Air Serbia launched flights between Belgrade and Tbilisi yesterday, marking its entry into the Georgian market and establishing the first scheduled air service between the two capitals. The new route also represents the airline’s debut in the Caucasus region, where it is currently exploring the potential for further expansion. Services will operate three times per week this summer using the 144-seat Airbus A319 aircraft, with the 118-seat Embraer E195 set to take over during the winter season. The inaugural flight from Belgrade recorded a load factor of over 90%, while the return service from Tbilisi to the Serbian capital was fully booked.
Commenting on the launch, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said, “The introduction of the Tbilisi route was preceded by a detailed market analysis, which showed that the number of passengers between Serbia and Georgia has been steadily increasing. On the other hand, passengers travelling from Europe and North America to Georgia now have the possibility to reach the Caucasus faster and more easily via Belgrade. The launch of a direct air service in the month that also marks thirty years of diplomatic relations between Serbia and Georgia will further strengthen the connection between the two countries”.
The Serbian Minister for Internal and Foreign Trade, Jagoda Lazarević, added, “I am honoured to be in Tbilisi to personally celebrate this important occasion. As the Minister for Internal and Foreign Trade, visiting this beautiful country holds great significance. I’m proud to note that the inaugural flight was full, which reflects strong interest and potential. We anticipate growing numbers of tourists travelling between Serbia and Georgia, and this new connection will undoubtedly enhance business relations between our two countries".
Air Serbia has confirmed it is looking at other points in the region. A service to Baku has long been discussed between Serbian and Azeri authorities, while Yerevan offers a similar passenger structure to Tbilisi. Mr Marek recently told EX-YU Aviation News that the carrier would focus on destinations such as the Georgian capital which can further feed its network of flights. "Tbilisi is primarily maintained as a transfer route, and we’re pleased with its performance so far. We’re shifting our focus toward destinations like Tbilisi, where there’s a critical mass to support both connectivity and network development. These are markets where adding flights can also help feed the broader network”, Mr Marek said.
Good to see and smart to use E195 in winter.
ReplyDeleteI hope they add more E95s into their fleet. It's a plane they desperately need.
Delete2 more are coming this winter! I hope they also add some of their own E190s will be good for other destinations!
DeleteI really hope they use those additional E95s to boost their European network next summer. If I were JU I would start by boosting BER to double daily E95/90 next summer. Like that they would considerably improve their connectivity which would help in supporting routes such as TBS etc.
DeleteBER, AMS, BCN, FCO, MXP should all be increased to two daily.
DeleteCDG to triple
DeleteWhich is more likely? EVN or GYD?
ReplyDeleteEVN.
DeleteEVN or BUS
DeleteEVN would be cash cow because of Russian ciizens.
DeleteI think there are more Russians in Azerbeijan
DeleteGood loads
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to Georgia and Serbia, love from your southern neighbours♥️
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteBravo Air Serbia 🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸
ReplyDeleteNow you are talking! There is great interes in Slo for this destination
ReplyDeleteYes? How do you know? Hopefully these transfers from LJU to TBS result in JU adding more flights or capacity to LJU
DeleteSome agents I know told me there is quite a lot of touristic interest for Caucasus and Tbilsi in particular
DeleteBravo JU!
ReplyDeleteAnyone know to where most passengers are connecting to/from Tbilisi on this route?
ReplyDeleteI'm also interested in this one
DeleteWestern Europe, from what I remember there was BCN, CDG, BLQ, KRK, VIE. Around 40 transfers on the way back.
DeleteNot bad at all! Thank you.
DeleteI wonder if there will be transfers from/to the US. Don't know if there is a Georgian diaspora in US and where they are concentrated.
DeleteYou are welcome. From what I know JU is targeting transfers to the US. The market is definitely there.
DeleteYesterday was such a pleasant afternoon at BEG. First we had the A332 from PVG land, followed by the A319 from TBS and then another A330 from ORD. All within 10 minutes.
We've definitely come a long way.
You are right. We have come a long way.
DeleteWell deserved.
@Nemjee I was always wondering how do you know where someone's going unless you work at the airport and they directly connect on one booking? Obviously you can't talk to all of the passengers and many will have separate bookings
DeleteWe've definitely come a long way indeed.
Delete@anon 10:15
DeleteWhy would "many" passengers have separate bookings? Those are extremely risky (in case something goes wrong with the first flight, you can easily miss the second one) and I know very few people who take such risks nowadays.
