Greece’s Aegean Airlines will launch two new scheduled seasonal services to Belgrade next summer, complementing its operations from Athens. The carrier will introduce two weekly flights from both Heraklion and Rhodes to the Serbian capital. Services will commence on June 2 and June 3 respectively. Operations from Heraklion will run each Tuesday and Thursday, while the Rhodes service will be maintained on Mondays and Fridays. The airline will deploy its 206-seat Airbus A321 aircraft on both routes. Flights will run until September 29. Overall, Aegean has put 7.035 seats on sale each way between Heraklion and Belgrade and a further 6.834 each way between Rhodes and the Serbian capital. Tickets are on sale through the airline’s website.
The carrier had previously only operated charter flights from the Greek islands to Belgrade, without the possibility of booking a ticket directly with the airline. It will face direct competition from Wizz Air, which will resume its seasonal flights between Belgrade and Heraklion on June 22, 2022 with a two weekly rotation. Wizz had introduced the route only this year. Furthermore, Air Serbia operates a significant number of charter flights in cooperation with tour operators to both island airports. Greece sees the largest number of summer charters from Belgrade each year.
In addition to the two new routes, Aegean will continue to maintain its year-round operations from Athens to Belgrade. Next summer it plans to run four weekly rotations between the two capitals with its A320 jets. The Greek carrier had previously announced plans to expand its operations in the region in 2022, with the airline to introduce a seasonal three weekly service between Thessaloniki and Dubrovnik from June 1. Furthermore, it will restore operations between Athens and Zagreb for the first time since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020. The seasonal flights will commence on June 15 and run twice per week, each Wednesday and Saturday, with a mix of A320 and A320neo aircraft, until October 8.
Further information for the new Heraklion - Belgrade service can be found here, while additional information for the Rhodes - Belgrade route can be viewed here.
Great news!
ReplyDeletewow
ReplyDeleteThey are just turning their seasonal charter service into regular to be able to sell the remaining seats to individuals.
DeleteTheir prices are great too. At least to Herklion they can be competitive against Wizz Air.
ReplyDeletePrices are good but schedule not so much. You arrive in HER and RHO in the evening, meaning you have to pay for an extra night at the hotel. Also for the return you will have to pay late check out.
DeleteWhat is Wizz Air's scheduling?
DeletePretty much the same as Aegean's.
DeleteSo 4 weekly flights with A321 between Belgrade and Herklion (Aegean and Wizz) plus who knows how many Air Serbia charters. Not bad at all.
ReplyDeleteJU operated several charter flights to Chania this year but I didn't see Heraklion. They did operate Rhodes and other Greek destinations though.
DeleteLet's see if Wizz Air responds by rescheduling their HER flights. Aegean plans on resuming flights nearly three weeks before them. This battle between Wizz Air and Aegean should be interesting to follow. Will be fun if Wizz Air launches their own RHO flights though I'd rather see a new seasonal route like Corfu.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Wizz operate Corfu a few years ago from BEG? Or did I mix something up?
DeleteIt was years ago, that summer they operated Corfu and Rhodes flights. They both lasted one season and were not resumed. That said, seems like the Serbian market has matured enough for these kind of summer seasonal flights. Next year Wizz Air will have an additional plane in Belgrade so we will have to see what they do with it. I just hope they don't use it to operate W pattern flights, that would be a waste.
DeleteCould Air Serbia consider flying scheduled flights to the Greek islands? Or there is no point?
ReplyDeleteI don't see the need for it. Tour operators buy out their planes on these routes.
DeleteAir Serbia could rely on transfer traffic, they could easily operate overnight flights the same way they do with other Greek/Hellenic airports like SKG, ATH and LCA. Crete is home to 600.000 people and it has a strong diaspora, especially in Germany.
Deletetrue and I'm sure they could capture quite a lot of transfers from Russia and Scandinavia going on holiday to Greece.
DeleteAlso I think there would be some interest from the region. A night flight like Nemjee suggests would be great because you would get connecting traffic from their European wave of arrivals from Belgrade and the ability for the return service to connect onto the morning wave of departures.
DeletePlus, there is another thing to consider here. With a 00.30 departure and a 05.45 return to Belgrade, people could avoid taking an extra day off of work. For example, if the flight would depart Belgrade on Saturday at 00.30 then you could finish work on Friday, get ready and head to the airport. This would be especially convenient for people who are not from Belgrade and how need an extra hour or two to reach the airport.
DeleteTrue. But somehow I doubt JU would consider this.
DeleteYes, I feel the same. I think they gave up on HER this year. I think next year there is going to be even more demand for Greece as unlike this year there won't be absolute confusion as to the entry requirements. That issue has been resolved and people know what is needed to travel to Greece. After all, Aegean knows this which is why they are introducing scheduled flights and boosting capacity to A321.
