Air Serbia is increasing frequencies between Belgrade and Sarajevo during the upcoming summer season, with the carrier to maintain two daily flights between the two cities, up from the usual daily service. A new morning departure from Belgrade, departing 06:30 on Mondays Thursdays and Fridays and Saturdays and at 17:25 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays, will be added from May 22. The return services depart Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital at 08:00 and 18:55 local time, arriving an hour later. An ATR72-600 will be used on the route. The development comes following talks between the CEOs of Air Serbia, Jiri Marek, and Sarajevo Airport, Dino Selimović, in Belgrade last week. Speaking to EX-YU Aviation New recently, Mr Marek hinted at a significant capacity increase within the region.
Commenting on the additional daily rotation, Mr Marek said, “Sarajevo is one of the most important destinations in our region, with stable and consistent demand throughout the year. By increasing the number of flights, we aim to meet our passengers’ needs and further strengthen connectivity between Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. More frequencies will provide travellers with greater flexibility for both business and leisure travel, while also offering improved connections to numerous destinations across our network". On the other hand, Mr Selimović noted, "I am extremely pleased that Sarajevo and Belgrade, the capitals of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Serbia, will be better connected than ever before. I am delighted that Air Serbia is responding to passenger demand by increasing its services to two daily flights and further strengthening Sarajevo’s international connectivity. I believe this decision will contribute to closer economic, tourism and cultural cooperation between our countries. Regional connectivity creates new opportunities, brings people closer together and contributes to building a more successful shared future".
Finally! Well done
ReplyDeleteShouldn't have the Friday flight also been in the evening?
DeleteI'm sure they know what they are doing.
DeleteWell, not always, eventhough they're mostly right.
DeleteI think the Friday is definitely the odd one.
"For weekend travel, I’d move Friday’s 06:30 Belgrade departure to 17:25 and keep Saturday’s 06:30 flight exactly where it is. Saturday already has the morning service. Friday currently offers 06:30 and 13:40, both awkward for someone who wants to finish work in Belgrade and spend the weekend in Sarajevo. bizlife.rs
The return leg makes your idea more persuasive. If Friday followed the existing evening pattern, the aircraft would leave Sarajevo at 18:55. That gives someone in Sarajevo a chance to finish work and spend the weekend in Belgrade, too. And the published Sunday timetable already offers an evening flight in each direction for the trip home. Changing that one Friday rotation would create a practical Friday-evening-out, Sunday-evening-back itinerary from either city. bizlife.rs
The trade-off is Friday’s 08:00 Sarajevo–Belgrade flight, which arrives at 09:00. Moving it would cost Sarajevo passengers their early arrival for Friday business or onward connections. I’d still favour your pattern for weekend traffic. What could change my mind is Air Serbia’s booking data showing particularly strong demand for those Friday morning connections.
or adding a third daily on friday
Yes, I’d favour adding a third Friday rotation over moving the morning one, provided Air Serbia can spare the aircraft. Friday is the day when all three timings have a distinct purpose. The early flight gets passengers from Sarajevo into Belgrade by 09:00, the afternoon flight keeps the daily connection, and the evening flight opens up weekend travel in both directions. "
Thank you chat
DeleteI don't understnad your argument why the Friday morning flight makes sense.
DeleteIt clearly doesn't.
If to analyze things well, Tuesday and Friday evening flights should be swapped, or Friday should get a separate evening flight.
DeleteBecause New York arrives Friday at dawn
DeleteI'll just take Friday as a sick day from work and travel on Thursday
Delete@16:11 - So this was totally optimized for connections and not for O&D/
DeletePerhaps a third daily down the line on Friday might be considered for 15 weekly.
Actually the Tuesday evening might underperform so they'll move it to Friday.
DeleteHonestly, I don’t know the logic behind that Tuesday evening flight. I understand why there’s one in the morning since a bunch of flights arrive as part of the overnight wave but perhaps it’s due to a lack of available aircraft.
DeleteThe aircraft used for the Tuesday evening rotation will likely continue on to the Podgorica rotation at 20,40 increasing aircraft utilisation while optimising crew utilisation. Tuesday evenings are typically a slower period for JU. Flydubai also has the evening flight out of BEG and JU does get transit pax from them.
DeleteJU fleet and network management strikes again! Great job you guys.
ReplyDeleteThese flights are especially fantastic for locals and you finally have a late afternoon flight to SJJ!
Wasn't an evening flight out of Sarajevo better?
DeleteYou mean like the middle of the night one?
DeleteIf to analyze things well, Tuesday and Friday evening flights should be swapped, or Friday should get a separate evening flight.
DeleteMakes sense.
DeleteThis was a matter of time. Honestly, i think we can call this autumn the period of Air Serbia belated decisions, where they finally did what was expected from them for 3-4 years already:
ReplyDelete- Opened Cluj
- Opened Miami
- Opened Chisinau
- Sarajaevo FINALLY gets two daily
This is bad news for OU though, the only regional market where they were still relatively competitive. Ouch.
OU will be affected because JU can also offer great connections to FRA and MUC, two destinations where OU has a lot of flights from ZAG. I think OS will feel this as well.
