Qatar Airways plans to reduce its operations between Doha and both Zagreb and Belgrade during the upcoming winter season, which runs from October 26 to March 28 of next year. In Zagreb, the Oneworld member intends to maintain daily flights, down from ten weekly rotations during the previous winter. Between January and May, the airline handled 43,257 passengers on the Zagreb route, recording an average cabin load factor of 87.6%.
In Belgrade, Qatar Airways will maintain its daily service for most of the upcoming winter season, mirroring last year’s schedule. However, between February 17 and March 17, the carrier will reduce frequencies to five weekly flights, down from daily operations. The cut is part of a broader reduction across the airline’s European network during this period, affecting services to Berlin, Edinburgh, Geneva, Hamburg, Lisbon, London Gatwick, Oslo, Venice, Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen, Paris, Moscow and Zurich. Over the past week alone, Qatar Airways has removed 174 weekly departures from Doha between February 17 and March 17. In 2024, the airline carried 103.766 passengers on its Belgrade route, with an average annual cabin load factor of 90.1%. Data for 2025 is not yet available.
Qatar Airways will operate Airbus A320 aircraft on both routes throughout the upcoming winter season. The carrier continues to face a shortage of narrow-body aircraft, a consequence of its 2021 dispute with Airbus, which led the European manufacturer to cancel an order for fifty A321neo jets. Although the two parties reached a settlement in 2023 and most of the cancelled orders were reinstated, deliveries of the A321neos, set to form the backbone of Qatar Airways’ future narrow-body fleet, have been delayed and are now scheduled to begin later next year.
Woopsie
ReplyDeleteBad sign....
ReplyDeleteWould be good to read article first.
Deleterediculous, they are reducing frequencies in the bussiest period of the year for South-East Asian region, where majority of Qatar pax flys from Belgrade during winter months..
DeleteFZ will send them a gift to thank them.
ReplyDeleteGood opportunity for EY to enter the market.
ReplyDeleteAir Serbia please
DeleteCroatia airlines
Delete^ both would be good
DeleteReduction in BEG isn't thatt much really. One month.
ReplyDeleteI think they have to be careful because of flydubai, Turkish Airlines and China Southern. They risk becoming irrelevant in Belgrade.
DeleteThey are becoming irrelevant not only in Belgrade, but in Zagreb as well. Last years they are stagnating and reducing while Turkish introduce 3rd daily service, FlyDubai is daily and now has more capacity than Qatar, which was not the case ever before.
DeleteNot to mention Sarajevo and Skopje.
Turkish is their main competitor in most transfer routes. While booking my Australian tickets the choice was between Qatar or Turkish. Turkish had better time for me and 500 lower return ticket with one extra stop.
DeleteIf QR had better time of departure for me I would have chosen them. They lack double daily for transfers.
I think they are gearing up and making room to launch SKP in winter
ReplyDeleteLOL
DeleteI think they are not.
DeleteTwice daily on A350.
DeleteA350 to large, maybe A321 lux cabin
DeleteTheir former CEO screwed them over by getting into a petty fight with Airbus. They lost their delivery slot for new narrow body Airbus planes and now don’t have enough of them.
ReplyDeleteThat's why he was fired over night.
DeleteWhere is he now?
DeleteEnjoying his millions without having to put on a suit and go to the office every morning.
DeleteYou will see this happening from more and more airlines with all aircraft deliveries delayed from both Boeing and Airbus.
ReplyDeleteThose loads are really good for a route like this!
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThere go hopes for a LJU route...
ReplyDeleteThere is more hope that EY will start LJU, not having presence in near vicinity and receiving more and more narrowbodies.
DeleteThere were some kafič rumors that EY will start LJU.
DeleteI am sure EY is going in LJU and not with A321 but with B787-9
DeleteEY would have started LJU if Fraport had answered their "calls".
DeleteI'm sure Fraport has caller id and when they see an Abu Dhabi number calling them they do not answer the phone!
DeleteTh stuff you can read here...
I also heard Ryanair would station 10 aircraft and open 50 new routes from LJU if only Ms Stapel would just pick up the phone.
DeleteYess a350 to LJU! 😁😁
DeleteQatar reduces a lot to places that never see narrowbodies.
