Italy’s national carrier Alitalia will not resume services from Rome to Belgrade and Podgorica this coming winter season as initially planned. The airline confirmed to EX-YU Aviation News that flights would not operate until late March 2021. Ticket sales for the 2021 summer season are yet to commence. The carrier suspended services to the Serbian and Montenegrin markets on March 7 as Italy became a hotspot of the coronavirus pandemic in Europe. The development will mark the first time in decades that Alitalia has not served any market in the former Yugoslavia.
In recent years, Alitalia has only run year-round operations to Belgrade and Podgorica among the former Yugoslav markets, as well as on again - off again services to the Croatian coast over the summer. Both Air Serbia and Montenegro Airlines plan to resume their operations to Rome and elsewhere in Italy once the Italian government lifts its ban on flights from the two countries, which was introduced in mid-July. There is currently no indication on when that might occur. Air Serbia has tentatively scheduled the resumption of its flights from Belgrade to Rome for October 2, while Montenegro Airlines plans to restore operations from its hub to the Italian capital on October 9. Alitalia codeshares on each of the respective services.
Belgrade - Rome - Belgrade passenger traffic
| Year | PAX |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 161.012 |
| 2018 | 157.273 |
| 2019 | 153.726 |
Last year, a total of 153.726 passengers flew between Belgrade and Rome, while 45.748 travelled between Podgorica and the Italian capital. In addition to flights to Rome operated by Air Serbia, Montenegro Airlines and Alitalia, the Serbian carrier also maintains services from Belgrade to Milan and Venice, Montenegro Airlines flies seasonally to Bari, while Wizz Air and Ryanair also maintain operations between the three aforementioned markets, although all are currently temporarily suspended.
Podgorica - Rome - Podgorica passenger traffic
| Year | PAX |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 44.496 |
| 2018 | 46.298 |
| 2019 | 45.748 |
Alitalia is struggling to stay afloat after becoming one of the most affected airlines by the ongoing pandemic. The carrier recently announced it would no longer operate any flights from Milan Malpensa Airport starting October 1 for the first time since its foundation in 1948. Earlier this month, the European Commission approved a grant of just under 200 million euros for the Italian flag carrier. The 199.45 million euro grant has been found to be in line with EU state aid rules, as it covers losses relating directly to Covid-19 travel restrictions between March 1 and June 15 of this year. However, despite this, the company plans massive cuts in staff numbers and a drastic reduction in flights. The carrier’s operations currently rely primarily on domestic services. Internationally, it will maintain flights from Rome to just fifteen destinations from next month.
Expected
ReplyDeleteAgree. Also as I mentioned in a comment below, Alitalia will no longer be of any use for transferring, They have cut pretty much the majority of their network and all they have left is a handful of European destinations. They are ending routes in North Africa, which were popular for transfer, they are ending flights to Argentina too, no flights to Brazil, ending flights to USA including New York. So really they fly nowhere.
DeleteLatin America is in real deep s..t especially Argentina. Completely collapsed economy. Cases are soaring and those countries are not well prepared for such things. Maybe the situation is a bit better in Uruguay or Chile but not the rest.
DeleteTravel from the EU to US is down due to the ban. It will be a bitter, European aviation winter.
They are not ending flights to USA at all. It is their most profitabile market.
DeleteThen remember how YM got 133 million Euros 🤦
DeleteHaha true
DeleteWhere exactly did you read that they are ending North America? Fake totally.
DeleteCutting AZ network is actually not very good news for JU as they have wide code-share agreement.
DeleteWhat exactly is AZ offering to JU that AF, KL and now TK don't? Alitalia's domestic network from FCO remains unaffected.
Delete@Anonymous10:56
DeleteThey will have one single route in North America - Rome-New York. Everything else is being discontinued. That includes Milan - New York, Rome – Boston, Rome – Mexico City, Rome – Miami and Rome – Washington Dulles.
Did they fly to Miami?
DeleteYes they did. Daily.
DeleteThey started MIA in 2010.
DeleteConsidering their situation, I think it's questionable whether they will come back at all.
ReplyDeleteThere is no doubt BEG-FCO market has good potential, but in the normal times.
DeleteOnce everything gets back to normal they will surely fly again to BEG.
If Alitalia is still around by then
DeleteAlitalia will always be around
DeleteLet's see. I think this may be the final nail in their coffin.
DeleteThey just got 200 million euros!
