Qatar Airways has suspended its flights from Doha to Skopje and Sarajevo until the start of the 2020/2021 winter season on October 25 as the airline, which has maintained operations throughout the height of the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic, begins rebuilding its network. The Qatari carrier is instead offering one-stop connections to the capitals of Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina via Zagreb in cooperation with Croatia Airlines until the start of winter. As of October 25, Qatar Airways will maintain flights to Skopje and Sarajevo three and four times per week respectively. Both routes will continue to operate with the Airbus A320 aircraft. Within the region, Sofia and Bucharest are also suspended until late October.
Services to the airline’s two other remaining destinations in the former Yugoslavia - Zagreb and Belgrade - have been pushed back from June 1 to July 1 and have also been downsized. Operations to Zagreb will be maintained three times per week with the A320 jet, down from two daily last year, while services to Belgrade will initially run three times per week before increasing to four with the A321 aircraft, down from up to ten weekly operations last summer. The airline’s planned new seasonal service to Dubrovnik has been cancelled. “Having maintained flights to at least thirty destinations where possible during this crisis and to most continents, helping to take over one million people home, the airline has been in a unique position to closely monitor global passenger flows and booking trends to confidently begin planning the gradual reintroduction of additional flights and destinations to its network”, Qatar Airways said.
By the end of June, Qatar Airways aims to have eighty destinations in its schedule including 23 in Europe, four in the Americas, twenty in the Middle East and Africa and 33 in Asia-Pacific. The gradual expansion will focus initially on strengthening connections between the airline’s hub in Doha with the global hubs of its partner airlines around the world. By the end of June, within Europe, Qatar Airways will maintain flights to Athens, Budapest, Moscow, Istanbul, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Barcelona, Brussels, Paris, Copenhagen, Dublin, Edinburgh, Rome, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Manchester, Munich, Milan, Oslo, Berlin, Vienna and Zurich.
Meanwhile, a total of 23 planned new routes to the former Yugoslavia during the 2020 summer season have been cancelled so far. The full list can be found here.
Wow that is unfortunate. I'm also very surprised OTP and SOF have also been relegated to October.
ReplyDeleteMe too. Anyone know their frequencies on these routes pre-Covid?
DeleteWeird. More competition maybe?
DeleteDemand to the Gulf area is really lower during the summer season in Sofia. People travel to Europe or the Americas. DXB is also squeezed.
DeleteA good indication of which routes perform well for them in the region.
ReplyDeleteBEG will have more capacity to DOH than ZAG. I don't know if it was ever the case
DeleteIt was indicative by the frequencies and aircraft type too.
DeleteI guess it's logical @9.09. There will be fewer tourists which are a big source of passengers on that route.
DeleteAs we read yesterday, Serbia is preparing a massive ad campaign in China soon. Qatar will profit from this as well so I am sure they will respond accordingly. Shame they don't have at least one or two weekly night flights, those are needed for improved connectivity.
Deletesince they downgraded all i would say none
DeleteGood thing about Serbia is that in the last 24 hours 5.521 people were tested and only 57 were positive. Hopefully this speeds up the normalization of the overall situation so that we can start traveling normally soon again.
DeleteThis is sad news because QR at the moment (and probably in the future) has the biggest network to many places where there are still people stuck and trying to get home.
ReplyDeleteYes. I know quite a few people that was supposed to fly with QR in June to BEG to get home. Not sure what they will do now.
DeleteDo they have some sort of an interline with OU?
ReplyDeleteYes I believe so.
Deleteand that is one of the several reasons these flights will be via ZAG and not BEG.
DeleteYet they will have fewer flights and capacity to ZAG.
DeleteThey are also routing their DBV pax via ZAG.
DeleteThere will be more empty seats from ZAG than from BEG.
DeleteThey concluded that Zagreb route needed more support.
Deleteor they concluded that the connectivity from both SJJ and SKP was better to ZAG than to BEG
Deletehttps://seenews.com/news/croatias-economy-to-be-worst-hit-by-coronavirus-crisis-in-eastern-europe-wiiw-697921
DeleteNo one wants to fly empty planes.
Deletemlatite praznu slamu bez potrebe
DeleteQatar offers one-stop connections to Skopje for the time being via: Vienna, Istanbul-Sabiha, Belgrade and Zagreb
if you dont believe me check qatarairways.com
Actually, i'm sorry to disapoint you all but as far as Ex-Yu goes BEG is their main transfer hub in the region.
DeleteMost of flights from SKP are offered through BEG, SAW and VIE.
ZAG appears very rarely and is often the most expensive option cause the connecting times are not convenient.
"as far as Ex-Yu goes BEG is their main transfer hub in the region."
DeleteTransfer to where? Except LJU and TGD all other capitals had direct flights to DOH.
Right now with SJJ and SKP cancelled.
DeleteMost of the flights are offered via BEG.
Is there any chance SKP and SJJ might resume before this sate if things calm down?
ReplyDeleteHopefully.
DeleteWell if recovery is quicker than expected than sure but I wouldn't hold my breath.
DeleteNope, no chance. They see advance bookings.
DeleteUnfortunately this will be the post Covid world and this is probably light compared to what other airlines will do. Qatar will probably keep most of its routes because of the 2022 World Cup but for other airlines, I'm not so sure.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteLike the title of an article in the Economist reads - "The new nearly normal will be a long way from status quo".
DeleteMaybe a glimmet of opportunity for Flydubai to better position itself in SKP and SJJ.
ReplyDelete* glimmer
DeleteLet's wait and see if they cull their network too
Delete^ They most likely will.
