NEWS FLASH
Low cost carrier Wizz Air will introduce new seasonal flights from Belgrade to Lyon this coming summer. Services will commence on June 15 and run twice per week, each Tuesday and Saturday. Lyon joins a growing number of French destinations to be served from Belgrade, including Paris, Beauvais and Nice. Further flight details can be found here. The route will mark the resumption of scheduled flights between the two cities for the first time since the collapse of the former Yugoslavia. JAT Yugoslav Airlines maintained services from Belgrade to Lyon via Zagreb until 1991.
NOTE: This service has since been upgraded to operate on a year-round basis.
NOTE: This service has since been upgraded to operate on a year-round basis.
interesting experiment
ReplyDeleteHardly an experiment, there are thousands of Serbs living in the Lyon region. This route was actually long overdue.
DeleteAnnouncement in mid March for flights starting in mid June just in time for school holidays season. Good move.
DeleteFinaaaaalllyy!!!! 6,5 million this yeaaarr
ReplyDelete2019 belongs to BEG.
BRAVO!!
Twice weekly service to push from realistic 6,1 to your expectation of 6,5 million? You are getting more annoying than some neighbours.
DeleteDon't be a hater
DeleteThere will be bunch of more connections and airlines..Vinci take care of this. And this announcement is just beginning
DeleteBEG seriously need to catch up with BUD.
Deleteright, and BUD seriously need to catch up with LHR. What are you smoking?
DeleteAre you saying BEG doesn't need to catch up with BUD? He didn't say that BEG will just that it needs to work harder in closing the gap.
DeletePraise Jesus for this is a miracle. Wizz Air has finally decided to expand. Real question is where did they find the space to operate this flight since it's with a BEG based plane. Maybe another destination is being operated with a plane from another base?
ReplyDeleteI think London flights will now be operated by UK based planes, although I don't think the times match.
DeleteLondon is operated in the afternoon and returns after midnight. Maybe they are moving some German destination to the afternoon if some LTN flights will be operated by a UK registered plane?
DeletePraise the Lord indeed. I believe that's how they 'found' space too. Add a teaspoon of Vinci nudge I guess?
DeleteNudge or threat? :D
DeletePo-tay-to Po-tah-to =D
DeleteConcession critics said Vinci could be used to give Air Serbia preferential treatment at BEG and stop lowcosters from expanding. With U2 and W6 expansion in the months after Vinci takeover critics were proven wrong.
DeleteConcession critics said many things and in the end they were proven wrong. I think this is a fantastic add and I hope it gets extended next summer.
DeleteIf Wizz and Easy are encouraged to grow early at BEG what is the long term outlook for Air Serbia? Concession managers at LJU and ZAG are at least trying to grow without allowing LCC threat to domestic carriers. It is not clear if majority owner of JU and BEG decided to sacrifice an airline it owns at the expense of BEG airport growth model based on SOF/SKP?
DeleteGood. I was getting worried that a new conspiricy had not been hatched up yet considering all the other ones failed. And you are completely right. Air Serbia is being sacrificied and are not growing at all. The 9 new routes and 1000 charter flights they will operate this summer are a clear indication of that.
DeleteIn the past couple of years JU cancelled IST, WAW, VAR, KBP, AUH, OHD, BUD, changed their mind on GVA and reduced frequencies and seasonality on many routes. Last time long haul route was announced was Nov 2015. Those 9 new routes don't look that big now. I'd like to see the conspiracy where the number of active aircraft in JU fleet goes up, not down.
Delete+1 Anon 18:56
DeleteVery well said.
People suddenly forget about the past and do not compare past actions.
Here is a table and very, very good JU analysis showing the past lost potential destinations especially KBP, VAR and BUD:
https://centreforaviation.com/analysis/reports/air-serbias-upcoming-expansion-under-etihad-to-see-creation-of-eastern-european-hub-127314
Important:
"Air Serbia already the largest airline in Serbia"
6 years later, neither W6 nor U2 came anywhere close to ASL.
But, the number of historical routes reduced is a lot compared to the current.
The 2013/2014 expansion was not undertaken or planned by Belgrade but rather by Indians in Abu Dhabi who had no clue about market trends and dynamics. In the end we got €170 promo fares to Budapest, proposal to fly to Tivat in the middle of the night, double daily flights to Rome, daily to Warsaw... There were also daily flights to AUH which were extremely loss-making in the beginning. The first year most flights had between 30 and 50 passengers. Loads only picked up later on, though I imagine yields were pretty trash though.
DeleteIn the end such miscalculated moves led to JU losing a lot of money. On top of that, marketing budget was miserable meaning there weren't any funds to invest in destinations such as BUD, VAR or even KBP.
Since it had no money left, and neither the government nor Etihad were willing to invest large sums to keep that level of flying, Air Serbia was forced to downsize and cut loss-making destinations.
This time around the situation is different as JU controls its network and pricing. Meaning that these 9 routes can not be compared to the previous expansion when Belgrade had very little control over how its network is run.
