Air Serbia is set to respond to Wizz Air’s expansion in Belgrade in the coming days as the airline’s future continues to be discussed by its shareholders. As EX-YU Aviation News learns, the Serbian carrier is drafting its own plans to better compete against its low cost competitor, which announced ten new routes from the Serbian capital on Tuesday. Air Serbia will now see new direct competition on flights to Barcelona and Milan and indirect competition on services to Brussels and Zurich from the budget carrier. Furthermore, Wizz Air will have a 1.3 million annual seat capacity in Belgrade alone due to the stationing of three Airbus A321s in the city. The low cost airline estimates it will have a market share of 15% in 2020 and handle over one million passengers to and from the Serbian capital in 2021.
Air Serbia is continuing to rebuild its network this week and plans to maintain flights to some forty destinations in July. Services that will be resumed next month include Barcelona, Dubrovnik, Kiev, Larnaca, Madrid, Milan, Nice, Pula, Rome, Skopje, Tel Aviv, Thessaloniki, Venice, Zadar and Zagreb. In August, the Serbian carrier plans to restore services to Russia, by reinstating flights to Moscow, St. Petersburg and Krasnodar. The carrier’s CEO, Duncan Naysmith, said, “We are delighted to recommence flights to such a large number of destinations, and in this way make an important contribution to the recovery of air transport in the region. We are glad that, after a very challenging period, we are able to lead the recovery of one of the economic sectors which has been affected the most by the coronavirus pandemic. We are among the first in this part of the world to start flying again, we are gradually increasing the weekly number of flights, and we continue to adapt our flight schedule to the future development of the situation”.
Meanwhile, the Serbian government held talks with the representative of Etihad Airways and the government of the United Arab Emirates on Monday in Belgrade concerning the Emirati carrier’s future involvement in Air Serbia. The UAE official left on Tuesday and will relay information to the company and government before a final decision is made. Serbia is requesting for Etihad to cover part of the Serbian carrier’s losses incurred during the height of the coronavirus crisis. If Etihad, which registered a multibillion dollar loss last year, refuses to do so, the Serbian government said it would fully or partially renationalise the airline.
This is definitely a big hit for JU. Let's see what they can come up with.
ReplyDeleteYes because that will be cheap...
DeleteAnd also because that's exactly the type of aircraft JU needs :)
DeleteHaha
Delete2 days ago, A350-1000 was perfect aircraft for JU for long haul, today is A321neo perfect aircraft for JU. Last time i cheked infos about JU it had about 2.6 milion passangers and 21 aircraft in the fleet. Really, what happend to JU since then? It became Lufthansa? American? Maybe Cathay Pacific?
DeleteI think Wizz Air expansion is a blessing in disguise as it will force JU to be proactive and not to get lazy. Competition is a good thing.
DeleteI think that amongst all ex-YU carriers, JU is by far the most proactive, if not the only proactive, airline.
DeleteWell truth be told BEG is the main airport for a reason. Not only does it have a highly reactive local airline but Wizz Air is also in expansion mode. Airports and airlines must work together to sustain continuous growth.
DeleteWhen can we see W6 to TIV?
DeleteWizz seems as if they themselves are in reaction mode, with a large fleet and limitations what they can do with it. Hence the amount of new routes theyve launched.
DeleteBut good on them. JU has let their guard down and gave room for W6 to jump in. I dont see why JU cancelled the launch of their new routes for this year.
Good luck. They will need it.
ReplyDeleteMassive subsidies is what they will need the most.
DeleteThey are worth every cent.
Delete@Anon 10:24
DeleteLOL, sure!
Anon 10:24 is right. They are worth it.
DeleteI think Barcelona could be particularly affected as W6 and JU will compete over the same type of passengers.
ReplyDeleteAgree. These are mostly P2P passengers I guess. JU better get ready.
DeleteJU probably has certain percentage of transfer passengers to BCN and it could help them to beat W6
DeleteTransfer pax to where?
DeleteTo nowhere.
DeleteDo you have an example where legacy somehow beat LCC on the same route?
DeletePlenty of examples. BEG-FCO and BEG-VIE for starters.