DeleteInterestingly according to this article QR overtook Flydubai in Skopje last year.
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2020/05/ex-yu-markets-miss-out-on-wizz-abu.html
Or a chance for Wizz Air Abu Dhabi :D
DeleteNo wonder, since QR offers a much better product than FZ + you don't have to switch terminals when you transfer to most routes- and this for the same price.
DeleteYes. Ironically one is an LCC and the other considered one of the best airlines in the world yet their fares are more or less the same.
DeleteFZ is not a real LCC.
DeleteTheir service certainly is.
Delete@ anon 09,30
DeleteFZ operates both ZAG and BEG from EK's T3, no change of terminal needed for most connections.
SJJ, SKP, TIV, and DBV is from T2.
I'm actually very surprised they even launched Skopje.
ReplyDeleteNot surprised at all. These two routes are one of the few they launched with low frequencies and never increased them.
ReplyDeleteKudos to them for still flying to so many cities.
ReplyDeleteBut they keep flights to Rome, Milan, Barcelona and Madrid?!?
ReplyDeleteYes. Huge hubs and world cities. Corona or no corona.
DeleteWelcome to reality
ReplyDeleteThere will be more and more news look this :(
DeleteAirlines will have to rethink their strategies.
DeleteDon't know if anyone has seen their prices for winter 2020-2021. I'm finding fares from BEG to places like Bangkok, Colombo, Male for 350 euros return!
ReplyDeleteYes, and this from many cities in Europe for many destinations and for the top season around New Year.
DeleteWell that buries any chance of LJU getting QR any time soon.
ReplyDeleteWhen does the extra weekly flight DOH-BEG start?
ReplyDelete1st of August.
DeleteDubrovnik unfortunately not rescheduled for next year. Shame :(
ReplyDeleteIt cannot be that their schedule for summer 2021 is already complete and entirely loaded online.
DeleteI just spoke with QR support and yes they will reroute me through ZAG. I asked if SKG is an option as well, since that will work for me as well, they told me flights to SKG are canceled for the summer season.
ReplyDeleteHey Angel I have a question. Did you call their global call center? I have a flight in June from BEG (it's essential travel not tourism) and I'm trying to see my options. The flight still isn't officially cancelled even though all BEG flights are removed from the system in June. But until it's cancelled they can't do anything. Can't get through to their BEG office (on hold for over an hour).
DeleteI contacted them through whatsapp as a gold member. You can try via twitter or facebook they reply promptly there as well
DeleteDid they give you any other option besides Zagreb?
DeleteThank you for that! I didn't even realize they opened a whatapp number. I'm a gold member too so I will try that :)
DeleteGood to know. They say they can reroute to any airport within 500 miles. I'm trying to get reroute via Vienna now, so I can be on a wide body for both segments. You can try that too
DeleteDid they offer you any other alternative except ZAG?
DeleteI managed to get through they are offering to reroute me through Athens with a flight from Belgrade to Athens with Aegean and then I continue to Perth via Doha with QR. But I’m sceptical because I’m supposed to travel in the first week of June (they rebooked me originally for that date since I was supposed to leave in late March and it was the first available flight). As I’m doubtful Aegean will be flying to Belgrade in the first week of June we agreed to wait for another week to see when will BEG open and what will be the flight options.
DeleteDid they told you if the segment from BEG to ATH will be covered by them or you'll need to pay for that part
DeleteI should check that. She didn't mention anything about paying. I just assumed since they are the one cancelling the flight they are the ones that are supposed to cover your alternative.
DeleteFor me the most interesting part is that Aegean will operate flights to BEG in June already.
DeleteI think that's just automatically loaded. I don't think they have made any resumption plans yet.
DeleteAngel - did you receive any other options than via ZAG?
DeleteI'm double checking with them now, at this moment they told me seats through ATH are not available for my flight in October. I'm waiting to get their next reply and will let you know the outcome.
DeleteAnd yes, at this moment I'm not sure if they will actually cover the segment to either ZAG, ATH or VIE. I'm waiting on their reply about this.
Easiest for you would be to go via BEG or IST.
DeleteThanks Angel. Let us know what they say about the payment.
DeleteSo I got reply from them, with SKP to ZAG segment included as part of the itinerary without a charge. I'll think a day or two before accepting this offer, just to see if availability will open to fly through VIE and travel on a wide body for little big longer and enjoy the best business class a bit more :)
DeleteSo there was only option through Zageeb and Vienna?
DeleteIf you visit QR's website they offer BEG, SAW and ZAG. BEG is usually the cheapest probably because one segment is on the ATR.
DeleteJaysus, you are all obsessed with BEG!
DeleteIt can't be allowed that someone does not want to fly via BEG?
I hope they return back in winter as planned.
ReplyDeleteIt's really unfortunate because this is the only oneworld airline operating to Sarajevo and Skopje. Hope we see them back sooner than October.
ReplyDeleteNot surprised, SKp is their worst performing route. Even without corona
ReplyDeleteas if you knew, lol
DeletePerfect opportunity for JU to jet those pax through BEG
DeleteWhat about Turkish Airlines, when do they plan on resuming flights to ex-YU?
ReplyDeleteHow am I going to get to Australia now the Qatar that brought me here in march is not taking me back.can anyone help me please
ReplyDeleteCall Qatar Airways and they will have to arrange alternative transport for you.
DeleteTheir call centre number is
00974-4022-6000
Very unfortunate! SJJ - Doha was very important for Bosnia, since Doha is a major hub for entire Asia. Hope they resume flights in October.
ReplyDelete