Air Serbia is in the process of finalising its 2021/2022 winter season operations, which begin on October 31 and run until March 26, 2022, with the airline currently scheduling 35 routes, 7.732 flights and 869.588 seats for the five-month period. These do not include charter services. However, additional modifications to the schedule are expected in the coming weeks. The figures indicate the airline will up its operations by 83%, while capacity will increase 80.4% compared to the previous winter season, which was heavily impacted by travel bans and lockdowns across the continent. Based on its existing schedule, which is subject to change in the coming weeks, the airline will serve 34 cities from Belgrade, one from Niš, while no flights have been filed out of Kraljevo, which saw seasonal operations to Thessaloniki over the summer.
Air Serbia will downgrade its year-round service between Belgrade and Geneva to seasonal operations. The route was launched over the winter, competing directly against easyJet. The airline is currently studying whether to run its new service to Rostov-on-Don over the winter as well and upgrade its seasonal operations to St Petersburg to year-round flights, in response to strong demand on the Russian market. It has so far scheduled services to Moscow and Krasnodar. At this point, the carrier will have no scheduled flights to the Middle East and North Africa, as it is yet to set a date for the resumption of flights to Cairo and Tel Aviv.
The airline’s General Manager for Commercial and Strategy, Jiri Marek, recently said, “We are aware that the situation with the coronavirus pandemic is deteriorating in certain countries, as well as that travel restrictions are being reimposed more frequently. For that reason, we will make plans for the coming period with a dose of caution, focusing on carefully observing the developing situation, and reacting quickly in accordance with the existing measures and demand on the market”. Serbia was recently placed on the European Union’s red list, recommending member states to bar non-essential travel from the country. However, those that have done so, have imposed such rules only on individuals who have not been vaccinated against the coronavirus with jabs recognised by the European Medicines Agency or, in some cases, the World Health Organisation.
So it seems easyjet was victorious on the Geneva route. I’m guessing JU kept it over winter last year since they got incentives from Geneva airport to fly the first full year. Now that it is no longer there it becomes summer seasonal.
ReplyDeleteU2 is very strong in GVA.
DeleteThey started GVA short notice when they thought easyjet would not come back.
DeleteJU does not deal well with the competition
DeleteThey are doing well on Oslo route, despite all the competition.
DeleteProbably because W6 flies from a village 120 km south of Oslo and DY is in no shape to dump prices.
DeleteHow does this schedule compare with the 2019-2020 winter season?
ReplyDeleteThat was the last "normal" year in aviation, it is a much better comparison than last season when we were banned from travelling to most of Europe.
But this year isn't normal either, as Serbian citizens are still banned from a lot of countries and/or complicated entry requirements make traveling too much of a hassle or outright impossible.
DeleteI don’t know why they don’t resume more routes from Nis. These are mostly for gastos who have all been vaccinated in the countries they live so they won’t have a problem with returning back.
ReplyDeleteBelgrade Airlines, that's why.
DeleteDemand is just not there for an A319 to be flying so many routes from INI.
DeleteHow come there is demand for FR and W6.
DeleteDoes JU still get subsidies for INI flights?
Delete^ that would be crazy
DeleteJU never got any funds upfront for INI. They got them based on operated flights, that is why it was easy for them to suspend destinations like BUD without suffering any penalties.
DeleteOk, that is reasonable.
DeleteJU should be making more flights out of INI. Given that the airport is owned by the Serbian government while BEG profits go to Vinci.
DeleteJU could of made more flights out of INI if the government didn't pull off a rigged tender with a horrible list of destinations. Would be great to see INI connected with CDG, AMS, SVO where JU has partners and not routes such as FKB and HAJ where they have nothing.
DeleteThe only route they are still flying from INI in winter is Hahn and the only reason they are flying it is because Ryanair wanted to start the route but were then blocked by the government.
DeleteDisappointing treatment of INI and KVO... after so many announcements...
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThere will be new routes from KVO. Probably next summer.
DeleteCome on. No announcements came from JU. Whoever did it instead, it is not relevant.
