Air Serbia has scheduled six new routes for the 2020 summer season from Belgrade starting June 1. They include Geneva, Amman, Rostov-on-Don, Florence, Lviv, and Chisinau. Services to Geneva Airport will operate three times per week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Air Serbia will run four weekly flights on the new route to the Jordanian capital, Amman, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. Belgrade and Rostov-on-Don will be connected with four weekly operations, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. The Serbian flag carrier will also maintain two weekly flights between Belgrade and Florence in central Italy, on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Services to the west Ukrainian city of Lviv will run four times per week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, while Belgrade and the Moldovan capital Chisinau will be connected with four weekly flights, on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays.
Click on link for flight details
The development marks the carrier’s entry into the markets of Jordan and Moldova, as well as expansion in Italy, Switzerland, Russia and Ukraine. Rostov-on-Don will become Air Serbia’s fourth destination in Russia following Moscow, St Petersburg and Krasnodar. Florence will be the airline’s fifth destination in Italy after Rome, Milan, Venice and Bologna, while Lviv, which has been seeking flights to the Serbian capital for some time, will become Air Serbia’s second destination in Ukraine. In addition to the new routes, Air Serbia will be increasing frequencies on existing destinations, such as Prague, Zagreb, Tirana, Skopje, Bucharest, Ljubljana, Dubrovnik, Tivat, Larnaca, Madrid, Barcelona and Istanbul. The carrier previously scheduled a new seasonal service from Kraljevo to Thessaloniki for the coming summer.
Commenting on the network expansion, Air Serbia’s CEO, Duncan Naysmith, said, “We continue the success from last year, during which we achieved a record number of passengers, but which also saw a great expansion of the network and the launch of operations from two other airports in Serbia. Our goal is to remain the airline of choice for all passengers from the region and to thus support the further economic and tourist growth of the Republic of Serbia. In addition to expanding the reach of the international network, we continue to improve the quality of service based on new trends in the airline industry, as well as the opinions of our passengers”.
Meanwhile, Air Serbia has seen its busiest January since relaunching operations under its new name in 2013 as a new commercial strategy, introduced last year, starts yielding improved results. The carrier handled 168.858 passengers from Belgrade Airport during the first month of the year, representing an increase of 27% or an extra 36.000 travellers on 2019. At the same time, the airline’s average cabin load factor improved seven points to 69%. Sales of ancillary services increased 44%. Air Serbia’s General Manager for Commercial and Strategy, Jiri Marek, said, “We are pleased to have started a new year by setting new records and to have posted great results already in January which, when it comes to passenger numbers, stands for a weaker month in the airline industry. Last year was Air Serbia’s most successful one so far by the number of passengers carried and new destinations. We are happy for providing firm grounds for further development in 2020”. Air Serbia handled 2.81 million passengers in 2019, with the figure expected to be overtaken this year.
Good to see operational results improving
ReplyDeleteSo I guess BEG growth in January will be over 10%. I am sure other airlines also performed better. Step closer to 7 million.
ReplyDeleteBEG had 347,544 last January so if we add only JU growth they are getting to around 383.544 passengers so maybe they hit 400.000 in January?
DeleteBEG surpassed 400.000 figure by 3.000 pax in January, overall pax growth was 16%.
DeleteSo everyone performed well, not just JU.
DeleteGood to see the expansion. I just hope it pays off.
ReplyDeleteAnd what about the financial results?
ReplyDeleteNo one publishes financial results on a monthly basis, they are done on a longer period like half year or year end results. JU should publish it's 2019 financial performance in June 2020.
Deletelol
Deleteentire world usually put financial performance first, followed by an explanation of what happened in operations.
JU, on the other hand, only offers the operational information and we can only pretend not to comprehend why is that
as for the release dates of annual reports... JU has a tradition of filing in june, then gets rejected by APR and only then it releases its report...mid july or something like that
What's the big deal? In the end they always publish it so stop hating.
DeleteHow many airlines make a profit in January or February? We all know JU lost money during the month but one can assume their losses were reduced thanks to a solid growth in passenger numbers and ancillary revenue. Their costs probably remained stable while revenue increased, that's a step in the right direction.
DeleteI don't understand why everyone expects Air Serbia to make a real profit only a year after finding a business model it suits it the most. It will be another few years before we can see real financial stability. Any new business needs a consolidation period and JU is no exception to this rule.
Air Serbia needs to work towards building volume so as to reduce seasonality by as much as possible. Transporting 250.000 to 300.000 passengers per month during the slow winter period should be their first goal. Adding 36.000 passengers in January means they are heading in that direction. February numbers should be interesting to see.
I have a feeling some are complaining on here for the sake of complaining. You don't need their financial statement to judge the overall state of the airline and to determine if they are moving in the right direction. In my opinion they are. Profitability in the aviation industry takes time to achieve especially since profit margins are thin.
Don't forget that JU was severely damaged by Etihad's incompetence. It will take a few years to fix all the mistakes that were made during that period.
Their finances are performing better with every year
DeleteMaybe that's the problem for some? Hmm.
Deletesituation about JU is pretty bipolar on this website
Deletehaters have financial reports
lovers have optimistic stories
Argument 1: "I don't understand why everyone expects Air Serbia to make a real profit only a year after finding a business model it suits it the most."
