Air Serbia has recorded a surge in bookings on its flights from China following the wide-ranging airspace closures across the Middle East, which have triggered the most significant disruption to global air traffic since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. The overnight service from Guangzhou, which landed in Belgrade this morning, carried a number of passengers who had originally been booked on Emirates and Qatar Airways flights to Europe but opted to travel via the Serbian carrier instead in order to reach their final destinations.
While some travellers were rebooked onto Air Serbia’s service by their original airlines, others purchased new tickets independently as an alternative, amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and varying airline policies regarding rebooking in such circumstances. Passengers rebooked on yesterday evening’s flight, as well as those who secured their own tickets, told EX-YU Aviation News they were travelling onward to destinations including the Czech Republic, Germany, Spain and Greece, with several long-haul passengers originating from as far as Australia.
Fares on Air Serbia’s flights out of Guangzhou and Shanghai have surged over the past 48 hours as seats continue to sell out and availability becomes increasingly limited, reflecting a sharp spike in demand triggered by ongoing airspace closures across parts of the Middle East. The Association of Serbian Tour Operators (YUTA) has said that several Serbian tour groups booked on Qatar Airways and Emirates/Flydubai remain stranded in destinations including Tanzania (Zanzibar), Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Thailand.
Etihad Airways, Emirates and Flydubai have resumed a limited number of services, operating through a narrow airspace corridor from Dubai and Abu Dhabi. This includes a Flydubai service to and from Belgrade. However, all airlines involved have said these are either repositioning or evacuation flights and that the bulk of the network remains suspended.
Chinese tourists stranded in Europe by the suspension of flights in the Middle East have also been finding alternatives on the Serbian carrier. A tourist from Hangzhou who was in Stockholm said she managed to purchase a ticket to Zurich, and then travel with Air Serbia to Guangzhou via Belgrade noting that fares on Chinese carriers have skyrocketed since the start of the week.
Good for them. And a good decision that they didn't start daily A330 AUH flights last autumn
ReplyDeleteOr resume flights to Tel Aviv which they would have to stop 5 times already by now.
DeleteWhy good decission? They could earn lot of money till now. And especially when the flights resume... No incidents or casualties reported connected to commercial airlines.
DeleteYes they could have crew and aircraft trapped in the region at the moment.
DeleteThey were ready to take that risk in Russia.
Delete@10,26
DeleteIt's not as if JU didn't have other options where to use their capacity. Have in mind it also costs money to start/restart a route.
No casualties may not have been reported to commercial airlines but the risk was there. The risk was also that JU could of had 1 or more aircraft stranded outstation which again would of been expensive and could of created an operational nightmare for the airline in Belgrade.
Worst part for the airlines that operated to various cities across the Middle East is finding ways to bring passengers to their destinations, which again isn't easy or cheap.
No one says it's easy. But if all top airlines fly it, despite the risk, there' something there and that's money. In similar situation with Russia, JU opts for flying there which is good and very profitable decission. I don't argue the absence of services, could be that ME is not part of their strategy and that's fine. It's just that war argument doesn't stand...
DeleteJU specifically wants to have optimal yields on new routes, not to rely solely on transfers. I read that argument here not so long ago and it makes the most sense to me why is JU still absent from ME.
DeleteAirlines with 6-7-800 aircraft in their fleet have no issues if 1 or 2 routes need to be suspended. Larger airlines have a bigger brand recognition behind them where it is generally assumed they fly to a certain market especially to cities such as Tel Aviv, Dubai etc. This isn't the case eith smaller airlines such as JU. They also have a significant team behind them to accommodate pax in situations such as the one now ie rebooking, rerouting etc. JU on the other hand doesn't have that luxury. What JU does have is a list of alternative destinations to launch ie JTR instead of IBZ.
DeleteRegarding Russia, JU's Russian ops is not in the same category. There might be the odd diversion due to drone activity however these are more of a rarity rather than something that is a constant issue. JU has no issues with Russian airspace which they use not only for flights to Russia but also to/from China.
Cmon DXB saw first drone activity three days ago. It's not constant issue in UAE neither.
DeleteSomehow JU always managed to benefit from these global conflicts.
ReplyDeleteTemporary benefit for JU but long term this is bad news for global aviation. Instability in that region affects everyone.
DeleteGlobal aviation also did not cry when it was forbidden to JAT to fly due to sanctions.
DeleteWell done JU!
Global aviation doesn't cry mate. Shareholders might in some airlines - but the ME3 will be fine.
DeleteWait until oil prices skyrocket. It will affect aviation globally, mate.
DeleteIndeed it will mate. Cheers Uncle Sam
DeleteIncreased oil prices will be only temporary.
Delete@09:15
DeleteWait until KSA increases production to substitute Iranian oil...
Who is going to buy KSA oil? Majority of Iranian oil was sold to China. If war lasts more, price of crude is going up.
DeleteFirst ythwy are local conflicts, not global. It is not world war. Second, and many companies profit when JU was affected in break up of Yugoslavia
Delete@09:40 - If Iran allows them to.
