Air Serbia plans to launch new short regional routes and extend a select number of existing summer seasonal destinations during the upcoming 2024/25 winter, which begins on October 27. Speaking to the “TangoSix” portal, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said, “We are currently analysing how to deploy the additional ATRs during the winter season. I can't reveal yet, but there will be some positive surprises when we decide to keep some summer routes over the winter. We also plan to introduce new shorter destinations during the winter, which are ideal for ATR aircraft to explore”. The airline will shortly take delivery of its tenth ATR72-600 aircraft, completing its turboprop fleet expansion. Over the ongoing summer, two will be used as back-up to avoid operational disruptions.
Mr Marek noted the carrier is looking to standardise its cabins across the fleet in order for each type to have the same number of seats in its category. “Some of the ATRs came with seventy and some with 72 seats. The number of seats on all ATR72-600s will be 72. All of the Airbus A319s will have 144 seats, while the A320s will have 180 seats. We are looking at different seat manufacturers to reduce their weight, which can also affect overall fuel consumption and consequently reduce CO2 emissions”, the CEO said. The aircraft reconfiguration will take place in the coming months.
As previously reported, apart from exploring new regional routes, Air Serbia is also gearing up for its long-haul expansion, with the carrier to introduce flights to Shanghai and Guangzhou this year. According to Mr Marek, one will be launched in October, while the other in December, although the carrier will subsequently decide which one will commence in which month. We expect "Romeo Delta", as we currently call it internally, to arrive in Belgrade by the end of July, beginning of August. I cannot give a more precise date at the moment because it depends on the work required to prepare the aircraft for service. We certainly know that the plane is entering the hangar for maintenance on July 1. The most complex part will be work on the landing gear. The company from which we are leasing the aircraft has reserved a slot with Lufthansa Technik to carry out this work, however, as we saw last season, anything can happen, so it's never good to talk about fixed dates. The second A330 should arrive in October, or November this year at the latest”, the CEO noted.
Dubrovnik maybe?
ReplyDeleteI just hope it won't be SPU as that airport is dead during the winter.
DeleteSplit is logical, because of transfer passengers. It’s a second largest city in Croatia
Deleteand Tivat is close to Dubrovnik. So Split most probably
DeleteIf it were logical many other legacy carriers would fly to SPU.
DeleteNo LH, no OS, no LX, no AF, no BA...in SPU during winter.
Let's not forget that KL reduced SPU only to 1 weekly last winter and next winter SPU is not in their schedule. I wonder why.
The only legacy carrier that flies to SPU during thr winter is heavily PSO subsidized OU.
klm is going 3xper week this winter
DeleteYes, but SPU is not in ATR range by other legacies, except JU. That makes route a lot less cheaper
DeleteYes, you are right. They recently changed it.
DeleteStill they are only legacy beside OU that will fly to SPU during the winter. It does not sound well to me.
I am sure JU could choose better destinations.
You guys are obviously unaware of how big the P2P market is between BEG and SPU. They would be able to fill an ATR 2x per week easily.
DeletePlease hurry up to inform JU about it.
DeleteWell apparently they are already aware, and this year they have the capacity for it as well, so...
DeleteJU should launch ZAD and not SPU in winter.
DeleteDoes anyone know why is Air Serbia so afraid of Iasi?
DeleteAbsolutely needed. Iasi or Chisnau, or even both
DeleteIf they start Chisinau they should rather choose Suceava.
DeleteAlso Kosice is a no-brainer, long overdue destination.
Maybe Maribor as well, could serve both the Slovenian and south Austrian diaspora
DeleteI think Graz is more likely
DeleteLike Grz idea but doubt
DeleteSplit most likely
ReplyDeleteMaybe they extend Mostar considering it is performing well.
ReplyDeleteI think OMO is the first candidate for winter flights.
DeleteMostar is not operated by ATR
DeleteSo? He mentions they will extend certain routes (he didn't specify which aircraft type). He specified they will launch new regional routes with ATR.
DeleteRead again. He spoke about winter utilization of turboprop fleet. But I also think that OMO should became year round route
DeleteWell, they can replace Embraer with ATR on some routes, and use freed Embraer for Mostar.
DeleteWell said Marek!
ReplyDeleteThis is part of their marketing. They say something but nothing. The same message will come 10 times before any new route is announced.
DeleteWell no, they never said until now that they plan to extend certain seasonal routes this winter or that they will launch new short haul routes this winter.
DeleteMBX incoming
ReplyDeleteI do not think so.
DeleteIt is more realistic CLJ to be added to JU network.
Bravo Air Serbia 🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸
ReplyDeleteWell the possibilities are Dubrovnik, Mostar, Ohrid, Pula, Rijeka, Split, Varna or Zadar.
ReplyDeleteThere could be some new cities added.
Delete^ Yes he says there will be some new routes added. I'm just saying in regards to the seasonal routes they may extended.
DeleteOK! New routes, where to?
ReplyDeleteMaybe read the article.
DeleteWell, Cluj is certain I think. Further may be Iasi, Debrecin, maybe Burgas. Naples may become all seasonal
DeleteWinter means winter sport destinations. :)
DeleteNaples is already there.