ReplyDeleteThats a sign of bad performance.
I guess they will have to do a makeover like Etihad did the last years..
The expert has spoken. Without any insight into financial performance, loads, etc.
DeleteThe airline has record profit and record high load factor. In fact, they have never been doing better. Decreasing Zagreb and Belgrade is not a sign of financial turbmoil. In that case, Lufthansa, which constantly cuts winter flights would be bankrupt by now.
DeleteThey are using narrowbodies as an excuse, but in reality they have 9 B737-8 they do not use (either parked or wet-leased to IndiGo).
ReplyDeleteThey have sold the 737 MAXs to Indigo. They never wanted those planes in the first place. The aircraft were operated by S7 Airlines pilots.
DeleteThey have not sold them to Indigo, they are wet leased. Where are you reading this random stuff?
DeleteThe MAXs in their fleet make no sense. They only ever used the aircraft on very short flights in the Middle East like Abu Dhabi. They only took these former S7 planes as an alternative to the cancelled Airbus order. And they have cancelled all orders for MAX 10s. The aircraft have a regional European cabin, no PTVs, and they would never use them on any European service.
DeleteStop spreading nonsenses. Their B737-8 have proper business class, configuration is C8Y168.
DeleteI'm not spreading anything and I have actually flown this aircraft to Abu Dhabi twice. Yes, it is 2-2 configuration but it has a European recline and no PTVs. I suggest you fly their A320s to see what they look like and how they compare. So no, not a single B737 MAX 8 has ever been sent to a European destination.
DeleteOkay, then they should use those MAX aircraft on very short flights in the Gulf region instead of A320s. Those A320s can then fly to Europe.
DeleteThe MAX 8 are out of the QR fleet. They are currently wet leased but will be completely removed (sold) at the end of the year as per QR CEO. So they won't be used on any QR route anymore.
DeleteMaybe they will upgrade the aircraft types on some of these routes. Let’s see.
ReplyDeleteWould be nice to see their B788s regularly in BEG and ZAG.
DeleteShame about BEG but at least it is just for 1 month. With China Southern now flying to BEG, as well as Air Serbia with more flights to China and Turkish now flying to Sydney and Melbourne, this year should have been the one they upped their game.
ReplyDeleteQatar Airways has always been a reliable option for connecting to the Middle East and beyond. I hope these changes won't affect ticket prices too much. QR fares have got more expensive after covid but they are still more sensible than some other options.
ReplyDeleteTime for Emirates to move in :D
ReplyDeleteOr Etihad with their massive expansion plans.
DeleteWas Doha-Zagreb 14 weekly before the pandemic or was it 10 weekly?
ReplyDeleteIt was 14 weekly year round.
DeleteWith possibility for one daily frequency to be switched for Dreamliner. Source: QR office ZAG. Then, pLandemic came...
DeleteA daily reminder how our region is irrelevant for major airlines and very handy to cut flights if needed
ReplyDeleteAre BER, EDI, GVA, HAM, LIS, LGW, OSL, VCE, SAW, CDG, SVO and ZRH also irrelevant?
DeleteThese are one month seasonal cuts. They are increasing frequnecies on other destinations in other parts of the world.
Delete^ same as BEG which is a one month cut in total.
DeleteIs BUD also insignificant since they are replacing the B787 with the A320?
DeleteThings will get better with the arrival of the A321neos.
ReplyDeleteDid you get your info from kafic?!
Delete^ what?
Delete@9.57 The A321neos are replacing A320 aircraft. Since both Belgrade and Zagreb are operated by A320 they will certainly be replaced by the A321neo. QR has 40 A321neos on order which start arriving next year. They have 27 A320s currently in the fleet.
DeleteNot good :(
ReplyDeleteFleet issues
ReplyDeleteI think its a management issues. With Wizz withdrawn, they should have increased frequencies, if they have any idea how to run aviation business. Instead, they are cutting all around Europe. If they have fleet issues, they could have buy, lease or wet lease planes on time. But actually, they have management issues
Delete@ anon 10:43
DeleteI don't think QR and Wizz are for the same type of passengers. FZ on the other hand is and it reacted promptly.
FZ is “hybrid “ type of company, but actually it is just feeder for Emirates. In EXYU, they do the same as QR
DeleteActually they both feed each other, FZ feeds EK and EK feeds FZ, I dont see any difference.