DeleteAnd you think that will be enough to cover their losses?
Delete200 million for period up to 15th of June definitely won't be enough. This crisis has gone beyond June and it will get worse for aviation this winter.
DeleteLast anon, unfortunately, I have to agree with you.
DeleteAnd not that I have something against Alitalia, but here's a fun fact:
In the last 15 years, the Italian state pumped 15 BILLION euros in Alitalia, and this carrier has never ever turned a single cent of profit.
Because they always wasted money. After Etihad left they were on the brink of bankruptcy and what was their priority? To introduce new crew uniforms.
DeleteAnd they are launching yet another "new" Alitalia in a few weeks.
DeleteAlitalia is a complete basket case and a real example why national carriers without a proper business model can never work.
Delete"winter is coming" :(
ReplyDeleteIt really will be a difficult winter. For the airlines and airports.
DeleteAnyone know why the drop in passengers from both BEG and TGD to Rome over the year?
ReplyDeleteFor Air Serbia at least I think the reason it fell is because they decreased the number of flights to Rome. I think at one point in the past they were flying it double daily which was unsustainable to say the least.
DeleteAlso I think more options became available. For example JU launched Venice so there was no longer a reason to transfer via Rome. Wizz Air launched Podgorica-Milan, Ryanair started Bologna so again there was less reason to fly via Rome
DeleteYes, that is likely the reason. Interesting. Still seems to be a popular route. Those numbers are not bad.
DeleteTrue, more direct options so less need to transfer in Rome. Don't forget that JU planned nine daily to Milan this summer.
DeleteAlso don't forget that JU carries a part of transfers to JFK that were used to go via Rome.
DeleteBtw Air France is routing their whole Balkan network with Air Serbia via BEG.
Whole Balkan network? What does that means?
DeleteI just noticed they increased Belgrade from 2 to 3 weekly. Guess they are doing well there.
DeleteYou obviously missed this
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2020/09/air-france-to-suspend-belgrade-service.html
That's for winter, we are still not there.
DeleteIt's great news for Air Serbia and Montenegro Airlines.
ReplyDeleteConsidering neither can fly to Italy at the moment and there is no signs of this changing any time in the future, I don't see how it is great.
DeleteAnonymous10:44 Unfortunately there are some smart people here who think that bad for some (AZ) means good for others (JU, YM). If so, code-share would not exist.
DeleteAnonymous 12:56: I'm afraid your reasoning is flawed. Especially in the current state of the market with heavily reduced demand, having less competitor capacity on a route is definitely a good thing. No doubt about it.
Deletewow they will no longer fly from MXP either. This is crazy!
ReplyDeleteThey are ending Rome-New York too! So you can imagine how bad the situation is.
DeleteThat is crazy. Just 15 international routes for Alitalia is sad.
DeleteHow the mighty have fallen.
DeleteThey are ending Rome-New York too!
DeleteFake news!
He probably meant Milan-New York which is ending. Rome - New York will be the only route which will not be suspended by Alitalia in North America. Which is sad to say the least.
DeleteI'll miss them
ReplyDeleteI never understood why Alitalia didn't expand more in the region. It had just these 2 routes.
ReplyDeleteA few years ago they announced how they would launch ZAG, PRN and even SJJ. But nothing happened. By that time they were purchased by Etihad and all of those plans were cancelled.
DeleteThey usually had 4 routes. To SPU, BEG, TGD and DBV.
DeleteThey used to fly to Skopje too, but they suspended it a few years ago.
DeleteThey fly 3 times a day to TIA
DeleteIt's good at least that they codeshare with JU and YM so people can still use them via FCO.
ReplyDeleteBut YM has their own direct flights to FCO.
DeleteThat's what I said. They codeshare on YM so people can still purchase Alitalia tickets, use YM to Rome and then continue elsewhere.
DeleteThere is nowhere thet can fly to with Alitalia anymore. All destinations they have left are European. They are also ending Rome - Buenos Aires. So there is little where people can transfer. Maybe to Spain but somehow I don't see great demand for there either.
DeleteUSA is still their most immportant and the most profitabile market.
DeleteThere are few people they can carry to the US. Even Italian citizens who live in the US must quarantine for two weeks after arriving back to the US. There is no point.
DeleteThere is no quarantine if they fly via IST or BEG.
DeleteThey will come back.
ReplyDeleteWe will see. I'm not so sure.
