The Serbian national carrier plans to reintroduce six destinations to its network in April, although this is subject to change due to ongoing travel restrictions and entry requirements. The Serbian airline expects to reinstate services from Belgrade to Brussels, Bucharest, Prague, Thessaloniki, Sofia and Tel Aviv next month, albeit with reduced frequencies. Operations between Belgrade and Brussels are set to be restored on April 1 and will run just once per week, while services to the remaining five cities are expected to resume on April 12. With exception to Bucharest, Sofia and Prague, which were served for a limited time over the Christmas and New Year period, flights to Thessaloniki have been suspended since November, while Tel Aviv was last operated a year ago.
Based on its existing schedule, Air Serbia will run four weekly flights to Bucharest, three weekly to Sofia and Thessaloniki, two weekly to Tel Aviv and Prague and one weekly to Brussels. Towards the end of the month, the Serbian carrier will increase frequencies to Paris, from seven to nine per week, while it is expected to also boost its Moscow operations from three to four per week. In April, Air Serbia will begin trialling the IATA digital passport on services between Belgrade and Zurich, while the airline’s newly acquired Airbus A330-200 aircraft, featuring a new business class product, is also expected to enter service, replacing its existing jet of the same type.
Due to current restriction resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, Air Serbia has enabled its passengers to change the dates of their tickets until the end of the year free of charge for an unlimited number of times. This will be available to all who purchase their tickets by December 31, 2021. The promotional campaign includes all destinations in airline’s network, with exception to New York, for travel up to December 31. “The situation is still very prone to change regarding travel restrictions, which is why flexibility is one of the key elements when booking a flight. Putting the needs of our passengers first, we have decided to extend this campaign and enable them to approach travel planning in a more relaxed way during the upcoming season as well. Additionally, in the coming period, we will begin testing the IATA Travel Pass, a mobile app which will help passengers organise their travels simply and safely in accordance with the regulations of countries pertaining to Covid-19 testing or vaccination”, Jiri Marek, Air Serbia’s General Manager for Commercial and Strategy, said.
I wasn't even aware they had stopped flying to Brussels!
ReplyDeleteFor about a month now.
DeleteWith entry restrictions and little to know transfer passengers also because of travel restrictions, what can one expect.
DeleteAlmost 2. Last flight was on 04.02. and they used to fly once a week for a while before that, except during Christmas season.
DeleteBRU was always a difficult market from BEG. Back in the day Jat used to combine it with AMS on some days. Then when visa regime was lifted it improved but then EIN and BVA made it harder to build critical volume in this market.
DeleteTrue, no diaspora hire like in some other countries, but they should try to catch Albanian diaspora which is significantly bigger.
DeleteBrussels is perfect for all kind of transferring passengers due to a lot of expats.
If it is to relay on Serbian diaspora/expats we'll have to get much closer to EU (and NATO). LJU and ZAG got the traffic to BRU with euroantlantic integration and had 10+ flights a day.
The triangle route combining AMS and BRU happened long after the lifting of the visa regime, and was implemented when Jat Airways was in its death throes. Also, the bleed of BRU pax to BVA is virtually non-existent, since it's at least a three-hour drive from Beauvais to Belgium, and BEG-BVA flights are almost never cheaper than the alternative.
DeleteNo, the main problem of BRU is the lack of sufficient O&D between Serbia and Belgium in general. That's why CRL flights were unsuccessful. Luckily, JU can rely on transfers to a certain extent as well.
BVA doesn't only serve Paris or Brussels but the whole market that lives between the two cities. It's catchment area is pretty big which is why Wizz Air had so much success there.
DeleteWow, didn't know that there were 10+ flights a day from ZAG & LJU.
Deletehaha there were no 10 flights per day, he got confused I guess.
DeleteFingers crossed they actually do resume these flights.
ReplyDeleteGreat news ! What about Beirut ?
ReplyDeleteSituation in Lebanon is catastrophic to say the least. Covid is exploding, economy is in tatters, there is no tourism ... so all that combined there is simply not enough demand to fill an A319.
DeleteJU stopped flying to BEY even before pandemic due to bad economical situation in that country.
DeleteUnfortunately this pandemic could have made it only worse.
BEY was suspended even before corona. In my opinion, if they are looking for a route like Beirut they should shift focus to Amman, which they planned to start in 2021.
