Air Serbia is prepared to introduce additional routes and move in to fill gaps should competitors withdraw from specific services in Belgrade, following the example of its planned new route to Munich, announced after Lufthansa reduced operations between the two cities. Speaking to “Euronews Serbia”, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek said, “I believe we have a very strong team we can rely on. They’ve learned to be resilient in every crisis, treating each one as an opportunity and responding with a high degree of flexibility and agility to every opening in the market. We have announced ten new destinations, but if any competitors suspend a route, we can make a decision within three days, seize the opportunity, and move quickly to introduce a new direct service”.
Commenting on the situation in the industry caused by the conflict in the Middle East and the rise in fuel prices, the CEO noted, “We implemented all the measures we had planned. We also had certain buffer mechanisms in place, and we’ve been in contact with our partners to explore whether they could offer temporary relief, particularly in terms of lease payments or discounts on aircraft leases. Some have been very accommodating, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them, while others have maintained their prices, and some have even increased them, so they have been less flexible”. He added, “On the revenue side, we are working to optimise our income streams and capitalise on new market opportunities. Ultimately, however, significant cost increases will, sooner or later, unfortunately be reflected in ticket prices for passengers”.
The carrier’s CEO noted the airline is in a good position to absorb the ongoing shocks on the market. “The situation is highly dynamic and unstable. We are monitoring it closely and taking the necessary measures to maintain stability and ensure the continuity of our operations. It is not easy, but over the past few years we have delivered strong financial results, which has allowed us to introduce internal safeguards to better cope with such volatility. We will have to see how things develop, as the situation remains very turbulent”. Mr Marek added, “In the short term, I believe demand will remain strong or even grow. However, over the longer term, once a chain reaction sets in - rising fuel prices feeding through into inflation and higher living costs - it will inevitably impact demand, which will then begin to decline”.
They can start by increasing Bucharest. I don't think Tarom will come back.
ReplyDelete...and other Romanian cities + Moldova.
DeleteMoldova has some other issues, don't think it's at priority list at the moment.
DeleteNot priority, but to be considered.
Deleteenter Cluj fanboy
DeleteI already heres.
DeleteI see :)
DeleteCluj and Iasi should definately be considered. Air Serbia keeps expanding to international cities, but they hardly have connection to important regional cities. Romania is a large low cost hub, makes sense to fly there.
DeleteGood strategy in theory but the real question is whether there are enough spare aircraft to sustain all these potential “quick reaction” routes.
ReplyDeleteAnd also if the routes are economically viable
DeleteIf then ...else...otherwise...
DeleteDoes not seem they are planning to slow down anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteWith 10 news routes this year, nope
DeleteThe market is very unpredictable. One wrong move with expansion and it could quickly backfire.
ReplyDeleteLike what
DeleteThey can start with increasing Sarajevo, introducing a morning flight at least during the summer so that passengers can catch transfers in the morning wave as well.
ReplyDelete+1000
DeleteI have been saying this for years.
Balkan region should be minimum thrice daily.
DeleteMany routes in the Balkans definitely should not be three daily and can't work three daily.
DeleteName those many routes that cannot sustain thrice daily.
DeleteSarajevo is apparently going to get more ERJ on their daily flight instead of ATRs
DeleteThe capitals could have it, the seasonal airports obviously not but some could go to 2 daily on some days at least. But the company needs to have room for growth, and this is one of them, there's no one point of time where they say: now we fly 3 daily. Because, what's next then?
DeleteSarajevo can not sustain 3 flights per day. There is significant competition. Same way Zagreb can't sustain 2 daily. Ljubljana can not sustain 3 daily on a regular basis either. In order to sustain 3 daily you have to have extremely strong P2P demand, plus transfer demand. Therefore the only that can sustain 3 daily are Podgorica and Tivat.
Delete+1 well said.
DeleteZagreb is easily reached by car and bus, unlike Sarajevo. City center to city center, I think flying is the slowest option between Belgrade and Zagreb. ZAG for JU I would believe is very transit heavy with some O&D pax.
DeleteSJJ is long overdue for a second daily flight, split in the morning and evening waves. This way, JU could finally connect SJJ to its long haul network as well as SE Europe where competition is not fierce.