DeleteWhy don’t they resume Madrid if they will be flying to Barcelona?
ReplyDeleteBarcelona is a much larger market.
DeleteLarger market than Madrid???
DeleteMadrid was performing better than Barcelona prior to the pandemic.
I still think Dubai could work, despite competition from Flydubai.
ReplyDeleteHow can they be competative against FZ?
DeleteDXB will start with charters and then they will see about it for S22
DeleteJU is not competitive, look at GVA. I guess it's all part of Marek's strategic planning. lol
DeleteThat's a stupid decision. High season in Dubai is winter season.
DeleteDubai is in demand now more than ever because of travel restrictions while Dubai is open to everyone.
DeleteUAE including Abu Dhabi opened up to everyone who is vaccinated, Wizz Air also increased these flights to 3 per week from winter. Serious airlines are responding to maket dynamics, they are not missing out on any opportunity.
DeleteHow do you people think that Air Serbia could ever compete with double daily flights by Flydubai?
DeleteThat would be financial suicide.
Everyone is starting Dubai. Finnair just announced flights to DXB too.
DeleteI think more routes will be scheduled.
ReplyDeleteNot bad considering the situation.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Rostov will be extended during winter.
ReplyDeleteIt would be great if they upgrade LED too?
DeleteDid they fly LED year round in the past?
DeleteJust the first year.
DeleteIt probably depends if they get permission from the Russians.
DeleteNot flying to Cairo makes no sense.
ReplyDeleteEntry is permitted and look at the traffic to Hurghada.
DeleteHurghada and Cairo can't be compared.
DeleteI don't think Air Serbia will be returning to Cairo at all. Air Cairo plans to start that route next summer.
DeleteCairo is popular with tourists and they could get transfer passengers too. Plus Egypt is open to the entire world.
DeleteIt has been discussed before. It's a long rotation and many Egyptians can't enter anywhere in Europe so it makes transfers less likely.
DeleteCAI was on sale for Winter 2021 for some time but they suspended sales a month ago.
DeleteA solution to the issues they had with the long rotation could be by doing what they did in ROV.
Deletesee
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2021/07/air-cairo-to-launch-new-belgrade-routes.html
JU shoud try to find new routes where are no so strict requirements to enter and stimulate demand. Instead of that we have Mr. Marek copy-paste statements, far beyond reality.
ReplyDeleteAnd what new routes do you expect?
DeleteThat's a bit impossible with current restrictions.
DeleteThey already tried BUD, HEL, HAM, MUC, MLA and it did not work in much better times than these.
DeleteUK has heavy restrictions and visa regime is very strict.
My opinion is that they should try Salzburg, Munich, Florence.
Oops by mistake I wrote MUC ...they shoud surely try to fly there.
DeleteMadrid, Valencia, Caucasian threesome (Tbilisi, Baku, Yerevan) and return of Nice, Florence and Amman are more than enough for near-future "European" expansion.
DeletePlus Beijing/Shanghai/Toronto oncr when they grow proper cohones...
JU should have used this crisis to hit Lufti and launch Munich
DeleteMogu sa ATR-om 2x nedeljno da rade Dubrobnik i Split. Mogu da otvore Ankaru, Izmir i mozda jos Antaliju ka Turskoj 2x nedeljno A319, a onda u letnjoj sezoni da povecavaju. Mogu jos neka mesta u Grckoj da rade. Mogu da traze jos opcija za Rusiju, Ukrajinu, pa cak Jermenija, Azerbejdan i slicno. Dobili su ogromne subvencije, sto legalno sto nelegalno. Tako da se u krizi razvija, ne spava se, ne prosipaju se PR izjave, nego se pokusava da se opstane i da se zaposle kapaciteti sto vise.
DeleteWhat about Beijing?
ReplyDeleteJFK schedule change from December would indicate they plan to do something with A330.
DeleteChina is expected to open right after the Olympics in Beijing at the end of February so it would make sense.
DeleteWondering if we will see Geneva next summer either.
