Air Serbia will undertake wide-ranging restructuring in an attempt to boost its key performance indicators, as it struggles to keep a lid on costs, growing competition, an over-inflated workforce and the winding down of state subsidies. According to the daily "Danas", the company's interim CEO, Duncan Naysmith, has told employees in an internal memo that focus will be put on "net profit, the new fare structure, in-flight sales, additional services that bring in ancillary revenues, as well as other initiatives to boost efficiency". The so-called transformation will be managed by the executive management with the support of a newly established Transformation Office. As a result, the carrier will evaluate the success of all of its projects, programs, products and other initiatives.
The development comes several months after Air Serbia's part-owner, Etihad Airways, ordered the company to restructure and mirrors similar policies being put in place at both the Emirati carrier and another one of its equity partners Air Seychelles. Although there have been suggestions Etihad will disinvest from the Serbian carrier, the Abu Dhabi-based airline is expected to stay put at least until January 1, 2019 when its five-year investment and management agreement expires. Serbia's President, Aleksandar Vučić, recently held talks with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and its de-facto ruler, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, during which the two reviewed the expansion and diversification of the partnership, as well as its continuation. Prime Minister Ana Brnabić recently said the Emirati carrier would retain its 49% stake in Air Serbia, despite the ongoing cost cutting taking place at both airlines. A final decision on the partnership will likely rest on the success of the restructuring process taking place.
Air Serbia has remained silent on its operational and financial results for the previous year. The airline has taken steps towards restructuring its business by reducing its workforce in late 2017, with further layoffs expected this year, transforming into a hybrid carrier, consolidating its destination network, putting on sale non-airworthy general aviation aircraft and the retiring some of its ageing Boeing jets. Further changes to the fleet are expected in the coming months. Mr Naysmith said last week, "Since our first flight, our business has undergone many changes, but one thing has remained the same - our willingness to adapt, grow and innovate. It's through this spirit that we have recently launched our new fare structure, representing a fundamental shift in the way travellers can now personalise and tailor their journey with Air Serbia".
It will be up to the carrier's new CEO, to be named during the second quarter of 2018, as well as two of Air Serbia's shareholders to navigate the carrier's transformation just four years since its relaunch.
It seems like all ex-Yu national airlines have or are going through "deep restructuring". First it was Croatia Airlines few years ago, then Adria, Montenegro started last year and now Air Serbia.
ReplyDeleteAnd not even one is in better condition then before. Something is wrong.
DeleteWell, Adria is not loosing 50+ mio EUR per year anymore, so it's better than before. Not ideal, but definitely better.
DeleteOU is expanding operations and growing its passenger numbers.
DeleteAir Berlin was opening a number of long haul routes two months before it went bankrupt. Before you jump at me I'm not saying that this is OU's fate, but I'm just saying that opening new routes which results in more passengers doesn't actually mean your finances healthy. If they were they wouldn't have sold their assets.
DeleteSo true, last anonymous.
DeleteOU has been growing for three years now. It hasn't sold an asset since 2016 and its owner (the government) hasn't put any money in for years.
DeleteAB was bleeding money left and right and the EY group was pumping hundreds of millions of Euros every year to keep it functioning.
You are comparing apples to oranges.
FYI they sold 5 heathrow slots for millions last year so they can show a profit this year.
DeleteAnyway I personally don't think that either OU's or JP's restructuring were great successes. And remember JP went through another restructuring last year after it went through another one 2-3 years ago.
the slots were sold to finance the engine overhaul mainly. also, to be fair, in 2016 they showed profit and didn't sell any of the assets that year.
DeleteOU suffers from being a stagnate or at best a growth at extreme caution airline. In saying that, their current financial situaltion is nowhere near that of what Air Berlin was before going under.
DeleteOU is growing its pax numbers by close to double digits!
DeleteThat is not stagnation.
Nor is it the increases in the fleet and the expansion of the tourist season in Spring and Autumn months.
In 2016 they sold Pleso prijevoz for 2,5 million EUR and one engine. In same time they took credits from banks and puts hypotec on planes (that were bought to them by Government in 2012 restructoration process).
Deletewe went through this a month ago by analyzing their annual reports. 2016 is clean. plešo and engines sell&leaseback took place in december 2015.
DeletePetar Čelik
Delete+1
OU has been selling some of the assets that is true, but still has considerable assets.
Deletehttp://www.croatiaairlines.com/hr/O-nama/Financijske-informacije/Izvjesca-o-poslovanju
PDF file - izvjesce o poslovanju.
Airline had few issues, and selling off some of the assets was perhaps too rash.
Heathrow slots could have been kept, OU had 9, now it has 4. However, Runway 3 is under construction, OU will be able to get 5 slots back cheaply, at least this is the theory, morning flights weren't doing well to start with. OU kept mid-day slots cause these are always packing. Business travel between Zagreb and London isn't doing so well as leisure travel.
However, preliminary indications are, OU had a turnover of around $325/€270 million in 2017, profits were in the region of 100 million kuna. Airline carried 2.125 million passengers.
In 2018 OU, I expect will carry around 2.25 million passengers, 2000 tons of cargo and have a revenue in the region of $370 million. OU is no longer helped by the state, due to strict EU rules, so it must make profits.
And problem is, in Croatia there's little talent when it comes to running an airline.
For that you need vision and idea where the airline is heading.
Hopefully OU will get new management in 2018, one with more vision and ideas what they really want to achieve. Ideally OU needs to expand its network and keep 12 aircraft busy in winter months too.
