Qatar Airways has extended the suspension of its flights from Doha to both Zagreb and Belgrade by a further month, until May 1. The airline had initially planned to gradually resume operations from March 28; however, services to both capitals are now expected to restart on the first day of May. Frequencies are set to match those planned prior to the war in the Middle East, although additional adjustments remain likely. Passengers with bookings for April are entitled to a full refund for the unused portion of their ticket or two complimentary date changes.
The suspension of the carrier’s Zagreb and Belgrade services throughout April will result in the cancellation of fifty flights to and from Zagreb (including both arrivals and departures), removing a total of 6.600 seats from the market. The airline had planned to operate daily services to the Croatian capital until late April, after which frequencies were to be reduced to five weekly. In Belgrade, the carrier cancels 42 flights over the same period, reducing capacity by 5.592 seats. It had planned five weekly rotations on the route throughout the month. Qatar Airways has traditionally strong loads on its services to both Zagreb and Belgrade. For example, in April 2025 it handled 7.570 passengers on its Belgrade flights, registering an average cabin load factor of 95%.
Qatar Airways is currently operating a limited number of flights until March 28. Within Europe, the carrier is maintaining services to 21 destinations, mostly within Western Europe, with exception to Bucharest, Warsaw, Moscow and Larnaca. "These flights are currently operating within a limited safe corridor defined by the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority. Therefore, the number of flights that can operate each day are extremely limited under the current operational conditions. Each flight requires careful planning and remains subject to regulatory approvals and airspace conditions", the carrier said. Its CEO, Hamad Al-Khater, noted, “Our schedule is growing each day in line with authority approvals, and we are working toward a wider operation in the period ahead. Qatar Airways has a proven record of navigating serious crises and emerging stronger. We are drawing on that now”.
The Serbian government, in cooperation with Qatar Airways, organised a repatriation flight from Doha yesterday evening, which also catered for Serbian nationals stranded in Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. A total of 250 passengers flew out on a Qatar Airways Boeing 787-9 aircraft to the Serbian capital. On Tuesday, two groups of Qatar Airways crew left Belgrade after being stranded in the city for three weeks because of the conflict in the Middle East.
"Qatar Airways has traditionally strong loads on its services to both Zagreb and Belgrade. For example, in April 2025 it handled 7.570 passengers on its Belgrade flights, registering an average cabin load factor of 95%."
ReplyDeletewow, how do they manage to have such high loads?
Good sales. They rely on Australian diaspora and they have good cooperation with local tour operators.
DeleteLet’s see if loads remain as strong once services resume.
DeleteI am sure passengers will not forget that BEG and ZAG were their third class destination during the crisis
Delete^ When a country is in a state of war and it is only possible to restart a limited number of flights, your hurt feelings are the last thing that they will consider.
Delete"I am sure passengers will not forget that BEG and ZAG were their third class destination during the crisis"
DeleteAnd do what? Punish Qatar by flying via five stops instead of one stop in Doha?
How are people expecting that Belgrade would be resumed in the first round of resumed routes? The route wasn't even a daily frequency but only 5 times per week.
DeleteIt was daily until April.
DeleteThe reason both BEG and ZAG are being decreased this summer (prior to the war) is because one of the runways at Doha Airport is going to be overhauled from April and capacity will be reduced. QR has reduced many European destinations this summer as a result of that. As I said that is before this war broke out. We will see what happens now.
DeleteSad but expected.
ReplyDeleteI really hope they will come back and not discontinue these two routes.
ReplyDeleteI think they will. During Covid, they were one of the first foreign airlines to resume flights to BEG, much earlier than Turkish or Lufthansa.
DeleteHow come Emirates has been able to restore around 70% of its network, as well as flydubai but QR not?
ReplyDelete1) Doha Airport is located close to an American air base
Delete2) Qatar is smaller than UAE and there are fewer so called safe corridors where the plane can move away from most at risk zone.
This is why for example Gulf Air has been unable to resume flights from Bahrain at all. Because the country is even smaller and airport is even more exposed.
Thank you
DeleteWorth noting that EK and FZ are flying pretty much empty.
DeleteDXB is under constant attacks but EK management is forcing their crews to risk their lives and fly through all of that. If they refuse they are fired.
DeleteIs is shameful really.
I wonder why QR didn't wait one more day to send its crew back to DOH on the repatriation flight rather than get them to fly to Milan and then on a scheduled QR flight.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering the same
DeletePerhaps bringing their crew back is an indication that they may ramp up ops soon
DeleteOr maybe it no longer made sense paying hotels and daily allowances to crew and for them to be stranded across the world. Over the past few days, they brought back all crew which were stranded across the world.
DeleteAnother blow for connectivity in the region.
ReplyDeleteIt would be good if TK could increase frequencies now...
DeleteTheir frequencies are restricted by bilaterals so I doubt it. But they can increase capacity.
DeleteFly Dubai and Qatar alone will reduce the number of pax for BEG by at least 15k or more in April.
ReplyDeleteQR has started rebooking passengers onto other airlines. So a number of those that were booked to fly during this period will still fly with some alternatives.
DeleteNot surprising given the situation but still disappointing.
