Air Serbia handled 276.198 passengers during the first month of the year, representing an increase of 2.4% on 2024. The carrier handled an additional 6.473 travellers on January last year, despite a 5.3% decrease in scheduled seat capacity. During the month, the airline launched its fourth long-haul service, to Shanghai, but also suspended operations to Sochi and Kazan until at least the start of the 2025 summer season in late March. During the first month of the year, it had the most seat capacity to Moscow, Podgorica, Paris, Istanbul, Zurich and Milan. The most wide-body capacity was put on services to New York, followed by Guangzhou. The carrier will grow its scheduled operations by 5.2% in February when compared to last year based on its filed network, however, capacity levels are currently down 3.5% during the month.
Commenting on the results, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said, “In the first month of the new year, our most popular regional destinations were Podgorica and Tivat, while in Western Europe, the highest number of passengers travelled to Paris, Zurich, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Vienna, and Milan. In the wider Euro-Mediterranean region, Barcelona, Istanbul, and London proved to be the most in-demand”. He added, “So far, we have demonstrated a keen ability to identify emerging trends and adapt to market demands, and we are confident that 2025 will bring new opportunities for growth. This is further reflected in our increasing cabin load factor, a key measure of success for any airline”.
Air Serbia has previously said that in 2025 it is certain to surpass the company’s all-time annual passenger record set in 1987 by its predecessor JAT Yugoslav Airlines. The Serbian carrier welcomed 4.44 million travellers in 2024, while JAT’s record stands at 4.531.000. In 1987, JAT had 7.867 employees, including 509 pilots and 1.128 cabin crew, while over 500 employees worked outside of Yugoslavia of which 350 were foreigners. It will go down as the carrier's most successful year in history during which it not only handled a record number of passengers but also signed a Letter of Intent for the purchase of MD-11 aircraft, took delivery of a new DC-10 and placed an order for its fifth DC-10, leased a further two aircraft of the same type, took delivery of its seventh new Boeing 737-300 and ordered two additional ones, took delivery of two ATR42s and placed an order for three ATR72s, launched scheduled flights to Los Angeles, Calcutta, Beijing, Mostar and Banja Luka, as well as introduced its second cargo-only service to Paris in cooperation with Air France. Furthermore, it signed an agreement with Safran Aircraft Engines (then known as Snecma) to jointly build a test bench for jet engines, opened its new catering facility in Belgrade, a new hotel on Kopaonik mountain and rolled out a new business class product on domestic flights. In 1987, the carrier handled 291.000 travellers on long-haul flights, with a large share of transfer passengers originating primarily from Italy, France and Malta. It closed the year with a positive balance sheet of 36 million US dollars, according to the company's annual report.
If they had more passengers but less capacity it means their load factor has improved.
ReplyDeleteYes, it means load factors must be improving, which is great for profitability.
Deletebut is it due to fewer flights forcing people into fuller planes, not better planning.
DeleteOptimizing LF is the goal of ANY airline.
DeleteThey are pushing for a leaner, more efficient operation. Fewer flights but fuller planes mean better profitability.
Delete@10:10 wow, how nobody before didn't figure it out! Everybody should cut out their frequencies, put 2-3 flights weekly on every route, and planes are gonna be full full...
DeleteAnon 12:40 you do not seem to comprehend the innovative strategy of JU management.
DeleteMaybe ion a few years when all airlines would try to imitate them and business schools will be teaching it you will realize how far ahead of its time and pears is right now.
Well done, JU!
ReplyDeleteGood score for Air Serbia - it`ll be less of a good for the airport, though.
ReplyDeleteLet's see. Capacity was down around 5% in January but this was published before JU suspended Kazan and Sochi. We should keep in mind there were problems with fog at the start of January.
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2024/12/ex-yu-airports-to-see-mixed-start-to.html
Vinci needs to focus more in attracting new airlines and new routes since its two biggest users are not able to grow significantly.
DeleteVINCI is now focused on BUD.
DeleteAir Serbia did their part by growing passenger numbers. If Wizz and others did the same, airport will have growth in January.
DeleteWho is this troll that keeps repeating this BUD nonsense?
DeleteThey mention increasing load factors but don’t provide actual numbers. How much of an improvement are we really talking about?
ReplyDeletewow that 1987 was one busy year!
