 |
| Air Serbia’s passenger numbers continue to soar |
Air Serbia has continued to record strong passenger growth in March. The Serbian national carrier welcomed 132.412 passengers on board its aircraft, an increase of 60.8% compared to last year’s 82.336 travellers. The airline’s average cabin load factor stood at 58%. The highest overall cabin occupancy was recorded on services from Prague to Belgrade, Belgrade to Ljubljana and Bucharest to Belgrade. March marks the carrier’s fifth month of consecutive passenger growth. During the month, the airline launched two new routes - to Sofia and Budapest. In the first quarter, Serbia’s national carrier handled 368.389 passengers, an increase of 66.3% compared to the same period last year.
| Month | PAX | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| JAN | 127.432 | ▲ 63.5 |
| FEB | 108.545 | ▲ 77.1 |
| MAR | 132.412 | ▲ 60.8 |
Meanwhile, yesterday, the airline announced plans to boost frequencies and capacity on its services to the Adriatic coast due to strong demand. “Air Serbia will provide even more convenient flights and connections to these popular summer destinations on the Adriatic coast for passengers from Serbia and other European countries”, the airline said in a statement. From May 27, an additional daily flight will operate to Tivat, totalling three daily services. Flights to Tivat will also see a big boost in capacity as services will operate with a mix of ATR72, Airbus A319 and A320 jets. “The upgraded aircraft will also mark the introduction of Air Serbia's highly regarded business class service on this route”, the airline adds. Furthermore, the carrier will introduce another three weekly flights to Dubrovnik from May 30, to be operated with the Airbus A319. As a result, a total of six weekly flights will be offered to the coastal city. An additional one weekly A319 service will be added to Split from May 30, with a total five flights per week. The additional frequencies will run until September 15 after which the original schedule will come back into force.
Finally, Air Serbia has announced changes to its in-flight menus this month. The airline says its meal choices offer improved versions of Serbian specialities with most ingredients used to prepare the meals produced in Serbia itself. The airline adds it plans to make menu changes and improvements every three months. Furthermore, a choice of meals has been introduced for passengers with special dietary requirements.
April numbers should be interesting since they were catastrophic last year. The airline carried 90.844 which was a decrease of 16%. This has also caused Belgrade airport's numbers to go down.
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling that it is not unrealistic to expect a 100% passenger growth this month. After all, on most days Air Serbia handled more than 6.000 passengers (6.200 yesterday). Some routes, such as Larnaca or Tel Aviv, have been performing extremely well lately. Loads on some routes are really justifying the introduction of the A320 into the fleet.
Does anyone have the numbers for other airlines in the region?
Today 162 pax on JU a320, ZRH-BEG sector. 155+7 babies! Total full house!
DeleteJU should start getting A321s at this point.
DeleteSwiss does not like this, although they did send an A321 yesterday. lol
DeleteWe like it :) I've browsed fares for end of August and RT tickets can be easily found for <200CHF for both LX and JU on that route (U2, EY and LX on GVA-BEG are also in that range).
DeleteGreat news, A321 for JU would be awesome, too, but I don't expect it to happen before next summer season...
JU has decent loads in business class to Zurich. I guess their double daily rotation coupled with a dedicate business class product should steal some customers from Swiss.
DeleteIt would be better they lease several more a319 and a320 and increase frequencies to LHR, ZRH,CDG,SVO, FRA and other busiest routes.
DeleteGreat results, Air Serbia! Keep up the good work!
ReplyDelete58% LF and average 1 hr delays (quite often more than 2hrs) are these really GREAT RESULTS??? STOP COUNTING and comparing YOY% pax increase but rather revenue / profit!...
ReplyDeleteI am also worried about the profit. But I guess first 2 year are not for profit. Let's see which routes will be first canceled.
DeleteI did not invest my money into Air Serbia project so I am not worried about the profit.
DeleteLF of 58%. That is very very very bad for March. And with all those actions, discounts, low fares, yield is catastrophic, I presume.
ReplyDeleteSomeone here said other day here that LF for March was over 70%. Well, that is just prove how we have to handle that "inside" and "first hand" information on this blog.
