Air Serbia will be adding frequencies on a number of its existing routes this summer season as it prepares to introduce nine new destinations to its network. The airline will also boost capacity on selected services. At this point, the Serbian carrier will add an extra weekly flight onto seven routes. These include Copenhagen, Dubrovnik, Paris, Sofia, Stockholm, Tivat and Zagreb, while an additional two weekly services will be introduced to Zurich, when compared to the 2018 summer season. The airline will run double daily flights to the French capital, where it will compete against Air France and ASL Airlines France this summer. Furthermore, in a boost to its Scandinavian operations, both Copenhagen and Stockholm will be maintained on a daily basis. In addition, Tivat will be operated 22 times per week, Zagreb twelve, Sofia eight per week, while Zurich will be run up to eighteen times per week.
The airline plans to boost capacity on some routes as well. Three of its double daily flights to Vienna will be operated with the 144-seat Airbus A319 aircraft this summer instead of the seventy-seat ATR72 turboprop, while all six of its services to Split will be maintained with the A319 instead of the ATR. On the other hand, the airline will also decrease frequencies on five routes by one weekly flight, in order to free up capacity for some of the abovementioned destinations. Athens, Berlin, Milan, Skopje and St Petersburg will all have one flight per week less than last year. As a result, operations to the Greek capital (double daily), as well as Milan (daily), and St Petersburg (three weekly) will now be maintained by the same number of frequencies as they were during the 2017 summer season.
Air Serbia previously announced the launch of nine new routes, seven of which will be year-round and two of which will be maintained seasonally. The new destinations will mostly see Air Serbia return to markets formerly operated by its predecessor JAT Yugoslav Airlines. Flights to Rijeka and Zadar were last run in August 1990, services to Madrid and Barcelona last operated in November 1998, to Cairo in March 2005 and to Kiev in September 2016. Nice, Krasnodar and Helsinki have never been served from Belgrade by either Air Serbia or its predecessor. Commenting on its new link to Belgrade, the Director of Route Development at Helsinki Airport's operator Finavia, Petri Vuori, said, "It's great to see yet another airline joining Helsinki Airport. Air Serbia and the new Belgrade route opening is a great addition to our connections to the Balkan Peninsula".
Judging by these increases I think they will have to get one additional aircraft.
ReplyDeleteNope. They are perfectly equipped with current fleet.
DeleteAnon 09.15
DeleteNonsense, another plane is coming before the summer season.
Not exactly. An extra 22 weekly frequencies not including charters.
DeleteMy above comment was meant for anon 9.15.
DeleteI think it was reported on here that charter traffic will be up some 10%. There is no way they can run all those flights with their current fleet. I am curious to see what they plan for Turkey. AYT was quite strong last summer with triple daily flights.
DeleteAnother A320, YU-APK, will be coming soon. What I do not know if it will be an additional aircraft or will it replace some of the existing ones.
DeleteAnon 09:49 do you know which A319s have their leases expiring during 2019?
DeleteMany thanks for any info.
Keep in mind there is a high chance that JU will get those routes from Nis. That means 1 aircraft based there.
DeleteAnon 10:08 no idea... What I keep hearing is that YU-API and YU-APJ are horrible pieces of metal and that they should be replaced. That does not mean they will be replaced...
DeleteOnce I get more info I`ll post it here.
^^^
DeleteSpeaking of AYT, I wonder if it is worth JU making it a seasonal destination rather than just keeping it charter. That is, block a set amount of seats requested by agencies and selling excess capacity.
Regarding API and APJ, there was rumours that they would be replaced by ex Rossiya A319's, one being reported as EI-EZD however that ended up going to RJ and is re-registered JY-AYY. Another rumour was that an ATR (VT-JCZ) that arrived from 9W in BEG last week was probably for JU however that flew out to Denmark a few days ago.
It is good to see them increasing Scandinavia ops. They will have daily ARN, CPH and three weekly HEL all year round. They are just missing OSL.
ReplyDeleteWell with Norwegian and FInnair both flying daily to DBV and SPU out of HEL, JU could get some transfers.
DeleteDoubt they will go up against Norwegian on OSL flights.
DeleteAny chance of them going back to GOT?
DeleteIt was suspended when Air Serbia was launched. Jat used to fly it seasonally.
DeleteThey used to fly it in some horrible triangle via Stockholm or it continued to Belgrade via Stockholm. And I think the frequency was twice per week.
DeleteThey really should come to Gothenburg, there are so many serbs here or wizz should upgrade to 4/5pw im tired of going via malmö sometimes...
