Commenting on its operations, Mr Marek noted, “We have over eighty scheduled destinations and our network has reached its critical mass. We are already reaching 40% share in transfer passengers with opportunity to surpass 50% in the near future”. He added, “Air Serbia already offers seventeen destinations within former Yugoslavia and has aspirations to expand more to the wider Balkan region, including Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia”. He noted the airline expects to handle 4.7 million passengers this year, up by some 260.000 travellers on 2024.
The Serbian carrier is also close to making a decision on building its own Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facilities. It currently outsources these activities to the likes of Turkish Technic, Atitech in Naples, Aero Technic BG in Sofia and Jat Tehnika in Belgrade. “We have a high focus on the MRO project this year. We are concentrating on going more deeply into that direction. Most likely, we will decide within the next three months to build our hangar for line and base maintenance. The MRO project will most likely happen in partnership, however, there are many options still on the table”, Mr Marek said. The project would include additional aircraft parking positions at the airport, while the hangar should have the ability to accommodate jets from the airline’s A330 fleet.
Where could the hangar be built?
ReplyDeleteProbably next to JAT Tehnika hangar.
DeleteNo, that position is for DHL. I guess JU hangar can be next to GoS hangar.
DeleteThat's going to be a very busy apron there in front of the Jat Tehnika, Prince aviation, GoS and DHL hangar.
DeleteAnd what is happening with the DHL project, we havent heard anything for a long time?
DeleteExpanding into Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia is a logical move. The region is still underserved.
ReplyDeleteThey already fly to Budapest. What else is there in Hungary worth flying to?
DeleteDebrecen, Kosice, Bratislava, Cluj, Jasi, Burgas
DeleteBucharest slot times are horrible, Cluj, Iasi are good options for sure, even maybe Constanta in summer
DeleteIt is still strange how they didn't capitalize on the Ukranian market which is being server from nearby airports like Iasi and Rzeszow. I hope that they are finally looking in this direction and Košice could also be a good option.
DeleteWith a really good network in Italy, I'm wondering why they are not more aggressive towards Romania. Same could be said for Albania, which is opening a new airport in Vlora soon.
Regarding Hungary, maybe Balaton could work with a few flights during the summer, maybe Debrecen too, but I doubt since Debrecen only has some flights by Lufthansa and Wizz.
OMG Balaton! 😂
DeleteBalaton is a great area to spend vacation. It serves all needs. Family, Beach, Fun, but also Gourmet with wine tasting etc
DeleteIt's interesting Poland wasn't mentioned. KRK does quite well, boosting it perhaps to daily and adding Wroclaw or Katowice should work well.
DeleteIt's surprising they haven't added more routes into Romania seeing the proximity and JU's network. Cluj should have long been in their network. Morning and evening flights into OTP would be great to see for better connectivity of Romania with the region as well as capturing pax for the intercontinental routes.
Kosice is easily reached on the ATR, BTS I don't see happening due to the proximity of VIE. Better to just focus on VIE where OS has more frequencies and capacity.
Debrecen is served by LH from MUC and lately on the A321 so that could be an interesting route for JU to try out on the ATR.
In Bulgaria, VAR would make more sense to focus on. Midday flights would compliment the midnight flights and offer better connectivity. BOJ demand seems mostly seasonal charters coming from the UK where JU has minimal presence so there is no point for now.
Brac
DeleteOr even Brač might work.
DeleteBTS I see as a political route, since close connections between two countries
Delete^ some of you are really obsessed with politics and see everything in regards with politics. BTS was mentioned as a potential route long before current administration in Slovakia came to power and is seen primairly as a potential transfer destination. JU has a large network now and can fill seats from Heraklion to Shanghai with transfers.
Delete@11:46 BTS won't work because of VIE but apparently serving KRK and KTW simultaneously is a great idea.
Delete@15:19
DeleteI never said BTS wouldn't work. What I did say is that that capacity would be better used on VIE where OS has the advantage. If JU is going to expand on their smaller "waves" outside of the current 4 (10 am and 8 pm) and go after longer routes, those extra frequencies in their current network are needed. BTS would currently add little value other than destination count which is why Kosice makes more sense.
Katowice on the other hand is a much larger airport with alot of demand for routes already in JU's network. Poland is a huge market and secondary destinations in Poland would be a great way to compete with LO without stepping in the BEG WAW route again where it didn't do well last time. KRK does well for JU and I see Katowice complimenting the route while increasing presence in Poland.
