Air Serbia is expected to launch flights between Belgrade and Baku within the next eight months, according to the Serbia - Azerbaijan Business Forum held last week. The event brought together seventy companies from each country and emphasised the route’s potential significance for strengthening economic and industrial ties between the two nations. While Air Serbia has not commented directly on the matter, the carrier recently suggested that one of its upcoming destinations could be in the Caucasus, following the strong performance of its newly introduced service between Belgrade and Tbilisi. “It may be an indication that some of our next destinations will come from that region as well”, the airline’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said.
The head of the Azerbaijan - Serbia Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation, Nikola Selaković, said, “Most of Serbia’s neighbours already have nonstop flights to Azerbaijan, but there are none between Serbia and Azerbaijan. Air Serbia is open to cooperating with Azeri carriers on the route”. Air Serbia has indicated it plans to unveil several of its new routes for the 2026 summer season by late November or early December. The success of the recently launched Tbilisi service, along with its scheduling, which on certain days allows for extended turnaround times to optimise connectivity, could serve as a model for future Baku operations.
Discussions over establishing flights between the two countries have been ongoing for more than a decade. Initially, Azerbaijan’s flag carrier, AZAL, had expressed interest in launching operations to Belgrade and even considered acquiring a stake in Air Serbia’s predecessor, Jat Airways, as well as operating some of its US-bound flights via the Serbian capital. However, none of these initiatives materialised. Serbia and Azerbaijan maintain a visa-free regime, with Serbia being one of the few European countries allowing visa-free entry for Azerbaijani passport holders.
Good. Hope it materializes.
ReplyDeleteAny interesting things to do in Baku as a Serbian/European tourist?
DeleteIs the place worth visiting?
Definitely. I went there in 2024 and really liked it. The city centre is very manicured with beautiful buildings, parks, walkways right on the sea. The city has a good vibe and is very walkable. What surprised me the most is how nice and friendly the people are. I would like to go back.
Delete+1 its defiantly worth a visit and as said above, very manicured and monumental. I agree, the people are really nice. One tip, try to visit for Nowruz celebrations (next year its 20th March) which is really festive.
DeleteThe E195 can make it on this route right?
ReplyDeleteYes
DeleteYes.
DeleteThese flights are overdue. Hope it will be part of JU's summer expansion.
ReplyDeleteI was not aware we no longer need visa for Azerbaijan. Nice
ReplyDeleteYes but even before it was an evisa. It was just a formality. You fill out your name and surname and hotel address online and you automatically get the visa.
DeleteYes. I entered with an evisa and the border process was extremely fast and they were fast, polite and efficient. They take photographs and finger prints at Baku airport when entering like in many other countries nowadays.
DeleteInterestingly it remains impossible to cross any land borders into Azerbaijan which adds to the air of mystery about the place. As I understand its possible to exist by foot towards Georgia. It certainly wouldn't be a country I'd rush back to visit, but very much an interesting experience.
What you talking about?Russia and Iran are easy to drive to.
DeleteThe borders of Azerbaijan remain closed.
Deletehttps://oc-media.org/azerbaijan-extends-covid-land-border-closure-until-2026/
Delete@10:40
True dat. Not sure of the reasoning to close the land borders.
Delete🤦♀️
DeleteIndirect sanctions on Iran.
Anecdotally when I was in Baku i didn't hear people say one nice thing about Iran, and clearly the two countries have very hostile relations.
DeleteMakes sense.
ReplyDeleteWould be a nice addition
ReplyDeletegood connecting points for Russian transfers.
ReplyDeleteWhat about Yerevan?
ReplyDeleteMaybe they launch it too.
DeleteYerevan would be much more used by Russian diaspora in Serbia. hence it would make more sense for them and for JU for the profit.
DeleteDoes Russian diaspora normally fly to Yerevan?
DeleteДа.
DeleteWould be great if they coordinate with AZAL. Both sides could benefit. Lots of transfer potential via Belgrade to Europe and via Baku to Central Asia.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteIt would be nice to see AZAL operate to Belgrade instead.
DeleteBoth could feed each other’s networks nicely.
DeleteYerevan would make more sense.
ReplyDeleteWhy?
DeleteYerevan is significantly smaller than Baku however. Also Wizzair has a base in Yerevan flying to up to 16 routes. This make point to point flying to Europe somewhat easier than it is to Baku and JU will need a degree of transfer passengers to really make the route work.
Delete...and it also has bigger diaspora.
DeleteThey waited too long for Yerevan.
Perhaps. But they've only just had the ability to expand into the southern Caucasus with their route to Tbilisi which has clearly been successful, and is by far the most accessible city in the region. I have a huge soft spot for Yerevan (the food is amazing!) so if Baku works perhaps they can it also. Certainly the whole region has room for growth
DeleteFinally we are speaking about real destinations and not Ex-Yu or Western Europe.
