Air Serbia expects to handle over 4.7 million passengers this year and anticipates for its revenue to surpass 700 million euros achieved in 2024. Speaking to the “SeeNews portal”, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said, “After transporting 4.44 million passengers in 2024, this year we aim to exceed the historical record of 1987, when JAT carried 4.531.000 passengers. We believe that if we continue at the current pace, we will transport more than 4.7 million passengers and achieve a record number of flights. When it comes to revenue, we expect further growth thanks to the increasing interest of travellers from the whole region, the improvement of our offer and the expansion of the network of destinations".
During the January - May period, the Serbian flag carrier welcomed over 1.529.000 passengers onboard its aircraft, representing an increase of 6% on last year. In May alone it handled over 329.000 travellers, up 5.4% on the back of a 1.5% increase in capacity, indicating improved loads on its flights. “A broad network of destinations is one of our greatest assets, encouraging passengers to choose Air Serbia for their travels”, Mr Marek said. He added, “Although we are only halfway through the year, we can already say that 2025 has started extremely dynamically and successfully. We are particularly encouraged by the fact that an increasing number of travellers from the entire region recognise Air Serbia as a reliable travel partner and choose our company as their first choice".
Questioned about the growing competition from low cost carriers in the region, Mr Marek explained that Air Serbia's strategy is focused on creating sustainable value for passengers. "Our goal is not to be the cheapest, but to be the best choice - one that offers a balance between price and quality. It is this combination that makes us a recognisable and desirable company in an increasingly competitive market", he said, adding that he believes healthy competition contributes to the development of the entire market.
Bravo Air Serbia 🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸
ReplyDeleteIf they had 5.4% passenger growth but just 1.5 capacity growth it means they improved their loads.
ReplyDeleteEureka!
DeleteAverage network load around 80% now.
DeleteWhat is the actual Net profit?
ReplyDeleteLast year was over 40 million.
DeleteNet profit or EBITDA?
DeleteEBITDA over 50 million, net profit 41.3 million.
DeleteThank you
DeleteSo why can't fix the cabins of their aircraft?
ReplyDeleteMaybe they are investing in other things like getting more aircraft and expanding the route network. Which you would complain about if they didn't. If there is an issue in the cabin, it gets fixed on the next maintenance cycle.
DeleteNo need to get triggered it was a legitimate question
DeleteI gave you a very legitimate answer. Sorry if it does not suit you. Maybe try to write something about their sandwiches. To make you feel good for today.
DeleteSo no answer then why they leave the cabins of their aircraft in such a state.
DeleteOne would think that a company that had 40 million Euro profit last year would be able to afford a couple of technicians fixing broken seats, window shades, toilet cabinets or afford to do a p[roper cleaning of seats and carpets.
^ example of a person who generalizes the entire company and bases their entire opinion based on a review he read 48 hours ago.
DeleteThe person told you where they invested their money and I agree with him that you would be the first to complain if they didn't grow their fleet and network.
DeleteWhat state?? Last week flew with JU and cabin was perfectly fine
DeleteFlew with them to MAD in March and in LIS in June. Nothing wrong with the cabins. So I guess the comment was just trolling.
DeleteSome “experts “ are becoming very uncomfortable with some old chewing gum at the carpet or seat that can not incline on a 2-hour route, because they can not complain about late flights any more. Well done Air Serbia!
Delete@13:03 You must be joking about NO LATE flights ... just look at the airport site and check out the delays they have, not a single JU flight almost departs/ lands in Belgrade on time. Yesterday Palermo was late 90+ minutes, Moscow PM flight over two hours late...etc. just to name a few.
DeleteYes and all other European airlines are on time because there isn't severe congestion in European airspace for starters. Give me a break.
DeleteSituatiuon with JU / BEG delays this summer is incomparably better than last 2 years.
DeleteA330 and A319 cabins are a problem. A few years ago Marek announced a cabin refit but as usual nothing happened in the end.
DeleteGood work
ReplyDeleteAnticipation and work are not the same.
Delete^ when you are clinging to any straw because your narrative isn't working...
DeleteNothing wrong with my narrative. Congratulating someone on planning something is just silly.
DeleteWasn't someone having a panic attack just yesterday here that they are not growing to their personal desired levels?
