to Zagreb. In addition, both Lyon and Bologna in Europe will be served by the jet. “Emirates will announce more destinations in the coming months as new aircraft join its fleet”, the company said.
Regional airports are increasingly hoping to attract Emirates as the airline prepares to take delivery of the new wide-body aircraft. Belgrade and Sarajevo are eying operations by the carrier, while Zagreb is aiming to see the company restore flights to Croatia. Emirates has confirmed it is considering a return to the Croatian capital. “We hope to restart our operations in Zagreb when it is commercially and operationally feasible to do so in the future, and we will make a formal announcement if there are any developments in this regard”, the airline noted. Emirates has 65 A350-900s on order. “In terms of network, when the A350s come in, then Emirates will look to new European destinations with those aircraft. I have fifteen to twenty new destinations which could come immediately to my mind. It is a good airplane, the A350-900“, the President of Emirates, Tim Clark, said.
Flydubai two-way capacity to former Yugoslav markets, 2024
The Serbian government held talks with the Founder and CEO of Emirates, Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, on two occasions last year, with the Emirati carrier previously having studied options of introducing flights to the Serbian capital. On the other hand, Sarajevo Airport previously said that existing operations from Dubai, maintained by Flydubai, could be further expanded with Emirates’ arrival. “We sincerely hope that a respectable airline such as Emirates will consider and accept our offer in order for us to commence negotiations. There is strong demand and potential between the UAE and our country. Flydubai has been our partner for many years, and we have excellent cooperation with them. In the coming period, we will work to further enhance our partnership”, Sarajevo Airport said. Emirates has also conducted a feasibility study on operations to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital, showing solid, albeit highly seasonal, demand in both the premium and economy cabins.
Emirates has a huge number of aircraft on order and will eventually have to factor in more cities in Eastern Europe into its plans. Hopefully we see more of them at our airports soon.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteAlthough I am perplexed why people are so stressed out with an airline, Emirates is just like Qatar airways. Actually Qatar in my book is better airline. Emirates ordered 50 A350, perhaps more will be ordered later on. Another 30 B787s are also on order for 2025 and 2026 deliveries, so there'll be plenty of Destinations.
DeleteZagreb is probably their main priority in the region, after all they did ok in 2019 when they flew for 7 months, carrying 98500 passengers over 200 rotations, so A350 with 312 seats would be ideal aircraft for this route. B777 300ER was a slight overkill when they used it before covid. Australians and New Zelanders are coming to Croatia is ever larger noumbers and by end of 2024 I expect noumbers for these markets will fully recover, if they haven't already, ensuring good load factor at Dubai transfer. Chinese markets for Croatia is yet to recover, 177 000 visitors in 2023, hopefully we see better noumbers this, before covid there were 440 000 Chinese visitors to Croatia.
Beyond Zagreb, I can see only Sarajevo and Belgrade attracting Emirates.
And Aussies and New Zealanders want DBV and SPU not ZAG. Why back-track with OU? That's why FZ is the better airline to serve Croatia, not EK
Delete@Anonymous13:39
DeleteActually they want all 3, noumber of Aussie and Kiwi visitors in Zagreb is rather good, of 230 000 Aussie visitors to Croatia in 2023, 125 000 visited Zagreb, generating 255 000 nights . Of 41000 Kiwi visitors in 2023, 32000 visited and stayed in Zagreb, generating 57000 nights. So not so much sure about Dubrovnik and Split only. Zagreb was very popular with Aussies before covid due to non-Schengen EU state so many Aussies used it to enter EU, stay in the for 3 months and then chill out in Croatia for 2-3 months/explore non-EU states in the region. However with Croatian full EU integration, this isn't possible now, but Croatia has one of most generous digital - Nomad visas for Aussies, Kiwies, Cannucs and Yanks. Croatia, like Portugal offer these passport holders right of stay 1 year without needing a visa on a digital nomad-visa, however they need to register and pay Croatian tax during their 1 year. This can be extended to 2 years max. Many Aussies take that opportunity as do other 3 nationalities mentioned above.