Delete* I mean 2020, not 2021
DeleteProblem with AMM is that it can't make it there and back in order to offer connections both ways. That's why they had some departures at 23.10 and some at 23.40. With such low number of flights right now that's impossible. I think they should focus on TLV. TK expects demand to boom, in April they are increasing TLV from 15 to 35 flights!
DeleteBEY is quite a seasonal destination and there is fierce competition for JU to enter in. Gulf dominance and AF/French territory.
DeleteI don't think JU is after the same market as Gulf carriers in BEY. For them airlines such as TK and A3 are main competitors, not even AF whose hub is too far to the west to make sense for many of the destinations airlines like JU, A3 or TK offer.
DeleteBefore covid Aegean used to have 14 weekly to BEY with the night flight operated by the high density A321.
It would be interesting to see if they go ahead with AMM one day.
DeleteI know bunch of people from Beirut because of my business. All of them left Beirut in last 6-9 months, went to some other countries and currently not having any plans to come back...
DeleteI'm surprised about Sofia. Serbian citizens can enter Bulgaria with a negative PCR test.
ReplyDeleteThere is a good highway linking Belgrade to Sofia so you can reach it quite easily. Also I think tourism is mostly from the south, not so much Belgrade and the northern parts of the country.
DeleteSOF is mostly route for transfers.
DeleteBorders remained opened for Serbian citizens compared to other EU states.
Delete@anon 9:04
DeleteWrong. Most pax on BEG-SOF are O&D. I used to travel that route 2x month myself before the pandemic.
+1 Vlad.
DeletePlus the schedule is great. It hasn't budged since the route was launched in 2014.
So I don't understand why it was suspended. No interest I guess. Also I don't get how slow and unimaginative most Serbian tour operators are. Why not sell weekend breaks to Sofia? I mean if you are so limited in the destinations you can offer, try to make the most of it. The world doesn't start and end in Halkidiki.
DeleteI don't get how slow and unimaginative most Serbian tour operators are
DeleteGoes to show how little you know about them! Even during Covid their world doesn't END but STARTS at Halkidiki! Most tourists from Serbia now go to Egypt, Zanzibar, Dubai, Turkey even Mexico and Dominican Republic and many on organized tours.
Hopefully things will improve. This week the government is expected to announce PCR testing upon arrival at the airport.
ReplyDeleteThat would be a good step forward.
DeleteGreat to see them being this proactive. They are looking at the wave approaching and they are getting ready to ride it. Istanbul is being increased from 5 to 7 next week which is also fantastic news for all of us!
ReplyDeleteDon't forget that from today third weekly JFK starts, it departed BEG at 07.32 :)
DeleteThis thing about free of charge unlimited date change is a scam. I literally don't know how they get away with this. There is nothing free about it and you have to pay a lot of money (almost a ticket worth amount). I had to change the dates of my flights and the Air Serbia agents knew nothing about this and refused to look into it despite me showing them info from their official website and my ticket receipt telling me that I am entitled to it.
ReplyDeleteIncredible.
DeleteCrazy
DeleteCan the date change be done online or no?
DeleteYes, it's a PR trick. Basically what it means is that JU doesn't charge you anything for the service but you still have to pay the difference if your booking class is not available. In the end you might pay a small fortune especially if you bought a lower class and one of the higher ones is available at the moment you are changing it.
DeleteHappened to me in October. My mother's ticket was 32.000 RSD without luggage and when she changed the date they asked for another 24.000 or so.
There is no option to change it online and I couldn't even do it in person...
DeleteYou need to pay extra only if the booking class you originally booked is no longer available.
DeleteIf it is available you have to pay nothing.
In case you see you can't find a solution with agent on the phone you simply call once again. The most of the operators there know how to do their job.
Nemjee, the catch is to see how much you paid your ticket and to look on their web page the dates (if you are more less flexible with dates) with that price for the chosen destination.
DeleteUnfortunately that was the period when everyone traveled to Cyprus so there was very little flexibility. The next flight was sold out and the one after that was not an option. For example, when my father was flying back he went on Wizz because JU was sold out on the A320. His Wizz flight had a few seats free. That's why it was brutal to change dates.
Delete@ Anon 09:28
DeleteThat is not how it works. Trust me, I tried Let's say you paid 7.000 RSD for a ticket and the date you want to change it to costs 8.000 RSD. You don't pay 1.000 but much higher, for example 4.000 or 5.000 RSD. And it's not that you are changing to a business class ticket or from a Economy Standard to Economy Comfort. It's exactly the same class. They just make up a hundred codes and change it daily.