Because many people want to save money or just can't connect in time. Let's say I go from Mostar to Lisbon via Belgrade and the Wizz Air slot from Belgrade suits me while the one from Air Serbia doesn't (not a real case so don't fact check this). I make 2 bookings in that case. You'd also be surprised how many people go to seemingly random places for leisure or work, be it the Caucasus, North Africa, Baltics. Some commenters make it seem like the only type of passengers are diaspora people travelling from the US via big hubs in Europe.
DeleteI know this is very unimportant but it was interesting to see that YU-APA now no longer carries the name "Miki Manojlevic" I wonder if Air Serbia will take off the names on the other planes. Or maybe put the names on newer planes like for example incoming Embraers or A320s.
ReplyDeleteContract expired and thank God they are not renewing them. It was such a stupid idea in the first place.
DeleteWho signed that contract?
DeleteContract with who??
DeleteWith Miki, they all paid for it.
DeleteClearly there’s demand. Would love to see them follow up with Baku or even Yerevan next
ReplyDeleteLet’s just hope they keep the fares reasonable.
ReplyDeleteThis makes me hopeful they’ll finally launch Belgrade–Baku. There’s been talk for years, but it never materialized.
ReplyDeleteIs there sufficient demand?
DeleteThere’re very strong business ties between Serbia and Azerbaijan. Baku is also a fascinating destination and, without visa requirements too, worth a visit. This flight would certainly put both countries on each others tourist maps. Azerbaijan is also the most affluent of the three Caucasus destinations and locals love to travel.
DeleteGeorgia is richer than Azerbaijan tho it is richer than Armenia
DeleteNot sure what you mean to say?
DeleteI think he meant to say that Georgia is richer than both Azerbaijan and Armenia.
DeleteAzerbeijan have oil, Georgia not, as far as I know. And Azerbeijan have a strong support from Turkey and other Islamic countries, so that’s not the case
DeleteLove it!
ReplyDeleteSmart network thinking by Air Serbia.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteFrom a network planning perspective, this is a clever move by Air Serbia. The Caucasus has strong outbound demand and few good one-stop options to Europe
DeleteAny chance of a seasonal Belgrade–Batumi route? :D
ReplyDeleteNot going to happen
DeleteModern comfortable train runs daily between Tbilisi and Batumi. I’d suggest a few days in Tbilisi and then off to the coast for another few days.
DeleteGood to know route opening was a result of detailed market analysis. That eliminates political interference as a reason for opening, or even worse not opening, new serices.
ReplyDeleteI think it's obvious by now that politics plays no role in JU route development. Otherwise we would have loss making flights to Cairo, Baku, Buenos Aires (Zoka's announcement), Kazakhstan etc.
DeleteIs it obvious? I can't prove it in court but I can show you an example based on news published here in the past so you can draw own conclusion.
DeleteSo you came here with the hope to write it's a political route. Then you read the CEO's statement and then it kind of ruined your concept for today?
DeleteWhat`s the problem with Buenos Aires? They could start flying domestic flights within Argentina, now when it`s been liberalized by president Milei D)
DeleteThe more Embraers they get, the more routes in the region they can open. That said, I think Baku will be next.
ReplyDeleteThe market is opening up and I am sure Air Serbia can get relatively young E195s and also E190s to add to their fleet will be perfect additions. And hopefully in a few years we can start to see hopefully E2s coming in.
DeleteGreat route
ReplyDeleteI must say I'm really impressed by Air Serbia's network growth this year. Shanghai, Mykonos, Florence, Tbilisi, Alghero and soon Geneva. Not bad at all
ReplyDeleteAnd that will be just for the first half of the year. We will see for winter :)
DeleteI don't think they will add some new routes in winter unless some opportunty arises.
DeletePlus two more charter routes
DeleteJU always opens new routes in the winter.
DeleteMiami for sure. Maybe one or two middle east routes.
DeleteNeither Miami or Middle East routes will start this winter. It is quiet obvious from this interview.
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2025/06/air-serbia-outlines-europe-middle-east.html
And only a crazy person would start flights to the Middle East in this situation.
Booked on this flight in August. Really looking forward to it.
ReplyDeleteFascinating country with so much to see and the local cuisine is out of this world. Central parts of Tbilisi are more European looking than some Central European cities. And far more affordable.
Delete+1
DeleteWhat is that obsession with looking European?
DeleteWhy going to a foreign country expecting it to be like at home?
What makes you think there is an obsession with looking European?
DeleteIt is called comparison. Comparing Tbilisi with some region (Central Europe) we are familiar with. The was no implication of what it better or what is worse. Don't criticize just for the sake of criticizing.