It never crossed Etihad's mind to introduce Barcelona, probably because their countless analyses showed that there wasn't enough demand and Vueling was already present on the market. Fast forward to 2019 and we see that BCN has proven to be a complete and total success and within a month since sales were launched, many flights were already upgraded to the A320. Biggest shame was that it wasn't at least three weekly from the start.
Thank you Nemanja but you missed the point of 17:12 comment. Imagine a scenario where Air Serbia will launch additional 9 routes next spring. However can they match BEG expansion potential for combined traditional carriers (LH, AF, BA, TAP, LOT, KL etc), non-traditional carriers (such as ASL Airlines, Air Arabia etc) and LCCs (Wizz, Easy, perhaps Ryan) if Vinci is open to their expansion, as it seems based on the first few months? In a year or two Air Serbia might run out of expansion options while all the others combined can grow significantly, even without SOF LCC war scenario. Long term, JU would have to retreat while others take over. Is that the message being sent by Vinci?
DeleteBut JU doesn't have to lose. If things remains as they are then BEG will be similar to WAW or RIX where you have a local national carrier plus a dominant LCC airline.
DeleteJU and W6 can coexist in Belgrade because fundamentally their core business model is different. Whatever demand Air Serbia lacks in Belgrade, they can compensate with connecting traffic. Just look at BEY which boosts so many morning departures when it lands with 174 connecting passengers. At times there are 30 to 50 transfer passengers to places such as Berlin, Copenhagen, Brussels... that's the support W6 could never get in Belgrade so they are after markets where they can fill their high density A320s with passengers from BEG's entire catchment area, not just the city of Belgrade. Because of things likes these, legacy and low cost carriers can coexist...
Look at LCA. That's an interesting market where Wizz Air attacked JU in aggressive manner, pushed them out only to realize there wasn't enough demand to operate it profitably so they cancelled it. JU returned because they could rely on transfers, to compensate for the lack of local demand. So a balance was struck.
People always obsess on here about JU-W6 but forget that for W6, easyJet is a much bigger threat since both carriers rely exclusively on O&D. We will have to see what happens with Basel, the first destination where the two airlines compete directly one against the other.
Wizz Air is responding to easyJet's BSL-BEG by launching BEG-LYS. It's good that they are not giving up and that they are finally waking up. Will be fun to watch what happens in the coming months and if easyJet responds.
I would say W6 atttacks easyJet's GVA-BEG with LYS-BEG.
DeleteBSL is too far away from LYS
Sorry, maybe I wasn't too clear but what I meant is that Wizz Air is responding to easyJet's BSL-BEG with BEG-LYS. They attacked them in BSL so now they are attacking them in GVA with LYS flights.
DeleteNemjee I see your point. However if coexistence with LCCs was a safe thing, LJU and ZAG would have opened their doors to more LCCs and let JP and OU develop hub model between mostly Balkan destinations on one side and StarAlliance hubs on the other. Hub model didn't work well for them.
DeleteAir Serbia hub model would have to grow significantly in both short and long haul segments to be sustainable and able to coexist with LCCs. I am not convinced they have ambition to grow that much.
Well, BEG is much larger than both ZAG and LJU meaning that the market might be big enough for multiple players. Furthermore, no one is stopping JP or OU to expand and grow their networks. JP tried it but failed miserably. Their finances probably weren't strong enough to support these routes until their matured. They should have expanded at a much slower pace, adding one or two destinations a year.
DeleteAir Serbia might not have the ambition to become the next Emirates but at least they are no longer static. Launching 9 new routes this summer is best proof of it. Even if Barcelona ends up being the only one that lives through the winter, I think that will be great as it will provide them with extra revenue. That said, I think Krasnodar will do fine as well. Not too sure about other ones.
From year round destinations HEL, RJK and MAD could the most problematic
DeleteMAD will be fine as there has been growing demand between the two cities, also current bookings are not bad for it. In RJK I am sure they are getting financial help from the local community to operate these flights.
DeleteDemand between MAD and BEG is surely smaller than between BCN and BEG. Even Spanair cancelled this route before theyclosed their operations.
DeleteAnd from the other side MAD is the longest Air Serbia's route (excluding JFK) so I am not sure it will be much profitable for JU.
Unfortunately I see MAD together with HEL as the first candidate for cancellation.
I hope I am wrong
This is like the 14th new route being launched this summer!
ReplyDeleteParis x2, Nice, Zadar, Rijeka, Madrid, Barcelona, Helsinki, Krasnodar, Cairo, Kiev, Sharjah, Sharm El Sheikh and now Lyon!
Easy now. This is not the first time, Belgrade received so many new destinations at once.
DeleteRemember when the visas were lifted to Europe? There were like 10 or 12 new carriers that arrived and many then left.
BT, TP, BA, etc.
That was very different because you had the floodgate effect. This expansion is organic.
