Air Serbia handled 439.051 passengers last month, marking its busiest June since launching operations under its new brand name in 2013. The figure represents an increase of 4% on the same month last year, accompanied by a 3% increase in the number of operated flights, which totalled 4.466. The airline’s busiest routes in June were Zurich, Paris, Barcelona, Amsterdam, and Frankfurt in Western Europe, as well as Podgorica and Tivat in the region. Its busiest destinations in the broader Euro Mediterranean zone were Larnaca, Istanbul, and Athens. Flights to New York also saw strong demand during the month.
Over the first half of the year, Air Serbia handled close to two million passengers. Commenting on the result, the carrier’s General Manager for Commercial and Strategy, Boško Rupić, said, “Air Serbia has been operating under its current name and brand since 2013. Since then, we achieved numerous successes, and, more importantly, we constantly push our boundaries, achieving even better results. In line with that, this June was our most successful in the past eleven years based on the number of handled passengers and operated flights. Since the start of 2024, we carried over 1.8 million passengers on scheduled, seasonal, and charter services to over ninety destinations. We are in the midst of the summer season, and we are seeing high load factors on a daily basis, so even better results are expected in the coming months”.
The Serbian airline anticipates breaking JAT Yugoslav Airlines’ annual passenger record set in 1987, when it handled 4.531.000 travellers, either this year or in 2025. During the first half of the year, the market with the most capacity in Air Serbia's network was Germany. It was followed by Montenegro, Russia, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Spain, France, Switzerland and the United States. The biggest year-on-year increase in available capacity was recorded on flights to Madrid, Thessaloniki, Varna, and Palma de Mallorca. Air Serbia is expected to have a dynamic remainder of the year. It is due to put into service two Embraer E195 aircraft, as well as two Airbus A330-200 jets. Furthermore, it has scheduled the launch of its fourth long-haul service, to Guangzhou, for September 30.
Good result
ReplyDeleteHow much capacity it offered?
ReplyDeleteLike a lot.
Delete@exyuaviation
DeleteDo you know the number?
It’s not relevant, because charter flights are included in this number
DeleteSo? Why not to have such information available?
DeleteIf you are trying to calculate load factor, you can't because charters are not in scheduled seat capacity.
DeleteAnd? Why not to publish such info?
DeleteIf it weren't for the Marathon mess then their June numbers would have been around 500.000. Will be interesting to see BEG numbers and to what extent their competition profited from their capacity limitations. If I remember well, JU's maketshare in May was 47%.
ReplyDeleteWith the Serbian economy growing 4.7% there is no doubt domestic demand will remain strong. I hope they are aware of this and make necessary network adjustments for the upcoming winter season. Last year flights to sunny destinations proved to be extremely successful so they need to put a greater focus on them this year (LIS, AGP, BCN, LCA...). Malta is one destination that started out badly but has turned out to be a strong performer. All those ads and bilboards finally paid off. German destinations on the other hand are not doing that well, especially HAM, NUE and HAJ.
BEG as a market has come a long way and the fact we are seeing less and less reliance on gasto demand is best proof of it.
I think summer growth at BEG will be modest but real one will start from September.
Very good point.
DeleteThis year will be set the stage for 2025. Next year will likely be quite legendary.
I think we might see MIA as soon as Spring '25
Who is surprised. Tickets to HAM are usually much more expensive compared to Wizz. Wizz flights are always full.
DeleteWill be interesting to see in what direction their growth goes as more A330s keep on arriving. If BEG-CAN keeps on selling this way then I wouldn't be surprised if they shift their focus away from the US onto China.
DeleteIf/when China Southern launches BEG and if they have a good code-share agreement then CAN can become a competitive alternative to IST, DOH and DXB for flights to Australia and the rest of Asia. This will make the Serbian market much more competitive.
It's a shame JU code-share with Qatar didn't produce any better results. It's been like what, a year since it was signed and we are still stuck on their daily flights with the A320. Flights are packed so there is definitely room for growth so why aren't they doing it then? Maybe the JU alliances and marketing department aren't doing enough to make QR realize what are the real benefits of growing their BEG operations.
I know QR has fleet limitations but they are still receiveing planes so they can grow just not as fast as they were doing it pre-covid. That is where JU needs to do a better job at promoting itself in Doha.