DeleteA3 beat FR on Greek domestic routes.
DeleteVlad - since when did 2 examples suddenly become "plenty" ?
DeleteThats just from BEg there are more than plenty across europe!
DeleteJU has 21 aircraft in the fleet. They have transfers as every other legacy of that size but it doesnt mean that they have so significant nubers of transfers. Even OU has transfers. Maybe they have it but these numbers wont help them to beat LCC competition on route like BEG-BCN which is still mainly p2p.
DeleteTransfers at JU are mostly low profit to no profit passengers.
DeleteJU needs to gain marketshare in O&D passenger category.
Tarom and Blueair beat Wizz Air on Bucharest-Larnaca and JU seems to be doing fine on this market for a few years now. Just because Wizz Air launched a route doesn't mean everyone else will withdraw from it. With additional flights, BEG will attract even more passengers from the region.
DeleteNemjee have you heard anything about Blue Air's financial situation?
DeleteMy travel agent told me that they were in trouble long before the Covid-19 situation.
Only LCC in EU which is losing money as far i know.
DeleteWizz Air and Ryanair were pretty much destroyed in Greece by Aegean.
DeleteDon't you ask yourself why Wizz Air doesn't launches BEG-ATH?
DeleteBlue Air had a profit of €79 million in 2019 guys.
DeleteI think BEG-ATH or even BEG-SKG should be launched immediately. JU needs to be punished for flying its 33 year old ATR to Thessaloniki.
DeleteAre you sure?
DeleteBut W6 is really attacking them in Larnaca and Bacau, where Wizz almost opend the same routes as BlueAir. I guess will be hard for them to survive in Larnaca and Bacau.
LOL Anon @10:45
DeleteBlue Air had an OPERATIONAL profit of 8.9 million Euros in 2019.
The net profit was EUR 3.4 million euro (before restructuring costs). Real profit (if any) for 2019 is still undisclosed.
If anything, itll be VY thats in trouble on the BEG-BCN route.
DeleteSaturday departures ex BEG for example:
VY - 0215
W6 - 0625
JU - 0645
Their other flights are not any better.
Could they launch some new routes too?
ReplyDeleteI doubt it in this sort of situation.
DeleteWhat could they launch that would be competitive against Wizz?
DeleteI think they should have launched Oslo this month. Get in before Norwegian resumes flights and Wizz starts Torp. They could have also brought forward their Barcelona resumption and reconsidered Helsinki suspension.
DeleteAnonymous 09:33
Delete+1
You snooze, you lose.
If W6 could launch new routes, JU could as well. Their new routes for this year would of had some back log of pax since they had a couple of months of sales. Im not sure what JU intends to do with them, but Corona virus cannot be an excuse for everything. Vouchers dont work for those coming from destinations they dont intend to relaunch in the near future.
DeleteAt the moment, airline loyality is the least of concerns as people want/need to travel, and I think Wizz is using this to make the most of it, as they reshuffle capacity.
So basically they will resume their entire network in July?
ReplyDeleteNo, August. That's when they resume Russia.
DeleteCorona situation in Russia is still bad.
Deletewow 1.3 million capacity with just 3 planes for Wizz.
ReplyDeleteI hope they will be able to fill it. That's a huge upgrade in capacity.
DeleteGreat news for travellers!
DeleteBut not so great for JU.
DeleteWho cares about JU. More passangers with Wizz means more tourist in Belgrade, and more options for locals.
DeleteDo you really think W6 wouldn't be much more expensive if there wasn't JU around? Just have a look on their BG-BVA or BEG-LTN prices.
DeleteTerribly expnesive. I wonder what kind of price orgy they would make if they do not have Air Serbia as competitor.
Anon 09:51 locals should chose JU instead of flying with the Hungarians.
DeleteAnon 10:12, a lot of Serbians will choose Wizz, because it's cheap. To be honest JU tickets can be expensive.
DeleteAnonymous 10:12
DeleteSMFH
haahha and Wizz can't be expensive? Try booking a flight to BVA and you will see what I am talking about.
