Air Serbia has recorded a strong early indicator for the upcoming summer season, selling 210.000 tickets during its week-long promotional fare campaign, which ended on Sunday. The figures point to increased outbound demand, with Mediterranean leisure markets dominating bookings. The carrier’s General Manager for Commercial and Strategy, Boško Rupić, noted that Larnaca has emerged as one of the most sought-after destinations. Close behind are Barcelona, Athens and Paris. Within the former Yugoslavia, Montenegro remains the most popular regional choice for the summer. The airline noted particularly strong interest for departures over the upcoming extended four-day weekend in Serbia, due to a national holiday, coinciding with week-long school holidays, with Cyprus and Spain again the top-performing markets.
Air Serbia plans to operate more than 100 destinations this summer, including both scheduled and charter services, as it adds seven new routes during this year, including Toronto. Although schedules remain subject to ongoing revisions, the carrier currently has some 3.88 million seats on sale on scheduled operations for the 2026 summer season, which runs from March 29 until October 24. The figure represents a 5.5% increase compared to summer 2025, when the airline offered 3.68 million seats, translating into an additional 200.000 seats year-on-year. The capacity growth reflects expectations of higher overall demand, as well as network densification on select routes.
Speaking to the public broadcaster “RTS”, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, noted that in addition to the seven new routes announced for this year, the carrier could add more. “We respond swiftly to evolving market conditions. Alicante was recently announced as a new destination, and should further opportunities arise, it is possible we will introduce another route during the course of the year”, Me Marek noted. On competition, he added, “Every success attracts competition, which is a natural part of the market. As long as everyone plays fair, competition is always welcome because it pushes us to become better”.


Air Serbia plans to operate more than 100 destinations this summer, including both scheduled and charter services - how far are we from having 100 scheduled destinations?
ReplyDeleteOne year
DeleteFrom Belgrade they have 87 regular routes.
DeleteFrom Nis they have 6 regular routes (not including Belgrade).
From Kraljevo they have 3 regular routes.
That sums up to 96 regular routes.
If you want number of destinations, that number is 89 as they fly to some destinations parallelly from Belgrade, Nis and Kraljevo.
I'm really surprised by the popularity of Cyprus.
ReplyDeleteCyprus has quietly become one of Air Serbia’s most reliable leisure markets.
DeleteI guess despite growth the LF isn't that great since they are not adding many new flights. I don't think they are adding any new flights this summer or maybe it's +1 which is still little.
DeleteWizz Air is also reducing LCA this summer.
If they loads are around 80% why would they add more flights when they can now operate with close to 100% load factor.
DeleteBecause they have competition which has a better schedule and better planes?
DeleteLast summer Wizz Air offered more seats to LCA than JU.
I just booked tickets to Larnaca yesterday for middle of March and I chose JU precisely because it had a better schedule on the days I was flying out. The fares were almost the same on both.
DeleteCyprus just topped their sales and the guy at @9.10 says how they are failing on this route. LOL. You can't make this up.
DeleteIsn't Cyprus an expensive destination? How can so many people and especially families afford a holiday there?
DeleteAnon 09.14
DeleteNo one said they are failing, stop making things up just because you can't read what's written
Last summer season, Air Serbia had 96.288 on its Larnaca service. Wizz Air had 71.386.
DeleteYes but Wizz added 8th weekly in June, not in the beginning of the summer season. You need to look at June, July, August and potentially September.
DeleteW6 can afford to offer better prices because they fly 239 seat A321s which have much lower CASK than JU's fleet.
DeleteIn June, July and August, Air Serbia had 57.666 seats, while Wizz Air had 42.814.
Delete@9.51 ok so what do you want them to do, discontinue flights because you said so? They are obviously doing well on the route and they are obviously satisfied with its performance. It is Wizz Air that is decreasing flights on this route, not JU. Get over it.
Delete@9.48 give it up. You wrote absolute bull, have been proven you wrote absolute bull so move on.
DeleteCyprus is definitely not expensive, it is on pair with Spain and beach in Ayia Napa and Protaras are prettiest in Europe. Also Serbia became so expensive that now everything else is cheap.
Delete^ True dat.
Delete@ anon 09:59
Delete+1
Not everywhere else is cheap but regarding most of Spain it is on pair with prices in Serbia. Not to mention Jamon price and taste vs Njeguška :-)
I know several people going to BCN this weekend. It's crazy how popular it has become.
ReplyDeleteWith a very good reason.
DeleteBarcelona is beautiful.
The demand is huge with a good reason and thanks to promo fares it is affordable for many, including myself.
DeleteIt didn't become, it was always popular. Geaturs knows that best...
Delete120.000 tickets in just three days shows there is real demand out of Belgrade.
ReplyDeletesummer loads should be very strong
DeleteShame they can only get 5.5% growth, obviously there is demand for more.