Anon 09.18
DeleteDo you happen to kno whow much more expensive they are? It's crazy that they are failing in these destinations as they offer a better product and better times than Wizz does.
That said, I noticed that both Wizz And Air Serbia are going crazy with fares to Berlin, no wonder W6 is boosting flights as they managed to stimulate extra demand.
Why would they look away from the US when it is a lucrative market. They can focus on both the US and China which they are doing. After they expand well enough in those markets they will look at Canada, India, Japan, South Korea…
DeleteBecause when flying to the US they have all sorts of alliance hubs and JVs to deal with. Competition is much more fierce. Just look at ORD and how much competition they have from Star Alliance carriers and especially from United, Lufthansa and Austrian.
DeleteMeanwhile, China as a market is emerging only now. Air Serbia has the opportunity to position itself from the start and to work on building a strong brand over there. Take a look at CAN, only real competitor over there is TK with daily B77W flights. Emirates on the other hand is limited by the China-UAE bilateral and they maxed out their flights to China.
Air Serbia doesn't have endless long-haul capacity so it needs to make the most of what it currently has. That is why they have to shift their priorities based on their current performance. So far CAN is doing exceptionally well which is good news for JU as these flights start in winter when overall demand drops.
JU will focus on both the US and China, along with other places.
DeleteWell they can focus all they want but then they will need more than four A330s. You can't focus on a market and then end up flying there 2 or 3 times per week. In my opinion they need to do their best to boost JFK to at least 10 or 11 weekly before embarking on a new adventure. Consolidate what you already have before expanding elsewhere and picking a fight with your competition on a new front.
DeleteORD is extremely seasonal so I don't think it's realistic to have more than 3 weekly in winter. However, in summer, daily flights are more than possible.
But they can’t expand China more than 2-3 pw, since that’s the limit by Chinese authorities
DeleteThe limit is not in frequencies but in destinations.
DeletePlus I think they have the permit for PVG.
DeletePVG, TSN & CAN is enough for now.
No slots for PVG.
DeleteYes but they have the green light from the Chinese government, slots they will find sooner or later.
Deleteand no one is mentioning SVO, they fly to SVO 4 times per day and they are always full in bussines 12 and economy.
DeleteThey have difficulty increasing SVO because of external sanctions pressure
DeleteThey don't fly to Moscow 4 times per day every day, only one day in a week. But overall SVO is doing well and is their most profitable cash cow.
DeleteNemanjee: boost JFK to at least 10 or 11 weekly before embarking on a new adventure
DeleteNikad ne bi krenuli za ORD i Kinu da su te poslušali.
Great news!
ReplyDeleteTo overtake the 1987 numbers, the Fall and Winter need to be much stronger than the first 6 months were. They need about 9% growth to reach JAT's record
ReplyDeleteThat number do not has any significance. They work today on much bigger population and they still have smaller number of wide-bodies.
DeleteWell, then that makes their achievements even more impressive.
DeleteHow do you reason that. Ex Yugoslavia and Serbia’s population has shrunk a lot since 1991. Also, there is no way the next six months will exceed the first six by that much. They can try next year.
DeleteThey have lot of transfers to feed transcontinental and Balkan networks like Tirana-Belgrade-Bronx. Not like beg-lju-det flights.
DeleteThis always existed even before 1991. For example, JAT then connected Turkey (pre Turkish Airlines ascendancy) and other diaspora communities. JAT had 5 DC-10s and ASL had 2 A330s, JAT had 30+ narrow bodies, ASL has many less. You just cannot get there until next year.
DeleteSta je lepse, nego pozitivne vesti iz Er Srbije.
ReplyDeleteBez ikakve sumnje u daljem razvoju i transfomaciji, Nacionalna kompanija Srbije prevazici ce sve rekorde. Koji su ikada dostignuti u zemlji Srbiji. Ne samo prevazici. Vec u iducih pet godina i dvostruko povecati. U odnosu na bivsu kompaniju. Koja se zvala JAT. Narvno i rodonacelnika komercijalne avio kompanije Aero Put iz Beograda.
🇷🇸✈🌐🛬
JU needs to start MUC.
ReplyDeleteWhy? 10x per week W6, 2-3x daily LH.
DeleteHuge market that JU gifted to LH and W6.
DeleteThats why.