DeleteAt face value WizzAir tickets often appear cheap, but with all the sneaky add-ons they can be on par with JU prices.
DeleteLately in Belgrade they were expensive even without the cheeky add ons.
DeletePrice systems are controled by algorythms and if you found expensive price on some route that doesnt means that it will be always expensive. Once i was looking for tickets between SPU/DBV/ and ARN and all prices were about 800 € round trip. For same price i found round trip to Seoul for two people with Korean. Sometimes LCC is more expensive than legacy but that isnt a case every time.
DeleteYou could say the same for legacy carriers
DeleteWell to be honest I'm glad Wizz has put some renewed pressure on them which will make them more competitive.
ReplyDeleteYes but it could not have come at a worse time.
DeleteIt will for sure force them to compete, but will also make them even more loss making. Unfortunately, they don't have the cost base to compete with them profitably. Their CASK is almost double to that of Wizz
DeleteJU strategy should be to launch flights to airports where W6 doesn't have a base.
DeleteDirectly competing with them will only hurt JU.
Just my2cents
I support Air Serbia and wish them all the best.
DeleteHowever, I can't forget the time Jat Airways time when they complained about every possible competition they might get and protested against open sky and LCC's.
I remember that they (Syndicate of Jat pilots) even claimed that Serbian sky is "nacionalno dobro" and that they do not want foreign companies to use it. At the same time they were without any competition flying to AMS, CPH, ARN, BRU etc.
It is good W6 introduced new routes from BEG. It will shake them up.
And after all maybe in this case they could think about improving their product and not only answering on W6 routes. They could think about re-opening lounges for silver members, cancellling the limitations they introduced 3 years ago for frequent flyers, improve service, they could try to join Sky Team or to introduce better BoB product. At this moment it is possible only food and drinks to be ordered during the flights, but there are many other possibilities for selling airplane models, toys for kids, souvenirs with Air Serbia logo etc.
They should just open LH magazine offering these products on each of their flights.
Anon 09:41
DeleteFully agree!
@Anonymous 09:41
Delete+1
The only meaningful way to compete with them is via price - which of course they can do, but it will come at a massive cost and further plunge their already loss making operation into greater losses. But, if the GoS is prepared to fund it, then bring it on ! Should be interesting to watch as it becomes a race to the bottom !
ReplyDeleteWhy are you concerned about that ? That's the shareholder's issue to worry about, not yours
DeleteSerbia is the shareholder of JU boy.
DeleteSo it concerns all of us.
No, price is surely not the only way to compete with them
DeleteAnonymous 09:21 doesn't like us discussing today's topic.
DeleteProbably wants us only to cheerlead.
... another "concerned" shareholder. Well, this weekend you and all others who share your concern have an opportunity to express your displeasure
DeleteAnon 09:45 seems very upset about W6 expansion.
DeleteNobody is forcing you to fly with them, chill!
It's not only about the price, there is also the schedule that needs to be taken into consideration. JU offers afternoon flights which give you more flexibility. In BCN that might not be such an important factor as they have two weekly flights but it is in places like Milan.
DeleteIn order to survive JU need china flights asap
DeleteGood news for consumers.
ReplyDeleteTrue day.
DeleteI don't think all of Wizz's new routes will work but the ones with the most chance of sucsess are the ones they are competing directly against JU.
ReplyDeleteHopefully they won't be going after JU in OTP, SOF, SKG, ATH, VIE.
DeleteThat will surely come in time .... stay tuned
DeleteIf Turku works then I think we definitely won't be seeing Air Serbia return to Helsinki anymore.
ReplyDeleteHelsinki is unsuccesful market for the most of european airlines. Airlines are just failing there.
DeleteHelsinki had 22 million pax last year!
DeleteTalk about "failure"....
Anon 09:56. Yes, Helsinki did have 22 million pax last year, but around 55-65 per cent of it was traffic from Asia And North America. And mostly all the profit is from Finnair. A lot of European airlines have failed at HEL.