Zagreb is the MAIN priority? Data show just third position, far behing Belgrade. Management of Emirates is really in love with Croatia & Zagreb :)
DeleteBelgrade capacity is almost the same as the next two combined. Add opportunity for cargo that can't be met by FlyDubai 737s and it's a no brainer for Emirates to start Belgrade.
DeleteConsidering volume of pax to Belgrade being so high, one can only assume that the premium end of the plane doesn’t have the demand. FZ has 10-12 (?) seats which might only be 50% average LF across the year - not accounting for last minute cheap upgrades. Unlikely they would send 30+ seats at higher EK fares to have it at 20% LF across the year and have to offer cheap upgrades that devalue their product. Potentially seasonal demand may change this perception, but I’m sure they’ve taken those factors into account already.
Delete^ maybe because they are not one of the busiest airlines in the world, like Emirates.
Delete@16:58 one can only assume that the premium end of the plane doesn’t have the demand
DeleteWrong assumptions lead to wrong conclusions.
@Anon 13:31
DeleteI personally disagree with you regarding Qatar being better than Emirates...In my opinion, its opposite...Also I will never forget their behaviour during COVID, and how they abandoned their clients and dissapeared from the face of the Earth for almost a year..Full respect for Turkish and how they handled COVID situation..That was real customer service in action..Since COVID I wouldn't enter Qatar plane even if the ticket was 50% cheaper than with other airline..They showed they face during hard times, and nothing they do can recover that bad bad smell
^ What on earth are you talking about? Qatar Airways was literally commended around the world for being one of the few airlines that continued wide scale operations during the pandemic. In 2020, Doha became one of the busiest airports in the world while in April 2020 Qatar Airways was the biggest and busiest airlines in the world and had that status for over a year. Its crew was literally flying in full body suits and they kept almost full service on board. Qatar was one of the first international airlines to resume flights to Belgrade and Zagreb (in June 2020). You really don't know what you are talking about.
Deletehttps://www.qatarairways.com/en/press-releases/2020/june/QRLeads.html#:~:text=We%20have%20become%20the%20largest,passengers%20during%20these%20uncertain%20times.
https://www.smh.com.au/traveller/inspiration/worlds-biggest-airline-during-coronavirus-covid19-qatar-airways-flies-most-passenger-kilometres-in-april-20200622-h1ox5q.html
https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-qatar-airways-with-its-pandemic-playbook-dethroned-emirates-as-biggest-long-haul-airline-11619348400
@Nemjee19:18
DeleteZagreb is often a starting point for many Aussies, over 400 000 Croats live in Australia atm, over 100 000 in NZ, so many start their journey in Croatia, but often Aussies start in Italy, visit Croatia, Austria, Hungary and so on. Zagreb has loads of cheap flights even before Ryan Air you could get €80-100 tickets for Zagreb. Many Aussies come via Dubai, many via Doha, some via Frankfurt, some via London.
Anonymous 13:52, chill Zagreb was always way more premuim destination than Belgrade. Belgrade has larger capacity for Dubai, but that only shows there is huge "low price demand", where Emirates obviously has no interest...
Delete@22.59 And also don't forget that Croatian citizen does not mean Croatian ethnicity. There are many Serbs who were born in Croatia but still need to write down that they were born on the territory of Croatia. In short, you are sharing misinformation to further your point.
DeleteOther than handful of your disciples no one believes your claims about Zagreb having more premium demand. Belgrade has more than double of business class seats from Dubai vs Zagreb. Emirates flew to ZAG not based on premium demand but due to large incentives from Croatia. Show us the source for your overblown numbers for diaspora in AU&NZ.
DeletePrevious comment was obviously for 22:59 and 23:42.
DeleteThere were no incetives for Emirates in Zagreb.
DeleteFlyDubai was never significant in Zagreb and it will never be. If you are not going to offer to passengers Emirates, they are going to chosr another option to fly.
There absolutely were incentives for Emirates in ZAG, they infamously got money from the "udruženo oglašavanje" fund.
Delete@Anon 21:50
DeleteDid you have ticket with them, did you travel with them during Covid? Or you just read the apraisal articles, or you work for them? I did have ticket with them, long houl, unfortunatelly for me, so I have personal experience..I also had ticket with Turkish, also long houl, also due to fly during those first 6 months of Covid..Turkish was amazing...Qatar dissapeared..