ReplyDeleteNope
DeleteJune 2024 growth was 4%, June 2025 growth can't be more than 2.1%. Since 2023, June growth can't be higher than 6.2% combined. There isn't enough additional planes incoming to ensure June 2026 growth of more than couple of %. Three year June growth will likely be under 10% combined. Everything is fine.
DeleteI'm sirprised you didn't estimate their June 2027 growth too.
DeleteSmart anonymous from 9:18 knows number of passengers in June 2025 before the end of June.
DeleteWhen the hate is faster than logic...
DeleteIt's not hate, just the opposite. Would love to see Air Serbia go back to 10% or more annual growth. It's harder to read emotions from the text because written communication lacks facial expressions, tone of voice and body language, which are essential for understanding emotional nuances. Without these cues, text can be easily misinterpreted, leading to wrong conclusions.
DeleteBut you are writing about June passenger growth without the month even being over or knowing the passenger numbers.
DeletePretty good year so far. New routes, including new long haul route, extra planes including A330 and Embraer, significantly improved OTP. Things are going in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteBe careful. You are going to trigger some people.
DeleteUnfortunately yesterday they had their first operational meltdown
Delete@9.09 told you ;)
DeleteA lot better than just pretty good. I would say great results!! JU has a great business model and good people to implement it! Congrats JU from Zg!
DeleteAt the end of March, Air Serbia mentioned evaluating Toronto. What has been achieved in the past three months on that project?
ReplyDeleteI'm surr they are obligated to give you an update.
DeleteYou obviously didn't follow. They said it could launch as summer seasonal. So it could launch next year.
DeleteMIA and YYZ will likely launch next summer.
DeleteAre MIA and YYZ service launches independent? At one point there was a mention YYZ would be launched if MIA gets launched, but it's not clear what is the dependency?
DeleteIt was mentioned in the March 31 feature article.
DeleteMinistry of foreign affairs said the other day after holding talks with some Florida officials again that route will be lunched in summer 2026 and not winter 25/26 for JU operational reasons.
DeleteI am sure they are well aware how bad is Canadian economy as well why their airports can only attract high loads to India Pakistan and Philippines. They are going to focus their long haul operation where people can afford to travel and where airport fees are 3x less then in Canada. One more important info, relationship between Canada regime and Serbia hardly exist. Their visa sistem is completely corrupt and you can see that for yourself where Canada is the only country where average processing time is currently over 228 days. There is no way JU is interested to fly to such a country in my opinion.
DeleteFrom Europe, Finnair and Iberia are the latest two airlines with upcoming services to Toronto. They are also not interested in your opinion, it seems.
DeleteJU is doing fine at the moment..They much lowered amount of delays as well...Prices are fine comparing to LCC, most of the times they are better option than W5, for instance...Problem is long haul...MIA they should push for this winter, because Miami season is winter/spring, and not summer..But for incoming winter they should add one more route, apart of Miami..Also one mid eastern or north african route
DeleteAnon @10:27 Finnair was probably studying the possibility of reintroducing the route, did their evaluation, compared positives and negatives and then officially announced the launch. Tickets are already on sale for flights starting in May 2026 so passengers can plan ahead. We can all learn something from this example.
Delete^ Two different airlines serving completely different markets. What works for Finnaair, does not necesserily work for Air Serbia. So I don't exactly get what are you going to learn from them, other that their flights are heavily delayed and cancelled for the past 10 days due to a pilot strike.
DeleteSummer is off season for Miami. So winter is high season, experts
Delete"Our goal is not to be the cheapest, but to be the best choice - one that offers a balance between price and quality. It is this combination that makes us a recognisable and desirable company in an increasingly competitive market"
ReplyDeleteWhat is recognizable about JU? Plazma cookies?
A stale sandwich
Delete^ you are insufferable
DeleteNothing that makes them stanf out.
DeleteBest airline in ex yu, the only one flying from the region to 4 widebody destinations, beside TK the only one flying to Russia, wide network, huge number of new destinations in short period of time...
Delete"Best airline in ex yu" is not much of an achievement.
DeleteJust the other day they were named 3rd best regional airline in Eastern Europe, 19th best in Europe and in top 100 airlines in the world, as voted by the public.
DeleteSkytrax is a joke.
DeleteOk, whatever suits you.