Answer 1: Maybe because the profit was promised in 2014 and then faked it each consecutive year?
Argument 2: Don't forget that JU was severely damaged by Etihad's incompetence
Answer 2: did you bother to read duncan's CV?
"Passenger numbers, load factor, capacity, revenue was positive, RASK [Revenue per Available Seat Kilometer] was also positive and that was only the first month. November was even better”, ==> Whatabout CASK?
DeleteAnswer 1: well at that time JU had a much different onboard product, a different CEO and Etihad was running the show. Air Serbia has fundamentally changed since 2014 so things that were relevant back then are no longer. Aviation changes on a daily basis and with it any future expectations. What matters is that JU was able to adapt to new market realities meaning they stand a chance at remaining relevant in the future. And anyway, they promised a profit in 2014 and isn't that what you got? ;)
DeleteAnswer 2: no, I did not and I don't see how that's relevant. Air Serbia is a big company for Serbian standards meaning the CEO can't micromanage absolutely every single thing in the airline. What matters is that key departments were moved from AUH to BEG so middle management can run the airline efficiently. Have we already forgotten how crazy pricing was when EY was in charge? I remember paying €370 to fly to LCA in winter or their Happy Friday Promo to Budapest for €170. It will take time for them to recover from such things.
Like I already wrote above, it will take time for them to completely consolidate their financial performance and that will be only achieved through a build up of passenger volume. Their costs seem to be under control so all that is left is for revenue to be increased to a certain level which will be enough to cover their basic costs thus breaking-even.
Nice improvement. What is meant by "although there might be changes to the final line-up of destinations" Some other destinations, some new or not all of these will be listed
ReplyDeleteSome might be postponed for next year.
Deletedon't forget that the government messed up their plans with KVO flights.
DeleteYeah, exactly. Budapest may be postponed due to that.
DeleteWhat we dont see are the financial results for this operative performance, so we only know half of the story.......
ReplyDeleteI am not president lawyer, but i think that you have first have new flights (growth) and after that post results made of that growth...
DeleteWhy do they never list their passenger numbers in Nis? It's beyond me.
ReplyDeleteI guess because they are comparing results year on year. They weren't flying from Nis this time last year.
Deleteyeah. my guess is that they'll start publishing Niš numbers after July
DeleteWhat is crazy is that their LF was just 62% in January last year!
ReplyDeleteEarlier I read that their estimate for Q1 is 66% LF. Let's see if they manage to reach or overtake that target.
DeleteThe best way to have better LF is to use 100 seater instead A319 or 320.
DeleteIf only they had those...
DeleteQ1 of last year was terrible for JU so this year should be much better.
DeleteThey need to lease more CRJ900s to cover the gap between the AT7s and A319s
Delete@Anon 09:57
Delete"The best way to have better LF is to use 100 seater instead A319 or 320"
LF is not ultimate measurement in airline business - it is possible for airline with lower LF to be more profitable comparing to airline with higher LF. What does matter is average prices of tickets sold, total expenses of the company, etc. LF is just one of mostly "visible" indicators but it might hide true story.
In case of JU question is would TCO for new plane in their fleet would be lower comparing to current ones. TCO (total costs of ownership) would include factors like:
-cost of lease/purchase
-cost of maintenance
-cost of fuel per flight/seat
-cost of staff training
-etc
In airline business this calculation should end up in value of CASM/CASK (Cost Per Available Seat Mile/Kilometer) but it is not publicly available info and different airlines have different ways of "fine tuning" this number.
Nice way to start 2020 :)
ReplyDeleteLooks as if it will be a strong year for JU.
ReplyDeleteCan all this growth be sustained with just 2 extra planes?
ReplyDeleteObviously it can if they plan to operate all these flights.
DeleteProbably YES until something goes tech; when that happens chaos and major 2-3 hour delays as usual.
DeleteMost positive news Is the increase in LF even with a increase in capacity (they have an extra A319 in the fleet)
ReplyDeleteIncrease in connectivity has helped fill seats on existing flights.
DeleteDoes that include Nis or not?
Deleteno. Niš wasn't operated last Janaury
DeleteIt's time for JU to also up its IT game to further growth. In this day and age it would be advisable for the company to get an app to enable mobile booking and check-in as well as mobile boarding passes. It should also integrate with apps such as google calendar and maps as well as other airlines do since then notifications regarding gate assignment and delays are received which are quite helpful and convenient.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteI have seen one JU job vacancy advertisement, and one of the responsibility was dealing with Air Serbia web site and mobile application. So I suppose that soon JU will lunch mobile app
DeleteAir Serbia has had mobile boarding passes for a few years now, at least for iPhones. I use them all the time when flying with them from BEG. Not sure if they have them at INI and KVO though.
Delete@Anon 10:52
DeleteYou are talking about boarding passes sent to email, I guess? Anon 9:20 is talking about app used for check-in, purchase, boarding passes etc. and that is not available. Air Serbia has only Elevate app for media streaming during flight.
Also, they should improve web page & online purchase mode:
-saving credit cards and other data for those who frequently buy
-providing easy way to get company invoice. With most airlines its just option during purchase, and you receive invoice in PDF. With Air Serbia this is the way to get it:
+you buy a ticket online & you receive electronic ticket
+send an email with request and electronic ticket to call center
+call center will rearrange request and send it to Air Serbia finance department
+then you wait, sometimes you get invoice in a 1-2 days, sometimes it is 7 days, sometime is even more and you need to escalate.