DeleteI think the issue of Crete is over. A3 and W6 will compete in HER while JU will run charters to places like Chania. Personally, what I am curious about is what will happen with BCN. Spain is more or less open to Serbian travelers, they accept Sinopharm and next summer there might be three airlines on the market. I am curious to see what Vueling does and if they put up a fight. I think JU is the strongest of the three in this case.
@ nemjee
DeleteGreat comments. There was talk last year of JU launching Ionnina as a new destination. I think CFU would also be a great addition for a seasonal service. Split midnight and midday rotations could be great for JFK transfers as well.
Actually Aegean announced a major expansion for next summer. They are resuming OSL, KBP, HAJ, NUE and BSL from Athens but what I found extremely interesting is that they are introducing KRR.
DeleteIn SKG they are resuming FCO, MXP and LED while they are introducing DBV, TIA and ADB.
These BEG flights are part of that wave of expansion. Good to see that BEG is on their radar.
Here is the schedule.
DeleteATH-KRR 23.50-02.15
KRR-ATH 03.15-05.45
With such a schedule they will cover their regional, island network as well as the Balkans and Western Europe. Will be interesting to see if JU, PC and TK respond in any way. Pegasus seems to be the strongest there from the three.
@nemjee
DeleteInteresting. Do you know the frequencies?
Twice per week, I think from Athens flights operate on Tuesdays and Fridays. There is direct overlap with JU on Friday/Saturday.
Delete@ nemjee
DeleteThanks for the info. I was trying to google the info but couldn't find anything.
Twice a week shouldn't be a problem for JU. They did have, prior to Covid, 3 pw to KRR. ROV was originally scheduled as 4 pw.
They have kept LED for November which I don't think was the case previously. With Nordwind actively looking at launching Russia-BEG routes, I think JU would be looking to defend their position and keep/boost frequencies where possible.
What JU has working in its favor is that its hub offers a shorter trip if you are heading to western or northern Europe. With Aegean you have to go some 45 minutes to the south and then to do the same going north. Adds quite a bit of travel time. I think Aegean will primarily carry people going to Greece. Air Serbia has its advantages there but I still think it would be a shame if they don't try to promote themselves a bit more over there.
DeleteThis is good news. More competition less prices.
ReplyDeleteGreat news.
ReplyDeleteWizz will be flying next year from Belgrade to Santorini as well.
They were flying this year too :)
DeleteI know, but in the article Santorini was not mentioned for next year.
DeleteI guess they were only mentioning the route they compete on.
DeleteJU could try a 2 weekly flight to Mykonos.
DeleteMykonos and Santorini would be great seasonal routes for JU.
DeleteI think the market to Santorini isn't big enough for two players. They should consider Corfu as a summer seasonal route, it could easily work on the ATR. I'd also consider Rhodes which should do fine with connections, at least during the three summer months.
DeleteGreat. I believe these are the first two new routes scheduled for Belgrade next summer.
ReplyDeleteCorrect, if you don't include the new flights launching this winter from BEG.
DeleteThere is also Alitalia's return so I don't know if you count that.
DeleteI hope they also consider Thessaloniki-Belgrade.
ReplyDeleteYou already have JU on this route.
DeleteWe have JU on the ATH route too, but that didn't stop Aegean.
DeleteLet's see. I wonder if tour operator see greater value in working with Aegean and Wizz Air on these routes rather than Air Serbia.
ReplyDeleteI don't think this will impact anyone. The market is big enough. And let's not forget that someone has to fill the void left by Ellin Air/Mouzenidis Travel which went bankrupt this year and had no flights.
DeleteAir Serbia didn't even fly to Heraklion this year. So no big deal for JU.
DeleteEllinair planned one flight every 10 days, it's not like they had a massive presence in BEG.
DeleteThis is a nice surprise :)
ReplyDeleteA3 seems to be serious about BEG. New routes plus operating all A320 flights from BEG-ATH means they also offer business class.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThey couldn't compete with JU if they were to send turboprops.
DeleteIt's not just about competition. It's about healthy loads too.
DeleteThis year they had 5 weekly on the A320/321. I am sure they didn't send them for fun. They had enough demand to not send Q400.
DeleteAir Serbia has these flights every summer as charter, so no surprise.
ReplyDeleteWell let's not forget that demand for travel will continue to grow next summer and these routes were already popular this summer as well. I'm sure that although Aegean is selling tickets, they also have a few tour operators they work with because they had charters on these routes this year.
ReplyDeleteIf they sell a portion of the seats to tour operators it will mean prices will go up for those that will be book independently directly throguh the airline.
DeleteThat won't be the case in HER where they have Wizz Air offering cheap flights.
DeleteAnonymous 09:48
DeleteSo JU abandoned the market between BEG and Greece's second busiest airport after ATH.
Very smart planning.