DeleteThey really should come to Gothenburg, there are so many serbs here or wizz should upgrade to 4/5pw im tired of going via malmö sometimes...
DeleteAt one point it was even linked to CPH which on some days was also linked to ARN. :D
DeleteTrue, but it was long long time ago, during ex-yu times :) If I remember well, JAT (not Jat Airways, but Yugoslav Airlines) used to operate : -2-4-6- BEG-ZAG-CPH-ARN B727
Delete-- --5-- BEG-ZAG-CPH-GOT DC-9
------ 7 BEG-ZAG-GOT-ARN B727
And during those times SAS also operated : 1-3-567 BEG-ZAG-CPH DC-9
Jat Airways did it as well later on, I think these Nordic triangles operated until the very end.
DeleteOSL is a no brainer if Norwegian gets bust.
ReplyDeleteNorwegian's long-haul division might go bust, their short-haul one is safe as it's extremely profitable.
DeleteNorwegian long-haul and short-haul are in the same group. And Norwegian is cutting mostly short haul at the moment by closing a lot of bases...
DeleteTheir load factor in 2018 was just slightly above 80%, which is a disaster for LCC. For example, FR had LF 96%, EZY 93% and W6 92%.
Anon at 09:06
DeleteWhat exactly do you mean by "extremely profitable" short-haul for Norwegian?
Do you have any data to back your claim?
Yes, you can see everything in their corporate presentations. They are available online.
DeleteTheir corporate presentations only show huge losses and constant need for recapitalization.
DeleteSo do you have any real data for your claims?
Check their presentations before long-haul was launched.
DeleteLong hawl has been operating for years now. The economic environment and the performance of a company changes from one quarter to another.
DeleteSo Norwegian for the last few years is loss making.
That is the company we are talking about and not the one from 2013.
They are making cuts on short haul, but that doesn't make it necessarily not profitable. Cuts go along with selling and leasing out 737s and NEOs which are probably easier to sell compared to 787s. My guess is that they believe their long haul operations will work and are willing to give it more time even though it makes losses. Also, you can imagine how badly giving up long haul not long after launching it could affect their shares and reputation.
DeleteSomeone above mentioned their poor LF, but their high costs are by far the biggest problem. I guess O'Leary is right when he says Norwegian is a low-fare but not a low-cost airline.
If I was to book today a flight three months away I would hesitate to do so on Norwegian.
DeleteThey are in really bad shape right now and I wouldn't want to take that risk.
So don't risk it Dejan, book your flight with JU instead.
DeleteLow fares + low LF is never going to work. Same as transatlantic at 150 USD/person, if you have almost no business class seats, which generally make the majority of revenue on longhaul flights.
DeleteDo we know when the extra flight to SOF will operate? I suppose it will be a 00.30 departure from BEG, hopefully it connects to MAD and BCN.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I was looking at some flights to BCN in August and some are already fully booked while some are on the A320! Maybe we see an increase there?
As for Dubrovnik, I think we might see a drop in demand to the Croatian coast after the waterpolo incident. I guess JU could easily redirect those flights to MNE.
Yes, drop in demand. JU should start Teheran and increase Moscow instead of flyin to DBV.
DeleteWhy would such a mini thing decrease demand?
DeleteNew flights are still not available on GDS.
DeleteI think they will restore the previous SOF timetable - late night departe/early morning outbound.
There was an "agressive" Facebook ad in Spanish promoting Belgrade as a destination.
I think there will be more demand from MAD and fewer from BCN due to lack of flights.
Anon 09.15
DeleteA group of athletes being attacked just becuase they are from Serbia is not a small thing. Most tourists refuse to go to areas that are dangerous for them. The only place where Serbs can feel safe in Croatia is Istra. I wouldn't be surprised if many tourists are redirected there by tour operators. Good thing that JU is adding RJK flights.
With Red Wings staying in Belgrade I think there is no market for JU to add flights.
DeleteI hope SOF is timed to offer connections to JFK.
DeleteSOF has direct flights to MAD and BCN on FR, W6 and FB, I doubt anyone would be flying that route via BEG. JFK on the other hand is a great opportunity as tickets ex SOF are not that cheap.
DeleteExactly. Nobody will take a night flight to MAD/BCN via BEG, when they can take direct W6/FR flight for a fraction of a JU ticket price.