OU should be flying in winters (summers) to:
Amsterdam Netherlands x7 (12)
Athens Greece x3 (4)
Barcelona Spain x3 (5)
Berlin Germany x6 (12)
Brussels Belgium x 10 (12)
Bucharest Romania x2 (4)
Budapest Hungary x 4 (6)
Copenhagen Denmark x6 (12)
Dublin Ireland x3 (5)
Dubrovnik Croatia x 30 (56)
Dusseldorf Germany x3 (6)
Frankfurt Germany x 21 (30)
Hamburg Germany x3 (6)
Helsinki Finland x3 (5)
Istanbul Turkey x3 (6)
Lisbon Portugal x3 (5)
London United Kingdom x4 (4)
London United Kingdom x5 (8)
Lyon France x3 (6)
Madrid Spain x3 (5)
Manchester United Kingdom x3 (5)
Milan Italy x5 (8)
Mostar Bosnia and Herzegovina x4 (6)
Munich Germany x21 (28)
Nice France x3 (6)
Osijek Croatia x6 (12)
Oslo Norway x3 (6)
Prague Czech Republic x3 (6)
Pristina Kosovo x14 (21)
Pula Croatia x6 (12)
Riga Latvia x2 (5)
Rijeka Croatia x4 (7)
Rome Italy x10 (14)
Saint Petersburg Russia x2 (4)
Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina x21 (28)
Skopje Republic of Macedonia x16 (20)
Split Croatia x 35 (56)
Stockholm Sweden x 5 (8)
Stuttgart Germany x 3 (5)
Tel Aviv Israel x 2 (3)
Venice Italy x 3 (5)
Vienna Austria x 21 (24)
Warsaw Poland x3 (6)
Zadar Croatia x 8 (14)
Zagreb Croatia x 252 (336)
Zürich Switzerland
total of 45 destinations.
That should keep OU quite busy even in winter months.
Give it a break man.... sheesh
Delete@AnonymousFebruary 19, 2018 at 7:53 PM
DeleteThis was an article on OU so you came up with this comment?! :)
I still don't see Etihad leaving. Why would they start this restructuring with their own man in charge if they plan to pick up and leave in 10 months (or earlier). Makes no sense.
ReplyDeleteA good indication of Etihad's future role will be who becomes the new CEO.
DeleteMaybe they do not want another bankrupt project as part of their European expansion legacy?
DeleteAnyhow, they are making good money for management of AS and it would make sense for them to leave only if that is the part of global strategy to to go out of all Etihad partners.
The Emirs in Abu Dhabi must be cursing daily the moment they decided to hire James Hogan!
DeleteEspecially after the disastrous job he had already done at Gulf Air...
What were they thinking?
Yes, but if they hadn't taken Hogan from Gulf Air back then, Kučko wouldn't have been able to continue that legacy today.
Delete+1 :D
DeleteThe last sentence here is key. Air Serbia started with a completely clean sheet. Debts were written off, huge number of staff got redundancies packages and left. Yes, a lot of investment was required but weren't Etihad supposed to have the 'know how' so they would invest that money smartly? So it is completely disappointing that just 4 years in they have to do this massive restructuring and are fighting to survive.
ReplyDeleteThey had an opportunity together with other shareholder (government) and just did not use it.I am disappointed both as a frequent flyer and Serbian tax payer.
DeleteGreat post. Etihad used a lot of (mostly government) money to invest in areas that our market and the vast majority of European markets have proven that are not needed.
DeleteLuxuries that the market does not want to buy and instead is laser focused on the price.
They acted and spent money as if ASL was based in LHR and was competing with BA for business travelers to global megacities.
SMFH!
Exactly! @AnonymousFebruary 19, 2018 at 9:44 AM
DeleteNaysmith's email was a big rebuke to the former management.
ReplyDeleteIn a normal company the entire supervisory body that served during Dane's time should resign.
DeleteMany party appointees on capped public sector salaries need an income boost via board memberships
DeleteThe first guy that should be fired (much much before Dane) was this guy
Deletehttps://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=275231990&privcapId=22019776&previousCapId=22019776&previousTitle=Air%20Serbia
But he still enjoys his position.
@Anon 10:04
DeleteHe is doing exactly what he was hired for.
ASL is primarily a political project and his job is to keep the party happy. ;)
Transformation Office. This sounds like some communist department in Maoist China.
ReplyDelete'As a result, the carrier will evaluate the success of all of its projects, programs, products and other initiatives.'
And what will happen if the results show that moving onto the hybrid model did not solve the airline's problems? That it didn't generate enough revenue to justify the switch? Will they just move onto a new model as was the case in the past or will someone be held responsible?
I will repeat what I said in the past. Air Serbia's cost is not its main problem. Lack of sales and healthy revenue is. In stead of cutting costs left and right, invest in marketing to actually have more customers.
It's nice to see their billboards in the city but what happens when a potential customer (or are we still calling them guests?) goes to check a White Fare to Paris and sees 30.000 RSD? Or 27.000 to LCA? It will have the opposite effect.
If hybrid shows that it was the wrong decision they will write another... wait for it... five-year-plan™
DeleteYou make a good point Nemanja in your last paragraph. This is exactly what's happening. Just a few days ago I saw comments on their facebook page. Everyone is complaining about this.
DeleteMarketing is deeply flawed at Air Serbia. The ''pull'' factor is painfully missing, while ''push'' factors are too numerous to count.
DeleteThe airline has alienated itself from the market, became a cold mess with so many term and conditions that buying a flat is a piece of cake in contrast.
They need to get some real professionals in, sort out their image and public perception, simplify the very dealing with the company - and the revenue will come in.
Nemjee is totally right. Cost-cutting will not cut it here! Their compass is stuck.
I was surprised when I saw that their last flight to LCA was on 08.01.