Is is more likely for Emirates to open some ex-Yu route with A350 or Flydubai with B787?
ReplyDeleteI don't think FZ will be sending B787 to Europe. They are looking at south east Asia and Australia with those planes.
DeleteFlydubai said B787s are delayed by Boeing. Who knows when they will get them.
DeleteMoreover, they're incredibly cramped, 9-abreast in a plane with similar width as the 8-abreast Airbus A330
DeleteAlmost all 787 have 9 abreast, so its not like they are gonna be worse than any other airline flying them. If i recall only ANA (maybe Japan Airlines) have some with 8 across.
DeleteSeasonal Emirates Sarajevo flights make sense.
ReplyDeletedemand is not a problem but filling premium cabins is.
Delete^ same issue for all ex-Yu destinations.
DeleteMight be harder to count on the locals, but the Arab visitors can fill the premium on a low PW rate
DeleteThat's A LOT of capacity between BEG and DXB.
ReplyDeleteBasically daily B777-200.
DeleteBelgrade is ready for daily A350 flights.
DeleteIs it?
DeleteCapacity wise, yes
DeleteA350s with EK business class and premium economy are much more difficult to fill upfront compared to Fly Dubai 737s.
DeleteThey will likely have a Premium Lite fit-out with reduced numbers of J and W seats recalling how their A330-200s used to have multiple configurations.
DeletePerfect plane to finally launch SKP
ReplyDeleteEven Flydubai failed on SKP route and you expect EK A350?
DeleteLol
DeleteShould be daily with A380!
DeleteMaybe a DXB-SKP-JFK route could work.
DeleteIt would boost traffic numbers on both the DXB-SKP sector and the SKP-JFK.
I would also add Los Angeles, Tokyo and Bejing, so 6 greatest cities in the world may be connected in just one route!
Delete@09:05 I was waiting for this comment, i understand the joke 🙌🏻
DeleteRumor mill in DXB is that EK is starting BEG next year and returning to ZAG. But there is always this similar crew talk so who knows.
ReplyDeleteHa ha rumor😂
Deletethe real rumor is they will no longer fly to Zagreb and start flying to maribor
Delete^ you are so hilarious.
DeleteLooking at these numbers, Belgrade will definitely be more appealing now compared to Zagreb but like it has been stated before, with Zagreb it will all be about Asian demand as they like the premium stuff.
DeleteTivat more capacity than Dubrovnik? Wow
ReplyDeletePorto Montenegro is very popular with Arab tourists.
DeletePorto Montenegro is owned by the Al Maktoum family(Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is the owner)...
DeleteDon't get all this obsession with EK from Dubai.
ReplyDeleteIt is one the world's most valuable and best known brands. Of course everyone wants them to fly to their airport
DeleteAre you the same guy that always says the same thing but sometimes with London, Middle East, Spain..
DeleteEmirates' marketing is top notch. They somehow managed to convince the general public that they are one of the most premium airlines out there, while offering 2-3-2 business class on a large portion of their fleet.
Delete^ agree with Vlad 100%. Flew recently their business class. Hard and soft product much better on QR.
DeleteEK only managed to do that because their product is ok and more importantly because they are reliable and have a very good global network.
DeleteUnfortunately, it is well known that the former state management of Belgrade Airport sabotaged the opportunity of EK coming. Several years ago EK sent a request to BEG. It is a general request form when an airline is about to request slots. BEG didn't respond to them for months and when they did respond they gave some half ass reply. Why? Because at that time Etihad was very much the favorite at BEG due to its ties with JU and nothing was allowed to jeopardize that. I'm not making this up even though it sounds absurd.
ReplyDeleteNuts but not surprised
DeleteI think this was even published online a few years ago actually
DeleteBravo Vucko, bravo Hogan...
DeleteEmirates opened Knez Mihajlova office decades ago. Nothing stopped them from starting services when they had variety of widebodies. Were they expecting same "incentives" from BEG as those they received in ZAG to launch?
DeleteIt isn't a Knez Mihajlova office. It is the office of their GSA which also represents Flydubai.
