Pisa is a good start

Alicante too.

Grenoble as well. They are definitely looking towards leisure routes.

I wasn't expecting Grrenoble to be so successful.

Well we really don't know if it is successful or not. So far they have operated just 2 flights.

Apparently the Grenoble route bookings are excellent.

Let's wait and see actual numbers. I hope it is.

Because Grenoble was launched as a deal with tour agencies after Air Serbia terminated Lyon.

I haven't seen Grenoble in any offer by any Serbian tour operator. It also has nothing to do with JU. Has more to do with W6 getting a great deal to operate between two VINCI airports.

Bravo Vinci!

You could not see Grenoble, offer is for ski vacation with airline transfer to France.

I have not seen a single agency offer a ski vacation in France.

Well, I've seen a dozen.

Give me an example of one.

Ski vacations are not offered by major tourist agencies which focus mainly to city breaks / summer holidays (such as Wayout, Kontiki, Odeon, Argus, Big Blue, Jungle etc)... they are organized mostly by agencies which focus primarily on ski trips and/or student low budget trips, such as Ski Bus, Ski Maniacs, Ski Fun... Rapsody, Puzzle etc... there are also a whole bunch of others not listed here which started recently offering ski packages...

I wod love to see them launch OTP, NAP, ATH, BTS, BUD, VCE, MXP, BER, PMI and a few more seasonal destination in Spain and France.

Except for Bratislava, Air Serbia flies to all these destinations. Why duplicate routes?

In order to give us passengers more choice in schedules and lower prices.

I thought it was in order to make profit

That is why W6 management would want to fly. I'm talking why travelers want them to fly these routes.

Not true, I am a traveller and I want W6 to fly to unserved destinations.

I am a real traveler and I want more options and lower prices. W6 provides that.

As long as you want to travel to W6 destinations already served by JU, while many passengers want to fly to brand new destinations.

I'm sure JU will oblige them and launch these currently unserved destinations.
JU in fact with ATRs and E-jets is much better equipped to launch new markets than W6 who is transitioning fast to an all A321neo fleet with 239 seats.

Air Serbia innovates with trailblazing destinations like Alghero, Palermo, Tenerife and Tromso. Wizz is merely a copycat with Alghero and Palermo. Would not be surprised if Wizz continue to be a laggard by copying Tenerife as a next destination.

Fingers crossed that they do. Hopefully PMI as well. ❤️🇪🇸

+1

In my opinion it is time to grow even more from INI.

JU should respond to Wizz by launching flights from Nis to Basel, Bratislava/Vienna,] Dortmund and Memmingen. An E-jet is ideal.

+1

Lisbon yes, but Copenhagen no as they fly to nearby Malmo.

I wonder how? They changed 2 A320 to 2 A321, but that is still not enough for 32% growth

They added a fourth aircraft to their BEG base so you will have to think harder.

They could possibly add capacity to BEG by using aircraft based in other bases.

They do for LTN and LCA

With summer season flying being mostly on the 2nd half of the year and even modest addition in capacity then I can see W6 having 1.9 million passengers in Serbia for 2026.

What do you guys think?

They have lost most battles against JU.

JU has proved it can compete effectively against competition. Still don't understand why some people think JU should be the one to fly every single route from BEG.

@09:07
With 1.6 million pax and an 85-88% load factor they do not seem to be losing.

They have discontinued many routes that they have gone head to head against Air Serbia.

Is there a way for the government to move them to INI and leave BEG just for JU and other national carriers?

Yes there is.
Luckily, we're not in USSR so that won't happen.

@09:22 are you actually serious? Please don't tell me are....crazyness

^ I don't see many LCCs flying out of LHR. They use LTN and STN instead.
We could have a similar strategy with BEG and INI.

You are comparing BEG with LHR?

On a smaller scale it can be done.

But STN is in London, dude, and Niš, as you may know, is not actually in Belgrade.

9:17

Which routes JU discountinued while W6 is still operating?

@Anon 11:11
INI could be marketed as Belgrade South!
People for a cheaper price are willing to fly to CRL instead of BRUS, STN instead of LHR +GTW, Hahn instead of Frankfurt, Bergamo instead of Milan etc.