It's not really too hard to have a check box during purchase, enter few company details and get it automatically.
+1000
Delete@Anon 11:26
DeletePlease go read my comment again. I'm not saying Air Serbia's IT game is perfect - it's far from it and it totally lacks lots of things that we're used to nowadays. Sure, they need a dedicated airline app with all the usual stuff regarding ticket purchases and check ins.
My comment was related to mobile boarding passes only. Yes, the boarding pass gets sent to you via email once you check in online, but if you're viewing the email on an iPhone/iPad/Mac it will offer to save the boarding pass to Apple Wallet and the ticket gets automatically displayed on the phone's lock screen a few hours before the departure, as is the case with any other airline.
I don't know if that's the case on other phones, but my point is that they don't lack mobile boarding passes completely, only partially.
I've read your mail carefully and I understand what you are saying. But that is different to what original poster who asked about app with that (and other useful) functionalities.
DeleteMy further comment regarding online service was not targeted at you but at potential reader from Air Serbia so they will hopefully improve :)
Great news
ReplyDeleteLong haul seems to be about the only thing they are not developing.
ReplyDeleteMaybe in 2021.
DeleteAir Serbia responded on fb on a question related to introduction of Toronto flights.
DeleteThey said they are currently not planning to introduce direct flights to Toronto.
On the other hand that is not surprising since that is obvious that they first want to develop regional network and provide certain sustainable feeding for long haul network.
On my opinion that is much better way...they made a lot of damage to its own brand with lot of experiments in previous years, and now they finally started to build again nice picture...
Due to often business trips, I based my opinion on my personal experience and experience of my colleagues (we use many companies , ASL is just one of them). Good luck!
Aegean doesn't have long-haul either.
DeleteMaybe they could use the opportunity that Etihad is selling off its A330 fleet.
DeleteEtihad already sold entire A330 fleet, they will slowly put all of them out of service. You can read it on here at homepage.
Deletewell, they were pushed to start JFK far too soon. all routes they are starting now were due by 2017-2019, and then JFK should've started in 2019-2021 period. followed by ORD and YYZ
DeleteUsing shorthaul expansion as a requirement for further long haul expansion is a fake argument. Florence, Geneva, Barcelona, Madrid etc will bring 0 passengers to new destinations like ORD or YYZ. All they need is one or two solid feeder lines. That was the case with BEY, they offered transfer to CDG. They didn't say "we need to add IST, HEL and BUD before we can launch BEY. Same goes for ORD YYZ etc. In short, Air Serbia is looking for excuses not to expand long haul and eventually get rid od JFK.
DeleteBEY plane could be used on any other route, an A330 could only be used for long-haul which costs a lot of money. JU can cope with losses on some short haul routes but I doubt they can sustain two loss making long haul routes. You first build the regional network and only then add more long-haul flying.
DeleteThat's an answer to a completely different question about utilization. Best way to increase A330 utilization is to add another A330 and start 1-2 new destinations, then use one A330 in the winter for those destinations and offer second A330 for wet lease.
DeleteBut you didn't address crazy argument that JU needs more shorthaul destinations to launch second long haul destination. That one is not true at all.
Very good to see metrics improving.
ReplyDeleteAnd I remember how people were screaming here that they would cancel half of their new routes from last year. So much for that.
ReplyDeleteWhat a contrast compared to previous years.
ReplyDeleteYes. Nice to see much positive developments after what seemed to be an endless downward spiral.
DeleteIt's just nice to see Air Serbia waking up after a few years.
DeleteNice! Looking forward to expansion in 2020.
ReplyDeleteEverything seems to be on the right track but they really need to replace the Boeings and older ATRs as soon as possible.
ReplyDeleteDo we know how many Boeings will be operational this summer?
Delete3 like last year
DeleteSome of their traditional Airbus destinations are pretty low in Pax load around this time of the year. Yes, we all know this is due to seasonality but if they had a proper regional aircraft (CRJ or Q400) they would be able to mitigate the operational loss of income but deploying these aircraft without serious disruption in schedule. Where as the Atr would not be able to maintain the timetable without major time delay.
DeleteNot to mention all the fog diversions and mechanical delays caused by these aging birds.
But who cares, the gov't is paying the bill anyway, right!?
Can JU replace their 737 and ATR fleet with the current profits they are generating?
DeleteAnon 09.41 from what I know three B733 are operational: YU-AND, YU-ANK and YU-ANI.
DeleteAnon at 9:48, you think ATR is not a proper regional aircraft but Q400 is? In that case, waiter I'll have the same drink he's having.
DeleteSure, except the Atr can't do any of the traditional Airbus routes of 1.5hr flight time without a serious time penalty. Q400 can and so can the CRJ.
DeleteAtr can't land in low visibility weather, which was quite obvious during the foggy and smoggy Dec and Jan in Belgrade. Q400 and CRJ both have Cat3A ability (down to 50ft ceiling and RVR of 175/150m).
And finally, both of these aircraft can substitute an Airbus on much longer routes when its half empty or grounded without load or fuel penalty and as I said already with a minimal time penalty vs an Atr.
