The busiest foreign carriers operating flights to Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport have recorded mixed results during the first three quarters of the year as they face increased competition. Wizz Air, which boasts a base in Belgrade, continued to recover after its numbers fell sharply in 2014 following the suspension of several routes and a public spat with the airport over fees. The low cost airline handled 319.824 passengers bound to and from Belgrade during the first three quarters, an increase of 3.2% compared to the same period in 2015. Wizz's passenger share at the airport grew to 8.4%, which is still below its record 12.5% share registered during Q1- Q3 in 2013. Over the first three quarters of this year, it increased frequencies on several routes and introduced flights to Baden-Baden, marking its first new destination from the Serbian capital in two years. It comes ahead of major expansion next May, which will see the carrier base a second aircraft in the city and launch four new routes. As a result, Wizz will offer 642.000 seats from the Serbian capital in 2017. “This is the right stepping stone forward in this market which is unpenetrated. We are reacting to the increased level of demand”, Wizz Air CEO, Jozsef Varadi, said recently.
Star Alliance members Lufthansa and Swiss International Air Lines saw their numbers dip during the first three quarters, with the latter registering a sharp fall in figures. The German national carrier welcomed 218.786 travellers on board its aircraft to and from the Serbian capital, a decrease of 3.1% on last year. Furthermore, Swiss handled over 11.000 fewer passengers, recording a 7.4% decline in numbers. Unlike in 2015, the carrier did not run flights between Geneva and Belgrade as it retreated from the former Yugoslav market. However, this winter season, it has added an additional weekly flight between Zurich and the Serbian capital. The route remains extremely competitive, with Zurich being Air Serbia's busiest destination so far this year. Despite this, the Swiss carrier still enjoys an advantage, handling almost 6.000 passengers more than its Serbian counterpart. Montenegro Airlines saw its passenger numbers improve slightly during the first three quarters of the year, handling 209.958 passengers, up 1.1%. The figure was achieved despite an overall fall in the number of operated flights.
Busiest foreign carriers at Belgrade Airport Q1-Q3
| Airline | PAX | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Wizz Air | 319.824 | ▲ 3.2 |
| Lufthansa | 218.786 | ▼ 3.1 |
| Montenegro Airlines | 209.958 | ▲ 1.1 |
| Swiss Int. Air Lines | 142.418 | ▼ 7.4 |
Lufthansa remains Belgrade Airport's second busiest foreign carrier behind Wizz Air with a passenger share of 5.7%, followed by Montenegro Airlines at 5.5% and Swiss with a share of 3.7% of all passengers. Overall, foreign carriers handled 1.696.177 travellers on flights to and from the Serbian capital during the January - October period, up 0.3% compared to 2015. They now account for 44.5% of all passengers passing through the airport, an increase of 1%, having been surpassed by Air Serbia which now handles 55.5% of all travellers using the airport. During the first nine months of the year, Montenegro Airlines operated the most flights to and from the city out of all the foreign carriers, followed by Lufthansa, Wizz Air, Austrian, Turkish Airlines and Aeroflot. A notable increase in frequencies was recorded by LOT Polish Airlines, TAROM, Flydubai and Norwegian Air Shuttle.
Most frequent foreign carriers at Belgrade Airport Q1-Q3
| Airline | Flight ops. | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Montenegro Airlines | 2.429 | ▼ 3.4 |
| Lufthansa | 2.023 | ▼ 4.4 |
| Wizz Air | 2.018 | ▲ 1.8 |
| Austrian Airlines | 1.400 | ▼ 0.4 |
| Turkish Airlines | 1.205 | ▼ 9.5 |
| Aeroflot | 1.098 | ▲ 0.9 |
| Swiss Int. Air Lines | 970 | ▼ 13.8 |
| Alitalia | 522 | ▼ 11.5 |
| easyJet | 222 | ▼ 27.5 |
Thanks for the numbers. Nice to see Wizz Air improving. Would have thought they use to have a bigger share than 12.55 a few years ago.
ReplyDeleteYes because Jat had a much lower share of passengers and Wizz was there waiting for it to go bankrupt.
DeleteWizz Air will probably handle around 600,000 passengers from/to Belgrade next year.
Deletethey can easily handle 1.000.000 if they add two more planes with 10 new routes, instead of one with 4 new routes
DeleteDoes anyone know if their current flights operated by non-BEG aircraft will be switched to the one based here?
DeleteI still hope for a third weekly to LCA, they are extremely popular with Romanians from Timisoara. There are always so many of them.
It's odd that they are adding just 4 new routes with a second plane. Are they increasing frequnecies on existing routes too?
DeleteI think it was mentioned on here that some routes will see additional frequencies, I think it was Luton, Malmo and Eindhoven.
DeleteSeems there is more room in London so maybe someone could launch LGW flights? EasyJet maybe?
DeleteLondon would be great. It is so unfortunate there is no full fare alternative to Air Serbia on the London route. BA was great. Such a shame they ended the flights and it does not seem they have any plans to fly to BEG again.
DeleteBut BA wouldn't bring anything new to the table. Their service is just horrible and the connections they offer are already available via AMS, CDG, FRA, MUC...
DeleteI doubt their entry to the market would lower fares, they would just create a duopoly with JU.
TK had more flights than last year until the start of the third quarter. Then the attempted coup in Turkey happened. Have they cut some frequencies to Belgrade since, or is the decrease the effect of all the cancellations that happened in the aftermath of the failed coup?
