Air Serbia has confirmed it plans to expand its Airbus fleet this coming summer to cater for increased demand and its growing route network. The carrier noted it would provide details on its Airbus fleet expansion in due course. Recent media reports have suggested Air Serbia could take on some single-aisle aircraft from its minority shareholder Etihad Airways. The Emirati carrier, which boasts nineteen Airbus A320 jets in its fleet has eleven of them momentarily grounded in Abu Dhabi. On the other hand, Air Serbia has nine A319s in its fleet, all of which are in active service. In addition, it has one A320 jet, which is currently undergoing maintenance and is expected to return into operation in the coming days.
The coronavirus pandemic has seen Air Serbia reduce its fleet size and renegotiate leasing contracts. However, the need for additional aircraft was illustrated last summer when the airline was forced to wet-lease a Boeing 737-700 jet to meet demand for leisure flights. The Serbian Finance Minister, Siniša Mali, who served as the President of Air Serbia’s Supervisory Board between 2013 and 2018, previously said the carrier would replace its A319 and A320 jets between 2022 and 2025. In 2018, Etihad Airways cancelled its order for ten A320neo aircraft made nine years ago, that were to be delivered to equity partner Air Serbia. Deliveries were initially due to begin in November 2018 and were set to completely replace the airline’s existing fleet of A319s and A320s by 2020.
Air Serbia began the renewal of its ATR fleet earlier this year, with the first of five newer turboprops already in service. Additional aircraft of the same type are expected to arrive in Belgrade in the coming weeks. They will replace the carrier’s old ATRs, one of which has already left the fleet. “Our ambition is to continue to develop further as a regional leader and the upgraded turboprop fleet is an essential step on this path”, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said. The Serbian carrier is set to introduce fourteen new routes to its network this summer season, increase frequencies across its existing destinations, and is expected to boast another record summer charter flight program.
Wonder if they will get A319s or A320s.
ReplyDeleteThey could easily fill A321s for charters.
ReplyDeleteYes, but than they need at least two
DeleteA321s for charters and that is too much for JU
Why would they need two units 321? It's the same type, no additional trainings needed for flight and cabin crew. No other extra costs. They can have one unit, use it on some charters to Antalya and Hurghada, scheduled to some Tivat flights, plus scheduled flights with higher bookings or overbookings, when needed. If leased per hours flown, it can be used for "reserve" as it can cover for irregularities over entire short and medium haul network
DeleteIt's obvious that they can't manage this summer with current fleet.
ReplyDeleteJU should get some of the SSJs that are currently parked. The Russians would offer a VERY competitive deal and JU would get an aircraft that is ideal for 90% of it's network.
ReplyDeleteAre you for real? Give it a break. SJJs operational license in Europe has been terminated. So they could use the SJJ to fly between Belgrade and Nis.
DeleteSimply ignore him.
DeleteNobody is that crazy in JU. Even before Russia got anctions this option was nothing but a wet dream of Russian politicans and nothing more.
Air Serbia will lease Airbus planes. It remains only to see from whome and which one (A319 or A320). Although A321 was given as flying plane for AMS on Mondays in June it has been confirmed this plane type won't be a part of JU fleet.
So, Air Serbia will still have A319, A320, ATR72-200/500/600 (in the future only 600) and A332.
Are you sure it's license has been suspended?
DeleteIf true when the Russophobia subsides in Europe an SSJ fleet would help ASL to increase frequencies on almost all routes currently flown by A320s.
Ahahahahahahahaha :)
DeleteThat made me spill my coffee. You want Serbia to take Russian aircraft? Have you been watching the news lately?
Anon 09:04 🤣🤣🤣🤣 oh God... please help me 🤦
Delete09:09 - Who confirmed you A321 won't be joining the fleet?
DeleteCan you tell us with what Air Serbia plans to fly in summer to Moscow once JFK gets 5-6 weekly?
...or they hope to increase double-triple frequencies by then?
