Air Serbia is actively considering expanding its mid-haul network as part of its broader strategic growth ambitions. Speaking to the “K1” network, Boško Rupić, the airline’s General Manager for Commercial and Strategy, noted that the carrier is eyeing further growth beyond Europe. “In addition to long-haul destinations, we’re also looking to expand further into the Caucasus region and the Middle East”, he said. When asked why airlines have yet to introduce routes to year-round leisure-heavy destinations such as the Canary Islands, Mr Rupić hinted that plans may be in motion. “It’s not true that no one is considering it -someone is. I just can’t say more than that. But we are definitely looking at those kinds of destinations”, he added.
Air Serbia is set to expand into the Caucasus next month with the launch of flights between Belgrade and Tbilisi. In contrast, the airline has had no direct presence in the Middle East since suspending operations to Tel Aviv in 2023 due to conflict. Before the pandemic, it also flew to Beirut and planned services to Amman, though the latter never materialised. “We’re being cautious not to grow beyond our capabilities. Over the past year in particular, our focus has been on delivering reliable operations and ensuring customer satisfaction”, Mr Rupić noted.
The General Manager for Commercial and Strategy emphasised that every new route is the result of a detailed evaluation process. “Behind each new destination is a business case that examines cost structures and revenue potential. Based on that analysis, we decide whether it makes sense to launch a route and how long it might take to achieve positive results”, he explained. Mr Rupić acknowledged that not every route can be profitable from day one but noted that a thorough review underpins each decision. “We assess a range of factors - diaspora presence, tourist demand, visa requirements, which are especially important for leisure travel, as well as point-to-point and transfer potential”, he added.
What could be the new route in the Middle East? I don't think they will return to either Beirut or Tel Aviv.
ReplyDeleteTo me Amman seems like a good destination. I don't know why they cut this route before it even launched but back then the situation was very different. Not to mention it was at the height of covid.
DeleteAgree.
DeleteFingers crossed for the Canaries. Finally mentioned :)
ReplyDeleteAbout time.
DeleteThe Canary Islands would be a great addition, especially for winter sun. Surprised it’s taken this long to even consider it seriously.
DeleteYou should keep in mind that they might not have had enough aircraft to launch a route like this which is a very long rotation. My guess is that now with E195s they will be able to add new routes in winter.
DeleteDuring the winter they have more available planes than during the summer and Canary Islands is a destination that is the most popular during the winter.
DeleteSo, I do not think that number of available aircrafts is a reason why they have not been flying there yet.
The Canaries would be interesting in terms of crew. I don't think the same crew can do a turnaround due to duty hours. If they do start this route it will probably be winter seasonal will the plane on the ground in the Canaries for 12 hours to allow crew rest.
DeleteI have thought Wizz could launch Canary Islands from BEG, but nevertheless. It is a long rotation. On the other hand JU could think of Dubai/Abu Dhabi with A330. Or we should wait until Etihad relaunch AUH.
DeleteI also have a feeling W6 will attack Tenerife first, especially if Alicante proves to be doing well.
DeleteDamascus could make sense now
ReplyDeleteBeing an early mover is certainly worth the gamble, given how stable JU is at the moment
DeleteIt is interesting that Dan Air opens OTP-DAM starting from 15.06.2025.
DeleteNot only are they launching it but they are starting with 6 weekly!
DeleteHad JU announced Damascus people here would be screaming that it is transfering migrants.
DeleteRomania has more connections, historically and in the present, with that region than Serbia.
Delete@9:36
DeleteThere's bound to be more remigration into Syria than emigration out of it
Don't count on it.
DeleteWe will see how those DAM flights work out. Despite the media narative the situation is very volotile and on the verge of another civil war. As for TLV I noticed that Swiss has again suspended flights there. Has traffic completely resumed at BEY?
DeleteSwiss and Lufti have suspended TLV. Aegean on the other hand is now flying 6-7 daily from ATH, SKG and LCA making a killing.
DeleteJU could be as well.
sweet Lord, 6-7 daily o.O
DeleteThanks, but no thanks.
DeleteSafety first.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/04/middleeast/flights-halted-at-israel-airport-yemen-strike-intl
ATH is used by Israelis as a stopover for flights to USA and Canada at this point. Aegean 7 daily now make sense
DeleteA3 is operating 3 daily ATH-TLV, 2 daily LCA-TLV and 3 pw SKG-TLV.