ReplyDeleteDecrease in number of operated flights by TK during 2016 vs 2015 comes as a AYT BEG AYT cancellation during summer. Even though these daily flights were operated by Freebird's ac in 2015 they still had TK designator. IST BEG IST on TK had no change at all
DeleteAh that's right. Thank you
DeleteWhat is good to see is that there are more foreign airlines flying to BEG this year than last year. New airlines include LOT, Isair and Arkia. Next year we should see Transavia and a Chinese airline, plus there is a possibility TAP might come back.
ReplyDeleteLet's not forget the possibility of Iran Air and Air Astana comping to the party, depending on how the codeshare negotiations turn out with Air Serbia. I'm quite positive we will see at least one of them next year at BEG, even if it will only be a seasonal appearance. There also exists a possible, although much less likely chance, of Azerbaijan Airlines starting some flights to BEG next year.
DeleteAnd the possibility of an ANA charter or two. They are in talks about this :) Would be quite exotic to have them at the airport.
DeleteI'm really surprised Easy Jet didn't make a bigger go of Belgrade. They outlasted and won on the Geneva route against Etihad Regional and Swiss. But they suspended Milan. LCC between Italy and Serbia obviously isn't working (Wizz failed on Belgrade-Rome flights too). I would love if they started CDG-BEG and ended Air Serbia's monopoly on this route.
ReplyDelete+1
Deletethey can base one plane here and have healthy loads and profits, if they wanted. AMS, BCN, CDG, CGN, HAM, LYS, PRG, SXF plus seasonal to HER, PMI, RHO and ZTH
DeleteI think LCCs have a nice network out of BEG but the only city that's missing is Berlin.
DeleteAir Serbia should have launched NUE, now it's too late. They could have received a healthy amount of locals plus a lot of transfer passengers to the ex-YU and Turkey.
I forgot to add CFU as seasonal too
DeleteRegardin Paris. there is wizzair flight to BVA. I still hope that someone will start to fly Rome, as because of european laws both aliitalia and air serbia need it to lower operations due the same ownership.
DeleteMilivoje, I think the EC realized that no one was interested in entering the FCO-BEG market. Even Wizz Air pulled out, though their failure could have been attributed to their rather bad flight times, the return flight used to land in BEG at 00.25.
DeleteThat said, maybe a seasonal flight from June to September could work with someone like Vueling... but only when they get their act together.
VY will fly until October end in S17.
DeleteNemjee, i think wizzair puled from Rome before Etihad bought share in AZ..Anyway at least now theree can be found 119eur round trip ticket to FCO..which is better than before. But yes, during summer some 3rd part could start flying.
DeleteOne thing to consider when a proposal to open flights 'for the summer season only' is why anyone wouldn't put the same capacity anywhere else, i.e. what is the marginal benefit from launching these particular, in this case Belgrade, flights compared to any other market pair. For the sake of the argument, let's park - pun intended - the issue of the aircraft's downtime in low season.
DeleteMere profitability doesn't cut it. It has to be better than any other option out there.
Hint: Most of other European markets have higher purchase power.
DeleteThe reason why I mentioned Vueling is because they already operate seasonal flights to Belgrade. They seem to have a benefit from those so they could do the same with Rome. It's a good way to build brand awareness until you are ready to expand your presence in a certain market. For some seasonal flights make sense while for others not so much. It all boils down to what kind of an airline you are and what kind of business model you have.
DeleteThe thing is European airlines flying inside Europe now offer the same product and services as LCC. So when you think of it what could SAS offer to BEG that Norweigan Air Shuttle already doesn't? Frequent flyer points is the only thing I could think of.
ReplyDeleteConnections including Star Alliance partners, business class service, cargo, ff program.
DeleteMalo li je?
So, most of foreign carriers have less number of flights than last year, and just Montenegro and Wizz have around 1% more flights. And that is for 3rd year now in roll.
ReplyDeleteNot good for passengers.
How are the airlines listed "MOST" airlines? There are currently over 20 airlines flying to Belgrade. Nine (with the most flights) are listed. Also you are forgetting that many airlines have actually increased capacity. So it is much more important to look at the amount of capacity offered rather than flights.
DeleteThose companies take 90% of foreign flights and passengers.
DeleteMore capacity? Which one exactly? I can not find that as pattern, more like unusual exception.
Would be interesting to see which airline had the best load factor.
ReplyDeleteBEG was always a tricky destination. Very few new comers managed to remain for a longer period. The numbers clearly indicate that JU is still the dominating carrier in BEG, which is definitely not so good.
ReplyDeleteThat is true. Air Baltic, TAP, Etihad Regional and Adria quickly left after they started flights.
DeleteWhy is it not good that JU is dominant carrier at BEG? Other carriers can start flying if they want.
DeleteAir Serbia has the lowest share at its home airport out of all ex-Yu airlines. Croatia Airlines, Adria and Montenegro Airlines all have a share of over 60%. Airlines comes and go. We have seen 3 airlines leave Zagreb this year.
DeleteNot true. In last 3 years TAP and flyDubai leave (this year just flyDubai, TAP last year), Swiss did not leave, but becomes seasonal.
DeleteIn same time LOT came back, and new carriers are ČSA, Air Transat, Brussels, KLM, Air Serbia, Air Malta... (most of them starts this year).
Alen,
DeleteDo you have the information about total number of airlines serving ZAG and BEG during winter 2016/2017 respectively?
Thank you.
Zag:
Delete16 carriers to 34 destinations
http://www.zagreb-airport.hr/putnicke-informacije/destinacije-izravna-povezanost
Beg:
22 carriers to 56 destinations
http://www.beg.aero/vest/14111/Од-недеље-важи-зимски-ред-летења
Sorry my bad since Croatia airlines flies to 7 destinations that other carriers are flying from Zagreb it is 27 destinations!