That’s kind a studid conclusion. By that means, BTS should not exist, because it’s close to VIE.
DeleteBTS barely exists. 31 million pax at VIE compared to 1.5 million at BTS. Not a single legacy flies to BTS, unlike Kosice which has OS, LOT and LX. Travel time from VIE to Bratislava is 40 minutes.
DeleteBTS will be much better choice than KSC and perfect for any airline with hub connection. KSC has already Austrian, LOT, Swiss. In KSC they need more low costs routes. BTS has no connection to hub. Any airline can win jackpot serving BTS. Its 5th richest region in European Union with more than 10% of foreign workers.
DeleteAir Serbia has been doing a great job growing its network.
ReplyDeleteSurprising that Air Serbia is only now thinking of building its own facility.
ReplyDeleteMRO facility is of much higher importance than new HQ and building a hotel.
DeleteFew years ago they stated they'd look into MRO more seriously once their fleet gets around or exceeds 30 planes, so it doesn't sound like the thought just popped in their head this morning.
DeleteWe know he is thinking about staff. The issue is that he is not moving inti ACTIONS!
DeleteJat Tecknika is useless but we wait and wait for a replacement...
In-house MRO and pilot training should be cornerstone of their strategy and future actions.
DeleteThose are core activities for an airline company and shouldn't be outsourced.
+1 last anon
DeleteThey talked about possible partnership for MRO. Experienced partner could help with getting MRO operations started, certifications and initial staffing issues.
DeleteSounds good
ReplyDeleteInteresting development. Will this be in cooperation with Turkish Technic since there was talk about that previously?
ReplyDeleteWhat is the issue with Jat Tehnika?
ReplyDeleteNumerous. They don't have enough workers, they are focusing all their resources in passenger to cargo conversion of planes, in 2021 they even lost their European permit to service planes although they regained it later.
DeleteIt is taking them ages to do maintenance on JU planes.
DeleteJat tehnika has a shortage of people, they work a lot during a session, many workers are unhappy with life work balance, incentives , local management, lack of good and expirenced engineers
DeleteIt it really interesting to see how will AS find all the people they need on a short market like Serbia
If they are ready to pay good, they will manage to find people, but considering expirence of their own employees, i doubt that happen
^ Exactly!
Delete@09:36 They can just simply take them from JAT tehnika, plus it's not that Serbia is short on workers. It more that the pay here is not competitive and the management is useless. We do bave a lot of good workers that might consider moving back to Serbia for a comparative salary.
DeleteActually Serbia is desperately short of workers, especially in areas such as maintenance, technicians etc and a lot of of the workforce are being imported.
DeleteWell done.
ReplyDeleteAny updates on the FF program?
They haven't talked about that for a couple of years now.
DeleteThey talked about it a few month ago.
DeleteDid they announce anything?
DeleteOr was it again "we are thinking about it" etc. etc.
Well you could look it up considering you so confidently claimed they haven't said anything about it in years. They said they are creating their own FF, it will be more of a lifesfyle program, not just based on flying, and that they are buying technology for it.
DeleteThey ran a job ad about a year ago for FF program manager - with requirements not including any aviation knowlegde, rather experience with “marketing loyalty programs”. In the local market, I am really afraid to know who they got in the end.
DeleteSo what other planes they are getting? We can expect 3 A320s and 2 E195 but then we have another 2 A319s leaving.
ReplyDeleteMore widebodies?
DeleteThey have 29 aircraft right now, if we add two E95 and three A320 minus two A319, that‘s exactly 32.
DeleteMore widebodies? For who? They have 4 who are quite unemployed.
Delete@anin 10:45 Maybe in your psychosis. They are very employed. Will have more flights and got ywo more long haul destinations in past 6 months. Miami is coming, and Toronto seasional. So, cry, cry every day... AS is growing and it is better and better, despite your wishes.. Lol
Delete@14:10
DeleteAre these new longhaul destinations in the room with us?
When flights start?
Will the new A330s be parked and waiting for one or one and a half years before flying these new routes?
^ they should have hired you from the zama academy to tell them what to do. You are clearly an expert.
DeleteThey should reconsider establishing quality AirSerbia Catering.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteOr they can start serving fresh sandwiches instead of 4-5 days old.