DeleteI truly wonder how they intend to fill planes to MAD, HEL and KRR
DeleteThe same way they fill SKG, BEY, LCA... that is with transfers. JU will destroy OS in KRR because BEG is way more to the south so there is no need to overfly Crimea. OS has to fly much more to the south making the flight on the Embraer much longer. Ouch.
DeleteThis is gonna be a crazy summer plus all those extra charters ...
ReplyDeleteClearly demand for more flights to Balkan capitals. Not surprised about SOF and ZAG.
ReplyDeleteSOF was initially launched as 9 weekly and was a clear success for JP too.
Lets hope JU can cope with this sudden, massive expansion and avoid a Vueling scenario in 2016, where they expanded like crazy and had serious problems in summer.
Anyway, best of luck ASL!
And OU is snoozing....
DeleteVueling's problem was that they expanded way too quickly outside of their home base.
DeleteOU is flying to ATH and they recently launched OTP.
DeleteI meant they snooze in SOF, OTP is a good beginning though.
DeleteAnd they surely snooze in Serbia.
DeleteJU will be flying to
ZAG
RJK
ZAD
SPU
DBV
there were rumours that 2 more destinations in Croatia will be flown by JU
OU will be flying to
BEG
And not only that but they are reducing SPU-BEG next year. They are the only airline to reduce BEG next year.
DeleteVueling also has major issues with shortage of air crews and ground personnel/operations staff.
DeleteAs a result every summer in BCN they have massive delays, cancellations and disruptions of all kinds.
So for summer 2019 they are cutting about 30 destinations from BCN!!!
You mean this year (this summer) ;)
DeleteYes Anon 09:50
DeleteThis follows canselations that they made in the last couple of years.
A total of 49 routes droppped so far!
1. Accra
2. Amman
3. Ancona
4. Belfast City
5. Bergen
6. Cardiff
7. Ciudad Real
8. Cluj Napoca
9. Constantine
10. Djerba
11. Dortmund
12. Dresden
13. Eindhoven
14. Frankfurt
15. Groningen
16. Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen
17. Kaliningrad
18. Kazan
19. Kos
20. Krasnodar
21. Larnaca
22. Leeds
23. Leipzig
24. Ljubljana
25. London
26. London
27. Lourdes
28. Luxembourg
29. Maastricht
30. Moscow Sheremetyevo
31. Newcastle
32. Pamplona
33. Rabat
34. Rhodes
35. Riga
36. Rotterdam
37. Sal (Cape Verde)
38. Samara
39. Sofia
40. Southampton
41. Stavanger
42. Strasbourg
43. Tallinn
44. Thessaloniki
45. Trieste
46. Verona
47. Vilnius
48. Yerevan
49. Warsaw
Shame there is no increase for Amsterdam. I guess transavia is hard to compete against.
ReplyDeleteAmsterdam is maxed out, they can't add flights even if they wanted to. AMS has a movement cap which was imposed by the eco-talibans. I think it's 500.000 take offs and landings.
DeleteBtw as for Transavia, I think they found some additional slots because BEG is not being reduced to 3 weekly this summer, it stays as five with a random schedule that's all over the place. One of their departures from BEG arrives to AMS after midnight.
Delete"Eco-talibans"? Oh please
DeleteYes night flight 21.40-00.10. It's new.
DeleteIt's interesting that nobody had noticed that Transavia would have flown five times weekly in July and August instead of three weekly during last high summer season.
DeleteRead the comment at 09.23.
DeleteI'm really interested to see how their Helsinki flights will work out 3x per week year round.
ReplyDeleteThree is minimum to offer normal connections to Balkans and Middle East. I think it will do ok.
DeleteSo BEG will have close to 70 extra flights next summer? How will they cope in terms of infrastructure? That's 10 flights a day!
ReplyDeleteIt really isn't that many, an airport of its size could easily handle 10 extra flights. All is needed is a bit more handling staff and possibly extra security.
DeleteI think the decrease in the ATH, SKP and LED are all logic.
ReplyDeleteATH because of A3 increasing frequencies and equipment.
SKP because of the W6. W6 is becoming absolutely dominant as a carrier in Macedonia.
LED because of KRR and fewer demand compared to SVO.
The other increases were extremely logical: Scandinavia always with demand.
Clearly demand for the Croatian coast and SOF because of both transfer and O&D.
I like the JU plan for 2019. Very well conducted.
+1
DeleteNew route manager seems to be doing a good job.
Athens is being reduced because the flight departed BEG at 07.30 and relied on local demand and connections from JFK. Return flight barely had any viable connections. It was a disaster from day 1. The plane is redirected to another route where they can make much more money.
