NEWS FLASH
Saudi Arabian low cost carrier Flynas has cancelled plans to commence a seasonal three weekly service between Riyadh and Belgrade this summer. Although the airline never launched ticket sales between the two cities, it filed the planned service into the global distribution system from June 1 until September 30. The carrier has also cancelled plans to commence flights from Riyadh to Varna, Moscow and Odessa.
Really sad news. Could be a nice edition to Middle East routes that are lacking from BEG.
ReplyDeletePs.what are thr chances for JU to launch Riyadh? Transfers maybe?
The problem with flights to KSA is (at least for me) that the embassy for let's say slovenia is in Vienna, so it's much more convinient to fly with qatar via doha than lju via beg
DeleteWhy do you need embassy to fly to KSA??
DeleteFor visa
DeleteYou can get VOA now. No need to go to Vienna anymore.
DeleteIf I were them I'd also suspend Belgrade over great market uncertainty.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. Belgrade is definitely more uncertain compared to war ravaged Ukraine and Russia under sanctions, destinations that are also on their list.
DeleteI don't think there was enough demand compared to PRG and SJJ for instance as they are still available for booking on their website. Not the case with BEG. This route reminds me of Belgrade-Sharjah flights.
ReplyDeleteThe difference is that Belgrade was not put on sale. Read the article.
DeleteDemand from BEG to the Middle East is minimal, this route never made sense to me. Only destination that can work is Dubai because of all the gasterbajteri there.
DeleteDubai is popular because of tourism. That's why there are 2 daily flights from June.
DeleteFlynas will offer 7 weekly flights to Salzburg (4 from Jeddah, 3 from Riyadh). 99% of the passengers are Saudi tourists who visit the Austrian Alps.
DeleteThere are also "gastarbajteri" working in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, this line was useful for the Muslims living in Serbia since they would have a good connection with Mecca through Riyadh.
DeleteMuslims from any country, Serbia included, fly to Mecca only for the Hajj, and through Jeddah, and only once per year, and on special charters. Scheduled Riyadh has absolutely nothing to do with them. There are gasto in Saudi as well , yes, but for sure much less than in Dubai. Dubai is success because is combination of tourism, gasto traffic and ethnic transfer traffic to/from Australia
DeleteIs Flynas still flying to Podgorica. I’m pretty sure this route failed because Serbia probably wasn’t going to liberalize visa requirements.
ReplyDeleteFlynas has never flown to Podgorica nor is it flying to Podgorica. Podgorica Airport announced that they would start this summer but it is highly unlikely it will happen.
DeleteIt has nothing to do with failures as sales never started on the route (for it to fail). It is down to the fact that they scrapped their entire Eastern European expansion. Tivat and Podgorica won't happen either.
DeleteYeah I think they’re betting on Albania. They have very liberal visa requirements compared to Europe. Allowing even citizens of India visa free travel for 9 months
DeleteJust scrap visa for Saudi visitors and flights will happen .
ReplyDeleteNo more excuses ..
According to their website, even Bosnia is requiring a visa for them to visit. Which means Albania is getting all these tourists this summer as it’s visa free.
DeleteAlbania will be getting these tourists due to the visa free travel . Even Bosnia now requires Saudis to have visas. Many of the Saudi tourists who came to Albania crossed the border and visited Kosovo as well. So I’m thinking these countries will have these tourists alongside Georgia, Bosnia , etc
ReplyDeleteI think they cancel BEG because Flynas does not have enough crew to cover all their destinations.
ReplyDeleteTake a look on the social media. Seams they are not very well organised.