I have no reason not to trust you.
DeleteI just know I changed my ticket already 3 times with almost no extra fee.
Only once they tried to charge me something like 70 EUR more. I refused it and I simply called again. New operator told me there is cca 7 EUR I need to pay more as they had some rule that in new year there are new taxes etc.
I call bs and typical hate speech when it comes to anything Yu related.
DeleteMy wife has been changing tickets since November with no issues at all. So far she has changed her ticket 12 times and payed a difference of 10 eur only once! My brother chaged his family's return NY ticket two times, once for free, once for 180 usd total (45 usd price difference per person).
I also changed the dates several times and paid only the difference. Depending on the initial price, price in the new dates you pay or don't, but it is no scam or fraud.
DeleteDate change costs 70-80€ so, if they would not offer it for free you would pay this fee + new price anyway.
This is how it works in the aviation for ages, so please don't troll against AirSerbia as everyone does the same.
They even have vauchers or reimbursement, which most of the companies didn't, they just asked you to rebook, pay the fees + difference or cancel and get reimbursed just the taxes.
Let's be fair and honest and ask if we don't know something, but let's not immediately attack.
That's because there was a lower booking class available than the one they initially purchased. No BS. They are lucky they did it now when there is covid and when planes are not as full as before.
DeleteLet me just add that i also changed the departure city from BEG to SKP with no hassle at all. YU issed me a voucher which i used to buy my wife a new ticket with the price difference of 10 eur.
DeleteNice photo
ReplyDeleteGood to see. Let's hope more are to come.
ReplyDeleteWhat about Italy? There have been no flights whatsoever for over a year now
ReplyDeleteNot enough gasto traffic (I'm based at MXP myself), so impossible to restart flights before tourists are admitted again. I've had to use LH for my travel back home to BEG during the pandemic.
DeleteIt's a shame there are no plans to resume Spain flights until winter 2021/2022!
ReplyDeleteVueling resumes BCN-BEG but true for Air Serbia. I think they just put winter 2021/22 for resumption date because they are not sure yet. Might come back earlier.
DeleteWhat about Stockholm?
ReplyDeleteAnd what about Stockholm?
DeleteBoth ARN and NYO are currently served from BEG. NYO is on the brink of bankruptcy (operated and owned by Vinci) so Wizz might have to move to Arlanda.
DeleteThere is nothing on their web page for flights 2022 even we have not second half of March 2021.
ReplyDeleteThey should revise it.
even if we have now*
DeleteThey barely know what they are going to operate in a month let alone 2022 :D
DeleteOh they know exactly, and are able to change plans on a dime, unlike some other airlines from the exyu region :D
DeleteMože da se govori samo o planovima ništa sa sigurnošću,nažalost.Vakcinacija se u evropi odvija izuzetno sporo i neće biti završena do letnje sezone a JU upravo u naj većoj meri zavisi od putnika između Srbije i EU.Nimalo obećavajuća godina,evo kakav im je trenutni plan reda letenja:
ReplyDeleteMart Jul
Amsterdam 5 5
Atina 4 5
Banja Luka 1 1
Barselona 1 0
Beč 4 9
Berlin 3 3
Brisel 2 2
Bukurešt 0 5
Cirih 9 14
Diseldorf 2 3
Dubrovnik 0 2
Frankfurt 4 5
Istanbul 7 7
Kairo 0 0
Kijev 0 0
Kopenhagen 4 3
Krasnodar 0 0
Larnaka 3 4
Ljubljana 4 5
London 2 3
Madrid 0 0
Malta 0 2
Milano 1 3
Moskva 5 4
Nica 0 2
Njujork 3 5
Oslo 2 2
Pariz 9 10
Podgorica 15 21
Prag 1 2
Pula 0 0
Rim 0 3
S. Peterburg 1 2
Sarajevo 4 4
Skoplje 5 7
Sofija 0 2
Solun 0 5
Split 0 3
Stokholm 2 3
Štutgart 2 2
Tel Aviv 1 2
Tirana 6 9
Tivat 9 24
Venecija 0 0
Zadar 0 2
Zagreb 3 5
Ženeva 2 2
Dobar deo podataka iz tabele nije tacan.
DeleteSigurno je da će se dobar deo rasporeda menjati,situacija je skroz nepredvidiva.