DeleteI can't imagine many people wanting to go to the airport right after their Christmas dinner or even worse, on Christmas day as the last flight left Belgrade on the 7th at 23.55. It's these small mistakes that are present everywhere so when you add them up you get a mess.
That said, Wizz Air is celebrating. They are charging crazy money to LCA and their flights are packed, including the one yesterday that barely had an empty seat.
Guys - I don't want to sound rude/negative/arrogant, however what do you mean that Air Serbia lacks in marketing ? Air Serbia had decent marketing (social media, great value deals etc.) and it worked as long as the fares were low and connectivity high. What lacks is the destination product/general demand. Don't get me wrong, but it takes years, sometimes decades to develop market demand - I am thinking of the kind of tourist and business demand that does not rely solely on Diaspora. In my opinion, be happy that Air Serbia managed to do "emiracle" in 2013/14 by becoming what it has, and keep what you have. It is clear that over 30% of transfer pax were acquired on the surrounding markets because Air Serbia: became very posh (great service, relatively new planes) and had very good fares ! Well, you do the math - if most of your market was acquired in such way, what's gonna happen when service gets downgraded and fares increase ?
DeleteAll, I am saying - keep what you have, and be happy that someone there is trying to turn your national airline into a profitable airline. You won't loose that many pax (perhaps a few %), and you could bounce back in 2 to 3 years and grow organically. But, please - get real. To me, it's silly to expect ASL to endlessly continue what it has done in 2013-15, because for that you need the market dynamics to back that growth up.
Cheer up - and good luck with restructuring. It'd be nice to see you back healthy and recovered in a while !
Cheers from Zagreb.
same with OHD. who wants to arrive at 1.40 after midnight ... ??
DeleteExactly! They are offering mediocre product for top prices in super sensitive (poor) market. Transfer concept aside, Serbia and Serbian diaspora are and will be their main market. They just cannot manage to come up with the right prices and products. Interestingly, they seem more incompetent than JAT people some 10 years ago. These had half the passenger numbers but on average quarter of AS losses.
DeleteNemjee what are the fares like for travel to LVA if you go through ATH first or some place else? Are the connecting times convenient?
DeleteThanks for any info.
Hey Peter.. You wonder what they lack in marketing. They lack the basics: They don't know who their customers are.
DeleteAnd that's it. When you know your customer, its location, habit and behavior you'll know how to address him/her.
Anon 10.03
DeleteDo you mean LCA? Aegean's cheapest fare is around €104 one way so €208 return. However, given that LCA is Aegean's top selling destination in the network cheap fares are hard to come by.
Tarom offers some connections for €248 if someone needs flexibility.
JU-A3 code-share to LCA is around €400 or more.
Last time I combined W6 and A3 and the total ticket came out to be around €190 without luggage. Air Serbia did not fly at that time.
Yes Nemjee, I meant to type LCA.
DeleteThank you for the info. Do you think that maybe one of the new airline based in Cyprus could start flights to our region any time soon?
Doubt it. Wizz Air seems to dominate on the market and on top of that they concluded deals with local tour operators to carry tourists down there. I wouldn't be surprised if next summer get a third flight.
DeletePeter,
DeleteYou say that '' Air Serbia had decent marketing (social media, great value deals etc.) and it worked as long as the fares were low and connectivity high. What lacks is the destination product/general demand.""
Precisely, it HAD decent marketing and it does not have product or destination campaign marketing outside of efforts in Serbia. This is at the end of the day all marketing, which when successful helps commercial achieve its goals.
To cement a continuous market demand - which you rightfully say takes years and cash, you need consistency both in messaging and product, non of which were retaind by Air Serbia. Hey I for one would love for this airline to continue growing and expanding, but the core foundations and approach is rotten. I highlighted marketing, and it would be great if that was the only problem, but unfortunately it is much deeper and wider. Yesteryear tails are still attached, the main strategy has swung faster then a pendulum and the people who could make this work are simply not there.
@Nemjee how WizAir is dominating with one weekly flight? I won't call that domination. I think that LCA is not good example for anything.
DeleteJU has more wrong with it than just marketing:
Delete- Many competant Jat staff were replaced with new cadre who had no idea on what theyre doing. From downsizing in Jat, which had roughly 1.200 employees in 2013, to Air Serbia that had 2.600!!!
- JU had a very inconsistant product from
day 1. They intially made many changes, however kept some things from Jat, changed onboard product they introduced in Air Serbia. Im sure reconfiguring 10 aircraft after 3 years wasnt cheap either.
- The hub system is not a bad idea, however that didnt last long, they struggled to fill
seats, cut frequencies which snowballed from
there.
- BEG has to be one of the worst staffed airports I have travelled to. The arrogance, rudeness and lazyness just evokes rage in people. This, sadly is the only consistant thing they have kept. ASGS was mostly great while it lasted!
- Fleet doesnt really fit their needs/intentions. Too little ATR’s and too many A319/A320’s with nothing in between. This is very noticeable with their constant changes every season. They lost out to LOT on WAW, who is again increasing frequencies to BEG for example.
- Poor sales and marketing, evident that JU couldnt fill IST, yet was replaced with KK that operates A320/A321 while Turkish tourists has been on the rise to Belgrade. TLV is another example. While the Balkans has the past couple of years been a massive hit in the Middle East, theyve dropped AUH and failed to capitalise on the travel boom considering their massive advantage, while FZ this summer will operate 3 x daily to SJJ on top of daily BEG, a few days weekly to TIV, DBV, SKP, EK daily to ZAG, not to mention Air Arabia, Kuwait Airways, Jazeera and others who have too launched SJJ.
- The lease of the A330 has been a disaster. Poor planning has left it parked more in front of the hangar in BEG rather than flying most of the year.
