Ural Airlines is set to become the fourth Russian carrier to serve Belgrade after it applied and received permits from the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency to launch flights from Moscow, St Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don, Samara and Kazan to the Serbian capital this summer. The airline is not obligated to launch the flights despite receiving permit approval and tickets are yet to be put on sale. Ural plans to serve Belgrade from Moscow three times per week, from St Petersburg twice per week, and from Rostov-on-Don, Samara and Kazan once per week each. Services between Russia and Serbia are currently capped at two per week per airline, with flights between Moscow and Belgrade the only ones permitted, although these restrictions are expected to be eased by the start of the 2021 summer season in late March.
If Ural Airlines goes ahead with its plans it will become the fifth carrier to operate flights between Moscow and Belgrade, joining Aeroflot, Air Serbia, Red Wings Airlines and Nordwind Airlines, the latter inaugurating services to the Serbian capital just two weeks ago. Ural had previously flown from Domodedovo Airport to Belgrade in 2016 but terminated the service after nine months due to strong competition. St Petersburg is served seasonally by Air Serbia, with the route expected to be restored in 2021 following last year’s absence due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Rostov-on-Don, Samara and Kazan will be three new routes previously unserved out of Belgrade. Air Serbia intended on introducing services to Rostov in 2020 as part of its network expansion but shelved those plans due to the global health emergency. Based on 2019 data, 1.436 people flew indirectly between Rostov and Belgrade of which 86% did so with Aeroflot via Moscow, 11% with Turkish Airlines via Istanbul and the rest with Belavia via Minsk. On the other hand, in 2019, 2.177 passengers flew indirectly between Samara and Belgrade with Aeroflot being the main feeder carrier accounting for 83% of all passengers carried. It was followed by Turkish Airlines which transported some 17% of travellers via Istanbul, while the rest was handled by Red Wings Airlines through the Russian capital. A total of 1.816 passengers flew between Kazan and Belgrade in 2019. Aeroflot was once again the dominant carrier with an 88% market share, followed by Turkish Airlines with 9% of passengers handled and Belavia with 2%.
Ural Airlines carried over nine million passengers in 2019 and boasts a fleet of 51 Airbus aircraft including the A320neo.
Well, that was ... unexpected
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteAdditional 8 weekly flights is more than good
ReplyDeleteLet's hope they launch.
ReplyDeleteBasically they will cover all of the main points in Russia.
ReplyDeleteROV is interesting since JU planned that route, it was selling really well with locals as well. I guess they know JU will keep KRR but they might not fight for ROV.
DeleteHopefully JU resumes ROV and KRR.
DeleteYou are forgetting Vladivostok. ;-)
DeleteActually a delegation from Vladivostok was in Serbia just before Corona. They were discussing how to promote Serbia over there. After Belgrade they went to various spa resorts and so on. One of their main guys is friends with a high ranking SNS official so who knows, maybe we get Vladivostok flights in the future. :)
DeleteCongratulations BEG!
ReplyDeleteAlmost every week we get good news about new airlines / routes in Belgrade. Even in the normal times it would be extra ordinary and especially in these crazy circumstances.
+1
Delete+1000
Deletegood ties should be utilized as much as possible, so go ahead
ReplyDeleteWhat you mean?
DeleteLED-BEG should do well for them and it's good that someone is stepping in since JU didn't have much luck.
ReplyDeleteWe read here that Serbia was extremely popular in Russia over New Year and I suppose the same will be the case this summer when restrictions are relaxed.
Today or tomorrow Air Serbia is bringing in an additional 50.000 Sputnik vaccines and Putin announced that production of the vaccine in Serbia should start before the end of the year. These are all great news for Serbian tourism.
I'm surprised how modern their fleet is. All Airbus. Although they have MAXs on order.
ReplyDeleteI'm more surprised finding out that Turkish flies to all these Russian cities. Had no idea.
DeletePC even flies to Grozny.
DeleteWell those are all realy big cities, with more than 1 million people each - all but Rostov have the subway for instance, the letter planning it for decades - and the population of Kazan is largely consisted of Muslim Tatars, so no surprise at all that Turkish flies there.
DeletePeople forget that even Ukraine has five cities of more than 1 million.
DeleteSomehow our eyes are always turned to the West.
Looking at BEG's growing route map in the east I think that's changing.
DeleteUkraine is quite poor in all means, comparing to Russian destinations. It could be interesting if now would be 2011 or 2012 before that revolution
DeleteHow do you mean it would be interesting?
DeleteHopefuly they launch more routes to other cities in ex yu
ReplyDeleteWell these are great news for Belgrade.
