Czech low cost carrier Smartwings will introduce a regular one weekly service between the Canary Islands and Belgrade from the 2021/2022 winter season, which begins in late October, the airline has announced. The carrier will maintain the flights from its base in Las Palmas, the capital of the Canary Islands, where it has three aircraft stationed. The new service will be operated in cooperation with two major European tour operators. Initially, flights will run until April 2022, with the possibility for them to be extended. During the pre-pandemic 2019, a total of 2.036 passengers flew indirectly between Belgrade and Las Palmas on a single itinerary, while some 2.500 in total travelled to the archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean on a single ticket.
Spain is open to vaccinated Serbian nationals and recognises Serbia's digital Covid certificate. Those that have had any Covid-19 jab are permitted entry into the country without restrictions, while those that have not been inoculated for the virus are not allowed entry into the country. The new route marks the culmination of Smartwings’ presence in Serbia this summer. The Czech carrier has been maintaining wet-lease operations from Belgrade on behalf of Air Serbia since June. Its Boeing 737-700 jet has been deployed on both scheduled and charter flights on behalf of the Serbian carrier with its own crew as part of an ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance) contract. It is expected to run its final flights on behalf of the Serbian carrier this Sunday as its three-month contract comes to a close.
Smartwings is the Czech Republic’s largest airline group, dominating the country’s aviation market. It also boasts secondary hubs in Poland, France, Slovakia, Hungary and the Canary Islands. Its business model is based on serving high demand holiday markets through both scheduled and charter flights, as well as special operations for sports clubs or organisations around the world. Smartwings' fleet is made up of 44 Boeing 737 Next Generation and MAX aircraft. It is also the owner of the Czech Republic’s national carrier Czech Airlines and one of the largest leisure operators in Central Europe.
Well that was unecpected.
ReplyDeleteUnexpected but very welcome!
DeleteSmartwings has announced that it will deploy three jets in its base at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Airport (LPA), as it has signed two new agreements with German travel agencies. Airline will provide weekly connectivity services between the Canary Islands and Helsinki (HEL), Belgrade (BEG), Tallinn (TLL), Sofia (SOF), Bodo (BOO), and Tromso(TOS). Not just Belgrade !!!
DeleteI'm surprised by the number of passengers that flew on this route from BEG, especially since I assume many either used LCCs or flew from BUD so are not counted in the statistic.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of history where a certain empire would hire mercenaries to fight for them and in the end those same mercenaries refused to leave and started causing problems for those who hired them in the first place.
ReplyDeleteIf they are sticking to Las Palmas flights in winter then I wouldn't be surprised if they are already working on a plan for the summer season.
That said, this is highly unexpected move from them. Good for BEG. Anyone know which tour operators are behind these flights?
Agree completely. They obviously saw some opportunities in BEG which they had not even considered before they were hired to operate flights for Air Serbia.
DeleteIf these flights happen (and I hope they do) it will be a major blow for JU which has so much spare capacity in winter. If these happened in summer then one could say that their fleet is fully booked but what's their excuse for winter?
DeleteI wonder if these flights will be operated by MAX. Funny thing is that this summer their MAX was a regular visitor to Belgrade but thanks to Israir which was leasing it from them.
beside Aviogenex back in the days, no one has ever flown to Canary Islands. this is big surprise, but who knows, they may create demand. I don't think Canaries were ever in JU's plan btw
DeleteThere seems to already be demand. Over 2,000 people flew from BEG to Las Palmas in 2019
DeleteI am not an expert on charter traffic but I don't think it's the airline that makes plans, they usually fly where tour operators decide to take their customers. Just like Morocco was never part of their plan but they planned charters because Kontiki organized groups.
DeleteIf these flights are organized by local tour operators then it could mean Smartwings communicated with them behind JU's back.
Well Nemjee I think that your thinking is in right direction. But maybe Smartwings did not communicate behind JU's back, maybe someone from JU's management gives a hint to Smartwings. We shall see in summer season 22.
DeleteAir Serbia should have developed a charter plan for the winter. I am certain two or three one off long haul charters could have worked well, especially now when people don't wont to transfer through other airports because of Covid. But for this to happen you had to start working with travel agencies in March for the winter months like December and January. Caribbean is wide open and will stay that way, Thailand is reopening borders in two weeks... So many opportunities.
DeleteIt's not so difficult to connect the dots here in how this has come to pass .... look within the upper ranks of JU's mgt and you will quickly see and understand the connection.
DeleteThe optics of this looks SO bad that you cannot even pass it off as mere coincidence. And in the unlikeliest scenario that it was, you would do everything to make sure that it didn't happen.