More can be sadly said, and I dont see things improving soon. Their 5 year plans they constantly talk about is a joke when they make the sudden, horrid changes they do every season, with incomplete and temporary products, flights and services. Flag carrier to boutique to low cost, throw in Aviolet and charter airline on top and its Air Berlin all over again, and we know how that went! Sure, what JU is doing might be the trend in other airlines such as LH, however theyve established a name, brand and pax know what to expect. Travelling LH you know you will have a reliable, efficient and friendly service however average it is, where as JU is still defining itself with poor, decreasing frequencies from a horrible inefficient hub.
Anon 03.01
DeleteMost of the year Wizz Air has two weekly flights operated by the high density A320.
They are dominating in terms of the number of passengers that fly between Belgrade and Larnaca.
JATBEGMEL great post and very informative. Thank you!
Delete2.600 employees for JU's size of operations is just insane!
More cuts on the horizon.
ReplyDeleteMore cuts on the horizon.
ReplyDeleteMaybe to avoid another bankrupt project as their company legacy?
ReplyDeleteAnyhow they made good money in AS so no reason to go unless the HQ decides to leave all partner airlines (not bankrupt yet).
I also don't think they will leave. There is fundamental difference between Alitalia, Air Berlin and Darwin on one side and Air Serbia and Air Seychelles on the other. The last two were purchased through a political governmental deal. The former were Hogans 'bright' ideas. I still remember Hogan saying in one of his first speeches in Belgrade how he would have never have looked at Jat if he wasn't ordered by the Emir.
DeleteHow did they make money with AS when even after subsidies the company has 0 profit?
DeleteFrom leasing planes and providing HQ services to AS? Or from the one daily feeding flight, which is history now
Except for the governmental involvement, I still don't see how Air Serbia is any different from Air Berlin.
DeleteAnglosaxions have their eyes on good profit markets only....
Delete@ AnonymousFebruary 19, 2018 at 9:22 AM
DeleteIndeed, you can make profit from as a parent company in number pf ways. As you said, by leasing planes and providing HQ services, to providing high interest rate loans, etc...
From metal cutlery in economy to transformation office.
ReplyDeleteBefore he became CEO Naysmith was Chief Finance and Transformation Officer.
DeleteAnd before that he was Alitalia's CFO. That went well.
DeleteAlitalia failed because of political involvement and unions, not because of financial mismanagement as such. And its doom certainly can't be put on Naysmith.
DeleteHow aren't they embarrassed to post 3 years of successive "profits" and then do this. Do they think people are sheep?
ReplyDeleteMany commentators here were attacking anyone who was pointing this and claiming that KPMG checks the books and everything is right.
DeleteAnyone doubting was called a hater.
Now that the truth comes out they are nowhere to be seen.
+1
DeleteLoved the fact that subsidy was classified as operating revenue.
JU lovers can't argue this one and are mostly quiet.
Da li je neko čuo da će se u narednih par nedelja objaviti let za YYZ? Po najnovijim informacijama let ide preko JFK u odlasku a u dolasku direktan let petkom i utorkom. Ne znam stvarno da li je ova informacija tačna ali čujem da su stigli neki predstavnici iz YYZ i JFK u četvrtak u BEG i da se finaliziraju detalji i vezi ovoga leta.Ako neko nešto zna bilo bi lepo da čujemo da li je tačno. Hvala unapred
ReplyDeleteАпсолутно је нетачна информација. Њујорк се диже на шест недељно (са једним А332) тако да нема када да се лети за Торонто.
DeleteTo znaci da cela rotacija traje preko 24h! Da li se te dve rotacije od preko 24h petkom i utorkom uklapaju u red letenja?
DeleteŠto je babi milo, to joj se i snilo! HotLine u stilu nekada cuvenog i "pouzdano informisanog" INN-NS, ahahah...
DeleteEvo jos jednom nam kaze Hot Lane, samo ovog puta malo drugim recima, da je bio 330 za NjuJork pun ko' oko, a ono bilo 68 putnika :):):) Valjda misli da svi imamo pamcenje kao curke, ili ribice, i da ne mozemo da razlikujemo verodostojne od navijackih informacija i postova :)
DeleteToronto is among top unserved long distance destinations from Belgrade. Activities about bilateral and other preparations for the service have been reported here. Vinci said they would help Air Serbia with their long haul plans. It all points to YYZ service in 2019 as they probably missed the boat for 2018.
DeleteDa ja sam rekao da će se povećati letovi za Njujork na 7 ali nisu nego na 6. Pogledao sam popunjenost kabine u zadnjih 6 meseci i samo jedan let je imao 91 putnika a ni jedan 68, tako da si izneo punu ne istinu. Ti si tvrdio da će se smanjiti broj letova za JFK i na tvoju nesreću to se ipak nije desilo.
Deleteneistina se piše zajedno
DeleteThey should look at airBaltic and UIA for examples of how to get out of the red.
ReplyDelete+1000
DeleteCSA/Travel Services and LOT as well.
Also Blue Air last year probably carried more passengers that ASL and Tarom put together!
DeleteThese guys were nowhere just a few years ago.
Two weeks ago Purger wrote very good article about 50+ independent airlines that fly for more than 10 years with profit:
Deletehttps://tangosix.rs/2018/06/02/kolumna-alena-scurica-neovisne-avio-kompanije-mogu-li-prezivjeti-kako-posluju-sto-nam-porucuju/
Thanks for compliment.
DeleteI think this transformation has a lot to do with the fact that BEG is going into private hands.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThe airport will no longer be able/willing to subsidize JU over all the other airlines.
