Free taxi ride for Jat passengers soon
Serbia’s Jat Airways will become the first airline in the world to offer a free taxi service to Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport for all of its return ticket passengers. The news comes after the Serbian tender regulator found no misconduct in the tender procedure which began in November 2009 but came to a halt in December. The tender, which called on taxi companies to hand in their offers, was put on hold after a Belgrade taxi company cried foul, saying that the tender was being fixed. Two companies have applied for Jat’s “taxi revolution”, the Tanjug news agency reports. The taxi syndicate “Nezavisnost” and a joint bid by “Belgrade Taxis” and “Business Taxi” has been approved by the regulator.The taxi service can be used by all Jat Airways passengers with a return ticket. The taxis will transport passengers to and from Nikola Tesla Airport to any location within Serbia’s capital city. The airline’s vice CEO Vlada Ognjenović said that this is the latest in a string of new services that Jat Airways is offering its passengers in a bid to improve its results. Starting with the 2010 summer season, all Serbian citizens flying with Jat will also receive free travel insurance of up to 5.000 Euros.
Would a free taxi ride entice you to fly with an airline? Send a comment.
Free taxi service can hardly entice anyone to fly JAT. High fares, inadequate timetable, poor choice of destination and appalling service are issues to be addressed first. And with JAT being notorious for not paying its subcontractors (just remember JAT Catering, JAT Tehnika et al.), this new service is bound to fail. The worst scenario is that passengers are going to be harrassed by taxi drivers thus adding to already bad reputation JAT has.
ReplyDeleteI've forgotten to mention that Spanair has already added 2 weekly flights to MAD!!!
ReplyDelete@malisani
ReplyDeleteYou said it all,man!
Just to add, Jat needs major, I mean MAJOR makeover, firstly in their way of thinking of doing business.
Let's hope, but I doubt it.
Welcome to year 2010, eighties are long time gone. Wake up, Jat!
We would like to see cheaper tickets and some promotions, not free taxi service.
Btw, malisani, where did you see direct flights to MAD?
It would be a really nice news, I've heard they've been thinking of it..
The MAD-BEG flights have been file through OAG - they are available through all GDS's.
ReplyDelete30JUL 29OCT ....5.7 MAD BEG 0700 1005 JK 173 320
28MAY 25JUL ....5.7 MAD BEG 0700 1005 JK 173 320
30JUL 29OCT ....5.7 BEG MAD 1050 1405 JK 174 320
28MAY 25JUL ....5.7 BEG MAD 1050 1405 JK 174 320
Oh my god! What the clients need is cheaper tickets, so they could choose which airline to fly and how to reach the airport! Besides just think about few practical things: in times of etix, how are passengers going to "proove" to the taxi drivers that they are JAT clients? Do you see the drivers "reading" the etix documents" HA HA HA HA....and then the claims, bureaucracy, payments... In one word huge mess, that is going to fail.
ReplyDeleteGreat news. :)
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Damn. I was hoping to read some ridiculous comment by jatbegmel in here.
ReplyDeleteMalisani pretty much nailed all the points.
This has all the makings of a gong show.
Taxi drivers in Belgrade aren't exactly known for their scrupulousness towards foreigners. I could see this getting ugly.
as for "how will it work?"
ReplyDeleteWell, I would assume that the passenger gets some taxi voucher number that they quote when phoning the cab. It's not like you'll hail a cab on the street and say "take me to the airport, I'm a JAT passenger".
To add insult to injury, JK offers 21 levels of OW fares between BEG and BCN, staring at EUR 0.00!!!!! What's more important, you can actally find seats at EUR 0.00 and book them. The taxes are just under EUR 90.00 for a return trip. As a comparison the cheapest fare to SJJ is EUR 59.00 and the taxes are EUR 82.00. I don't think a free taxi ride to the airport would make much difference to anyone wanting to take a short trip. :-)
ReplyDeleteJust get real - JAT Aw is in a huge mess right now. Instead of making timetable with good departing and connecting times and lower prices, it's stuck with some bullshit with "free" taxi services. Oh, come on!!!
ReplyDeleteJust take a look at this:
Cab ride downtown-airport is around 900,00 RSD (and surely much, much more if you live on the opposite side of the city in relation to the airport) (that's approx 10-15euros one way), so the round trip would be around 2000,00-2500,00RSD (approx 20-30euros) - I think it's better to decrease the ticket price for that amount...Dear God!
Anyways, we are welcoming Spanair again! :D
It's really great news! :)
I recently found 2 daily OA flights ATH-BEG at beg.aero. Could someone check this information?