Air Serbia intends on resuming flights to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), despite initial plans to significantly downsize its operations in the region. The carrier has restored ticket sales for services to Cairo and plans to return to Tel Aviv as well, while an inventory listing has been filed for services to Beirut, although tickets are yet to be put on sale. At this point, the Serbian carrier will resume flights to Tel Aviv on March 29, with two weekly rotations to be maintained, down from five weekly services in the summer of 2019. The resumption date will depend on travel restrictions. Israel will suspend all commercial flights as of this evening for a week to prevent the spread of new variants of the coronavirus and has banned all travel for its nationals, with exception to those for medical purposes.
Flights to Cairo are set to restart on June 4 and operate twice per week. The airline resumed ticket sales for the route late last week after several months. Services to Cairo were launched as part of the airline’s 2019 network expansion, which included nine new routes from Belgrade. During 2019, the carrier also maintained two weekly services to the Egyptian capital. Serbian nationals are permitted entry into Egypt with a negative PCR test, which can also be conducted at the airport upon arrival. Egyptian carrier Air Cairo has been maintaining services between the two countries since June with scheduled flights between Hurghada and Belgrade.
Air Serbia has filed an inventory listing for its service to Beirut based on which it plans to resume flights on June 9 and operate between three and four weekly rotations to the Lebanese capital throughout the summer. However, ticket sales are yet to begin. An inventory listing indicates the airline plans to operate the service if circumstances permit but that a final decision has not been made, meaning the flights could be removed. Air Serbia suspended operations to Beirut just weeks prior to the onset of the global lockdowns in March 2020 due to the deteriorating financial situation in Lebanon. At the time it said the route suspension would be temporary and would resume in June of that year. Beirut was served up to seven times per week during the summer of 2019.
Resumption of Cairo and most likely Beirut is a good idea in my opinion. They are going after transfer diaspora traffic from those countries which will certainly have fewer options for travel than before.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Amman would make more sense than Beirut?
DeleteAs originally planned.
I believe there is more transfer traffic from Beirut due to size of Lebanese diaspora in Western Europe and US. JU had lots of transfers from France, Brussels and Netherlands on this route.
DeleteMaybe they can launch both eventually.
DeleteGood to see the situation improving.
ReplyDeleteWhat's crazy about Israel is that they were bragging how they vaccinated millions of people yet now they are shutting down international travel. Crazy.
They said they are doing it so they can vaccinate another 2 million people safely this week.
DeleteBy the end of March Israel will certainly open up. So I see these JU flights materializing.
DeleteHopefully tourists will be coming back as well.
DeleteGreat move for JU!
DeleteGreat news!
ReplyDeleteThey should have brought Cairo back earlier.
ReplyDeleteLike when?
DeleteI've heard Egypt has suspended airport fees and taxes for all airlines.
ReplyDeleteYes but only at the tourist airports.
DeleteAh I see. Smart move though. I see a lot of airlines are launching holiday destinations in Egypt next summer.
DeleteSo pretty much next summer they could restore their entire network except for Rijeka. Plus they will have two new routes.
ReplyDeleteI mean compared to pre pandemic levels.
DeleteImpressive
DeletePlans are one thing but reality might be different once the time comes.
DeleteSerbia was yesterday third in Europe by the number of vaccinated people per 100.000 people. Greece already said they will allow people to come in who is vaccinated. That should help in rebuilding what was destroyed by the virus.
DeleteCyprus announced the same.
DeleteThere is only so much you can plan for in situations like these.
DeleteWith high vaccination rates and markets such as Egypt, Cyprus and Greece announcing plans for the summer season, JU can already be somewhat optimistic because of charter traffic. This is really good.
DeleteI also hope the situation with Turkey normalizes so that their tourists can start returning.
Agree. Serbia is this morning 6th by vaccination rate in the world and second in Europe.
DeleteCrazy thing is that none of the vaccines came from COVAX or whatever it's called. 250.000 Russian vaccines are delayed. They were supposed to arrive last weekend.
DeleteFantastic. JU is slowly rebuilding its network. Of course frequencies are not the same but they reflect reality.
ReplyDeleteLet's hope these materialize.
