Air Serbia devising long-term strategy

Air Serbia is in the process of devising a long-term strategy for the coming years based on several different scenarios and has begun discussions over its plans for 2021. Speaking to “New Deal Europe”, the airline’s Head of Trade and Corporate Sales, Boško Rupić, said, “The uncertainty of what kind of travel conditions will be in force puts a serious limit on long-term plans, but despite that we are working on making some plans and developing several business scenarios for the coming years. We have already had some negotiations for the next year, but it is very difficult to make a concrete plan when the travel conditions are unknown and constantly changing. This means we have to think fast and act within short deadlines. We often say that it is easier to make a plan for the next month than for the next year”. He added, “The level of demand comes down to the fact that most passengers decide to buy tickets and tourist packages between seven and ten days before their trip. Travel to countries for which the PCR test is mandatory is confirmed mainly 72 hours before the trip, since this is the accepted PCR test deadline. We follow IATA estimates, which say that next year will bring between 50% - 60% of traffic prior to Corona, and that 2019 air traffic levels will not return before 2024. In this regard, it is very important to make good assessments and continuously monitor the situation”.

The Serbian carrier is currently generating the majority of its passengers on regional routes who are also using the airline to transfer onto other flights. “Air Serbia currently generates the largest number of passengers through regional traffic, but also through transit traffic, which brings a large number of passengers through Belgrade Airport. We also generate many passengers through tourist charter flights to Turkey and Egypt. The challenge for us at the moment are the closed borders and travel restrictions in our main markets in Western Europe, which greatly restricts the movement of people, and so our flights, too”. Borders to the European Union are currently closed to most Serbian nationals, with the block to discuss the possibility of reopening them at a meeting on September 30.

The Serbian carrier is adapting its operations based on demand. As a result, it has recently increased operations to Zurich, Tivat and Istanbul and will boost operations to New York. “Constant monitoring of ticket reservations is crucial right now. This is the basis for further decisions and flights. If we see bookings increasing rapidly on certain flights, we react by increasing the capacity of those flights, allocating larger aircraft. Flexibility is currently the key issue in our business”, Mr Rupić noted. He believes leisure traffic will recover first, while business travel will be more affected in the post-corona era. “As the situation with the virus normalises, so will the movement of people. I am convinced that travel is a human need and that as soon as the virus weakens, a huge number of people will take the first opportunity to go on a leisure trip. On the other hand, we learned during the pandemic that many forms of business can take place successfully online, using various applications for organising video meetings or conferences. I think that the practice we got used to during the pandemic will affect the movement of businesspeople for years to come”, the company’s Head of Trade and Corporate Sales concluded.