There's no train service between Zagreb and Belgrade, so the options are limited. The road is expensive and the border is tricky. But I think the regional operations must be more user-friendly, just while walking through the airport and reaching ATR gates, you will arrive by car at the border. That's something to talk with airport too, all regional operations should be shuttle-like, easy and frequent.
DeleteThere is no train but there are many busses daily between the 2 cities, which have seperate lanes at the border, free wifi (Flixbus) and charging outlets. Price from 25€ one way, which is a good price.
DeleteI wrote suggestion to Jasmin to quit Sarajevo. So good chance for AS
DeleteI'm very interested to see how they perform in MUC now that Lufthansa is back.
ReplyDeleteWarsaw could be a future destination.
ReplyDeleteKosice and Lublin would be better.
DeleteBratislava could be interesting.
Delete@9:10 Why on Earth would they fly to Lublin, before flying to the major cities in the south of Poland, e.g. Wroclaw? Or Warsaw. Sure, more competition, but still much better than Lublin.
DeleteI think Wroclaw and Gdansk could fit in Poland
DeleteJU is using Belorussian airspace again, which means sanctions have been withdrew. Maybe Minsk could be considered as a new destination. Surely a lot of transfers and Russian p2p could be obtained.
DeleteJU should jump in immediately to Minsk if sanctions be gone.
DeleteSanctions have not been lifted.
DeleteI see Belavia schedules some exotic charters, I know they have very limited market now, but Vietnam is a surprise for me.
DeleteVNO would be great alternative to MSQ.
DeleteThey could certainly relaunch TLV and get lots of transfers to the US right now.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteJerusalem Post had in yesterday article about Serbia, that 5 weekly flights between TLV and BEG will start soon, but they didn't mention which company will fly the route
DeleteTLV is stop/start for all foreign airlines the past couple of years. Until that changes I don't see JU going back. Besides, JU's previous slots in TLV didn't allow for much convenience for US transfers.
DeleteNice rhetoric, but in reality it can only be that.
ReplyDeleteAirserbia can't just isolate itself from what's going on.
If other (mich bigger/leveraged) carriers pull out because Kerosine prices shoot up and routes are suddenly unprofitable, Airserbia can't be in a better position.
And if indeed they try to fill the void from others pulling out it will be just like in Croatia or Slovenia where years ago OS and LH pulled out or reduced services and then Croatia and Adria took over only to fly these routes for a loss.
Well they didn't launch 3 daily to simply replace LH service, didn't they? I think they don't consider potential gap as any suspended flight; they just want to monitor and jump in if it's nice opportunity. BEG and our region is not priority for many, but it has to be for JU.
DeleteIf some routes are not sustainable they can pivot back and cancel them. They’ve proved their agility so far, at this point they should give it a try and see what works and what doesn’t.
DeleteWith profit they are having past years they can afford to try and lose.
DeleteNo, they don't. It's not mega enormous profit and they have to finance expansion of 10 new destinations this year, some new metal too and increased costs for unknown time. That's better position than some other airlines but it doesn't leave too much space to "try and lose" in these conditions.
DeleteI think you are pulling the comment too much out of context. JU can not and will not replace LH everywhere, but there are places in the region where JU could have the advantage and take abit of market share. JU's advantage is a nice fleet of ATR's which are quite efficient. Nice example is this winter's SPU ops.
Delete"If other (mich bigger/leveraged) carriers pull out because Kerosine prices shoot up and routes are suddenly unprofitable, Airserbia can't be in a better position."
DeleteYou forget that Air Serbia has lower labour costs than the vast majority of European airlines.
Yes but that also provides insights into purchasing power of the market which reflects both on costs and incomes.
DeleteDont forget that at least 40% of JU passengers are traffic and they have nothing to do with purchasing power in Serbia.
DeleteIt is certainly easier to say that when you are a state owned airline and have the back up of your govenvment and not to be checked by EU regulations .
ReplyDeleteThe EU does check on this and so far in the annual progress reports in the area of aviation has had no concerns or flagged any state aid for Air Serbia.
DeleteThe only airlines in the region that have state aid as part of their business model and receive it regularly are Croatia Airlines and TAROM, both EU flag carriers. Although they seem to shrink on a year by year basis.
DeleteI think it's not JU that got 6 billion from the government and EU illegally.