DeleteWell they have NUE and SZG which cover the same catchment area and both destinations are not the best right now.
DeleteNot the same. Businesses are based in MUC. Nuremberg and Salzburg are guest worker routes. They are not the same. It would be like saying INI and BEG cover the sane catchment.
DeleteAir Serbia in that geo area is mostly after guest workers closer to Nuremberg and Salzburg. Wizz also covers them in FMM. LH is targeting mostly transfers at MUC and some MUC based, loyalty-bound business travel. Obviously very different groups and mostly without overlap.
DeleteJU wants to be a transfer/transit operator operating a hub in BEG. Flying guest workers from Nuremberg and Salzburg visiting family isn't going to support a hub and spoke strategy.
DeleteBravo Air Serbia 🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸
ReplyDeleteAmazing! Hopefully next year we will see frequency boosts on more routes. And maybe introduction of few new ones like: Cluj, Manchester, Chisinau, Turin, Seville, Bordeaux etc.
ReplyDeleteHaha Bordeaux… and what about Toulouse, Kluz?
DeleteCaucasus routes should be expected. Bordeaux/Nantes/Touluse might work with E175/190 with more chinese longhaul routes for transfers, why not
DeleteNo wonder results in pax numbers are good when they packed planes like transporting sardines. 180 passengers on the A320 is way too much, I recently flew in row 26 (seatA) on one of them and I couldn't move. Yes I am 193 cm tall so that doesn't help but overall it was not comfortable at all to fly 3hrs to Lisbon.
ReplyDeleteThat's a standard configuration today in Europe.
DeleteRyanair MAX 200 has 197 seats with 28 inch legroom. Wizz is about the same. Stop whining.
DeleteBut the poster’s point is Air Serbia is not low cost so why should he be getting such poor legroom from a legacy carrier. The problem is here he didn’t have a choice to fly Ryanair from Belgrade to Lisbon because they don’t fly that route and in fact Ryanair does not serve Belgrade.
Delete@18:23 Ryanair is a LCC and tickets cost fraction of what Air Srbija is selling them for.
DeleteFor that very reason Ryanair and Air Serbia should not have the same seat pitch.
DeleteSome traditional airlines are adding denser 28 inch seating. Lufthansa has neos with some rows at 28 inches. Wizz serves LIS from BEG and their legroom is the same if not worse. Why would any sane 193cm tall person not pay extra for seat upgrade going on a three hour flight? It's not like you can't afford it if you are going to Lisbon!
Delete@20:43 Its not up to you to suggest what he can afford and what he cant. He wrote his personal experience here, is it so much hard to accept negative comments sometimes?
DeleteI am 185cm tall and i also cant move so much with the legroom of 28 inches on a two hour flight. Thanks god i havent taken a three and a half hour flight in that position. So we should all purchase extra legroom seats now? Btw i feel very sorry for the guy who is 193cm and had to seat there, i am sure it wasnt very plesent.
I am taller than both of you. Yes, airlines want us to pay for extra legroom. Some offer two tiers of additional legroom like KLM, Extra Legroom and Extra Comfort. I go for Premium Eco where it's available. Spending more than a 1000 eur on a typical week in Lisbon including airfare, food, stay and other tourist spend but unable to pay tiny percentage of that for extra legroom fee is dishonest. Stop the drama and do what sensible tall people have been doing for more than a decade.
DeleteThe poster made in clear that he has been burnt 4 to 5 times with ASL after purchasing seats only for the aircraft type to be changed and him losing his money. That's why he did not do this time. IMO, if you are gonna change the aircraft, at least honor as best you can the prepaid seats that people have purchased, don't just wipe the allocations and give some person who rocks up last to the airport with the premium seats which I have seen ASL do on too many occasions.
DeletePoster mentioned only one trip to LIS. Show me where he said he was burnt 4 to 5 times? Where did he say aircraft type was changed, that was also never mentioned in this thread? Looks like you have serious issues. Ex Yu Admin, suggesting this thread for deletion.
DeleteCongrats Air Serbia for another record month!
ReplyDeletewas on their beg to jfk flight (packed). Beg airport should have additional security screening for flights to usa...line was like a popular chevap place. Overall best part was the very nice service and friendly cabin crew...but some of passengers are 🤡. Food in economy could be better (like hospital food), drinks and snacks were excellent tho
ReplyDelete