Thank you.
@Dejan: Yes, EASA has revoked SSJ's type certificate.
DeleteAir Serbia confirmed it.
DeleteMr. Arsen Rudan confirmed it.
DeleteSuggesting Sukhois at this point is ludicrous considering you can no longer get any spare parts for them.
DeleteIt was always ludicrous, but now more than ever.
Deletemany have written it here a thousand times, even before the ukraine war: Air Serbia will never buy the SuperJet because it makes absolutely no economic sense and the management is too clever for that
DeleteNow more than ever we see how smart was the decision made by JU not to lease or buy SSJ100.
DeleteWith currrent economic sanctions against Russia it would be terrible to have a fleet based on this Russian plane. Well done Air Serbia!
What is well done?
DeleteThey didn't do anything at all.
Exactly!
DeleteNot doing anything at all to get SSJ100 was great!
... and in this particular case, it was a great choice of action :)
DeleteAir Serbia needs a plane between the ATR and A319.
ReplyDeleteExactly!
DeleteWhether it is an Embraer or a Sukhoi it is needed.
New Embraer E2 jets are the best option for them with the capacity range going from 80 to 120 passengers. Phase out turboprops and most of the A320 family (keep A320s or even get A321 for charters).
DeleteIdeal would be to replace ATRs with E175s and the A319/A320s with E195s.
DeleteNo, it would not be ideal, but suicidal, given the oil prices.
DeleteWould cheap used CRJ900 be an option?
Delete@10.03 E175 is too big from ATR replacement.
DeleteI hope we never see the CRJ in JU's colors. Horrible plane to fly on, small and claustrophobic. They should just get E95 to replace the A319s and get some A320s for busier routes.
DeleteATR, E95 and A320 should be ok for them.
Instead of A320NEO, Air Serbia/Etihad Airbus deal should have been for A319NEO. It's a dead-end airframe but it could have done wonders for Air Serbia IF the discount was very aggressive and if Airbus agreed to take them back once A220 was available in large numbers for Air Serbia sometime in 2025-2030 timeframe.
DeleteAre the ex-Adria frames the youngest Airbuses in the fleet?
ReplyDeleteYes
DeleteDo they still have the Adria interior or have they changed them?
DeleteYes they do
DeleteIs it so difficult to put in Air Serbia's seats?
DeleteThey are waiting for the C check to take place to get a new interior. That was the same scenario with YU-APK.
DeleteThey need A330 (essentially -300) more than anything.
ReplyDeleteThat and a few A320/A321.
I think that A332 is the perfect wide body plane for JU.
DeleteA333 would be too big taking in consideration how often wide body flies to JFK out of summer season.
A332 and A333 have almost the same weight and MTOW.
DeleteA333 has larger pax and cargo capacity.
The only advantage of the A332 is the range, which clearly Air Serbia doesn't need in the foreseeable future.
Excuse me for asking but what is MTOW ?
DeleteA333 costs more to be leased and JU anyhow can't fill more than 80% of A332.
DeleteWhy would they then pay more for A333 and have lower LF?
Cause of cargo and for Moscow flights, amongst other.
Delete@ Anon 9.24
DeleteMTOW = Maximum TakeOff Weight
Flights to JFK are packed in summer both with cargo and passengers. By getting A333 they could have even more of them in those busy summer months.
DeleteAnd that A333 should be collecting the dust between October and April on BEG tarmac making at that time huge financial burden for JU?
DeleteI do not see it as a good option.
Lease rate for A333 is approx. 30% more expensive than for A332. So it is huge percentage and not only "more or less".
DeleteSo, JU should pay 30% more for a plane they can't fully fill and have lower LF comparing to A332 only beacuse of few summer months ?
As previously said A332 is more than enough even during summer months and especially during winter.
Shame those neos got cancelled.
ReplyDeleteThe neos would have been a disaster to have in the fleet now.
