Flydubai is Belgrade’s busiest carrier from the Gulf region, outperforming both Qatar Airways and Wizz Air Abu Dhabi. The Dubai-based airline boasts the most flights and capacity out of the three with a double daily rotation throughout the year. It handled 182.499 passengers on its Belgrade service, representing an increase of 9.9% year-on-year and its strongest performance at Nikola Tesla Airport to date. The carrier’s annual average cabin load factor on the route stood at 75%. Compared to the pre-pandemic 2019, Flydubai has increased its passenger figures between the two cities by 148% or an additional 109.000 travellers per year.
Gulf carrier Belgrade passenger performance, 2024
Qatar Airways registered its best performance in Belgrade since it began operations in 2012. The Doha-based carrier handled 103.766 travellers on the route, up 25.2% on 2023. The airline introduced an additional three weekly flights to the Serbian capital, for a total of ten weekly, during the first quarter of the year, with its average annual load factor standing at a strong 90.1% on its Airbus A320 aircraft. Prior to the pandemic, the Qatari carrier served Belgrade on a daily basis with its larger A321 aircraft, which it has since retired, as well as ten weekly services during the peak summer travel period. However, it managed to outperform its 2019 result by 6.1% last year.
Wizz Air Abu Dhabi is the only of the three that did not manage to increase its year-on-year passenger volume, primarily due to its capacity cuts on the route. However, the carrier managed a turnaround by the fourth quarter. It welcomed 82.883 travellers on the route, down 11.2%, while its cabin occupancy stood at 82.2%. The budget airline deploys the A321neo aircraft between the two capitals. Wizz Air Abu Dhabi commenced operations to Belgrade in 2021, filling some of the void left by the departure of Etihad Airways, which, until it discontinued flights in 2020, was the busiest of the Gulf carriers in Belgrade. Figures on the route are still some way off Etihad’s 2019 record, which stood at 114.256 travellers.
Gulf carrier Belgrade capacity, 2024
Gulf carriers handled 369.148 passengers between Belgrade and the region in 2024, despite rising competition. This includes the Air Serbia - Turkish Airlines partnership, offering over thirty weekly flights to Istanbul with numerous onward connections, Air Serbia’s expansion into the Far East and the entry of China Southern Airlines onto the Serbian market in September 2024, providing competitive fares to the Far East, Southeast Asia and Australia, all of which are key transfer markets for both Flydubai (in cooperation with Emirates) and Qatar Airways.
Impressive load factor for Qatar.
ReplyDeleteAnd not so impressive for FZ
DeleteFZ has double daily flights and seasonal shifts as most passengers are point to point. Its LF in LJU and ZAG is below 70%. But good thing you found something negative.
DeleteOnce they get 787s they will put it on the route, that's for sure
DeleteWould be nicer for EK to come. These are bigger numbers than they were handling from ZAG when they flew there.
DeleteFZ in general has LFs around 60-75% in most of its European destinations. Fuel and fees at DBX are cheap enough for them, after all
DeleteThere is enough of daily capacity for EK a359. But generally it’s better to have double daily 737-9 instead of single a359.
DeleteNo, it's not. A359 is nicer than 737-9. Emirates all the way means better service, better brand recognition and more passengers than FlyDubai.
DeleteYes but you go down from 14 weekly flights to just 7. Unless they leave both FZ and EK to fly the route. Maybe upgrade one daily to EK and leave the other on FZ.
DeleteEK fleet is too big in capacity and in premium seating. Maybe our market can not support it yet.
DeleteThat is why we should be happy if FZ adds more flights. Maybe a third daily two or three times per week.
DeleteEmirates are sending 777s to some destinations without much need for Premium Economy, less alone for Business Class. Belgrade will do fine.
DeleteI personally think it's too early for Emirates even though they offera much better product than FZ does. However, for BEG's sake, it's better to have as many connections to DXB as possible.
DeleteIf I were BEG I would lobby for BEG to become FZ's first 787 destination.
Could JU go for some of this business?
ReplyDeleteDoubt it
DeleteJU should launch AUH
DeleteToo long rotation. Price would not be competitive against Wizz.
DeleteJU should definitely try DXB.
Delete@09:15 W6 is an LCC. They cater to a different segment of the market than full service airlines like JU.
DeleteWhy is JU not flying to DBX? I find this strange.
DeleteAre they missing opportunity here.
They could certainly get some of those 182 000 passengers.
^ I agree plus connections plus the market would grow even more.
DeleteDubai has a lot of O&D demand from Belgrade and the region. Issue is that JU doesn't have enough planes for such a long rotation and I don't know if they could get the slots they need in DXB. It's a very congrested airport.
