Russia’s Nordwind Airlines has received approval from the country's federal aviation authority Rosaviatsia this week to commence flights between Moscow and Belgrade next year. The company filed an application to operate up to three weekly services from Sheremetyevo Airport to the Serbian capital. If it chooses to exercise its rights, Nordwind will become the third Russian carrier to maintain operations to Belgrade, after Aeroflot and Red Wings Airlines, and the fourth scheduled carrier on the route. Currently both the Russian national airline and Air Serbia maintain services from Sheremetyevo Airport to Belgrade, while Red Wings operates from Domodedovo.
Flights between Serbia and Russia are running up to 34 times per week this winter season, with three airlines maintaining operations between the two countries. Aeroflot runs three daily flights, for a total of 21 weekly, between Moscow and the Serbian capital, while Red Wings Airlines has three weekly services between the two. On the other hand, Air Serbia operates daily flights to Moscow, three weekly to Krasnodar and two weekly services to St Petersburg, although the latter will be maintained only between December 28 and January 11. Aeroflot and Air Serbia recently expanded their codeshare partnership to offer more destinations from Moscow, including Omsk and Volgograd. The Serbian carrier also codeshares on its partner’s flights from the Russian capital to Sochi, Kazan, Samara, Yekaterinburg, Rostov and Novosibirsk. Within the coming weeks, Air Serbia is expected to announce a new nonstop service to Rostov for next summer season.
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| Rosaviatsia approval for Nordwind services |
Russia continues to be one of Belgrade Airport's biggest markets. The two countries maintain visa free travel for each other’s nationals. A total of 55.763 Russian tourists visited Serbia during the January – October period, which is up 26.5% on last year. Earlier in 2019, Russian carrier iFly Airlines received approval from the country's regulator to launch up to four weekly flights from Sochi to Belgrade, however, it is yet to exercise those rights. It should be noted that Air Serbia applied for permits with Rosaviatsia to launch flights to Krasnodar back in 2017 but only commenced the route this year. Nordwind Airlines operates a fleet of 32 Boeing and Airbus-manufactured aircraft and maintains operations to over eighty cities in Europe, Asia, Africa and Central America. It runs 500 flights per week and in 2018 handled over 4.9 million passengers.
Seems like Moscow is turning into a new Istanbul in terms of tourist demand. Good thing is that there is an Open Skies Agreement so our beloved Directorate can't block Russian carriers like Red Wings or Nordwind.
ReplyDeleteWell obviously only out of BEG!
DeleteRussia is doing a good job in Serbia.
DeleteShame that this is not possible with Turkey .
DeleteLet's see how it works out. Red Wings seems to be doing well. Ural Airlines didn't do so weel on Moscow-Belgrade route. They suspended it after a few months.
DeleteYep Ural flew for 9 months before it threw in the towel.
DeleteI expected Red Wings to fail miserably and I was extremely shocked when I saw they loaded winter flights to BEG. :D Hopefully they add flights in summer.
DeleteSeems like Turks are Russians are becoming the main tourist group in Serbia. Both saw good numbers in October 2019:
DeleteRussia: 6.161 +49%
Turkey: 9.713 +99%
China: 19.704 +34%
If Russian and Chinese tourists keep on coming in increasing numbers, I wouldn't be surprised to see Aeroflot add fourth daily from SVO to BEG, like they do in VIE. For example regional destinations such as SOF, ZAG, OTP or BUD do get the SSJ on some daily rotations while BEG is exclusively operated by A320/A321/B738.
DeleteThey question anon 12:31 is: WHY?
DeleteHohoho, one more addition to SUTT 2020.
ReplyDeleteNext year 7 million.
Great job Belgrade!
Is 7 million realistic next year?
DeleteIt wouldn't have been without the massive JU expansion coming our way. However these increases are showing we are in for another round of massive growth. This year we might reach 6.2 but next year 7 million is realistic. Especially with JU frequencies in H1 2020 from H2 2019.
DeleteThis year Belgrade will reach 6,15 million pax, obviously not more.
DeleteAre you sure? Hopefully you polished your crystal ball before looking at 2019 BEG performance.
DeleteGoods news just keeps on rolling in for BEG.