DeleteSKP and LED are probably cut because they needed planes elsewhere. Same way why Tirana and Bucharest are mostly operated at night. In OTP's case that's really good as an Atr can't make it there and back in time during the noon wave.
A lot less connecting passengers for JU from SKP after the massive expansion of W6. Unless a Macedonian absolutely has to fly to LHR or CDG does no longer need to connect with JU in BEG.
DeleteIt also shows how limited the market in SKP is. Hopefully it keeps on growing so more airlines add flights, not just JU.
DeleteI would like to use JU, its just that from SKP (for destinations in western europe i use) conecting via BEG is either with long transfer time or when this is similar then the equipment is an ATR or when thats comparable, then the other connection is cheaper.
DeleteI believe it ok for both sides- BEG reducing the frequency and pax from SKP not really being upset about it.
I guess it makes sense for JU to go after markets with more passenger and higher yield than SKP. They are keeping it as 12 weekly which still isn't that bad.
DeleteIt makes no sense to fight over a poor market with a super low fare rival such as W6. So it is wise to focus elsewhere like Scandinavia.
DeleteOr nearby Thessaloniki and Sofia. Those should be their priority.
DeleteThey are increasing Thessaloniki. SOF is a bloodbath between W6 and FR so JU would have to rely just on O&D passengers.
Deleteright, funny how OS and OU are adding flights to SKP. must be good for them
Deletei also think that the cut of one frequency is not because of lack of pax, its to accommodate the new routes
Very nice developments from JU this summer.
ReplyDeleteConsidering they shrank for 2 years it was time to grow again.
DeleteYou can't have so many new routes opening and frequencies adding every year
DeleteNice
ReplyDeleteI hope the new routes hold up. Great to see that Barcelona is already sold out on many dates. My guess is many tour operators migrated from Vueling to JU.
ReplyDelete+100000
DeleteVY is horrible, their schedule is a disaster! Imagine arriving to BCN at 04.55! I think they will reduce or cancel Belgrade after JU entered the market.
It goes to show that this route would have been very successful for Wizz Air had they started it from BEG. Oh well. You snooze you loose.
DeleteSame as Berlin. I guess FKD and FMM are more important for them. LOL
DeleteKey will be making MAD and BCN work in winter.
Delete@anon 09:43
DeleteExactly.
I got impression that they were very stabborn and spiteful with introducing BEG-BCN flights and now that opportunity is gone.
Well done JU!
This is going to be one busy summer for BEG.
ReplyDeleteBusy year in general.
DeleteExcellent news.
ReplyDeleteLooks to me like Air Serbia is preparing for some long haul expansion in 2020 with this year's summer network.
ReplyDeleteThere are rumors it will happen this year.
DeleteThink it's too late at this point. But let's wait and see.
DeleteVinci constantly saying how they will help Air Serbia introduce new long haul routes means they will probably give Air Serbia some discounts or incentives for launching long haul flights.
DeleteASL could easily launch flights to YYZ, ORD, PEK, PVG and even DEL.
DeleteNote that in the article about Nis flights a couple of days ago there is a paragraph about how the government will subsidise the arrival of Chinese, South Korean, Indian, Japanese and US tourists.
DeleteEtihad has offered another A330 to JU. It's up to JU to decide if it wants it or not.
DeleteIf EY offered that A330 under similar terms with YU-ARA we are better off leasing one from the open market.
DeleteJU pays way more than the current market rates for YU-ARAs lease.
This site wrote back in Dec about JU planning to expand to North America, Asia and Europe. We got Europe and Africa announcements so far. Are Asia and North America next?
DeleteLease prices are subject to market. Would JU without EY be able to even afford an A330? Probably not, so whatever price they agreed upon at that time was realistic.
DeleteIt's like getting a mortgage if you are broke vs if you have 10 houses already. Who do you think is going to get a better deal?
There were some rumours that with arrival of new A330 JU will be flying 3 times weekly to YYZ and 2 times weekly to PEK
Delete@Anon at 14:51
DeleteCorrect, and there is more to the lease deal than just a price. I remember reports in early 2016 (when Air Serbia was getting ready to launch JFK) about other support Etihad is providing to get that route off the ground, including crew training at AUH and FCO, painting and reconfiguring A330 at AUH, ongoing maintenance, additional backup with Etihad equipment when YU-ARA A330 is out of service (as is right now: BEG-JFK service is operated by Etihad plane while ARA is undergoing maintenance in AUH) etc. When you have only one A330, that overall "we got your back" from EY is more important than just getting rock bottom lease rate on the market. But haters don't have smarts to understand that.