DeleteNaples was recently extended to year round
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2024/05/air-serbia-upgrades-three-routes.html
Air Serbia should strongly consider ZAD.
DeleteThe arrival of the A330s is being pushed back every time he speaks.
ReplyDeleteIs there really so difficult to find airplanes in acceptable condition? They have been looking for years!
The last plane they booked was scrapped as the owner changed his mind.
Delete@9.06 you literally have to read what he said in the article as to why they can't say precisely what day the A330 will arrive.
Delete@Anon 9:06 Exactly what I am saying. They are making this way too difficult for themselves.
DeleteThey are sure not and they are very smart about it. No destination or ticket are put on sale as they are well aware how hard to schedule heavy maintenance on jets lately. Stop talking non sense.
DeleteOk smart of you!
DeleteBoth A330s are assigned to ASL on planespotters.com, as well as two Embraers 195.
Delete@Anon 16:30 How are you seeing this? I have tried searching both Air Serbia and the registration codes of the planes and the two new ones are not assigned to JU.
DeletePlainspotters.net. One A330-200 (Etihad, Altavair, Air Belgium) now leased for JU, the other A330-200 the same (age 10.5 and 10.1 years). And two Embraers 195, now leased for JU, formerly for Marathon airlines (age 15.8 and 16 years). Also, the last ATR 72 is listed for JU.
DeleteDid they not swap out their 2013/2014 seats in 2016/2017 when they went all hybrid and got rid of proper business class on narrow bodies. The current seats are already very light slim back Recaros. The old seats were much more comfortable. If he is serious about reducing CO2 emissions he should invest in a newer fleet of A320neos and A220s. Oops - they cancelled the 10 A320neos - which would have been really handing right now in reducing CO2 emissions as he claims.
ReplyDeleteHe didn't cancel A320neos, it was the previous management team. They are talking about seats from a number of aircraft that they have brought in since, some of which have completely different seats than the rest of the fleet.
DeleteThose Recaro seats are truly awful.
Delete^ Almost all European carriers use the same recaro seats on narrow body aircraft.
Delete@Anon 9:08 Well those A320 Neos would have been great right now but Marek exclusively only buys planes that have 10-15 years on them and are falling apart!
DeleteThey are not falling apart. You obviously haven't flown them. His main concern is profitability and his strategy is working well.
Delete@09:41 The state of the aircraft has nothing to do with how old it is. It can be 30+ years old and in perfect condition inside and for flying, it can also be 5 years old and in bad condition if maintenance is avoided.
Delete@10:44
DeleteLOL!
@10:44 It's true. Newer Air India aircraft are already filthy and have broken panels, while those almost 30 year old Lufthansa A319s are in pretty much same condition as their A320neos.
DeleteThey will probably target Romania, it is an ideal destination for ATR deployment, they just need to work on brand awareness in Romania.
ReplyDeleteI thought that YU-ARD and YU-ARE were in good flying condition given that they operated until recently with Air Belgium. Why would maintenance be taking so long if they are not doing much with the cabin? Are they waiting for spare parts?
ReplyDeleteOne aircraft has issues with landing gear (during time flying for Air Belgium).
DeleteAre these planes ex OE-LCL and OE-LAC?
DeleteYes
DeleteThey were both flying only 1,5 months ago. How come they didn't have gear problems at that time?
DeleteWe are talking about the first plane, and yes it has a gear problem. Do some research.
Delete@10:10 On of them did. I know a youtuber who flew on one of those recently and they were flying with extended landing gear some time after take-off cause the pilots couldnt retract them immediately after take-off.
DeleteSo, Air Belgium operated a plane that is not technically ok?
Delete@10,47
DeleteLanding gear being lowered for longer after take off probably means that the tires have overheated, not common but not unheard of either. It has nothing to do with the maintenance of the aircraft.
@10,10
It is possible that it would need replacement in the next few months anyway so it would be better to bring it forward while at a facility where it can be done rather than unnecessarily ferrying the aircraft back and forth for no reason.
My guess, among surprising routes, will be KVO-VIE, INI-FCO and INI- BVA
ReplyDeleteThey fly from INI and KVO only PSO routes.
DeleteI would try and get some routes from KVO, INI, and get some Croatian coastal cities over the winter as well.
Delete@anon 10:10
DeleteNo way Cro coast will work from both. Sutomore/Paralia could.
INI - ZAG would make sense
DeleteVery interesting to see which destinations they will do and happy to see they are going back to growth.
ReplyDeleteNot announcing new routes doesnt mean that they dont grow.
DeleteI meant network growth.
DeleteBurgas is definitely a future option. The airport is seasonal, but receives much more flights in summer. Even Dreamliners from UK. Also many Russians own houses and can fly via BEG due to the sanctions. They should also keep Varna year-round because it is a larger city. The ATR takes 1h30min, from BEG, which is nothing.
ReplyDeleteBulgarian Black Sea too cold in winter.
DeleteBulgaria is in Schengen now (aur abd see border) , so how Russian can fly there?