ReplyDeleteSo right now we have the following confirmed:
ReplyDeleteBCN +1
BUD +7
STR +3
ZRH +5
SVO +3
I am not including any unconfirmed JU destinations, we will cheer for those later on when they are officially announced. :D
we should first wait for Nordwind to announce the dates and then count on theme
DeleteSeems like Red Wing's success has opened the doors to many other Russian carriers. I expect another five Russian carriers to launch flights and not only from Moscow but other cities as well. Russians seem to love Belgrade so I expect numbers to boom next year.
ReplyDeleteThey are in the tourist business and Russian tourists are coming to Serbia so it makes sense. They are probably coordinating with tour operators in Moscow.
ReplyDelete4 airlines on a single route. I think this is the most commission any route in ex-Yu has.
ReplyDeleteCommission or competition?
DeleteCompetition obviously.
DeleteMore airlines fly on MOW-TIV.
DeleteYes but on a summer seasonal basis, we also need to take that into consideration.
DeleteNope. Year round: Aeroflot, Montenegro Airlines, Pobeda and S7 Airlines + seasonal operations.
DeleteSo on a year-round basis there are as many as from BEG, not more.
DeleteSo you count Nordwind on the Belgrade list (which btw hasn't even launched flights or announced them) but you don't take into consideration the crazy amount of flights operated during the summer season on the MOW-TIV route... And no. It is not the same as BEG. Currently it it more actually.
DeleteNordwind applied to operate in a booming market, why wouldn't we take this newspiece seriously?!?!
DeleteOk currently but not for long. ;) Great news just keeps on coming in.
DeleteInterestingly, this will be the only route operated by more than 2 carriers from Belgrade.
DeleteOnly goes to show how uncompetitive the market still is from BEG. Lot's of work left to be done.
DeleteTel Aviv is operated by 3 airlines.
DeleteIstanbul also
DeleteYeah but not to the same airport though.
DeleteHurgada has but in summer.
DeleteOversaturation?
ReplyDeleteIt is Russia. They are increasing their influence in the region. If there was such a huge demand in P2p Ju would have added flights.
DeleteYou are right. Nordwind and Red Wings Airlines, both private, have nothing better to do than fly empty planes to Serbia. You didn't perhaps think that Russian tour operators are using these airlines.
DeleteWell you know the mantra on here. If a new route to Belgrade is not subsidized than it's a political route. All planes flying from BEG are empty.
Delete@9.40 if your theory was correct, the number of Russian arrivals in Serbia would not have increased over 25%
DeleteI said it before and I will say it again.
DeleteThere are many types of passengers using these flights.
- Russians living in Serbia (sizable number considering number of Russian companies operating in Serbia)
- Serbs living in Russia (sizable number)
- Russian tourists
- Russian transfer passengers heading to Montenegro, Macedonia, Croatia (handled by Air Serbia)
- Asian transfer passengers (handled by Aeroflot)
- Serbian construction workers in Russia (considerable number)
Russian tourist numbers in Serbia started booming once Red Wings launched flights. That mean JU-SU were never interested in developing this market. Airlines such as Red Wings or Nordwind could do wonders for this market.
DeleteBecause JU and SU are not interested in P2P. And in fact they are very expensive for point to point travel on this route.
DeleteExactly meaning that they opened the doors for airlines like Nordwind or Red Wings. Good thing there are no obstacles for other players to step in so that the market doesn't suffer.
DeleteGood luck
ReplyDeleteThis is quite impressive if you ask me. Over 3,200 seats just between Moscow and Belgrade in winter.
ReplyDeleteAre the fares between BEG and MOW expensive?
ReplyDeleteThey are not cheap. Red Wings is the cheapest. With Nordwind's arrival let's hope fares decrease more.
DeleteRed Wings is affordable but they fly from Domodedovo Airport.
DeleteSo?
DeleteNothing, they cater for a different market. There are many people for whom DME is more convenient than SVO.
DeleteGreat news for Belgrade
ReplyDeleteBig surprise about Nordwind. I really thought even Red Wings didn't stand a chance.
ReplyDeleteFrom Russian carriers I expected S7 or Utair but not NW
DeleteMaybe we get Pobeda if Russians keep on coming to Serbia in such large numbers.