DeleteI know you will hardly accept, but growing passenger numbers every month means that he’s telling the truth
DeleteHaving a big network does not mean you offer smth that makes you stand out in terms in quality of service. JU is a normal airline, that takes you from A to B. Its no Qatar or Emirates which compete in quality also. You can hardly fly twice with JU and be in a aircraft which same cabin configurations, seats, livery…
DeleteWell nobody ever said JU is QR or EK and it is illusional to expect it.
DeleteJU is above average company as it significantly grew in the country that is based on living standard close to the European bottom with less than 7 million passengers, out of EU, landlocked.
Despite all of it you can still fly directly from Belgrade to 89 JU destinations no matter if you sit on blue or grey seats.
The OP quoted the words of the CEO where he is saying JU "is not to be the cheapest, but to be the best choice - one that offers a balance between price and quality." What quality does JU offer to make it "recognisable and desirable"? We are not talking about the network. We know that in exyu, JU is the biggest in all terms, but very few choose JU because it is JU. People just want to get from A to B.
DeleteThe fact that every year JU has more and more passengers surely shows that more and more people choose JU as it provides them something other companies don't including network. It is immature thinking that flying to SVO these years is not an JU advantage.
DeleteBesides wide network JU also provides comparing to W6 (as second biggest carrier in BEG) landing to LHR and not to LTN, landing to CDG and not to BVA, landing to FCO and not to CIA.
Also comparing to W6 or U2 it offers the possibility of having cabin lugagge FOC, to older travellers not knowing foreign languages it offers the possibility of communication in their own Serbian language that is not possible on LH, KL or A3 flights.
In case of flight cancellation W6 would leave you to arrange your own way to return home, but JU would book for you any possible way to return home even on competitor's airline.
So, when CEO mentioned that they are not the cheapest I am sure he ment on LCC companies that should have cheaper prices and the information provided above show you what are the differencies in JU favor.
OK, I'll go ahead and say what makes JU recognizable and desirable for me. a) I can pack a reasonably sized carry-on and not use a nonius to make sure it fits some BS measuring device installed by the airline to bully its paying customers. Mind us, US based airlines allow 22 kgs in carry-on bags. Meanwhile LH made me move all my belongings into a plastic laundry bag and then check my empty standard-size roll-aboard - when I was traveling with a full-fare child with no cabin baggage of his own. b) I can fly nonstop long-haul. For me, time is money. When you travel with a toddler, time is also sanity. c) Rows are not as squeezed, and food is definitely better than the LH "sustainable" cardboard-taste empty pasta with nothing. Enough for me
DeleteI'm wondering if we will get some new JU routes this winter.
ReplyDeleteThey said they are considering extending some seasonal routes into winter.
DeleteMiami?
DeleteMinistry of foreign affairs said the other day after holding talks with some Florida officials again that route will be launched in summer 2026 and not winter 25/26 for JU operational reasons.
DeleteWe are still waiting for their expansion in the region, as they mentioned many times before. Looking forward to seeing new routes in the region!
DeleteWhen it comes to the wider region I see the possibilities for new routes only in Romania.
DeleteRomania and Poland have great chances to fuel future growth. Both are well-underserved.
DeleteThere are possibilities to start flying to many seasonal and regional destinations year round, such as Dubrovnik, Zadar, Split, Rijeka, Varna, Ohrid, as well as growing in Romania (Cluj-Napoca, Iasi, Craiova) and new airport in Vlore when open.
DeleteVlora in Albania is under going certification, with the first test flight lending in March, if I remember it correctly. JU would be very wise to launch it as soon as operational.
DeleteIt could be a seasonal route at best
DeleteSPU, ZAD, RJK and DBV during the winter surely not.
DeleteChisinau would be a good destination for transfers.
DeleteThey said next is Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia. But Poland would be great also
DeleteSlovakia does not sound promising to me. Bratislava is way too close to Vienna and Kosice is quite small airport where traffic is mostly seasonal.
DeleteI see that Krakow is now operated with A319 instead of AT72, which means that demand is growing. It's time to add extra Polish destinations.
DeleteAnd I remember people saying how their numbers would decline because of the protests lol
ReplyDeleteI remember some "experts" saying that after last year delays nobody will fly with them anymore 🤣
DeleteThere are always these predictions yet everytime facts prove these people wrong. Remember when they were saying JU would not launch JFK, then that it would be suspended, discontinued...