We are back to the discussion we have been years ago: too many airlines in Europe and arab government cash distorting free market economy. Does Serbia needs JU? No. At least not in the near future. Its a LCC market and JU has more and more troubles to withstand the LCC competition and it might ge just a matter of time when they ll need another injection.
ReplyDeleteHang on a minute, we’re being told that government cash does not distort the free market, it merely brings to the fore the market size and potential. Isn’t that right Wizzers?
DeleteTrebaju prestati slusati likove kao Purger i smanjiti broj letove do evropskih gradova barem u zimskom periodu. Poluprazni avioni nikome ne trebaju. Transfer za NYC i YYZ bolje organizovati samo dva leta imaju konekciju na NYC, ali za to treba barem godinu dana.
ReplyDeleteSmanjeni su letovi ka zapadu i zbog toga je BEY izgubio 60% prometa ove zime. Taj isti BEY koji je prošle godine bio u plusu.
DeleteNice. Oni su isli u Pariz.
DeleteThey actually need to get regional jets (used of course) and increase frequencies so that the hub model can work.
DeleteManagements incompetence has nothing to do with Purger or any other poster.
CDG, TXL, DUS, CPH ...not just Paris
DeleteA ja sam reko da trebaju zadržati ili povećati broj letova? I Vi ste to negdje pročitali?
DeleteAjde nazdravlje, iskrene čestitke na priviđenjima. Molio bih da mi se ne stavljaju u usta riječi koje nisam napisao, niti mislim tako.
Čak štoviše jasno sam napisao u nekoliko članaka prošle godine da Air Serbija mora smanjiti broj operacija (i još niz toga) ako želi preživjeti, da je ovo što rade nužno i nema alternative, i da moraju razmisliti je li sustav sa 4 vala održiv, tj. ima li smisla konektiranost, posebno zimi.
Stalno menjas to dobro znamo, ali potenciras svakodnevne letove kao uslov povezanosti. Kao da imaju huge
Deletenumber biznis putnika. To jednostavno za njih nije tacno.
Ja stalno mijenjam? E da, poznat sam po tome da često mijenja stavove. Svaka čast. Iskrene čestitke na realnosti. Bože mili...
DeleteOvo što ste napisali nije istina. Ja sam rekao da:
1. Sustav huba i 4 vala predumijeva veliku frekvenciju letova (optimalno 14 letova tjedno, minimalno 7, iznimno 3-4)
2. Evidentno je da Air Serbija takav sustav više ne može ostvarivati, poglavito tijekom zime.
3. Obzirom na to i na velika rezanja frekvencija (već 3 puta do sada, a prema pisanju exYU desit će se i 4. rezanje ovog ljeta) sustav više nije održiv i Air Serbija ga mora mijenjati (ili postati P2P prijevoznik, ili smaniti broj valova, ili smanjiti broj feeding destinacija u manjem broju valova, ili samo neke dane u tjednu napraviti u 4 vala, a ostale u 2) jer ovako nema dovoljnu konektiranost i donosi daleko veći gubitak forsiranjem neodrživog sustava valova.
4. Možebitna opcija je promjena strategije flote, tj. prebacivanje sa A320 obitelji na 100-seatere, no za to se mora nekako "rješiti" narudžba A320neo, postojeći leasing ugovori, nabaviti takva flota, rješiti operacije i školovanje posada, a sve to nije moguće napraviti brzo.
Ovo je moj stav koji sam nekoliko puta napisao, još više puta javno iznosio, nisam ga mijenjao, niti sam igdje i ikada zagovarao išta drugo.
A vi slobodno i dalje živite u uvjerenju da je drugačije. Tu vam ja ne mogu pomoći.
Koliko ti nista ne znas govori samo ovo:
DeleteMožebitna opcija je promjena strategije flote, tj. prebacivanje sa A320 obitelji na 100-seatere, no za to se mora nekako "rješiti" narudžba A320neo, postojeći leasing ugovori, nabaviti takva flota, rješiti operacije i školovanje posada, a sve to nije moguće napraviti brzo.
O 100 sedistarcima govori OU godinama ne AS. I ne moraju se resiti A320neo njih kupuje Etihad.
Ja ne znam? Bravo!
DeleteDakle, ja nisam rekao da je to planirala ili obznanila Air Serbia nego da bi to mogli biti jedno ili dio rjesenja. Stoga iduci puta bolje citajte.
Jednako tako bilo bi dobro da si uzmete par sati vremena i procitate Ugovor Vlade RS i Etihada vezano uz Air Serbiju pa cete tamo nauciti koliko ce to A320neo kostati JU ako odustane od njih. Ako vam je to puno citanja onda procitajte moj clanak o tome. Do tada ne pricajte stvari koje ne znate.
od lisca sumu ne vise......hoce to tako nakon visegodisnjeg ispiranja mozga.
Deleteno, i dalje ne vidim u cem je problem za obicna putnika namjernika?
koga nema, bez njega se moze i hoce. uvijek ima netko tko ce popuniti novonastalu prazninu.
there was so much said and thought about in those columns that for me it is impossible to make heads or tails of what the writer position is.
Deletefrom acquisition of YM by JU to JU is a mess a year or so later. and from JU has a wave system just as i have envisioned to JU should cut
there is really no position or firm opinion, just a large number of theories from which it would be said "as i wrote/said..."
particulary i like this latest "lufthansa is behind it" theme
Although there is no doubt that Etihad's strategy was a complete failure, I doubt this alliance wide collapse would have occurred had oil prices remained high. Simply said, UAE had money to throw several years ago. It no longer does.
ReplyDeleteSo once more the so called "haters" were proven right and the company cheerleaders wrong.