DeleteLCA-TLV is a 35-40 minute flight and the closest safe destination hence the tonnes of daily frequencies between the 2. ATH is the closest "friendly" hub of relevance hence the frequencies with roughly 1h 30 minutes flight time. Almost all major airlines have suspended TLV due to safety concerns, while the majors have been operating TLV on and off the past year. For JU they might as well just use the aircraft elsewhere. SVO for example is slightly further than TLV.
Jeddah, Bahrain, Dubai should be on the list
ReplyDeleteToo far away.
DeleteWhat sort of demand is there for Bahrain?
Delete@ anon 09:08
DeleteNot too far away for mid-haul. The topic is mid-haul.
Could they use a A330 for a DXB turn maybe? One crew , no layover.
DeleteThey need to first make their long haul flights reliable.
ReplyDeleteIt is quite reliable. Today flight to ORD is heavily delayed but it happens rarely.
Delete^ the ORD flight was rescheduled.
DeleteTheir long haul is not very reliable. There are multi hours delays quite often. It seems that only the JFK service is reliable.
DeleteWith only two weekly frequencies you'd expect to be pretty reliable usual issue?
DeleteWith 3 aircraft available quick replacements should not be a problem.
No info about YU506 to Chicago today, was is supposed to be YU-ARE?
DeleteIt is 3 weekly as of this week for the summer season.
Delete@10.16 Yes there is info. The flight was rescheduled yesterday and the information publishbed on their social media. No need to make things up.
Delete@Anonymous 10:16
DeleteYes it is. Anyone knows what the reason for the delay is? Technical maybe?
I also wander why there are delays? They have planty of aircraft, so far more then double more then enough, even with that PDG 24+ hour break..What's happening? And YU ARC is it in operation at the moment?
DeleteNo YU-ARC is undergoing maintenance in Rome. All 3 aircraft are in service. So your statement is false.
Delete^ No, Pupin is in maintenance for almost two months now.
Delete@anon 13:31you obviously have some big problem with yourself..I just asked if YU ARC was in operation or not, and I put question mark..I didn't give a statement...Less hate is good for general health and well being
DeleteNo, you said they have plenty of aircraft and made a conclusion. They don't as all 3 aircraft are in service at the same time. You were already prepared for your usual ranting.
DeleteSo now you even started forseeing my words...
DeleteThe next destinations Cacusus will be Baku for sure.
ReplyDelete... or Yerevan.
DeleteOr both
DeleteW6 opened a base in Yerevan (EVN) and based two A321neo. In total from October it will serve 17 destinations. Would they be allowed to fly from Belgrade?
Deletehttps://www.wizzair.com/en-gb/information-and-services/about-us/news/wizz-air-opens-its-first-base-in-yerevan-with-2-aircraft-and-8-new-direct-routes-to-europe
No, they would not unless they get a Serbian or Armenian AOC.
DeleteE-190 would be ideal. Could depart BEG after 21:00 or 22:00 and be back early in the morning.
DeleteThat way it would offer all morning departures to connecting travelers.
that would be fantastic!
DeleteBut who would connect to that flight departing BEG at 21:00, there's no enough P2P traffic. I guess they will do the same scheduling as with TBS.
DeleteAll mid haul routes should depart in fifth wave around 22-23h and come back in the morning
Delete"...visa requirements, which are especially important for leisure travel..."
ReplyDeleteI would say he is telling us here that no Air Serbia flights to MAN and DUB will be launched any time soon.
...and probably no Morocco.
DeleteThat’s kinda stupid conclusion. Yet, they fly to London, New York and Chicago and they are starting Miami flights and probably Toronto, all with visas.
DeleteI do not think it is stupid. If there was enough demand for Manchester or Dublin some LCC would already start flying there, but obviously there isn't.
DeleteGetting UK visa is quite difficult and very expensive, so it is quite understandable that JU does not want to open new UK destination.
Comparing with USA cities is not correct as obtaining US visa is not that difficult and its validity is mostly 10 years with multi entrance.
Filling up a 200 seat LCC aircraft with just point to point traffic is quite different from an E-jet which would also get transfer traffic in BEG.
DeleteNot sure this is on them, as Dubai and Manchester are no leisure travel.