DeleteOf course JU could get a single slot a day to DXB. And an A330 would be ideal for this kind of route and very competitive product offering vs Fly Dubai.
DeleteAlso Abu Dhabi and Doha.
Yes but JU can't just get any random slot, it needs one that makes sense so that they can offer good connections in both directions. That's where the problem is.
DeleteI'm sure a phone call from the president to the Emir would solve that.
DeleteLoads of airlines are starting or increasing frequencies to DXB, seems that only our regional carriers have the biggest issue of securing slots.
I think main problem is that JU doesn't have spare planes for such a long rotation. They can't afford for one plane to fly to Dubai.
DeleteIf it were me I'd just go big and schedule the A330 to Dubai. It could also carry a lot of cargo.
If JU should start anything in that region it should be Muscat, Tehran, Damacus, Riyadh and/or Jeddah and not Dubai or Abu Dhabi.
DeleteYes, JU should definitely ignore the biggest market out there so that it can fly to Muscat.
DeleteMuscatni oraščić u cargo i mirna Bačka.....
DeleteJU could easy fit in a couple rotations a week to DXB on the A319/A320 fleet. There are a couple days a week (Tuesdays and Saturdays for example) where the evening wave is really light in flights and could accommodate longer rotations to destinations such as DXB. A 17-17:30 departure should be sufficient to have the plane back by 05:30 the next morning in time for the full morning wave.
DeleteWell, there is a reason why those days are slow, there is generally less demand.
DeleteIf they had enough crew, especially pilots, they should have launched Dubai with the A332. I think if they schedule it to leave at around 14.00 it could be back around 05.00 the next day.
DXB just like PVG should be connected to Western Europe. I think that's one of the reason why JU's PVG flight is thriving (unlike CAN).
@nemjee
DeleteLower demand on JU's network on those days I don't see being the problem. Those days interestingly enough are when the most flights out to the ME occur. Plus you still have a relatively busy morning and afternoon on those days. Early evening departures would just take on pax transfering off the midday wave and use an aircraft that would otherwise be on ground for roughly 18h. Just my 2 cents.
Regarding China, both CAN and PVG connect to Western Europe. PVG was timed almost identical to CAN until a week ago. Demand for PVG overall is larger plus JU has no competition on the route.
Overall I agree with you especially since I think Dubai is definitely a destination JU should have served. After all, it was FZ who pushed JU out when they entered the Serbian market.
DeleteDubai should be, without a doubt, an A330 destination for JU.
As for CAN, indeed. I think JU should have launched another route instead of competing with CZ at their home market. China is big enough so there were other markets to consider. Maybe even PEK would have made sense despite Hainan flying to BEG. I think the market is big enough for two players.
They can change to Shenzen or Hong Kong easily
DeleteJU handed over the BEG-DXB market to FZ. The 2 never competed. JU discontinued DXB starting with the WTT 2011 and FZ launched BEG 2 weeks later. Having said that, at the time FZ was launching with aircraft capable of serving the route non stop while JU failed for years to bring in the B737-700's and A319's they often talked about and that were supposed to be used on the route. A330 could be an overkill in capacity for the route regardless of being the better product at JU.
DeleteAs for CAN, it seems to be doing fairly ok and I do see it going 3 pw fairly soon, especially PVG once given the green light. Guangzhou is a big trading destination and hub in China so it isn't completely random as opposed to say Hohhot or Yinchuan.
That's why I said that FZ pushed JU out. Jat knew they could never compete with FZ so they handed them over this large and lucrative market. There was no other way around it.
DeleteDubai is a massive market and unlike Doha or Abu Dhabi, it has a huge amount of local demand. I personally don't think the A330 would be an overkill because the market is there, both among locals and transfers. Also, JU's A330 has a product that can match FZ's, their A320/319 don't.
As for CAN, no, it's not doing faily ok, at least not in winter. As summer approaches loads improve. Personally CAN didn't make sense because there is China Southern which flies the route. I see PVG going three weekly but not CAN (maybe eventually in summer to improve connectivity).
Going forward, I think Air Serbia should focus on slowly boosting PVG so that they eventually have daily flights. They need to work on their frequencies (overall).
I have flown QR many times this year. BEG-DOH-BEG is always full including business. Lots of transfers from Australia and China and also more exotic destinations like Thailand and southeast Asia
ReplyDeleteOften they overbook. I know several people who were rebooked onto TK.
DeleteJU launching BEG-DOH-BEG would be a success for sure. They can compete on price and onward connections from BEG and QR has issues with its narrow-body fleet that won't be resolved any time soon.
DeleteYou mean JU replacing QR BEG service?