Delete200,000 extra seats is not small.
DeleteIt is when you take into consideration that's for the whole summer season, from April to November
DeleteAgain it is not small. You can think whatever you want.
DeleteAren't we told by expert that we are poor nation?
DeleteWhere does that demand come from?
Either JU is lying or so called expert.
Dude that comes out to be extra 33.000 passengers per summer month. It's not a lot as you claim it to be. It's less than they had like 2 years ago.
DeleteDude, you first need to learn the difference between capacity and passenger numbers.
DeleteThose are only scheduled seats. Far larger growth is expected on charters, which failed in summer 2025
Delete@ anon 09:42
DeleteWe are not rich either, but prices in Serbia vs almost everywhere else matters. People realize that only when travel abroad. That's why you suddenly have leisure market booming especially Spain.
Prices in Serbia are way too high comparted with the vast majority of the population's monthly income.
DeleteWhat else could they realistically add?
ReplyDeleteMunich
Delete+100!
DeleteHelsinki, Cairo, Manchester, Yerevan, Tel Aviv, Nantes, Genoa
DeleteNantes, Genoa???
DeleteMUC, MAN, TLV, CAI.
DeleteAnd certainly increase capacity on popular routes already served.
Oh not the lists of potential destinations again..
DeleteBCN from INI (maybe even Larnaca). I hope they'll not wait a decade for those no-brainer flights like BEG did.
Delete@ anon 09:51
Delete+100
INI can't have good LF with BTS (read VIE) with W6 and they hope to get BCN with JU.
DeleteReality check needed.
9:19
DeleteYes, JU doesn't fly nowhere near western France. Genoa is a beautiful city with large catchment area and beautiful coast towards French border. Also a big port with lot of cruiser passengers
Genoa is way too close to NCE where both JU and W6 fly. So, no need to fly there at all.
DeleteThe fact that JU does not fly anywhere close to western France does not mean they should fly there as probably the demand is way too low.
They even cancelled Lyon with much stronger diaspora, so I see no reason for opening Nantes only because someone looked at the map and noticed a part of Europe where JU does not fly to.
GOA is also only 200km far from Milano (JU) and Bergamo (W6) and 230 km far from Florence (JU).
Delete@10:17 +1. Just because there are airports dont mean there is sufficient demand. Not to be mean but for many French large parts of the Balkans remain quite exoitic. The country is also very well connected by train and very centralised which people often forget. Getting to Lyon from Paris is a piece of cake (and often quite cheap). Same with countless other cities.
Delete@10:23 also Genova is not really a mainline destination. Its a point to point LCC stronghold. I cant see it being a route they would make work.
DeleteIm surprised Cluj person hasnt listed it yet?
10:06 BEG has zero pax for BTS and many for BCN. But how's that connected? It's like saying Belgrade couldn't even sustain 2pw Lyon, why launching anything else anywhere. The logic?
DeleteAre you trying to play smart?
DeleteBTS is second airport for Vienna where JU and OS have huge number of flights from BEG.
BEG has no Lyon as it has GVA with 4-5 weekly flights.
And no, INI can't sustain BCN.
No, I was trying to point out how your logic is flawed. Bratislava and Barcelona has nothing in common except the same initial letter. Bringing that up shows the logical fallacy, usually due to some bias.
DeleteAnd you proved actually nothing.
DeleteCongratulations.
A logical fallacy is a flaw in reasoning that weakens an argument, making it logically unsound or deceptive. Often used in persuasion, these errors occur when invalid inferences are made, premises are unsound, or irrelevant points are introduced. Common types include ad hominem (attacking the person), straw man (misrepresenting arguments), and false cause. You got them all.
DeleteSure.
DeleteAnd you still proved nothing.
10:17
DeleteBologna and Florence are far closer, but still JU flies there year around. Genoa could have potential for leisure, transfer and business travels (cruisers port). Also, JU could attack W6 in PSA, which threatens FLR and BLQ routes.
You don't see a reason to fly NTE, but I see. Besides it is very wealthy and prosper region, there is also a huge EXYU diaspora. And JU need to cover wider regions due to transfer pax. That is how to make transfer network stable
@ 10:45
DeleteBCN / BTS - INI are two different things. BTS couldn't sustain due to FR cheap flights to VIE. BCN is a leisure destination and one of JU's bestsellers from BEG. Would be interesting to know how many passengers from Niš and South-East Serbia travel SOF-BCN. If you have almost triple daily during summer combined W6/JU BEG-BCN, I am convinced 2pw seasonally INI-BCN should work.
@13:15 well if they judge it would work they might. But Genova is not ever going to make money for an airline like JU. Milan is too close. Nantes having a 'huge' ex Yu diaspora is news me to. If people in western france want to go to the Balkans they go to Paris or connect via air. I still think it would be a very weak route for JU and its a relatively long one too.
