Air Serbia is studying the possibility of introducing seasonal summer flights between Belgrade and Toronto as part of its expansion plans in North America. As EX-YU Aviation News learns, the route could be launched if the airline follows through with its plans to commence operations to Miami, which it is currently negotiating with local authorities in Florida. The carrier is considering year-round flights to Miami and a seasonal summer service to Canada’s largest city. It had previously said on several occasions that traffic to Toronto is extremely seasonal in nature and one-directional, meaning there is a lot of demand from the city to Belgrade in the early part of the summer, while demand in the other direction peaks towards the end of the season.
Toronto remains Belgrade Airport’s busiest unserved long-haul route. The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA), which manages Toronto’s Pearson Airport, has said it is working on establishing flights to Belgrade. “Serbia continues to be a target for Toronto Pearson to expand our global reach, and we are working closely with new and existing partners on how we can better serve both Serbia and Canada”, the GTAA noted. The Canadian Embassy in Belgrade previously said, “In May 2018, Canada and Serbia signed an Air Transport Agreement as part of the ongoing process of acquiring the necessary permits to allow direct Air Serbia flights between Belgrade and Toronto. The Embassy of Canada has supported the Serbian national air carrier’s efforts in receiving these permits, but the decision on further developments is with Air Serbia”
Air Serbia is expected to make a decision on the potential launch of flights to Miami during the year. Earlier this month, Miami Dade Aviation Department's Director for Marketing and Air Service Development, Emir Pineda, said following talks with the airline, “We have been working on this effort for two years now. These discussions have been progressing very well. We are very close to starting cooperation with Air Serbia and, hopefully, by the end of the year or early next year, we will be able to announce flights between Belgrade and Miami”.
Given what's going on with the Canadian currency and their economy, I think it's best to wait a year. They should operate in from late May to early September. There is simply no demand for more flights.
ReplyDeleteThere is demand for Toronto. Last year, from Euromed area, new Toronto service was launched by Swiss, ITA and RAM. Of notable global airlines, Toronto was launched last year by Hainan and Qatar. Etihad is now upgrading Toronto service from A35K to A380. Demand is growing
DeleteYes but all those airlines are much larger than JU and have a much better commercial department. JU is struggling in ORD especially outside the three busy months. What makes you think YYZ will be any different?
DeleteMore demand for YYZ than ORD.
DeleteJU isn't struggling in ORD, it's doing fairly ok. The upcoming summer schedule for ORD seems abit better than what they had previously. JU is missing some extra frequencies to key routes in the region to make connections better which would also benefit JFK and an eventual YYZ launch.
DeleteYYZ's limiting factor is the 2 pw limit placed on carriers operating between Serbia and Canada.
Notably, both ITA and Swiss also operate the route seasonally
DeleteITA doesn’t fly for a month out of the entire year. LX just started. I see year round by next summer.
DeleteAnd ITA is an airline from a significantly bigger market with much more demand, especially premium demand. And even they can't make it year round.
DeleteMaybe because Air Canada flies Rome twice a day in the summer and daily in the winter?
DeletePlus Air Transat and I think one more carrier. The Rome route is crowded out and ITA is a late entrant. Blame Alitalia.
DeleteITA is seasonal, March 30 until Oct 1, and LX as well. JU will probably do the same. All Ex YU diaspora is now using mainly LOT who is having a record 15 weekly flights per week this year, time to shift some of that traffic to JU :)
DeleteLX started earlier. So did ITA. check scheds.
DeleteI wonder what the chances are of opening Tehran in conjunction with Toronto. If I remember correctly, there was once fairly comprehensive coverage of the limited service available for Canada-Iran traffic, serving large Iranian community in Canada. After the PS752 tragedy and the elimination of all Russian airlines from the market, air connectivity between the two countries has been additionaly severely impacted. With direct flights still restricted, most passengers rely on third-country hubs like Istanbul, Doha, or Dubai. Given the strong historic demand, I wonder if there’s potential for another airline like JU to tap into that market.
DeleteFrom 1 May until 1 November
DeleteI don't thinks so, all year around
DeleteHypothetical... Would the A321 XLR be viable for the route?
ReplyDeleteI think its a stretch....I know Air Transat was considering YYZ - SPU prior to covid when they were suppose to be a launch customer for A321XLR.
DeleteNot viable with A321XLR
DeleteToronot - Belgrade air distance is 7,392 km, with A321 XLR range being 8,700 km meaning it could do it
Delete8700km is maximum range, operational is 15-20% less due to necessary fuel reserves.