DeleteI agree that P2P is not the same as transfer, but lets not forget that competition is already huge on UK and Irish market especially for the destinations in Croatia that might be the most interesting for passengers from UK and Ireland.
DeleteRyanair is flying from Dublin to Zagreb, Croatia is flying from Dublin to Split, Aer Lingus and Ryanair are flying to Dubrovnik, Ryanair is flying to Sofia, Aegean & Air Lingus to Athens, Ryanair to Thessaloniki, Air Lingues and Ryanair to Budapest etc...
The only portion that would remain to JU is Belgrade with transfer to Podgorica, Tivat, Sarajevo,Tirana, Ljubljana and Skoplje. Actually not so much knowing Star Alliance is strong in these cities too.
DUB is not Dubai, it is Dublin, DXB is Dubai.
DeleteYes, DUB has been mentioned as Dublin and not Dubai as visas are not needed to Serbian citizens for UAE, but for Ireland.
DeleteLet’s not tell same story every day. MAN and DUB are top p2p unserved destinations from BEG. With started routes, demand will be only higher and 30-40% transfers would be on top of that. So both destinations are no brainer, hopefully very soon. Maybe when two more E195s arrive this year.
Delete@10:56
DeletePractically all routes you listed are operated on lower frequencies and doesn't capture the whole demand. Plus you listed a couple of seasonal routes. ULCC's need high loads to make the flight viable. JU has a fairly decent presence in the Balkans year round which makes it ideal for transfer traffic. 5-10 transit pax here and there adds up.
There will be no DUB or MAN as long as Western Balkans has visas for UK & Ireland . London is a different story it's a world hub and it covers demand for both islands and more.
DeleteTransfers should be relying to long haul Chinese routes from BEG, as well as TBS, NQZ or similar expecting routes this article is writing about. Regional destinations are on top of that.
DeleteLot of Brits are coming to Belgrade for city break and dynamic weekend nightlife, so potential routes may calculate in developing tourism
@14:21
DeleteVisas will restrict the O&D demand, especially from the Balkans, but not nullify the demand. BEG is within close proximity of Slavonija where alot have gone to Ireland for work. JU also have alot of regional destinations to connect on to. For an airline like JU DUB and MAN isn't a problem but for ULCC's that focus on O&D demand with high loads it'll be a tough route to launch.
@15:31 with FR flying from ZAG to DUB 5x weekly you think there will be anyone going to BEG from Slavonija with extraschengen border checks at RS/HR. And how? By car? By bus? Nonsense. There will be no DUB nor MAN , a long as there are visas.
DeleteWould love to see them back in the Middle Eas. Beirut or Amman would be great.
ReplyDeleteAs economic and political situation in Jordan is much better than in Lebanon I would say that first choice here should be AMM.
DeleteBring back Cairo for a start
DeleteYes, Cairo would make most sense in my oppinion. And you can easily serve it with E195.
DeleteI don't think the issue with Cairo were loads. I flew with this route several times when it was launched. It was always full but the majority of passengers were transfers. And when I say transfers they were interestingly from western European markets. Italian and German could be most heard. So my guess the issue were yields.
DeleteCairo was packed with A319 every flight. Problem was with crews and too long rotation
DeleteCAI has nothing to do with crew, they operate KZN, LIS and OPO which is all longer than CAI. Problem is any slight delay (being the inbound transfer or the return flight from CAI) creates problems for transfer pax due to tight scheduling. JU is missing 2 additional waves to make these longer flights viable for transfer pax.
DeleteCAI should be fixed and re- launched...There are lot of transfers and P2P pax...Also Amman could work well, it did work well in old JAT as well..Regarding Beirut, situation is not great at the moment, but when it was? Baku, hm, I'm not sure it would be great load...I've flown to Baku every month in the last few years, during the period of whole year, and have to say, out of 15 return flights I did, there was just few people I saw flying from BEG or to BEG.Maybe I'm not right, but Azeri don't come here, nor our people go there in big amounts..Turkish rules there, Azal is good as well, Azeri go to Turkey mostly, western Europe ( Germany ), sea coast they go to Montenegro, but they have direct flights to there..that's it
DeleteCAI and other potential mid haul night flights have problem with crew shortage. Night shifts needs two day rest, so that requires a lot more available pilots and cabin crews for daily operations.