ReplyDeleteImpressive
DeleteI was just about to say the same!! Impressive 1987 indeed!
DeleteMoreover, there was the positive balance sheet (it was forbidden to speak about "profit" back in 1987) of 36 mil $ - in spite of great losses generated at domestic lines, for which ticket prices were set by the federal government (SIV), and could not keep up with the inflation that had already surpassed 100% per year, and hence were often sold at prices as low as 20$.
DeleteAny plans to add more long-haul destinations in 2025?
ReplyDeleteMaybe at the end of the year.
DeleteThey can start Canada in summer and Florida in winter as seasonal and as China by frequency.
DeleteNo, because they need to keep spare planes for possible incidents, to jump in..At the moment they have 7 rotations weekly, I recon 3 planes are not enough to cover that..1 should be flying, other one to fly once a week ( not to wear out to much) and 3rd to wait and jump in if necessary..We need this 4th aircraft quickly, because what happens if the spare one also breaks? They need to be prepared for all possible situations..
Delete@12:48 this was irony, right?
DeleteFor current schedules, 4 aircraft will be needed starting in the last week of May. As per current schedules, all 4 aircraft will be operational on Tuesdays.
DeleteA couple of extra frequencies could have easily been thrown in leaving sufficient ground time to make up for any issues. Playing the safe card, they could of tried a closer destination that doesn't require a rotation of more than 18 hours such as DXB or DEL/BOM.
Suggestions that Air Serbia should start DXB, DEL or BOM means someone is not following news and airline statements published here recently. Of airports JU mentioned as possible future destinations, only MIA or YYZ should be discussed near-term.
DeleteOnce 4th A330 arrives and YU-ARC comes back from already announced cabin refresh, Air Serbia will have sufficient room in long-haul schedule to launch either one of those two destinations as 2pw service right away, and still have YU-ARC available mostly as a spare.
@14:27
DeleteThere is a count:
Summer schedule: max extended count: 7x30+3x35+4x40 = 475h..Normal, doable rotation ( with also added additional few hours): 7x23 + 3x27 + 4x30= 362..
Total number of hours 3 faircraft): 504..with
4 aircraft is 672 hours..compare that with your claim that they need 4 aircraft for summer schedule..they barely need 3.
At the moment, winter schedule is 2x23+1x27+2x30+2x52= 237, with 24h crew break in Shanghai included, which is not necessary at all, if having 2 crew, but ok..Total nuber of hours for 2 planes is: 336...They should drop in more than a few shorter routes, to utilize all those planes, right?
@15:49
DeleteDefinitely following updates. You can still add either YYZ or MIA at 2 pw and still have a lot of space for another destination that is closer to BEG, DXB being optimal due to the shorter rotation time that is easier to fit in between long haul flights.
@16:21
On Tuesdays you have the following situation:
1st ac: departs midnight for PVG
2nd ac: operating JFK-BEG arriving before 5am
3rd ac: operating ORD-BEG arriving midday
4th ac: ooerating CAN-BEG arriving before 5am.
Without changing the schedules, JU needs 4 ac. This isn't something you seem to comprehend. Going on block hours alone, yes, they don't need 4 A330's. Following schedules, as shown above, 4 ac is needed.
The only way JU could pull off their flights with 3 ac is rescheduling the Tuesday rotation to PVG for anything after 7am. However, a morning departure misses the Western European transfers and gets the aircraft into PVG around midnight with barely any connections without long transfer times. Midday departure would be ideal for transfers via BEG and PVG outbound but not inbound as the inbound flight would miss the initial Western European flights such as CDG, ARN, FRA and more. Midnight departures ex BEG are needed, but the days need to be altered to fit it all in 3 ac.
We also don't have a final schedule for the summer season so we possibly don't have the full picture for the utilisation of the A330 fleet.
Well, it's much easier to alter one flight, or change departure day..Especially for Shanghai, where they can have 2 crew, and come back the same day without 24 h break..
DeleteAir Serbia will not fly to Dubai except possibly for rare charters like it did for EXPO.
Delete@ 18:49
DeleteIt is, but obviously they wont. What will likely happen is that we will see an increase in frequencies.