Just wait to see what the trojan horse does next summer - having had the benefit of learning about the market opportunities from within and on someone else's tab.
Well I can tell you right now that they had direct access to see loads on the flights they operated, many of them charters and all of them full.
DeleteIndeed, this was a mistake that could have been avoided. Smartwings is very aggressive and they have been expanding left and right. BEG has always had a strong charter demand and now they are starting to profit from it.
DeleteSlightly unrelated to all this but I wonder if from November Serbian citizens will be allowed to transfer in the EU on their way to the US. If yes then it will be another game changer. Lufthansa already reported a 40% increase in sale of their US flights and in November they plan BEG as 4 daily (2 from FRA and 2 from MUC).
Air Serbia getting hits they can never recover from. I wonder when their end will be.
Delete^ are you for real? Haha
Deletehahaha I think it's his wishful thinking. This is just great example of the Serbian market not held hostage by JU's inefficiency.
DeleteI would say this is more likely attack on Serbian travel market by German travel agencies. "Having signed two new contracts with German travel agencies"
Delete"Starting on October 1, 2021, the airline will provide weekly connectivity services between the Canary Islands and Helsinki (HEL), Belgrade (BEG), Tallinn (TLL), Sofia (SOF), Bodo (BOO), and Tromso (TOS). Then, from October 20, 2021,"
https://www.aerotime.aero/28983-smartwings-to-add-six-routes-to-leisure-air-travel-network
I remember there being an article (maybe even on here) some 10 years ago how TUI was planning on expanding into the Serbian market. Maybe it's them giving Serbia another try.
DeleteTUI was the first thing that came to my mind too. Thry have an office in Belgrade.
DeleteMissed opportunity for Air Serbia
ReplyDeleteFor a Canary Islands slot they might earn double flying to some new place like Munich, Innsbruck or Kosice.
DeleteJudging by how destinations in that vicinity operate, all 3 would be ATR destinations. Canary Islands wouldn't be a fun ride on an ATR.
DeleteStarting next month, JU will be sending an aircraft for a 24 hour rotation to DXB every week. It looks like they aren't too desperate to have maximum utilisation with the fleet this the winter.
Air Serbia is the implification of missed opportunities while living of from state aid.
DeleteAir Serbia is not living off state aid. Look at the accounting report.
DeleteAnon@02.53 - I guess you also still believe in the tooth fairy too
DeleteI know how to read accounting reports so I don't have to resort to tooth fairy questions. But you do.
DeleteHow on God's Earth can you possibly read a financial report for the year of 2021 when it won't be made available until sometime in 2022 ?? You may well know how to read financial reports, but you clearly have an issue in reading the news - with announcements made earlier this year just how much aid JU was granted by the Govt - which was to cover its record loss in 2020 and to provide it with much needed working capital as it struggles to generate much needed cash to cover the cost of its operations.
DeleteMoreover, the record loss reported in 2020, is
No one mentioned report for 2021 in this thread. Both private and government airlines around the globe received large government donations last and this year. Are you okay?
DeleteDude - yes thx, all is ok. However, our earlier respondent claimed that JU was not living off state aid because he/she can read accounting statements. You just confirmed to him/her that airlines around the globe rec'd govt donations (grants actually) ... that was the point I was making as well. Many airlines (than not) are all living off state aid during these challenging times
DeleteIs Canary Islands a winter destination?
ReplyDeleteVery much so. It's one of the prime destinations for a winter holiday among many Europeans.
DeleteWell, yes and no. Yes if you are a senior citizen in search for some winter sun and don't really mind the mild weather. No, if you are of younger population looking to hit the clubs and swim in the ocean, as during European winter the ocean is way to cold for swimming.
DeleteDepends what too cold means to you, I spent the entire winter in Gran Canaria last year and went for a swim every day. Ocean temp. was cca 20-21 degrees in the south of the island and air temp 19-25 during the day. Perfect enough for me. :)
DeleteInteresting. Personally I'd never step into seawater if it isn't at least 25-26 degrees 😁
DeleteThis is very individual, but overall 21 deg sea and 20 deg outside temperature cannot be regarded as "summer vacation". As for you, I believe you wanted to get the most for money spent and would swim even if the temp was degree or two lower. I'd never do it but I can relate.
DeleteWho gets to decide what proper vacation is? I'd rather be at the heated pool in the 20 degree sunshine than stuck in traffic with snow and -2.