DeleteIt had 22 million but that doesnt means nothing for airlines who were unsuccesful in HEL. LOT is not flying there, same as Swiss, Air France, Brussels Airlines, Austrian, Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus. These are very big players on European market and still they are not flying to HEL. Even SPU, DBV, BEG, ZAG have most of these airlines flying there.
DeleteYet 14.7 flew on Finnair.
DeleteThose failed because Finnair is a successful carrier with a very impressive network!
DeleteExactly. They even have beter prices then Norwegian in most of cases.
DeleteThat's why they have so many losses.
DeleteLOL 10:50
DeleteFinnair has a profit of 162.8 million EUR last year!
In 2018 they had 218.4 million EUR!
I think that anon 10:50 was talking about Norwegian not Finnair.
DeleteI agree with 10:14. I think Finnair could have a go with HEL-BEG. All year /seasonal basis. To my opinion JU too expensive for a 3-4 hour. Anon 10:15, those airlines failed yet the likely to as Finnair always stabs them in the back.
DeleteHelsinki did well before corona. Well enough not to be in trouble.
DeleteRgds,8
Maybe JU will launch some of those newly planned routes after all.
ReplyDeleteASL on panick mode.
ReplyDeleteDon't think so.
DeleteThey had in BEG already many LCC competitors (Transavia, Vueling, Wizz, Pegasus, Norwegian) and despite it they managed to open many new routes.
Yes, but these are only on specific single routes. None of these airlines have aircraft based in BEG - unlike Wizz - which makes Wizz's move all the more ominous
DeleteCorrect. Wizz is here the biggest, but Norwegian was flying 2 routes, Pegasus 1, Transavia 1 and Vueling 1. In total these are 5 routes Air Serbia is flying on.
DeleteI wouldn't say AIr Serbia didn't feel it
They managed to be loss making every single year.
DeleteAnd now things are getting worse.
Every single year their loss was smaller. At the same time they were opening more and more routes and increased passengers numbers.
DeleteAfter all, Air Serbia is one of the reasons GoS got extraordinary price for Belgrade Airport
I simply cannot understand why every discussion has to be lovers and hater, we and they. Can we ever have discussion based on arguments only?!
DeleteWhat is the value of the first comment in this thread?! Zero, nothing. Just to express hate, and envy.
Legacy carriers and LCC are sometimes competitors, but they each go for own market. They don't exist without each others, at leaste this applies to LCC. Yet, some thing it would be the best to have Rayan ans Wizz and to shut down all others. How naive they are to believe those 2 would still be LCC.
Once again they are in 'reaction' mode. They had the opportunity during this "down" time to think about how to keep Wizz at bay and missed it. This will only get worse for them. With a limited fleet (and being old), they will be in a very tough place soon should Wizz decide that it is open season on JU.
ReplyDeletethey "blocked" Wizz from their other airport now they got them in BEG. I always wrote here they should use the one INI aircraft to strengthen their network in BEG.
ReplyDeleteTrue dat!
DeleteNot sure if they just can use that airplane from INI in BEG as they have usually signed a contract for many years to fly to those destinations and get money for it.
DeleteI am sure GoS would let them out of this contract and find another way to subsidize them. All JU has to do is ask.
DeleteAnd with the new developments they should do something fast.
It was not a problem to drop BUD ;)
DeleteAt least they could ask - due to the loadfactors - to adjust the article that the plane has to have more than 120 seats. Maybe think about leasing a CRJ-900 from Air Nostrum (90 seats) or an Embraer 190 from WDL (100 seats).
DeleteI can't wait for Wizz Air to finally launch BUD-INI, they wanted to for so long but JU and the government blocked them ;)
Deleteor just the ATR.
DeleteI guess the ATR is too slow for some routes which were operated from INI. Don't you think so?
DeleteThey will furiously lobby for a new set of PSO routes.
ReplyDelete+1000
DeleteOne way to slow Wizz is for the GoS to do what the Austrian govt just did - set a "minimum floor price" for fares. No need to ask for subsidies if you can curtail competition in this way ... that might just be the smartest way to go, given that the precedent has now been set by a jurisdiction within the EU
ReplyDeleteIn BEG Wizz prices are so high that it makes so sense putting any limitation there
Delete"One way to slow Wizz is for the GoS to do what the Austrian govt just did - set a "minimum floor price" for fares."
