Air Serbia “cautiously optimistic” over traffic recovery

Air Serbia has said it is cautiously optimistic over the recovery of traffic in the coming months but warned that many uncertainties still remain. The airline has been performing above the European average throughout the first quarter. Speaking at the Southeast Europe Aviation Summit yesterday, Air Serbia’s General Manager for Commercial and Strategy, Jiri Marek, said, “In the last three weeks we have been cautiously optimistic. It is natural that around Orthodox Easter [early May] there was a spike in demand. What is a positive sign is that the demand did not stop after Orthodox Easter and we see an upside. Despite the travel restrictions, which are still heavily in place, and the fact that Serbian citizens are still not allowed to enter the majority of EU countries, I must say that through 2020, and even now in 2021, we are performing better, mainly thanks to our fast and flexible reaction on the market. We are currently operating around 40% on 2019 levels, whereas the rest of the European average is around 35%. We are achieving load factors of over 55%, while in Q1 the majority of the airline groups published a load factor of close to 40%. We are carefully optimistic, but we are not there yet”.

Mr Marek noted there are still numerous uncertainties when it comes to the upcoming peak summer travel months. “The big question mark for everyone is summer, because obviously travel restrictions are still in place. The charter demand is there but the main issue you see now is that all of the bookings, including the charters, are very last minute. So, it’s more forecast demand and we don’t know whether it will happen or not. You also have adhoc events, like for example the complete flight ban between Russia and Turkey. You have the big question if all these hotel groups will open or not, because the majority of the demand has disappeared over night”, Mr Marek said.

Commenting on its long haul operations, the executive said the airline was looking to develop this segment of the business in the future, “We are the only airline in the region offering a direct year-round connection to the United States and it is not only important for Serbia but for the whole region because predominately the wider Balkans, or ex-Yugoslav countries, are using these flights through seamless connectivity, mostly Montenegro, Albania and North Macedonia. We would like to expand this in the future to Bulgaria and Romania, which was also part of our announced pre-Covid expansion strategy, which you can serve with multiple frequencies. In such a way you satisfy point to point demand, demand to your European network and demand to the US. For us it is working pretty well, and we would like to develop that more in the future”.

Mr Marek pointed out that quick and flexible reaction to changes on the market have ensured the airline a better position in the region. “We would like to position ourselves and we are positioning ourselves as a regional leader in the wider Balkan region, or let’s say the majority of ex-Yugoslavia. We have multiple scenarios which we are constantly developing and finetuning to be ready for the market opportunities to enter the niches and secure our strong position in the region. That is why we quickly reacted to the Adria Airways collapse. We did so a few days before the bankruptcy while other airlines took weeks. Even during Covid, we were the first airline to return to Ljubljana while others came some weeks later. Same was for Montenegro Airlines in December. Basically, we are always trying to strengthen our position and position Belgrade as a regional hub where we want to offer seamless connectivity to the region and beyond. We are constantly looking at opportunities and will take whatever pops up”, Mr Marek said.