DeleteNo, adding another flight to QR.
DeleteWe all expected that to happen when Marek announced the code-share. Unfortunately nothing good happened after that. JU did not launch flight to Doha and QR actually cut BEG.
DeleteThey didn't cut BEG. Read the article. They do have a cut just this May and September because of fleet shortage. Other cities in Europe got cut for the entire summer. And BEG is obviously working for them since they had record numbers on the route in 2024 and 90% LF
DeleteThey cut from 10 to 7 and then from 7 to 5.
DeleteNo they didn't. 10 weekly was seasonal for part of winter. 5 weekly flights are operating for just 2 months. Like you have been told it's a fleet issue but it doesn't matter to you, you have your own agenda.
DeleteAlmost all of JU's code-share agreements are useless. For example, they had an interline with Hainan via OSL where you spend the night at the airport. Must be popular with passengers.
DeleteThose are nice numbers
ReplyDeleteImpressive. Over 1000 passengers per day dep/arr to/fm the Gulf area 😳
ReplyDeleteDefinitely room for JU to fly to Dubai. That market has exploded and it keeps growing by a lot.
DeleteMajority of them is on transfer to Asia/ Australia during these winter/ early spring months
DeleteDidn't know QR is performing so good, it looked to me they are so passive in BEG recently. JU should try Dubai and fight with Wizz for O&D market share. Why not.
ReplyDeleteThe only issue QR has is with narrow body fleet. That's why they are not growing in BEG.
DeleteLiving in Abu Dhabi, I am very happy with Wizzair. Good price, convenient timing of flights. There are lot of people coming from Dubai to use these cheep flights. No need for JU or EY.
ReplyDeleteWhat type of passengers are mostly using this route. Serbs? Tourists? Expats? Thanks
DeleteManly Serbs, residents in UAE and their guests.
DeleteThanks
DeleteJU flights to Dubai could definitely work. The demand is huge!
ReplyDeleteHabibi come to Belgrade
DeleteWe need Emirates to replace FlyDubai and we need bigger planes A350 desirably.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteHigher frequencies by Fly Dubai is preferable.
DeleteIt would offer better connection times in DXB to the EK network.
I'd rather have a third FZ flight than one daily on EK. Maybe FZ could add a 02.00 departure from Dubai. Could do great with connections that arrive late at night to Dubai.
DeleteWhat makes an airport "get" Emirates is the business class demand. You may have million tickets sold to and from Dubai per annum, but if theyre all economy Emirates will not still fly to you.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteOf course, and Zag was packed with business class passangers.
DeleteYet they never came back
DeleteZAG was highly seasonal which was why it was their first route operated seasonally. It wasn't uncommon to see full cabins on ZAG in all classes, I guess EK didn't like the seasonality.
DeleteThey probably realized that it was better to serve both LJU and ZAG separately with FZ than to cover both markets via ZAG with their own metal.
DeleteThe good thing is FZ still had opportunity to grow pax numbers with current flights/capacity
ReplyDeleteFlydubai’s growth is incredible. 148% increase from 2019
DeleteWell they went from a few weekly flights to double daily.
DeleteWow well done Qatar. Fantastic LF.
ReplyDeleteStill missing Etihad’s service. Wizz just doesn’t compare.
ReplyDeleteI agree, there is definetelt room for a non-LCC airline in this route.
DeleteCould be a good opportunity for JU.
I was really hoping they would return. They had excellent passenger numbers while flying to BEG.
DeleteYes but remember back then they shuttled passengers through JU's network.
DeleteWould be nice to have someone like Gulf Air launch Belgrade. They have a growing network from their hub. They just added a whole bunch of extra frequencies to Asia.
DeleteUnfortunately Gulf Air has very few destinations in Europe and most are summer seasonal. They are focused in Asia.
DeleteTalking of Wizz Air, let's wait and see what they do with AUH. They are moving things around these days. For example LCA was rescheduled so now they will depart BEG (on some days) at the same time as JU ...... at 23.55. They changed their schedule this week. Seems like they are not done with BEG.
DeleteI know it's not exactly the Middle East but BEG should consider attracting either RJ or MS.
*MS not being exactly in the Middle East
DeleteYea, Gulf Air is very good..I flew with them several times, once they even provided me with hotel accommodation in Manama although I was not entitled for that service..
DeleteWish more airlines would open direct routes from Belgrade to the Gulf. Clearly there’s demand.
ReplyDeleteJazeera tried but failed.
DeleteNo marketing and they focused on Russian transfers.
DeleteSaudi Arabia has huge potential!
