The management of operator Airports of Serbia and Niš Constantine the Great Airport held talks at Ryanair’s head office in Dublin earlier this month where the two sides discussed the budget carrier’s potential expansion from Constantine the Great Airport. "The purpose of the meeting was to present Niš Airport’s new terminal building to Ryanair’s management, showcase future projects, and explore all potential areas of cooperation. In regards to flights, the continuation of our collaboration has been agreed upon for 2025. During the summer season, starting from March 31, Ryanair will allocate as many as 100.000 seats for flights to and from Niš. The Irish airline will continue operating routes to Vienna and Malta, flights to Stockholm and Corfu will resume, and we are also expecting proposals for new destinations soon", the CEO of Airports of Serbia, Mihajlo Zdravković, said.
Ryanair has scheduled flights from Niš for the upcoming summer, with capacity levels slightly up on the 2024 season. “Ryanair is pleased to announce the launch of our summer 2025 schedule with 100.000 seats available for Serbian citizens/visitors to enjoy, as we continue to deliver more choice, reliability, and the lowest fares in Europe”, the carrier said. Compared to the previous summer, Ryanair will double service from Niš to Malta from two to four weekly but will reduce operations to Vienna from three to two weekly rotations. Frequencies to Stockholm and Corfu will remain unchanged, both at two per week.
Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, Ryanair had a larger network out of Niš, operating flights to Bergamo, Weeze and Berlin, while services to Bratislava and Skavsta were eventually replaced by Vienna and Stockholm respectively. In 2019, the budget carrier had a total of 168.210 seats on its 890 Niš flights. This year, it will boast a total of 144.444 seats across 772 flights. Excluding 2016, when the airline commenced operations to the southeast Serbian city in September, as well as the pandemic-affected years, 2024 marks the lowest amount of capacity offered by the carrier.
Wasn't INI-CFU three weekly?
ReplyDeleteNo
DeleteIt was two weekly, Fridays and Sundays.
DeleteIn 2023 it was 3 weekly, but obviously it was too much so tey returned it to 2 weekly.
DeleteWe need FR in BEG.
ReplyDeleteNot just for the destinations it could launch but especially for the Ryanair effect to the other airlines to also drive down their fares.
You do realize that fares out of BEG are not low because the airport is not cheap? You can't have a sustainable business if you are forcing airlines to lower their prices while their costs remain the same. In that case you won't move forward, quite the opposite.
DeleteFR entering the market and offering low fares would only drive out the weaker players. We need Air Serbia and Wizz Air to keep on growing since they are the only ones that enjoy considerable discounts based on passenger volumes.
The fees in Belgrade are not cheap because Belgrade is run by a company that is interested in profit. Each ticket you pay for out of BEG hands cash over to capitalists, enabled by the political class in the country.
DeleteThe fees of BEG are high because every other airline needs to pay for the discounts JU gets.
DeleteSo what are you proposing? For the Vinci management to be removed and for the government ones to be put in their place? We already had that and government bureaucrats did a horrible job.
DeleteCapitalism is the solution but only as long as you are willing to hire competent people. Seems like there is a slow management change at BEG so we will see what they do.
Issue with companies such as Vinci or Menzies is that they kept most of the old people who, anyway, didn't do their job well in the past. They need to attract new talent but for that they need to improve their salaries and work conditions.
Competent Serbs are hired by those who have understood this. BEG and Menzies seem not to have done it.
Anon 09.23
DeleteDo you have a source to back your claim?
FR is operating out of plenty of airports, a lot more expensive than BEG but they still manage to have low fees.
DeletePRG, VIE, FCO, BCN, MAD, ATH, SKG, MXP etc. etc.
^ not this again. You never get tired.
Delete@ Nemjee 9.43 he does not. He pollutes every topic relatd to Serbia with Ryanair in BEG. Even when he is explained some things he just repeats the same thing a few days later. So there is no help for bim.
DeleteAnon 09.43
DeleteFair enough, now tell us how many passengers airports such as PRG, VIE, FCO, BCN, MAD, ATH, MXP... have.
Since you mentioned SKG could you please tell us how many airlines they have based there. I am asking because they are slightly smaller than BEG which has two based carriers, a legacy and a low-cost.
We should compare apples to oranges.
Anon 09.49
I noticed him, he seems quite delusional especially when he starts comparing MAD and BCN with BEG.
We shouldn't compare apples to organges... sorry.
