Air Serbia handled 515.396 passengers over the first two months of the year, marking the first time the carrier welcomed over half a million travellers during January and February. The carrier saw 276.198 customers board its aircraft during the first month of the year, while 239.198 travellers were welcomed in February. Air Serbia plans to increase its passenger numbers by approximately 6% in 2025 compared to last year, which would result in the airline carrying over 4.7 million passengers and overtaking the record 4.531.000 customers uplifted by its predecessor JAT Yugoslav Airlines in 1987. The Serbian carrier handled 4.44 million travellers in 2024, representing an increase of 6% on the previous year.
Over the first two months of the year, Air Serbia had the most available seat capacity on its Moscow service, followed by Podgorica, Paris and Istanbul, with the Turkish city served from Belgrade, Niš and Kraljevo. It was followed by Zurich, Milan, Amsterdam and Ljubljana. The largest number of flights were operated to Podgorica, followed by Ljubljana, which is served from both Belgrade and Niš. During January, the airline launched its fourth long-haul service, to Shanghai, while in February it took delivery of its fourth wide-body aircraft. Furthermore, it set a booking record in February after launching a week-long promotional ticket sale. The airline sold 43.447 tickets in a single day, up from its average of between 13.000 and 14.000 sales, while it managed to secure 168.000 bookings in a week, up 81.1% over the previous record set in February 2024.
Commenting on the results, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said, "The record results in the first two months of 2025 show that Air Serbia continues its positive growth trend. For the first time in history, in January and February, the company recorded more than half a million passengers, a result we are very proud of. We will continue with further service improvements and expansion of the network of destinations to provide our passengers with an even better customer experience”. During the 2025 summer season, Air Serbia plans to launch new services from Belgrade to Florence, Alghero and Mykonos. The airline has also filed an increase in weekly frequencies on a range of routes when compared to last year.
Good result during slow months
ReplyDeleteLast February there was the Marathon incident and they had to cancel some flights. So no surprise.
DeleteBut last February had an extra day.
DeleteWonder which route had most passengers.
ReplyDeleteMoscow without a doubt.
DeleteI wonder if there is enough demand to send A330 on this route
DeleteThey used to send it but I think lessors later revoked permission of they couldn't risk getting an A330 stuck in Moscow.
Delete@Anonymous 09:06
DeleteInteresting. Don't the lessors have the same issues with the A319s?
I guess not. I know they were only allowed to send Pupin. If you look, they don't even use Russian airspace to China even though they are allowed to use it by the Russians.
DeleteThey don't need to pay for Siberian overflight rights since BEG is to the south.
DeleteThey don't because of security concerns. Even if the chance of another shootdown is low, increased insurance rates and general distrust aren't worth it
DeleteSo what's the difference in allowing A330 vs. A320/A319?
DeleteIt depends on the insurance company.
DeleteSo in case of ARC insurance company changed their mind and in case of ARD, ARE they're not allowed also?
DeleteI don't know the particulars. The company didn't just randomly decide to stop sending A330s on the route despite the demand. If it didn't want to make money, it wouldn't fly there in the first place.
DeleteIt does seem strange for sure.
DeleteHow come TK can send leased widebody aircraft to Russia but JU can not?
DeleteHaving an A330 stuck in SVO would be catastrophic for JU as it can take several days to get approval to get parts in to fix the aircraft. A319/A320 not so much as there is many more in the fleet. I believe it was APH that took almost 2 weeks to leave SVO after an AOG incident. Not worth the trouble.
DeleteAirlines such as TK, EK etc have the resources to pull off widebodies to Russia due to the size of their widebody fleet.
Age of the aircraft would also play part in insurance. A 20 year old A319 is cheaper to insure compared to the 10-12 yo A330's JU have.
Regardless, JU sends mostly the A319's to SVO. If they needed the extra capacity they would send more A320's.
People, FYI there is a Russian construction company called Velstroy that employs a lot of people from various exYU regions (predominantly Serbia and Croatia) and they had in 2022 / 2023 a completion of several construction projects so they were buying block seats in order to return the workforce (several hundred people) back to exYu hence the A330 made several trips to Moscow at the time. Now with 2-3 flights daily there is no need for the A330 to fly to SVO since JU is focusing on transfers and in order for that to work it is better to have 2-3 various departure times rather than one in a big bird. With approximately CC avg. 480 seats daily (one way) that is more than enough to transport all interested. LF is good in general but seats can always be found with exception on some particular holiday dates (Christmas, Easter etc.). That in addition to some economic factors (landing and handling at SVO, flying cost of a widebody, insurance...etc) is the main reason A330 is not going to Moscow anymore.
