KLM will introduce flights between Amsterdam and Belgrade this coming summer season, marking the carrier’s return to the Serbian capital after over thirty years. The Dutch national airline will initially commence a three weekly service between the two cities starting May 13, each Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, increasing to daily rotations from June 11. Flights will be operated by the 100-seat Embraer E190 jet. “KLM offers customers from Serbia a convenient connection not only to the Netherlands, but onwards to many destinations in the world”, the company said. As a result of the new service, the airline’s low cost subsidiary Transavia will discontinue its flights to the Serbian capital.
A total of 176.461 passengers flew between Belgrade and Amsterdam on Air Serbia and Transavia in 2019. KLM currently codeshares on Air Serbia’s service between the two cities and both have enjoyed good cooperation over the past few years. This has allowed the Dutch carrier to get feed either to or from Belgrade on its flights, despite not maintaining services to the city itself. In 2019, it carried 7.445 passengers either originating or destined to the Serbian capital. In addition, a further 22.570 travellers who either originated or were destined to Belgrade connected through Amsterdam Airport. KLM has a limited presence in the former Yugoslavia. It maintains year-round flights to Zagreb, as well as seasonal services to Split.
KLM’s new flights will compete directly against Air Serbia’s Amsterdam service. At this point, the Serbian carrier plans to operate five weekly flights between the two cities this summer season, down from ten weekly in 2019, each Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with a split morning and evening schedule. The Netherlands has tough entry measures in place as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The majority of Serbian citizens are not permitted entry into the country, while travellers must have in possession a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of their flight on top of a rapid antigen test, which must have been conducted up to four hours prior to boarding a flight to the Netherlands.
Further details for the new service can be found here.
Belgrade is truly on fire!
ReplyDeleteYeaa really with about 75% less traffic than prior to the Covid19 joke.
DeleteIt's on fire in terms of current circumstances but you already knew that.
DeleteNice to finally see them come
ReplyDeleteI find it impressive that they will fly daily.
ReplyDeleteNot great for Air Serbia. They will have additional competition on this route.
ReplyDeleteThey already had Transavia.
DeleteThis is completely different.
DeleteKL is not as dangerous as HV
DeleteActually KL is a lot more dangerous than HV. They have a business model similar to JU but are far, far bigger and can compete better for higher paying pax than HV.
DeleteTheir cost is much higher meaning they can't dump fares like HV.
DeleteBad news for Air Serbia, KL is especially a competition on the US flights.
DeleteThis is actually better news for Air Serbia than Transavia flying to BEG.
DeleteKLM has higher prices than Transavia (lowest price BEG-AMS-BEG with KLM is 140 EUR and Transavia was on 90 EUR) and Transavia was offering also KL code share. It means that with Transavia you could continue on any KL flight from AMS (as it will be possible now with KL own metal) but the price itself to AMS costs now with KL more than it was case with Transavia.
If Air Serbia offers slightly lower prices to AMS than KL they can beat them in BEG.
Actually this means BEG yields are good enough to sustain a carrier with higher costs than an LCC.
DeleteDo these flights connect onto their US/Canada flights?
ReplyDeleteThey do, both ways, both on KL and DL flights.
DeleteThat is bad news for JU500
DeleteStop trolling, these transfer options were there even when Transavia was flying to Belgrade.
DeleteAli ove ložane sa ''this is bad news for JU''. Neumorni su, a JU sve boje i bolje.
DeleteЗато их је најбоље игнорисати. Мислим да народ то мање више и ради сада јер су схватили о чему се ради. На крају крајева, конкуренција тера ЈУ да постане конкурентнија и то је најбитније. Тржиште и путници не губе.
DeletePerfect aircraft for the route.
ReplyDeleteNice addition.
ReplyDelete3 weekly KL Embraer 190 service vs. 6 weekly Transavia 738 is not ideal. Transavia apparently will no longer operate to BEG and only be left with LJU.
ReplyDeleteHave you bothered to read the article?
Delete"increasing to daily rotations from June 11"
DeleteIt is still an Embraer and not 737. Transavia offered cheaper prices...
Delete@Anon 9.06 He obviously didn't . He doesn't know the frequencies and says that Transavia will apparently stop flights even though it says in the article they will. On top of that, Transavia hasn't flown to Belgrade in months.
DeleteTransavia flew pre covid, while KLM is launching flights in the middle of a pandemic that killed aviation sector. Look at the whole picture, please.
DeleteCorrect, people act as if nothing is happening in the world.
DeleteI preferred Transavia actually... I hope they get back with a couple of weekly flights.
ReplyDeleteI think KL stepped in because B738 was too big.
DeleteYes I'm sure KLM (an airline with a completely different business model) decided to start flights because it has a different aircraft type.
DeletePreferred Transavia??? Seriously???
DeleteYes Transavia. There are quite a few Serbians living in Amsterdam and The Netherlands. These flights worked perfectly. Service was good, flight times were great, tickets were cheap. Those who desired subpar service and expensive tickets could always choose JU.