DeleteA da tih 6 carriera više u Beogradu ga čini globalnim hubom interplanetarnih razmjera. To što nema British, Air France, KLM, Brussels... nema veze. Još malo i Singapore će bit ništa u usporedbi sa Beogradom. Godinu-dvije, ne više.
DeleteJest, bogami, Zagreb je i inače provincija spram Beograda. Po svim kriterijima. Zato i ima daleko manje turista, posebno iz zapadnih i dalekoazijskih zemalja, spram Beograda.
E božji narode...
Ne po svim kriterijumima ali po broju putnika I po broju destinacija sigurno jeste. Ne zaboravimo da BEG ima let za JFK tokom cele godine.
DeleteDa li hoces reci da su Beograd I Zagreb aetodromi iste kategorije?
Druže ovde samo piše koliko koji aerodrom ima RAZLIČITIH destinacija i prevoznika kao odgovor na pitanje gospodina nebojše sve ostalo si sam iskreiorao...
DeleteOne thing is not clear to me. Anon. 10.55 said that JU has lower share in BEG than OU in ZAG or YM in TGD.
DeleteThen Purger said "not true" but he then elaborated completely different issue.
What is true about shares of domestic carriers?
If JU has the lowest share compared to other ex-YU carriers and if JU share is "definitely not good" is then the shares of other ex-Yu carriers definitely worse than JU? Is then, for example, OU share "definitely worse" compared to JU?
I am perplexed.
I hope to get a straight answer, not a change of subject or a innovative excuse.
As far as I know OU share is at 62% in Zagreb at least during the first hald of the year. Not sure if it changed during the third quarter but I doubt it.
DeleteI Beograd i Zagreb su trecerazredni evropski gradovi, sto zbog velicine, sto zbog ekonomije.
DeleteTurizam ne cini neki grad metropolom. Ima toliko provincijskih gradova koji su turisticke metropole, pa ostaju provincija. Na primer Salcburg.
Nemojte ljudi iz ekstrema u ekstrem! Po vama ili BEG nista ne valja, pa kada vam se kaze da niste objektivni, onda okrenete kako BEG nije vodeca svetska metropola. Pa naravno da nije, niti je iko tvrdio da jeste. Postoji toliki prostor izmedju. Nema potrebe ni za megalomanijom, niti za nipodastavanjem.
Takvim nivoom komunikacije svodite raspravu na to "ciji je veci", a znamo koliko su ljudi objektivni i razumni kada o tome raspravljaju :)
ZAG 16 prijevoznika
DeleteBEG 22 prijevoznika
ZAG 14 legacy carriera
BEG 15 legacy carriera
ZAG 13 velikih legacy carriera
BEG 13 velikih legacy carriera prema hubovima
ZAG sva tri najveća prijevoznika EU (BA, AF, LH)
BEG samo jedan najveći prijevoznik EU (LH)
ZAG 2 LCC
BEG 7 LCC
ZAG 26 destinacija
BEG 58 destinacija
ZAG 7 destinacija u exYU
BEG 7 destinacija u exYU
Aerodrom koji ce imati pet miliona nije provincijalni.
Delete"ZAG sva tri najveća prijevoznika EU (BA, AF, LH)
DeleteBEG samo jedan najveći prijevoznik EU (LH)"
Jedina prednost ZAG. Al' 'ajde malo i ja da spinam, kada je vec Purger krenuo u velikom stilu :)
Upitno je koliko je ta prednost znacajna ako se zna da JU ima code-share sa AF i KL i pristup njihovim mrezama iz CDG i AMS. Meni se cini da JU monopol na ove destinacije nudi putnicima otprilike slicno iskustvo po slicnim cenama koje bi imali sa AF i KL. Monopol nije tako losa stvar za JU poslovno.
Kada bude dosla Transavia u BEG, putnici ce imati vise nego sto dobijaju u ZAG. Pristup mrezi KL, plus jeftinog i pouzdanog prevoznika za svetski hub. Koji je takodje deo ff programa AF-KL, kada se to vec pominje.
Ne shvatam zasto su nase komsije opsednute nama. Neka se porede sa aerodromima koji su u njihovoj ligi kao sto mi ne poredimo beograd sa zagrebom vec sofijom I slicnim aerodromima
DeleteBeograd ima jedanaest ex YU destinacija: LJU, ZAG, SPU,DBV, PUY, TIV, TGD, OHD, SKP, BNX I SJJ.
DeleteDa, slažem se da su ljudi ovdje stvarno čudaci. Beogradski i zagrebački aerodromi prema svim kriterijima spadaju u isti kategoriju:
Delete- globalni hubovi u Europi imaju 55-75 milijuna putnika (LHR, FRA, IST, CDG, AMS)
- veliki europski hubovi imaju 20-40 milijuna putnika (MAD, MUC, FCO, LGW, BCN, SVO, DME, ZRH, DUB, OSL, BRU, ARN, MAN, VIE, DUS, TXL. LIS...)
- utjecajni regionalni hubovi su od 10 do 20 milijuna putnika (MXP, ATH, HEL, HAM, PRG, WAW, STR, BUD)
- sve između 2 i 10 milijuna su srednje veliki aerodromi (najveći među njima su Bucharest, Lyon, Venice, Glasgow, Marseille, Porto, Toulouse), pa isti imaju čak 4 milijuna putnika više od BEG (što je daleko više nego je razlika između Zagreba i Beograda) ili 6 od ZAG. BEG je u rangu sa Sofijom, Reykjavikom, Palermom, Pisom, Maltom, Rhodesom, Newcastlom...
