Europe's largest low cost airline, Ryanair, says it will carry 120.000 passengers from Niš Constantine the Great Airport in its first year of operations. The budget carrier, which on Thursday announced the introduction of a further two routes - Bergamo and Weeze - for a total of four, will operate eight return flights each week from the south-east Serbian city as of November 1. "Ryanair is excited to announce two new routes from Niš to Dusseldorf Weeze and Milan Bergamo with two weekly rotations starting October 30 and November 1 respectively, in addition to the already announced services to Berlin and Bratislava from our first airport in Serbia. The new destinations are ideal for both business and leisure travellers", Chiara Ravara, Ryanair's Sales and Marketing Executive for Italy, Greece and Croatia, said.
The budget carrier also plans to add more routes from Niš. "We look forward to opening additional services in the future", Ms Ravara added, however, she ruled out the possibility of opening a base at the airport for the time being. "Basing an aircraft is currently not an option for us in the near future, but things develop quickly with Ryanair. Of course, this does not mean that Rynaiar will not continue expanding its network from Niš and attributing to passenger growth", Ms Ravera concluded. The airline's Chief Commercial Officer, David O'Brien, recently said, "We have been planning our arrival onto the Serbian market for a long time. It will take a while to judge whether it was a wise move but considering loads on our Berlin flights, we believe that the Serbian market has great potential".
Niš Constantine the Great Airport estimates handling some 100.000 passengers this year and for the figure to increase threefold to 300.000 by the end of 2017. The airport, which had no commercial flights this time last year, will be served by both Wizz Air and Ryanair this summer. Air Serbia has previously ruled out the possibility of launching flights from Niš following renewed calls for the carrier to introduce services from the south-east Serbian city. The General Manager of Niš Constantine the Great Airport, Vladica Djurdjanović, said, "Niš is not a part of the airline's development plans. Air Serbia has a different business model which includes turning Belgrade into a hub, meaning all flights are introduced from there. As a result, Niš does not fit into their plans, but could be suitable to airlines which cooperate with Air Serbia". Constantine the Great Airport handled 26.380 passengers during the first five months of the year.
My guess is they are not considering a base until ILS is installed and that should be 2018.
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy how quickly traffic developed at this airports. Just like in Tuzla. I don't understand that Mostar or Maribor can't do the same.
ReplyDeleteOr BNX.
DeleteOr Rijeka.
DeleteGreat news!
ReplyDeleteIs there INI stop for intercity buses, those from BG, KG, KV, etc?
I know for 2 bus lines that stop at INI. Maybe there are more. Cabs are also cheap. 3-4€ ride from the city centre to the airport
DeleteAn ideal thing for INI to do would be to make a train stop right in front of the airport because the railway passes right next to it.
ReplyDeleteNobody uses trains in Serbia except students and people moving between small towns (really short rides). More important would be for Nis Ekspres (and other coach operators) to offer a stop at the airport before going into town (like how they stop at Autokomanda before BAS).
DeleteBtw I agree that in the long term it would be an "ideal thing", but realistically, in the short term it would be a waste of money.
DeleteSerbia now has modern trains and more people choose it for travel. New Russian and Swiss trains changed a lot. Train from Belgrade to Nis and retour can be good solution. But it needs more investments in infrastructure to connect airports.
Delete@1:00 PM
DeleteModern trains maybe, but they are still very very slow and have fewer frequencies and awful punctuality. I live in Nis and the buses to Belgrade run every 30-60 minutes and are almost always on time and take less than 3h. Trains on the other hand... 4-5h if you're lucky. Don't even get me started on punctuality.
Stop lying I went with Nis Ekspres. It is horrible even with WiFi on the bus.
Delete@6:20
DeleteCalm down. What did I lie about? Nis Ekspres might be horrible but it's quick, cheap, frequent and on time (almost always). The train is unreliable, always late, infrequent and running at 19th century speeds. Those are facts.
If I am lying then why do 95% of passengers between Nis and Belgrade choose coach and not train? People have voted with their "dollars" and coaches won. Serbian railways has a long, long way to go to regain people's trust.