DeleteI hope they reconsider these reductions if demand stays strong.
ReplyDeleteWhy are they cutting flights when the load factors are so high? It's already hard to find affordable and convenient connections.
ReplyDeleteAt least Belgrade keeps daily flights for most of the winter.
ReplyDeleteZagreb needs more competition in the Gulf segment. Qatar is clearly not interested in expanding here despite good numbers.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteWhy isn’t Qatar using larger aircraft temporarily to compensate for fewer flights? Surely there’s demand to fill a widebody once or twice a week at least.
ReplyDeleteBecause they have more high yielding routes. And using a widebody once per week creates operational issues esprcially with crew. Neither BEG or ZAG are turnaround destinations for them
DeleteDoesn't the crew operating DOH-ZAG sleep in Zagreb, I know that flydubai crew do
DeleteThey do. Both in ZAG and BEG. That's what the poster said, these are not turnaround destinations for crew.
DeleteWell, it's time for JU to step up into winter long haul charters. Turkish also has engine issues and fewer flights to region, Qatar is not growing in ex-Yu (even opposite), Wizz Abu Dhabi collapsed. Let's start with some Maldives, Zanzi or Thai destination...
ReplyDeleteTourist agencies should start that fire. But they are unable to cooperate among themselves
DeleteIf they managed to cooperate on so many Greek, Turkish, Egyptian, Tunisian charters I'm sure they can do it for 1 weekly Zanzibar too.
DeleteWell they can't.
DeleteMaybe they won't but sure they can.
DeleteSerbian tour operators wont introduce a new market because that would involve them lifting a finger and getting off their ass to do something. So they are happy with Egypt and Greece which involves minimum to no work.
DeleteWho cares about Serbian tour agencies...People go without agency..No charters, just seasonal regular routes..Air Serbia figured that out, that's why they're doing well on all tourist routes..Malaga - only 10-15 pax over agencies, out of 180 A320, every time the same..The rest are solo travelers, families, Russians..
DeleteCan we get Air Serbia please 🙏
ReplyDeleteTo Doha?
DeleteThey have shortage of airplanes everywhere. They took planes from Oman Air even.
ReplyDeleteOman Air, Virgin Australia and Cathay Pacific
DeleteNot surprised. Qatar Airways has been trimming capacity across Europe for months now. The aircraft shortage is clearly biting hard.
ReplyDeleteStill happy they’re keeping daily flights to Zagreb. 87.6% load factor is pretty solid. Would’ve been worse if they cut it more.
ReplyDeleteHow many flights do they have to Sofia and Bucharest>
ReplyDeleteSofia is just 4x weekly year round
DeleteBucharest is 10x weekly in summer, 14x weekly in winter
They used to have a much bigger presence in the region before Covid. They flew to Skopje, year round to Sarajevo, they even flew to Thessaloniki and were planning to introduce Dubrovnik in 2020.
ReplyDeleteThey had a much bigger narrow body fleet then including A319s and A321s. They retired all A321s during Covid. For example A321 was used on all BEG flights. They have also retired many A320s.
DeleteThe A319s were all business class
Deletehttps://www.airteamimages.com/airbus-a319_a7-cja_qatar-airways_265381
They used it on a few niche routes like Yangon and Zanzibar, as well as some regional route ocassionally like Kuwait, Muscat and Baghadad but it also freed up A320s.
Very interesting. When did they retire the A319?
Delete2021. And they got rid of the A321s in 2022.
DeleteThank you.
DeleteShould be noted they retired 18 A320 during Covid.
DeleteThey’re still one of the best options to Asia from the region.
ReplyDeleteWould love to see a widebodies on these routes some day.
ReplyDeleteIt's more than just deffered delivery of new aircraft. QR's former management made some very poor decisions during covid in terms of fleet planning. Instead of keeping aircraft or at least storing them, they immedietely started getting rid of them. They could have kept on the A321s for a few more years. They did the same with wide body aircraft but the situation with them was so critical that they had to bring most of them out of retirement, like the A330s, which are now almost 17 years old.
ReplyDeleteQR has launched very few new routes since the end of Covid and the reason is a lack of planes.