- od 0,3 do 2 milijuna su mali aerdoromi
- a ispod 0,3 milijuna su minijaturni aerodromi (koji nisu samoodrživi)
U Europskim okvirima ni Zagreb ni Beograd ne predstavljaju ništa bitno, kako u zrakoplovstvu, tako i u gospodarstvu općenito.
Iako je zagrebački BDP per capita daleko veći (24.000 USD )spram Beograda (10.086 USD), Beograd ima bitno više stanovnika pa razlika u nominalnom BDP i nije toliko u korist Zagreba
Zagreb BDP (2014) 20 milijardi USD
Beograd BDP (2014)16,9 milijardi USD
Anonymous 3:30
Deletepitanje je bilo o zimskom redu letenja kada se iz BEG ne leti za SPU, DBV, PUY i OHD. I iz ZAG se tijekom ljeta leti za BWK, RJK, PRN, a što ne leti zimi.
Anonymous 2:54
"Not true" se odnosio na komentar koji je admin u međuvremenu obrisao, a rekao je krivu tezu "da je prošle godine iz ZAG otišlo 3 kompanije TAP, Swiss i flyDubai. Objašnjenje zašto to nije točno piše u mom komentaru.
Nije obrisan taj komentar. I dalje je tu... ja ga barem vidim
DeleteSamo neka vam glupavi exYu brise. Purgeru nauci se da je jos JAT potisnuo sa BEG tzv velike. Kad dodje vreme letece se i za MUN.
DeleteOU and JU market share still very high for both Zagrab and Belgrat. More than 50%, come one please!
DeleteAlen, nonsense, PRN is discontinued and nex to follow is SKP. If it wasn't for cargo it would be cut a long time ago
Delete@3:38 - Are you serious?! How can a 2 million and 10 million airport be in the same category??! International classification goes up to one, then from 5 to 10 million. BEG and SOF are in that category, ZAG is half of that...
Delete@3:22 - You forgot to tell that BEG has a real company based there carrying more than ZAG handles per year.
DeleteBEG is not in 5 million category anyhow. And there is no such a thing as international classification in 5 to 10 million category.
DeleteYes, there is.
Deletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Airport_Service_Quality_Award_winners#5-15_million
Well, there's no need for nitpicking, we all know it's almost there.
Delete5 to 15, my mistake*
DeleteDon't forget that if OU goes bankrupt ZAG numbers will go down as transfer passengers will go down and the average fare will go up
DeleteAnd that is just one of classification in the world. You have zillion of those with different criteria and numbers.
DeleteWell, one thing is for sure, a 2.5 and 5 million airport don't fall into the same category.
DeleteIs there any chance of Air Baltic coming back to Belgrade anytime soon?
ReplyDeleteI remember reading that initially they said they suspended the route because of a fleet shortage but then later on they said they are not even considering Belgrade as a destination anymore. They have a codeshare with Air Serbia.
DeleteSwiss' numbers have been decreasing in BEG for a while now. It will be interesting to see how they perform when they start Nis and whether their numbers on the Belgrade route will be affected.
ReplyDeleteI don't think their flights to Nis will affect their Belgrade flights too much. They are going after gasterbaiters who mostly used to fly with Wizz Air to Belgrade and Nis too.
DeleteIf there is demand for INI, they will increase the flights and make them all-year around and decrease BEG most likely.
DeleteCan you please found that numbers for Zagreb airport?
ReplyDeleteI found this while searching something else. It was posted by someone here. Passanger share for first half of year at Zagreb:
Delete1. Croatia Airlines 62,1%
2. Lufthansa 10,5%
3. Germanwings 4,5%
4. Austrian Airlines 5,4%
5. British Airways 3,5%
6. Turkish Airlines 3,1%
7. Air France 3,0%
8. Qatar Airways 2.1%
Does anyone know how many pax QR handles?
DeleteWell you can calculate how many passengers Zagreb had in the first six months and then 2,1% of that :)
DeleteWhat about KLM?
DeleteSwiss is really struggling in BEG
ReplyDeleteThis year is really the best ever for Swiss in Belgrade, average annual load factor is above 90%, they recently added the ninth weekly flight during winter on ZRH-BEG route.
DeleteHahahaha, anonymous 6:36, very funny!
DeleteDon't forget that their numbers went down because of GVA, not ZRH.
DeleteGiven that Swiss transported 142.418 PAX performing 970 flights, average number of passengers per flight was 147, wasn't it ? Not bad at all.
DeleteThat's a full A320, no?
DeleteOT: I am stuck in FRA today because of LH strike, which comes hundredth time in the last few years.
ReplyDeleteI am not so sure that LH really has a big strategy against LCC. They cannot bring their own house in order.
It is certain that they are losing much more with all the strikes then they would if they have invested a little bit more in their pilots.
Plan is not to give in to salary increases of pilots of an insane >20%!! That would widen the gap to LCCs immensely and further increase costs and fares for passengers of LH! Those bullying pilots are just simply nuts and lost any sense for current times and reality. Sorry for you if your stuck but I really hope that LH keeps its position. They are fighting on three fronts right now, with two cabin crew trade unions, too! Try to explain why the working group with already highest incoming was to deserve such raise!? There have been independent calculations that the average LH captain would get almost 2500 eur per month more. I don't think any employer on the world could accept that- it would rather file for bankruptcy due to pilots blackmail and losses incurring due to strike actions.
DeleteBut in same time LH had 1,6 billion profit last year and because of it they give huge bonus to management.