DeleteNight shift doesn't need 2 rest days. JU for decades has been operating a number of night rotations so adding more to the list isn't a problem. Current list has IST, SOF, TIA, VAR, LCA, ATH, SKG, SKP, OHD, SVO, LED, KZN with TBS to start next month.
DeleteIt requires 24 hours minimum rest, so it can be used on the 2nd day after night shift
DeleteCAI is off the map!? Again...
DeleteSo glad to hear they do not plan to stop with new destinations.
ReplyDelete😂
DeleteFingers crossed for the Canaries! We need more direct leisure routes in winter.
ReplyDeleteThe whole Caucasus region has potential for tourism and business.
ReplyDeleteWould be good if they launched something to Dubai or Doha
ReplyDeleteWhy would they compete with two top 10 world’s companies on 6+ hour routes, when they can start shorter unserved routes without competition?
DeleteBEG-DOH is underserved and QR doesn't seem to have enough capacity to increase flights on the routes. JU and QR already codeshare so JU could just add capacity that is needed.
DeleteDXB loads are more than decent and there is definitely room for more frequencies. If the price is right then pax will fly JU over FZ. We have Wizz over in AUH and they seem to be doing fine despite having the worser product compared to FZ.
Air Serbia should consider direct flights to North Africa too. Tunis or Casablanca could work seasonally.
ReplyDeleteThere is a visa regime between Serbia and Morocco. So I do not think that Casablanca is on the list.
DeleteThey fly charters to Tunisia.
Belgrade Canaries is almost 2000 nautical miles, that's roughly 6 hours each way.
DeleteHeavy logistics as a crew change would be required hampering profitability of the route.
^ If they do start this route it will probably be winter seasonal will the plane on the ground in the Canaries for 12 hours to allow crew rest.
DeleteAir Serbia was already in the past flying BEG-AUH daily and it is the same distance from Belgrade as to Canary Islands.
DeleteTherefore I do not see that it would be some extra challenge for them. It would not be the same like FRA or CDG of course, but it would be achievable.
@Anon 09:49: Wizz Air flies to TFS from OTP, which is even longer route, without a crew change.
DeleteIt is interesting W6 did not consider to fly from Belgrade to Canary Islands.
DeleteNot really
DeleteHe also confirmed that Miami is starting year round with 2pw, maybe even by the end of the year and Toronto next summer seasonally
ReplyDeleteNo, he did not confirm it.
DeleteHe said they are planning Miami. Toronto is also very far from being confirmed.
So are they planning Toronto or not?
DeleteHe said what was written here many times. That they are considering it (and it will likely be seasonal)
DeleteYes, he did. He said twice definitely they will fly next US destination to Miami and probably seasonally to Toronto
Delete@09:54 why are you lying?
Delete@10:20 Why are you ignorant?
Deletehttps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WIT29tuam2I&t=324s&pp=ygULQm9za28gcnVwaWM%3D
He did not confirm, he said "We plan to fly to Miami."
DeleteDo you need Croatian translation?? He said twice we will definitely fly to Miami, just the date is not yet known. Maybe even before the end of the year, which would be clever, to catch Christmas/New Year season
Delete
DeleteAt 16:47 - where we plan da spread?
Miami, Toronto...
Ili u prevodu na srpski PLANIRAMO ne POTVRDJUJEMO da cemo leteti.
You really have problem with understanding.
Ok, you are just hearing impaired person, I shouldn't have been rude with you.
DeleteAt 4:10 he says: "DEFINITIVNO Majami JESTE nasa sledeca tacka kada je rec o sirenju na teritoriji SAD. Jos uvek nemamo datum, ne mogu da potvrdim da li ce to biti kraj ove godine ili tokom sledece godine, ali DEFINITIVNO kada je rec o sirenju ka Americi, sledeca tacka ce biti Majami.
U Torontu zivi velika dijaspora EXYU, njega analiziramo kao jednu od sezonskih ruta mozda od sledece godine.
If you still having problem understanding this, run it through google translate.
They need NEOs for more mid-haul
ReplyDeleteExactly. In destinations over three hours the over 15% in fuel savings a NEO has over a CEO could make the difference between profitable or loss making route.
DeletePlus the NEOs have more seats which improves RASK further.
Just my2cents
@ anon 10:23
DeleteSame story with A220 vs A319/320 CEOs. Less fuel consumption (in theory) vs higher leasing rates + P&W issues. So company should do the math for itself and choose a better deal. JU is fine with CEOs for now.