DeleteNot only Nantes, but whole region including Bordeaux, Rennes, Brest, Angers, Le Mans and many smaller towns have our diaspora. And they are very wealthy. Surely those routes wouldn't be strong and important, but Ejets allow this kind of destinations. Once they have enough planes and crews
DeleteHaving a small diaspora does not equal pofitable flights mate. Its a long rotation for waht would be quite a leisure heavy type of route. Can you actually imagine JU at Brest? I mean come on.
DeleteNo, I meant "routes" as Nantes and Genoa. Nantes would cover whole catchment area of western France including mentioned cities
DeleteI am also looking forward to them launching their FF program in March/April as announced by the CEO Jiri Marek.
ReplyDeleteHe said just the other day that it will start at the end of March.
DeleteIt's not happening, there will be a delay again.
DeleteIt is happening.
DeleteI am just currious to see if they will take in consideration flights flown in last 12 months.
Delete@09:43
DeleteThey definitely should!
Anon 09.34
DeleteIt's happening just not when Marek said it. You will see. I will for sure remember your comment and remind you when the time comes.
He said they will do status match
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2026/01/air-serbia-aims-for-new-loyalty-program.html
Also, I noticed people here complaining how their miles aren't being registered. I wrote to the Air Serbia claims email with flight information just 2 weeks ago and got a response two days later that my miles have been added. Indeed they were accounted on my Etihad account.
How are Toronto sales doing? Message about pending approval is removed from Air Serbia online site when looking for Toronto flights. Is codeshare or interline planned with any Canadian airline for connections beyond Toronto?
ReplyDeleteNo such agreements have been made yet.
DeleteI am going to share what I have heard about Toronto. As many of us already know Canadian system and ministry of transportation are very much controlled by the Ottawa and their politicians. Aperently 2 countries from the region have input lots of money to lobby in the government of Canada to try to stop JU flying to Canada.. The dirty work is done trough the gouvermant, where they decided to not allow the 3rd weekly service. Increase fuelling in YYZ almost the double then For example the LOT and LH. They also trippled the cost of catering for JU 330s compare to AC 330. Like the system there is super corrupted where AC Was recently salling YYZ BEG tickets for 1 dollar plus the tax jist to keep the market. I have never seen or heard of anything like it. AirSerbia had a great start of sales bur then it died for a bit, however the February sale was very good ( by gds stats). On line sales might be good to but that I do not know for sure.
DeleteMa nemoj!
DeleteEvery time you spell "gouvermant" we know it's you LaneHotLane.
DeleteWhat is lanehotlane ? I do not realy speak or write in engkish much. My second language is Russian, but I use on line translation took to copy and paste. Sorry if the translation is not up to some of your standards. And for tye guy that said my nemoj, jeste to je istina bez zavijana. Znam da to možda smeta vama koji tamo živite ali korupcija uvek izađe na površinu.
DeleteBravo Air Serbia! 🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸
ReplyDeleteInteresting that Paris is among the top sellers. Even with the easyjet competition
ReplyDeleteEasy has two weekly flights and JU two daily, with a desperate need for
DeleteNeed for one more daily. JU has onward connections to AF plus the significant traffic between the two cities
DeleteThere is no need for one more daily.
DeleteJU just reduced Paris, hopefully easyJet adds more flights
DeleteIf true, it's really unbelievable to claim Paris one of your best routes and then to reduce it. If true.
DeleteThey fly to Paris twice per day. Paris is in the top ten busiest routes from BEG, as reported here many times with actual passenger numbers. The official from JU said it was one of the most in demand routes in terms of sales during the promo period. He didn't claim what you made up.
DeleteI didn't made it up, Paris is listed every month in their press releases as one of the best routes in Western Europe and that is regularly reported here.
DeleteThey reduced Paris from planned 16 back to 14. The increase was a kneejerk reaction to easyjet starting flights. As easyjet has performed worse than expected on this route and suspended the route for 2 months, there was no need to go through with the increase.
DeleteAnonimus 09:31 ^
DeleteI respect your opinion.
Could you just support your statement with some real proofs and calculation or it is just your personal feeling that Air Serbia should not increase frequency to Paris?
Do you have some real numbers, calculations, market insights, studies ets to validate your statement?
Would appreciate to see if you have it.
Thank you.
We desperately need AF on a mid-day rotation. It would be such a game-changer.
DeleteAF tried and failed.
DeleteThey tried but it was not serious attempt, the same like BA. Something like 3-4 weekly flights.
DeleteThey should have done it on the way KL did who actually made quite a success in BEG.
Go big or go home.
The four-day weekend combined with school holidays probably boosted early bookings. Smart timing for the promo campaign.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThat's the way to reduce seasonality a bit. There is also Easter holyday on top of this. Boosts domestic passengers.
