Air Serbia is looking to evolve its business and product in the coming months, the carrier's CEO, Dane Kondić said as the carrier took home the Airline Market Leader Award at the 43rd annual ATW Airline Industry Achievement Awards in New York last night. Speaking to EX-YU Aviation News, Mr Kondić said the company has a strong mandate from both its majority and minority shareholders, the Serbian government and Etihad Airways, to continue to develop. "It's a great recognition not just for Serbia but for the region aviation-wise. Nobody has ever been recognised at this level from the region, let alone Serbia. It sends a very good message to aviation lovers that good things can come from our part of the world. People often forget that unlike all of our EX-YU friends, and I mean the airlines, we've only had three and half years and they have had significantly longer". He added, "All told, given the legacy that we inherited, the changes we've made, to do all that in three and half years has been really an amazing effort. The fact that someone like ATW has recognised us as market leader is vindication for all that we have done in the last three and a half years".
American Airlines was named ATW's airline of the year due to its recent transformation and integration with US Airways. Other winners included Mexican low cost carrier Volaris (Value Airline), United Airlines (Eco-Airline), Singapore Airlines (Onboard Experience), AltAir (Eco-Company), Pittsburgh International Airport (Airport of the Year) and NAVBLUE (Aviation Technology).
The Serbian carrier is expected to announce a number of changes for 2017, chief of which is the upcoming move to the Sabre system. "It will make the whole system work much more efficiently and it will save us a lot of money in the longer term. It will enable us to do a lot more things that we haven't been able to do. Today all airlines, whether they are full service, somewhere in the middle, or at the other end of the low cost spectrum are all selling bags, and selling seats, monetizing certain things that we call ancillaries, that we can't do and that we haven't been able to do and I know people have been critical of us for not offering fares without bags for example. They are the things that are tangible, that people will be able to see". He noted, "There will also be far more seamless interlining between us and our partners and other airlines. It's not something people will see too much of but internally, for the company, it will be a massive step-change".
EX-YU Aviation News will bring you a series of articles on Air Serbia's future plans in the coming weeks.
Love them or hate (and I know most here hate them) they have done a lot in 3 years. Congrats on the award.
ReplyDeleteTrue. Imagine Jat winning any award four years ago.
Deleteanon 9:03 +1000
DeleteYou know what would be a fun thing to do? To make a compilation of all of Dane's statements from their commitment to being a legacy carrier, to a boutique one and now to a semi-hybrid one.
ReplyDeleteI think Etihad should not renew his contract. I heard he is absolutely hated by the staff and many have left because of him.
Agree. They tend to turn as the wind blows. It was clear from the very beginning that a legacy and less even a boutique carrier had no future in Serbia. Yet, they tried very hard to convince u that's the right way to go. Now they're turning AS into another WizzAir. I wonder why we paid for that.
DeleteI love how people already know what Air Serbia is turning into even with ZERO information from the airline on the upcoming changes.
DeleteWrong. There are many people on here who actually work for JU and who contribute. My friend who got the Etihad scholarship is in charge of the ancillaries. He told me that they will most likely charge €30 for check in at the airport, seat reservation and a few other things which will boost the airline's revenue. He said that more will be known in the coming weeks.
DeleteSve su ovo netačne informacije. Radim u AS i mogu vas više nego uveriti da su ovo izmusljotine i da neće biti nikakvih 30 eura naplate za čekiranje na aerodromu. Mislim stvarno odakle ti ovako neke cifre i kako te nije blam izmišljati? Kao prvo interaktivni sabre daje puno otvorenih i flekisibilnih mogućnosti kao na primer povezivanja interline i code share ugovora, razmenu podataka između rezervacije-check in-web sistema, koja je do sada radila na mnogo komplikovaniji način. Sabre će nam omogućiti veću i brzu bazu tematic informacija a time uvećati i OTP. Prodaja karata je mnogo veća pošto sabre podržava i neke agencijske programe koji još postoje u nekim delovima Azije i Severne Afrika. Također loyalty program ima savršenu i automatsku on line podršku tako da softer obavlja mnoge funkcije koje smo do sada radili manuelno. Mislim mogao bi da pričam o sabre do sutra. Izmišljati koje kakve gluposti i pljuvati po nama u AS do sada vam stvarno nije dalo rezultata i bili bi lepo da već jednom prestanete.
