Wizz Air’s Belgrade - Rome goes seasonal
The low cost airline Wizz Air will discontinue services from its Belgrade base to Rome in late September. The flights will operate on a seasonal summer basis instead. Despite strong passenger figures, the airline explains that they are only recorded during the peak summer season. The two weekly flights will be discontinued from September 24. The airline will continue to operate flights to Charleroi, London, Gothenburg, Malmo, Memmingen, Stockholm, Dortmund and Eindhoven as normal.Wizz Air has been recording strong passenger figures to and from Belgrade. All of its flights have seen an average cabin load factor of over 80%. The news of Wizz’s Rome cancellation will be warmly welcomed by Jat Airways and Alitalia. However, the two airlines carry a different set of passengers to that of Wizz Air. Both Jat and Alitalia rely heavily on lucrative transit passengers from the United States and Canada on the route. On the other hand, Wizz almost solely handles point to point passengers. The Serbian capital will continue to see both Jat and Alitalia on the route this winter. Next month the low cost Air One will join Jat on flights to Milan.
Late last year Wizz Air was considering basing a second aircraft in Belgrade, however, for now, those plans seem to have been shelved with the airline focused on expanding into new markets and developing its Budapest base. Wizz Air will be spreading its wings throughout the EX-YU region this winter. At the start of the 2012/2013 winter season it will open a base in Skopje while flights will also be launched from London and Charleroi to Ljubljana.
I would actually disagree that Jat Airways and Alitalia heavily rely on transit passengers. The fact that both Jat Airways and Alitalia triumphed on the route is most likely because together they offer double daily flights instead of two weekly as was the case with Wizz Air.
ReplyDeletePassengers had far more flexibility, not to mention that fares on JU and AZ were acceptable.
I won't even mention the difference in service offered on board.
Oh wow, I would actually say that the service provided on board by Jat is atrocious, I wouldn't fly the airline unless it were the absolutely last choice. On Wizz you can at least get something good for a couple of Euros.
DeleteGood luck with Jat catering, and I'm not even gonna compare Wizz and Jat cabin crew, it's not even in the same league.
I fly often to FCO and MXP switching between JU and AZ depending on the schedule and must disagree with you regarding transit passengers. On the contrary, quite a lot of pax are transiting through FCO. Morning pax are mostly those continuing to YYZ or NYC or other Italian destinations or some European, while evening pax are those continuing to BCN and MAD mostly, sometimes other EU destinations. Both JU and AZ are codesharing and both have very attractive prices for other destinations especially to Spain. Even when Spanair was flying to BCN, AZ fares were lower as compared to those on JK.
DeleteFrom my experience of a frequent traveler to Italy, roughly more than a half of the pax to FCO are transit pax using both JU and AZ.
And one more thing: Both JU and AZ have extremely high loads in both directions. I flew last Thursday BEG FCO and load was nearly 100% with only 4 seats empty in C class and one in Y. while AZ often sends their A321 with 200 seats.
Probably Serbian Government orders. Nikolic is an embarssment to Serbia and SNS is too.
ReplyDeletePozdrav iz Srbije
Do you realize how stupid and irrelevant your comment is? It should be deleted.
DeleteYou are just showing how little you know about the open skies agreement.
A return flight from Belgrade to Rome on Jat Airways in October starts at €150 all tax included.
ReplyDeleteThat is really good considering they will have more or less a duopoly on the route.
In this day and age, trying to sell the idea of three-month ahead booking on BEGFCO for 150 Euro as reasonable?
DeleteTo each his own, I guess. Happy that you can afford such great deals.
Well I used October because that is the month during which there won't be W6 on the Serbian-Italian market. I wanted to see if there will be a change in fares now that the low cost was taken out of equation.
DeleteIf you bothered to do some research before posting, you would have seen that in August you can travel to Rome on Jat for as little as €174.
I am sorry that you might not afford the air fare, but airlines should not post losses so that people can travel. They are a business and their goal should be to make a profit.
There are always cheaper alternatives like the bus.
Trust me, I do way more research on the topic than you might imagine, and August fares were nowhere within the reach of my comment.
DeleteThe point of the post was related to the market segment that can afford that kind of fares with a three month lead time - certainly not your regular Serbian passenger.
I don't see the customers (nor Serbia nor BEG airport) winning from this one, quite the contrary.
If you were so involved with the aviation business and research then you would have known immediately why I used October, as I think that with March is the most obvious month in the aviation world. So forgive me for doubting ;)
DeleteWizz Air is an airline that is barely making a profit, actually they are losing hell of a lot of money. Their luck might turn now that they are dominating at BUD.