DeleteWhat service on HV? It's the same as Wizz.
Delete@09:18
DeleteThey are part of the same business. HV = KL with a lower cost basis and HV is used by KL to expand their network and maintain market share. There are many examples of that. HV flies to Dubai so that KL can compete better with EK. HV flies to Beirut (SkyTeam partner hub) because the flights would be less profitable if KL would fly them. But via HV they still have that important connection with their SkyTeam partner ME. Ljubljana is served by HV for the same reason: it's not profitable enough to fly with KL, but KL does want to have it in its network. The same goes for Amman, Casablanca and Reykjavík. And the same counts for BEG. Apparently BEG has now grown to be more profitable with KL than with HV. HV has major bases at Rotterdam and Eindhoven, so that KL does not lose too much domestic market share to foreign LCC's. It's all so simple. I understand where you come from with 'different business model', but if you look at the bigger picture, they are one business model, complementing each other.
@An.14.29
DeleteNo, it's not. Wizz is "novokomponovana" airline, Transavia is very much old school. Transavia entire crew, especially cabin crew, care for the passengers, in Wizz, they don't give a s.it. Cabin crew in Transavia is experienced, polite, helpful and friendly in 99/100, in Wizz it is 5 /100. Transavia does not change its rules and conditions twice yearly what Wizz is doing. In Transavia you are entitled to take 10 kg normal size cabin luggage free of charge, in Wizz you can dream about. Even sales offer is better in Transavia than in Wizz. Not to mention transfer possibilities to entire KL network, which is not service but means a lot. Simply, Transavia is good airline, Wizz is not.
Yes but Wizz is more successful so they have to be doing something right.
DeleteYes, they open bases wherever they get subsidies. Transavia (Holland) is Dutch-focused. And receiving much less subsidies. But exists for 60 years. So when judging "more successful" I wouldn't say so because Wizz simply don't exist long enough. But to have very good financial results, and wider network, that part of successful, I agree. However, it's about 10 times better to work for Transavia than for Wizz, any post, any position
DeleteUnfortunately I think that shows people will always go for a lower ticket even if it means that it will impact work conditions at certain airlines.
DeletePleasant news for Belgrade.
ReplyDeleteAny new arrival in the middle of a pandemic is fantastic news.
ReplyDeleteAgree. Talking about any new route in this sort of situation is an achievement.
DeleteAll we need now is Ural to confirm their arrival.
ReplyDeleteThe best part of KLM launching flights to Belgrade is that they are reducing the Star Alliance domination, especially when it comes to north American flights. They will also open up the UK market as they have a very strong presence there.
ReplyDeleteOS will lose the most since they are the most vulnerable.
DeleteThey were already doing that with HV though. HV is part of KL. HV is not officially part of SkyTeam, but it functions as part of the KL = SkyTeam network.
DeleteThe entry requirement with the rapid test just 4 hours before the flight is crazy.
ReplyDeleteBy the time they start flying to BEG, COVID passports will be in wide use. Those with COVID passports will be exempted from testing.
DeleteEuropean Commission agreement on COVID passports will immediatelly improve things for the airline industry and we will see many new route resumption and relaunch announcements in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!
There are no COVID passports. Just regular international document about vaccination. It is valid in 196 countries, stop listening politicians. They can only decide that some vaccine is enough.
DeleteGood news for Belgrade, bad news for Air Serbia!
ReplyDeleteBad news for W6 as well.
DeleteIs W6 flying to AMS?
Delete@09:40 No, Wizz does not fly to AMS at all.
DeleteWill hurt the BEG-EIN route...
DeleteHow will a legacy airline hurt Wizz Air's BEG-EIN route yet Transavia, a low cost airline, didn't hurt Wizz Air's BEG-EIN. Some of you people don't even think before writing a comment.
DeleteKL will hurt LH more than JU
DeleteMore flights out of AMS means lower fares and more flexibility compared to W6's overpriced two weekly flights.
DeleteI wonder if this was purely KLM's decision or BEG management was also proactive in getting them to start flights.
ReplyDeleteBEG management should only support foreign airlines from destinations not served by JU.
DeleteThat is not how a free market works.
DeleteFree market is only favoring ultra LCCs and large multinational carrier. Airlines like JU need help and protection if they are to survive.
DeleteWell no, that's not how the free market works.
DeleteThat is exactly how it works if we judge from the struggle and the demise of airlines like KU, OU, JP, YM, RO, BU, Malev, CSA Czech and so many others.
DeleteGoogle free market. You will see that protectionism isn't one of its features. Weaker businesses and those unable to adapt to change going bankrupt is exactly what is supposed to happen.
DeleteOK, so conclusion is there is no free market at exyu airport where all big three LCCs Wizz, Ryan and Easy are prevented from competing with local airline that needs help and protection to survive.