Delete09:21
DeleteLOL dude! With oil so expensive NEOs would have been the best thing to have right now!
They wouldn't because the lease would be much higher than it is on the old planes.
DeleteSo why do You thing airlines were opting for them with oil prices at 50-60% levels of nowadays`?
DeletePrice of jet fuel that Air Serbia is paing to NIS is one of the best guarding secrets in Serbia...
DeleteNo it's not, stop making things up.
DeleteSo on top of millions of Euros every year in direct subsidies JU gets free oil too?
Delete^ stop writing nonsense.
DeleteMaybe the should look at getting a couple of Boeing MAX aircraft?
ReplyDeleteWhy would they move from all Airbus/ATR fleet to B737?
DeleteConsidering another B737 just crashed in China (plane was 6 years old), I would steer clear of Boeing.
DeleteObviously it's clearly Boeing's fault.
DeleteWhy do we have lengthy accident investigations, when airmchair specialists know the real cause in couple of minutes?
Terrible news.
DeleteI checked and it was B738.
It's not just the MAX, remember the debacle with the B787 engines or the cargo door blowing up on the new, massive B777? Boeing has become obsessed with cutting costs and maximizing profits that they cut corners when it comes to safety and quality.
DeleteFailures during tests are completely normal, I think A380's first static wing load test also failed. Review, redesign, and retest.
DeleteThe 787 engine debacle is more the fault of Rolls-Royce than Boeing, as the engines from the other manufacturer (GE) didn't suffer similar problems.
I wonder when Serbian tour operators will launch exotic destinations such as Zanzibar, the Maldives, the Dominican Republic.
ReplyDeleteThey already do Zanzibar and the Maldives. Travel through Qatar Airways and Flydubai.
DeleteI mean direct flight.
DeleteNot enough demand. Salaries are not exactly high in Serbia where you will have a decent demand for long haul charters. ZNZ and MLE are becoming popular, but I believe the numbers showed about 1-2.000 pax per year flying out to these places. It's a few charters at most.
DeleteWhy do you think so? For example, Bulgaria and Romania have such charters, salaries in these countries are the same as in Serbia.
DeleteI exclude the fact that Romania is bigger than both Bulgaria and Serbia.
Zanzibar and Thailand would work with charters, no doubt. With some extra effort Cuba too (especially without SU flights to Cuba)
Delete@14,13
DeleteSalaries are definitely not the same. It's not just about the average salary, its about the commonly paid salary to the average Serbian as well as the purchasing power of the average Serbian citizen. This is where Bulgaria and Romania are both better. As for the charters, Gulliv Air operates them from both OTP and SOF, reducing the down time crew have at these destinations, meaning they operate on more flights. They capture a much larger market. This isn't possible with JU.
@18,01
SU barely plays a role in Serbian long haul tourist packages, if at all, including to Cuba. The largest market being Thailand doesn't have large enough groups to justify dedicated charters, ZNZ has roughly half the numbers.
JU's relationships with tour agencies isn't the best. JU could operate seasonal flights to long haul tourist destinations, having regional flights from for example ZAG, BUD and LJU connect in BEG onto, for example, 2 pw seasonal flights to ZNZ, HKT or MLE. However, JU would need to be alot more proactive with agencies to achieve something like this. For example, offer 100 seats from BEG and the rest devided with a couple of other cities from different agencies. The demamd is simply not enough to rely exclusively on BEG.
Great analysis JATBEGMEL. Enjoyed your comment. Precisely, the JU relationship with the local agencies needs to be improved for sure. Gullivair for instance enjoy a strong relationship with big Romanian tour operators such as Karpaten and Bulgarian ones as well. Not to mention that Albania will also be targeted as a new destination this summer. Plus, JU needs at least one more A330 to be operational in winter or create a leisure division similar to Eurowings Discover.
DeleteA321 -perfect for JU.
ReplyDeleteHurghada,Antalya.
Moscow.
DeleteParis, Amsterdam.
