Saudi Arabian low cost carrier Flynas plans to introduce three weekly flights between Riyadh and Belgrade this summer season. Operations will run each Monday, Wednesday and Friday on a seasonal basis, from May until late September. Tickets are yet to be put on sale. Last year, the airline maintained a series of charters between the two cities to cater for Indian workers undergoing quarantine in Serbia prior to entering the Kingdom. If the flights go ahead as planned, it will mark the first scheduled air service between the two countries.
Serbia’s Foreign Minister held talks with Saudi Arabia’s non-residential Ambassador to the country in February, where the two discussed the potential introduction of flights between the two states, as well as the possibility of relaxing visa requirements. Belgrade Airport’s operator VINCI recently noted, “The Middle East represents one of our most important markets. We are in constant communication with airlines from that region. During the pandemic, in line with Serbia’s constructive approach, Belgrade was used as a transfer point for passengers from that region. In the coming period, we can expect some good news from the Middle East market”.
Flynas has announced a handful of new European destinations this coming summer, including Moscow, Prague, Mykonos and Santorini. It has also held talks with operator Airports of Montenegro over the introduction of flights from Riyadh to both Podgorica and Tivat this summer. Flynas commenced operations to the region in 2019 by introducing services from Riyadh and Jeddah to Sarajevo. It is Saudi Arabia’s first low cost carrier and currently connects more than seventy domestic and international destinations, through its fleet of forty Airbus A320 and A320neo aircraft. It has orders for a further 67 A320neos. Flynas maintains over 1.200 weekly flights and has carried more than 55 million passengers since its launch. Other than Sarajevo, the carrier also currently serves Tirana in the region.
Fantastic news. Knew it would happen sooner or later.
ReplyDeleteThey served Kiev as well before the war.
DeleteI presume these will mostly be used by Saudi tourists?
ReplyDeleteYes and Serbs working in Saudi, which there are quite a few nowdays.
DeleteI think it will be used by many Indians who live and work there. Don't forget they don't need visa for Serbia. I think most Indian tourists we get in Serbia are from the Persian Gulf countries and not India. They all have a lot of disposable income and it's easy for them to reach Serbia.
Delete^ true
DeleteGreat news for Middle East connectivity. This summer Flydubai going double daily, Flynas coming and Amman being launched at 4 weekly.
ReplyDeletePlus Air Cairo adding Cairo and Sharm.
DeleteThey got rejected by CAD.
DeleteReally? Is this confirmed? Somehow I have a hard believing it.
DeleteCAD wants the travel agencies to buy tickets on JU flights to Egypt.
DeleteMakes sense.
DeleteIn the Balkans it does.
DeleteProtectionism exists everywhere, look at Germany with the MEB3.
DeleteBanning Cairo is just too much. Or JU should relaunch it immediately, it's not served by any airline and Cairo is not yet another summer leisure destination.
Delete8pm arrival from Riyadh. 8.50pm departure.
ReplyDeleteI think they got incentives from BEG to launch flights at that time since it is a very quiet period of the day.
DeleteI doubt subsidies are based on time of day.
DeleteNot subsidies but discounts as in lower charges which are a norm for new airlines coming to BEG. For example I doubt BEG encouraged them to arrive around noon when the airport is packed.
DeleteYes, possibly
DeleteI think from today BEG's recovery is slowly beginning. We are getting TK's third daily and Wizz Air is resuming LCA tonight. Actually they will have 7 flights today which isn't that bad.
ReplyDeleteWho would have thought that the day would come when TK would have 4 flights to BEG in a single day, crazy!
+1
DeleteArkia resumes BEG in April. DY is boosting Oslo from 2 to 3.
DeleteDo Saudis need visa to enter Serbia?
ReplyDeleteYes
DeleteVisa free regime is in the works between the 2 countries.
DeleteThat's good to hear. I would actually really like to visit Saudi Arabia but currently it's not possible unless you get a business visa. They removed visas for Montenegrin citizens.
DeleteI have been to the KSA (Riyadh, Jeddah, KAEC) more than 20x. In the last 10 years it has changed a lot, however I still do not see it as a tourist destination. Cities are not really appealing, the coastline (with exception to NEOM area) has absolutely no charm, so there is very little (to zero) for tourists.
DeleteThe airports in Riyadh and Jeddah are attractions on their own. The most horrible airports I have ever been to, however if i remember well both cities are getting new airports.
Must been a long time since you visit KSA last. I spent one month there travelling around in FEB this year and I honestly loved the country: most of the people were very friendly & hospitable to me (starting from the Saudi Royal police). I did fall in love with AlUla, truly stunning sceneries. The new Terminal 1 at Jeddah airport is extremely modern and the Saudia Alfursan domestic lounge very good. Constructions are ongoing for the new airport in Riyadh. Also, I did fly Saudia business on their 787-9 from Frankfurt to Jeddah and found the crew on board to be excellent (my trip report is coming soon on this website).