DeleteTraffic to Europe from both Jeddah and Riyadh has exploded. Plus the Saudis offer excellent terms and discounts to all airlines that launch flights.
It would require very little, just some contact with the Saudi Air Connectivity Program people. They are literally paying airlines left and right and covering all their costs to start flights to Saudi.
Delete@11:27 Exactly!
DeleteSeems like a missed opportunity by JU to establish itself in this market.
It would get a lot of connecting traffic to the rest of our region too.
I wish Royal Jordanian opened route to BEG...They have quite big network of routes, and great onboard service
DeleteI think it is still too early for CZ to make an impact. We will see what happens this year.
ReplyDeleteThey need more frequencies to make a major impact.
Deletewell, together with AS as code-share , they have 4 flights weekly..That's not too bad
DeleteQatar Airways is still the best option if you're connecting onwards. Doha airport experience beats DXB any day.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteHow is Doha the best option? Every time I looked at flights there was at least a 7 hour connection in one direction. They need more flights to improve connectivity.
DeleteAll my connections were 1h 30 minutes. I guess it depends where you are going.
DeleteI look at Philippines, South Korea and China.
DeleteQR's biggest of 4 departure waves is from 8pm onto which the BEG flights connect perfectly and is the time at which all Europe flights connect.
DeleteIndeed and the problem is usually one of the two flights, directions that is.
DeleteNot at all. You obviously don't travel with them much.
DeleteI'm avoiding Qatar Airways since Corona..They dissappeared from the face of the Earth for months, half a year almost, and left their pax with no info and help in crucial moments...Also refunding of money was slack and slow, and their "Corona" programme for unused tickets and redemption of miles, vouchers etc. was far the worst in comparison to other big airlines.. But obviously people don't care about their loyalty , it only matters if they are 20$ cheaper from the competition
DeleteTreshnja, just because you had a bad experience does not mean everybody else does and does not mean that everybody else has to follow your lead. I understand you are an opinionated person (from many of your other comments) but there is no need to insult others. They are considered one of the best airlines in the world, and it is definitely not because they are $20 cheaper than the competition. And one more thing. Qatar Airways was among the first foreign airlines to resume flights to Belgrade. They stopped flying to BEG in mid-March and resumed regular service in early July. So they were not flying for a grand total of 3 months to Belgrade.
DeleteWill be interesting to see their 2025 performance with all the cuts and additional competition. I really hope they start growing in BEG otherwise their competition might cause serious damage.
DeleteFor QR, TK and IST are also a serious problem. Now they also have CZ to consider as a serious and aggressive competitor.
VINCI should really try to attract Saudi carriers to BEG.
ReplyDeleteHave there ever been flights between Belgrade and Saudi Arabia?
DeleteNope
DeleteIt's crazy how much Dubai exploded.
ReplyDeleteGreat news. I also hope other flights to the Middle East are resumed like Beirut and Tehran.
ReplyDeleteIs there a chance that Air Serbia will restore plans for Amman?
DeleteI'm surprised there isn't more demand for Jordan from Serbia in general. It is a great destination. Amman in itself is interesting let alone Petra and Aqaba. Also visa is issued on arrival. Shame Serbian tour operators haven't looked into it more. Also should note that Jordan isn't very expensive either.
Delete+1
DeleteAMM and BEY I don't see returning soon due to the instability in the region. Tourism has noticeably dropped in Jordan which further complicates things. CAI would be the best destination to restart their MENA operations.
DeleteMaybe Air Arabia brings back plans for Sharjah-Belgrade.
ReplyDeleteWith Wizz flying to Abu Dhabi and Flydubai double daily, is there really a need for them?
DeleteAir Arabia is not cheap any more..
DeleteInterestingly they don't seem impacted by the huge increase in traffic by Turkish Airlines.
ReplyDeleteOr Ajet with its transfer options to the Middle East through SAW.
Delete9%?
ReplyDeleteHopefully China Southern forces them to somewhat lower their fares to Asia. They became quite pricey. No me likey.
ReplyDeleteHaving growth is good but one has to wonder how much longer BEG can cope with it.
ReplyDeleteThis Sunday I arrived from VIE on OS (full to the last seat, mostly transfers) and there was no room to park anywhere else so we ended up on B1. Next to us was KLM E2 and then a whole bunch of ATRs.
All air-bridges were either taken or were going to be occupied with flights that arrive at around midnight. Mind you, this was before the actual busy summer period.
If the airport keeps on growing at this rate, additional air-bridges, bus gates and remote stands will be needed.
From what I heard, BEG already encouraged Wizz Air to reschedule some of their flights so as to depart earlier in the morning (which they did). Let's hope this summer BEG will run a much tighter ship than it did in the past.