ReplyDeleteThis is the current network as someone posted this a couple of days ago
ReplyDeleteAmsterdam (AMS) 6 6
Atina (ATH) 5 8
Banja Luka (BNX) 3 3
Barselona (BCN) 2 2
Beč (VIE) 10 10
Berlin (BER) 4 4
Brisel (BRU) 2 2
Bukurešt (OTP) 7 7
Cirih (ZRH) 10 11
Diseldorf (DUS) 4 4
Dubrovnik (DBV) 4
Frankfurt (FRA) 5 5
Istanbul (IST) 5 7
Kairo (CAI) 2
Kijev (KBP) 2
Kopenhagen (CPH) 4 4
Krasnodar (KRR) 2 3
Larnaka (LCA) 2 4
Ljubljana (LJU) 7 7
London (LHR) 5 5
Madrid (MAD) 2
Malta (MLA) 2
Milano (MXP) 4 4
Moskva (SVO) 6 6
Nica (NCE) 2
Njujork (JFK) 3 5
Oslo (OSL) 2 2
Pariz (CDG) 9 9
Podgorica (TGD) 17 21
Prag (PRG) 4 4
Pula (PUY) 2
Rim (FCO) 4 4
Sankt Peterburg (LED) 2 2
Sarajevo (SJJ) 7 7
Skoplje (SKP) 7 7
Sofija (SOF) 4 4
Solun (SKG) 4 8
Split (SPU) 4
Stokholm (ARN) 4 4
Štutgart (STR) 3 3
Tel Aviv (TLV) 2 2
Tirana (TIA) 8 9
Tivat (TIV) 9 15
Venecija (VCE) 2 2
Zadar (ZAD) 2
Zagreb (ZAG) 7 7
Ženeva 2 2
Current network for summer that is.
DeleteNetwork looks good
DeleteI think we will have a few changes to these frequencies by summer.
DeleteFor example, I dont think ZRH will be under 14 pw, TIV 21pw.
I think ZRH will be back at 14 by the end of February.
DeleteIn February they are selling BEG-ZRH for as little as 5.500 Dinars. That's rounghly €45. Then on Sunday BEG-ZRH is €250 one way so I guess flights started filling.
DeleteGreat to hear about Egypt, Israel and possibly Lebanon.
ReplyDeleteWell done Air Serbia.
ReplyDeleteGood to see they are planning for the future.
ReplyDeleteGood
ReplyDeleteI really like to see how well JU is managed during these terrible times. Much, much better than many other airlines.
ReplyDeleteProves a lot of people wrong who always have something negative to say about this airline.
ReplyDelete+1
Delete+1000
DeleteGood news for JU but particularly for people who need to travel.
ReplyDeleteDobro je videti da se dešava nešto pozitivno.Po pitanju Bejruta sam poprilično skeptičan jer se finansijska situacija u toj zemlji ne poboljšava a to je bio glavni razlog prestanka operacija JU.Za Kairo će im trebati dosta transvernih putnika a sa Tel Avivom ne bi trebalo da bude problema jer postoji određeni broj P2P putnika.Nadam se da će uskoro obnoviti i letove ka Italiji koja je jako bitna za JU sa 3 destinacije.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised Cairo can only work with transfer passengers. I would have assumed that many people would go there for tourism purposes. Why don't tour operators combine 2 or 3 days in Cairo and then a week on the coast?
DeleteПосебно сада када Алиталија не планира да се врати било где источно од Беча.
DeleteAnon 09:43
DeleteZa sada kako se čini, Croatia Airlines neće pokrerati linije iz Zagreba i Dubrovnika za Tel Aviv koje su bile u operaciji 2019. godine. Ako se nevaram bilo je riječ o 3 tjedna leta iz Zagreba sa kombinacijom A319/A320 i 1 tjedni let iz Dubrovnika. To ce zasigurno Air Serbiji dati dodatne putnike prema Tel Avivu pa očekujem letove na razini 2019. te mozda i povecanje.
Pričalo se ovde da upravo iz CAI dolazi dosta transvera za MXP. Ukoliko se AlItalija ne vrati na BEG biće to zlatna koka za JU.
DeleteKaze se transfera ne transvera.
DeleteНе смемо заборавити да је епидемиолошка ситуација на западу криминална што значи да ће велики играчи бити у знатно лошијој ситуацији него пре. Ето јуче је КЛМ објавио да ће паркирати велики број ваздухоплова и да ће отпустити 1.000 радника. Луфтханса губи два милиона на дан док се Ер Франс спрема за нови круг помоћи. Све је ово супер за ЈУ у Каиру и Бејруту.
DeleteOvako se piše, kaže.
DeletePa ne kaze se. Jedino ti tako kazes, ali nije tacno.