You're all acting like you don't know that VINCI will protect BEG at all costs, even from INI.

Yes because airlines are really lining up to launch flights to Nis...

@9:38 what a silly idea that would be. Clearly you havent got a clue the damage that would cause Serbia

Marketing INI as Belgrade South would be ridiculous. And I say that as someone from Nis

Both INI and BEG should grow, and they will grow the most with LCCs. The idea that BEG should not have LCCs because LHR doesn't have them is just stupid.

Agree with you totally. Serbia has primary city dependency and that is unavoidable. Restricting BG wouldnt force airlines to Niš rather they'd just give up. Growing Niš naturally and strongly is great for Serbia whilst encourging a healthy and diverse network from BG.

The Netherlands tried separating administratively the low cost from legacy and the EU found it illigal. Poland is talking about it every now and then, but has no idea how to do it to be legal.
In any case, nowadays the difference between low cost and legacy is - in most cases - more a matter of history and - not always anymore - a free hand luggage. Maybe a glass of water and a candy...

It will lead to an increase in overall traffic AND it will take away passengers who otherwise have flown JU.
Hopefully JU can respond with competitive ticket prices.

JU has competitive pricing on many routes for a legacy carrier. Especially on routes where they compete against Wizz Air.

JU grew by 2.9% last year so it shows that their growth slowed down once W6 started growing. People only switched to JU because there was no W6. Once W6 returned so did their loyal customers

Yes, I truly trust your expert opinion and analysis.

Well, Marek himself said that in the second half of the year thy faced pressure on costs.
If they do not manage to lower them they will face difficulties in competing with W6.

JU can not compete on price with Wizz's 238 seat A321neos.
What they can do however is:
· Fly to main airports more frequently, places like ZRH, GVA, ATH, LHR, AMS, FRA, CPH, ARN, BRU, VIE and yes MUC.
· Relaunch key middle Eastern destinations that bilaterals don't allow W6 to fly like TLV, CAI and BEY.
· Have a proper corporate travel department to increase its share in that lucrative segment of the market.
· Launch finally a frequent flyer program that is attractive and rewarding so that travelers would chose to fly JU over W6 even it is moderately more expensive.

Anon 10:54
+1000
I would add more frequencies to LHR and MXP too.
Also sooner rather than later standardize the cabins and hopefully offer charging ports and WiFi.
WiFi could be free for FF card holders and business travelers.
For the rest have a charge of 5€. In 2026 I think a good number of people would give that to serf the internet, especially on flights longer than 1-2 hours. It could work as product differentiator and a modest extra revenue stream.

Excellent posts these two!
You can't fight Wizz on price. You can be a better legacy carrier and have people choose you for your offerings and network.

Agree 100% with the above strategy!

You can't increase LHR due to slot restrictions.

@14:03
You can get more slots either by buying them (price depends on time of the day) or you can lease them from another airline who doesn't want to use them.

Yes and they are the most expensive slots in the world. And why wohld they do it? Have you done an analysis of their passenger numbers, load factors, yields and cargo on this route?

Have you?

I haven't. Unlike you I am not demanding they buy or lease the most expensive slots in the world just because.

UK is the biggest aviation market in Europe and London is the biggest aviation destination in the world.
Slots are in high demand because of this.

Right. So 0 data but you demand Air Serbia buy the most expensive slots in the world because 9 weekly flights is insufficient for you personally.

You got Madrid and Alicante last year

Yes, and they ended two other routes.

+1

They could. Would be a super short flight for them from BG however, not likely to command the kind of ancillary extras such a luggage that they might have with a leisure destination.

They seem to manage just fine on the SKP-LJU route.

^ Different passenger structure. Most of JU's passengers to/from LJU are transfers, which won't switch to Wizz. Number of students from Serbia in Slovenia is smaller than from Macedonia. Also many people from Serbia drive to Slovenia, which is not so easy from Macedonia.

Ljubljana - Tirana should be first

+1

@09:42 beacuse the drive from Skopje to Ljubljana is a very long one. Also the route services neighbouring regions very usefully too.