Promo wasn't valid for these dates :) Or at least I didn't find promo fares. I was surprised to see the summer was included.
DeleteThey were sold quite quickly as only limited number of seats with reduced price were offered.
DeleteThe real question is whether the fleet can handle further route additions if another destination is announced.
ReplyDeleteAren't 2 ex Aegean A320 planes coming during this year?
DeleteYes and they are replacing 2 A319s.
DeleteYes, they are a direct replacement. JU is still short on pilots and that is why they can't expand more aggressively. A lot of their current pilots transitioned to E95.
DeleteDo we expect more E195 during this year?
DeleteJU is not short on crews. Stop making same things up.
Delete^ Aircraft utilization is low. Other than not enough crews what else can be the reason?
DeleteHuh, maybe slowest month in aviation business?
Delete@13:24
DeleteI think they are referring to the summer schedule. Unless there is a major increase in frequencies to be announced the fleet does seem underutilized.
You did a study of their summer fleet utilization? And yes, over 20 destinations will have frequencies increased.
DeletePlus seven new destinations.
Delete@11:15 Aircraft utilization is low.
DeleteShow us your calculations and I'll help you find your error.
Other than not enough pilots, what other reason for low utilization did they teach you at your "Academy"? Is that the only one they teach?
Yes, that's same ordinary pattern zamas are repeating on and on. They simply doesn't have enough inspiration and imagination to change anything.
DeleteMaybe they will add Yerevan.
ReplyDeleteThey need to densify I avoided booking JU on three occasions in the past week because their schedule doesn't match I ended up with LH in two instances and just canceled my plans for a third destination
ReplyDeleteWhich destinations? Usually I find their schedule fine...
DeleteMe too.
DeleteI was booking to OPO, PVG,and INI lufthansa was a much better fit
DeleteLufthansa was better option to INI?
DeleteWhat a joke! 🤣
What does your original comment even mean? "Their schedule doesn't match" match what? Your personal schedule? How many times per day should they fly to PVG to match your partocular schedule on this occasion?
DeleteTbh personal schedule is what almost all flight tickets are made on. If you have to fly when JU dont or when they are expensive you will select another airline. Most of their regional and intra-european flights are quite frequent. Porto is really a leisure destination and to Shanghai they'll never compete with the big boys in terms of frequency.
Delete@12:05 I canceled my INI plans and went with a bus as written in the comment but I know it's hard to read
DeleteI'm not saying that they should go multiple times a day I'm saying the date doesn't match it didn't fit my personal schedule which is a bummer and I opted for LH because they fly on the dates I need
DeleteOk, and so? In your first comment you demanded they densify the schedule to fit your personal plans. Easyjet's 2 weekly flights to Paris don't fit my personal plans either but I don't demand they fly daily so it can.
Delete@12:01 "I was booking to OPO, PVG,and INI lufthansa was a much better fit "
DeleteMy read on this: someone wanted to say how having multiple LH&feeder daily flights from his city to MUC&FRA is better option than having Air Serbia with three handpicked destinations with low frequency direct flights.
In my opinion, his goal was to throw shade at Air Serbia as it always happens when news article about Air Serbia are published. Instead of looking smart, poster is once again exposed for excessive venom and insufficient knowledge.
@15:17 These destinations are not cherrypicked it's a fact that I am going there for business and air Serbia still isn't competitive enough for me to book with them I would love to fly JU but I can't but instead of aggreing with the fact that they need more frequencies you try to act smart and downplay the fact that they are loosing passengers because of this
DeleteYou are angry that they don't fly on the day or time it suits you. In your head they should fly daily to Porto and Shanghai so that it would suit you on this occasion. I'm sorry but your argument is bizarre.
Delete@16:48 No one purchases tickets in a span of one week for business trips to OPO, PVG and INI from BEG. No one. You just looked at Air Serbia schedule and picked low frequency destinations so you can did what was exposed in message @15:17. Just keep digging yourself into a deeper hole.
DeleteI am not digging myself into a bigger hole business trip to Porto Is a trip to a conference while a business trip to Shanghai is on a university visit, I was looking into buying tickets now because of the sale but JU doesn't fly to those destinations of the and in both instances I opted for LH, while my trip to Niš has been switched to a bus. I made a comment about needing do add frequencies and people here turned me into a liar
DeleteThousands of comments over more than a decade show identical pattern of self-proclaimed avioAcademy ideology. It's not just a couple of isolated samples; it is literally thousands and thousands of the same thing - JU/BEG bad, other guys great. Can't beat the stats.
Delete@21:36 calm down mate
DeleteCope with the fact those comments will always fail.
Delete210,000 tickets wow. That's some good cashflow during slowest month
ReplyDeleteIdemo dalje...
ReplyDelete