Atr is very limited in its mission compared to CRJ, Q400 or Embraer...
LOL that's why Q400 sells much better than ATR.
DeleteLOL that is your best reply???!
DeleteI'll have one drink that you're having as well then.
Don't forget that unlike the ATR, Q400 has structural issues with its landing gear. Just the other day there was an incident in Canada. I think SK retired and replaced them with the CRJ because of that.
DeleteNemjee, the SAS issue was in part due to faulty maintenance procedure applied by SAS mechanics as well confusing guidance provided by Bombardier. The issue was settled in court and CRJ order was part of the settlement. That was in 2007/8...Today is 2020. So I don't think the landing gear argument is valid any more. If we look at things that way then we should never step on board MAX?
DeleteThe incident in Canada you mention was in fact a nose gear failure on a same Westjet aircraft that had a structural damage due to a hard landing only few weeks ago. It's suspected that it was a cause of the nose gear failure.
Many airlines had issues with it, remember OU in ZRH? MA and OS in SKP? Q400 is a technical failure compare to the ATR which is very safe and well designed.
DeleteWe can go on all day like this. I never said ATR was a bad aircraft, I just said it is not the most suitable for ASL network in my opinion. It seems to be a single mission aircraft, which is fine in most cases, but I think ASL needs something in between. You pick what that aircraft is.
DeleteI pick E-95 <3
DeleteLooks like a busy summer coming up
ReplyDeleteWill they fly to NCE again this summer?
ReplyDeleteYes. Tickets are on sale.
DeleteNice is a bit of an oddity. Is there a Serbian diaspora in the area?
DeleteNo big Serbian diaspora.
DeleteMy guess is that they get transfers on this route, especially from Russia.
DeleteNot every route need to bi diaspora driven.
DeleteEspecially routes to popular sunny destinations, like Nice.
There are both transfer & local passengers.
True, JU does well in some non-diaspora markets like Tirana, Krasnodar, Prague or Beirut.
DeleteIt is visible that some leisure destination are developing nicely, with a combination of transfer pax and local. I'm not talking about 2 weeks holiday destination but, lets call them that way, long weekend destinations - Madrid, Barcelona, Nice, Larnaca... Local people do travel more & more.
DeleteIs Nice gonna be year-round from next winter?
DeletePassenger growth is impressive. This year they could go up to 3.1 million pax.
ReplyDeleteSeems like all routes they launched last year are doing well in winter.
ReplyDeleteWell except for Rijeka which turned seasonal.
DeleteI think they should start saying what the split is between Belgrade and Niš of the total number of passengers.
ReplyDeleteHow much did Adria's bankruptcy help with these numbers?
ReplyDeleteCongratulations.
ReplyDelete"Sales of ancillary services increased 44%."
ReplyDeleteWell that's nice but service standards at JU have gone down. I understand you have to get new revenue streams and you can charge for some extras but people are unhappy with the way it has all been done.
+1
DeleteThe main aim of this strategy was to bring in cash. And they have succeeded.
DeleteThey have to find a way to effectively compete against LCCs.
Delete44% increase in aux service proves customers embraced new model. They are not unhappy, quite opposite: they love the freedom to choose.
DeletePrices are also extremely decent and the quality is really good. On a recent flight to LCA I bought a chicken hummus sandwich and it was actually really good and fresh. They also sell a combo (sandwich, drink and a sweet) for €7.
DeleteAir Serbia is getting back on the original plans from 2013 of making Belgrade a hub.
ReplyDeleteGood start JU. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteNow the hard work begins :) making the company financially sustainable.
ReplyDeleteThat should have begun in 2013.
DeleteLet's hope that this will be reflected in the financial results as well!
ReplyDelete2020 will be a great year for BEG.
ReplyDeleteI wonder when will they announce new planned routes?
ReplyDeleteThey just did :D
DeleteLol that was faster than I expected :D
DeleteStill no announcment on their internet page
DeleteIt's a press release. So they have been officially announced.
DeleteThere is an announcement on their website in the news section.
DeleteThank you
DeleteFANTASTIC! BRAVO! ASL KEEPS WINNING! SUMMER 2020 will be fantastic! AMM and ROV will be absolute successes! Florence is also a very smart choice. Can't wait. :D
ReplyDeleteLet's see how Moldova turns out. That market is a mystery. Very poor as well, so I assume prices must be low.
ReplyDeleteThey have a massive diaspora especially in Italy so that's the market JU is going for.
DeleteDid old JAT ever flied to these cities back in Yugoslavia?
ReplyDeleteOut of these they only flew to Amman and Geneva.
DeleteIzgleda da su otpali Budimpešta(i neka je), Oslo i Valensija.
ReplyDeleteZar Madrid i Barselona takođe ne dobijaju povećanje nedeljnih letova od starta letnje sezone?
Prva koji treba da otpadne je GVA
DeleteМадрид и Барселона су већ повећане са 2 на 3. Барселона је још у децембру а Мадрид почетком јануара, летови су већ у систему.
DeleteIts quiet surprising that they have decided for most of the new routs for 4 flights a week. Just Florence is 2x and Geneva is 3x. So far we have learned that AirSerbia starts new routes usually with 2 flights a week and then increase frequencies. (Barcelona, Madrid, Krasnodar, Helsinki...). Well done Air Serbia!