DeleteBrate, ti si se kompletno diskreditovao kada si odvaljivao onda za popunjenost na letu za JFK. Izgleda da smo zamenili jednog bota (inn sns) sa tobom.
DeleteNa kraju krajeva, sve sto je spimenuto ovde se obistinilo, picev od smanjenja letova
Looking forward to those articles ex-Yu. Thanks :)
ReplyDeleteSo I'm guessing we will have lower fares now with the new Sabre system?
ReplyDeleteProbably. Depends what kevel of service you choose.
DeleteSomething they should have done from the start.
DeleteRegional fares without luggage should be around €76.
DeleteLOL!!!! Yeah fares will go down- same as prices overall are decreasing everywhere.
DeleteSarcasm aside, they might offer a new tariff without bags for 5% cheaper price but the main tariff including luggage rather 10-15% more expensive. And yet they are going to sell it as a great advantage for their customers and as a price reduction.
Mark my words- that's how other airlines have done it and JU won't be an exception.
They'll probably do what LH did, use their lowest tariff as the no-bag one. Also, I don't see MNE going under €100. They'll probably be more flexible on destinations with lower number of O&D passengers.
DeleteIt will also depend on the taxes. They are really high in the region.
DeleteI think Bosnia should drop the €18 airport development tax or whatever it's called. When was the last time there was some serious investment in the aviation infrastructure?
DeleteThere will be some interesting times ahead. Oh and I like the CEO's speech. He seems to be witty.
ReplyDeleteGood luck JU!
ReplyDeleteLet's see what becomes of JU after Sunday and if Vucic loses the elections. In my opinion the biggest mistake (after chosing Dane as the CEO) was that they allowed JU to become a political project.
ReplyDeleteIf DJB and Radulovic become part of the next government then there will be trouble.
Oh Dear! People in Serbia are so easy to fool. Radulovic was Vucic's former minister, his "opposition" guy. And it is rat race between two of them who is a more difficult character and more arrogant. Both have very little substance.
DeleteJU will survive, like FIAT Kragujevac did.
As far as I am aware the elections are presidental not parliamentary. And let's not kid ourselves, you really think anyone would just let a company with 2700 people employed go bust. That would be a great way to start your time in office.
DeleteMnogi ljudi u Srbiji vole "politicare" koji tvrde da ce se sve caskom resiti samo da oni lupe rukom o sto i "zavedu red". To je neozbiljan, detinjasti pogled na svet. Taj veliki tata koji ce sve resiti nikada nece doci.
DeleteTo se tako ne radi. Za uredjenu drzavu trebaju decenije i dosta pametnih, vrednih i tihih ljudi. Treba sistem vrednosti da se namece generacijama.
I JU ce trebati godine i godine da se stabilizuje i zdravo razvija. Nista ne dolazi preko noci.
Vucic said that he will resign if he loses which means we could be going for parliamentary elections.
DeleteJU will survive but the amount of funds it receives from the budget will go down.
Don't forget that Radulovic was his minister for only two months. I wonder why. lol
don't be ridiculous, Vučić won't loose. the question is whether he will win it now (most likely), or in the second round (less likely)
DeleteOf course he won't... ;)
DeleteOT
ReplyDeleteYesterday Serbia organized a workshop in Beijing where it promoted itself as a tourist destination to the Chinese. The event was a huge success as there were over 100 different tourism and government agencies as well as members of the private sector.
Serbia and Montenegro will present a joint package at the upcoming tourism fair using the slogan: Wild Soul Group.
Since the visa regime was suspended, the number of Chinese tourists rose yoy by 102%. I guess they are referring to the first three months.
Overall, seems like Hainan won't have a problem filling at least a two weekly flight to Belgrade.
I am surprised Bosnia and Macedonia opted out from this joint approach. They could have benefited immensely.
https://rs.sputniknews.com/ekonomija/201703281110547824-turizam-srbija-kina/
I love it how Blic today published an "exclusive" how HNA Group will have flights to Belgrade and we were able to read about that here days ago.