DeleteПуно тога ће зависити од ситуације са Швајцарском. Ако се укине карантин онда ће се број летова повећати. Губитак овог тржишта је представљао велики ударац за ЈУ. Сва срећа па се YM упокојио те су ту добили јако леп извор прихода.
Delete@Anon at 9:30 Vakcinacija se u evropi odvija izuzetno sporo i neće biti završena do letnje sezone a OU upravo u najvećoj meri zavisi od turista između Cro i EU.Nimalo obećavajuća godina
DeleteEU vaccination average is 13% which is extremely low. Serbia already vaccinated 32% of its population.
Delete32% Malta
21% Hungary
16% Estonia
16% Denmark
14% Finland, Cyprus, Lithuania, Austria, Slovenia
Our region:
15% Turkey
13% Greece
12% Romania
8% Croatia
5% Bulgaria
1% Albania
1% Montenegro
0.2% Macedonia
0% Bosnia
Good to see the situation improving.
ReplyDeleteThey should have brought Cairo back! No entry restrictions for Serbian citizens, good for transferring passengers...
ReplyDeleteJU is slowly rebuilding its network. Of course frequencies are not the same but they reflect reality.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteLet's hope these materialize.
ReplyDeleteWell done Air Serbia.
ReplyDeleteI really like to see how well JU is managed during these terrible times. Much, much better than many other airlines.
ReplyDeleteAny examples of not-so-well managed airlines during these times?
DeleteSure: Swiss, SN Brussels, Wizz Air, Alitalia and so on.
DeleteGood news for JU but particularly for people who need to travel.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't hold my breath that these plans will actually become a reality.
DeleteThey are.
DeleteI hope so, but I have a feeling all these destinations resuming April 12 will be moved to May 12.
DeleteI don't think so. A good deal of these routes are coming back because of Easter in Serbia which is around May 1.
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.
DeleteThey are smart to focus on Russia since tourism is on the rise. I noticed that Nordwind loaded Tuesday flights until the end of summer season. I am sure once the limitations are lifted they will add more. WZ planned 4 weekly flights. Hopefully they come back ASAP to BEG.
DeleteGood luck. Hope there is more good news soon.
ReplyDeleteSome more routes will be added soon to the resumption list :)
DeleteHere is hoping we have another Israeli travel boom like last year :D
ReplyDeleteThat was crazy last year. Unfortunately the only airline that wasn't on it was Air Serbia.
DeleteThey can't do much about it. Tours are sold by Israeli tour operators that cooperate only with Israeli airlines.
DeleteLOL, not everyone likes or wants to be part of the tour. Some prefer to design their own trip and that works for Air Serbia. There is also a lot of investment and business links between the countries and Air Serbia service is proven and convenient.
DeleteJust because they bought the package via tour operator doesn't mean they went around with guides and so on. It just means a tour operator sold them in a single package a hotel and a flight. Btw JU didn't even fly to TLV back then.
DeleteI don't know if it's just an operational thing or there has been increased demand, but Air Serbia sent an A320 to Geneva today. Usually it's the A319 operating this route.
ReplyDeleteConsidering that Serbia is on the red list in Switzerland, I doubt that the flights are full.
DeleteConsidering many live in Switzerland and Air Serbia is sending an A320, I doubt you are of sound mind.
DeleteAll airlines are in survival mode so the low frequencies make sense. Let's hope they can restore these flights.
ReplyDeleteStrange article says that SVO will be increased to 4 flights per week while JU current schedule shows only 3 flights (Friday / Sunday / Monday).
ReplyDeleteIt says they plan to do it. They probably still have to secure rights.
DeleteJU is tomorrow operating Moscow with A330!
DeleteDoes anyone know why was Cairo not reintroduced?
ReplyDeleteThey probably calculated that the yields would be too low.
DeleteIt's also a very long rotation. And they need the aircraft.
Deletefor what?
DeleteHopefully they will focus on their fleet soon which has shrunk compared to pre-covid times. If demand starts returning, they will be unable to serve charter and scheduled traffic with current fleet.
ReplyDeleteSo hard to lease A319ceo today, and for a bargain price!!! LOL fake worry!
DeleteFake worry? No, the worry is real.
DeleteThey will need additional aircraft to serve charter and scheduled traffic if demand starts to increase by summer.
It's easy to quickly lease aircraft if they need it. And cheap.
Delete