ReplyDeleteMe too. Might be lost to easyjet.
DeleteOn the first place it was never understandable for me why JU attacked U2 in GVA.
DeleteThey had to go very low with prices in order to try to be competitive (30-40 EUR one way) and at the same time they could have sent that plane to some destination where better price could have been charged.
Maybe JU could replace GVA with MUC.
I think they went after GVA because it seemed like Easyjet would not resume the route. Remember 2 years who when it took forever for easy to schedule continuation of GVA-BEG flight, JU put tickets on sale, thinking it would suspend. The second easy put tickets on sale, JU suspended its own.
DeleteNot sure they can compete against LH to MUC.
DeleteThey have been competing with LH in FRA for years just fine.
DeleteMadrid and Tel Aviv are a must.
ReplyDeleteBut I think entry into Israel is heavily restricted, as well as travel from Israel for Israelis.
DeleteAgree about MAD. I would have thought it to be more in demand than Barcelona.
DeleteMadrid is a big must but Iberia would still be in a better position because it offers connections .
DeleteJU unfortunately has partnered with Air Europe which is basically worthless .
That is your opinion.
DeleteWill they fly charters in winter?
ReplyDeleteYes, they always do
DeleteEspecially around New Year/Christmas.
DeleteAnd especially to places like Egypt where even in winter is fantastic weather.
DeleteAir Cairo flies to Hurghada year round. And I'm sure this winter, like the summer, there will be even more demand for Hurghada so I could see Air Serbia continuing their charters there.
DeleteThey will start Cairo next April.
Delete^ By "they" I mean Aie Cairo.
DeleteUntil when do they have the Smartwings 737?
ReplyDeleteIt was written here until the end of September.
DeleteSo Kraljevo-Vienna will not come back in winter?
ReplyDeleteReally disappointing.
DeleteThey could try Lyon instead of Geneva.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Wizz fly Belgrade-Lyon and fail?
DeleteSomeone mentioned here in the comments some time back that JU would swap out GVA for LYS.
DeleteI doubr it but I don't see what they would gain from that.
DeleteROV je već ulistan u zimski red letenja,2X nedeljno.
ReplyDeleteNe mogu da se kupe karte od 31.10.
DeleteInteresantno je da uvode kasnije polaske za Pariz od uobičajenih,a jedan čak i preko Zagreba i Kroacije.
DeleteCode-share sa OU?
DeletePonedeljkom večernji let za Podgoricu kreće u 22,50h i vraća se ujutru u 6. Po prvi put će avion JU noćiti van matičnog aerodroma.
DeleteNe verujem da je u pitanju code-share. Nude oni dosta letova sa presedanjem bez kod- šera ali mi je ovo bilo interesantno. Preko leta nude dosta letova za Split i Dubrovnik preko Zagreba.
DeleteThey have always offered these on their website via OU. It's not a codeshare.
DeleteAmsterdam 6
ReplyDeleteAtina 5
Banja Luka 2
Barselona 2
Beč 9
Berlin 4
Brisel 2
Bukurešt 7
Cirih 15
Diseldorf 3
Frankfurt 5
Istanbul 7
Kopenhagen 3
Krasnodar 3
Larnaka 3
Ljubljana 7
London 4
Milano 3
Moskva 7
Njujork 2
Oslo 2
Pariz 12
Podgorica 14
Prag 5
Rim 4
Rostov na Donu 2
Sankt Peterburg 1
Sarajevo 5
Skoplje 7
Sofija 4
Solun 3
Stokholm 3
Štutgart 3
Tirana 10
Tivat 12
Zagreb 7
They still haven't pit tickets on sale for Rostov or St Petersburg.
DeleteFrequencies are very modest. Reminds me of Jat Airways times, granted there was no pandemic then.
DeletePetition - Air Serbia needs to start Chicago-Belgrade nonstop flights. Please share!
ReplyDeletehttps://change.org/p/air-serbia-air-serbia-needs-to-start-chicago-belgrade-nonstop-flights