Air Serbia is in discussions over the introduction of flights to Yekaterinburg, Russian local media report. The talks are said to be in their final stages and, if concluded successfully, services should begin in late November or early December. The Serbian carrier has not commented or confirmed the potential route launch. The head of the Ural Tourism Association, Mikhail Maltsev, told reporters at a press conference that negotiations were underway with two European carriers. The other is believed to be Wizz Air, which plans to commence operations from Budapest to Yekaterinburg. If the Belgrade service goes ahead, the south-western Russian city would become Air Serbia’s fifth destination in the country. It already serves Moscow, Krasnodar, St Petersburg and Rostov-on-Don, the latter two recently being upgraded from seasonal to year-round operations.
Russia is one of Belgrade Airport’s biggest markets and despite the coronavirus pandemic has continued to perform well. Currently, Air Serbia, Aeroflot and Nordwind Airlines maintain flights between the two countries. Demand over the past year has been driven primarily by Russian tour operators selling packages to Serbian mountain resorts. With numerous markets still closed for Russian travellers, relaxed entry rules into Serbia and visa free travel have made the country a popular choice. Since mid-August, Russian travellers have also been visiting Serbia for coronavirus vaccinations as the country has enabled hotels to book jab appointments for foreigners. With Russia only administrating vaccines from one manufacturer which is not approved by the World Health Organisation and the European Medicines Agency, demand has grown to undergo the procedure in Serbia where the jab manufacturer can be selected.
Indirect traffic between Serbia and Russia in 2019
Air Serbia has previously described Russia as a strategically important market for the airline. “The Russian Federation represents a strategically extremely important market for us. Services to Russia enhance the flow of trade and strengthen the long-held and friendly bilateral relations between our two countries. Our flights have also been carefully scheduled to offer business and leisure guests from Russia seamless connectivity over our Belgrade hub to key destinations in the Balkans and Southern Europe, where we have an extensive network of flights”, the company previously noted. During the pre-pandemic 2019, there were over 2.950 passengers flying between Belgrade and Yekaterinburg on a single itinerary, based on OAG data. Air Serbia currently codeshares on Aeroflot's service between Moscow and Yekaterinburg.
It would be a good addition to the network.
ReplyDeleteHow long would the flight take?
ReplyDeletealmost 4 hours
DeleteNot bad. Thanks
DeleteThe flight time is such that it can fit perfectly into their departure waves. Good for transfers.
DeleteWill be interesting to see if they will schedule the flights for regional/Balkan transfers or European destinations.
DeleteInteresting that Red Wings is listed on beg.aero with one weekly flight from Ekaterinburg. I guess they are waiting to see if/when JU launches it for them to do the same.
ReplyDeleteSuch a shame that there are all these restrictions. Serbia could really use all the extra cash from tourism.
Had they approved all the routes that Russian airline applied for, it would have greatly helped BEG, the tourism and hotel industry. But the main priority is to help Air Serbia it seems.
DeleteIt's also a shame that they blocked Ural as they would have offered connections via Moscow to other points in Russia and the CIS. I guess it's good that Nordwind does it as well.
DeleteThey blocked Ural, S7 Airlines, Anadolujet... they are out of control.
Delete@ anon 10:25
DeleteUnfortunatelly, they are not out of control, they have been controled 100%. Otherwise, we could have all that Russia flights.
Makes sense if they are doing well on the Russian market.
ReplyDeleteInteresting choice
ReplyDeleteHave there ever been flights between these two?
ReplyDeleteWell, there might have been some by Montavia.
DeleteMontavia?
DeleteMontavia I believe was an agent (?) that worked with Gazpromavia years ago. They used to fly VKO (Tu-154) and AER (Yak 42) to BEG, every Saturday.
DeleteThey flew a number charters to Russia with leased aircraft, even Il-86.
DeleteI think they will have a lot of spare capacity this winter so launching a couple of new routes makes sense.
ReplyDeleteWill they have spare capacity? They have relaunched many routes compared to last winter.
DeleteIs their entire fleet now in use?
DeleteYes it is
DeleteThey should get those SSj100s that Sukhoi has been chasing them to get and can schedule them only on Russian routes :D
DeleteNo, it isnt, YU-API is not flying
DeleteYU-API is no longer part of the fleet. It has been written numerous times.
DeleteInteresting how they retired YU-ALV but they brought it back. Only goes to show how desperately they need more ATRs.