ReplyDeleteI think routes such as LWO, AMM or ROV have to have at least 4 weekly flights because of connectivity. Having weak west and weak east is not a good solution.
DeleteWOW. AirSerbia is becoming TK of Eastern Europe and Balkans.
ReplyDelete10 new routes in 2019 together with 6 new routes in 2020 + frequency increased on many already existing routes.
ReplyDeleteThe also introduced in 2019 11 new routes from Nis and 1 from Kraljevo (1 more introduced seasonally in 2020).
Apart from it they are the only ex-Yu airline to fly TATL and have far the biggest fleet in ex-Yu.
Povecali su Madrid i Barselonu na 3x nedeljno.
ReplyDeleteТа два су повећана још давних дана.
DeleteWhere is Ohrid?
ReplyDeleteIn North Macedonia
DeleteActually it is in the south of Nort Macedonia.
DeleteMore precisely it is in south-west of North Macedonia
DeleteHahaha :D made my day
DeleteAmong all these routes, I really do not understand only GVA.
ReplyDeleteThe competition in U2 is very strong, they already fly GVA-BEG for many years and it is even possible to make connecting flights via GVA from BEG. Air Serbia has chosen even to fly on the same days like easyJet to GVA. It looks somehow personal.
Price wise they can't compete against U2 who does not even have hand luggage weight limit.
I wish them luck but I am afraid that GVA is not smart choice...
GVA is payback for easyJet launching Berlin.
DeleteThey should not introduce new routes based on payback
DeleteThey are selling BEG-GVA for 9.322 Dinars which is around €80.
DeleteI see that easyJet starting price for BEG-GVA-BEG in July or August is 100 EUR and with Air Serbia it is around 120 EUR.
DeleteIt will be interesting
JU also has transfers to rely on, that will help them attack easyJet.
DeleteBTW, EasyJet & Etihad are entering in some sort of partnership that will enable passengers to use connections between some of the routes of 2 companies. It is very interesting, not sure how it is going to develop & influence JU...
Deletehttps://www.etihad.com/en/news/etihad-airways-and-easyjet-enter-into-new-partnership
Maybe in summer 2021 we can expect YYZ, OSL, BUD, ODS and VLC
ReplyDeleteDo we know when (in which month) will they start flying to these 6 new destinations?
ReplyDeleteFrom June 2020.
DeleteAre you sure. There is no exact date anywhere.
Deletewww.airserbia.com ;)
DeleteThis is fantastic news and Air Serbia's eastern network is becoming quite impressive. Morning arrivals will get quite a lot of feed now. By the way, something no one mentioned is that none of these are seasonal, they will all stay the whole year. For me that's the best part.
ReplyDeleteThey fly to Krasnodar and are launching Rostov, could we see Sochi next? It's the only one missing in that area.
ReplyDeleteSo Valencia, Budapest, & Oslo didn't make it. Probably the three routes with the least potential. Although Olso might have worked 2-3 weekly. Valencia I think was a little too ambitious, there are already three cities in Romania covered, and Sofia also has flights too, along with VIE & BUD. Budapest probably wouldn't work either, just like last time. I think JU is worried about the affect of LOTs flights from BEG to BUD. This will be a problem for JU.
ReplyDeleteLWO to me seems the most risky.
Overall good expansion with good potential. ODS should be on the radar.
LO has abysmal loads from BUD to the US, I think New York LF was 69% in 2019, that's bad. Their network in the west includes London, Brussels and Stuttgart, very weak. JU responded just in time to LO's growing ambitions in Budapest, not to mention that they launched some routes LO doesn't even fly from WAW.
DeleteAll in all, JU is growing faster in BEG than LO is in BUD. That's key here. Belgrade has a much better geograhical location than WAW and JU has to make the most of it.
LO actually just landed in BUD and if not for the fleet shortage, would´ve put more airplanes in BUD. The demand from/to the city is incredibly huge.
DeleteThat said, BUD traffic is seriously catching up with bigger WAW having much more connections. Give them 2-3 years and might overtake W6 in number of passengers.
And as for VLC, Charlie. I am surprised it didn´t work out for them following the success of MAD and BCN. However, Valencia is an extremely seasonal airport + also has Castellón airport nearby where W6 is already expanding.
Valencia is working well from Romania and Bulgaria due to the high number of poorer gastos living in the region. No wonder why W6 has been flying there for many years.
Let's see what happens in Budapest, it's not like W6 and FR are just going to hand them over the market. They will fight them big time.
DeleteLOT just bought Condor and that might affect them in terms of absorption costs, with less funds to invest in other endeavors like BUD. But they seem to be investing heavily in BUD now, and for the long term.
DeleteAnon@16:51 - Not sure if I follow, but if JU doesn't fly to BUD to 'steel' pax from LOT how has JU responded to LOT expansion in BUD?
Future expansion for JU could also be in Tbilisi and Yerevan as these cities are not that well connected to Europe and JUs JFK flight. Sochi might be worth a try next year also, as well as a Baltic airport.
Don't forget that JU also deterred LO in TIA by increasing it to double daily. This is on top of OS increasing it to triple daily. Meanwhile LO is stuck operating a random one weekly flight mostly to carry Polish tourists. JU also increased Prague and Bucharest, two destinations LO plans on flying to from Budapest. On top of all this, for the first time ever, JU will have more flights to LCA than LO, a key market for them in the eastern Mediterranean region. So JU has been striking back and responding to LO's massive expansion over the past several years. Of course, LO is in a different league compared to JU but that doesn't mean JU can't be territorial and defend markets that are right next door.