DeleteAre reports outside of Ex-yu posted here?
DeleteI travel to the KSA every year at least 2-3x. Last time i was in Riyadh it was in novembre 2021, so not that far ago. People are very friendly? I would hardly call saudis very friendly. I have some saudi friends, some of them are "random" saudi guys, but I know people from the royal family as well. All of them have this special attitude (like jews) of being a chosen nation, however most of people you get in contact with in the KSA are not saudis. Saudi royal police? Well maybe, however I still remember 5-6 years ago how i got harassed by mutawa only because i did not pray at praying time. It was ridiculous. Saudia airlines is not bad, I have flown with them in C class quite a few times, but still prefer LH on FRA-RUH route over SV
DeleteNice
ReplyDeleteLooks like a missed oportunity for ASL.
ReplyDeleteWho was Air Serbia supposed to carry to Saudi Arabia?
Delete^^^
DeleteThe same passengers that Flynas will be carrying.
There is a difference. Flynas is a well known airline in Saudi Arabia with a large sales network. Unlike JU, it is also a low cost airline and has over 40 planes in ita fleet.
DeletePlus they are probably working with local tour operators same way JU is in Serbia.
DeleteAlso RUH wouldn't fit into JU's wave so it would complicate connections.
JU could carry a lot of connecting passengers from Saudi Arabia to the rest of its network. Not only to Bosnia, Croatia and Montenegro but to the rest of Europe too.
DeleteI think Aegean launched Riyadh/Jeddah some time ago.
DeleteSo? That doesn't prevent JU from taping to that large market. Plus getting visa free entry to Serbia helps a lot.
DeleteAnd besides Aegean is probably overwhelmingly focused on flying Arab tourists to Athens and the islands.
Flight duration would make timing these flights really difficult for JU, plane would have to sit over there for hours. If it leaves at 00.30 from BEG then it would have to return the next day around 16.00 since it can't make it back by 05.00.
DeleteFlight duration is mentioned too many times as obstacle for launching the routes, even in Europe. Is JU limited to cover only inner European circle? I don't know about Arabia but wider Europe should be their prime target.
DeleteThat is why JU launched destinations like Oslo, Valencia, Amman, Rostov... and all of these are on the edge of what they can serve related to the flight time. Anything outside of this starts to cause scheduling problems. Until JU adds a third wave to Western Europe adding destinations in Arabia will be an issue for them.
Delete@10,21
DeleteJU's relationships with tour operators is not the best, especially within Serbia. Serbian operators have been quick to use alternatives when possible. For example, I came across an ad yesterday for VLC, flights departing from BUD included in the price. Forgot the name of the agency, but if it pops up again I will share. Jordan is another destination with flights being offered from BUD rather than on JU. Istanbul packages are often on Pegasus. Flynas is simply better at sales than JU.
@10,50
BEG-JED/RUH rotations would require around 11 hours to complete. JU's current banks don't allow for adequate connectivity for these longer rotations, hence the focus on destinations mostly up to 3 hours from BEG. That was also a problem with AUH. Departing BEG, it had the Western European arrivals, arriving into BEG the flights connected to Balkan routes. 2 more banks and more regional frequencies will help with that problem, however their extremely high fares on regional routes isn't helping to attract O&D traffic, which would assist in facilitating the extra frequencies.
@12,33
Currently yes. We spoke on this recently when talking about AGP and LIS. Rotations are too long to fit the current JU banks. Destinations such as DUB and MAN are also too far out. JU should offer more flights around 10-11am (where they currently have LHR, LCA, TIV, sometimes BNX) as well as around 20:30-21:30 (ROV, ZAG, LJU, TGD). 2nd daily SJJ split between morning and evening. 3rd daily TIA and ATH as well.
JatBegMel, did the old JAT have better relationships with local touroperators or was this never the case? I am not talking about Belgrade only but in general.
DeleteI also think they should work closer with such exotic destinations such as Saudi Arabia. Tour operators work is very active in other countries in the region such as Romania and Bulgaria for instance.
@15,38
DeletePozdrav iz Rijeke will give better details to this. JAT had its own tour agency, apartments in Kopaonik, bus and train deals (ie between Zagreb and Ljubljana). JAT also had Air Yugoslavia that operated charters. Long haul tour groups were not uncommon to JAT. Plus I believe it was mostly Yugoslav carriers bringing foreign tourists to Yugoslavia (JAT, Adria, Aviogenex).
As for exotic charters, our market is still very price sensitive, which is why most charters are for 3 markets (Greece, Turkey, Egypt). Thailand, which is by far the largest market for 'exotic' tourism, in 2019 saw just over 4.000 Serbian tourists. 'Exotic' charter market simply isn't large enough to justify dedicated charters for the Serbian market. Seasonal routes in cooperation with regional agencies (ex LJU, ZAG, BUD, SOF, OTP) MIGHT stimulate enough traffic and yield for dedicated scheduled seasonal rotations (HKT, CMB, SEZ, ZNZ, MRU), but JU has alot to improve on that end to make that happen.