DeleteFR will eventually come to BEG, but only problem is W6 that has already taken majority of p2p market share from BEG. If UK government ever changes it’s visa policy towards Serbia, then we will definitely see both U2 and FR from BEG. Eventually FR will outgrow their stubbornness!
DeleteStory about Ryanair in Niš is once again being hijacked by spoiled brat crying for FR in BEG.
DeleteWhy would Wizz Air be a problem for Ryanair? It's not like they are the dominant carrier, heck they are struggling big time even against some other legacy carriers. Ryanair is much better organized and run than they are.
DeleteIf you look at annual reports of FR and W6. Wizz has cost advantage per CASK. FR is extremely competitive but W6 has upper hand, that aside once PW GTF issues are gone, W6 will dominate.
DeleteWhere exactly will Wizz Air dominate? They might have lower CASK but they are still miles behind Ryanair in almost every other regard, starting with reliance. This is something very improtant when building a brand.
DeleteReliance = Ryanair 😂😂😂
DeleteYes, they tend to be far more reliable than Wizz Air. Just look at the number of bases Wizz opened and closed in the last 5 years. In that regard, Ryanair is far more reliable.
DeleteNo that is a business model, Ryanair has lets say 25 years of experience of closing bases. They have mastered it, basically Wizz is hard copy of Ryanair business model, only they do it more efficiently. Closing bases is just another industry standard of ULCC-s.
DeletePlease do not bring garbage airline like Ryanair to BEG. Hate everything about them. Much better to take a bus then using them. In my opinion they are great for EU countries as they are "stipse" for every Euro so just keep them out of BEG. Most of us in Serbia prefer to pay extra for real airlines .
Delete"Most of us in Serbia prefer to pay extra for real airlines ."
DeleteLOL you can't be for real!
It's called trolling, just don't react.
DeleteCHQ-INI should be high on their list. Jat Airways used to operate HER-INI-BEG at some point so obviously there is some demand. With Air Serbia experiencing capacity restraints, Ryanair should put greater focus on leisure routes.
ReplyDeleteINI is not only used by 'јужна пруга' but also by people living in Bor, Zajecar, Kragujevac, Krusevac, a large chunk of Kosovo and Metohija etc.
When you add all this, excluding INI's direct catchment area, you see that potential is there.
BEG's offer for 2025 leaves a lot to be desired and so far there is minimal additional capacity. INI should use this and should redirect some of the traffic away from BEG. We all remember summer 2024 when flights were full and fares were astronomical.
BVA, BER and maybe even BCN/GRO should be potential routes out of INI operated by FR.
+1
DeleteGood to see management becoming a bit more proactive.
ReplyDeleteYes, Swiss coming back at least for a few more weeks and talk of FR proposing new routes. Good first steps.
DeleteDoes FR fly with 737s or Lauda A320s from Nis?
ReplyDeleteMix of both, depending on the destination.
DeleteThey send everything to INI. B737-800 in Ryanair livery, B737 MAX in both Ryanair and Malta Air livery and Lauda A320.
DeleteWhy is Nis - Malta so popular? Is it tourism (who?), work, transit, I have no clue.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the majority of the Serbian immigrants in Malta are from Nis and area surrounding Nis. Then again lots of people are going there for holiday (keep in mind Wizz and Air Serbia also fly to Malta from BEG). One of the reasons is that Malta is actually cheap by EU standards, especially for accommodation. I went for a haircut on Friday (in Belgrade) and my hairdresser said she is going to Malta for New Year's and that she is flying from Nis. Mind you she was unaware there were flights from Belgrade to Malta too lol.
DeleteI think it's predominantly for gasto traffic but I wouldn't also rule out an increasing number of holidaymakers going there. Also, I just noticed and Malta is has a relatively modest connection with neighboring airports such as SOF or SKP.
DeleteSeems like INI-MLA is a well-consolidated market and it attracts passengers from a wider region. I would dare say that it's the most successful route launched from INI...ever.
Expats. Many Serbs work and live in Malta.
DeleteCan second what anon at 10.10 wrote about accommodation. I went to Malta for the first time since 90s this October. Our 5 star Hyatt hotel cost 100 euros per night and it even had breakfast included. It was cheaper than hotels in Belgrade not to mention anything else in western Europe. And it wasn't just that one. Most 5 star hotels had prices in the same range.
DeleteMalta is a versatile destination for a vacation. You can spend a 7-10 days both on swimming, exploring historic places or go for a speed boat cruise. Temperatures in October are perfect and prices afordable.