DeleteGood. The more foreign visitors the merrier.
ReplyDeleteSo on some days there will be 6 daily flights between Belgrade and Moscow :O
ReplyDeleteYes
DeleteSU provides definitively the best service on this route
ReplyDeleteBy far
Delete+1000 and also have the best and most consistent schedule of flights + their on time performance is remarkable (all other carriers are try and miss)
DeleteThat's because SU has a two hour rotation between flights in Moscow so delays have to be really big for the next flight to be delayed.
Delete2 hour rotations? :O what's their fleet utilization like?
DeleteFor example their B738 last night departed to BEG at 20.45 while it arrived to Moscow from Warsaw at 17.05. That's how it usually is with SU, even in summer.
DeleteHow about Moscow-Nis?
ReplyDeleteI think it's premature. I actually think MOW-KVO has more long-term potential due to its geographical location and what it has to offer to the tourists.
DeleteProblem is nothing larger than a turboprop can land in KVO.
DeleteWell I said long-term potential, not immediate one.
DeleteI taj problem ce uskoro biti resen
Deletehttps://www.b92.net/biz/vesti/srbija.php?yyyy=2019&mm=12&dd=19&nav_id=1632625
it is too early ;)
DeleteRussia is a popular destination for Serbs.
ReplyDeleteThat's not true at all really.
DeleteHow many Serbs visited Russia? Are there any numbers?
DeleteNo these flights are used by Asians, that is why they are the biggest tourist group in Serbia. Japan followed by Korea and China. Only a few Russians fly to Serbia, or Serbs to Russia.
DeleteRed Wings and Nordwing carry maily transfers to Asia. So Anon. 9.52 - you are wrong.
DeleteAll my family except me and my daughter have visited Russia on more than one occasion.
It is quite true actually. I am 26 years old, judging by example of myself and young people that surround me, most of us at some point have flown towards Moscow. It isn't just Russia that we aim for. Countries of the East, especially China, are the cheapest to fly through Moscow. Beijing and Shanghai especially.
DeleteNot true.
DeleteGood for you. I have never been to Russia or know any one of my friends that have been to Russia and I'm 28.
Delete@9.57 in 2018 96,730 Serbian passport holders entered Russia.
Delete26yo again (haha) - I have travelled all the way to Vladivostok actually. During winter. Alone. At -40 degrees.
DeleteBut yeah, other than Moscow route, the only other affordable option is Qatar through Doha but the transfer lasts too long. Up to 7 hours of waiting for the next flight.
While JU carried 80.000 passengers on charters to AYT, those Serbian arrivals to Russia are rather impressive.
DeleteHow is it impressive if JU alone during the summer catried 80,000 people to Antalya alone while there were a total of 96.000 Serbs visiting all of Russia with 3 scheduled year round airlines???
DeleteIt's impressive because Antalya is a seaside resort town which attracts masses each year. Russia on the other hand is not a tourist destination of the same kind.
DeleteYes, it is only the largest country in the world with strong business and cultural ties to Serbia.
DeleteAnd BTW AYT is intense for a few weeks in summer when we have up to 8 daily flights. That's about it. Moscow has a more spread out demand. Also those are just Serbs who flew into Russia, on the flights between Belgrade and Russia you have many other nationalities flying like Russians, Chinese, Croats, Slovenes, Greeks, Chinese... so the overall number is much higher, probably over 500.000.
DeleteFirst time I hear for nation Slovenes, who's that?
DeleteNo problem, here you go. ;)
Deletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovenes
Hahahahahahah
DeleteAnyone ever flown with Nordwind? Any info about them?
ReplyDeleteI mean are they low cost/full fare?
DeleteI watched a report on them on the flight from LED to SVO onboard their A321, they don't have a business class and offered only drinks on the 90 minute flight. Don't know about longer flights.
DeleteThanks. Although it is a domestic flight so service might be different. But they are officially a full fare airline?
DeleteThey are very similar to Air Serbia in terms of on board product.
DeleteI've flown with them in february 2019 SVO-AER-SVO. Service as service, nothing to complain about.
DeleteSki equipment transport was "for free", that was big plus.
So BEG might break into top 80 European airports in terms of passenger numbers.