DeletePreemptive strike against easyJet!
ReplyDeleteit is more a competition for Easy on the GVA route
DeleteWhat about Hamburg? Many people waiting for that destination. Air Serbia cant be competitor .
ReplyDeleteI would say BRE or LEJ instead.
DeleteThere is a new destination added every week.
ReplyDeleteGreat!!!! Could we see more destinations added? Would be cool if they add BCN as it would kill VY on the route.
ReplyDeleteWizz air UK operates BEG flights from 31. March. The times have changed as well, its a mid day flight now.
ReplyDeleteLondon is dying for a new Belgrade flight.
This is the new schedule:
DeleteLTN-BEG 05.55-09.30
BEG-LTN 18.55-20.55
Does it mean some BEG flights will be operated by the UK based aircraft?
My bad, I just checked out their timetable and it gave me a headache. They change their schedule almost every month.
DeleteThis schedule is much better and resembles the ones of other Eastern capitals.
DeleteEarly morning departures from London are quite common, especially on Saturdays.
Now I get it, the BEG Airbus is no longer flying to LTN and hence replaced by LYS. Makes sense now.
Schedule gets changed later on, here is an example:
DeleteDepartures from LTN:
April: 14.40, 12.35,14.40, 05.55
July: 13.55, 06.50, 13.55, 06.10
Yep.
DeleteBut, what it most probable is that it will be a seasonal route.
Compare CLJ and WAW. Both are extended in winter but not BEG.
It will be seasonal just like CDG ASL Airlines and most likely AF.
Air France boasts very few seasonal-only routes.
DeleteAF will be seasonal. No flights launched in November.
DeleteAll new French routes will be seasonal.
Nonsense as usual. AF is year round.
DeleteGo to the AF website and try booking a flight in November.
DeleteDo the same for OTP or ZAG. And the result?
Do the same for W6 BEG-LYS in November. And the result?
Lyon is seasonal, Air France will not be. Check next month.
DeleteI did. The summer schedule begins now, this month and ends October.
DeleteYou check too. Both routes are seasonal.
Yes I heard BEG is closing down after the summer season and will reopen in spring when the summer schedule starts.
DeleteJesus. Summer season has not even begun.
The Paris route first needs to mature and then it can become year round. This is barely the first season for Belgrade to prove itself a part of the French General Community. Airports in France and ones out of it and closer ones related to it, that are still considered France. Even Serbians can go with no visa.
DeleteEVEN Serbians?
DeletePathetic.
@admin
Please check if AF will fly seasonally to BEG?
Thank you
Airlines usually keep the previous winter timetable as a default one until they finalize the actual one. AF didn't fly to BEG last winter meaning there is no timetable to fall back on. They probably still haven't decided if they will keep Belgrade as daily or maybe reduce it to five weekly. From what I know they plan on flying year-round to BEG. After all they cooperate with JU and they need their flight in order to optimize connections in CDG, in other words, they need their flight more than JU or BEG need it.
DeleteIf you check Wizz Air's LTN for winter, it's the same as last year's one.
Nemjee,
DeleteFrom below link it could be understood AF flies seasonally to BEG
For the 2019 summer season (March 31 to October 26, 2019), Air France will offer its customers Belgrade (Serbia) on departure from Paris-Charles de Gaulle. This route will be operated with one daily flight from 31 March 2019.
https://corporate.airfrance.com/en/news/belgrade-new-air-france-destination
Despite all your hopes, it will be a year round route, as you will see in around 2-3 weeks.
DeleteFrom that link many things could be understood, depends on what you are looking for.
DeleteI am looking for the confirmation BEG will have year round AF connection with CDG but I have not found it yet
DeleteLike I said you will get it at the start of April and you will be quite disappointed.
DeleteExactly the same way they keep on getting disappointed.
DeleteYou are very wrong.
DeleteI am not the anon from yesterday who claimed AF will seasonally fly to BEG.
I am Serbian who wants to be sure in the information provided here some time ago and the information I found on AF site does not clearly confirm or deny it.
And no, I will be happy and not dissapointed if it gets confirmed BEG wil be year round destination for AF
Of course you are Serbian.
DeleteI knew you would never doubt it
DeleteLTN was 4 weekly, LYS is 2 so what happened with other two?
ReplyDeleteI think one weekly to BVA is getting the LTN flights. Three flights depart from BEG at 06.30 while on Monday it's at 17.50.
Delete17.50-20.25 // 20.55-23.15
Until July the schedule is quite horrible.
19.05-21.40/22.10-0035
Also they will use the BEG flight to MMX on Thursdays to operate another Europen destination, it's not INI.
DeleteHave fly with wizz recently to Dubai! It look that Beg Lion will be two hours flight without possibility to bring in food,water,anything onboard... for sure couldnt be consider as low fare ... because all fu..ing additionals which you have to pay at wizz bring this to standard price, so from my side wizz- 0 points for any destination. Sorry!!!
ReplyDelete