@ 18:54
I wouldn't use "will not" for JU. If anything, they have had an impressive growth in destinations the past couple of years. Plus it was a suggestion to an observation. Current schedule layout easily allows an extra 2 TATL rotations per week and DXB at 2 pw to fill in gaps while still allowing decent ground time between ops without factoring in the 4th A330. A 3rd weekly to PVG and not keeping the ac on ground for 24 hours would still allow for this.
I highly doubt that Pupin will come back from cabin retrofit this summer. Actually, it can not go until 4th A330 come, which is still not the case. So this process is very long shot at least to say. Knowing that Tesla was out 2 months for ordinary B check...
DeletePupin will be back. JU wouldn't have spent money for the cabin refit only to return it to its lessor. Schedules don't start to get busy until mid May which should leave 2 and a half months for the necessary maintenance and cabin reconfiguration.
DeleteGood numbers
ReplyDeleteNot an impressive result but better than a decline I guess.
ReplyDeleteWith capacity decline it s actually a great result.
DeleteIt is a shame JU can't fulfill the demand for travel that exists in Serbia.
ReplyDeleteOur market has evolved and grown greatly over the last few years but JU seems unable to grow its shorthaul fleet.
2025 is another year where they can take advantage of Wizz Air's stagnation in Belgrade. But by the looks of it, it does not seem they will do anything.
Delete@09:17 exactly.
DeleteW6 is leaving itself open to be attacked (since they are placing capacity in other bases) but JU doesn't have the equipment or the staff to take advantage of the situation.
It could really strengthen its competitive position vs W6 in our region if it was more proactive.
I'm pretty sure W6 is aware of this. That is why they are not putting more capacity in BEG for the time being.
DeleteTrue dat. Wizz seems to move their planes to where FR is attacking them.
DeleteWizz did increase NCE and LCA in April and May so BEG is somewhat on their radar once again. JU needs to be aware of this. I think this summer they will bring back many flights they cut. They just announced another round of growth.
DeleteJU should get more wet leasing for the upcoming summer season since it won't increase its A320 or Embraer fleets.
DeleteFor sure as W6 receives more aircraft from Airbus will grow some of its schedule in BEG as well. The current situation won't last for ever and JU better be prepared for them.
1 ERJ is expected to be joining the fleet, which will become YU-ATA. 2 extra ERJ's will also come in wet lease through Bulgaria Air, which is currently recruiting Serbian nationals in Belgrade. YU-ATB was also not active for almost the entire summer season last year with it's first commercial flight in the last week of the summer season. JU will go from 2 ERJ's to 6 this summer, 5 if we don't include YU-ATA.
Delete^^^ source: trust me bro!
Delete^^^^
DeleteSource: Bosko Rupic
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FFIB3KQz_5o
Growing operations in February but reducing capacity?
ReplyDeleteFewer frequencies on many destinations.
DeleteBut they have 5.2% more flights in February.
DeleteMore flights with smaller aircraft.
DeleteRemember also that last February had an extra day.
DeleteA 2.4% increase in passengers is decent
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteIf demand is growing but capacity is down, ticket prices must be going up.
ReplyDeleteJU launched a major promo sale a few days ago and there were actually a lot of good deals. I personally bought a ticket to Lyon and Florence. And I know a lot of people that also bought tickets.
DeleteMany flights that had good loads did not have the promo. ATH was one of them, they had it for the night flight but not the noon one.
DeleteThey had promotion prices for more than 70 destinations. It is quite a lot.
DeleteThe night ATH flights timing is horrible.
Delete^ That one is primarily for transfers in both directions.
DeleteAll the midnight short haul flights are horrible for P2P passengers. They are not aimed for them but they often have a lot of P2Ps on them because the ticket price is much cheaper than the other flight scheduled at normal times.
Delete@09:33
Delete+1
Bought BCN in August, r/t for less than 10.000 RSD in economy light. Really a good deal.
The night-time flight both to and from ATH is disgusting, but since I'm a 'price-sensitive' individual, I have used it many times and judging by what I saw there are always many P2P pax on those flights.
DeleteSpeakimg of their promo sale, I just bough a return ticket to Lisbon in April for 5000 RSD. That's crazy, it's a 4 hour flight but very happy :)
Delete*bought
DeleteThat's a crazy good deal
DeleteThey don't. They just hope that tickets sold closer to flight date are more expensive.
DeleteThey don't "hope", they set the prices.