ReplyDeleteФеноменална вест посебно јер ће натерати SU и JU да се уозбиље и да снизе цене на летовима између Београда и Москве, посебно лети. Јако ме радује ова цифра руских туриста јер је то здрава зарада и леп прилив девиза. Верујем да ће ова линија бити крајње успешна и да ће убрзо додати још више летова.
ReplyDeleteЕ сада, волео бих када би још нека компанија увела неки други град. Можда чак и Петровград пошто очито ЈУ се не сналази баш најбоље тамо.
I assume they will use B737-800?
ReplyDeleteOr A321.
DeleteOr A330 <3
DeleteNot sure about the A330, maybe if it goes during the evening / night because you nees 2 gates to operate the aircraft...
DeleteDon't know, I think they would be restricted even if they wanted to fly at around noon or around 16-17. Most gates are occupied during that time.
DeleteHowever if they leave Moscow around 07.00 then they would be in Belgrade around 08.00 which would be ok since it would be once JU, LH and W6 have left.
And just a year ago there was a duopoly on this route with very high fares.
ReplyDeleteI hope they manage but I'm not sure they will be able to repel SU and JU to/from SVO.
ReplyDeleteI agree, JU and SU are just too strong. But good luck to them.
DeleteThey are not looking to kick JU and SU out of BEG-SVO, they are just looking to get a piece of the growing cake for themselves.
DeleteI love how they write the airline's name as "Severni vetar" in the permit application :D
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThis could affect mostly JU. There do not seem able to fix their fares and adapt. Hope Norwings will bring more opportunities for us to travel.
ReplyDeleteDon't understand what are you reffering to, JU is most of the time always cheaper than SU although SU has a better schedule and service. Go online and compare, most flights JU is cheaper by 20-30E
DeleteIt is interesting that the number of flights to Moscow is growing even though additional routes in Russia are being added.
ReplyDeleteRussia is the biggest country in the world, KRR and ROV are hardly nextdoor.
DeleteIt's because of the growing Asian Market as well, Russian Airlines have big advantage in that routes since Russia only allow one company per country to use their routes. Time of flights via Russia to Asia is way shorter and Russian Airlines must use politically friendly countries because otherwise they cannot operate and Serbia location offers them unique opportunities and I expect only growth from here on.
DeleteThe Serbia-Russia market is also growing. These tourists are all flying in by plane, it's not like with Chinese where some of them come from Hungary by bus. Russian arrivals are exclusively by plane. That's why Aeroflot manages to operate triple daily A320 in winter.
DeleteI wish them success, but I am not that optimistic.
ReplyDeleteI've met quite a few Chinese from Shanghai in Belgrade, all of them flew in through Moscow.
ReplyDeletewhen will they introduce flights or when will they tell us the dates
ReplyDeleteThey have a really nice website though.
ReplyDeletehttps://nordwindairlines.ru/ru
Can anyone elaborate on JU loads on SVO route ? would be interesting to know how they are doing!?
ReplyDeleteMuch better especially now when they secured departure slots from SVO at 07.55. It is trully impressive they got those as it's the most premium departure period from Moscow, it's basically Aeroflot and their SkyTeam partners CSA and Air France.
DeleteJU gets a lot of transfers to Moscow and Krasnodar from Italian destinations.
Will they be able to keep those early AM slots for the summer as well?
DeleteYup, they are very convenient especially for locals and they offer connections as well from Belgrade.
DeleteAnon 13:51 I would not agree with 8AM departure being that convenient FOR locals as you have to get up at 4 AM to catch that flight and travel by Taxi to airport
DeleteWell obviously for many it's ok since JU does well on the route. Also with online check in you can be at SVO 01.15 before departure so you can get up at 5 which isn't that bad.
DeleteHave you ever been in Russia? Experienced the multiple security and documents checks? You'd really want to be at the airport 2 hours before your flight.
DeleteI actually live in Moscow. ;)
DeleteAnon 12:43 no wonder they (JU) are doing good if you count passengers but their tarriff is rock bottom low 9258 rub (129Eur) for a SVO-FCO return ticket (I took 17.01 - 30.01 2020 dates) with 9 / 7 hrs tranzit wait time in Beg. This is really ridiculously low!
ReplyDelete