DeleteAir Serbia is in a pretty ok situation. Vienna is a bloodbath where no one is making money, VIE CEO predicts 5% growth in 2020 meaning consolidation process has become unavoidable after years of losses. After years of W6 and FR fighting over BUD, now there is a new kid on the block, LO. For me BUD will become even more interesting to follow than VIE. Finally, WAW, LO's main hub is maxed out and it will become increasingly difficult for them to respond to aviation developments elsewhere. What LO is doing is keeping the frequencies but boosting capacity by slowly retiring E70 and E75 and by bringing in larger planes.
All of these are creating an opportunity for JU so all that remains to be seen is what they do with it.
For me it is so interesting that beside JU's double daily flights to TIA ans OS' triple daily OU (with weaker European network than JU and OS) wants to enter the market with only 3 pw
DeleteWell OU's biggest problem aren't JU or OS, it's their weak network out of ZAG.
DeleteHow is LO stuck in TIA with one weekly, if they will only open it this summer, after all those increases by JU? LO decided to go with one weekly from the start. And one weekly over the weekend means tourists... Nobody opens a route for business with one weekly.
DeleteNice analysis Nemjee. It's great to see JU really fighting hard for their turf, and reacting fast to expansion from LOT and OS. Imagine if they did all of this 3-4 years ago, and today were in a much stronger position, both with their regional network and financially. BEG is becoming more and more of a true regional hub. And of course JU is the main source of BEGs expansion.
DeleteLOT has a massive intercontinental network now, and they need as many feeder routes as they can get. JU really has to think about ORD & YYZ soon. They should have the critical mass by next summer. Running only one long haul destination is costly in terms of economies of scale.
+1
DeleteBudapest didn't launch only because of a lack of planes. The Atr that was supposed to fly it has been assigned to operate KVO.
DeleteAt least they are sure they would get more money in KVO than in BUD
DeleteRe anon 16:51:
DeleteLF on BUD-JFK and BEG-JFK are one thing, and the fares are another thing.
Pls check in google flights dates June-August for each of these routes direct flight and you will see it in a completely different perspective, ie fares for a direct flight from BUD are for this period on average 20% higher than from BEG.
As to LF July 2018 (most recent data):
BUD-JFK (73%)
JFK-BUD (80%)
BEG-JFK (72%)
JFK-BUD (84%)
Couple of examples:
Deletedeparture 1 July - comeback anytime in July from next week after departure onwards
leaving from BEG to JFK return 674-689 euro (on three days 825-840 euro)
leaving from BUD to JFK return 1057-1079 euro (on two days 1.123-1.169 euro)
leaving from JFK to BEG return 850-998 euro (on three days 1.042-1.089 euro)
leaving from JFK to BUD return 1.188-1.234 euro
I am very sorry to interrupt your sweet talk but comparing JU to LO is simply crazy.
DeleteLO has flights to SIN, LAX, NRT, has a powerful domestic network and much more coverage in Europe that they are even getting closer to OS levels.
It has a fleet of 78 planes and 9 on order, 15 of which are Dreamliners and sadly a bunch of grounded Max jets.
It is not backed by EY and has a much younger fleet.
BEG might be a smaller regional connecting hub but is still way too far from WAW and even RIX, which last year had almost 7,8 million passengers and the number yet to increase this year.
BEG network coverage is not bad at all but with 23 jets it is quite complicated to compete with the bigger boys.
Well, Belgrade is still a small airport but it's growing, don't forget that JU entered the race quite late, many years after LO or BT. It's still too early to judge what will become of them but if they continue like this things will be quite promising. As for airBaltic, they carried some five million passengers but they also fly out of their bases in VNO and TLL. Would be interesting to know how many passengers they carried out of Riga though.
DeleteJU is backed by EY? Really? The last time I checked that partnership existed only on paper. If JU was really backed by EY they would have received some aircraft from them. EY retired their A319s, why didn't they give them to JU?
Anon 18.38
They are stuck because adding more flights and frequencies in WAW has become very difficult. Airport's mini expansion was halted a while ago meaning the situation won't change any time soon. That is why LO is stuck at one flight per week to Tirana. They even struggled to fit Ostrava (subsidized route) into their schedule. That's where both JU and OS responded adequately in Tirana by boosting their presence there. With the two of them offering 5 daily departures, it will be very difficult for LO to break into the market. Look at LO's weak presence in Greece, I don't think they fly to Athens anymore, a market where JU thrives.
Charlie, gate space is becoming a serious issue at BEG. With JU growing and with the number of gates not increasing, busy periods have become even busier. Mind you, Wizz Air already had to move their Dortmund departure to 07.25. They didn't do it to improve fleet utilization, that's for sure. Add to that one or two Montenegro Airlines, two Lufthansa planes and Egyptian charters ... I noticed Aviolet has not updated their website yet but I am really curious to see their 2020 schedule and when the first charter flight of the day will depart. A friend of mine who works at BEG told me that one of the two Wizz Air morning flights was already moved to the B stand. I fear that there is no room for additional long-haul flights until airport infrastructure is improved.