DeleteGood start
ReplyDeleteIf they’re flying fewer empty seats, that’s good for efficiency.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThat 1987 was very busy by the looks of it. It was a very big company.
ReplyDeleteWell it was serving a market of 20+ million.
DeleteFair point
DeleteAI predictions:
ReplyDeleteWith Yugoslavia intact, JAT could have leveraged the country's geographic location at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Positioned as a hub for international transit, JAT might have become a strong regional airline akin to Turkish Airlines or Aegean Airlines.
Yugoslavia's intact economy would have played a significant role. If the country developed into a robust mixed economy, JAT could have enjoyed stable financial backing and a strong domestic market.
• A unified Yugoslavia would have meant a larger internal market with cities like Belgrade, Zagreb, and Sarajevo providing strong passenger and cargo demand.
• Political neutrality could have allowed JAT to operate freely across politically sensitive regions.
If JAT had continued operating in a united Yugoslavia, its passenger numbers would depend on its growth trajectory and global trends:
Passenger Numbers by Year
1. 1990s: ~2–5 million passengers annually, focusing on domestic and regional flights during early modernization.
2. 2000s: ~10–15 million passengers annually, with growing tourism and diaspora travel, especially to North America and Australia.
3. 2020s: ~25–30 million passengers annually, assuming Yugoslavia became a major transit hub like Turkish Airlines or Austrian Airlines.
Comparative Basis
• Aegean Airlines (2023): ~15 million.
• Turkish Airlines (2023): ~80 million.
JAT’s numbers would likely settle between these, leveraging Yugoslavia's strategic location and tourism.
1. Domestic (Short-Haul)
o Connect major cities: Belgrade, Zagreb, Ljubljana, Sarajevo, Skopje, and Podgorica.
o Estimated flights: High-frequency, ~15% of total passenger volume (~3–5 million by 2020s).
2. Regional (Europe)
o Key hubs: Frankfurt, Vienna, Paris, London, Amsterdam, Istanbul.
o Popular destinations: Mediterranean hotspots (Rome, Barcelona, Athens, Split).
o Estimated flights: 40–50% of total (~12–15 million passengers).
3. Intercontinental (Long-Haul)
o North America: New York, Toronto, Chicago.
o Asia: Beijing, Shanghai, Dubai, Singapore.
o Australia: Melbourne, Sydney (diaspora focus).
o Estimated flights: 25–30% of total (~6–8 million passengers).
________________________________________
Fleet Configuration by 2020s
1. Short-Haul (Domestic/Regional)
o Aircraft: Airbus A320neo or Boeing 737 MAX for efficiency on high-demand routes.
o Fleet size: ~40–50 aircraft.
2. Medium-Haul (European/Regional International)
o Aircraft: Airbus A321XLR for long European routes or secondary Middle Eastern destinations.
o Fleet size: ~20–30 aircraft.
3. Long-Haul (Intercontinental)
o Aircraft: Boeing 787 Dreamliner or Airbus A350 for fuel-efficient long-haul routes.
o Fleet size: ~15–20 aircraft.
It's realistic it would be somewhere between Aegean and TK in terms of size. I assume by now there would be several other domestic airlines and LCCs would have arrived much earlier on the market since Yugoslavia would have joined the EU in the early 90s.
DeleteWith European air transport liberalization it is far more likely that Jat would have met the same fait as Malev, Balkan, Tarom, CSA, state run Olympic, state ran Alitalia rather than become something like TK or A3.
DeleteWell, they used to be bigger than TK back then.
DeleteTK got massive support AND protectionism from its government to become what it is today.
DeleteYou can not replicate that in the common aviation area in Europe.
@10:39
DeleteWhere JAT differs from the airlines that you mentioned is that JAT had a modern and efficient fleet for its time, comprising of Western built aircraft. Unlike those airlines, JAT didn't need to modernise the entire fleet. JAT also had a well developed network of destinations.
Where I think JAT would of gone in the 1990's is consolidation of hubs, focusing on ZAG and BEG especially for long haul. Summer capacity thrown onto primarily SPU and DBV while in the winter shifting to LJU, SJJ and perhaps PRN. JAT would of likely have been a founding member of one of the major alliances. Australian flights would of likely been dropped somewhere in the 2000's consolidating that traffic via a partner hub in Southeast Asia. More flights to the US and Asia would of opened, along with a couple destinations in South America.