DeleteGlad to have them back after so many years.
ReplyDelete"In addition, a further 22.570 travellers who either originated or were destined to Belgrade connected through Amsterdam Airport."
ReplyDeletewow
Good to see them filling up the midday departure slots from BEG. Usually it's busy with Air Serbia arrivals at the time.
ReplyDeleteGrate news for BEG, bad news for JU!
ReplyDeleteNot really. Both airlines cooperate with each other. As you see JU bought them over 7,000 passengers.
DeleteActually these are much better news for Air Serbia than Transavia flying this route. Much, much better.
DeleteThis is great for BEG's connectivity - not just to major global destinations, but also to secondary cities across Europe, some of which are not served by LH group for example.
ReplyDeleteWhat are the fares like?
ReplyDeleteklm.com
DeleteWill they keep codesharing with JU?
ReplyDeleteOr will JU maybe start codesharing on KLM flights?
DeleteDobra vest za JU. Bolje je za konkurenciju imati avion sa 100 mesta od B738 sa 180 sedišta.
ReplyDeleteWhat took them so long?
ReplyDeleteTheir codeshare agreement with Air Serbia dates back from 2009 with Jat. I believe part of the deal at the time was for them not to start flights to BEG.
DeleteAlso they wanted to fly to BEG in the second part of the 90s but JAT blocked them.
DeleteJAT could not have blocked them as long as they were flying to AMS.
DeleteYou don't know how things worked.
DeleteBack in '90s
DeleteJAT was flying to LHR, BA was flying to BEG
JAT was flying to CDG, AF was flying to BEG
JAT was flying to FCO, AZ was flying to BEG
JAT was flying to VIE, OS was flying to BEG
JAT was flying to MUC, LH was flying to BEG
JAT was flying to ZRH, LX was flying to BEG
JAT was flying to AMS, KL was not allowed to fly to BEG.
Poor KLM. They got scared of JAT
Ok, since you know everything.
DeleteWould you be so kind to enlight us?
Delete@Anonymous11:22
DeleteBack in '90s
SR flew to BEG from ZRH if we're talking about '90s, not LX.
KLM flew to BEG until the war started, first with DC-9, then 737-300. I think it was via ZAG.
Also, you forgot SAS from CPH and Pan Am from FRA.
Yes, tehnically it was SR as national carrier of Switzerland, later on it became LX.
DeleteWar started in 1991 so it is obvious that '90s in this case means period after 1995 as there was no international air traffic in BEG from June 1992 until December 1995.
Fact about CPH just additionally proves that no national carrier from Europe was forbidden to fly to BEG at that time especially as JAT was flying to that country.
If it had been the case, JAT would have been stopped flying to that country immediately.
If it wasnt for pandemic, BEG would be the airport to talk about in 2020/2021... No doubt over 7 mil...
ReplyDeleteJust amazing.
Yes, but now it's very important to bring the numbers back to normal. As you can see the traffic dropped to 1,9 million in 2020 and 2021 is expected to be even more challenging. CSA will soon go bankrupt, W6 keep postponing resumptions to April and May, ASL has reduced its frequencies, it is also questionable what will happen with LO and so on and so on. Let's see if we can maintain and surpass 2020 levels because the aviation sector is expected to eventually recover by 2025.
DeleteI have been waiting for these news soo long! KLM was one of the first airlines I was flying with and had really great memories.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to Belgrade KLM!
It is not the same KLM that you have in your memories. I flew with them in the past and fairly recently ...two different worlds and the only things that didn't change is the color / livery and their uniforms.
DeleteWhat is the difference except no more free checked in luggage?
DeleteGreat to see another European legacy airline back in Belgrade :)
ReplyDeleteThat's a very healthy figure for number of passengers between BEG and AMS.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice to have BA back in Belgrad.
ReplyDeleteWht can they offer from BEG that is not already on menu of Lufthansa, Air France, Aeroflot, Austrian, Aegean, LOT, Swiss, Turkish, Qatar of FlyDubai?
DeleteP2P to LON are covered by JU and W6.
Also Serbian passport holders need visa even for transfering through UK if final destination is not USA or Canada.
Prestige.
DeleteWow.
DeleteWith their wizz type level of service?
Sure.
BA has a presence on every continent. That's important, because now BEG will be on their long list of destinations.
DeleteGreat news ! Would be even better if Brussels Airlines , Finnair , Aer Lingus , Iberia , SAS or even TAP come in BEG
ReplyDeleteIt would be even better if Air Serbia expanded to all the remaining places (Lisbon, Dublin) where those airlines would come from. Belgrade does not suffer from prestige airline syndrome and Air Serbia already covers/did cover in 2019 most of those destinations.
DeleteI think Lisbon will be eventually served by Wizz
Deletehttps://www.change.org/p/klm-introduce-klm-flights-to-north-macedonia
ReplyDeleteLets hope this will b the next route announcement