DeleteIt is not viable for commercial flights in typical two class layout. Look at existing and announced XLR routes, they are all way shorter than Toronto-Belgrade.
DeleteIt's not especially when you take into consideration winds and airspace restrictions. No airline flies in a straight line.
DeleteTheoretically could make it with a less dense layout but I doubt there's sufficient premium demand for this route
DeleteAir Serbia doesn't have XLR. Air Canada and Air Transat will but are not interested and XLR is not commercially viable for the route.
DeleteIs there a route that JU could utilize an XLR? Or an LR which I presume is cheaper?
DeleteIndia, Maldives, central Africa, maybe even some Chinese cities like Urumqi.
DeleteIberia plans on flying A321 XLR on the Madrid to San Juan, Puerto Rico route. I believe that's going to be the longest A321 XLR route.
DeleteMAD-SJU is under 3500nm, YYZ-BEG is over 4000nm. Recent Air Canada presentation regarding potential transatlantic XLR routes showed what seems to be BER as the furthermost destination, and YYZ-BER is about 3520nm.
DeleteEvery additional discussion about potential XLR use for commercial YYZ-BEG service is nonsense.
Open up booking for 3 weeks in September this year and see how it does.
ReplyDeleteThat would be an interesting way to test it. Air Serbia has available aircraft but it is expensive and unusual to run the long haul service just for 3 weeks to test the market.
DeleteIberia has a similar model for all the LH and SH routes
Delete@09:34
DeleteNo, Iberia has no such model.
Seasonal service is the way to operate Toronto. Too late for 2025 but right on time for 2026.
ReplyDeleteI would rather they launch JNB or DEL. BEG has a much better location to offer transfers to those destinations than YYZ.
ReplyDeleteThere are many routes to launch before even considering JNB.
DeleteRegarding DEL, I am not sure that Air Serbia would be able to fill A330-200 to DEL as there is way too many competition. Better negotiate the route with IndiGo and A321XLR.
MUC, TLV and CAI are far more pressing than JNB.
DeleteIf LO or AY can then so can JU.
DeleteLargest transfers to Toronto, are from India.
DeleteWhy is Air Serbia reluctant to launch India?
DeleteThere was an interview published here a few months ago where Marek said that demand for India had completely dried out after covid and the introduction of visa requirements for Indian citizens and that it made no financial sense.
DeleteMakes sense. Hope it hapens
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear there’s progress, but I wonder if the seasonal nature of the route will make it sustainable longterm.
DeleteToronto traffic might be seasonal but if they plan it right it could still work. Just hope prices are competitive.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteSmart move
ReplyDeleteWhat move? No moves, just studying, thinking, talking for years now.
DeleteAir Serbia does more than talking when it comes to long haul:
Delete2022: TSN
2023: ORD
2024: CAN (-TSN)
2025: PVG
2026: likely MIA & YYZ
@9.59 so, they are not allowed to study and think? The airline has launched 2 long haul routes in less than a year.
Delete^ ignore the triggered trolls.
DeleteIt is not clear what is the link between the decision to launch Miami and Toronto? As the article says, Toronto could be launched IF the airline follows through with its plans to commence operations to Miami.
ReplyDeleteFlying MIA in winter and YYZ in summer on a single metal. Its low risk and make sense to me.
DeleteYou didn't read well. They want to fly MIA year round and YYZ seasonal.
DeleteDuring hurricane season Miami isn't really a desirable destination, which makes a perfect window of 3-4 months for YYZ flights (July-Oct). I see no point in flying MIA once a week during that time, similar to what they do for ORD in winter. It makes more sense to reallocate all resource to what would be high season for Toronto. But I'm no expert and am sure AirSerbia will make the right call either way, that's just the only link I see between the two routes.
DeleteOpening few more short haul routes like Tbilisi may reduce seasonality
DeleteI think Air Serbia should in the summer increase New York to maybe 10pw and in the winter go for seasonal routes to Bangkok, Male, Tanzania, Cuba. Miami could work in winter, but Tokyo would make more sense than Miami because Serbian citizens don`t need visa for Japan. And Ethipian Airlines should start flying to Belgrade from Addis Abeba code-sharing with Air Serbia!
ReplyDeleteMiami will work all year. It's not a seasonal destination. And no need to worry about visas to US for Serbian citizens. That's not who will be flying to Miami. Most of the traffic to Miami will be transfers.
DeleteMIA is a far more seasonal market than YYZ. The amount of carriers serving it seasonally only is on an order of magnitude larger than Toronto.