Will be curious to see how this performs in winter. Demand to/from the Caucasus tends to drop significantly outside the summer season.
ReplyDeleteThat is why they are using Embraer in winter.
DeleteI’ll believe this is a long term route when I see it running through the off season with decent loads. For now, cautiously optimistic.
DeleteNice looking crew ;)
ReplyDeleteIndeed
DeleteTbilisi is an underrated gem. Hopefully this route brings more tourists from the Balkans who haven’t discovered Georgia yet. Also, although Georgia is not so expensive especially with accomodation, prices will come down even more with the conflict in the Middle East. Georgia is really popular with tourists from countries like UAE, Qatar, Saudi. But because of the conflict and extended flight times to Tbilisi there have been huge cancellations in accomodation in the last 2 days.
ReplyDeleteI work in freight forwarding and hope this opens up belly cargo options too. There’s growing demand for exports from Georgia to EU markets.
ReplyDeleteDo you think it would be worth while for Air Serbia to have a dedicated cargo plane?
DeleteNot sure why they didn’t launch Yerevan first. Armenia has larger diaspora flows and similar connectivity issues.
ReplyDeleteThey're both very similar as the article says. My guess is that TBS is given a priority because of two main reasons:
Delete- Visa-free regime between Georgia and EU (Armenia is still waiting on EU's decision)
- More Russian expats in Georgia as well as proximity to Russia
However, I'm sure EVN will be launched very soon. Armenians are all over the world, JU could definitely catch some transfer market for themselves.
Oh wow, was not aware Armenians need visas for EU.
DeleteGlad to see the load factors, considering there's been next to no marketing campaign in Georgia to introduce the brand to the public. For example, when BA relaunched the LHR-TBS link, a significant marketing effort was made, and BA is arguably a more recognisable brand. Anyway, I think that as brand awareness grows, we could see this route being boosted to a higher frequency.
ReplyDeleteIf flight was sold out, they obviously did something.
DeleteThere is sufficient demand, no need to do much
DeleteYeah it was full with three weekly. With more marketing there would be more flights.
DeleteFist few flights are always full, not just in JU case, it's general phenomenon. Need to wait and see how it performs later...
DeleteGood addition
ReplyDeleteWould there be any logic of starting Minsk flights with E195s?
ReplyDeleteSerbia has imposed sanctions onto Belarus. So no, it would make no sense.
DeleteNot even TK flies there
DeleteMinsk is really isolated from Europe, GYD is the only way to reach it without going to UAE or Russia
DeleteThat’s a big shame
Delete@ 12:28
DeleteSanctions refer to that Ryan flight interception with Belarus dissident on board?
Yes, and since then no Belarus aircraft can enter Serbian airspace, and no Serbian aircraft can enter Belarus airspace.
DeleteI think it's time Serbia lifts their sanctions on Belarus.
DeleteThis might be good for JU but horrible for the country
DeleteAir Serbia never flies to Minsk, so there was not real sanctions from Serbia. Belavia has ban to fly to Europa. So no more flight to BEG.
DeleteJU could fly to Minsk as they fly to Russia. But would have trouble from EU.
^ no need for misinformation. Serbia has introduced actual sanctions on Belatus which forbids flights to and from the country.
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2021/06/serbia-montenegro-introduce-belarus.html
Deletehttps://europeanwesternbalkans.com/2022/05/20/serbia-has-aligned-with-eu-sanctions-on-belarus-over-the-war-in-ukraine/
Idemo dalje...
ReplyDeleteAmazing news!! I hope that the next one will be in Armenia for few reasons. Arzabeijan airline have done huge boom to european market they started to foy to all major destinations in Europe, whicle Armenia does not have this, plus the Armenian diaspora is huge in Italy, France and the US
ReplyDeleteIs it possible to travel between Armenia and Arzabeijan?
DeleteNo
DeleteCaucus and Baltics should be JU’s next European expansion targets
ReplyDeleteLOT just placed an order for A220s replacing their whole Embraer Fleet. I wonder if Air Serbia can snag some of their E195s or maybe E190s or maybe even some E170s and in the future E2s. The market will be very open for Air Serbia i hope they take advantage of it.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. Would be great opportunity for JU.
DeleteHow old are the LOT e-birds?
LOT's first A220 deliveries don't begin until end of 2027. More than 2 years away.
DeleteDidn’t they make a deal not long ago to take E2 jets? I wonder what caused this sudden change.
DeleteClassic example of political pressure. And they still like to call it free market
Delete