Delete@13:06 are you the Cluj boy? Because i don't think that JU could have been 'expected' to launch Cluj 4 years ago. Really, have some common sense. Routes such as this require a critical mass of connections and frequencies to work.
DeleteNonsense, if they could launch KRK back then then there was no excuse to wait so long to launch CLJ. There is zero point to point demand to both.
DeleteThere is zero point to point demand to Krakow?
DeleteNope, Krakow is a small tourist Mecca.
Delete@14:24 you having a joke right? good one.
Delete@14:15
DeleteActually it was announced and scheduled (Chisinau).
^ Chisinau is not Cluj now is it.
DeleteGo fuck yourself.
Delete^ Constructive comment indeed.
Delete@17:12 really?
DeleteThese are much better times than midnight flights, congrats SJJ and JU
ReplyDeleteGreat! Now start TZL. W6 is weakening their presence and lot of transfers may be collected. Before pointing it's too close to BEG, drive by car takes about 3 hours(bus 4 hours) without border queue, which may add extra 0.5-3 hours.
ReplyDeleteMaybe acquire a pair of ATR42, which may also allow everyday connections with INI, OSI or TSR. ATR42-600 is a lot cheaper and easier to find than ATR72-600, but share same crew and maintenance. Those destinations are needed in order JU to became real regional leader and protect its market from others.
ATR42 is loss-making aircraft. Only usage for it are PSO routes in order to make money.
DeleteNobody buys the ATR42 in Europe and JU is not going to launch Osijek or Timisoara for gods sake. Just get in a car a drive to the airport.
Delete'Those destinations are needed in order JU to became real regional leader and protect its market from others.' - Nope, they are not needed for that. You are very very wrong.
Osijek and Timisoara are the last missing piece of the puzzle 🤣
DeleteBless. Some people are obessssssed with every location that boasts an airport. It cute, let them.
DeleteOnly missing piece of JU in the region is PRN and that wont probably happen in our lifetime.
Delete"Just get in a car" is a flawed argument, because the element of anti-logic is present in that reasoning: what matters is only whether there would be enough pax with a ticket expensive enough on an airplane, nothing else.
Delete@14:40 even if other issues were removed, the distance isn't perhaps great enough to warrent said routing in any fast scale.
Delete@14:44 Its not flawed at all. The distance is too short to profitable operate flights for such a 'thin'/'small' market. Firstly there wouldn't be enough passengers willing to pay to transit Belgrade from Osijek and Timisoara. I don't want to use the word stupid suggestion, but its is.
@13:28 you do realise the ATR42-6 is a really rare aircraft. 77 have been built and fewer than 10 operate in Europe so your comment 'is a lot cheaper and easier to find than ATR72-600' is completely wrong.
DeleteAlways the same story about the ATR42.
DeleteI'm surprised people haven't suggested the Jetstream 41 or the DHC-6 :P
DeleteThat’s why it’s easier to find idle and get it cheaper. It’s NOT unprofitable, but it needs 80-85% LF to get profit, of course depending of the ticket prices. But here is not about profit in this leg, but collecting transfers from nearby airports and reject other hub and spoke airlines. Closest is INI with 2,5 hrs by car, then comes TSR, TZL and OSI with 3 plus border. By bus is one hour more everywhere.
DeleteSit in the car is easy, if you have it. Plus you have to pay gas, tolls, parkings, which are significantly more expensive than 40-50 Euros plane tickets. There are good reasons for yes and no, but main is keeping leader position in the region
@16:25 you think there are 'good reasons for yes' but you are not correct, no matter how many times you state it.
Delete'but main is keeping leader position in the region' JU has no competition in regional flying, and based upon all the evidence at our fingertips, will not have. So rather than launching stupid routes to Osijek and Timisoara (which would be damn stupid idea) they are capitalising on their good business decisions thus far and doubling down on routes such as Sarajevo which make money and have solid international demand. Sorry to break it to you.
Delete"but it needs 80-85% LF to get profit"
DeleteBased on what? 40 tickets at 50€ and 40 tickets at 500€ changes the mathematics alot. So does fuel at $95 a barrel and fuel at $180 a barrel.
"But here is not about profit in this leg"
It definitely is. The moment something doesn't work JU cuts it or reduces it. Thats why BUD for example is not longer 17 pw.
"40-50 Euros plane tickets."
40-50€ tickets and AT4 simply isn't profitable. Take a look at airlines that do operate the aircraft and look at the prices. Look at Logan Air and the fares starting at 120€ one way.
I love the increase, but it seems like the new times are not synced for regional connections, but it actually getting the times for their Western European waves?!
ReplyDeleteThis way, connections to Western Europe will not be possible without a long wait. The 13.20 departure brings to SJJ people from morning European flights while the arriving pax from SJJ connect nicely to afternoon departures. By timing them at the same time very few connections will remain possible.
I thought they would keep the current time but introduce night flights, just as every other regional connecting city.
With flight arriving from SJJ at 09:00, you can catch European connections to Madrid, Malaga, Vienna, Zurich, Naples, Catania, Palermo, Tenerife, Seville, Lisbon, Porto, etc...