Did you really need two posts to say the same thing? You know, you could have written it as a single one. ;)
DeleteThere were 100 passengers to Bucharest yesterday and 31 to Banja Luka!
ReplyDeleteGreat resalt. GOD bless you AIR SERBIA! Keep good work, and Happy EASTER to all you fly and staff.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, Rod.Marinkovic, AME. Kraljevo / Sydney.
What is average number of pax on BEG-LJU-BEG rute as it is mentioned to be one of the highest? Could be expect 2nd daily flight soon?
ReplyDeleteThe lowest that route ever went was 50% loadfactor which is impressive. On average there are around 50 to 55 passengers per flight.
DeleteThere must be quite some transfer pax on LJU-BEG. I hope with the high load factor they can start a second daily flight or at least switch to a better plane. Happy that Adria and AS sorted things out so its profitable for both.
DeleteRoughly 50% of all passengers are transferring in Belgrade.
Delete25 than
DeleteOT: Does anybody know status of flight to Beirut? Air Serbia will commence this year or not?
ReplyDeleteASGS people are getting ready to go to both Warsaw and Beirut soon so I guess that we are almost done with the bureaucratic nonsense.
DeleteAnd here people wondered if BEG will reach 4 million this year. If they keep on going like this they will reach 4.5!
ReplyDeleteat current rate 4,6 mil.
DeleteChoice of meal would be cool - as a star alliance customer (miles collector) I know that at least Lufthansa Austrian and Swiss DO NOT have this- this option is only available on intercontinental flights.
ReplyDeleteAdria and Croatia also do not have this (I've only flown short distances with them), American Airways does not have any complementary meals anyway, neither does Brussels Airways, Turkish im not sure and the other Star Alliance members I dont know.
Air Serbia already offers a choice of two meals in economy. Last Saturday flew CDG-BEG. Got a choice of some chicken or musaka.
DeleteOh and I forgot to add that you get an actual menu in economy to make your selection
DeleteThere is also a choice of 2 meals in business class even for flights shorter than 2h.
DeleteI flew GVA-ATH with LX and GVA-IST with TK and both times we had a choice between 2 warm meals (both flights were over 2.5hrs). But warm meal on a 2hr flight is a rare thing. JU, keep up the good work!
DeleteBut why Beirut is not in a reservation system?
ReplyDeleteOT:
ReplyDeleteAdria today presented SkyShop - new meals, drinks and other stuff that will be available for purchase on its scheduled flights:
https://www.adria.si/sl/o-druzbi/novinarsko-sredisce/2014/na-letalih-adrie-airways-nova-storitev-skyshop/
Does anyone know what their prices will be like?
DeleteairBaltic just released a statement that last year they made a profit of 1 million Euros compared to a loss of 27 million the year before that. Maybe this is the right business structure for Adria. Especially now that they are getting rid of the CRJ-200s.
Great job, Adria, love the design, hope the food is tasty! Good luck!
DeletePrices for 0,33l Union or Laško 3,5 euro, Radgonska penina (sparkling wine) 5,0 euro
DeletePotica (slovenian national cake) 5 euro ....they wil promote domestic and national food by the name of "Okusi Slovenije" - "Tasts of Slovenia" - Sky Shop is actually named "Caffe above the clouds" - sounds sweet
There are no prices for other food and drinks so far
I am glad you all like it but I think it's an absolute embarrassment. An airline with sky high prices is now offering low cost service.
DeleteThere is nothing bad about it. The food service before was not great so if most people don't get it its no big deal and for who actually wants something tasty now they will be able to buy it. If that diminishes the ticket price for the rest for even 1$ the goal is reached. Cheap people will stay cheap and who can afford more will do so. In the US this is practice for more than a decade now. At least they are doing something productive in pursuing profit. When it comes to price Adria is really no exception to the rule - besides LCCs with a really crapy offer who is giving a much much better deal in the region without being subsidized or on the brink of collapse?
Deletecoffe 2 and sendwich 4 Euros
DeleteAir Serbia launches its first promotional campaign for Croatian cities. One can book a Happy Friday fare for €98 to both Split and Dubrovnik! If one decides to buy them tomorrow then he can book a seat at a discounted fare for the whole of summer.