Re Ethidad partnership being only on paper:
DeleteLast time I checked loans from Etihad totalling 120 mln USD have not been repaid. Maturity: 2020 and 2021. If partnership is just on paper, I understand JU will repay these loans this/next year;)
Is there any source for that or is it more hearsay?
DeleteChecked some connectivity for June.
ReplyDeleteLWO-BEG 04.40-05.30
BEG-FCO 07.00-08.30
FCO-BEG 20.50-22.25
BEG-LWO 00.30-03.25
€180 without luggage, €200 with.
I believe we could expect soon special low tranfer fares for new destinations
Delete180 is already a low enough fare, they are introductory ones to stimulate demand. I am sure LWO is also giving them massive discounts, it's not like they have many airlines flying there right now.
DeleteReturn is great since it gives you a whole day in Rome.
DeleteThey had promotional fares for something like 120 EUR (no luggage included) for ATH-HEL-ATH
DeleteThis is all good but what worries me are the serious comments lately related to huge delays :(
ReplyDeleteOn SkyTrax they seem to be having lots of 1/10 and the management must do something about to maintain the good image of the company. Punctuality is CRUCIAL in the aviation industry:
https://www.airlinequality.com/airline-reviews/air-serbia/
We can see complains from people flying from JFK via BEG and this must change soon to sustain the new routes!
Yet 27% more passengers in January, seems like people are not that annoyed with them.
DeleteIt is in human nature to complain more than to provide positive comments.
DeleteI am sure that number of flights that were performed regularly and on time is much, much bigger than those that had problems and that were delayed.
Despite it wee see mostly negative comments, sometimes even for the same flight.
One of them complained about the state of B733 that I believe only once (as an exception) flew to HEL. All the other flights were performed either with CRJ900 or with A319 and there were no positive comments about it.
And if they are not happy with one aspect of the flight (for example wrongly dedicated seat) they will provide the worst possible opinions and marks about other points like seat comfort, crew, plane condition etc. although all these things were more than satisfactory.
Yes, but it is not really nice to leave those comments with no answer. Skytrax is a very trusted source and well known worldwide. If you see the reviews in January, almost all of them are 1/10 and related to delays and lost luggage.
DeleteAnd they continue until page 3 even.
The management must take this issue very seriously otherwise the ranking will drop from a 3 star airline to a 2 star one having people compare it to a LCC including business passengers.
Interestingly, there are many negative comments from Romanian travellers.
Yes, Romanian travellers have very high standards, they are used to flying on Tarom, Blueair or Wizz Air. lol
DeleteLet's face it, people will fly on JU again in the future no matter what, especially if the fare is competitive.
I am just reading the comments...Unbelievable.
DeleteTwo of them are complaining because they decided not to use first leg of the trip and, despite it is written in terms and conditions that in that case all ticket becomes invalid, they complain about it giving only one star to JU!
They obviously tried to make some game with their flights and after JU cancelled their return ticket they started complaining.
There is a guy who complained that due to foggy weather they had to land in TSR and not in BEG "despite the fact that some other planes landed in Belgrade".
And he gave one star.
Simply amazing
Meanwhile that same day, when there was fog, most planes diverted elsewhere. I remember RO circled for an hour and ended up landing in TSR.
DeleteThe comments are related to lost luggage and huge delays and many cancellations as well. Romania is one of the most important markets for JU and must always make sure the clients are pleased. People just won't put 1 out of 10 just like that.
DeleteThere have been nasty comments from people travelling from New York and focused on the staff being rude. It is okay to have 2 or 3 negative comments but not a total of 3 entire pages. The management must read and learn and improve the service.
At the beginning when they were relaunched an when service was good skytrax ratings were mostly 8-10, now that their service is down the drain their respective ratings are very poor. I agree that there are exceptions in ratings that are not properly assigned (such as cancellation of tickets) but in general mangement should pay attention to the voice of their customers.
DeleteSituation isn't any different in TripAdvisor with the biggest difference is that Air Serbia is actually replying to the angry customers:
Deletehttps://www.tripadvisor.com/Airline_Review-d8729096-Reviews-Air-Serbia
Yet again, we see many many comments related to lost bags and the airline has introduced a fare for it lets not forget. So, if you pay 20€ for a bag and then it gets lost, you have the right to b..ch about it.
The operator replying to those comments MUST show this to the management so they can improve their lost bags policy and not gain a bad reputation like Alitalia used to have when they operated them classic MD-83s back in the days.
Well I can say I am little bit disappointed. I have really expected Valencia & Oslo, also that they lunch destinations from the end of March not from June. From the point of view of O&D passenger who is traveling from BEG, except Florence with just two weekly flights, other destinations are not so interesting event that those have high frequency. I know that this is good for company which is trying to create hub and need more and more destinations, but I do not know are JU is going to create O&D demand for those destinations, and it might be risky to base majority of the business model for transfer passengers. Last year JU had very mixed destinations, Barcelona, Madrid, Nice, Helsinki routs that create and transferring and O&D demand. Know that is not situation.
ReplyDeleteLet's not forget that they have fleet limitations and that they already have the flights to BCN and MAD during the day where each rotation takes aprrox 7-8 hours. If you would add VLC and OSL where each rotation would take additional 7-8 hours we are coming to the situation that it is much better for JU to make short A319 rotations to GVA or FLR and use the same plane for next FRA rotation for example than to make one long to OSL or VLC.