DeleteWell, it's Bljuc... I mean Blic.
DeleteIt starts. From yesterday in short flights instead of little sandwich you have just 2 tinny cookies not bigger than 2 bits each of them. It is even more modest than Lufthansa, Austrian and others who still gives you small sandwich or at least a muffin.
ReplyDeleteWe all remember how it was in start, big sandwich, water, little desert, wet tissue, i a box + coffee, other drinks (juice or beer, or wine).
It was much better than competition, but now it is much worst than Lufthansa, Austrian, even Croatia.
Next is downsizing business class quality from 2+2 arm chairs to 3+3 same chairs as in economy class.
The cookies have been distributed (on flights shorter than two hours) for a few months now.
DeleteDugo je trajalo! Serbia deja vu!
DeleteSorry, had last flight with JU in December, and sandwich was on.
DeleteBut it is true that service is far away than it was in beginning (October 2013).
10/2013
big sandwich
water
little desert
wet tissue
box
coffee or tea
extra drinks (juice, beer, wine)
3/2017
tinny cooky
water
Kao da je velika usteda jedan dobar sendvic ne kosta ni 60 dinara da se napravi. Puta tri za zaradu bude manje od 2 jura. Zaista nema razloga za toliku manipulaciju sa hranom u avio saobracaju pocele su i americke kompanije da je vracaju na svoje letove. Kada se samo setim kesica sa par grickalica za putnike dok skoro pola kila kosta u radnji 99c.
DeleteSada vec davno (2006) sam putovao cesto Air Canadom i imao sam Elite Aeroplan status. Saznao sam tada da oni jednu konzervu K kole ili Pepsi placaju dobavljacu 8 centi dok je ista u radnjama na veliko poput Costco kostala oko 50 centi. Prakticno znaci dobijaju proizvode skoro za dzabe no i oni su to ukinuli sve i sve je postalo platno.
DeleteI haven't been flying with JU since September last year and at that time sandwich was still there but with no little bag.
DeleteIf we speak about Austrian I highly doubt that any airline can offer less. On flight BEG-VIE they offered 50g of dry pretzel, so no sandwich at all.
The same was on flight VIE-FRA few days ago.
anon 11:11 ako je 60 dinara po sendvicu usteda ti je 1.3 miliona Evra na godisnjem nivou ako imas 2600000 putnika. Nije beznacajno pogotovu kad si "supalj" sa parama ko sto je JU.
DeleteNe radi se tu o nabavnoj ceni sendviča, ona je svakako smešna. Radi se o tome da taj isti sendvič umesto da daš besplatno (kao što si ga i dobio skoro pa besplatno) ti možeš da prodaš tokom leta po 100x većoj ceni. Neka 10% kabine kupi taj sendvič za npr. 8 evra, to je 100 evra otprilike. Još 100 evra na pivo i druga osveženja, to je 200 evra po letu. Pa puta 30 hiljada letova godišnje i eto zarade od 6 miliona evra umesto troška od stotinak hiljada evra. Opušteno može da se otplati godišnji lizing A330.
DeleteAli ako bi svima podelio neki snek pa im onda ponudio sendviče i pivo na prodaju, niko ne bi ništa dokupio jer bi im bilo dosta ono što su dobili za dž. A kada nema ništa za dž onda se povećava spremnost da se nešto kupi. Čista psihologija prodaje.
Али када кренеш да наплаћујеш сендвич, пиће, избор седишта у авиону... шта те онда чини бољим од Визера или Рајанера? Народ барем толерише ове два компаније због ниских цена. Сви знамо да ЈУ не може да им парира што се тога тиче.
DeleteОбјасни ми, зашто би неко летео са ЈУ и да плати 50 евра више ако исти тај ниво услуге може добити код Визера за знатно мање паре?
Дакле ово је политика тумарања у мраку. Иста политика коју је Ер Берлин безуспешно примењивао претходних неколико година. Ако је Дане ишта урадио, онда је створио кризу идентитета у компанији.