JATBEGMEL, hopefully Pozdrav reads our comments as I am quite curious about JAT and their previous work with local agencies :)
DeleteYes, I think BEG is doing well when it comes to connecting more destinations but the "diverse charters" needs room for improvement. I mean yes, Greece, Turkey and Egypt are always available but not the rest of the world.
Aegean created the Romanian division of Animawings and they managed to operate a pretty decent number of charters during the last years. They do not have a big aircraft but the exotic destinations usually have a technical stop somethere.
I think the Aviolet brand may be very boosted and invest in, say 738s, which is a perfect aircraft and a mono class configuration.
Aviolet was never intended to be a permanent brand in JU. It was there temporarily to distance the B733's from the Air Serbia brand. No more B733's, so no more Aviolet. Multiple aircraft types for a small airline such as JU is a terrible thing to do. There is no reason for JU to bring in the B737 other than to massively increase costs.
DeleteAs mentioned, there isn't large enough groups to justify dedicated flights to these destinations. Aircraft are generally stretched to the max in the summer, winter time there is scheduled maintenance. 'Exotic destinations' such as ZNZ, MLE, CMB would keep the aircraft away from base for close to 24 hours. Technical stops increase flight costs. Crew would also be gone for days. Crew would also need accommodation during the layover. Deadheading crew would increase costs. Besides, 9-10 hours on an A319/A320 would be brutal.
As for Animawings, they are part owned by a large Romanian tour company along with A3. Sales would be alot better. Romania is a much larger market, OTP handles 3 time more pax than BEG. Romanians have better salaries, better competition on the market. Even then, Animawings is still mostly operating Romania-Greece/Egypt.
As I mentioned, the best that JU could do is improve their relationships with tour companies, not just in Serbia, but in other countries, especially those neighbouring and try out seasonal scheduled flights. This way they could have a confirmed number of pax with extra seats sold for transfer pax. Indigo for example intended to partner with JU to facilitate 1.000 tourists a week visiting Serbia. Nothing came of it. A seasonal BEG-BOM in cooperation with Indigo could of also brought our tourists into India, using BOM as a starting place for either India (for example Goa) or as a transit stop onwards to Sri Lanka or Maldives as an alternative to flying the ME3. JU could have also benefited also having Indian transit pax onwards to Europe and US. A 1pm departure would bring the aircraft back in time for the morning Euro/JFK departures. As said, JU has alot of work to do on that end.
^ Good job Serbia!
ReplyDeleteInteresting addition! I also checked on their website regarding Sarajevo and they have an impressive connections especially in summer to both Riyadh and Jeddah. I think this is part of their Saudi Arabia´s plans to open up and receive tourists from abroad. I have read and heard that Jeddah is a quite beautiful city. They also will launch flights to Prague.
ReplyDeleteJeddah is much nicer than Riyadh for example, but it is still far from being beautiful. The corniche area is somehow "cute", but it is a one time thing. The old town area is tiny with some (more or less) beautiful building, but I would hardly call it a tourist attraction. Both biggest cities have a street called Tahlia, where the most chic stores are located and it has a bit of "dubai" vibe with bars and restaurants.
DeleteGreat. I hope an airline from Kuwait will be next. It is actually the busiest non served market from Serbia in the Gulf.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't they consider Ljubljana? I think there is potential for them on the route.
ReplyDeleteLjubljana is not on the radar of anyone.
DeleteHave there ever been scheduled flights between Serbia and Saudi Arabia?
ReplyDeleteIt says in the article there have not been. They only established diplomatic relations 10 years ago.
DeleteWow bravo! This is a very good airline
ReplyDeleteHow many frequencies they have to Tirana?
ReplyDeleteDuring peak summer they will have 5 weekly flights.
Delete5 to Riyadh and 2 to Jeddah.
DeleteSomeone mentioned visa policy above and was quite surprised to learn that Montenegro is the sole ex-Yu country outside the EU where visas can be obtained upon arrival to Saudi Arabia. The list includes all EU states and obviously the typical states such as Singapore, Brunei, Japan, etc:
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_Saudi_Arabia
I think Serbia can work on that direction too.
They have been working on it. I believe talks started 2 months ago. Actually, quite a few visa free regimes are in the works including passport free travel between Serbia and Turkey.
DeleteI guess that since the introduction of tourist visas, citiziens of the EU can obtain it on arrival, or am I wrong?
Deletesloavio, yes they can and it has been reintroducted to EU, UK and US citizens:
Deletehttps://www.khaleejtimes.com/gulf/saudi-arabia-reinstates-visa-on-arrival-for-some-travellers-from-us-uk-schengen