DeleteZurich also.
DeleteBut what should JU do with A321 during October-March? Some exotic charters could be nice but that's not enough utilization of such an expensive aircraft.
With LX going wild on ZRH-BEG, A319 is the perfect plane for JU on this route.
DeleteLet's not forget about month and a half of World Cup in Qatar this winter, with QR asking for 870EUR+ from BEG and/or 750+ from ZAG... :)
DeleteJU will operate charters to Doha during that time.
DeleteJU doesn't need capacity, it needs frequencies. JU needs double daily flights to more European cities. That wont come about with A321's.
DeleteCDG - was supposed to go 15 or 16 pw in 2020, with extra flights at 4pm.
AMS - JU operated 10 pw in summer 2019. HV was daily. Now JU has double daily flights from KLM to compete with. KLM's AMS-BEG timing comes fairly close to JU's schedule.
ZRH - LX and JU have been competing on frequencies for some time now. Going back to 3 daily I think is a must, perhaps even a 4th flight, especially in the summer months would keep them competitive. It's an important route for JU seeing as there were special additions for ZRH bound pax.
Remember, the aircraft would need to be used on regional sectors as well. TIV is practically the only destination where the A321 would work, and only in the peak summer months. More A319's are needed as well for other routes such as BCN, MAD, FRA, DUS, OSL. Wizz is stepping up in a couple of markets where JU is operating such as FCO, NCE, BCN, JU will need frequencies to compete.
I agree with JATBEGMEL. Frequencies + code share partners. Some markets really lack some or better partners - UK&Ireland; Africa, US... JU must do something with Middle East ASAP, Etihad is obviously not coming back and this part of world is getting even more important with Russia/Aeroflot being out of picture.
DeleteA321, albeit a mighty machine when you have the pax volumes, is still an overkill for JU due to its seasonal peaks, unless they decide to venture in the XLR territory which would allow them to be deployed on both short and long haul sectors (like TP and EI) - that's a different story altogether.
ReplyDeleteTime will also come when the current leased A319/320 fleet will need to be at least rejuvenated - either with younger aircraft or by venturing in the neo territory.
Last but not least, the wide-body fleet will need to be expanded if the current development plans materialize, and the A330-200 is simply perfect for that job.
+1
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteAgree about A321 XLR as an future option for both medium and long haul. Disagree about current overkill on A321. Believe it makes sense, if leased for summer only, instead 737-700, for flights to Antalya, Hurghada, Zurich, Paris, Moscow... Also agree about the second A330-200, it's time to get it now, on per flown hours lease
DeleteB737 was brought in once, at a time when air travel was unpredictable and tickets were being sold practically last minute. This isn't normal practice.
DeleteDestinations such as ZRH and CDG need frequencies to compete. LX has been fairly active in adjusting their frequencies to BEG, while for JU it is an important destination. CDG was scheduled to have a third daily as well in 2020. These extra frequencies will come in handy expanding other waves, such as at 10 am or 8pm and allow for expansion into those longer rotations to adequately connect in BEG such as LIS and MAN. CAI was a problem, same as ROV, AMM. Their flight times limited connections available in BEG. Small frequencies don't help.
JU had issues utilizing A320's outside of the peak 3 summer months let alone taking on A321's. When JU start taking on 4-5 A320's then maybe an A321 could be looked into. Take into account that those aircraft will need 4 daily rotations, 2 being regional.
If leased per hours flown, and short term (summer), there are no additional costs. It can be used for Antalya, Hurghada and Tivat, on some flights, of course not all, and in case of high bookings /overbookings on any scheduled service. It can cover for irregularities over entire short and medium haul network.
Delete...wide-body fleet will need to be expanded if the current development plans materialize...
DeleteCurrent wide body development plans: check again in 12 months.
Not just current, that's exactly how they looked like every year since 2016.