Aman ne radi ni kod jedne kompanije pogledaj Adriu i sl egzibicije LH. Samo u glavama velikih markentiskih "strucnjaka". Po toj ceni ljudi nose sendvice od kuce. Ljudi se voze sa LCC kompanijama za manji novac guzvaju se u FR. 5 evra moze za alkoholno pice na nekoj malo duzoj destinaciji po Evropi. Ja se grozim glupavih avio obroka bolja mi je mini pica i mafin pred sletanje od njihovog nikakvog obroka sa brdo mini pakovanja.
DeleteTo sto ti tako mislis ne znaci da je tako i sa ostalima. Da si u pravu ne bi DL i AA vracale obroke na odredjenim, malo duzim letovima. dakle ta floskula da putnici ne zele hranu jednostavno nema osnovu. Ti slobodno nastavi da letis sa Vizerom jer ces uskoro kukati kako je JU skupa za proizvod koji nudi.
Delete@ Nebojša Popović:
Delete"If we speak about Austrian I highly doubt that any airline can offer less. On flight BEG-VIE they offered 50g of dry pretzel, so no sandwich at all."
It is not better than that today at Air Serbia. Two tinny hard salty rolls with caraway less than 50 gr. Small, dry and did not taste good at all.
Btw, JU is already advertising itself on Bulgarian radio stations promoting fares excluding checked in luggage e.g BEG and the rest of Balkan capitals. Smart move, as current LCC do not fly those routes yet hence no competition.
ReplyDeleteRyanair flies from ATH to SOF but anyway, I doubt this is the market they are after. Given Air Serbia's timetable they can only sell LJU, ZAG and TGD. All others would require long connecting times.
DeleteInterestingly, whatever JU implements, is cheered and welcomed by the community here. Something's definitely weird, as all these moves (adapting luxury services and announcing itself as a "boutique airline" one year, removing J seats, baggage allowance and meals the second year etc.) can't be "smart move" at the same time.
DeleteYou are presenting it exactly the opposite from what it really is. In reality, whatever JU implements is subject to instant hate and trash - be it a boutique approach, timetable, primeclass lounge, paper bag or a hybrid model. If it looks good - it is a conspiracy against poor taxpayers. If it looks less good - ahahahaha, lol, way to go Dane, this really made my day. Either way the haters win. Then after 10-20 of them one cheerleader shows up, and the 'objective' analysts such as Anon 10:31 immediately say: 'It's amazing how JU is cheered no matter what'.
DeleteYeah, right. Cheered.
If Air Serbia had a normal management then there wouldn't be so much material for the haters to use. The fact is that they reformed themselves only because they got the cash for it. What came after showed their true colors. This is not the fault of the employees but of Dane and top management which changes all the freaking time.
DeleteRiba od glave smrdi.
OT:Nesma Airlines starting Sarajevo flights! From 23.06.2017.-24.09.2017. flights will operate daily between Riyadh and Sarajevo!Qatar Airways is starting flights Doha-Sarajevo after Ramadan as well!
ReplyDeleteSource?? About Qatar.
DeleteQatar starts from Decemebr as the earliest possible and even that is not yet 100%.
DeleteQatar ceka dozvolu BHDCA da obavlja letove SJJ-SKP-DOH
DeleteNe, linije će ići odvojeno, neće biti nikakvog taga. SKP kreće na ljeto, SJJ krajem godine. Vrlo je jednostavan razlog da ako ima tag ne stiže konekkije za Australiju što je jedan od glavnih razloga zašto QR uopće to otvara, pogotovo SKP.
DeleteQR: Australija je nebitna za BiH, MIddle East konekcije su njima bitni
DeleteOk, ali spajanje SJJ/SKP uništava SKP kojem je to skoro pa jedino bitno. Samo kažem iz tog razloga neće biti nikakvog spajanja te dvije linije to je sve. I dok Australija doitsa nije najbitnija za Bosnu, nikako nije nebitna, vrlo daleko od toga.
DeleteNesma sounds like Hajj charters only.