DeleteIdemo dalje...
ReplyDeleteThe key question is price they pay for jet fuel. Do they have some arrangement with NIS ?
ReplyDeleteNIS is no longer a jet fuel provider. Air Serbia has its own company that provides fuel. They even provide it to other airlines.
DeleteBravo Air Serbia 🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸
ReplyDeleteThey should introduce at least two flights in the midnight wave for TGD. For example, Friday to Saturday and Sunday to Monday. That would contribute to an even greater number of transfers. I hope that this is also in the interest of Podgorica Airport. Of the two functional airports, it is time that at least one of them is open all night. Also, there is now a Wizz Air base there, they will certainly have delays deep into the night. It would also be nice if Sarajevo allowed it too.
ReplyDeleteTGD is apparently going to allow night ops soon so definitely I would expect JU to jump in with a 4th daily.
DeleteThey need to start 2-3 destinations in Romania, and a destination or two in Poland (connect them to mostar flights), same goes for Czechia, maybe Brno would be a good try for the autumn flights with ATR
ReplyDeleteBrno be interesting.
DeleteThe problem with Brno is that you can take a very comfortable regio jet from Bratislava, Vienna or Prague airport for about 20€
DeleteThe problem with Bruno is that who on earth is going to travel point to point on that route. There needs to be a healthy amount of that also. Just randoming selection airports in europe and thinking they would be good is just a game.
DeleteDo connections to greece, italy and cyprus and Brno works, speaking from someone who lived there 5 years
DeleteTheir fares rocketed. Not sure how thtt will effect on demand on some routes
ReplyDeleteFares have rocketed everywhere. There is a major global fuel supply crisis.
DeleteYep, but they said that they have reserves from profit and that they are ready to absorb market shocks. It doesn't seem like that
DeleteNo airline is willingly going to use profit reserves to keep your fare low. Cash reserves are not used for that. Doesn't seem like you know much about aviation.
DeleteSuggesting an airline should produce losses to keep fares low because they have extra cash really is the biggest nonsense I have ever read.
DeleteSome airlines mark their centenary by growing their network and taking opportunities. Others close routes and subsidiaries over night.
ReplyDeleteSome people here will get angry at this :D
DeleteFuel prices remain the biggest risk. If they keep rising, expansion plans across the region could slow down quickly.
ReplyDeleteOverall a confident tone from management, but the next 6-12 months will be crucial to see if this strategy actually delivers results.
ReplyDeleteYesterday inaugural flights to Baku had 87% load factor. Return was 100%, according to Marek.
ReplyDeleteBravo Air Serbia!
Delete+1
DeleteThey made so much money for flying to Russia over the past 5 years since the war started, they have the luxury to experiment with new routes.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Yerevan? How W6 base is doing over here? It's kind of a main competitor, without it JU can offer good transfers on top of direct traffic.
ReplyDeleteKGD could work well. Nice city to visit & possible good transit point.
ReplyDeleteThis airport is barely international, I doubt there is enough demand. But there 90% of people have passport compared to average 29% in Russia, so people there can be more travel friendly, so maybe.
DeleteKGD has very nice terminal (from passenger point of view) and served 5 millions of passengers last year. You are right that currently international flights are mainly represented by Egypt leisure destinations. Regarding transit, it could be very handy for families with kids. In Russia, kids are flying halfprice on domestic flights. Thus it could be less expencive for them to make a connection at KGD flying there domestic rather than pay a rocket price for every kid using existing destinations to BEG (from LED, KZN, SVO..)
DeleteAs soon as Vlora International Airport gets certified, Air Serbia should definitely fly there for holidays.
ReplyDeleteYou say that every few weeks
DeleteThe topic is moving into markets if other airlines rereat. That is not such a market
DeleteAnonymous 13:52 I have never said that, lol. This is the first time I've said it
DeleteCan someone explain why they're holding back with Tokyo? It's THE most popular and trending destination in the world right now, I don't think the market would be small at all.
ReplyDeleteIt is nice to see JU with a 'nice testing' strategy. I believe that OU, even with a 30% occupancy, would also just say that time needs to pass for results to be visible. But I am curious why OU does not conduct 'such tests', with all the aircraft they could easily add them and retain profitable routes.
ReplyDelete