DeleteYU-ALV was flying for Air Corsica and now for an American Airline, YU-APG went back to lessor in Ireland, YU-ARA went back to Abu Dhabi but YU-API is still in BEG and officially still in the ASL fleet
Deletehttps://www.airfleets.net/ficheapp/plane-atr-727.htm
DeleteWhat other destinations could they launch in Russia?
ReplyDeleteDestinations listed in the table in the article.
DeleteStill nothing on INI-Russia market, could it work?
DeletePlenty of big cities in Russia that could still be served. Novosibirsk comes to mind.
Delete@9.36 it would be best to have a Russian LCC launch these flights.
Delete@ Anonymous 09:43, could the A319 make it to Novosibirsk?
DeleteIt could. The flight would be around five and a half hours.
DeleteI think Sochi could become extremely popular among Serbian holidaymakers. It's probably cheaper than Spain or Italy.
DeleteIt's not in people's habits to go holiday in Russia. They actually want to go to Spain and Italy.
DeleteHabits change all the time. If Sochi is promoted adequately there will be demand.
DeleteAnd there might be some people that might want to go to Sochi for holidays. After all, just because they might offer a new destination doesn't mean all others will be terminated. Holiday market is expanding every year and we can see that with the number of flights being offered in summer.
DeleteJat was flying to AER prior to the rebranding. I believe as regular charters.
Delete@10:55 yes it has and it was mainly while we had several Serbian construction companies working on the construction of various objects for the winter olimpycs.
DeleteIn my opinion opening a direct flight with Sevastopol for tourism would be a better choice than Sochi. It is cheaper and the coast / sea is much nicer than the Sochi riviera.
No international flights in Crimea
DeleteYou mean Simferopol (SIP).
DeleteSevastopol has only a military airport, Belbek.
Great news. Hope it happens
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know what are the loads for Air Serbia's new Rostov flights?
ReplyDeleteThey would not be extending them if they were underperforming.
Deleteflights to Russia have great potential.
ReplyDeleteBecause their competition is blocked there, that's why they are rushing to expand there. Finnair, LOT and now airBaltic all launched Dubai because of booming demand but JU introduced one weekly charter. Meanwhile flydubai and Wizz Air are booming to BEG. I really can't understand JU.
DeleteWhy are you surprised? We had an article about it a few days ago.
Delete#geneva
What does Geneva have to do with it?
DeleteAlmost every week we get good news about new airlines/routes in Belgrade :) nice
ReplyDeleteGood ties should be utilized as much as possible.
ReplyDeleteGood luck
ReplyDeleteIf they launch flights then a Russian carrier will be able to expand? Probably more flights from SU.
ReplyDeleteMore likely Nordwind.
DeleteI'm happy to see Air Serbia getting a bigger and bigger piece of the Russian market.
ReplyDeleteIs there any indication when the frequency restrictions between Serbia and Russia will be lifted? I think airlines are still limited to 14 weekly flights between Moscow and Belgrade (14 by Air Serbia and 14 by Russian carriers)
ReplyDeleteIt's Russia's doing. Not the other way around.
DeleteShame Russians are not allowing more flights to Moscow. There seems to be more than enough demand. Air Serbia often has extra charters to Moscow.
DeleteSeems they managed to find a good portion of transfer and point to point passengers on these Russia flights.
ReplyDeleteUnexpected but great to see.
ReplyDeleteWhy unexpected? Demand for Russia is strong.
DeleteYekaterinburg has a very limited number of flights to Europe so this is a great addition. I guess Turkish Airlines could loose some transfer passengers heading to western Europe.
ReplyDeleteTK is basically the only non-Russian airline that can serve transfers to Europe. The other used to be Belavia but not anymore.
DeleteTurkish seems to be flying to every Russian city.
DeleteThey fly to Kazan, Krasnodar, Moscow, Rostov, St Petersburg, Samara, Sochi, Ufa, Voronezh and Yekaterinburg.
DeleteYou should see their destination list in Germany :D
Delete13 cities served in Germany.
Delete^ massive diaspora.
DeleteGotta love the extremely regulated market, so great for passengers.
DeleteIs Air Serbia preparing some other new routes for this winter?
ReplyDeleteI doubt it. Someone said their plane has an almost 24 stay in Dubai which is a charter destination. It means they have no plans to utilise the fleet effectively this winter. Let's hope for next summer.
DeleteIt's probably done like that because of minimal rest for crew. Cheaper than keep crew there for 7 days.
DeleteWe don't know the return flight schedule yet.
DeleteThe flights are listed on the BEG website. Arrival and departure from/to DXB is at 1am.