DeleteHmm was just thinking how nice it would be for them to fly to BEG, although from Prague, considering Air Serbia tickets are so expensive at the moment. But still, Canary Islands isn't so bad :D
ReplyDeleteGreat news. They are also launching Helsinki, Tallinn and Sofia once per week from Las Palmas.
ReplyDeleteWhere did you see this?
DeleteThe airline announced it, same as Belgrade. It's on their site.
DeleteYeah just saw it. Thanks. Missed opportunity for Wizz Air for sure. They launched BEG and SOF because of the lack of competition obviously.
DeleteI notice that Wizz is launching Bucharest - Las Palmas next week.
DeleteI think Wizz Air needs the A321neo for this route and they don't have any of those in Belgrade.
DeleteOut of curiously, why do you think they need the neo for these flights?
DeleteBecause it's a rather long segment and it would be pushing the limits of A321ceo. Also when you factor in winds and various indirect corridors you want a plane with improved performance. Same thing why they waited for the A321neo to launch AUH-BEG.
DeleteWizz was flying OTP-TFS with A320ceo before neos came along. And A321ceo can easily do AUH-BEG, the route launch probably coincided with the launch of Wiz Air Abu Dhabi.
Delete@Nemjee I had flight to Canary Islands, Fuerteventura to be more precise, from WAW with A320 few years ago. So no, you don't need Neo or Max to fly that destination. 737NG or A320/321 are just fine.
DeleteI didn't say it can't make it. I said that it's pushing the limits of A321ceo meaning that there might be some weight restrictions on such a long flight. There is a reason why these longer sectors are the first to get the neo.
DeleteYou said they need an A321neo to operate this route from BEG which is simply not the case. Additionally they could easily replace an A321ceo for a neo if it was needed, no big deal.
DeleteNonsense, this is what I wrote:
Delete''Because it's a rather long segment and it would be pushing the limits of A321ceo. ''
Wizz is not going to move a neo to BEG just to operate one route to Spain on which they would face competition.
10:53 don't you see what you wrote my dear Nemjee? And seriously, what do you think that the neo is some sort of limited special secret technology that is reserved only for their most prestigious bases? The neos are moving around different bases all the time. If an neo was truly needed to operate a route from BEG (not the case), they could simply replace one for a ceo. Because guess what it wouldn't only have to operate a single route to Spain, it could operate other routes as well.
DeleteThey don't have that many neos right now and the ones they have are being used elsewhere, that is in bases where there is a greater need for them. In Belgrade AUH is operated by a neo based in the UAE while all other destinations can easily be served by an A321ceo.
DeleteAlso I don't think Wizz has any plans to launch these kind of longer routes with BEG based planes so for the time being they are good.
Like I wrote they will need a neo because ceo would be pushed to its limits. Wizz is supposedly bringing an A320 to BEG in December. That is they are bringing in a smaller plane, I doubt they need a neo over here right now.
Oh and btw, Wizz Air has something like 150 A321neo on order. I expect all of their BEG based planes to be eventually upgraded from ceo to neo. However I don't think they will rush this process before the Serbian market fully recovers from covid.
DeleteWell, of course, we are only talking hypotethically, as i also don't think Wizz would start LPA or TFS from BEG in the near future. But in such scenario an A321ceo could operate this route as it has done from OTP for years. A neo would not be necessary. The seat difference between the ceo and the neo is 9 seats, are there really other bases with such greater need for 9 extra seats?
DeleteAUH is operated by Wizz Air Abu Dhabi which only has neos, so not many options there.
9 seat difference is not what matters here, different engines are key.
DeleteLook I think they will keep on expanding in Belgrade but I think they are far away from such destinations. It will come but I think it will happen in the next 5-6 years.
OTP is a much larger market to Spain than Serbia is and that's why they had it as a much higher priority than from belgrade.
Yes yes, i didn't disagree with you on that one, the point was the ceo or neo, it doesn't matter. That's all. Different engine is irrelevant when they are flying the same distances as the ceo, not like they are prioritizing other airports for fuel efficiency. If they would exclusively fly only long routes i would understand your point.
DeleteMy point is that they still have holes in their network before launching places like Tenerife. So many larger markets are left unserved and until they cover those I don't see these such as Las Palmas as being their priority. Maybe when their 4th of 5th plane is added in BEG.
DeleteTime for CAD to block some flights, can't have too much competition for JU.
ReplyDeleteThey can't block an EU carrier.
DeleteYes, they can. They were blocking Ryanair for years to open base in Niš.
DeleteNonsense. Ryanair is flying several routes from Nis and is opening a new one in just a month.