DeleteLet's see how these new plans turn out. It is a big risk to change your strategy in such a way. Sure it can work and attract new customers but you could also looss the ones you already have.
ReplyDeleteWell, some changes are definitely under way but I choose to wait for them, see them and make my own judgement - rather than to believe the doom&gloom list the hater brigade keeps on copying/pasting here on daily basis. What usually happens is there are two or three changes that really matter but then each activist adds something from his own imagination and we end up with a disaster management list filled with cuts, reductions, shrinks, deteriorates, failures, etc.
DeleteWe have to wait and see. So many things people write in the comments here turn out to be false. Last sentence of the article shows that something is definitively changing. Kondic gave an interview to ex-Yu and I doubt they only discussed the award and Sabre.
ReplyDeleteAgree +1
Deleteshame, another legacy carrier turning into a "ne znam sta hocu" hybrid airline
ReplyDelete*šta hoću
Delete*шта хоћу
DeleteCome to think of it, this award isn't so insignificant. Were it some other airline in the region it would probably described as one of the most positive things ever to have happened.
ReplyDeleteImagine Jat winning any award four years ago.
DeleteImagine sinking around Eur150m into JAT and leasing 10-12 planes and replacing management and....
DeleteI remember a time when Jat was sinking millions and the biggest achievement was that after 5 years of flying all white planes they put three dots on the tail. I remember a time when the majority of the crew was over 50, rude and abusive to passengers. I remember when Jat had 5 functioning planes, when even water was not served on my flight from London because Jat Catering was striking for a secod month, I remember that there was no loyalty program and...
DeleteDude, let it go. There is nothing you could possibly explain to these guys. They are not here to discuss or learn anything.
Delete@AnonymousMarch 29, 2017 at 12:35 PM
DeleteExactly. So imagine sinking 150 million euros into such JAT, along with not paying any fees to Belgrade Airport and getting new planes leased for you by the governement, in addition to having new management which knows (to a certain leven) how to run an airline business.
Well, I am perfectly happy to sink my money into JU. It's a company with a long and proud history, at it's going from strength to strength. It has justified every dinar of my tax that has been invested in it. So I don't really give a damn that you only see negative. That's your own personal frustrations, mixed with your own political/ethnic views, coming to the fore. So please speak for yourself.
DeleteAnon 2.19
DeleteI bet you are a Serb living abroad since you speak like that or you are DK himself. I wouldn't be surprised if it's the latter.
Yeah, the famous discussion argument of every hater: "You must be Dane in person". Sorry but it does not turn your hate into anything relevant.
DeleteAlso, you are sad if critical thinking is hate for you.
DeleteOT:
ReplyDeleteEl Al boost Tel Aviv - Zagreb service from 2 to 3 weekly rotation.
I hope they manage to navigate the issues they ade having and continue offering a good service and product.
ReplyDelete"Our EX-YU friends" :D
ReplyDeleteNice to see Dane doing an interview with ex-Yu which I think is hands down the best aviation website in the region. Love getting my daily fix of news. Can't wait to see what else Kondic said. Hope the admin askes some questions that have been debated in the comments here.
ReplyDeleteThumbs up. It's the only place I know that when I wake up in the morning there will be new news and at least 50 comments waiting :D what I like most here, apart from the consistency is reader engagement which eclipses even many mainstream portals.
DeleteTrue, but often about half the comments are fluff.
Delete"Evolve" is marketing talk for downgrade.
ReplyDeleteNo. That is just how you read it because you want it so bad.
DeleteIt's normal to review your strategy after some time. The main aim is to bring in cash.
ReplyDeleteATW award is amazing, congratulations on a great achievement! Air Serbia had to endure years of waiting to finally leave shackles of Amadeus behind. BTW did anyone notice pathetic Amadeus effort to preserve market share in Serbia? They should have thought of that four years ago.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, blue skies ahead for Air Serbia with Sabre. Hopefully there’s enough growth planned to fulfill Serbia’s PM-in-waiting Zorana Mihajlovic goal for BEG having 10M pax by 2020, roughly 20% annual growth. It’s either Air Serbia immense growth or “SOF scenario” with floodgates open to FR/W6.
what is so bad in SOF scenario? what is wrong in having LCC and cheap tickets?