DeleteOff course Serbian citizens will fly to MIA, not just transfers..Russians as well..Big diaspora of both, but also lot of tourists of both nations go to Florida during winter..And around 40-50k crew members from former YU republics that mainly embark and debark cruise ships in Miami port..
DeleteLet's see what slots they can get. Toronto Pearson also has high demand for gates during summer season. Even StarAlliance airlines like TK can't always get T1 gates. Air Serbia would likely get Terminal 3 and Infield Terminal. I used Infield Terminal recently, it has been renovated but it takes a bus ride to get there.
ReplyDeleteAS could fly to hamilton?
DeleteThey’ll fly to T3 and may or may not get direct terminal access. GTAA does try to keep the infield for smaller jets (A321 and the likes)
DeleteInfield terminal is also used for widebodies like LOT 789 and Turkish 773.
DeleteOnly during truly peak times and times of delays/weather issues. They do avoid putting wide bodies there.
DeleteSome time ago Aeroplan points were accepted for redemption for Air Serbia flights. Is that still available?
ReplyDeleteNo.
Delete@ anon 11.36 why not check before writing? You can redeem Aeroplan points for some JU flights again as of recently but only in economy.
DeleteA good idea in my opinion. This way they can make some money on the route.
ReplyDeleteHope it happens soon. There’s such a huge Serbian community in Toronto. This route should have existed years ago.
ReplyDeleteSoonest it will happen is summer 2026.
DeleteAnd that would be great. Most people have bought tickets to go back home for this summer anyway.
DeleteWould love this route, but they need to make sure it’s accessible. Flights to/from Toronto get expensive fast.
ReplyDeletePrices for Tornonto have to be lower than their competitioon..If Air Serbia is going to charge even 10$ more for ticket, they will be half empty..Knowing many Canadian Serbs, they would rather fly with 2 stops and pay 10 bucks less, than fly direct with AS
DeleteSome still fly JFK-BEG or ORD-BEG with one or two stops to save a few bucks.
DeleteI would gladly pay $200 per adult for a direct flight. If it's more than $400, then 1 stop is better. Family of 4 would add up to $800, which I'm ok with.
DeleteBelgrade–Toronto is long overdue. This would be huge for the diaspora
ReplyDeleteThere are at least 3 doubts about this route.
DeleteIf it goes seasonally,, what should JU do wit extra capacity in the winter? Since they didn’t ever started exotic destination charters and doesn’t seem to have a possibility for that.
Economy in Canada is deteriorating. Many diaspora is moving to USA or back to Europe. And those who stays, have less possibility to travel often. Doesn’t seem to get better soon.
Ex yu diaspora is not loyal at all. They will rather take foreign transfer route for 50-100$ less and wait 13 hours layout, then support it’s own homeland company. But they are always complaining why there are no direct flights. See ORD example.
lol nobody in the Serbian diaspora here is moving back to Serbia. USA maybe but even then that’s only if you’re in tech and good enough that a company will sponsor you. Americans aren’t looking for more immigrants.
DeleteWhat are you talking about. I moved in 2023, and thousands of us have moved back to Serbia, and I hear from so many people continue to move back in 2025. Look at the statistics online, and you are going to see how many of us have moved back since civid has started. Just go on YouTube or other platforms and check out yourself instead of writing nonsense. Airserbia still has potential in YYZ due to cnx passengers but Serbs left in a large numbers.
DeleteYou’re absolutely delusional lol. Show me those statistics you speak of. Retirees going back to Serbia doesn’t count.
DeleteDiaspora is moving from Canada to USA, to Western Europe, Australia or back to Serbia. Either way, Canada is not good place to live anymore. No more " 'ladno, ali standard". Only " ' ladno"
DeleteThat narrows the potential for the route. lol
@14:07 As for extra capacity during winter, how come you are not concerned about JFK extra capacity? They are operating JFK daily in summer, 2pw most of the winter. That's the drop of FIVE weekly return flights. With Toronto they can go from 2pw in the summer to 0 in the winter, a drop of only TWO weekly return flights. With ORD they also drop two, from 3 to 1. Air Serbia demonstrated they can handle this seasonal capacity swing.
DeleteFor other claims you provided 0 evidence. Total nonsense.
Yup, that means that instead of 2 idle planes, we will have 4 during most of the winter.
DeleteYou need evidence? ORD route have 70% LF, connecting two largest Serbian cities in the world.
1 CAD = 0.7 USD. Need more?
Ahem, majority of those "idle planes" is and will be caused by JFK+ORD winter reduction. Already explained above.
DeleteLower CAD to EUR/USD means Toronto airport taxes will cost less for Air Serbia - a good thing!