DeleteYou want to tell me that pilots (and others) did not make their share in this huge profit, and because of that did not deserve part of that money?
They have all the right in the World to be unsatisfied about that.
They are important but management is just as important because it's their decisionmaking that made LH so profitable.
DeleteSo why than huge bonus just to management, but no increase of salary to pilots?
DeleteWhat 20%?
DeletePilots are asking for 3,7% increase, the management offers 2,5%.
Pilots sound quite reasonable. Management is spreading misinformation.
No thats totally wrong, you are the one spreading wrong info! Its 3.7 percent per year - dated back for every month from beginning of 2012 till 2016. Plus for every month from 2017. In total from 2017 pay rises of more than 21%! Pilots in average already get some 8000-12000 eur in average, they are by far the last group in the whole company that deserves even higher salaries, let alone such raises. They should give bonuses to the background staff, in cargo facility, in house staff, service centres etc. - those with smallest income. But they are all not organised in large and powerful trade unions to cause harm to 100000 travellers per day and make the company lose few millions every day when striking.
DeleteI really wonder should LH rather close down - transfer whole flight ops to EW, paint EW/4U planes in LH livery, call it LH World Airlines or similar. Every pilot would only receive half of salary - which still is enough to earn most in whole company - apart from higher management. Problem for LH would be solved and they could open a few hundred routes more which currently are not feasible under nowaday's cost structure. That would create thousands of new and more jobs!
I am glad you admit you invented the raise of 20% yearly. Spread in five years that is quite reasonable. This is in line with salary raises in many other industries, and much behind some sectors, like IT.
DeleteOf all employees pilots deserve the highest salaries for a reason.
High management is grossly overvalued in and scandalously overpaid in present economy. Only thing they are good at is slicing out enormous bonuses for themselves. They are the biggest parasites of present stagnant economy and completely shameless.
Btw, you do realize that EW is going is going into strike too?
DeleteGerman worker does not accept to be treated as expendable s**t, while being told fairly-tales about "job-creation". Paying pilots, cabin and ground staff more is much, much better for economy than paying overvalued managerial weasels, so that they could spend 150,000 euros for a new fancy Swiss watch.
Nadam se da ce BEG dobiti jos linija prema Bliskom Istoku i Africi koji bi mu znatno doneli veci broj Transfernih putnika i nema veze dali ce te linije ASL obavljati ili sa codeshare ugovorom.
ReplyDeleteINN-NS
Hoping to see Belgrat to IKA, PEK, TSE next year!
ReplyDeleteOT:
ReplyDeleteSOF to reduce fees to 5.5 per passenger from January 2017
How much is it now?
Delete11.5 euro is now. Will be reduced to 5.5 euro
DeleteThat doesn't make much sense, how do they plan on making money? SOF is not a shack, it's not cheap to operate.
DeleteI don't know, but these are the new fees of the airport. They expect to handle 6+ mln. next year. May be this will bring more carriers to Sofia.
DeleteGo, Sofia!
DeleteI don't know, getting them down to 10 or 9.5 Euros would be more logical. A 5.5 Euro charge is more common among smaller airports that are struggling to attract new carriers.
DeleteMaybe FR asked for that but since they couldn't just give it to them they extended it to everyone.
Sofia airport reduced the charges for T2 and they are now the same as for T1. Rumours are Ryanair is moving to T2.
DeleteT2 is much "emptier" and this will urge carriers to use the more modern airport. T1 is a classic and needs refurbishment asap. Also, it is already being extremely busy in the peak hours - early morning and late afternoon. Wizz´s 7th a/c - FR 3 and the UK charter ski flights. I think the government made a wise decision.
DeleteFR are moving to T2 from January. W6 are also expected to move to T2 by summer. FR are planning to base 2 additional a/c @SOF in 2017. There is a concession procedure opened by the government. The concessionaire will be obligated to build a brand new terminal.
DeleteIt's such a big shame easyJet does not fly to Belgrade anymore (I don't count GVA because it's operated by easyJet Switzerland). I flew both of their flights to FCO (August, around 70€ return) and MXP (February, 42€ return) and it was really enjoyable. I would like to see a more massive expansion of WizzAir operations here as well, although I'm not in love with them. (without a reason to be honest)
ReplyDeleteNow, I went to SXF with Ryanair from TSR in November (I live in Novi Sad, 150 km to this airport) and at passport control a Romanian girl asked me why are there so many Serbs coming to fly from TSR. I almost cried.
Having in mind that FR is now expanding to larger airports; they are present at FCO, MXP, CPH, AMS and getting ready to fly from FRA next summer, I don't see why wouldn't they come to BEG. Ah, I almost forgot.
P.S. Purger, I enjoyed your blog post about BEG!
Also, loading my car with 30€ of fuel and paying 55€ for parking fee at TSR paid off than going to BEG and flying lousy JU to TXL.
DeleteJU is not lousy, it´s just cheaper for you to fly from TSR given the distance and fare difference. Of course, parking fees are low. Don´t be too harsh on JU dear.
DeleteYou're so stupid, so how much did you pay at the end??!
DeleteAre you serious. You are calling JU lousy, then what is FR???
DeleteI'm not the one who called JU lousy, but I must answer your question and tell you few facts which make JU lousy, compared to FR :
Delete- FR fleet is 3 times younger than JU's
- FR fleet is 10 times bigger than JU's
-FR flies to 5 times more places than JU
- FR passangers pay much less than JU's
- FR makes huge profits, JU makes losses
All of the above listed facts, make Air Serbia lousy, compared to Ryanair, not opposite, as much as you would like it to be your way. Good night!