DeleteArrival into DXB will be around 9am, departure back to BEG around 9pm.
Risky launching a new route in the dead of winter but good luck.
ReplyDeleteIt would begin just before holiday rush.
DeleteIt's good that Russia, Montenegro, Switzerland and Egypt were the main contributors to the current Belgrade traffic.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean? It is good of course, all traffic is good, but why those specific countries?
DeleteIf these start some Russian airline will also be granted rights to fly to Belgrade.
ReplyDeleteWe have seen from the filings with the Russian aviation directorate that Russian airlines are very interested in launching new flights to BEG so someone will probably get their route approved by Serbian CAD.
DeleteDoes Air Serbia's hybrid fares/model apply to Russian routes or is it like their New York route?
ReplyDeleteHow do you mean "hybrid"? It's treated like other European destinations. You get a snack and water free of charge and can purchase anything more. For example at Lufthansa in economy on European flights you just get a bottle of water and that's it. Everything else you need to pay for.
DeleteThe snack and water you get on JUs flights are not free, but rather included in the price of the ticket.
DeleteAll meals on airlines serving meals are included in the price of the ticket. That rarely makes the likes of Lufthansa who serve nothong cheaper. Their prices have not been reduced compared to when they were serving meals, as you know full well.
DeleteWhat are you on about? All I said was (anon@16:35) that on JUs flights (as on all other airlines) nothing is for free. Everything you get is included in the price. I don't follow LH prices, nor do I particularly care about them.
DeleteThe point is you are not charged extra for a snack and drink as you are on many other European legacy carriers.
DeleteAgreed. But that's different to what you wrote earlier.
DeleteYekaterinburg is a beautiful city. Worth a visit.
ReplyDeleteIf these start it means they will have 5 destinations in Russia. Will this be the most destinations they have on one single market?
ReplyDeleteYes it is
DeleteThey used to have 6 in Croatia, thought seasonally.
DeleteRight not, Russia has the lead.
Interesting that Krasnodar has fell out of taste a bit. Maybe because there is a flaw in the schedule as JU was not able to make a single flight arriving to Belgrade on time. I hope they do a better job with Yekaterinburg if that becomes a go ahead.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean "fell out of taste"? And where did you get that from?
DeleteIf it is not going to operate in winter that means there is less demand and that falls under "fell out of taste". This line used to be quite full in the past and was operating both in summer and winter.
DeleteBut it is operating in winter. What are you on about?
DeleteIt's not, they changed their mind. Flights are no longer in the system.
Delete^ Please stop making things up and spreading false information. Flights are in the system for winter. Each Friday and Sunday.
DeleteFlights are indeed in the system and bookable as seen in the screenshot.
Deletehttps://i.ibb.co/r5cdcDr/Krasnodar.png
What was the point of you lying @anon 17.32?
Is this also part of the "man's strategic plan" ??
ReplyDeleteAnd what exactly is the issue with it? That they are launching new routes to a market that is performing well?
DeleteThey are launching a new route? Really? No they are not, they are merely negotiating with the airport probably looking for some subsidies.
DeleteAnd? This is somehow a problem?
DeleteThey should focus on important european destinations.
ReplyDeleteMadrid for example.
Belgrade is the only place in the Balkans without Madrid flights-even Tirana and Timisoara have them.
And dont come with Albanian diaspora in Spain or other lame excuses.
Your comment is false. There are no flights from Sarajevo, Skopje, Podgorica, Zagreb (in winter), Pristina or Ljubljana to Madrid. Also, Air Serbia flies to Madrid. Route is temporarily suspended because of Covid.
DeleteJU should work on it. Instead they concern themselves with stupid plans about flying to random places. This stupid airline totally lost its direction.
DeleteSo now that you admit your original comment was completely false, they fly where there is a market, demand and money to be made.
DeleteIf they dont have demand for markets in Europe they better close down.
DeleteIn Yeka Diddle Doo they will not be profitable either.
So now that you admit your original comment was completely false, they resumed Barcelona and will start Madrid next March since there is a pandemic.
Delete19:36 What an insanely ignorant comment
DeletePretty sure anon 19:24 is the guy who's constantly crusading against Marek in the comments section. Did he fire you or something?
DeleteAS must be making plans to lease new aircraft. With flights to China starting right after New Year and now Yekaterinburg, I'm sure other new destinations are on the horizon.
ReplyDeleteAny chance someone will fly to Bari (Italy) from Serbia?
ReplyDelete