OS I don't believe would of grown as quickly as it did, nor would of MA.
Also, Turkish wouldn't be as big as it is today because JAT would have taken quite a bit of their market.
DeleteIf Yugoslavia remained as Yugoslav Confederation, and with JAT as its flag carrier, I am almost sure it would be at least the size of half Turkish today. I worked in JAT until 1991, and what the article doesn't mention is the long haul network development. With arrival of 6 new MD-11's, and 3 DC-10's which were sold and leased back to remain in fleet for several more years,the first round of new long haul destinations was to include: Washington, Miami, Houston, Vancouver, San Francisco, Caracas, Mumbai, Colombo (change to one-stop service to Australia), Manila and Seoul. There were also serious plans to change B727 fleet with B767-200 and to add to that B767-300ER, for additional or existing long haul with less demand. The second round of long haul growth was to include Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Lagos, Accra, Nairobi, Johannesburg, Shanghai and Tokyo. So to come back to start : these was very serious plan for period 1990-1995. Could you imagine the network 30 years later? And just one more note: At the time when JAT had 36 aircraft, Emirates had 8. At the time when JAT operated to New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Montreal, Toronto, Kuwait, Dubai, Calcutta, Bangkok, Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Melbourne and Sydney, Turkish operated to New York via Brussels and Karachi. Now, imagine if...
DeletePozdrav iz Rijeke
Poz Is back. 👍
DeleteWe read this several times already ".. if Yu became a confederation it would be this or that"
DeleteFirst, it's a long time ago and it's not worth talking about at all.
Second, I don't think anyone is naive enough not to realize that this "confederation" was actually just the first step towards breaking up Yu and forming new states. So the argument does not stand in that sense either.
So this is the best for everyone now.
You're heard of the term, hypothetical discussion, right?
Delete@09.08
DeleteExactly the opposite. Confederation was the only way to preserve Yugoslavia as single country and single market. 5 republics were in favour of it, only one against. Yugoslavia was destroyed by that one, which kept refusing a single change needed to keep country alive and progress.
So capacity is down 3.5% in February. Why cut back when demand seems to be increasing?
ReplyDeleteAre fleet shortages limiting expansion?
DeleteThey are still not fully utilizing the 10 ATRs or the E195 or the A330 fleet. I would say pilot shortage is limiting expansion, not fleet.
DeletePilot shortage is probably the real reason they are not increasing their E-jet fleet.
DeletePeople keep talking about pilot shortage but I don't see them advertising vacancy for pilots.
DeleteIdemo dalje...
DeleteWhy would they advertise pilot vacancies if they do not to fill pilot vacancies?
DeleteThey clearly prefer wet leasing and parking 25% of long haul aircraft than hire enough aircrews.
Actually on their website you can find open position for E195 captains.
DeletePositive way to start the year.
ReplyDeleteNice!
ReplyDeleteCan JU reach 5 million passengers this year?
ReplyDeleteNo chance. 4.6 max and even that is optimistic.
DeleteYou are underestimating them.
DeleteInteresting about Malta transfers in the 80s. How come?
ReplyDeleteMaltese diaspora is huge. Many Maltese live in Australia and I'm guessing that's where the transfers came from. JAT used to advertise here in Australia in many ethnic newspapers. Greek, Maltese, Italian... And not just ethnic but in mainstream Australian papers too. JAT was even one of the sponsors of the Australian open tennis. I think in 1988. Used to sponsor some rugby club too. Had many local staff as well. James Hogan (ex Etihad) used to work in their Melbourne office as ticketing agent.
DeleteFascinating, thanks!
DeleteSensational news! Am so pleased for Air Serbia. Decent airline with bright future. So far have fly with them 4 times; each time good,pleasnet staff. Samo napred Air Srbijo!!
ReplyDelete> and placed an order for three ATR72s
ReplyDeleteWow, it is almost 40 years in a fleet.
None of the original ones are in the fleet but they were until 3 years ago.
DeleteCrazy they kept them for so long.
DeleteShame thing with the 737 classics.
DeleteEx Yu editor, the last paragraph about 1987 was awesome. Great refresh for those of us remembering those days and informative for new generations. Thank you.
ReplyDelete+1000
Delete