Deletehalf of SOF passangers dont get premium chips + have to use a bus instead of an air bridge. What a disgrace to humanity!!!
Delete10m is unrealistic in both scenarios. Maybe in 2023-25 with a LCC expansion but not in 3yrs time
what is more important to get free chips or to go to lets say Rome\Madrid\London\Koln for 10 euros? Not to mention that LCC use brand new metal...
DeleteFrom the standpoint of average flying public or people employed in hospitality industry, LCCs are great. However, if you look at the bigger picture, socio-economic effect of strong domestically owned company which employs local staff, buy local goods etc. your answer might be slightly different.
DeleteAll I'm trying to say is that there are pros and cons to everything.
"domestically owned company which employs local staff, buy local goods etc."
Deletesame is valid also for LCC with based aircrafts...the only difference is the back-office which in many case is hyper ineffecient and overblown (e.g. Lufthansa)
there should be a good mix of both but no protectionism
You are correct to a certain extent but what you are forgetting is that LCC will take any profits back home while local company pay tax on that income and maybe reinvest it locally at the extent foreigners never will.
DeleteI understand your point 100% but I just don't agree with it. I think that domestic ownership will always bring more good to the overall society.
Because a heavily subsidized national airline is such a boon for the economy. Give me a break
DeleteEven British Airways have stopped the catering on some of their flights. Not to mention that the legroom on some of their planes is less that the one of Ryanair. And again what is not good in LCC? The brand new metal?
DeleteOT: Few people mentioned here that JU will discontinue its service to AUH, but what they actually did is that they changed the time of the flight and now it departs from BEG at 23:40 instead of 23:15 which actually adds few more feeding flights for this route. Hopefully it will work for them
ReplyDeleteI think it's always 23.40 in summer because AUH doesn't change the time... or so I heard.
DeleteGood evening fm ZAG. Flew today with LX CS100 to Zagreb. First of all, nice aircraft. Truly a newly built ac fm the scratch. Nice to see all the new innovatuions such as large windows, large overhead bins, fair seat pitch and largest toilet seen on a narrowbody aircraft. A welcoming change to Airbus and Boeing aircraft. Good cooling system. This ac is nice to hve as also pilots and cabin are happy with it, at least my crew today. Btw Captain was Croatian born in CH
ReplyDeleteAnd now to ZAG AP, the airport is absolutely fantastic, big, spacy and seen fm outside, a true eyecatcher. To see such a catredal in our region overwhelms me. Once again, my compliments to HR, u hve become the infrastructure leader of the region. I hope many other corners in ex YU will follow and copy you. And for the Skytrax award of best Eastern Europe in 2018 I make a bet here. It will be ZAG
Laku noc fm Zagreb
Thanks, JU520 BEGLAX! Really nice words! Hope welcoming you again in ZAG!
DeleteHow were the loads on your flight?
DeleteSuch nice words!
DeleteI've booked a flight to Zagreb from Copenhagen in 15 days! Cannot wait to see the new airport and my home town! :)
Loads around 60% but it was just LXs 2nd flight since SUTT relaunch. Flying back on Sunday, will keep u posted
DeleteOT: Sutra se očekuje najava letova Peking - Beograd
ReplyDeleteA to znas kako?
DeleteЧекај и уживај.
DeleteDali ima neko inofrmacije o letovima za teheran?
ReplyDeleteKrecu malo prekosutra, samo sto nisu))) pa gde ti zivis vidis da smanjuju sve redom a ti pises o nekom Teheranu.
Deleteo "nekom teheranu" pisem zato sto je Iran Air najavio interes da leti.... poz
DeleteThe Emperor has no clothes.
ReplyDeleteAt least it has some engines and LHR slots.
DeleteNo engines are owned except some old-timers.
DeleteOwnership over the slots is doubtful, since we don't have any info about the real deal. For example AZ doesn't own the slots any more, but lease them back from EY.
JU still owns its LHR slots, all nine of them.
DeleteOnline check in across the network perhaps?!
ReplyDelete