Delete+1
DeleteHow many passengers did they have last February?
ReplyDeleteI hope JU is getting ready for more competition in Russia.
ReplyDeleteRussia officially requested to restart flights to the US. I wouldn't be surprised if Trump gives them the permit. JU and TK will affected the most, no doubt about that.
I have read so many times here about various things how "JU will be affected the most"
DeleteEU definitely won't be revoking anything and this is where 98% of Russian JU transfers are.
DeleteEventually flights to the EU will restart, however JU now has a solid presence on the market as well as the large number of people from Russia who now live in Serbia. The market should retain strong for them to Russia going forward.
Delete^ true
DeleteIt's not only a matter of lifting sanctions, it's also approving the aircraft to land at EU airports. The maintenance done to their aircraft the past couple of years hasn't been to EU/US standards so this will take time to assess and approve.
DeleteThen there is also the factor of the amount of Russian nationals holding Schengen/US visas isn't at the same amount as previously.
Even if sanctions are lifted tomorrow it'll be a couple of years before traffic returns to previous level.
Russian planes are in immaculate condition and the fact none of them crashed since the sanctions were introduced is best proof of it. if anything, it's the US that needs to have its safety category downgraded after the two crashes and countless near misses.
Delete+1 It’s life hazard traveling to USA. Russians are maintaining their planes in China, Kazakhstan, Azerbeijan, Uzbekistan…
DeleteWhat was the result for last February?
ReplyDeleteThey never published it because last February they had the whole Marathon disaster.
DeleteHow was result 2023 then?
DeleteThese munbers for this year are not that high though
Don't you understand they had a record number of passengers during first two months and you claim it's not high and have now developed a conspiricy it was higher in 2023. Some people need serious help around here.
DeleteThey published q1 2024 to have 750k pax, and published January and March 2024. So, if you do the math you come to 210k pax in February 2024, and it is 13% growth.
Delete@12:41 I didn't say it was higer 2023...I just want figures, to compare..Because they didn't say how much it was the growth..It could've been 0,001%, or say 100 pax more than 2023, which is nothing ,because other airlines grew the numbers a lot after corona , even over 30%
DeleteAnd Air Serbia grew its passenger numbers by 40% compared to 2019. But you keep up with the vindictive comments.
DeleteWell 2019 was 6 years ago so I don't think we need to use it as comparison anymore. Also market conditions have since changed and so has JU ... for the better.
DeleteAir Serbia today is a much more competitive business than it was back then.
Of course we do. Everyone is comparing to 2019, last year before big distruption due to covid
DeleteBravo Air Serbia 🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸
ReplyDeleteIdemo dalje...
ReplyDeleteAny idea what the load factor is.
ReplyDeleteVery good start. It will be interesting to see how they do this summer now that Wizz Air is finally waking up.
ReplyDeleteThey have managed to compete against Wizz Air very well so far.
DeleteAnd actually pushed them out of many routes.
DeleteRezanja, Air Serbia reze, nije dobro, diletanti, neprofesionalno, odrazice se na broj putnika, shit storm skoro svakog dana, kad ono opet rekord. 😍
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteVoleo bi da ja propadam kao sto propada Air Serbia
DeleteGlad to see the airline doing so well and expanding
DeleteBome nije dobro.
Delete😂
DeleteGood start
ReplyDeleteAnd now we wait for Miami announcement.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait.
DeleteYou have to.
DeleteHow are sales going for the three new routes? Which cities are doing best?
ReplyDeleteIt is a healthy and organic growth.
ReplyDeleteThe growth in passenger numbers is indeed commendable. However, I hope Air Serbia also focuses on enhancing the overall customer experience, especially on board.
ReplyDeleteI think they have made some improvement but I agree a lot more could be done,.
DeleteCurrently, their biggest downgrade is Tesla and Pupin interior. Pupin goes for abin change as we speak and Tesla will follow.
DeleteRegarding short and medium haul soft product, no need to change something in my opinion. Cookies and water are back on short flights and sandwich and water are back on medium haul flights. Not much more they can do.
Short haul product is A OK. Flew to BCN the other day and, as I always fly wizz, got surprised by how much more cosy this flight was.