Delete@ mehanicar
DeleteIts possible that the agreement in place allows for freedom of opening routes to/from Serbia from the EU, but not opening a base in Serbia.
Wizz did open a base BEG but there was issues with that agreement resulting in the former director of BEG being arrested.
FR was only rejected opening HHN-INI because its a PSO route given to JU.
Random but nice
ReplyDeleteHow long will this flight take approximately?
ReplyDeleteClose to six hours I think.
DeleteAlthough described as LC carrier, don't expect any low fare prices. Prices are low possibly only for those travel agencies that book through them, but tickets that they offer directly are very expensive.
ReplyDeletePublished also in Czech republic two days ago (https://zdopravy.cz/smartwings-ziskaly-nove-zakazky-na-lety-pro-cestovky-na-kanarskych-ostrovech-budou-mit-tri-letadla-92350/) and still no info which agencies they have deal with.
Anyway, nice news!
Have you flown with them? What are they like as an airline? Typical LC?
DeleteNo. To be honest, I never use travel agencies services. Smartwings is leasure airline with LC service. That is what I read but haven't experienced.
DeleteThey like to fly over half an Europe on one engine.
Deletestory described here: https://www.flightglobal.com/safety/smartwings-737-captain-hid-engine-failure-to-continue-flight-to-prague/139486.article
DeleteVery good decision.
DeleteI would have done the same thing.
Better than dropping hundreds of tons of kerosene into the ocean for a minor technical fault.
737 has spectacular fuel dumping capabilities. A whole 0 kg/hr.
DeleteI was on Lanzarote last week and spoke to a couple from Nis who work and live in Germany, they told me the Canary Islands are a very popular destination for people from the former YU and couldn't understand why there's never been direct flights.
ReplyDeleteI'm from Manchester and Lanzarote is a very popular destination for UK residents, especially in winter, there's also plenty of low cost flights/choice to get us there.
I wish them luck with this new route and hopefully it'll be successful and spawn more flights from the region to different islands.
Nice to hear :) Never would have guessed
DeleteNot exactly true there were never flights from ex-yu to Canary Islands. Scheduled flights, yes, there were none, but Adria did operate charters both during ex-yu, and later, to Tenerife, for Slovenian and Croatian tourist agencies
DeleteFrom LJU
DeleteGood to see less traditional tourist markets for Serbian travelers developing and opening up.
ReplyDeleteI think it also has to do with Spain's entry policy which has guaranteed vaccinated people can enter, and especially because they don't pick and choose which vaccine is allowed.
DeleteSpain was very popular this summer for Serbian tourists. There was a lot of interest, although interest has been growing steadily in last 5 years.
DeleteTour operator?
ReplyDeleteThis airline seems to be everywhere in Europe
ReplyDeleteGreat, the more new routes the better, especially since I think winter may be a bit difficult again for BEG with all the entry restrictions being reintroduced by countries.
ReplyDeleteEntry restrictions are very fluid and thankfully EU has lately been quick to remove countries from ban lists when situation improve. Cases are starting to go down. The wave lasted around a month as every other one before that. I suspect that by the start of the winter season, Serbia will be removed from the EU red list.
DeleteHope so
DeleteAlso I would add that many countries ended up banning unvaccinated travelers. This is good as their restrictions did not lead to the total collapse of demand ... as was the case last year.
DeleteAny new route is good in these times but I like these "exotic" ones :D
ReplyDeleteNice, let's hope the volcano eruption on Las Palmas doesn't affect tourism much.
ReplyDeleteLas Palmas is the capital of Gran Canaria, the eruption happened on the westernmost island in the archipelago - La Palma. But I agree that they could've come up with slightly different names, a lot of foreigners find this confusing. Not to mention that when you say you fly to just "La Palma", everybody assumes that you're going to Palma de Mallorca. :D
DeleteThanks for clarifying. I actually had no idea these two were different. And last week I actually thought the eruption was on Palma de Mallorca!
DeleteEruption was not in Las Palmas (city on Grand Canaria Island), but on distant island La Palma.
DeleteI didn't realize as I wrote above.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteHas this route ever been served from Belgrade?
ReplyDeleteAviogenex and Adria used to fly charters back in the day.
DeleteLPA has over 13 million passenger per year!
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion this is very interesting, not just because they will launch flights to a place like Canary Islands but that they seem to be working with tour operators for the Serbian market. Makes you wonder what is to come next summer.
ReplyDeleteYou raise a good point. We will see what happens. Maybe it's a one off but who knows. Other than Croatian coast, they don't seem to be very active in ex-Yu.