DeleteChill it dawg, trains rock.
DeleteI remember when they launched their first two routes they also said they are not considering adding any new destinations until next summer. Two weeks later they announced two more. I am sure they have plans to turn Nis into a base, it's a perfect little airport for them.
ReplyDeleteThe real question is what will Wizz Air do about it? They were the ones who brought Nis back to life but Ryanair is stealing their thunder with these announcements every two weeks.
I think one of the issues with Wizz is that they have a base in Skopje. It limits their opportunity for growth at INI.
DeleteI think Sofia might have been a greater 'problem' for them but at the same time, Nis brings its own catchment area that is currently unserved by either SOF or SKP.
DeleteIf they don't take care of them then someone else will, in this case that's Ryanair.
FR will not serve neither BGY nor Weeze. W6 already serve daily DTM and BGY from SOF and 2x weekly CGN and FR daily CGN. Weeze will just be beneficial for the 3 cities: SOF, INI and SKP
DeleteGreat news for Nis and more generally travellers in serbia.
ReplyDeleteI hope LYKV terminal building has been mothballed properly. Unless LYKV can get OS and/or TK soon, it's game over.
This could work, from a schedule point of view, opening up connections to 15 destinations, including transatlantic.
VIE 10:05 - LYKV 11:20
LYKV 11:55 - VIE 13:25
my2cents
I think it will be much easier to wait for FR to open its base in Nis because then they could serve KVO with Serbian crew. They could operate: INI-BTS-KVO-BTS-INI.
DeleteThat would be good, provided that flight times allows for good connectivity at FR. Alternatively, there needs to be decent number of direct flights, which INI will achieve, but I can't see LYKV doing it any time soon. it took INI ten years to get here.
DeleteOtherwise, I would go for OS/LX/TK, which can take advantage of combination of good O&D demand and connecting pax
my2cents
What worries me is that airlines such as OS or LX won't be that affordable for passengers using airports such as INI or KVO. I mean, can they fill an aircraft (even an E95) with €200 fares to Vienna alone? Connections to the US and Canada could help fill the seats but only during the high-season around the summer and Christmas holidays.
DeleteWhat Ryanair and Wizz Air do is extremely important. Thanks to cheap fares they are stealing passengers from bus companies and getting them used to flying. In a way, they are developing a whole new class of travelers. Once you get them used to flying then airlines such as Air Serbia, Austrian Airlines or Swiss stand a chance. Until then it would be extremely difficult to make it work.
I don't get how some on here say AUA would possibly even consider KVO. The market there is way too small even for their Dash, it is unproven that KVO works for any legacy carrier and it's also very low yielding plus they do serve BEG not too far away with several frequencies per day. Please stop this type of daydreaming.
DeleteMaybe Nis has a chance though - assumed it is still in good reach for the Dash in order to feed to the West European and American routes.
But before they would start INI there are many other regional destinations they will consider first. Thing is that mother LH does not approve them any expansion as they try to push EW in VIE.
So in conclusion KVO doesn't stand a chance because OS already serves BEG but INI has more chances despite OS already flying to SOF (closer to INI than KVO is to BEG) and SKP (about the same distance as KVO-BEG).
Deleteat Anon @ 11:15
DeleteSir, yes, Sir! I'll stop daydreaming immediately. We'll only discuss 100% sure things, post fact.
btw. BEG is closer to INI (time wise) than Kraljevo, Uzice, N Pazar, etc.
Nemje,
LYKV is the closest airport for ~15% of Serbian diaspora.
Not sure what average fare on Q400 has been, but OS will not be able to charge the same fares with FR starting BTS.
Existing pax would travel more frequently if the flights were more convenient. 3hr drive from BEG is not fun. I can see people swapping bus for plane, even at 'normal' legacy prices, say EUR 100-150 R/T for such flight.