DeleteAMM and ROV are exceptions here as their A319 rotations aren't that short as well but they are flown at night - at the time when they would anyhow sit on tarmac in BEG.
They could've done similar to what W6 does. Sends a plane in the morning to North Europe go back, send to Italy, go back and then to Spain and arrive late then midnight flights to ME and voilà...solved.
DeleteEarly morning flights to Spain are not really efficient.
Well, maybe some then some shorter mixed destinations like some Greek islands or Poland, Germany... I know that there are not lot of possibilities left but those routs will be in mine opinion be more healthy in a way of mixed demand, not just transfer.
DeleteTell that to Emirates.
Deletehttps://youtu.be/1Cds2mvTbz8
ReplyDeleteAmazing piloting by Air Serbia at Heathrow yesterday.
Deletehmmm...... i was hoping that Air Serbia would maybe launch one from Oslo.
Deleteis there a reason they don't want to include the capital of norway? There is a somewhat decent size of ex-yu diaspora living in Norway and i'd think it would have been a good move to atleast try seasonaly to start flights between Oslo and Beograd. Have Air Serbia operated to Oslo before?
i know Norwegian flies to Beograd and i'm wondering if the reason is that the cost and competition is to high VS Norwegian (LCC) on this route?
i know Croatia Airlines flies between the capitals of Norway and Croatia, does anyone know if that route is profitable for them?
There is such a thing as a lack of planes. This is the max that could have been launched taking into account their INI and KVO endeavours.
DeleteI think it's a pity that BUD didn't make the cut this time. I know they tried to make a go of BUD before and failed but I think this time they had a stronger chance. Maybe next summer they will make an attempt. VLC always seemed a little bit ambitious to me and I was always wondering whether maybe AGP or ALC could've been better first, maybe even LIS.
ReplyDeleteI think OSL will surely make the cut at some point maybe next summer or the summer after depending on how JU expansions continue. Baltic states,OSL and WAW seem to be a bit of a hole in the JU network that I think will be filled within the next 5 years.
Regionally I think in the next 3-5 years they should focus on secondary Bulgaria and Romania especially since they are building up their networks in Italy and Spain. I can see more secondary Russia and Ukraine happening as well.
Agree with you, amigo. BUD was never successful neither in BEG nor INI - clearly no interest, which is quite shocking.
DeleteVLC is not that touristic and popular as other airports in Spain like you mentioned AGP or ALC.
But what about PMI or LPA? 2 big and important airports. LPA is a year-round destination too.
OSL and the rest of Scandinavia have weak results. People are not taking the plane because of Greta and environment stuff. Many airports saw negative trends.
Secondary Bulgaria and Romania might work but a bit too late. W6 already agressively ate CLJ, IAS, VAR and BOJ is more Germany, Russia, UK, Poland dominated.
Secondary Ukraine is happening with LWO but UA might be tricky as ODS was a failure for some Eastern European airlines.
It was written to you three times today that BUD wasn't launched only because of a lack of availability of aircraft and that it could have been any other destination.
DeleteThe lack of aircraft excuse is quite common for many airlines just to remain diplomatic.
DeleteBEG is close to BUD and people use the car or train. Even during MA days, there were fewer frequencies. Some capitals are simply not born to be linked by air.
INI-BUD lasted for 2 months only and the prices were very very cheap. There was a previous discussion here where people joked that Hungarians not knowing even where INI is.
The only way for JU to promote BUD is to use agressive advertising on the radio, public transport, billboards and so on.
BUD today has become one of the most important airports in Europe and really worth maintaining the links with it being a cultural, business, tourist and financial capital. The traffic is expected to reach 15 million, which positions the airport in the top 40 spot with airports like HAM, EDI and ALC.
It would be of interest of JU to codeshare on the BEG-BUD LO route and beyond.
Why? Because LO has serious plans in BUD and needs a second, smaller satellite hub to sustain the current WAW one until the new terminal will be built. This year LO will have a total of 13 routes from BUD including long-haul!
This is news about new destinations, so, if I could ask you all to stop asking for financial results, load factors and all other things that have no connection to the news. Let's talk about the expansion, new destinations, outbound passengers and all that is RELATED to the news. I am sick and tired of people commenting about EVERYTHING but no the article. Let us be civil and understand what the news is about.
ReplyDeleteFinancial results, LF, second BEG runway, JU BoB, prices have always been extremely hot topics. It is fine for the Serbian citizen to be concerned about his airline and to check if it is financially healthy as an organisation. No need to be that harsh, this is also part of the aviation discussion we all have. Admin has posted about JU's financial situation already:
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2019/11/state-approves-air-serbia-subsidies-for.html
https://www.exyuaviation.com/2019/08/air-serbia-posts-122-million-profit-for.html
https://www.exyuaviation.com/2019/07/air-serbias-financial-report-incomplete.html
Everyone does not mind knowing how things are going, that's all.
Profit with just 69% LF?
DeleteDoubtful.
Airlines can make money with a 20% LF as long as fares are high so saying that profit with 69% LF is impossible is pretty silly especially when you don't know what the average fare on JU was.
Delete