The lease rate for YU-ARA seems to be industry average. As of April 2018, lease rates for an A332 seem to be between 190-680.000$USD per month.
Deletehttps://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1399391
JFK seems to be doing ok for JU. They seem to be making money May-September since they're boosting it a second season to 6 pw. Another 1-2 A330's might be good for JU. EY is bringing out their A330's from their fleet that are around YU-ARA's age.
DEL could easily fit into connecting the European and North American banks:
BEG DEL 1315 0045
DEL BEG 0215 0530
YYZ should be slightly shorter than JFK. China (PVG) is something that would utilize the A330 almost 24h. Boost JFK to daily in peak season and 3-5 pw in the winter. Add in the possibility for a charter flight between rotations (AYT for example). Additional long haul destinations could help the seasonality of the A330 fleet.
They need to find a way to improve their sales so that their summer seasonal routes can survive the whole year.
ReplyDelete+1000
DeleteI'm surprised Ohrid didn't work out for them. Would be nice to see them back.
ReplyDeletei think it was a decision between Rijeka and Ohrid. I really hope Rijeka's flights are not after midnight like it was last time with OHD
DeleteRijeka will be operated in the afternoons
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/p/air-serbia-belgrade-rjeka.html
lesson learned
DeleteCroatia flight are scheduled to catch the waves for connex pasengers.
DeleteOdlican povratak Er Srbije na nove destinacije i znacajno uvecanje letova na pet - sest starih u ovoj sezoni. Ovakav trend se uklapa u strategiju VINCI Airports. Ipak Nacionalnom prevoziocu nedostaje veoma ozbiljan investitor. Veci broj regionalnih aviona, umanjenje broja zaposlenih. Agresivnija komercijalna sluzba... Jednom recju privatizacija. Za veci broj ljudi ovo izgleda ''svetogrdje''. Ipak dosadasnje poslovanje Er Srbije pokazuje da zbog nedovoljne flote, prekobrojnog broja zaposljenih u odnosu na broj sedista flote, sezonskih devijacija... Bez promena nema bolitka. Vreme uzimanja od poreskih obaveznika i nosenja zastave na repu i u Srbiji se uvidelo da nije dovoljno. Ipak sezonska poboljsanja samo sezonu prave uspesniju. Vlade Srbije ocigledno od ove godine agendu civilne avijaciju i infrastrukturu postavlja shodno razvoju, turizmu, investicijama i buducnosti komunikacije Srbije sa svetom. Er Srbiji reorganizacijom biznisa i odgovornosti tek zapocinju. Poceli su sa dobijanjem imena svoje drzave Srbije. To jeste dobar pocetak i uslov da su poslovnost i odgovornost temelj da krila bogate Srbiju. A ne da joj zavlace ruke u dzep poreznika...
ReplyDeleteSa nadom za razvoj kompanije Air Serbia ostajte u dobru.
U izcekivanju preksutrasnje prezentacije plana, mape razvoja Beogradskog aerodroma od strane VINCI Airports, veliki pozdrav.
Kraljevo // Sydney.
Radovan,
So how many total flight in a week will JU be doing?
ReplyDeleteLike a lot!
DeleteBrvo Srbija!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great year for Serbian aviation. From the national carrier to the airports. Bravo indeed. Full steam ahead!
ReplyDeletehahah puno parom napred!
DeleteBelgrade is getting, without Air Serbia, around 40 weekly rotations next summer season and together with Air Serbia it will be between 65 and 70 new weekly rotations!
ReplyDeleteAnd almost all of them are legacy carriers!
What a great result for Belgrade Airport and Air Serbia!
Yes, truly impressive really. I wonder if LO and U2 might add a few more flights before summer.
DeleteRed Wings operated 3 weekly flights last summer if I am not wrong, it will be 4 this year. They are also changing their schedule.
ReplyDeleteDME-BEG 16.10-18.00
BEG-DME 19.00-22.50
It's not a bad schedule especially since SU is moving its own evening flight to 20.20. Red Wings will have the most convenient evening departure out of Belgrade.
Funny how there is no direct competition on BEG-MOW.
DeleteDepartures from BEG at:
00.45 SU
06.35 JU
13.10 SU
17.05 JU
19.00 WZ
20.20 SU
23.40 JU
34 weekly flights.
Pre bih rekao 45 letova za Moskvu nedeljno. 21 SU, 21 JU i 3 leta WZ.
Delete