DeleteIt is interesting how this all works in cycles ... one destroys everything that is well established (Tehnika, Catering, Support) then another one starts rebuilding all that and consolidating. All MBA new style managers! )))
ReplyDeleteAir Serbia size, needs and capabilities have chamged a lot in two decades since Jat Tehnika decided to split ways with Jat.
DeleteI guess having 2 different MROs is better than 1. Still funny though.
DeleteProbably Harvard trained too, in reality they are overrated like many US things
DeleteBravo Air Serbia 🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸
ReplyDeleteJat Tehnika was so great, they are finally making Jat Tehnika 2.
ReplyDeleteIt went downhill when it was privatized.
DeleteThroughout entire ex-yu everything went downhill when privatized because privatization was classical theft where subjects were literally given as gift to domestic "enterpreneurs" and mafiosos tied with ruling party or to foreign corportations without any guarantees and for fat percentage bribe
Delete+1000
Delete@10:52 Jat Tehnika was privatized in 2006.
Delete^ that is incorrect. Jat Tehnika was privatized in 2017. Until then it was a state run company.
DeleteJat Tehnika was split from Jat and is considered founded on 1 January 2006:
DeleteThe Government of Serbia, which wholly owns Jat Airways, separated Jat Tehnika from the parent company in 2006 to end the dispute.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jat_Tehnika
^ ok, so you proved to yourself it was state owned in 2006. The company was privatized in 2017. If you are unsure what ptivatization means, you can google it.
DeleteDownfall started since 2005/2006. Privatization that happened in 2019 was just the last chapter, but not the cause of the downfall.
DeleteThis is good news. Hope all of it materializes.
ReplyDeleteCould Jat Tehnika survive without business from JU? Especially since they would also probably poach a lot of Jat Tehnika's staff.
ReplyDeleteGood point
DeleteUnfortunate decision by ex-management Kondic to outsource maintenance and catering to cover massive losses from the boutique airline concept they thought up with the government, which was obviously completely the wrong choice for this type of market.
ReplyDeleteThe New Wings of Europe concept was such a failure!
DeleteIt was Etihad thinking the Gulf legacy model can work anywhere.
DeleteKondic thought Belgrade market was similar to Dubai, Doha or Singapore.
DeleteAnd he convinced the state to go along with his grand plan...
Exactly
DeleteThose concepts were pushed by Etihad, as most management decisions and positions were filled by their appointment. Many facts are still around for anyone to try to falsify this truth.
DeleteWhat Kondic did is apply honest effort and strong will to turn around small airline with no brand appeal, no interest from other airlines and investors, less passengers than OU, airline with horrible service and 30 year old shrinking fleet into modern, growing, regional airline with improved image and service. He delivered on those near-impossible goals. His goals were not to turn profit right away. Tons of evidence exist if you forgot those facts.
New MRO, hotel and HQ. Pretty good
ReplyDeleteWhen will construction of hq and hotel begin?
DeleteShould be next month
DeleteOh great!
DeleteI just hope Air Serbia will stop depending on these awful whities of Getjet!
ReplyDeleteJudging from this news, does not seem that will phase out those wet leases any time soon
Delete2 wet lease A320's are used year round, 4 in the summer. Perhaps 2 dry leases will replace 2 wet leases while the 3rd will be used for growth, leaving 2 wet leases for the summer season.
DeleteMuch needed.
ReplyDeleteMarek is thinking 10 years in to the future! Great man with a precise vision.
ReplyDelete🤣
DeleteConsidering the amount of time it s taking to service their aircraft and MRO would be a good idea. What is happening to YU-ARC? Is it still in maintenance?
ReplyDeleteIt's in Rome since 10 March.
DeleteAlso YU-ATB under maintenance since 4 April in Naples.
DeleteATB was just before that in Naples for several weeks. It was out of schedule for weeks two times since November when it was introduced...
DeleteSadly this is a another case of "you pay peanuts, you buy monkeys"
Delete^ pehaps it could be that you have no clue why it went for maintenance twice and that it actually has to do with the fact that they are replacing parts that have incomplete documentation because the previous operator did not care less and neither did the EU. But when a non EU operator is operating in the EU they are much much much more interested in random documentation checks and sanctions.
DeleteIdemo dalje...
ReplyDeleteOY-GDB is currently heading towards Poland, I guess it's time to say goodbye.
ReplyDeleteMarathon Airlines graveyard
Delete