DeleteSome of these routes I'm not sure will work. Based on the data in the article they don't have that many point to point passengers. I'm guessing Air Serbia was counting on a lot of transfers with Rostov.
ReplyDeleteUral operates thousands of charters each year which means they work with tour operators. Since they plan one weekly flights it seems like it's for them.
DeleteDon't forget that demand can be created especially in the cases when there is no direct competition on the particular routes.
DeleteExactly plus Serbia is the fastest growing tourist destination in the Balkans from Russia. Airlines are sensing that and are adequately responding.
DeletePlus there is no visa regime which helps.
DeleteBelgrade has really expanded nicely to the East.
JU/SU do well in belgrade.
KRR seems to be doing well for JU.
KBP is growing with two new players.
MSQ is maturing quite well with 4 flights now.
Now come the secondary cities in Russia.
Don't forget that JU also planned KIV and hope it will return to their network.
DeleteThere was also LWO which was planned with all those flights. Let's hope BEG's network recovers faster than initially planned.
DeleteGood luck!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunate to see JU is not used as a transfer airline to any of these routes.
ReplyDeleteThey planned ROV and they have seasonal flights to LED.
DeleteWell it's logical that someone from Kazan or Samara is not going to use Air Serbia out of Moscow and that they will use Aeroflot instead (or Turkish). All on one ticket with good timing.
DeleteOnce things get back to 'normal' whenever that happens, JU can hope to offer real alternative to Moscow airports for flights to Balkans and cities further south and west of Belgrado. That is when JU starts flying again to all those Russian cities, and the planned new routes.
DeleteThis is amazing!
ReplyDeleteWell done Belgrade!
+100
DeleteWhich airport would they fly from Moscow?
ReplyDeleteHopefully Vnukovo as then we would be missing only ZIA. :D
DeleteThere were a few charters ZIA-BJY in the past as I can remember? ;)
DeleteUral flies from Sheremtyevo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky.
DeleteI believe they flew Domodedovo to BEG a few years ago.
DeleteShame Russians are not allowing more flights to Moscow. There seems to be enough demand. Yesterday, Air Serbia chartered again an A330 to SVO.
ReplyDeleteIt's normal since it's crazy to go from almost 30 weekly flights to just 4.
DeleteAre the fares between BEG and MOW expensive?
DeleteNordwind is ok with prices since they are new on the market. JU and SU are expensive because they are full to the last seat.
DeleteThey are not cheap when you add luggage fees. The other day I was buting a tkt for my son and the difference between JU and NWind was 1200 roubles. Based on that I purchased JU (although slightly more expensive), at least they have more history and tradition behind and a better after sales service.
DeletePrices are really expensive at the moment across all three airlines because demand is outstripping supply.
DeleteGood to see that Vinci and the Serbian government are not limiting the market in order to protect JU. Local market profits the most like this.
ReplyDeleteAgree but surprised that JU flights remain capped at two per week while various RU airlines are getting the green light to start operating or increase the number of flight. Right now we have 3 RU flights and 2 JU flights per week so the balance is not in favor of Serbia
DeleteIt's simple. Any airline from each country can fly up to two per week. Not Russia's problem there is 1 airline in Serbia.
DeleteActually Nordwind is not a scheduled flight, theirs is listed as a charter flight which operates every Sunday. Charter flights are not capped which is how JU manages to operate their A332 to SVO.
DeleteNordwind would not get the permit for these scheduled flights so they worked around the law.
But you can buy tickets normally through Nordwinds website.
DeleteYes, you can also buy tickets with Thompson for their seaside destinations even though they are charter flights. It doesn't matter.
DeleteHow long would last flights to Samara and Kazan?
ReplyDeleteAround 3 hrs 15 minutes.
DeleteThank you.
DeleteNice! But what is the point with one weekly frequencies?
ReplyDeleteTour groups? Week-long holidays for Russians. It all makes sense as a start
DeleteMaybe tour groups. Hope they secured good loads before announcing.
DeleteWith western Europe closed for tourists and God knows when it will reopen, Russian tour operators are looking at new markets. Those who went to Prague, Budapest, Vienna and so on will be offered Belgrade as an alternative. It helps they don't need visas.
DeleteGreat news for Belgrade
ReplyDeleteKRR performed well for Air Serbia. Hopefully they will resume this route.
ReplyDeleteStill nothing on INI-Russia market, could it work with 2pw?
ReplyDeleteRed Wings used to operate some Nis charters in 2017.
DeleteI think Pobeda would be best suited for Nis.
DeleteMoscow-Nis would be ideal.
DeleteI can see Moscow-KVO flights in the future since its closer to mountain resorts which were popular with Russians this winter.