Delete"During the pre-pandemic 2019, a total of 2.036 passengers flew indirectly between Belgrade and Las Palmas"
ReplyDeleteVery interesting. These sort of figures make it perfect for charters. Wonder if there are other so to say "unexpected" destination with a solid number of passengers.
Keep in mind, those are only passengers who started in Las Palmas or Belgrade and went the other direction by transferring with the same airline or onto a codeshare flight. So that excludes all LCC combinations people might have taken and all those that used other airports or flew two different airlines.
DeleteI'm sure if we looked at numbers for Malaga they would have been good too.
DeleteSounds great, I hope it will also be possible to buy just the flight tickets, regardless of the holiday package.
ReplyDeleteSame!
Deletewow nice!
ReplyDeleteThank God we don't have any crew laid off and on unpaid leave since February 2021... It would have beem pretty akward to have another airline come in your base off season and fly charters for you, even though there is plenty of capacity for JU to do it themselves.
ReplyDeleteOh wait.... My bad.
I think there is potential for a lot more routes from Belgrade to Spin. So far we have Barcelona operated by 3 airlines (Air Serbia, Wizz, Vueling), Madrid (when Air Serbia restarts it) and Las Palmas with Smartwings. I'm sure Valencia could work too.
ReplyDeleteAir Serbia planned Valencia flights in 2019 to be launched in summer 2020. I think they even put them up for sale.
DeleteThey were planning to start Valencia but in the end they didn't and chose Florence instead. Oslo, Budapest and Valencia were considered for 2020 summer but didn't make the cut (although they were loaded in the booking system for one day). Of course this was pre Covid. They later decided to start Oslo. Original planned new routes for summer 2020 were Geneva, Amman, Rostov-on-Don, Florence, Lviv, and Chisinau. And a lot of frequency increases.
DeleteCool, hopefully many of those are brought back for next year. Will be interesting to see what Air Serbia and Vueling do now that Wizz Air plans BCN flights.
DeleteMalaga will be the perfect summer charter destination for JU !
DeleteAccording to the news they open together with BEG from LPA also flights to Sofia, Talinn, Helsinki,Tromso and Bodo.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be surprised if Jiri is leaking info to these guys.
ReplyDeleteSorry but what can be leaked about this? Smartwings has concluded agreement with non-Serbian tour operators.
Delete+10000000
DeleteI said this a long time ago. I wouldn't be surprised if he is getting a cut from this. It's all too suspicious. He's Czech who worked for CSA which is owned by Smartwings now and they leased two planes from them and now they are expanding from Spain to BEG like never before.
I'm not so sure that there is anything to leak. Nonetheless, this is not a good look at all. The perception is bad and if he had a brain in his head, he should have used his influence to avoid this very scenario from ever happening. As it is, people will now connect him and this company and put the two together with the conclusion that we now have.
DeleteHave him go and sit in the silly boys corner ....
Yes especially since he is a silly boy after all this.
DeleteYeah, he also leaked info about SOF and TLL
DeleteCould you imagine if he had have shared his famous strategic plan and how damaging that would have been - not !!!
DeleteThis is very good news. Now when I am in Serbia in winter I can fly to the sun and warmth and skip Florida and the Caribbean. Having said that, it is time for AS to establish at least a weekly or bi-weekly flight to the Canary Islands.
ReplyDeleteThere is also Tenerife.
DeleteWell, of course, we are only talking hypotethically, as i also don't think Wizz would start LPA or TFS from BEG in the near future. But in such scenario an A321ceo could operate this route as it has done from OTP for years. A neo would not be necessary. The seat difference between the ceo and the neo is 9 seats, are there really other bases with such greater need for 9 extra seats?
DeleteAUH is operated by Wizz Air Abu Dhabi which only has neos, so not many options there.
Was meant to be posted in another comment, apologies.
DeleteMiro, iz Beograda je dugi niz godina solidna potraznja za toplim destinacijama u zimsko doba. Vecina destinacija zahteva presedanje (Karibi, Tajland, Bali itd) pa to uz cene ogranicava masovnu potraznju. Dubai i Hurgada su cele zime dostupni direktnim letovima pa ce Las Palmas biti odlicna opcija za one koji traze nesto novo bez presedanja.
DeleteThere are many Canary islands : Gran Canaria,Teneriffa,Lanzarote,Fuerteventura,La Gomera,La Palma ...
ReplyDeleteAnd just north of them you have the famous island of Madeira, which belongs to Portugal .
They won tender for fligts to 6 European destinations.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.smartwings.com/en/smartwings-wins-new-international-contracts