@15:03
DeleteIt seems that JU is fine with CEO cheerleaders for now!
It would be great if Serbian government buy 10 x A321neo and 10 x E2195 for JU like Croatian bought for OU. But doesn't seem to happen any time soon.
DeleteExpansion talk is great, but are they ready in terms of crew and aircraft availability?
ReplyDeleteThey have enough planes (dry leased + wet leased).
Delete@ 09:53
DeleteThey need as much E-jets as they can get. This machine is tailored for JU's model of operation.
Maybe they have planes but questoons is if they have enough crew to support number of planes
DeleteFor all hub and spoke model airlines. Even E170/75 like LO. Two more are expected by the end of the year.
DeleteOMG ! Someone says something uncertain and all the kids writing here : maybe this destination , maybe that destination !
ReplyDeleteYou must be new here.
DeleteIt's an aviation site and forum. Of course we are going to write about potential destinations. If it annoys you so much to discuss aviation on an aviation website you can always skip the comments.
DeletePeople are having fun. What's wrong with that?
DeleteAfter a week in Uzbekistan (Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva), I can't recommend this wonderful country and people enough. And given the uniqueness, history, safety, the price of goods and services, it should (and 100% will) become a big tourist attraction
ReplyDeleteIs the food good?
DeleteIt is such a shame that these countries are not that known / popular in our part of the world.
DeleteFood is one of the best in terms of ingredients cause they're all natural, almost no GMO. Like in Serbia 15 years ago.
DeleteTashkent is btw no different than a European city and even cleaner and safer, with a huge subway.
There's an Uzbek bakery now in Rakovica. Intend to visit it soon, and then maybe off to Samarkand :)
DeleteUzbekistan is nice but Kirgistan is real gem
DeleteMountains, lakes, whild horses...
it's still undiscovered for most tourist
I am wondering why easyjet doesn’t lauch flights from BEG to Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Paris Orly maybe Funchal
ReplyDeleteThey can't keep from Belgrade the flights to Rome, Berlin and Basel...
DeleteOnly Orly of those airports is base, so that's one of the main reasons.
DeleteIdemo dalje...
ReplyDeletemid-haul flight is 3-6h. I am interested if there is any African destination, except Morocco, that AirSerbia could start and bring connecting passengers. or in middle east Bahrein, or oman something that is not served already from belgrade and woudl provide potential code-share agreemnts. Ps Just wondering and dreaming
ReplyDeleteHow about Tripoli?
ReplyDeleteNo way. Still very dangerous.
DeleteThey should start/resume flights to Beirut, Tel Aviv, Baku, Yerevan, New Delhi. Flights from India and Caucasus can feed the US routes. Looking forward to new destinations from Belgrade.
ReplyDelete+100
DeleteWhat about Hurghada? I believe Air Cairo flies the route with a terrible schedule. I'm sure Air Serbia would be more attractive and they can offer tons of connections. Have they ever flown this route in the past?
ReplyDeleteYou are very wrong. Air Cairo schedule is perfectly fit. With 6:30 flight you have whole first day at the beach and whole last day because you fly back to Belgrade at 2am. That is one whole extra day more than paid nights at the hotel. JU charters are not convenient at all. You arrive to hotel at evening, paying one night for nothing.
DeleteJudging by recent statements by Marek and Rupic, next year we can expect another major expansion, with all regional, short haul, mid haul and long haul routes. They mentioned at least dozen destinations in "consideration", but we will se if they are able to provide enough hardware for that.
ReplyDeleteOh the infamous "we will see if they are able" punchline! Yes we have seen they were able to switch from 737 to Airbus, they were able to add longhaul, they were able to add about 40 destinations in two years, they were able to have enough pilots for the growth, they were able to add Embraers, grow widebodies from 1 to 4 etc...
DeleteYou already know the answer to your question: yes, they will be able to provide enough hardware for that.
Fingers crossed! About 15 more destinations are needed in 2026 to reach 100 for 2027
DeleteI would have thought Vietnam would be a high priority. Their economy is booming and a huge tourist destination. Amazing country should have close ties with Serbia
ReplyDeleteWhy close ties to Serbia?
DeleteAgree about Vietnam...SGN or HAN would be great destination,
Delete