DeleteEmirates sign has been placed there decades ago. GSA or not, they had more than enough time to start slights.
DeleteOk, and they have been present on the market for 12 years through Flydubai and for ten years before that through close cooperation with Jat.
DeleteWhen it comes to Belgrade I'd rather see a third daily with 737.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to wide-bodies BEG is better suited for FZ B787 than EK A350.
Why?
DeleteEY and FZ in BEG is the best combo
DeleteBecause I fear BEG might not have the yields EK is after. Most are still price sensitive.
DeleteI hope EY will come back but difficult since we have Wizz now.
DeleteEK doesn't only fly to high yielding destinations, they also have flights to Thailand, India, Bangladesh, Denmark, Sweden... all markets with low premium demand.
DeleteAs someone who travels regularly BEG-DXB-BEG, I would definitely prefer a third FZ daily flight.
DeleteNemjee stop talking nonsense.
DeleteIdeally one should present arguments when calling another person's opinion nonsense.
DeleteEY has shrunk itself into irrelevance for the Balkan market. For example, they now only send A320s (with no PTVs) into ATH. Doubt they will ever come back to BEG given they are now largely a de-hubbed point to point airline with a largely 787 fleet and 5 A350-1000s. The couple of active A380s are only largely used to LHR because of slot constraints.
Delete@13:21 Etihad is relaunching A380 on some high demand routes - it started flying to JFK again too with more planned
DeleteIf demand to Serbia from Asia and especially China starts growing faster than the number of seats then EK might have some room next to FZ's double daily operation.
DeleteHowever, with FZ getting B787s, EK considering BEG, Wizz doing well on AUH-BEG... there is less and less room for JU to return to Dubai. Honestly I think they should launch it this winter as a preemptive strike against EK.
ex-Yu airports should have offered to Emirates what Greece and Italy has - flights to the US.
ReplyDeleteZAG should have done it.
DeleteAhaha don't compare Greece - US markets and EXYU, please.
Delete1+ million American tourists visited Greece in 2023. Better look it up next time.
Delete1.5mil to be specific and that makes sense since ATH has year round flights to JFK and EWR while they also got ORD, PHL, ATL, BOS and IAD seasonally. And I read they’re trying to get SKG-New York flights. USA to Greece market is really not comparable to USA-Croatia.
Delete+1000 to anon 14:17 . And that was the right answear to the ignorant anon 13:40 !
Delete
Delete@Anonymous14:13
Yep, I stand corrected, was looking at 2022 figures. My bad.
You never know with EK. Let's see how things develop.
ReplyDeleteIf they are prepared to fly seasonally then BEG, SJJ and ZAG could all work for Emirates in peak season
ReplyDeleteThey have been successfully operating DXB-LCA-MLA for decades now. Maybe they should consider operating DXB-BEG-SJJ. This route could easily work on a year round basis.
DeleteNemjee19 +1
DeleteWill their A350s have first class?
ReplyDeleteNo. They have announced the A350s will have business, premium economy and economy. No first class.
DeleteThank you! That makes it more likely they could start some ex-Yu route when the A350s arrive.
Deletewhen flydubai sterted flying to Ljubljana, CEO or some airport official their main goal is to bring EK at one point.
ReplyDeleteIt will be a long time before we see EK in LJU.
Deletewell but numbers for Dubai are nice from ljubljana ... since its fairly new destination.
DeleteBut LJU has no demand...
DeleteI think Lju can work with Emirates at the winter season especialy in december to start of march when a lot of Slovenians go to vacation to warmer places. I know that in Februaur and December there are double daily flights for some weeks so it could be possible
DeleteWhy not Dubai-Belgrade-Sarajevo? They could even get fifth freedom in BEG-SJJ sector since both countries have open skies signed with UAE.
ReplyDeleteThis is a real missed opportunity for JU. Flights from BEG to UAE work best when leaving BEG in the evening and returning back in the morning and that's why a Serbian carrier operating the route could do so much better when compared to an afternoon departure on QR, Wizz and or on one of FZ's frequencies. The midnight departure from BEG was the timing when JU used to fly to Australia via DXB from 1980 until 1992 and onto SIN, to BKK, to PEK and KUL. That was also the timing when JU fly 737-300s to DXB via LCA and BEY in the noughties and when ASL launched AUH in 2013. I am sure one of the 4 A330-200s could cover this route really well.