It didn't 'abandon' anything. It flies where tour operators request it to fly. Stop spewing nonsense.
DeleteThe tour operators who are booking with W6 and A3 to HER must be JU haters then!
DeleteYou dont need to fly to Heraklion when there is also Chania airport.
DeleteChania is not some greek island but a town on the island of Crete.
A lot of people are bad in geographics and simply dont know that ...
That is true but Chania and Heraklion are some 150 km apart and it takes over 2 hours to travel between the two cities. There are plans to open a new airport in Heraklion located in the twon of Kasteli which is some 40 km south-east from Heraklion. In other words it will be even further away from Chania.
DeleteIn terms of tourism, there is logic in having flights to both airports, either scheduled or charter.
Good news. I'm also really happy to see Wizz Air resuming its Greek island flights from Belgrade.
ReplyDeleteHoped for Ljubljana flights to be honest, no idea why they aren't flying there
ReplyDeleteI find it surprising too. Makes no sense for them not to fly to LJU.
DeleteThe airport probably has to do more to attract them to Ljubljana.
DeleteDidn't they fly to Ljubljana once upon a time?
DeleteWell, all the airports are owned by Fraport.. so what they are waiting for..?
DeleteLJU just isn't working enough to get new airlines.
DeleteI think Aegean does really well in Belgrade
ReplyDeleteIs Belgrade is the only ex-YU destination to have year-round flights to Greece?
ReplyDeleteNo, Aegean flies to Skopje year round.
DeleteTrue but if I remember correctly that is more or less a political route introduced after the name change agreement.
DeleteIt is not a political route. It operated before the suspension which was a result of the airport name change (not country name). The route performs really well which is not surprising considering the demand between the two countries.
DeleteIn fact SKP was Aegean's first international route outside Greece.
DeleteDo we know where JU will be flying to in Greece as part of their charter network next year?
ReplyDeleteIt's a bit early for that.
DeleteThis year they had Cephalonia, Chania, Corfu, Mykonos, Rhodes and Skiathos.
DeleteThanks
DeleteIf they managed so many routes this summer during a pandemic, then next year should be even better.
DeleteMykonos was not their destination. I think that is is really example from the books how when company concentrate only in charters, because those flights are cash cows, how starting to lose market. Lucky for Air Serbia that bilateral agreements exist for Turkey and Egypt
DeleteThey had a charter to Mykonos in September.
DeleteI really hope they add more planes next summer since YU-APJ is leaving the fleet this month. If charter market keeps on growing they will struggle and that might affect their scheduled flights.
Delete@Anon 10:11 Could not agree more. JU by now could built very respectable network to Greece. Using ATR's to Corfu, Zakynthos, Kavala, Kefalonia.... and Rhodes, Heraklion, Kos, Chania... wirh A319, for transfer and direct passengers. For any additional demand could fly charter flight. But that is strategic planning.
DeleteI guess those logical moves did not qualify to make it into their strategic planning process.
Delete@10,15
DeleteWhy would you assume JU wont add aircraft for the next summer season? YU-APL and YU-APM were added last year.
@10,19
For an airline of its size, JU has alot of seasonal routes. Great for the 4 month charter season, not so great for the next 8 months when you have spare capacity. At best, we have DBV and SPU which last 5 months. It would be great to see a couple seasonal routes go year round, SPU for example, before they go on adding more seasonal routes.
They transformed ROV from a summer seasonal into a year-round operation.
DeleteROV was originally intended to be year round and has remained so for this winter.
DeleteFinally. Since the aircraft is A321 I think that A3 will selling seats also to the agencies, because this year flights were operated like charters, but it was possible to buy just ticket throughout agency. Only the schedule is not so suitable, pretty the same like Wizz air.
ReplyDeleteWonder if JU will codeshare on these routes.
ReplyDeleteHighly doubt it
DeleteWhy? They might. Air Serbia didn't have charters to Heraklion this summer.
DeleteA3 and JU do codeshare. Would be great if they are extended to the new routes. There are a couple of destinations where they could capture some transfer pax.
DeleteBEG-Greece market is massive. I am sure Sky Express is looking at opportunities as well. I have a feeling they will launch BEG sooner rather than later.
ReplyDeleteI believe too that sky express will start BEG operations
DeleteThey signed an internline agreement with Air Serbia. We will see.
DeleteThat is bad news for ASL.
ReplyDeleteSure...
DeleteJU is announcing bankruptcy tomorrow because of this news.
Delete'Bad news for Serbia' is a badge of honor for him; display of his condition for others. Not sure what is the relevance of constantly being reminded of his state of mind.
DeleteCompetition can be good and healthy too.
DeleteThat guy doesn't have competition. He has been around for decades, in a sad league of his own :D
DeleteSign of good organic demand for point to point travel.
ReplyDelete