DeleteЉуди фокусирајте се на тему, маните се глупости.
DeleteJU must focus much more on charters this summer and not only on Egypt and Turkey.
ReplyDeleteIf there is a demand for these flights they will operate them.
DeleteMorocco and Jordan could be possibilities.
DeleteMorocco charters were planned for last year, but then corona happened.
DeleteI see, shame it didn't materialize.
DeleteSlowly but surely there seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel.
ReplyDeleteGood luck. Hope there is more good news soon.
ReplyDeleteHopefully they get more transfers as well on these routes that are returning.
ReplyDeleteThese routes are important for hub operations.
ReplyDeleteGood point.
DeleteGood!
ReplyDeleteSituation in Lebanon is dire. Economically it has collapsed. People are in a strict lockdown. No one can leave their house even for a minute since 14th of January. Money in banks have evaporated. So I understand why they are still just considering it.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it could work as a seasonal route. Let's see.
DeleteToday JU rescheduled INI flights from March: NUE, SZG, HAJ, TIV and HHN.
ReplyDeleteBravo JU!
DeleteWith Wizz cancelling SZG-BEG/SKP JU from INI should do really well.
DeleteThey could maybe introduce a third weekly.
DeleteIt would be interesting to see if they go ahead with AMM.
ReplyDeleteWould be nice. This would be a transfer destination like Beirut.
DeleteI rather think they should give Dubai or Abu Dhabi a try.
DeleteAgreed. Jat Airways did well in Dubai years ago. Although the game has changed since then.
DeleteWill be interesting to see what Wizz Air does. I don't think they will simply hand over the market to JU and other airlines. I think the expansion will happen, maybe not all of it but some destinations will be brought back.
ReplyDeleteJust to add, they removed all new destinations from BEG but MXP is still there. I suppose that will happen in 2021 but probably with a MXP based plane.
DeleteThey did not remove Oslo either.
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2021/01/wizz-air-cancels-majority-of-belgrade.html
DeleteYes Oslo and Hamburg were supposed to be the only ones left but now Milan seems to be staying as well.
DeleteI think 2021 will be very interesting. Now all we need is to see how easyJet will reach on BEG-GVA.
Which is why ASL should start flights to LIN. Much more central and convenient airport!
DeleteLIN can only be used for EU flights.
DeleteReally? How come?
DeleteIt's a limit imposed by the authorities. It's in the city unlike MXP so if they didn't block a group of airlines then everyone would be rushing to LIN. Similar to what happened with LHR.
DeleteAnon @ 13:29
Deleteyou mean LIN can only be used by schengen zone countries.
that's odd
DeleteWhat is?
DeleteImpressive comeback planned by Air Serbia. With aircraft lease rates expected to rise in 2021 are they ready to lock in low rates and lease another A330?
ReplyDeletemaybe they already leased it but does not take effect until summer or perhaps fall 2021. it would be a very risky game AS would be playing. but it could reap massive rewards as the market is now wide open. important thing is to establish as many destinations as possible, frequencies can be increased later on.
DeleteDoubt they will lease another A330. But it would be very interesting fo sures.
DeleteWhat makes you think aircraft lease rates will increase in 2021? The travel industry wouldn't recover fully until at least 2022-23.
DeleteMore like it won't recover till 24-25.
DeleteI disagree, you can't predict 4 years from now. I'm just saying this year will be still difficult. After that it will get progressively better.
DeleteConsidering to this situation they really showed great results.
ReplyDeleteAgreed.
DeleteSteta da Egipat nisu ranije pokrenuli. Tamo ima vrlo malo restrikcija, ako netko misli turisticki ici trenutno je idealno u odnosu na gotovo bilo gdje drugo
ReplyDeleteko ce sad neko negde ici turisticki? pa ljudi neznaju vise gde udaraju.
DeleteWell done Air Serbia. Really happy to see them starting to look towards the end of this crisis.
ReplyDeleteAppears so. But they are probably in survival mode.
DeleteIs there any airline that isn't?
DeleteI would say that all airlines are in survival mode. Why what are you saying?
DeleteI'm surprised they generally don't have a more extensive route network in the Middle East.
ReplyDeleteIt not bad:
DeleteBeirut
Telaviv
Cairo
Amman (planned)
Larnaca
DeleteIn the future they could add:
ReplyDeleteBaghdad
Teheran
&
Baku
Tbilisi
Yervan
Sve je to lepo, nego kad ce Srbija da poleti za Toronto?
ReplyDelete