They will be around providing low fares as long as their rich investors are willing to throw them some cash to cover the bills.
Seems your data is quite outdated.
Delete1. Wizz Air posted a significant profit for the last fiscal year. It's public, you just have to know where to look.
2. Ryanair is dominating Budapest.
Do you understand that Ryanair had returned to Hungary only AFTER Malev collapsed?
DeleteWizz Air is the dominant airline in Budapest.
What are you looking at, past 12 months rolling or actual numbers since February and the future? Ryanair has most capacity on Budapest airport, and it's gonna be ugly.
DeleteWizz's plans for expanding network from BEG have not been shelved. Their Belgrade's base is one of the most profitable. Keep watching and ....
ReplyDeleteCould you perhaps give us some more details? :)
DeleteSo profitable that all the routes starting September 2012 all will reduce and not to mention the winter season :)
DeleteIf there were some serious plans they would have announced them by now.
DeleteTheir potential in Belgrade is diminishing. From September they will lose the Milan market with Air One's entry. They can launch their flights to Bergamo but no one will be crazy enough to fly there when Air One will offer flights for as little as €84.
Greece? The market is too small for them to consider.
Scandinavia? They seem to have a grasp on the market but with Norwegian's entry from Copenhagen they have some serious competition. Norwegian is a decent airline that flies into Kastrup and offers free wifi on their aircraft.
Benelux? They might add a flight or two to Eindhoven and add frequencies to CRL.
Germany? That is one market where they might expand in the future. One option is Berlin and additional flights to Memmingen. South-West Germany is well covered by Jat Airways and Germanwings. Wizz Air might make Dortmund daily.
Spanish market is a potential one with flights to Girona. Other than that I doubt it is financially safe.
All in all, there are markets to which they could expand however nothing spectacular is left. They could increase most destinations to which they operate now but other than that...
So if I were Wizz Air management I would aim at ZAG as that market is far less competitive.
Ryanair are planning to ground 80 planes this winter season. Would you consider them unprofitable or mismanaged?
DeleteI actually do not know if the post is referring to Wizz Air in general or their base in BEG.
DeleteSpeaking of Italy, when they started FCO I was wandering why didn't they go to BGY instead as that market at the time had far more potential to grow counting on pax flying to Milan and the area plus those who would use BGY to continue their travel with other l/c carriers as BGY is a large hub. Even now when AP will begin with flights in September, they could still consider BGY, since AP will use MXP.
DeleteOther market with almost no competition at all is the region of Veneto and either VCE or TSF. In the range of 100 km from Treviso there are roughly 20 000 Serbs living and whose only link with homeland is a regular bus with return ticket price of 120 Euros and some 10 to 12 hours ride.
It is interesting that all speculations quoted here regarding new routes from BEG are wrong. Or may be only HHN (Germany) is realistic.
DeleteSo if they are going to axe Rome in winter, who will get those extra two frequencies?
ReplyDeleteThe tarmac is getting two additional frequencies. No other changes announced at this stage.
DeleteYes but I doubt that they would keep the airplane sitting on the ground, especially since BEG won't grant them free time.
DeleteI guess we will see a revised schedule for the winter timetable. I guess more frequencies to EIN or Malmo.
Wizzair cabin crew is more like fast food restaurant staff... Bored, no smiles and very arrogant (many of them are coming from emirates also, as serbians would say: "S'konja na magarca")... Jat has old and less and less professional crews so actually we don't have real good cabin crew in serbia at all. Sad.
ReplyDeleteJat Airways installs new seats on their aircraft:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.aviokarta.net/vesti/1288-avioni-jat-airwaysa-dobijaju-nova-sedista/
These look like what Lufthansa has in their own fleet.
These actually look like what Lufthansa HAD in their fleet before they replaced them with new Recaros. I'd say they are getting them refurbished from LH.
DeleteI agree, the design looks like Lufthansa. The seats however look like the new Recaros that LH is currently deploying in their own fleet. It could well be that Jat is deploying new seats and not refurbished ones. Unfortunately the pictures don't show the seats from lateral angle. Then it would be easier to determine.
DeleteWhy do we have to turn BEG into some LC farthouse airport. Wizz air may go back to Zagreb to artificially jack up the traffic. We are not croats to go that low.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your offer Anonymous, but Wizz is right there where it is supposed to be - in Belgrade.
DeleteAnd I'm sure you are not going that low as croats with KoreanAir, ELAL, Qatar Airways, TAP, Iberia, British in ZAG, or JAL, SAS, Finnair, Air Lingus, Transaero in DBV, and brand new fleet of flag carrier, member of the biggest alliance, throughout Croatia.