DeleteI don't know if it's real or not but Yerevan service for sure will not surpass Podgorica. It may be no "real destination" but it brings real profit.
DeleteTrue but FR and W6 greatly improving connectivity with direct flights to Europe will reduce connections for JU in BEG.
DeleteThe airline needs to diversify its source of connecting traffic.
Of course but that works for Yerevan/Baku too... It's good finding new sources of pax & income but the focus must always be on the key markets (exYu, Zurich, Paris, Russia...). It's more important to defend Podgorica than to conquer Caucasus and it should be easier.
DeleteHow exactly can you "defend Podgorica" by offering connection in BEG against direct flights on LCC fares? By undercutting their prices and lose money?
DeleteDiversification is the answer to that. Both Caucasus and the Middle East.
I agree, that's the best way. I only objected to the claim those are not "real destinations"...
DeleteSmart move considering the limited competition.
ReplyDeleteFlights to Baku would be good for cargo too. There’s growing trade between Serbia and Azerbaijan, not just tourism.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think we have a free trade regime between two countries
DeleteNice. This would be a nice route for JU. Baku is an interesting place with lots of scope for growth. Its significantly larger than Belgrade with an ever expanding middle class who like to go shopping and exploring. With the right prices JU will be able to attract Azeris who want a 'flavor of Europe' but who don't want hold Schengen visas.
ReplyDeleteFlavor of Europe. Petting Europe.....
DeleteExactly, Belgrade is closest and most European city they can visit without visas. Make sense to expect a lot of tourists
DeleteWhy the rest of the countries in Europe both E.U. and non-E.U. do not seem to welcome Azeri visitors?
DeleteReminds me the Iranians.
Despite oil wealth, Azerbaijan remains a generally poor country. I think that issues of irregular migration have been the largest issues in regards lack of Schengen access. I remember talking to several people there who really wanted to explore Europe and found the process of getting a visa very hard. Having this route will clearly see an increase in point to point tourism (heavily tilted towards Azeris visiting Serbia) which is positive.
Delete@11:07 Azerbaijan is very very secular. Far more so than Turkey or even parts of the former Yugoslavia. The bigger issue is rural poverty and the governing regime in Baku walking a tight-rope between several regional giants. The issues resulting from their conflict also hasn't helped in regards getting visa free access for either Azerbaijan or Armenia.
DeleteWould love to see it happen
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
ReplyDeleteBaku, Yerevan, Cisinau, Iasi, and Cluj are a very soon MUST for JU in order to feed their network.
ReplyDeleteP2P also important but feeding the network also must be a top priority
Yeah, have no idea why they ignore it.
DeleteOne of these ATR cities would be much better option than SPU in winter.
Deleteall but Cinsau..
Delete@12:29 I disagree totally.
DeleteThere have never been flights between Iasi and Cluj and Belgrade and both cities are very well connected with LCCs. For Air Serbia to enter this unknown market the during winter season would not be a good idea. Chișinău has some potential indeed but the other two i doubt. Whilst Split sees far fewer visitors in winter it nonetheless has a historic link with Belgrade that means people do actually need to move around this region. I'm not entirely sure that many residents of Iasi are climbing the walls to visit Belgrade, or vice-versa (despite it being a very lovely city indeed.)
ROM has next to no potential while Serbian passport holders experience problems entering Moldova. It would be better to just use that capacity elsewhere in the meantime.
DeleteGood to see Air Serbia looking beyond the usual European destinations. The Caucasus has been underserved from this region for years.
ReplyDeleteWell Air Serbia already serves most of the usual European routes that have some potential from BEG.
DeleteAlmost all, it's true. The only missing from the top tier are Munich, Dublin, Manchester. The last two obviously suffer due to visa regime while the first one remains sort of a mystery. However, some see low frequency and that should be a prime source of growth (i.e. Madrid was launched way too timidly and now Wizz entered the market).
DeleteIt flies 5 weekly to Madrid. How many do you want? There are limitations to the market. You can't have it double daily from BEG like some other markets can. Btw 98% of Wizz's routes from BEG are 2-3 weekly. Also, so what if Wizz Air started. They failed on most routes they went against JU the latest examples being Copenhagen and Lisbon.
DeleteI read the same explanation when it was 2pw and even before that when I had to travel to Timisoara to get to Madrid. Not so long ago. There's more to that market than you think.
Delete@10:52
DeleteMadrid was initially supposed to be flown daily by JU for summer 2025. They ended up pulling 2 pw for a total of 5 pw. Wizz ended up jumping in with 3 pw. This indicates that JU was undeserving the route.
BCN went from 0 flights to up to 3 flights a day just as a reminder. Spain was also largely unserved from BEG while now we have 6 routes.
Regarding competition with Wizz, they also have held up against JU in multiple other routes directly such as LCA, MLA, NCE, BCN, BER, GOT, HAM and indirectly CDG/BVA, LHR/LTN, AMS/EIN.