It is for local governments around LYKV to attract OS, I don't think OS will jump itself. After all, LYKV's competition are other airports, and whoever offers the best deal will attract the airline.
my2cents
Uvazeni gospodine Nem(jee)anja.
DeleteSlazem se sa tvojim zakljuccima.
Ova jesen mora biti pocetak Kraljevackog aerodrome Morava. Sva vremena su prosla. Svi rokovi su probijeni. Peta je godina kako mali ali dovoljan terminal za Centralnu Srbiju, cami zaklopljen!!! Lepseg terminal do pola miliona putnika nema izmedju Soluna i Beca.Kako god razmisljali, jedno jeste sigurno. Ova vlada nemoze vise prolongirati upotrebu terminal u koji je ulozeno iznad deset miliona evra. Sto kazete za LCC prevoznike, apsolutno jeste tacno. Oni su jedini prevozioci putnika koji nikada nebi mogli da plate foull fair. Prvi let na LCC imaosam krajem osamdesetih godina, sa South West. Tada sam platio kartu iz Orlanda da LA via Nju Orleansa, Hjustona I Feniksa. To je jeftinije od Karte za staff travel. LCC su odavno privukli i navikli ljude da lete. Autobuske kompanije su devastirane... Bar u drzavama koje daju sansu izbora I mogucnosti. Uvek misleci na ljude sa najplicim dzepom... Vaskrsnimo Moravu. Uvedimo LCC za sekundarne Aerodrome Srbije. Iz Zimske sezone, iz suncanog Sidneja, svako dobro. Rodney & Globethrothers Team. ✈Kings Park
my2cents
DeleteOf course, in general I agree with you but my point is that for the time being most Serbs choose to travel by car or bus. Through extremely cheap fares, Ryanair and Wizz Air can/will change that. Once the traveling tendencies of our fellow countrymen change it will be easier for Austrian to make KVO (or INI) work as there will more people willing to pay €120 to fly directly into VIE rather than do land at BTS or, God forbid, take the bus all the way to Austria.
So have Ryanair operate for a season or two and only then you should start attracting more expensive airlines. My guess is that the next logical step for INI should be to have JU launch daily flights to BEG. These could work very well especially for the Serbian diaspora which can afford to pay €250 to fly via BEG to INI.
'Nislije' will get spoiled by having seven destinations out of their home airport. They will try to avoid going to other airports as much as possible. This is where Air Serbia has an opportunity to make BEG-INI work. A lot of those who used to take the bus/car to BEG will be more willing to purchase a connecting flight through Belgrade so as to avoid all the hassle with changing buses or having someone drive you those 250 km. However, in my opinion, JU should not introduce these flights before S17.
DeleteGospodin Marinković, očigledno da niste religiosni jer koristite reč `vaskrsenje` za komercijalne svrhe. Vi to naravno imate pravo, nebi vam ja uskratio to pravo. Samo bi vas zamolio da barem za nas koje poštujemo pravila SPC da ublažite korišćenje nepotrebne reči.
DeleteSvakako želim da aerodrom Morava zaslužno preuzme svoje mesto među vazduhoplovnim lukama naše Srbije
Vaš blaženi prijatelj.
@Anon 1:57
DeleteLOL
The most ridiculous comment in this blog's existance for sure! Thanks for making my day.
P.S. No one cares about SPC's rules.
I think non-religious people on this blog should not be intolerant towards those who do not share their religious views.
DeleteAnon. 1.57. Nema SPC nikakva autorska prava niti patent na bilo koju reč, posebno ne na rusizam "vaskrsenje", koji napadni novovernici koriste umesto srpske reči uskrsnuće. Takođe, istinski pobožni hrišćanin je skroman i ne bi nikada drugima držao ohole bukvice.
Delete@11:21 and 11:42 - few points to make you think:
DeleteA) Nis has a much larger catchment area.
B) It is both more convenient and faster to reach (motorway next to it).
C) Airport Fees are very low thus very attractive
D) Compare the size of the cities and therefore potential of immediate vicinity of the airport: Nis >260.000 inhab. / Ladevci <1.000 inhab. (Kraljevo further away 60.000 inhab.)