And they managed it with 3-4 aircraft.

The fleet utilization of LCCs is truly amazing!

Fingers crossed!

Well, my guess is that they will stop flying Bratislava - Niš, as the prices for that route were the only ones sold at a bargain for the past hollidays.

BEG BTS is a no brainer at least daily. I am really wondering what are they waiting for so long

From this year you’ll be able to use train between Belgrade and Vienna, why using airplane ?

^ Maybe because you do not want to spend so many hours on a train.

@11:25 despite being an improvement the train is hardly TGV speeds and we are yet to see how the border process will be.

Train ticket price will be surely higher than W6 tickets

Agree. At least during summer.

Using some capacity from other bases and a 5th A321 in BEG they could reach 2 million passengers a year!

They could even reach with current capacity

"During the first half of 2026, Wizz Air has so far put 1.047.714 seats on sale, representing an increase of 32.4% year-on-year, or an additional 256.417 seats."

Good point, that's very impressive!

I guess that's entirely up to lack of IQ.

Less choice with 103 destinations??? Smfh

^ As you clearly understand he is talking about choice of carrier, choice of ticket prices ans choice of schedule.
So why are you trying to change his valid point?

Don't get this strategy of launching all the same routes as Air Serbia.

Wizz said: creating new travel opportunities to some of Italy’s most popular regions

In fact, both new Wizz destinations were already available from Belgrade, so Wizz did not create any new travel opportunity for BEG passengers. Most of the new Wizz destinations in recent times are really just to same or nearby airports already served from Belgrade, so official announcement would be more accurate by saying "we are really just going after Air Serbia in Belgrade"

Exactly. They wait for JU to develop the market and then launch the same routes.

@Anonymous 13:22
That's where most of the demand is.
And since they are not allowed to fly outside the EU/UK from BEG there aren't really many destinations left that are not already served by JU.
That said I would like for them to launch MAN and EDI.

I would love to see KEF.

Of course they can fly outside the EU from BG, i think you miswrote this.

@13:49 If they are after demand, they would have launched those 2 destinations before Air Serbia. But they didn't, they are not after demand but Air Serbia.

@14.05 they can't launch routes outside of ECAA and UK.

@14:04. Maybe a future wizzair route but distant future.

^ above comment was meant for 14.05.

I was talking about Alghero and Palermo, Wizz just annonced them. Both in the EU, both already served by Air Serbia

@Anonymous 14:05
They can not fly from BEG to Montenegro, SKP, TIA, EVN, TBS, TLV, Turkey or North Africa.

@2nd Anon 14:05
No airline launches routes because they hate some other airline. They launch them when they think they can make money on such route AND when they have enough spare capacity. The latter for W6 was a major issue for years because of the Pratt engines and it still hasn't been fully resolved.

Airlines don't "hate" other airlines, they want marketshare for themselves, they want competitors weakened or out. There has been numerous example of airlines around the world doing exactly that by launching same or almost same routes after competitors, sometimes when that is not really profitable. Say what you want but for me it's 100% clear that Wizz is going after Air Serbia at BEG.

Why would Wizz fly from BEG to either EDI or MAN when they have no other routes from these airports?

That would be good. And also Dublin could work.

Lol

@15:55 they dont fly to Dublin at all, let alone from Serbia...get a grip

Taking into account the difference in capacity of W6 flying 3w with A321s vs JU probably flying Ejets with the odd A319-320 I think W6 will have around 70%+ of each routes capacity.

How big is diaspora in Alghero?

I would love to see them launch NAP and VEN.

They better launch Trieste, Genoa or Turin, instead of chasing JU’s developed markets

Treviso would be better than Trieste as it would catch a bigger area

@17:28 nothing wrong with flying to places most people want to go.

Most people want to go to FRA, LHR, CDG, ZRH, AMS, ATH, nothing wrong going with airlines offering them.

So no problem then if even more airlines serve these popular destinations!
I'm hoping for a return of BA, AF and Sky Express or W6 launching ATH too. Preferably both of them.

@14:13 probably could fit on them in a large SUV