Reviews reflecting passenger experience on both carriers proves you just the opposite. I won't tell you good night, since it seems you never woke up from your stupidity.
DeleteRyanair is Europe's number one airline in terms of passenger numbers so reviews don't matter really. I guess he is not the one who needs to wake up.
Delete- FR fleet is 3 times younger than JU's
DeleteSo what? You feel like crap in a brand new FR 737. JU service makes you feel great in older JU A320.
- FR fleet is 10 times bigger than JU's
Does not matter how big is the fleet, you only fly one plane at a time.
-FR flies to 5 times more places than JU
Not from BEG, it does not. FR does not fly single route JU does, it does not fly to JFK from anywhere. FR does not offer streaming movies, does not offer connecting flights across the network, does not have real business class, lounge, does not have included baggage and food, the list goes on.
- FR passangers pay much less than JU's
Prove it. JU guests pay 350 eur to JFK and back, that's much less per kilometer than average price on many FR routes.
- FR makes huge profits, JU makes losses
Second one is is lie. No one ever was able to prove it.
FR pax numbers are only a small percentage of overall pax numbers in Europe. Most pax in Europe choose NOT to fly FR.
Just a bunch of W6/FR idiots and JU haters abusing this site as their cyberspace soapbox.
How prepotent you have to be to compare, even more to say it is "better", tiny insignificant provincial company (Air Serbia) with one of the biggest companies in the world (Ryanair).
DeleteThey are one of the biggest so their product is good, much more people use it, unlike Air Serbia.
What a nonsensical comparison.
DeleteI don't understand this comparison of lccs and legacies. It is like comparing hostels and hotels.
Yes, both have clean sheets and provide you with place to sleep, and hostels are much much cheaper, but I hope hostel lovers do realize that that's not everyone's cup of tea.
Can we please stop these futile comparisons?
The return fare for my TSR-SXF flight was 20 euros, with two pax splitting the fuel and parking fee, it ended up being 65 euros per person.
DeleteI'm just saying that, although many would disagree, I hate the protectionism given to Air Serbia. If the airline is that good, why wouldn't you ease off for LCC and let them fly from BEG as well? Just take a look at the airports I mentioned. People who want to get ripped off by JU would still go to JU, and people who want to save money would come to FR. Who would make profit? BEG airport, as it would see at least another million per year!
Anon at 7:43 said that I feel like crap in a brand new FR 737. Calling me an idiot, did you fly the new 737 with the new Sky interior? The anorexic slim seats are as comfortable as the previous ones, but give a lot more leg room. Being 187cm tall and a little bit wider than a normal person, I still had enough room and felt nice.
For 1h 20min flight I don't need "beds and blowjobs", as Michael O'Leary said. You spend more in a city bus, why would you complain then? Flying with LCC just lets you keep extra money, and oh God, the FR 737 was enjoyable!
Niko im ne brani da lete sa BEG prosto traze ustupke kao sto ih je imao Wizz za vreme Dinkiceve strahovlade. Ja nemam nista protiv da se ukrcavaju iz autobusa na B stajalistima i da lete po celoj Evropi i da BEG ima 8-9 miliona putnika kao sto treba da ima.
DeleteHahaha Dinkiceva strahovlada, hahaha, mislim da je sad sve potpuno jasno, cak I onima manje pametnijima medju nama, ko ovde I zasto JU kuje u zvezde
DeleteSmaras brate vec mesecima sa tim izmisljotinama oko Dinkica. Otidji malo i procackaj vesti iz 2012. i 2013. i nauci jednom da je on prvi dovukao Etihad u Air Serbiu. Vucic je to preuzeo i izgurao, a Radulovic parafirao.
DeleteCitta, I don't understand your argument. You are arguing like LCCs are prohibited from BEG airport, which is a totally untrue. In fact, they provide alternatives to most destination to which legacies from Belgrade fly, including JU.
DeleteIt is not a zero sum game, where you have to demolish legacies to bring LCCs.
If Ryan wants to come to BEG, they are welcome.
Also, anon. 9.59 has a point. Some people think everyone has same values and priorities they do. Not everyone is ready to go to great lengths to save a couple of bucks. In fact, quite a lot people. LCCs main competition are not legacies, but bus transport.
Za budaletinu gore samo informacija da je Dinkic clan i sadanje garniture u Srbiji samo sa manjim ovlascenjima. Vlada uvek ima raznih ponuda, nije ih Dinkic doneo.
DeleteCitta, you're talking nonsense. First of all you're giving an example of:
Delete- two people travelling together, which is not always the case, if you were traveling alone you'd pay double than that
- are you traveling without luggage? Not everybody is and certainly they'll pay a fare much closer to JU's
- not everybody has a car to drive to obscure airports without bus traffic
- how much costs the fuel for a 150km round-trip?
- do you seriously think that 10 Eur. is a sustainable fare for any carrier, be it LCC or legacies?
Thing is, LCC transfer onto you and local governments things that legacies pay themselves. They aren't forbidden to expand in BEG yet they choose INI. Stop believing your illusions and as we say "sto ne platis na mostu platices na Ćupriji".
Pa druze kad prestanu u Srbiji da rade sta hoce "garniture", za svoju korist, I kad umesto njih dodju na red nestranacki strucnjaci, svako u svom fahu pa I u avijaciji, onda ce biti bolje I drugacije. Jedino sto cisto sumnjam da ce da bude skoro
DeleteTo se nece nikada desiti, jer tako slicno rade i garniture u USA Nemackoj samo dopisi ime zemlje problem je kolike su lopine te garniture i da li ostaje opsta korist ili steta u drustvu. Ne moze se predati u evropi nacionalna aviokompanija nekom Wizzu to je dosada samo Madjarska uradila. Sledeca je Slovenija.