DeleteAlso, SJJ is not open during night.
DeleteI think you can request to have a late arrival, OS lands at 23.00.
DeleteThese flights perfectly connect to and from JU's long-haul. I think these will instantly do well.
They dont catch the New York flight that departs at 7.10 while the afternoon departure at 13.10 also requires a 4+ hour wait. LH offers much shorter layovers of an hour or two.
DeleteIt would be interesting to understand why did they swap SJJ from midday wave to morning/afternoon wave
You forgot that on some days JFK arrives at dawn and those flights connect to the morning JFK, same with ORD and I think YYZ.
DeleteJU wanted to land at 01:30 and depart like at 04:30. That was totally not convenient for SJJ
DeleteIts also god awaful for passengers. This schedule is very sensible.
Delete@14:11
DeleteMidday flights are still there.
When I fly to BEG from SJJ I am always looking for a decent layover to have coffee/lunch with friends before catching my next flight.
Delete@13:34
DeleteVery few people would fly to Vienna or Zurich via BEG. SJJ has direct routes to those cities. VIE and ZRH would make sense from OMO though. JU should increase the frequencies at OMO as well to maybe 4x weekly.
That’s what people were saying, asking who JU would even carry from Istanbul, given that TK has covered all of Europe, yet, somehow, transfer passengers still materialize.
DeleteTons of people would. OS and LX can be so darn expensive.
Delete+1 of course. Price is everything in this game.
DeleteGreat to hear, this was expected and is great news.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteOh how I dream about having such timetable in Ljubljana
ReplyDeleteWon't happen for the time being.
DeleteYou literally have up to 3 daily flights from LJU to BEG. What exactly is wrong with that schedule?
DeletePeople in Ljubljana are always talking about having early morning flight, so I would assume OP is talking about 4:30 flight that would connect to the first wave, wich does make sense
DeleteIt would be a good idea for LJU to offer some incentives for those early morning flights and, of course, to extend its operating hours.
DeleteIt is this constant obsession of some with early morning flights from LJU. This is not a preferred option for all passengers, as evidenced by e.g. also the load factor of the LX morning flight in relation to the later one(s).
DeleteBut it would be nice if they gave it a try sometime. If a morning flight from SKP, TIA, SOF, or SKG is possible, why not try it from LJU as well? The same applies to TGD.
DeleteWhy would it be nice?
DeleteThere are additional expenses for operating the extra hours ie hiring staff etc. For some airports it makes sense for some it doesn't. An ATR from JU isn't the deal breaker.
DeleteLJU charges a lot extra if you fly at night from there, it has to do with some environmental nonsense from what I remember.
DeleteIdemo dalje ...
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThis is litterally a stab in the back of OU. First they kicked them in Skopje and now in Sarajevo 😖.
ReplyDeleteHow is that related in the slightest? hahah, i mean whatever...
DeleteWizz kicked them
Delete@14:09 Croatia has massive economic interests in Sarajevo, there remains 'some' market for point to point. OU have been shite at making it a transfer route following their decline in the past decade but less of the silly language mate.
DeleteCommenting on the above, I can only say the following: while Croatia Airlines is reducing SJJ from 2 daily to daily, Air Serbia is increasing from daily to double daily. And that definitely deserves one big and loud BRAVO HRVATSKA!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
DeleteWe already know that's what you love to see, no surprise here
Delete"We" ??? 10 of you writing the comment? Dozen? Entire 3rd floor in Buzin?!!! 🤣🤣🤣
Delete😂😂😂
DeleteWell done. Everyone knew that this had to happen at some point. JU could increase OMO frequencies as well.
ReplyDeleteBNX first
DeleteWhy? if it doesn't make money why ?
DeleteIt could make money but obviously this is not their priority right now.
DeleteThey have the exclusivity of only hub and spoke airline at BNX so they can give a little bit more effort.
Well clearly not
DeleteZalosno da iz SJJ se ide 2 puta dnevno, a iz BNX 2 leta sedmicno. Bravo AS.
ReplyDeleteWell Banja Luka is small what do you expect?
DeleteLete tamo gde ima putnika i gde mogu da zarade. Jako jednostavno.
DeleteThere are about 600,000 people in the catchment area that could use the same connections. Once a day would work, it just needs a stable schedule.
Delete^ Clearly it cannot work, or they would do so..
Delete^ it aint large though, and routes need to be profitable. Daily flights clearly have not worked for them, they might one day and hopefully we see that across the board to major destinations in the network which don't yet have daily flights. This will strengthen regional flying to secondary destinations.
DeleteBravo Air Serbia 🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸
ReplyDeleteGreat connections to IST!
ReplyDeleteLOVE IT
Uh, with so many direct flights to IST, that’s tough…
DeleteThat's all they want
DeleteDirect flights are so expensive though, especially on TK!
DeleteAnd what about Pegasus?
DeleteThey are ok but not that cheap. I guess their logic is: we don't have to be cheap, just cheaper than THY.
DeleteSo that was the big capacity increase! Well I was surprised. Well done and best of luck. SJJ customers will now have better access to Air Serbia network.
ReplyDelete+1
Delete