ReplyDeleteBusiness ad economic logic once again were stronger than idiotic plans like "boutique airline", "new wings of Europe", expensive investments in things like a new business class, Wi-Fly, new luxurious lounge that 99.9% of passengers were not willing to pay extra for.
Anonymous February 19, 2018 at 9:38 AM
Delete+100
Excuse me, but Lufthansa is then a boutique airline as well since they have a similar system as Air Serbia. In fact, all airlines will soon become boutique considering that will be the only way to fight LCC. Stop criticizing airlines for trying to adapt to the market.
DeleteThe Air Serbia concept suffered from a lack of initiative in seeing what they started through. They needed to continue to expand on the long haul offer and expand their region market while continuing to offer the level of service that they became known for. Something happened and they stopped at a critical time of their development. They were actually making a good name for themselves but were anable to or didn’t know how to captitalise of their early success.
DeleteIt would have required further investment and I guess the money just ran out but I think that if it was a money problem than it caught up to them at the worst possible time.
LOL Anon 10:48!
DeleteLufthansa's business plan has nothing to do with ASL's new boutique airline concept. LH charges for bags, has actual customers willing to pay for its business class, is based in FRA and MUC instead of BEG market and has a large LCC subsidiary to compete at the low end of the market with the LCCs. It has one two of the worlds best hub operations and thus it is profitable with zero government subsidies.
I forgot to mention that is a member of a global alliance too unlike JU.
You are not comparing apples and oranges. You are comparing chairs and tomatoes!
@Q400
DeleteWhat happened is that they were losing huge amounts of money trying to offer boutique service in a market that will buy an airplane ticket only if it isn't much more expensive than a gastarbeiter bus!
They behaved as if we are Hong Kong or Singapore and the average flyer is interested in metal cutlery and wine selection at the lounge...
That's what actually happened!
Happy taxpayer February 19, 2018 at 11:02 AM
Delete+1000
@Happy TaxPayer, you completely missed my point. Lufthansa has 8kg baggage only options, something that is pretty much the same to Air Serbia's White Economy. People started hating on AS for introducing lowest fare, while in fact Lufthansa has it as well. I never mentioned profitability, hubs and God knows what you mentioned in your post.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteASL is getting "hate" from travelers because it dropped the free hold baggage but did NOT reduce the prices!
DeleteYou are just paying the same money as before for the white fare tickets WITHOUT having a free bag!
Simple enough to understand?
People complaining are not haters of ASL, they just don't like the talk about "enhanced options" and other marketing BS coming from the company.
Please go to airserbia dot com and check prices for Berlin and you will see the prices for white economy dropped. Lufthansa is a bit cheaper in the same category, but with a connecting flight via Franfurt. I just booked Berlin and I investigated prices into detail. Please check fares before you say something publicly. Thank you.
Delete@AnonymousFebruary 19, 2018 at 5:18 PM
DeleteMaybe you were lucky because AS now needs to compete with Easy on the route. Prices have stayed the same for the majority of routes, we just don't have checked bag anymore. This is not how you keep customers.
The only continuity I have seen at JU is the use of their beautiful spokesmodel which has been appearing in all ads for the last 4 years. Other than that...
ReplyDeleteHaha true :D
DeleteWhy would JU need deep restucturing when they post profits every year ?
ReplyDeleteThe Emperor has no clothes.
DeleteDuh! To further increase its “profitability” you little hater.
DeleteVelika nada u razvoj Er Srbije. Pocetak je bijo obecavajuci. Ipak ostanak velikog broja zaposljenih na maloj floti ogranicenoj sezonskim saobracajem, neulaganjem novca i brzom restrukcijom nije moglo bolje ni biti. Ako drzava i dalje insistira na nacionalnom avio prevoziocu, morace mnogo da investira. Sa nekim ili sama? Najbolje je potpuno privatizovati. Ranije ili kasnije, videcemo. Nada i dalje postoji. Kada se pomene i koncesionirani aerodrom i njegov buduci razvoj, bice buducnosti i za Er Srbiju. Koju mnogi od nas, mnogo vole.
ReplyDeleteIskreno ja jos i ekstra. Kada znamo da je Beogradskom aerodromu bilo potrebno 50 godina da sa njega leti 5 miliona putnika, verujem da ce Er Srbija imati pet miliona putnika kroz pet godina. Ako bude volje, odlucnosti i odgovornosti. Vlada Srbije odlucuje. Nase je da letim.
Rodney kod zaklopljenog do sada aerodroma Morava kraljevo.
I asked JU on its Facebook site, whether they will operate to Split in summer or not, they have just written back that they will keep me inform later.....Come on, only few months left. How could it happen that they don't know their timetable? I would like to make early bookings...I see on Google that they will operate flights to Split, but on their website it doesn't exist at all :(
ReplyDeleteCan't you see from the article nothing is certain? They don't have a CEO nor they have a clear plan how will the company operate in the future. I imagine Split in summer is their last "rupa na sviralu" at the moment.
DeleteI speak only English, sorry. But I would like to take a flight to SPU from BEG. Croatia's schedule is not suitable for me. We are going to Brac Island to Sutivan. Two years ago we took that flight and it was OK...
DeleteSPU is not in the booking mask. Pula is but its not bookable yet
DeleteBook via Zagreb. Sometimes you can bag very cheap flights between Split and Zagreb.
Deleteif there is no suitable direct flights you will have to go by bus or waste money on ZAG connection. Doubt that Croatia Airlines and Air Serbia have codeshare agreement on Croatian domestic flight network, so the connection would make it particularily expensive. If theres more of you planning a short trip in Belgrade just hire a car.
DeleteVia zagreb you can go direkt to brac airport....
DeleteWhere are you flying from?
Deletecan anyone post here the content of the mentioned email? i am sure there are tens of JU employees reading this.