DeleteYes, there were also those saying the A330 would not arrive. There is always something. When they are proven wrong, they just change it. Now the biggest problem is the quality of the complimentary sandwich. Some people are having real issues with it here.
Delete@09:40
DeleteOr like "Having a spare A330 is megaglupost kajgot". And then the ARD incident happened...
It is unbelievable how reality always proves him wrong.
DeleteHopefully we start seeing more Embraers come in with E195/190s coming in they will have the profit for it! Also hope to see them make some type of deal with the airport to expand to have more gates and space. Air Serbia continues to grow its network and fleet. Airport expansion is needed otherwise Air Serbia wont be able to grow as much.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThey should get 2 E195s by the end of the year. Hopefully more next.
Delete@9:34. Yes which is great the more embraers the better! But they need more the embraers are doing wonders for them and also getting some E190s will be perfect too for some lower demand routes. All in all the more embraers the better! The market is very open right now.
DeleteHopefully 4 more until next summer season
Delete+1
DeleteBest plane for JU for both the future expansion and retaining of so called "thin" routes on a year round basis. Just love them!
Airport (capacity and permitting) and aircraft availability seem to place the biggest strain on Air Serbia's expansions. For the past two years they have been consolidating, rightfully so, but with the EXPO coming up the company should focus on achieving 10-15% growth again. Miami is coming up for sure, but many opportunities are in the Caucusus, MENA but also in Romania, Moldova, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland. I hope Embraers open up many more thinner routes for JU.
ReplyDeleteThey need to start a airport expansion ASAP otherwise they wont have time to build the airport before EXPO starts and be able to fit the needs to Air Serbia and its growth. They need to get into talks with expanding the airport as soon as they can!!
DeleteEXPO like the one coming is not going to be a huge traffic generator.
DeleteEither way Belgrade Airport continues to grow and so does Air Serbia the expansion is needed no matter what. The Airport cannot stay like this it will stop growth both for Belgrade and Air Serbia. The expansion needs to come soon
DeleteThey have been silent on the expansion of Pier C for quite some time. I hope it is built and features gates on both sides, the walk is becoming a burden. The travelators installed are almost useless, very short and rarely working.
DeleteHungary? Where else can JU expand beyond BUD?
DeleteDebrecen only.
DeleteI think they should quickly start expanding B gates (parking places). Expanding C gates will give 3-4 new bridges, which won’t solve the problem. It would be better to make 10-15 new parking positions for EXPO at least.
Last small Expo in Astana 2017 generated 4 million visitors, so we can expect only more in Belgrade. And most of them will arrive by plane
Let's be realistic.
DeleteAir Serbia does not fly from Belgrade to Nis that has annually 350.000 pax without PSO and they will fly to Debrecen in another country that has 300.000 pax.
Surely not.
Debrecen would never work, they're still trying to position themselves in BUD. They went from 17x weekly last year to this years 13x weekly, and it seems that one weekly departure is also cut, which makes it 12 weekly in total during top season.
DeleteJU spreading "bubble gum" of a second Hungary route could be just a decoy?
DeleteDebrecen had over 600000 pax in 2019. Smart move for YU
DeleteObviously they did not recover.
DeleteWhich company is YU?
Which airport is that on the photo? Is it Tivat?
ReplyDeleteIt is :)
DeleteWas not aware you could get so close up to the plane. Nice :)
DeleteYes, I was exactly on that place where the photo was taken.
DeleteEven pilot waved to us :)
Great to see a regional airline performing this well. Air Serbia is definitely becoming more relevant across the Balkans.
ReplyDeleteNice numbers, but I’d like to see more expansion beyond Europe.
ReplyDeleteStill waiting for better connections from Niš.
ReplyDeleteMaybe from 2026 as new subsidies should be provided.
DeleteI would also like to see that. They could for sure start 2/3 new routes. They could start routes that were covered by Ryanair before…
DeleteRevenue doesn’t mean anything and is insignificant.
ReplyDeleteAt the end profit is what is more important and much more relevant.
And in 2024 they had a net profit of 41 million euros.
DeleteIdemo dalje...
ReplyDelete