Low, low, low, really low, especially taking into account the market being double smaller compared to Serbia.
Cheers!
This blog sometimes features really hot and interesting info and insight into aviation in ex-YU. But, from time to time, it is also a place where you can read comments from aviation and real-life morons, like the anonymous above. Unfortunately, they also invite similar-quality comments from people who have smart things to say from time to time, like the one above this one. Maintain a little dignity, have some class. Regards from BEG.
DeleteDear Anonymous July 24, 10:50 AM
DeleteThere is no offence at all and not a single bad or hard word in my reply to Anonymous July 23, 3:46 pm. My reply (not comment) is all about FACTS.
The FACT is that BEG numbers are growing mainly because of LC's after EU visa lifting.
The FACT is that ZAG and other HR airports are serving ALL airlines I mentioned and that traffic structure is completely different compared to BEG and SRB.
The FACT is that HR, twice smaller, has twice more (roughly speaking) movements and passengers.
And if your opinion is that listing FACTS, thereby saying no single bad word, and not offending anyone, means not having dignity and class, than I could say that you have serious problem with understanding my attitude, despite your praise of some of my posts. However, thanks for reacting and best regards from RJK, too.
what happened to JATs Business Class seats? I remember they had real Business Class seats? Were they not purchased from a US Carrier? Now they offer the same shit all other Europeans do...
ReplyDeleteit s good for the airline to act flexible on bookings, but bad for the passenger comfort...
the seats installed on JU. where did they buy them? i have the impression they have been used before...
I had the same impression after checking the images on Aviokarta. Seats look like they were refurbished.
DeleteJU has been one of the very few airlines offering real biz class seats on board their 737 and I was flying with them. Do they realize that comfort is the main reason someone decides to purchase biz class, not a free meal or a refreshment. Now that they are offering similar shity biz class product on board just like LH or AF with the same space as in Y class who would fly their biz class again
You cannot offer real business class on airplane that is older than my grandmother. JU copied OU - copy cats!
DeleteWell forgive Serbia for not prostituting with Germany during the war, so we didn't have anyone to finance our fleet renewals.
DeletePlus, I seriously hope that your comment about copying is a joke, because if it isn't, then you are one.
Well, anonymous 5:02 PM, if your granny is twenty something years old, guess you're a fetus at the best, bearing in mind human physical ability for reproduction. And that may be the reason for your immature posting here.
DeleteI think you Croats are lucky that Al Baker didn't ever visit Zagreb. Cause if he did, i highly doubt the flights would have ever be launched.
DeleteDear Anonymous,
DeleteI fully agree, in accordance with the highest democratic standards, that your right is not to like Croatia and its capital and its people.
However, there are people who like Zagreb, and Croatia, and its people. And those people who visit us every year are numbered in MILLIONS.
And they leave here BILLIONS of their hard currencies.
And QR does not fly to Belgrade, and flies to Zagreb, you like it or not, EVERY SINGLE DAY. Sometimes on 321.
And Mr. Al Baker DID VISIT Zagreb as guest of honour of QR's inaugural flight.
And the source of this info is not croatian, source is qatari:
www.qatarisbooming.com/2012/05/10/qatar-airways-celebrates-launch-of-30th-european-destination/
Cheers!
i live in the Netherlands, with the train from my place to Eindhoven = 21 euro, from Eindhoven > Beograd with the plane = 32 euro's.. crazy world :)
ReplyDeleteCrazy indeed...
Deletekam on Jat Ervejz, blou dem avej (tugeder vid dejr lagidž čardž) ;)
ReplyDeleteThis whole low fare airline charade must end one day. I have been flying all the time for the past 20 years and have not found them convenient once in my life - "we fly you from nowhere to nowhere at exceptionally low fares* (*=not really)". It may sound fun to just book a flight to nowhere just because it exists but people will eventually tire of it esp. the way it's all becoming a glorified Krstic&Son.
ReplyDeleteNever really understood why Serbs have to belittle Belgrade and call it 'nowhere'..
DeleteJat has replaced old seats in two planes with old Lufthansa seats that LH put on sale for lower price.
ReplyDeleteImprovement is obvious!
Little by little Wizz Air will be suspending its routes and transfer the base to Skopje "Alexander the Great" airport.
ReplyDeleteMake your choice, adventurous stranger.
ReplyDeleteStrike the bell and bide the danger.
Or wonder 'til it drives you mad,
What would have followed, if you had.
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