All of Wizz's recent head to heads have been a failure and MAD will turn out the same. People were also saying LIS was underserved but turns out it's not.
DeleteJU has never flown to BCN thrice daily.
DeleteJU and Wizz together serve BCN up to 3 times a day. BCN was also JU's first European destination to see regular widebody service.
DeleteRegarding LIS, Wizz might of had decent loads for JU's fleet rather than it's own. For example, if Wizz was carrying an average of 150 pax to LIS, this would be more pax than capacity for JU on both the E195 and A319 while only a 62% load factor for Wizz and 90 empty seats.
Nice move! Now just add Yerevan, and Air Serbia will have full coverage of the South Caucasus.
ReplyDeleteThe Caucasus is a smart market. It’s growing economically and under-served. Air Serbia is moving in the right direction.
DeleteMNV would also make sense.
DeleteMRV*
DeleteI agree, MRV might make a sensible route if they wanted to expand into Russia. JU served Krasnodar in the north western Caucasus until the Russian invasion put a stop to operations at that airport and that route.
DeleteI suspect they are quite happy with their current Russia operations however, but i agree MRV would a good candidate if they were looking to expand with Stavropol Krai (the administrative region around Mineralnye Vody Airport) having a population of almost 3 million.
Still waiting for them to bring back Beirut and Cairo...
ReplyDelete+1
Delete+100
DeleteVisa-free access is a big advantage here. Baku could attract Serbian tourists just like Tbilisi did this summer.
ReplyDeleteAre they really comparable as tourist destinations?
DeleteNot really. Baku is charming in many ways but the country overall holds far less of tourist 'draw' especially for Europeans. Its nice in parts. But in others quite grim.
DeleteBaku is booming economically. There are more business links than people realise. Good strategic route, even if it’s not a tourist hotspot.
ReplyDeleteLet’s see if it actually happens. They’ve mentioned Azerbaijan in the past too, and nothing came of it.
ReplyDeleteFlights could also attract connecting traffic from the Balkans to the Caucasus.
ReplyDeleteWhich European airlines fly to Baku ?
ReplyDeleteAegean LOT and Lufthansa
DeleteLO and LH must have a massive detour.
DeleteFRA-GYD is not really a massive detour.
DeleteAegean flies seasonal, but year-round from Yerevan
DeleteCant wait to see what are new JU routes in late Nov/early Dec! Hope they wont leave us waiting for so long. Baku and Yerevan would be nice additions in JU route map and sustainable feeders and business routes.
ReplyDeleteAt least six years back, from the first time I traveled to Caucasus, we are constantly hearing about "soon to come flights".... they should just stop with these political pushes, and just do it, to Tbilisi.
ReplyDeleteOh, they already did it. Ups, well - yeah - finally. :)
DeleteWhat feeding potential Baku has for Air Serbia connections to North America?
ReplyDeleteVery little.
DeleteInteresting point of view. There are direct flights to JFK, ORD and YYZ from Baku?
Delete@ 10:49 There are no flights to the US from Baku since 2019 because the route was a massive loss maker (as much as AZUL really worry about such things).
Deletesee: https://simpleflying.com/azerbaijan-airlines-cancels-us-flights/#:~:text=Credit:%20Azerbaijan%20Airlines%20economy%20class,returns%20to%20the%20United%20States.
With the right timings JU might be able to offer some ability for connections so the comment is a fair one.
I would assume that Turkish Airlines operate up to 5 times a day to Baku that many passengers connect via Istanbul to the US.
*AZAL sorry
DeleteLittle potential for transit traffic is more on schedules and frequencies rather than the lack of demand. None of the TBS-BEG flights arrive in time for JFK, PVG or ORD for example.
Delete@anon 14:41
DeleteWho would fly TBS-PVG via BEG?
@15:16 who said they would? One can fly direct to Beijing with AZAL three times weekly. For Shanghai one could connect via China Southern Airlines' flights to Ürümqi.
DeleteWho would fly from London, Rome, Frankfurt, Paris, New York or Vienna via BEG to China but people do. Is that supposed to be forbidden?
DeleteThe issue is that there minimal demand for travel from Baku to the US or to Canada.
DeleteAnd whatever demand exists is served almost entirely by TK via IST.
@15:36
DeleteDo you have numbers of people who actively fly from London to China via Belgrade? I can guarantee you that its a very very low one...
Nothing is forbidden in aviation, but some things just don't make much financial or practical sense.
Oh, why it makes sense via further Dubai or Istanbul but makes no sense via Belgrade, especially with the Moscow option out of the way and Warsaw requiring huge detours?
Delete@17:42
DeleteI don't have exact numbers but it happens. Regardless of it being low numbers or not it doesn't negate the fact that it happens. If it doesn't make sense to you personally, thats fine, travel the way you want.
Idemo dalje...
ReplyDelete