DeleteYou'd have people rioting in front of the airport. I'd be the first to join.
Vlad, was that you rioting in Vienna?
DeleteAnyone knows when 2 ex Adria A319 will arrive to BEG?
ReplyDeletewait what happened with 6 new announced routes this year, they are completely canceled or just rescheduled ??
ReplyDeleteIt was already published here many times that they are completely canceled.
Deleteooh ok thanks for the info
DeleteCorona changes the whole strategy.
DeleteIt is not mentioned in the article, but I think the the route Cologne-BEG is indirectly competing with Air Serbia's Dusseldorf - BEG route. Many Germans and gastos in that area (Essen, bochum, dusseldorf, Gladbach, leverkusen, Cologne, bonn, etc) are looking both airports when selecting the flights. Currently it is cheaper to fly from Cologne to BEG then from to DUS with Air Serbia. I hope Air Serbia stays around and keeps prices on normal level for these routes. Sometimes paying EUR 250 without luggage (and sometimes flying on old 737) on DUS - BEG route is just too much.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteW6 CGN-BEG route was badly needed for thousands of gastos.
JU was charging them wayyyyy too much!
Wizz won't be cheap either, expect tickets to be around €180 without luggage once the honeymoon phase is gone. I miss the days when we had Germanwings flying the route. Those were the days.
DeleteWe can't get into the arguments without proper understanding what the passengers needs. Every airline has its benefits and shortcomings and we should always be careful and not get into the trap of generalizing.
ReplyDeleteAs I am a frequent flyer with more than 30 return flight per year I will share my experience. Perhaps it will provide additional insight to fellow readers.
- For my business trips, the schedule is the most important, price comes second. These trips account for the vast majority of flying and the travel budget I have on my disposal. No LCC comes even close to the convenience offered by JU out of Belgrade.
- For my personal city-break vacations visiting family (GVA, ATH, BER), I usually take Easyjet or Air Serbia since the destinations allow that with schedules and price as factors that matter the most.
- For certain personal travelling, EIN, CPH (MMO), Wizz has the upper hand due to availability, affordability and schedules to match, they are ahead by far.
However, there have too many exceptions to the rule so I learnt how to get the best of it. On several occasions I chose JU to AMS over W6 to EIN due to lower price with luggage included, similar happened twice on CPH route. JU was more convenient and more affordable to CPH than W6 was to MMX. Once I even decided on LX/OU combo, transferring in ZRH/VIE en route to GVA. Miles&More had some promotion for hand luggage only and Easyjet was heavily booked with the prices mindbogglingly high for the non stop offering BEG-GVA.
What is disconcerting is the severe limitation on westward long haul flights. I always end up on Lufthansa, transferring in Frankfurt, taking the early morning Saturday flight out of Belgrade. I would prefer to have my Etihad Guest miles count for my long haul flights as well. Here, I would really appreciate Air Serbia's cooperation with other carriers to provide additional flexibility. BEG-FRA-BOS on LH was superior in scheduling and pricing than anyone else was able to offer. JU was not even on the list. Similar happened to BEG-FRA-GIG.
Just my two cents. We need to share ideas, not anonymously punch each other in the face all the time. We are all in same boat. I don't see my friends and colleagues living around ZAG or SJJ being thrilled with the local offering. Ljubljana is in a better position with plenty of alternatives, but that does not count much for LJU airport, which end up being served with leftovers.
Regards to all,
Eight.
Didn't you post this yesterday?
DeleteFor those interested, YU-ARA landed not long ago in EVN.
ReplyDeleteThe government said a few days ago that they will carry aid to Armenia. There will be a few flights.
DeleteWhat an astounding oversaturation of the market. And what makes these airline executives think the COVID-19 pandemic is in the past for good?
ReplyDeleteThe pandemic is not in the past, but the overreaction is. No sane country will risk shutting down its economy again after the first wave.
DeleteIt's not saturated, BEG was underserved for a long time now. Things are falling into place, we need to be happy about all this. Serbian economy will benefit from this without a doubt.