Delete@Anon 12:04
DeleteHow do you know that Pupin is going to get its cabin retrofit now?
Almost everybody commenting here says it is only going for regular service.
@13:37
DeleteMarek mentioned in an interview late last year about the cabin overhaul plans. ARC first with ARB to follow. ARC is typically out for maintenance in March while ARB in November, with cabin overhaul scheduled when the aircraft is already on ground for maintenance.
Wow, over half a million passengers in just two months? That’s quite an achievement for an airline of its size serving a market of its size.
ReplyDeleteI read about the promotional ticket sale but missed out on the deals. Glad to hear it was a success.
ReplyDeleteManaged to get a great deal for LIS a week before Easter.
DeleteI managed to get a very good deal for Porto in August. Prices were very competitive.
DeleteThe airline has come a long way. I hope they maintain this momentum and keep improving their services.
ReplyDeleteBut long way to go in improving their service.
DeleteWhat do you think needs to be improved?
DeleteOpening a new lounge and new dedicated check-in area before start of summer season would be nice. Online check-in for all destinations as well.
DeletePremium check in will happen this month. But lounge is not looking that way.
Delete@Anonymous 09:56
DeleteAirline finally having its own FF program.
Better long-haul food, drinks and presentation.
Inflight WiFi, all airlines are going that way, especially on their long-haul fleet.
A corporate program would greatly help too.
Hope they achieve some of that this year.
What is the delay with the new lounge?
DeleteIssues with permits with BEG airport. That's why it took so long for some shops to open at BEG.
Delete@09:56 and 10:39 how about they start having functional seats and working monitors on A330 fleet as a starting point? Deliver the refurbishment of "Pupin" ...etc. Mr. Marek keeps bragging about increased customer experience but in fact very little so far has been done to improve it.
Delete+1000
DeleteAnon 12:05 Two additional A330 entered the fleet recently with cabin different from the first two A330s. That's over 520 seats added. Pupin had only one long-haul return flight in the past 10 days and is on a way out. But you already knew all of this and are still complaining?
DeleteAnd here I was being told by some they would never recover from the delays of summer 2023.
ReplyDeleteLiterally every prediction made about JU's demise has been proven false time and again, despite the hopes and wishes of some.
DeleteExactly.
DeleteAdditional flight LJU - INI? like friday - sunday perhaps?
ReplyDeleteUnless the government pays for additional through PSO, don't count on it.
DeleteWhat about financial performance?
ReplyDeleteWhich airline in the world publishes their monthly financial performance?
DeleteI wonder how anyone can comment on these results, when there's no data given to compare with the same period last year. The only statistics mentioned in the text is the expectation for whole 2025 and the achieved growth in 2024, as well as the information that JU first time carried more than half million pax in the first two months of the year. Then there are some daily booking statistics etc. but it is really interesting that the company avoided delivering a clear growth data. Especially when there's a record no. of passengers mentioned.
ReplyDelete+1
Delete@10:14 took less time to dig up 2024 numbers and calculate growth than to write that comment :D
Delete@16:16
DeleteBravo! 😂
Air Serbia plans to add 260.000 passengers this year. That will help Belgrade airport get closer to 9 million passengers.
ReplyDeleteUnless W6 and all the other airlines increase their capacity it won't.
DeleteYou might have missed that Wizz Air is adding an additional 119,000 seats from BEG this summer
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2025/02/wizz-air-to-station-fourth-belgrade-jet.html
@Anonymous 10:31
DeleteWhich they are nowhere near enough to get the airport traffic to 9 million for the year. Even if they manage to sell 100% of these.
But you claimed that W6 was not increasing capacity.
DeleteW6 sells more than 95%
Delete@Anon 11:43
DeleteWho said that? Definitely not me.
Well done Air Serbia! Congratulations.
ReplyDelete28 of their own plus six wet leases.
ReplyDeleteThis should increase in summer with extra Embraer and two more wet leased Embraers.
ReplyDeleteDouble digit growth in February?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2024/04/air-serbia-registers-bustiest-q1.html?m=1
A321 to Moscow?
ReplyDeleteWhat A321?
Delete2xA321 would fit perfect for summer on LCA, BCN, MAD... for example. But just a wet dream.
DeleteIs it possible to find out how many passengers connect from Sarajevo and Zagreb that go to Chicago or New York?
ReplyDeleteNice.
ReplyDelete