E) Nis has proven itself as a functioning commercial airport and has routes with good LF in other airlines. No flights in KVO, higher risk in almost every regard.
F) Nis is better known in foreign countries (though not many know more than 3 cities in Serbia: BEG, Novi Sad, Nis) and has thus more potential to attract non-local and non-diaspora passangers from abroad
It is clear to me that OS will never consider KVO even if they were to pay zero fees there.
I have NOT said OS does indeed consider Nis, but if any of the two - they would surely rather opt for INI. KVO has absolutly zero chance.
Few points to make YOU think:
Deletea) Nis has a SMALLER catchment area. Catchment area (in less than 30km) of Kraljevo includes: Kragujevac, Cacak, Kraljevo, Krusevac and the corresponding industrial area.
b) From where? Kraljevo is the most centrally located airport in Serbia other than Belgrade.
c) Airport fees could also be next to zero.
d) Already done under point a). Also add to that the fact that Kraljevo is the only airport between Belgrade and Podgorica, facing literally no competition, while Nis has both Sofia, Skopje and to a lesser extent Pristina to compete with.
e) There is nothing to prove else than turning one's brain on.
f) You're ridiculous.
Sve mogu da razumem, ali..... pa to Kraljevo je manje od Aleksinca i Pirota i Leskovca, pa sve djuture da vas prebrojimo u tim nabrojanim `gradovima` nema vas 300.000. Ko jos racuna CA manje od 30 km? Verovatno je to CA za biciklu. Ali to nije poenta mog komentara. Uz dobru poslovnu politiku moglo bi i Kraljevo da radi, samo sto osim kukanja po blogovima ne vidim da je bilo ko u zapadnoj Srbiji bilo sta uradio. Pre ce Ponikve da prorade i to na onoj planini nego Ladjevci. Najmanje je zgrada terminala aerodrom.
Deleteat anon at 9:39am
Deleteniko ne kuka po blogu, vec blog-uje i iznosi svoje misljenje.
Cenim kad argumentima potkrepite svoje misljenje, ali molim Vas da ne iznosite neistine:
1) Po popisu iz 2011 , stanovnika:
Kraljevo-grad 125k
Nis - grad 260k
Leskovac grad 144k
Pirotska oblast 92k
Aleksinac 52k
2) U 'catchment-u' od sat vremena voznje (po Google mapi) od LYKV pored Kraljeva su jos:
Kragujevac 179k
Cacak 115k
Milanovac 44k
Trstenik 42k
UKUPNO 505K
sa manjim mestima, da ne nabrajam, to je 600k u sat vremena voznje i ujedno daleko najblizi aerodrom
Ako samo malo prosirimo oblast, tu su jos: Krusevac (129) Novi Pazar (100k), Uzice (78k), Pozega (30K), Raska (25) itd.
milion ljudi u 'catchment area' od nekih sat i po vremena voznje (sa izuzetkom N Pazara, gde je to skoro 2 sata)
Opet, svima je LYKV blizi od BEG i svim gradovima osim Krusevca, LYKV je blizi i od INI.
Na kraju, drago mi je da se slazemo da uz dobru poslovnu politiku LYKV moze da radi.
my2cents
Go Niš!
ReplyDeleteThese are excellent news for the area.
And bad news for Belgrade Airlines, now we have a real alternative.
+1
DeleteTry enjoying your real alternative without demonstrating just how much you hate Belgrade.
DeleteJust three days ago
ReplyDeletehttp://www.exyuaviation.com/2016/06/ryanair-to-launch-new-nis-flights.html
we were discussing if Niš will handle 200.000 passengers in 2017.
And today we get news that next year it will actually handle 300.000!!!
That goes to show that demand existed all along in southern Serbia and it was ignored by the national carrier.
Niš can easily serve passengers who today use SKP, SOF and PRN airports.
It is a great success, but I still don't buy the 300k pax. With the current number of routes and frequencies, I believe 200k can be easily achieved, however in order for INI to reach 300k there has to be new routes or existing number of frequencies should be increased.