DeleteNot going through with OSL was so dumb and Wizz Air showed them why. Such a missed opportunity, it's tragic even.
ReplyDeleteOnly Superjets is a serious weapon against WIZZ- less seats means more efficiency
ReplyDeleteand cheap tickets
Scenario from Ljubljana airport once Fraport grasped hands on it. Easy and Wizz basically cut off JP. JP was left to do regional, unprofitable services for StarAlliance and sank. Not saying there is total resemblance, yet JAT became Arabic and Wizz might be better partner for them on their existing Beligrad hub.
ReplyDeleteJAT has not become anything else but a distant, fading memory. In about 10, 15 years no one will even remember them. They will be gone just like the country they operated out of is gone. Air Serbia on the other hand is a thriving and booming business who wings are not being chopped like Adria's were but they are actually spreading them to reach far away destinations. They are a bridge between many countries and regions, bringing people closer together. Adria on the other hand was a mere feeder airline for Germanic imperialism and that is why they were bound to fail. No slavery system can survive in the long-term. That is something we all must understand. JU and W6 are competing in Beligrad but at the same time they are consolidating BEG's position as a regional hub. At the end of the day we all win, well, except Germanic imperialists.
DeleteBeligrad? Lol. Ok.
DeleteBelgrad, obviously, typo. AS is JAT if I'm not mistaken with the name change and with the Arabic owner. If mistaken, apologies.
DeleteMistaken. Air Serbia is JU/ASL not AS. Majority owner is government of Serbia.
DeleteBut you knew that already.
How to stop Wizz from being bully:
ReplyDeleteCheck the Vinci contract and see if there are negative implications of blocking LCCs. If not, inform W6 they would need to register for an AOC in Serbia to base any aircraft. Work on the approval for 6 months and then allow W6 to base only one, maximum two aircraft at BEG. Problem solved.
Competition is good for thousands of customers, blocking competitors and allowing Air Serbia to charge high prices is not good for the customers but only for the top management of Air Serbia. Once again, competition is good and I am sure this will force Air Serbia to become better. See the situation at ZAG, it is horrible for the customers and Croatia Airlines has zero motivation to at least break even because they have no competition at ZAG
Delete@anon 10:28
Delete+100
There is absolutely NO competition in Tuzla. Wizz is a big monopolist bully there. There is almost no competition at SKP and Wizz was steadily rising their prices making it more difficult for customers, all while receiving subsidies for new routes. This is only good for the top management and investors of Wizz air.
DeleteHow come you are not so concerned for thosands of customers at SKP and TZL? If you are so concerned for ZAG passengers having no Ryan, Easy and Wizz, nothing can stop you, Wizzair, to start services there. NOTHING.
Clearly you only have a fake concern for customers, your only goal is to hate Air Serbia. You lost.
@Anon 16:36 I was referring to the BEG market and that it is good that BEG market has competition and not solely one carrier there. I was not referring to the SKP or TZL. I am glad you mentioned SKP and TZL, I agree with you. And then just imagine how would Air Serbia prices be if they are the only one serving BEG market.
DeleteZAG is blocking with high, therefore, it is stopping everyone who is concerned to be profitable (which Croatia airlines is not).
PS. I am not hating anyone, I wrote that this competition at BEG is good and that will force Air Serbia to become better (positive statement) :)
I was referring to Wizz being a bully. Just imagine how uncomfortable Wizz would be if they had to compete with Ryan in TZL and SKP.
DeleteZAG is not blocking Wizz, that is a lie. Wizz is proftable to the point they could start limited ZAG services without any discounts and still be a very profitable airline. Decision to not start ZAG is clearly not based solely on commerical grounds.
"PS. I am not hating anyone"
Of course you are.
Routes from Osijek to cork and Dublin easily.
DeleteWizz Air is private LCC. Their decisions are solely based on commercial grounds... I can see Wizz having more presence on the coast in the future. No need to discuss ZAG and their beautiful profitable buddy Croatia Airlines, izgubljen slucaj
ReplyDelete