Delete* air and see border
DeleteBurgas next summer, but Varna has traffic in winter. OS and TK already fly there for years so why not JU? W6 have 2 planes based there.
DeleteJSG 09:50 the same way Russians fly to every other Schengen destination via BEG. Visa in passport and they travel. Lots of them.
DeleteI am.not sure if this is as easy as you say.
DeleteIt's not as easy to get visa, but there are many Russians already having residence across the EU for example.
DeleteAlso, the fact there are sanctions, doesn't mean there's no exceptions. Look at gas and oui trade from Russia to the EU
SPU, CLJ, OMO, MBX
ReplyDeleteFor MBX they could get subsidies. But I really hope for CLJ since it is a real hustle to travel there after LH cancelled FRA and RO is just hopeless.
DeleteMaybe WRO or GDN?
Delete@10:45 Those would be great for network development.
DeleteWroclaw may be in a range for AT72, but no way for Gdansk. Prague and Krakow are already near limit
DeleteWRO was mentioned as likely being the second route in Poland but I wouldn't want to imagine doing that on an ATR. CLJ, yes. KSC I think would be an interesting addition.
DeleteROM was supposed to be launched prior to Covid, perhaps that is also on the list.
What is ROM?
DeleteLike ok you are about to get two old ahh planes that are in bad condition to fly to China. Maybe don’t go plane shopping at the flea market and fix your cabins so people aren’t getting off a 9 hour flight with their whole body aching.
ReplyDeleteThey are lot new than ARB and ARC. They were one of the youngest EY birds delivered new in 2014. EY went through that phase of getting rid of anything that was good in its race to get big by going for A380s, 777s and 787s
DeleteAnd they were parked for 2-3 years. So they are actually 7 years old
DeleteSPU, CLJ, MBX all need to be available
ReplyDeleteInnsbruck would be an interesting choice too
Interesting that both OE-LCL and OE-LAC are still flying today? Are we sure that those are the ones designated for JU?
ReplyDeleteOO-ABG got released from AirBelgium in March, would be a huge play if AirSerbia managed to secure 330-900 instead of 330-200, did Marek explicitly state that 330-200s are coming?
DeleteYes, and he said they formerly operated for Etihad before Air Belgium.
DeleteWhy not try with two BNX daily connections per week? Current schedule is useless for business travelers and short stay P2P, and exactly that is the main profile of passengers between Banja Luka and Belgrade. Just add one flight on already existing schedule (there are already flights on Monday and Friday) and adjust it a bit....
ReplyDeleteAgree, but probably won't happen without subsidies.
DeleteDubrovnik, possibly Split, Cluj and maybe another destination in Poland.
ReplyDeleteMany articles have said that in the winter or summer next year they are starting flights to Miami. When will we get updates on that?
ReplyDeleteThanks. So they are just awaiting aircraft. Also nice to see that they want to refit ARB and ARC to achieve commonality. They said North American expansion so could that mean they expand to more than just Miami? Maybe Toronto or another destination?
DeleteWhen will LA commence?
ReplyDeleteNot part of their current plans apparently because someone on this forum said it is too far. That is really surprising given that SoCal has the second largest Serbian community in the US after Chicago.
DeleteApparently not part of any current plans.
DeleteThat would be good if they introduced flights eventually. After Toronto they should consider it.
DeleteThey need proper plane for LAX. A350 or A339 at least
DeleteGreat to hear!
ReplyDeleteI think Split, for sure. Maybe Mostar. Cluj. Sarajevo twice daily? Salzburg is already scheduled. What about Trieste, Florence or Graz? Warsaw?
ReplyDeleteWarsaw probably next spring with Embraer. This winter probably Split (2pw), Mostar (3pw), Cluj (3pw) and Sarajevo (10pw).
DeleteSalzburg may be upgraded to nonstop destination. A lot of diaspora live there
DeleteSZG failed already once as year round destination.
DeleteGiven that JU has managed to recover a notable part of the market share that it lost in the 90s (let's say it is at 50%), it would be a good idea for the government to invest in a couple of other airports that have still not recovered enough for passenger traffic, like Bor and Vrsac, at least for seasonal ATR trips. It creates jobs and the government (municipalities?) still own those airports. It would certainly improve the quality of life index in the nearby municipalities.
ReplyDeleteBor could work with Belgrade flights connecting to China, but I think the airport is due to be moved to another location, due to mining.
DeleteBor and Vršac, are you serious?
DeleteBetter invest in connecting all parts of Serbia with high-speed railway, instead of building airports left and right.
Don't you read news about KVO pax? It can't get past 2k mark.
Bor..LOL
DeleteIn my opinion it doesnt make much sense to open another new destinations while their already existing destinations suffer from low frequencies.
ReplyDeleteLCCs don't follow your thinking and rightfully so. Air Serbia should seize the opportunity and grow within region. Many of their existing ATR regional destinations already have double-digit weekly frequency that works for some transfers.
DeleteLCCs work because they operate from secondary airports using jets not turboprops, provide direct point to point flights and don't direct passengers through hubs. Realistically INI is the only place where LCCs would operate to, other than BEG. I don't think you will see them in LYVR or LYBO or KVO for that matter.
Delete