DeleteLet's first see if they will still be around in a few months.
DeleteThis blanket ban that they have in Italy on flights is absolutely crazy. Not to mention that the situation in Italy with the virus is worse than in many countries they banned and not to mention that it was Italy that exported the virus to most European countries in the first place.
ReplyDelete+100
DeleteNo one gets Italian politics
DeleteTell us
DeleteSometimes I'm surprised how this airline is still in operation.
ReplyDeleteIt has nine lives.
DeleteMore like 99.
DeleteThe long winter sleep is arriving.
ReplyDeleteIt's going to be really interesting to see the situation in aviation after all this is over and who is left standing. I think this winter we will farewell many airlines.
ReplyDeleteIt might get worse with airlines in winter 2021/2022. Most have received aid now which they will burn this winter, then comes summer when there will be more revenue but not nearly the same they had in 2019 and come winter many will have to close up shop.
Delete:(
ReplyDeleteThis sucks. Instead of recovering it seems the situation is going backwards in Europe.
ReplyDeleteIt is. The summer tourist season is over in Europe. So it seems covid went on holiday for these two months so countries could earn some money. Now we are back to square one again.
DeleteYes, funny how that happened. Corona went on vacation too.
Delete^only in europe though
DeleteMaybe this is a good option for Wizz Air to start flights from Rome to Belgrade and Podgorica.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Wizz used to fly Rome-Belgrade?
DeleteThey did many years ago
DeleteFor some reason LCCs never succeeded on flights from Italy to Belgrade (neither Wizz or easyjet). It is possible that is because there are a lot of transfer passengers on these flights. That said Wizz Air plans Milan-Belgrade next summer.
DeleteYes that seems to have been the case. I found this from 2012!
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2012/07/wizz-air-to-suspend-belgrade-rome.html
Wizz Air to suspend Belgrade - Rome
The low cost airline Wizz Air will discontinue services from its Belgrade base to Rome in late September. The flights will operate on a seasonal summer basis instead. Despite strong passenger figures, the airline explains that they are only recorded during the peak summer season. The two weekly flights will be discontinued from September 24.
Wizz Air has been recording strong passenger figures to and from Belgrade. All of its flights have seen an average cabin load factor of over 80%. The news of Wizz’s Rome cancellation will be warmly welcomed by Jat Airways and Alitalia. However, the two airlines carry a different set of passengers to that of Wizz Air. Both Jat and Alitalia rely heavily on lucrative transit passengers from the United States and Canada on the route. On the other hand, Wizz almost solely handles point to point passengers.
Did Wizz fly from Fiumicino?
DeleteNo, Ciampino
DeleteCircumstances have changed. Maybe W6 could work between Rome and Belgrade now.
DeleteYes circumstances have changed and it's currently a disaster with Covid. Doubt Wizz will jump at the opportunity.
DeleteWhat would be the point for Wizz to start this route. Even if the flight ban is lifted, they would only be able to carry Italian citizens or Serbian citizens with residency in Italy.
DeleteDon't forget that CIA-BEG used to return at 00.25 which is a horrible time given what the competition offered.
DeleteSince 2012. aviation world has changed a lot.
DeleteConsidering their existing network, it's not a major loss.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteBut I do hope they return when things start improving on the aviation market.
I hope they come back
ReplyDeleteI don't know if there has ever been a time that Alitalia hasn't been on its deathbed throughout history.
ReplyDeleteAnd they somehow pull through each and every time.
DeleteFarewell
ReplyDeleteSince I don't see Italy lifting this blockade any time soon, by summer 2021 restrictions could be lifted. So it will be like they never left ;)
ReplyDeleteAlso remember that this ban is not just a flight ban. it's a complete entry ban - transfers included!
DeleteUnfortunate but at least JU and YM are still there.
ReplyDeleteHow many flights are they planning during the weekend?
DeleteStill, BEG handled 168K pax in August (down 78%, in July only 117K), while 100K in the first half of September (down 70%).
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty good all things considered. Performance is improving.
DeleteHopefully charter season helps BEG even more, today in the second half of September they have 11 charter flights (10 on JU and 1 on SM). They never had this many this time of the year.
DeleteJust a reminder that SM is NOT a charter flight. It's a scheduled year round service.
DeleteCarrying tourists and increased charter demand forced them to increase flights.
DeleteWhat about INI-FCO, BLQ?
ReplyDelete