DeleteAll in all, INI is doing a remarkable job.
OT:
DeleteWhat happened with Croatia Airlines flights to Saint Petersburg ? These flights have already beguun.
Any news about loadfactor and else ?
The more options the more people will travel. The triangle cities of Niš, Skopje and Sofija will soon be a low cost heaven. Travellers will have so many options and combinations. Also good for the region. Bravo FR and W6!
ReplyDeleteOT - Air Serbia A330 Zagreb promotional fares are on, 45$ one-way, 79$ both ways.
ReplyDeleteI would like to see INI - INN flights.
ReplyDeleteOT - As promised couple of days ago I wanted to write my impressions of the Elevate Play IFE JU has just installed.
ReplyDeleteOverall, the impression is really good but let me go step by step.
When it came to my smartphone, the app completely changes once it is connected to Wi-Fly which I think it is supremely dumb. Now, it is back again standard JU app with all features while it is only IFE system once connected. They could have enabled more options online so people can book their next trip while on board Air Serbia. That would be cool :)
I also used the computer. Once you connect to Wi-Fly and open a browser it automatically sends you to their IFE system and the instructions to find the missing plug-in is quite easy. Once you find it, the problems begin.
Surprisingly, it is very hard to install it as it requires manually to enable the extension and manually insert Google Chrome extension on the list. It automatically directed to towards Google Chrome. It is my default browser but yet I did not see options for other browsers. There are instructions, but there was a lady next to me on board who had absolutely no idea how to install it and thus cursing Serbia, Vucic, Kondic and other things began :)))
Now let me jump on the IFE itself. You have an option of movies, TV series and music. Also there are games and basic info on the airline. In the bottom left corner you can always see flight number, and time to destination. I was looking for map but couldn`t find one (was looking too much, to be honest).
Music is decent, standard i would say.
TV series.... hmm, I dont know what to say. They have bunch of different TV series but maybe one or two episodes. I have seen many other airlines doing it but it makes no sense to give me episode 12 in season 3, nothing more nothing else... I don`t know what to do with it.
Movies are really good. On JU`s Ipad there is a bigger selection, but here there is currently a choice of 4 foreign and 10 domestic movies, even Orlovi rano lete :) . I was watching Bridge of Spies both on my computer and smartphone and I worked perfectly. Absolutely no problems. Only thing I disliked is that they do not have English subtitles for domestic movies which I think is a big flaw. It is a great opportunity to promote Serbia. This way only Serbian speakers can watch them. Unless you feel nostalgic there is no point watching Partisan movies or Kad porastem bicu kengur 125 time in your life.
To conclude, entire IFE is followed with great brochure placed in the seat pocket in front of you. It is very nicely designed, quality printed and gives all info necessary. I took a look at it first and there was nothing to say but Bravo!
As I have said in the beginning, overall impression is really good, I only want JU to be the best airline in the world so I find bunch of small things that need to be improved :D
P.S. Whoever is on board JU grab a copy of Elevate for yourself. it is absolutely fantastic with New York being the focus city. There are numerous stories on JAT`s Atlantic flight and even an interview with Avram Avramovic, JU`s oldest living pilot (94). Captain Avramovic was the captain on the first B707 flight once it was delivered to JAT. Amazing story with bunch of great pictures. Oh yeah, in the introductory note Kondic announced interesting news regarding partnership on the Atlantic flights coming soon.
Good job JU, you are doing great :)
Aleksandar thank you for the detailed review!