DeleteExactly my point.
DeleteFares surging is expected. Basic supply and demand. If Gulf carriers are grounded and Chinese airlines are full, prices will spike everywhere.
ReplyDeleteAir Serbia must be making very strong yields on these last-minute bookings. This could significantly boost revenue if the disruption lasts.
ReplyDeleteThis could be the strongest week ever for yields on the China routes.
DeleteSmart move by those passengers who self-rebooked early. Waiting for airline assistance in such situations can take days.
ReplyDeleteTrue, although this also exposes you to severe cash flow issues. Airlines usually take months to reimburse such expenses.
DeleteIf this continues, could we see Air Serbia temporarily adding frequencies to China?
ReplyDeleteNo.
Delete^ Probably not
DeleteI think they are restricted or told how many weekly flights and where they can fly by Chinese authorities so I don't think its up to Air Serbia
DeleteI wonder how many of these bookings are point-to-point versus transfer passengers. Would be good to see numbers.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that Flydubai resumed Belgrade flights even if limited.
ReplyDeleteStarletas repatriation.
Delete^ Yes, because no one else goes to Dubai and there are not thousands of Serbians living and working in Dubai. Spare us this stereotypical nonsense.
DeleteJust a joke, relax @09:21. Of course majority of passengers are Serbs living and working in UAE and tourists.
DeleteFan fact: Certain Serbian portal just published how Fly Dubai flight carried 200 Serbian citizens from Dubai and one of them told there were many seats empty on the flight. Autor didn't bother to check that FZ operates MAX8 with 174 seats.
That's more of a repatriation flight than resumed business...
DeleteAir Serbia is benefiting but this situation is deeply concerning overall.
ReplyDeleteWell not really. Its not their fault. Business is business. Conflict is concerning, but they are free to operate and make money like any other business.
DeleteOf course. I'm not blaming JU.
DeleteI'm one of them! As soon as my Qatar flight was cancelled and we were told just to wait until further noticed I booked CAN-BEG. It was still relatively cheap. 10 hours later flight has few tickets left and fares were out of control
ReplyDeleteAt which point is it viable to lease 777 for added capacity?
ReplyDeleteI really wouldn't go as far as to wet lease 777s...
Delete^ its not viable
DeleteWet lease could work but only if this goes for more than a week
Delete@09:25 you have no idea what you're talking about i'm afraid.
DeleteTwo weekly Shanghai flights and limited Guangzhou frequencies won’t be enough if this continues. Load factors must be near 100%.
DeletePeople trapped in the middle east are not going to be flying via China back to Europe in any great numbers for long. No leasing 777s for JU
DeleteThis situation may temporarily distort traffic statistics. Expect unusual spikes in Belgrade transfer numbers.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunatelly, BEG can't up easily number of flights or offered seats to key transfer destinations that ME3 was serving and BEG has connection with: China and Russia. Maybe JU can start Baku earlier and that's pretty much it. All these China and Russia flights already has great LF for quite some time.
DeleteGood example of why smaller national carriers can sometimes adapt faster than mega-hubs.
ReplyDeleteIf this continues for weeks, Gulf carriers will lose serious revenue. Air Serbia might gain unexpected market share on China-Europe flows.
ReplyDeleteThis shows how interconnected global aviation really is. A conflict in one region disrupts tourism in Zanzibar and passengers in Stockholm.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the 21st century.
DeleteFares surging is understandable, but I hope airlines don’t exploit the situation too aggressively. People are already stressed.
ReplyDeleteFares nowadays are mostly created by software which changes prices based on demand/supply.
DeleteMaybe that doesn't sound fair but the price is the way for company to allow the most essential travel which should be priority in times like this. With regular fares you would have all kind of bookings and with limited seats that's not optimal. Book only if you can pay it = fly only if really necessary.
Delete^ true
DeleteIf Gulf carriers resume fully next week, traffic will immediately rebalance. The question is how long this “window” lasts.
ReplyDeleteYou actually believe it will end next week?
DeleteIsraeli forces thinkt hat this will only end in August
DeleteWhere you saw that?
DeleteUS think it will last a month.
DeleteCould this accelerate Air Serbia’s long-haul expansion plans? Maybe management sees an opportunity here.
ReplyDeleteThere next plans for expansion is to Miami or to extend Toronto. Don't think this situation will impact that.
DeleteWhy would it make them go faster? If anything cautious behaviour is key now
DeleteEven if this is temporary, it’s excellent brand exposure for Air Serbia.
ReplyDeletePity their service levels are not at a higher rate on long haul flights.
DeleteJU service is more tgen fine . You probably never even been on their long haul flight.
DeleteGet real. Its nothing special. But yeah most people wont have flown them before declaring they are 'bad'. Personally i've not ever once enjoyed a LH flight on a chinese airline and i've done a few.
DeleteInteresting
ReplyDeleteThey shall consider jumping into Delhi 4pw ASAP
ReplyDeleteWhy?
Delete@11:56 give it a rest mate. Seriously
DeleteMaybe some people discover JU this way
ReplyDelete