ReplyDeleteGood point.
DeleteEspecially that in winter their A330s are sitting unused.
DeleteLjubljana and Belgrade are most likely.
ReplyDeleteBelgrade because of the traffic itself, while Ljubljana because of cargo.
2x weekly EK flight with 5x weekly FZ flights for LJU - could also be FZ flying twice weekly with B787, without EK
Daily EK and daily FZ flights for BEG
But they already flew to Zagreb...
DeleteZagreb will get EK flights before Ljubljana, that's a fact
DeleteDHL is opening massive logistic base in Zagreb area, not too far from the airport,. So Cargo issue won't be the problem for much longer.
DeleteCorrection, DHL is opening base at BEG airport:
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2024/05/dhl-to-build-distribution-centre-at.html
Dhl is building a new one at Ljubljana too so…
DeleteBEG and LJU and top 1 and 2 airports in the exyu region by cargo.
DeleteI don't think DHL will be too happy to share their BEG cargo with EK. They prefer to route everything via their own hubs. Would be cool if DHL eventually introduces another destination from BEG or if they add at least a larger plane such as A300-600.
DeleteFlydubai had 148,191 passengers on its Dubai flights in 2022. Don't have data for 2023 yet.
ReplyDeleteOh and another 55,084 on Abu Dhabi route with Wizz Air Abu Dhabi.
DeleteImpressive
DeleteAnd how many fly to BEG to DXB via IST on TK?
DeleteThey will probably keep have both EK and FZ for BEG with EK flying the connecting flights to/from Australia, ie replacing FZ 1745/6 to compete against QR
ReplyDeleteThem I wonder if QR will up-gauge to a 787 to BEG in response. All their A320s are 100% full.
DeleteOn 4 of my QR flights this and last year to and from BEG it was full to the last seat. Still surprised as to why they didn't at least bump up the frequency of flights
DeleteAny chance of seeing China Southern in the region? Apparently they will start introduce. 17 new routes this year (some of them announced already including Budapest).
ReplyDeleteBudapest is a global tourism destination and the most beatiful city in Eastern Europe.
DeleteI actually dont care anymore.
ReplyDeleteWhenever they come it will be too late.
The best time for aviation is now over.
Airspace closures, sanctions, war and inflation are ever increasing.
Let us be honest perpetual growth is unsustainable.
Exactly my thoughts .
DeleteGet over it and move on..
They do not give a f*ck, so we shouldnt either.
DeleteIn Belgrade they and Qatar had more than enough time to offer a decent product and further develop it.
ReplyDeleteThey didnt do anything!
EK didnt even bother and Qatar is stuck with a pathetic and totally cramped narrowbody for nearly a decade.
Flydubai at least offers good frequency even if it is just for O&D.
Winner of the whole mess ofc is Turkish Airlines and they deserve it!
It is rather obvious QR is not that bothered with this part of the world, including Bucharest - I believe EK will come to OTP before any place in ex YU and I am fairly certain that EK will kick QR ass as that they both have similar network (ok, EK more seats), but QR will pay the price of giving their worst and very outdated product vs new EK 350. With fares similar (EK will likely with lower cost per seat also be able to undercut tactically - group business will also be a nightmare to get for QR), what would you buy - especially in business? So most of higher yielding potential will move to EK, and EK will also create additional one without serious competition.
DeleteEmirates should fly the A380 to Sarajevo. Bosnia is a muslim country so that would further improve ties between the two countries. I can see so many people traveling between the two for many purposes. It is a shame that Emirates would rather fly to a Catholic country than a Muslim country considering they are based inthe UAE.
ReplyDeleteFlynas,Jazeera,Flyadeal,Kuwait Airways,Salam Air already following your advice..!
Delete;P
Bosnia is NOT a muslim country. Please educate yourself
Delete^He obviously meant Sarajevo..
DeleteWaiting for Godot...
ReplyDelete+1
Delete