ReplyDeletebtw, i have read miša brkić article in danas. as situation is always with miša, about 30% is right and then he goes into some wild assumptions and allegations. it's a pity there aren't many good business newsmen who could actually present more useful facts and opinions to serbian public.
mentioned article
Deletehttps://www.danas.rs/nedelja/er-srbija-u-tranziciji/
Шпекулише се у политичко-ваздухопловним круговима за Синишу? Какви бре кругови, то сам ја лично први и једини написао баш овде из зезања да видим ко ће се примити. Ајде што се примило пар људи али што се примио тај Бркић показује његов аматеризам. О осталим глупостима типа ЛЦЦ слатко сам се смејао. Не само што он доказано нема појма, него и они који га очигледно саветују каскају бар 10-15 година за светом.
DeleteEach airline goes through something like this especially from poorer markets. We had Adria and Croatia Airlines do the same.
ReplyDeleteJU went though it when EY came in and tens of millions of Euros were invested into it.
DeleteAnd now we are seeing the results of that plan.
JU went through restructuring earlier than JP and OU, it just failed epicly at it!
Hundreds rather than tens, when you combine direct (as reported in annual reports) and indirect sibsidies (airport fees, fuel, etc).
DeleteAir Serbia NEVER received fuel subsidies. Gazprom didn't want to hear about it.
DeleteWe'll never know will we. If you combine direcr subsidies and airport fees write-offs and discounts you get to hundreds of millions.
DeleteGlad that you are not disputing other subsidies.
evo i racunice is javnih informacija:
DeletePrihodi od donacija (milioni):
2013 EUR 3
2014 EUR 69
2015 EUR 49
2016 EUR 40
2017 ???
Otpis duga aerodroma (milioni)
2014 EUR 12.3
2015 EUR 19
Total 2013-2016: EUR 192.3m
Wow, I never even thought that they were so much money!
DeleteThis doesn't even count the airport fees discount based on the arbitrary passenger number.
DeleteThey need to fire anyone who is not necessary.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise theres not much left to cut. They already moved their head office to the airport, closed or shrinked physical branches etc. Soon they might reach efficiency levels of Wizz Air with much higher fares. The muchgreater problem is failing to profile a "target customer". You can not base a boutique airlinr in such a weak economy. Just look at ATL and Delta in the US or Frankfurt. They are not the largest just because its the airline base, but these cities also host major corporations from other industries. In Atlanta you have Coca-Cola, Bank of America, CNN etc, Frankfurt has a plethora of banks and insurance companies, as well as a lot of biotech companies in cities around. They all fill Business and First class which are the only lucrative sector for large airlines. Belgrade has only subsidiaries of subsidiaries of large corporations. In many cases even corporate inspections take the infamous Ferihegy+Ground way to reach Belgrade. I personally know the cases.
Agree with the stuff you wrote although they haven't moves their offices to the airport. They are in Belvil.
Deletehavent they moved out long ago?
ReplyDeleteNope still there. They even have a ticketing office on the ground floor. Wheather they will move, that I don't know. It's possible.
DeleteIt's so sad what is happening with JU...incompetence..but it is their problem...Without strategic partnership with other air alliance they will face serious problems. They won't have parner airlines to get a feed -transfer pax, nobody to rely on...Who is their German partner?Do tehy have? It was Air Berlin till it went bust. I don't think LH will partner with them. They should join up for OneWorld or SkyTeam...maybe....
ReplyDeleteAs for my Split flight, I still don't know whether it will be operated or not this July...I got another answer from their Facebook account's service....I was advised to call their info center :D They don't know their timetable? :) Funny
With Tarom already in SkyTeam I doubt that Air Serbia can join.
DeleteMaybe One World but they are mainly an alliance of high class and large airlines.
Etihad would never allow them to join OneWorld alliance where Qatar Airways is a major player.
DeleteIt can be true.. But as Alitalia is on the way to becoming a LH's subsidy, JU probably will loose AZ as partner, as well...
DeleteAs for OneWorld, Malev was also belonged to it as a small carrier
Back in 2008-2009 Jat was going to join Skyteam but nothing came of it. Maybe we could see it happen one day as JU has maintained its cooperation with AF, KL, AZ, RO and SU even after Etihad joined in
DeleteI'd say One World would make sense from the presence perspective in exYu, which is very poor. JU can provide some connectivity, albeit with the stop in BEG.
DeleteOr StarAlliance. Without partnership they are worthless like an individual small, weak airline.. that is the case..I am not against them! But they should rise up to the real challenges....
ReplyDeleteJU should join SkyTeam or oneworld in order to increase its prestige.
ReplyDeleteWhat prestige do they have left? Whatxare you talking about??
DeleteWhy are you being so negative? Just look at the Sytrax comments and people's feedback. JU is not QR but it is not a crappy airline neither.
DeleteThe JU logo and brand still make it a prestigious airline, at least with a 90 year old history!
SMFH...
DeleteSU je svojevremeno nudio da preuzme JAT po mnogo boljim uslovima od EY ali politicari na celu sa Dinkicem su pametovali i Rusi su se povukli. Dalje sve znamo sta i kako je a svodi se na to da nas nema na mapi.
ReplyDeleteKeeping costs in check, offering more aux services, modifying fare structures, improving efficiencies, focus on profitability... that' exactly what BA, AFKL, LH, DL, AA and others are dealing with every day. Anyone having an issue with Air Serbia focusing on the same should try their luck opposing those measures at largest legacies around the world. Can't wait to hear your stories such as "I stopped BA management from lowering service levels and worrying about ancillary revenue"
ReplyDeleteI am OUTRAGED with so many negative comments towards JU.