Yea, capacity story is pretty stupid, considering that Air Serbia is keeping literally entire wide bodycrew on tarmac these days, and obviously that doesn't seem to be a problem for them..Looks like similar thing will happen next winter schedule, with or without Toronto, Miami or whatever..
DeleteMeans YYZ route should be year-round and not start it at all. Either start more feeding short hauls or start different year round US destination. Maybe LAX
DeleteLAX? Any other unrealistic wishlist item? MIA the city with a third of Toronto's demand? Maybe Timbuktu or Lagos?
DeleteAnonymous15:08 we are not allowed to post links here for other platforms but leave your contact and I can send it to you as you are all delusional. There is thousands od us in Temerin all younger couples with kids that have moved back . You can contact Serbian embassy in Ottawa and check with Dejan or Jelena in Serbian consulate how many of us have moved back . Just from Kitchener and Hamilton area over 23% Serbs left . No we did not go to USA , we are all in Serbia now .
DeleteSo potentially 4 routes in North America. Nice!
ReplyDeleteThis would be the best compromise.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteAgree. Start seasonal. Eventually introduce flights over Christmas/New Year and build up the route so in several years it could be year round.
DeleteToronto would be a great addition, but Air Serbia needs to ensure the service quality matches what passengers expect on long-haul flights.
ReplyDeletePeople in Canada are use to AirTransat or WestJet , which offer horrible service on such a flights . JU would be luxury compare to those . I just took WJ fron Dublin to YYZ , no food no blankets, sandwiches for sale were old and no TV screens . . For 7 hrs you do nothing. Do not worry JU would be way better then that .
DeleteNo, not service quality, only price..Price is crucial for this route..Offer cheaper ticket than others, and you gonna have full plane in 2 summer months...
DeleteHappy to see North America firmly back on their radar
ReplyDeleteThe main blocker here is not the seasonality, but that goddamn agreement which makes any airline unable to become successful on this market. There's much more demand in summer than just two weekly flights.
ReplyDeleteBased on indirect traffic figures, there used to be more pax on YYZ-BEG than on ORD-BEG sector. If we know that ORD goes 3x weekly during the summer, YYZ could even go 4x weekly during summer.
Please renegotiate that dumb agreement first, otherwise I doubt the Toronto dream will ever become a reality...
Canada does not want to give bigger rights. It is one of the most protectionist countries when it comes to air travel.
DeleteI know, but that's so contradictory if no Canadian airline will ever launch a route to Serbia. Alternatively JU should find a partner airline from Canada so that each side flies 2+2 weekly and share the profit.
DeleteIt's done on purpose especially because no Canadian airline currently has plans to launch it. They don't want an airline from Serbia developing the route and significantly increasing frequencies making it difficult for a Canadian airline to then enter the market later on.
DeleteAnd why not since they don't plan to fly it anyway...
Delete@12:51 Except JFK that has been operating for almost nine years now, ALL other Air Serbia long haul services operate at 2 weekly +/- 1. For most of the winter, they all operate TWO weekly or less. During summer, Guangzhou and Shanghai are two weekly, Chicago barely makes THREE weekly. Miami is also likely to start at two weekly. Toronto starting at two weekly is not an issue. Once service starts and if there is clear demand for more they can try to negotiate increase.
DeleteI agree. BEG - YYX direct flights would be huge competition to middle EU airpirts like Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Swiss, even London. That is the real problem. Any reasonable Bystander can see that direct flights from Toronto to BEG would be profitable 20 years ago. Yet, it is jot happening. There's reason for every "non-reason" case.
DeleteMisspelling in my comment above: it is YYZ that should stay. Instead of yyx.
DeleteJust got on with it already.
ReplyDeleteSeems that ship sailed away long time ago. It's too late now
DeleteLOL some people can't cope with Air Serbia expansion.
DeleteIt's not too late, but enough with all the studies. They've been looking to restart Toronto for over five years.
DeleteENOUGH >>> 2-3 weekly from May-September >>> GOOOOO!!!!!
Toronto - BEG flights should be all year round while ago. And seasonal YVR - BEG flights. It's not only the Serbs that would filled the planes, but also entire Balkan countries nations; that would be great connected flights for them (Turkey, Bulg, Rom, Greece, Hungary, croatia, bosnia...). And it would be cheaper and faster than Ams or Frankfurt connected flights. The authorities should've done that 20 years ago. There is large diaspora from Balkan living nations in Canada's 2 largest cities who would be more than happy to take those flights.
DeleteThere are a lot of Italians in Toronto.
ReplyDeleteIndeed.
DeleteIdemo dalje...
ReplyDelete