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting to see how much of that demand shifts to Turkish
ReplyDeleteTurkish Airlines will benefit big time especially on connecting traffic to Asia
DeleteAir Serbia might see some indirect benefit, especially if it manages to capture more regional transfer traffic during this period.
DeleteJU could increase frequencies to China for this period.
DeleteNo, they could not.
DeleteI also don't think they can. JU vs Chinese airline are both a 4 weekly flights.
DeleteI wonder if May 1 will really be the restart date or if we’ll see another extension.
ReplyDelete1 May feels optimistic. Wouldn’t be surprised if this gets pushed again depending on how the situation evolves.
DeleteI wouldn’t count on May 1
DeleteCovid vibes.
ReplyDeleteOf course. There must be something always. You really think orange clown with Musolini gesticulation and senile dementia guy who didn't know where he was and what he talks before orange clown were the real will of american people? You really think "covid" was not a kind of flu? You really think war in ex-yu was because of "nationalistic tribes that hate which other"? You really think prices we pay for everything are the ones that represent real value? You really think democracy, free market, Free World, market economy, representative will of the people, free and independent media, and many more, can be used without quotations? If you really think all of the above, I will just say LOL
DeleteTurkish Airlines must be loving this. They’ll pick up a big chunk of transfer passengers to Asia while Qatar is absent.
ReplyDeleteFor Belgrade especially this is a major setback.
ReplyDeleteover 12,000 seats gone in one month across two cities is no small number.
DeleteBEG has a lot of alternatives.
DeleteYes and in particular long haul to Asia.
DeleteJU flights to China are full.
DeletePeople underestimate how important Doha is as a hub. Losing those connections for a month affects everything from tourism to business travel.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteInteresting that Bucharest and Warsaw are still operating while Zagreb and Belgrade are not.
ReplyDeleteIt is like two weekly or so, and only until 28th March for now.
DeleteNot the first time the region gets sidelined when things go wrong. Smaller markets always take the hit first.
DeleteExpected, also given extremely reduced amount of daily movements for QR by QCAA to use this corridor, it is logical to stick with the higher volume/priority markets, especially if those have traffic to Doha itself.
DeleteZagreb is only a daily service and Belgrade is not even a daily flight, so obviously these will not resume yet.
DeleteThe real winners here are probably Lufthansa Group and Turkish Airlines. They’ll absorb a lot of displaced passengers.
ReplyDelete:(
ReplyDeleteIs QR the only one world airline in BEG?
ReplyDeleteYes, but it there will be two when Royal Jordanian starts. Also only two in ZAG - Iberia and Qatar.
DeleteZagreb has BA in the summer timetable.
DeleteLjubljana has three.
DeleteYes sorry forgot about BA.
DeleteIt is crazy how underrepresented Oneworld is in the region.
DeleteSome pics from the repatriation flight
ReplyDeletehttps://msp.gov.rs/mediji/saopstenja/specijalnim-letom-iz-dohe-uspesno-evakuisani-gradjani-srbije
And Sarajevo???
ReplyDeleteIt's a peak summer season route. They haven't cancelled it. Yet at least.
DeleteSarajevo flights start in June. Hopefully things will calm down by then and they will start as planned.
DeleteI saw a map yesterday of how much each country in the Gulf has been hit by Iran since the start of the war and interestingly, Qatar has had the least attacks. Obviously, the attack on gas infrastructure the other day was significant. Meanwhile, UAE has been the most hit by Iran.
ReplyDeleteWhy did he start writing Zagreb AND Belgrade, like that fellow aviation blog? Isn't B coming before Z in any normal alphabet?
ReplyDeletewtf....
DeleteThe order is based on operated frequencies and capacity.
DeleteIf you wrote it the other way, he would be angry as to why BEG is being prioritized. Some people simply have very big issues.
DeleteStrange people
DeleteSo how is that insignificant difference in capacity - merely two weekly flights - overrides alphabetical order?
DeleteThat is the method used in all articles. You have over 1.000 other articles to choose from if this is not to your liking.
DeleteOMG
DeleteIf this drags into May or June, we could see a real shift in passenger behaviour long term.
ReplyDeleteQatar Airways will return no doubt
ReplyDeleteI would not be so sure. They didn't return to Skopje after Covid and didn't resume year round flights to Sarajevo either.
DeleteSKP was extremely weak both load factor and yield wise even before Covid, same as SJJ (apart from the Summer season). ZAG and BEG had (and likely will have) higher priority than the rest of ex YU that QR ever served, so I am on the optimistic side seeing them when wider QR network consolidation starts. Hopefully soon.
DeleteThank you orange man.
ReplyDeleteAnd to think people in ex-Yu saw him as a “positive” figure. Not all of them but a lot. They’re pretty quiet now.
DeleteLots of QR aircraft going into storage in Spain. Does not seem they expect traffic to return to normal any time soon.
ReplyDeleteYep. 4 A330s, 3 A350s and 1 787-9 have now gone to Teruel.
DeleteSad
Delete@12.15 and one A380
DeleteMaybe they are simply moving aircraft from harms way
DeleteI'm not surprised about that 95% load factor. Last year I flew with them 3 times from Belgrade and every single of the 3 times there was overbooking on the flight. Some passengers were moved to Turkish.
ReplyDeleteHappened to one of my friends last year actually
Delete