ReplyDeletePeople, you tell me, which other airline covers ALL Balkan capitals and which other airline connects NYC to the Balkans almost daily?
JU might have changed their model but that does not mean they are going down!
At least it still hasn't sold its Heathrow slots unlike other airlines, or failed with its investors such as others.
I am sorry to disappoint you, but JU will forever remain.
Good luck with the transition and back to profit soon JU!
JU was never profitable in post SFRY times.
DeleteWhy are you outraged by negative comments? Serbian citizens/tax payers have all the right to be angry - money are being thrown into the company and it underperforming.
Except that most people are happy with better service and more destinations, company is performing far better than jat. Those that are "complaining" here are not paying taxes in Serbia and/or are being paid to troll against Air Serbia.
DeleteEj, momak, lakse malo.
DeleteSmanji dozuvljaj.
A krhki ego negdje drugdje jacaj.
Krhki ego ima neko ko kasno u noc svaki put kad je tema Srbija ostavlja ultra negativne komentare. Kakve komplekse taj ima?
DeleteThe truth about Etihad comes to light: they are incompetent in all regards, they appeared to have best know-how in airline business, but it turns out, all this hype is running on oil money and as this is running out, so is Etihad (and likes of it)... AS is on death row unless it will be bought by straw buyer (with Lufthansa as real buyer), just as Purger has predicted...
ReplyDeleteJU on a death row is perpetual daydream for haters. JU is still way ahead of where jat was in 2012 and miles ahead of other ex yu airlines. Keep dreaming.
DeleteIzbaci politiku iz JU i eto ti zdrave firme s potencijalom.
Deleteyes, JU is miles ahead of the post communist ruins of JAT but keep legging behind in terms of business viability, real chances, and so on. I know in advance, that I will be anti- Serb..., if I say, that Serbia is still a very poor country, needs a lot of investments to be carried out in terms of infrastructure, tourism, etc. Who is paying a visit to Serbia? Serbia should now look ahead in every meaning. As everybody knows it, Ethihad deal was pure political one, far from reality, but now it is running out, but I don't be right, I hope. Would Serbia really needs such a big flag carrier, or hybrid or how we can name it today? Who will donate its daily running costs, pay suppliers, debtors in time? I could imagine a smaller airline like Adria to Serbia, too. Who is going to choose JU at all? For me, it got me round way ticket to LHR for 1 week in July at 450 Euro! It is not a big bargain...
ReplyDelete...or you can fly to London with that other fentanyl-dealer of airline business. Cheap tickets, millions of new users, record profits offloaded by conversion of shares and that Jersey tax black hole. Just like fentanyl, ignore the deadly effects.
DeleteYou have a choice. Dont fly JU. But also -dont whine! Please, its getting pathetic.
DeleteThe initial success of ASL was a result of a large investment from its shareholders, and the atractive pricing (especially on Saturdays and Sundays) led to a bust in passanger numbers.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, this turns to be non sustainable. I’m afraid that current changes will not make any turnaround - the prices are huge, a tariff change is a clear cheat of passangers (same price, less products), connections are less atractive, FF programme is downgrading all the time for JU flights (Etihad guest Silver is practically worthless with no lounge access), the management is completely changed - no vision whatsoever.
All in all, let’s say it’s a bad luck, as so often in an airline business.
lolz what an idiot. new ceo is arriving in q2. airport concession relies on long term growth of air serbia. pay for everything including lounge is part of the clear vision. new long haul destinations will enable more connections. you are out of luck.
DeleteThe idiocy is strong with you Anon 2:18.
DeleteThe Force is strong with Air Serbia.
DeleteWow. Imam sreće da sam naleteo na ovaj blog. Ima zaista mnogo korisnog sadržaja.
ReplyDeleteVidim i da se u komentarima javlja mnogo stručnjaka sa dosta informacija.
Ne bih dalje da smetam sa komentarom, ali ću sigurno da čitam. (mada 150+ komentara je neki put malo previše za pročitati, zar ne?)
Ovde je 100+ dnevni prosek :)
Deletenobody hates JU, what is the matter with you guys? It is just the reality has come to collect the bill. I would like JU to survive an thrive, but it won't because it either has to become niche airliner or it will disappear in thin air. As you guys so often say, State hands-off! But State can be good owner and can maintain a niche airliner. But not this strange mix....just look where Adria is heading...slowly becoming Trade Air 2.0
ReplyDeleteSame old... do they ever teach anything in business schools other than cost cutting, efficiencies, synergies, optimization, blah? All of that is good and great but look which companies are dominating today's landscape... Apple, Amazon, Tesla, Uber. None of them are focused on the bottom of the market but they provide a new and comfortable product that people want to pay for. You need to have an idea and be different from others to lead in the market. These new moves will turn JU into a clone of hundreds of similar "lean and mean" operations. It will be much harder to survive that way, especially because they will never be as lean and mean as, say, Wizz or Ryan or even Lufthansa. It's a pity; it used to be an interesting and pleasant product that could have developed its niche, and now it's going to enter an arena where it just can't win. Of course, the C-suite doesn't mind; they will fill their worthless CV's with "lean and mean" gibberish and move on to mess up another company...
ReplyDelete+1000
Deletedo they ever teach anything in business schools other than cost cutting, efficiencies, synergies, optimization, blah?
DeleteYou would know if you went to one. But since you didn't feel free to dispense your advice on how to run an airline. No one cares. BTW Air Serbia will outlive all other airlines in the region despite your efforts.
loosing all the battles, but still winning the war? not that again please...
Deletelast time i checked, ju didn't sell lhr slots but was ahead in almost every relevant area, from number of passengers, destinations, clf, otp, number of aircraft, ask etc.
Delete