DeletePostovani Aleksandre. Veoma sam pazljivo procitao Vasu impresiju, Elevate magazine. Nisam u prilici da imam to papirno izdanje. Malo sam dalje od Beograda, pa i od Njujorka Ali zelja za uspeh Er Srbije mi je bezkrajna. Posto u Vasem tekstu izmedju ostalog pisete da se na vise mesta pominje prethodna kompanija, prethodnih drzava JAT, ne kazete nigde da se pominje AERO PUT i Tadija Soneden Majer. Dali ima jedne reci o Aeroputu?. Pogotovo sto prvi interkontinentalni let iz drzave Srbije ikada slece pod imenom Air SERBIA!+✈. Ako nisu ni slovo napisali o onome koje prvi osnovao avio saobracaj na porucju Srbije. Pa kada pisu o ''ocu'' JAT-u, zasto su izostavili ''dedu'' Aero Put? Naravno ako jesu. Popravice oni to ako podju od cinjenice da kada se ima otac, onda se ima I deda. To su uglavnom ukinuli 1945 godine. Pa zar je jos na snazi pamet, ''lik i delo'' samo cetr'es pete. Nadam se da ce ovo procitati moj sabrat u komercijalnom vazduhoplovstvu, uvazeni Dane (Denny) Kondic. Ako nije, popravice to redakcija Srpske avio kompanije Air SERBIA. Hoceli? Ne sumnjam. Pred put za Otadzbinu, iz suncanog Sydneja, tople pozdrave. Radovan Marinkovic. Kings Park, Sydney.
DeleteElevate is available online: https://www.airserbia.com/en-RS/corporate/elevate-2016
DeleteAnon 12:55. Zahvalan sam vam na vas savet kako da dodjem do stranica Elevate. Procitao sam junsko izdanje. Moje zapazanje u prethodnom tekstu je korektno. Ima JAT-a, ali nema pomena Aero Puta. Bice. Seti ce se neko. Kada dodje red na rodonacalnika civilnog letenja u toj zemlji Srbiji. Do tada svako dobro I mirne letove. Pred moj let, Rodney. Sydney✈Kraljevo. R.
DeleteRodney, give it a rest, we've heard your opinion before about how nothing JAT ever did was good or nothing from SFRJ was worthwhile. Give JAT the credit it deserves, there were many firsts, a network that Air Serbia will never have, understandably since the country is much smaller now. Even though you don't like the JAT era, you don't even have to give it credit where credit is due, but don't take every opportunity to disrespect it.
DeleteGood luck to Air Serbia.
-- Charlie
OT: Belgrade plane spotters at work:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.airplane-pictures.net/photo/717806//
Any photos from Zagreb?
DeleteIt's no big deal, we get A330s regularly...
DeleteHahaha, that's how you barely top 2.5 pax.
DeleteAnd once the new terminal is finished it will surpass BEG very quickly
Delete@anon 3:06AM
DeleteI'm from Zagreb and I wouldn't be that stupid to say something like that. You're either provoking or you're bitter.
Does JU only have 5 ATRs in service? Why do they advertise 6 in their magazine, as it seems only 5 are operational. Tonight, an ATR got stranded in TGD (weather), so the flight to Thessaloniki got canceled (it was an ATR flight). The night wave was showing 5 ATRs departing, but came down to 4 due to this cancellation. Wonder how the pax took it.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the deal with the '6th' ATR?
It's most likely one of the less reliable (age) Atrs that Air Serbia inherited from Jat. It's actually not one but three: YU-ALN, ALO and ALP.
DeleteWhy are they not renewing their regional fleet, since the average age of the ATRs must be over 15 years? Is it a problem of money?
DeleteAnd what ever happened to that ATR that BiH Airlines had, was it returned to the leasing company?
Let's hope for at least one tourist destination or a destination interesting to tourists. London, Madrid, Barcelona at least one of them.
ReplyDeleteI highly doubt we will see London. Spain is an option. The next logical destination would be Paris
DeleteLondon is unlikely until UK allows visa-free travel for Serbian citizens.
DeleteThere is no visa-free travel for Montenegrins either yet Ryanair flies there throughout the year. London was one of the first and most successful routes for Wizz from Belgrade and they fly there from Skopje as well. In addition British citizens have visa-free access to Serbia and Nis airport can also attract passengers from Bulgaria and Macedonia who are mostly dual citizens of Bulgaria thus they require no visa for the UK.
Delete