Delete@Anon 12:55
Delete-Just a backpack for a 3 day city break, although wherever I go I pack a suitcase which is nearly the size of cabin bag luggage.
-Bus traffic is key here, but taxi lobbies are too strong that they won't let buses run to airports in Serbia. (I'm a bus expert btw)
-Fuel I wrote up there, there is no highway so fuel consumption is less. We have filled the tank full up, but I assume around 35€ would be fine.
-I don't care if it's sustainable. I'm a passenger, not an economy expert.
-Nisam platio na mostu, neću ni na ćupriji. Troškovi putovanja NS-TSR-SXF i nazad za dve osobe su izašli ukupno 150€. Čak i da sam ubacio jedan veći kofer uz karte, opet bi me ispalo jeftinije.
@Anon 13:09
DeleteI agree. You can add FYROM (W6) and Slovakia (FR) as well.
Are you sure you'll always be able to find 10 Eur. fares? Can you tell me how much it'd cost next week, say 28.11 to 01.12 (so no weekend) and add all your costs? Thank you.
DeleteDo it yourself. Otherwise people will say that I'm making propaganda here.
DeleteNo, please, prove your point and make yourself credible, then tell us how much you'd pay with JU for the same days without all the hassle.
DeleteZa gospodina sto mrzi Dinkica:
DeleteOdluci se sta ti je argument. Prvo tvrdis jedno, onda ti se pokaze da je to glupost, onda serviras nedokazane optuzbe.
Ako imas neke dokaze i nesto konkretno protiv njega, molim u policiju pod hitno. Ako nemas, molim te prestani vise da nas sve ovde opterecujes svojim licnm frustracijama i mrznjama i dovodis ovaj sajt u opasnost da bude tuzen za klevetu, dok se krijes u zavetrini anonimnosti.
@Citta - Ok, so let me help you. For the closest days to those mentioned, a ticket will cost you 127 EUR. in total, and that is the most basic fare, not including any luggage. You have to understand that majority of pax are not cheap backpackers who can fly two days a week but working people who need flexibility. JU flies almost daily to all destinations in Germany. What you're not understanding is that by issuing you a few tickets which are far from a revenue price, they're making you become their free mouthpiece, since you'll be bragging about them to everyone, undermining their competitors in people's mentality (which is just what you're doing) and make them look for Ryanair fares and go to third world cities/forsaken airports, even if at the end 99% won't find a fare anywhere close to what you did but will pay a legacy price for a sub-standard and sometimes humiliating service. Using you and those alike to you to raise their brand-awareness is cheaper than paying for ads or TV advertisements. Wonder who's really saving money up here, you or Ryanair.
Delete@Anon 15:04
DeleteI think you are making a mistake about the fares. It would be different if I bragged about 20€ fare on JU, and noone else could find it. About LCC it's different. As for free mouthpiece, maybe you're right, but I still hate BEG and Serbia for not letting them in just because of JU. People, you mentioned that no one banned them. Yes, I'm aware, but there is no stimulative measure to let them in, which would create far more demand from Serbia.
BTW, did you check the JU fares for the same dates? I did.
Excuse me,what in this world is wrong with you?If they want to come they will.W6 is expanding and why FR cant?Prob. because they dont wanna.So please shut up with your stupid propaganda.
DeleteJa kada budem spremio dokaze protiv Mirosinkinog Mladje Dikica ici ces i ti u zatvor. Udruzivanje radi kriminala ne zastareva.
DeleteI mislio sam da lupetas za svoju dusu, bez ikakvih dokaza. Kao anonimus, kao pravi "junak." Protiv politicara koji je trenutno niko i nista i nema nikakvu moc. Ponovo kao pravi "junak." Nije ni cudo sto nam tako divno ide kao drustvu uz takve "dokaze" i "junastva".
DeleteLook at it this way: I'm glad that JU works, but I disapprove giving JU huge subventions and forcing people like me to travel to TSR/BUD or OSI earlier. So as a Serb, I will pay to Romanians, Hungarians etc. LCC are not prohibited to fly from BEG but they are not stimulated.
ReplyDeleteLCC as a competition to buses? Yes but there are loads of people who go to diaspora by bus not because of fear of flying but because of lack of capacity, mostly on holidays.
To sum it up - I am a 19 year old student. I don't have sufficient money to afford me a flight on JU airplane. I am not a patriotic Serb who will fly only on JU. In my desperate need of travel and flying I choose to fly from Romania on FR because even W6 is mostly too expensive out of BEG. This is where Serbia, JU and BEG badly fail.
Just a correction, I'm typing this while standing in a city bus and on my phone - Anyway I do have money to travel on JU but it would limit my trips to around 1 per year if I was lucky to find "regular but we call them specially low" JU fares.
DeleteSamo siris besmislenu propagandu Wizz nema bolje linije iz Temisvara osim Spanije. To nije vredno tolikih troskova za putovanje i parkiranje.
DeleteBato ako si na ovoj stranici zbog ljubavi za avijaciju a ne zbog sendvica, mogao bi da naucis da je covek putovao FR -Rajanerom a ne Vizerom
DeleteBergamo, Berlin-Schönefeld, Bucharest, Charleroi, Hahn, London-Stansted, Weeze nije zasta bi neko uopste plakao uz placanje puta i parkinga sve je pokriveno iz BEG.
Delete@Sendvičonimus (12:57)
DeleteAs I can see, most of the people here write in English, so I will comply. I'm not politically active, nor doing any propaganda here, I'm just arguing about šupačka politics of BEG and JU and Serbia.