@pozdrav iz Rijeke
DeleteIt would make more sense to bring in more A320's in my opinion. It's a type they already use, offers them increased capacity that isnt as large as the A321 and without the logistical nightmare in case an A321 goes AOG. A321 capacity down to the A319 would be a nightmare. A320 would also offer them better flexibility over a longer priod rather than the A321.
Let's first see result better than -100 to -20 mil EUR before wide bodies double this loss
DeleteLOL, let see your math behind your double this loss theory, LOL!
DeleteIs the lease for any other Airbus jet expiring soon?
ReplyDeleteHope they come sooner rather than later.
ReplyDelete1x A332
ReplyDelete2x A320
2x A319
This would be perfect
Maybe it would be beter:
Delete1x 320 and 3x A319.
Sounds good, lease some reasonable priced Etihad A320s for the summer season, put some Aviolet stickers on it and park/base maintain them in the winter month.
ReplyDeleteAviolet brand was only used for the B733's to distance the aircraft from the Air Serbia brand. Since there is no more B733's, there is no more Aviolet.
DeleteHow about leasing an A380 and flying three times a week to JFK instead of six? Then four days left for flights to China. Pack them in and get rid of the A330.
ReplyDeleteSounds extremely reasonable
DeleteYes. And at Belgrade Airport people can board the A380 via parachute.
DeleteWhile the A380 idea is hideous, BEG actually does have the capability to handle A380s believe it or not - can even be handled via an air bridge.
DeleteBEG is not able to handle the A380. BEG is classed as a 4E airport, meaning a max wingspan of 65 metres. A380 has a wingspan of 80 metres, B773 64.8 metres.
DeleteGate spaces barely fit the A330 and B777, which need to park at an angle, blocking 2 gates (positions C3A and C5A currently). Gate A1 cannot have an aircraft bigger than the B767.
Its not just gate space, but the runway and taxiways as well.
This info is online on the SMATSA website for free.
The guy suggested the other day JU to fly to SYD, MEL and CPT. Today he suggests A380. No comment.
DeletePozdrav, aren't you into longhaul expansion? :)
DeleteOf course I am into long haul expansion. With appropriate aircraft type serviceable at the base airport, and on the routes which may be profitable, which 380 and SYD, MEL and CPT are not. But you know it, of course ☺
Delete@ JATBEGMEL
DeleteAccording to a rather reputable and non-tabloid media, BEG was capable of handling (de-icing) the A380 as early as 2017... https://seenews.com/news/belgrade-airport-operator-launches-de-icing-platform-550328.
I'm sure that they were not anticipating A380 services to to BEG in 2017 (or today for that matter), nevertheless, why have an A380 capable deicing platform if handling the same was not possible at the terminal - not that it was expected again...?
I cannot find the article right now that confirmed that the new gates at BEG were fully capable of handling an A380... perhaps someone can assist me with this, but I stand with my statement that BEG is A380 capable - not that it will happen anytime soon - or ever.
Interesting article, thanks for sharing. If you do find the other, please do share.
DeleteWhat I think they meant in the article is that the deicing platform can handle an aircraft of that size in terms of wingspan (stand N1B can handle an aircraft with a wingspan of up to 80m ie A380). Aircraft weight and stand strength is another story. Previous management didn't do a proper job creating the deicing platform, which is why it is part of Vinci's list at BEG.
Runway and taxiway condition isn't the best, hence the inserted runway being built, which will replace RWY 12/30 while it goes under maintenance, as well as new taxiways that will come from the completed project. Only 3 of BEG's taxiways are of high strength (TWY's A, B, E), the rest are low or medium strength, including all ac parking positions. Take into consideration that the A380 is much heavier than a B747 or B777.
Runway width is 45 metres, while ICAO for the A380 recommends a minimum runway width of 60 metres, however Airbus has the aircraft certified for a minimum runway width of 45 metres. In theory, it could operate in BEG, however against ICAO recommendations.
You can find the full info on the SMATSA website or google 'LYBE VFR AIP' and open the PDF file.