DeleteOnly if the runway gets extended or a new one is built.
DeleteJU should have perhaps made LED year round.
ReplyDeleteFriday morning and Sunday afternoon.
DeleteLED probably will go year round once Covid passes.
DeleteWhen does Red Wings resume flights?
ReplyDeleteI think I read somewhere they will return from June.
DeleteThis is quite impressive if you ask me
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteGood. The more foreign visitors the merrier.
ReplyDeleteBravo Rusija
ReplyDeleteBravo Srbija
I am waiting for Wizz Air to launch LED-BEG as well. Don't know why they overlooked this market.
ReplyDeleteFor the 100th time Wizz cannot fly between two non EU countries, unless they receive especial permission.
DeleteThat is generally true but the Russian government has made an exception for St Petersburg
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2019/12/european-carriers-get-russia-access.html
Anon 14.30
DeleteFor the 100th time please educate yourself before lecturing others.
I said unless they receive especial permission, which they did. So now who dat's lecturings?
DeleteSo what was the point of the comment?
DeleteAnon 14.42
DeleteThey have that permission already which you would know if you educated yourself before lecturing others.
For the umpteenth time. Wizz cannot fly from BEG to another non-EU country. Serbian Aviation Directorate has NOT given permission. End of discussion. This kills all contra arguments.
DeleteTechnically, Wizz Air is not supposed to have a base in BEG without first acquiring a Serbian AOC. Yet here we are. I am sure if they applied to operate LED-BEG with a Russian based plane they would get the permit.
DeleteWhy do you think the Serbian Aviation Directorate would allow this when they do not have to allow it? Just as they wouldn't allow BEG-TGD flights.
DeleteWell because Russia is not Montenegro and Wizz Air already has a base in LED which is there as an exception in order to boost local tourism.
DeleteThere is a small Serbian community in Samara, with a couple of Serbian caffes that I know and have visited. Also, there is some potential in political and cultural sector because we already cooperate with Samarska Oblast. If you add Russian tourists, I think that would be enough for one weekly flight.
ReplyDeleteFlew to Samara 9 times last year, so this news is fantastic as far as my "personal life" is concerned. As far as Serbian restaurants are concerned, there are about five that I know of (not cafes, but "fast food" in this case).
DeleteI think that flights to Russia have great potential. I was travelling last week from Belgrade to Moscow and return with Air Serbia and was surprised that a319 was full with passengers. Maybe it looks reasonable now with lower number of flights, but even before pandemic flights on this destination were with great load factor. Hope competition will bring lower prices too
ReplyDeleteUral!. flew with them twice Moscow - Yekaterinburg and Yekaterinburg - Dushanbe...not the o=most pleasant experience to say the least
ReplyDeleteTell us more
DeleteWell from what I heard Ural is an LCC so there isn't much there in terms of comfort and onboard product. It's basically Russian version of Wizz Air.
DeleteHow was Dushanbe?
DeleteDushanbe has a very modern airport .
DeleteYou wouldnt expect that .
Many airports in Russia are now very modern.
DeleteDushanbe is in Tajikistan
DeleteTrue. I stand corrected.
DeleteNot surprised. There are many types of passengers using these flights.
ReplyDeleteInteresting to see Belavia gets quite a bit of feed from these Russian routes.
ReplyDeleteThis is significant in these difficult times. Let's just hope they launch.
ReplyDeleteDamn! This is brilliant. BEG is really making a really strong comeback!
ReplyDeleteKazan is promising .
ReplyDeleteThe Tatars will feel good in Serbia .
Their mentality is a mix of Russian and Turkish, which somehow also could be said about Serbians .
Yeah, I can see dat.
DeleteNice development. Hope these routes start and can be sustained.
ReplyDeleteWith these new routes BEG will have very good coverage in Russia.
ReplyDeleteYes, all the main cities should be covered.
DeleteDon't forget Vladivostok, the Russian San Francisco.
DeleteI can see JU A330 flying there.
DeleteTrue, the A330 could make it, but realistically there will never be a need.
DeleteI don't understand how they plan on making Moscow work out this time around when it didn't work the first time for them? Now there is even more competition. (four airlines instead of 2).
ReplyDeleteMarket is much larger this time around. Don't forget that Serbia invested a lot in promoting itself in Russia.
DeleteIn 2019, so just before Covid, there were 64.103 Russian tourists which is an increase of 29%.
In 2020, that number fell to 20.259 which is still a good number given all the circumstances.
This is what they are counting on and that is why most destinations are once a week with the exception of MOW and LED.
It could work out if they undercut prices sufficiently enough. (Or it could dramatically fail.)
Delete