By the way, from TSR you can fly with
FR: Milan, Frankfurt, Brussels, Dusseldorf, Bucharest, Berlin and London
W6: Barcelona, Rome, Brussels, London, Frankfurt, Dortmund, Venice etc.
All in all, there ARE good flights out of TSR, and more direct flights for a p2p passenger.
(There are no direct flights to MAD, BCN etc from BEG)
@Anonymous 13:16
DeleteBerlin SXF ima bolju vezu sa centrom grada nego TXL.
SXF: S-Bahn ili Bus+U-Bahn
TXL: Samo Bus (koji je redovno prepun) ili Bus+U-Bahn
Da li ti shvatas da je aerodrom Hahn 120 kilometara daleko od Frankfurta? Sat i po cak i po nemackim banovima.
DeleteDrkosi kao ti koji imaju automobile koji su im kupili roditelji imaju para za normalne
avionske karte ali mislite da sve treba da bude podredjeno vama. Boravak u Berlinu nije besplatan cak ni sa FR tarifama.
Znači nikom ne smeš reći da imaš 19 godina. Umesto da ti neko kaže da je lepo što drugačije razmišljaš i da si uključen u takvu raspravu, odmah dobijaš kompliment da si drkoš i da su ti mama i tata prebogati pa ti kupuju auto da se vozaš. E pa bravo ti ga bravo.
Delete1. Oni kojima mama i tata kupuju auto ne idu nigde osim po splavovima da se muvaju sa fufama kako imaju auto.
2. Čak i da su mi mama i tata kupili auto i da smo prebogati, zašto bih ovde pisao da nemam para da letim sa JU već pišem da sam leteo iz odvratnog Temišvara sa FR?!
3. Vozim Opel Astru 1.4 2005. godište, i to samo kad mi javni prevoz izrazito ne odgovara. Na fakultet idem autobusom, u Beograd idem vozom.
5. Sat i po vožnje je zapravo dva sata nemačkim autobahnom autobusom za 14 evra uz prevoznika Flibco. Ali računaj i to da ni aerodrom FRA nije u centru grada.
Opel astra je 3000-4000 jura. Mozes i ti da muvas fufe. Moj sin putuje sa LCC ne vozi kola i obisao je sever evrope. Spremaju se za jug.
DeleteAko ćeš mi platiti 3000-4000 za Astru, spreman sam odmah da ti je prodam. Mada ne znam kakve veze ima auto sa korišćenjem jeftinih avionskih karata.
DeleteSorry Citta, I still don't understand your point.
DeleteYou are a time-flexible 19-year-old student, just a tiny part of a market. A person, who would, as it was pointed out above, chose hostel over hotel to save every buck. You would travel to Temisvar or to Osijek (which carrier you plan to catch there?) to save few bucks. Good for you! I see nothing wrong there. I would do the same if I were 19, if for nothing else, then just for the sake of adventure.
Here is where I think you are wrong. You are asking that the whole market changes so that it can cater to your present needs and your present preferences.
To me that sounds super self-centered and selfish and short-sighted. Hopefully you will finish your studies and find a great job. You will have different travel needs and much less flexibility then. Don't you think?
I think that basically you understood my point and actually prove it. FR (or any other airline) and JU would not be competitors at most of their routes. For p2p booking in advance passengers you would have FR/W6/U2 whilst for transfer pax and those in wish of more comfort would have JU/LH/OU etc. Although JU would probably see a small decline in number of pax, BEG would profit much more and maybe could even lower the subsidiaries for JU. I hate only the protectionist politics of BEG and Serbia, that's all. If their interest is to spread LCC pax across INI/BUD/TSR/SOF/TZL in order to brag about having a very successful airline, that's a pack of lies to me, honestly, and still makes me go to airports listed above. :)
DeleteAs for OSI, Ryanair had more flights before, I was talking about the past time, sadly.
DeleteALO, what protectionism you're talking about?! Do you understand that Serbia is obliged as part of EASA agreements to accept ANY EU airline that wants to fly to BEG?
DeleteIt is FR not wanting to fly to BEG, not BEG forbidding them to do so. ATH has 3 times higher taxes than BEG yet Ryanair is there. If you wish you can write them a letter and stimulate them to come, while they're already developing in Nis. That's their business decision and you can only blame them for it.
Ej, why there is nearly no expansion of LCC in BEG then, if we put FR aside? And do you know if FR has any agreements for lower taxes with ATH?
DeleteThey asked for and they were refused. They came anyway. They're paying just like everyone else, why should BEG be any different?
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI didn't know that, thank you for pointing it out. However, ATH is much more interesting destination and OA/A3 had some hard times before, which was good for FR.
DeleteThe reasons there is no expansion are:
Delete- while <10% of you pay tickets at ridiculous prices, Ryanair needs the other 90% to pay overpriced last-minute tickets to put it simple, BEG and Serbia are a too low-purchase market for that unlike ATH
- JU is a relatively strong home carrier, flying daily to main O&D destinations, with that it's hard to compete with 2 weekly flights or the way LCC operate
- For those where JU isn't flying there is Wizz Air flying already, basing a second aircraft next year.
Enough reasons? After all, Serbian market isn't that big. JU is growing thanks to transfers. To put it simply - it won't be simple for them to make any money out-tere due to competition and structure of the market, that is why they're not coming, not because someone is not letting them do.
The good question is whether BEG airport would be able to sustain an increase in traffic such as SOF is currently witnessing i.e 7 Wizz Air and 4 Ryan aircraft based there.
Delete