DeleteRegarding our people working in Malta, interesting thing this year almost every job in shops, restaurants and in public transport is occupied by Nepal or Filipino workers. Serbs migrated to other places.
Seems to work well from Serbia. Similar to Cyprus.
DeleteOnly difference with Cyprus is that there is minimal ethnic demand. LCA is full of Serbian holidaymakers as well as transfer passengers.
DeletePosle Niskog Aerodroma neminovno na red dolazi Aerodrom Morava Kraljevo. I potencijalno pocetak letova Ryanair-a. Posle dovrsetka tog Aerodroma kako je ojavljeno.
ReplyDeleteDo tada sva koncetracija je usmerena na Niski Aerodrom.
Aerodrom Morava sigurno nemoze biti odbacena. Ni ovako kako sada stoji jos dugo ne moze nastaviti. Koliko jos ce trajati jeste odluka politicara i zalaganja Aerodroma Srbije.
Ponikve takodje su na cekanju... 🇷🇸🛫
Shvacate da na Kraljevo ne moze ni da sleti Ryanair kada je aerodrom premalan?
DeleteI live in the Smederevo area and I use Nis for travel in Europe. It is not only much cheaper than BEG, but Nis airport is much less stressful than BEG. INI also allows me to vacation in Malta. The flights to Malta are always full so I see good reason that Ryannair is increasing frequencies there. . Hopefully, Ryan will add more sunny destinations.
ReplyDeleteAnd Nemjee is absolutely correct in his observation today.
Malta is awesome
DeleteGood news, I wonder could they return rozt Niš Begramo now that there is Wizh from Belgrade becuase thise flights were always fullbooked
ReplyDeleteFingers crossed
DeleteWhy INI-VIE only 2 flights? they should fly at least 5 times per week! Diaspora is big and potential even bigger.
ReplyDeleteAirlines are in business to make money so keep it real.
DeleteIt was 4 times a week, but the Ryan's lack of aircraft and Wizz withdrawal (for engine replacements) reduced it to 2.
DeleteAnd there it is. No LCC base in INI after all the talks about it.
ReplyDeleteWho said there won't be one? They said last month they are talking to an airline that already flies to Nis to increase flights, they did not say those are related to the base opening. Also "all the talk" about it was a single article. But keep making things up.
DeleteWhy are you obsessing about a base? Let them run a profitable operation. Maybe it's better for now to operate flights from other bases than to risk having unprofitable routes which would lead to the whole base shutting down.
Delete@anon 12:46 no one is making things up. All the talks was refering to the comments section article, plus couple of more on different one, and ex-yu is not the only one. I need to remember you that flyfromnis publish this 100000 seats 5days before the official visit to RYR HQ.
DeleteNiš does not have infrastructure to base anything there. Where are you going to maintain the planes? Unless a bit more is build up, it’s nearly impossible to base anything out of niš airport.
DeleteGive us Brno or Prague.
ReplyDelete+1000
DeleteWhat happened to the ambition Niš had pre-pandemic? Back then, it felt like the airport was growing fast. Now it’s more about maintaining the status quo.
ReplyDeleteChanges in management. Gov put its hand on it
DeleteNiš deserves more!
ReplyDeleteCroatian coastline please
ReplyDeleteWhat the article actually says it's that an airport is awaiting wether or not it will pay subsidies to someone for flying there.
DeleteIt's an upside-down world
There is minimal demand from Serbia in general to the Croatian coast. Airlines fly where there is demand. When it comes to INI that's Greece, Tunis, Turkey and somewhat Malta.
Delete1. Lots of Serbs still have some property and family in Dalmatia. And Istria is quite popular for holidays. 2. Number of Serbian tourists is rising each year, as well as the number of workers in hospitality. 3. Croatians love going for a weekend to Belgrade. I know it won't happen, but I believe it would work.
DeleteTo me, these empty stories, announcements, and visits seem more like an attempt by the airport management to show off and distract public opinion in this case, the passengers from Niš, rather than any real moves. "We went to present the airport." I just hope someone actually received them there, and they didn’t just take photos with the receptionists for the sake of appearances. After so many years of empty promises about new flights and destinations, I don't believe a word they say until I actually see those new flights happening.
ReplyDeleteThe news that they brought was already on one portal 5 days before the visit, so uou can guess... I truly hope that I'm wrong.
DeleteRyanair's statement was issued in a press release and was provided for all markets they operate in.
Delete@EX-YU Aviation
DeleteExactly, thank you.
My point is that it was not because of the visit. Although we don't know yet if they agreed on something more.