ReplyDeleteGreat. It is very nice to see Air Serbia will join British Airways, Finnair, Lufthansa, Tarom, Luxair, Aeroflot, Aer Lingus, Austrian, Iberia and many other airlines in Dubrovnik. All of those companies record very high load factors year by year so I hope Air Serbia will also, especially because JU offers great service and transfer flights to some destinations that are not served with direct flights to Dubrovnik (e.g. Skopje).
DeleteDubrovnik has airbridges, right?
DeleteThey should be installed in May. Two out of total of four air-bridges. Dubrovnik will be first airport in Croatia to get them.
DeleteAh cool, I remembered reading about some airbridges to be added but wasn't sure if they would be the first ones or additional ones.
DeleteDo you know which company will install them? I hope they will be the all-glass ones.
Sorry, I don't know the name of the company. Also hope they will be all-glass ones.
DeleteZasto skoro svi Avioni od Air Srbije imaju IAE Motore kad su slabiji od CFM56.
ReplyDeleteNS
Because strategic investor Etihad uses IFE engines and so it means that there are synergies in maintenance b/w both airlines ... makes perfect sense, so that JU can ride on EY buying strength
DeleteI think Air Serbia tried to mount GE90 on A319 to have even more thrust but it didn't fit.
DeleteEtihad has IAE, that's why.
Does anybody know of this guy from Serbian MoT called Mico Popovic ? I heard that he is the 'secret' lobby of Turkish airlines and their strong position in BEG. If this is true, what a scandal !
ReplyDeleteYES !!!! He is the classic 'old' JAT guy - take everything that you can !!!! Whatever he is doing now is nothing compared to what he did during his time in Vienna ....
DeleteReally ?? Like what ??
DeleteFound a great trip report on airliners about AirSerbia
ReplyDeletechecki it
http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/trip_reports/read.main/252012/
Yet another great review for JU!
DeleteHere is part two (BEG-OTP):
http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/trip_reports/read.main/252020/
Wow, this guy is dedicated. Flew today and posted it today. I thought we we are geeks!!!
DeleteEpic fail tonight. JU flight from MXP to BEG overbooked by 13 passengers. And delayed by 2 hours.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.beg.aero/putnici/letovi.231.html?flightId=268601
Cost to JU:
Delete- EUR 250 x 13 = EUR 3.250 (pax compensation)
- EUR 100 x 13 = EUR 1.300 (accomodation)
- EUR ? x 13 = EUR ? (alternative flights, as JU flight tomorrow full as well)
- passenger opinion of JU
Fleet shortage is taking its toll, they need quick injection of 4-5 100+seated aircraft to survive the high season.
Deletewhy it is super fail? Happened more than once to me with LX and LH. It is regular practice of the companies.
DeleteIt is - however to overbook the plain by 10% during holiday times (tomorrow is Good Friday)... well, that's a no brainer.
DeleteSay that to Emirates.
DeleteIt even made the press.
Deletehttp://www.telegraf.rs/vesti/1035522-air-serbia-poslala-manji-avion-putnici-izvisili-za-uskrsnje-praznike
To je strategija stara koliko i same avio-kompanije. Dešava se da se nekad proda više karata nego dostupnih sedišta u slučaju da se nekoliko putnika ne pojave i da popunjenost kabine bude 100%.
DeleteEarly comments in this thread complained about low LF, so it looks like Air Serbia decided to stick it to them!
DeleteTrolls will always try to find some negative info to counter good news about Air Serbia, like that awesome A.net trip report. If they are paid to be trolls, their bosses should look at consistent 70% YoY growth at Air Serbia and decide it their trolls are useless. For the rest of us, it just makes it easier to ignore them.
From 18th April there will be no newspapers for Air Serbia passengers in the economy class, only for business class. I remember Jat Airways distributed Serbian newspapers to ALL passengers flying to Serbia.
ReplyDeleteFinally a smart move. I wonder how much money they were wasting with this practice.
DeleteI think they got newspapers for free as promotion, but not sure.
DeleteIf you fly other airlines you can take your complimentary newspaper either from gate or get onboard. Less job for cabin crew.