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Air Serbia is set for the biggest expansion of its network this week and next since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, with the carrier experiencing some issues with its fleet in the lead-up to the growth, although there are plans to add more aircraft in June. During June, the airline is introducing twelve new routes, which will result in 29 new weekly flights. They will be accompanied by additional frequencies across its existing network, which will see fourteen routes return to pre-Covid levels and three above pre-pandemic volumes. This week will see the introduction of services to Trieste, Lyon, Hanover and Bari, followed by Bologna, Nuremberg, Salzburg, Palma and Sochi next week, as well as Rijeka, Niš - Athens and Kraljevo - Tivat later on in the month.
Preparations for the expansion have not gone without an issue. The airline has experienced fleet problems over the last week. Its sole Airbus A320 aircraft has been grounded at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport since arriving from Belgrade four days ago due to a technical issue but is expected to return soon. The development has had a knock-on effect on the remainder of Air Serbia’s network over the weekend. The airline utilised an Air Montenegro Embraer 195 on Saturday to operate its flight between Belgrade and Zurich and was forced to deploy its ATR72 turboprop to Athens several days ago, usually maintained by Airbus aircraft. Furthermore, the airline has modified operations with its wet-leased Boeing 737-700 jet from Greece’s Lumiwings and extend its use on scheduled flights into June.
Over the past two weeks, Air Serbia has put into operation one of its newly leased ATR72-600 turboprops, the second in its fleet, while it also took delivery of an Airbus A319 which is to enter commercial operations after cabin reconfiguration. The airline also plans to wet-lease additional aircraft this summer season to cater for rising passenger demand and network growth. According to media reports, the carrier is set to take on an Airbus A320-familly jet from Romania’s Dan Air.
Their fleet is way too streched. If one plane going out of service causes such an issue it means they need more planes.
ReplyDeleteExactly. I was a victim of such events few times.
DeleteLet's hope they will be able to fic the A320 in Moscow.
ReplyDeleteWhich of the new routes is selling the best?
ReplyDeleteI am also interested. Anyone have any info?
DeleteSochi is selling good.
DeleteNo big surprise considering the situation.
DeleteFrom what I hear, Spanish routes are performing rather well.
DeleteI said it before but I'm not sure how all the Italian routes are going to perform. Many are in close proximity to each other. Italy was extremely popular during the May Day holidays this year. Everyone seems to have gone there but I'm not sure many would want to spend their summer holiday in Italy.
DeleteBari is in no proximity to anything.
DeleteBari no, but they fly Trieste, Bologna, Rijeka, Pula.
DeletePula serves western Istria, Rijeka serves eastern Istria & Kvarner. Bologna and Trieste are primarily VFR, Venice is for tourists. I'd say the traffic is carved up pretty neatly.
DeleteTrieste is selling the worst out of all places.
DeleteI just hope they will manage to sustain this growth with current fleet.
ReplyDeleteHaving such a huge mix of fleet type is not good for a small airline. They operate with ATR, Boeing 737, Airbus A319 and now YM's Embraer. This will bring nothing but chaos, delays. I know that summer is very important for them but the operational issues must be given priority...
ReplyDeleteThey wet lease B737 so it means they have nothing to do with crew, maintenance...
DeleteThe problem would be if they were all dry leases. B737 and ERJ are wet leases.
DeleteTalking of increases LCA is also increased from today with the 4th weekly that operates on Monday. I noticed next Monday the B737-700 is schedule to operate the route. I guess it’s because of this A320 mess.
ReplyDeleteAnd on Sunday they have the A320 planned to LCA :D
DeleteHaha yes, I noticed that too. I think they are too conservative with LCA. I guess Wizz is profiting from that. From what I heard their flights are constantly full (W6). Doesn't surprise me as they have good schedule for locals.
DeleteLCA will be increased by Air Serbia to five weekly in 2 weeks and to daily from the end of June.
DeleteTbh I'm surprised there are so many flights to LCA. This is more than before the pandemic no? When you factor in Wizz Air.
DeleteI think before the pandemic JU planned 9 weekly and Wizz 2.
DeleteI know many people who ended up flying with Aegean or Wizz Air simply because JU was charging €300 to €400 one way without luggage. I suppose they didn't have enough aircraft to add flights until now.
Cyprus is becoming increasingly popular with Serbian holidaymakers. Weather is good and its not as hot as in Egypt when the summer comes.
Interesting. Would it be worth considering a 2 weekly flight to Paphos?
DeleteDidn't Jat Airways fly to Paphos for one season instead of Larnaca? I think they flew Belgrade-Paphos-Abu Dhabi.
DeleteYes if Ryanair was to operate PFO-BEG :D
DeleteThey have a base over there. Don't think JU would have much success in Paphos as the transfer market is mostly to Finland and the UK.
Don't most people who travel to Cyprus go to Limassol. As far as I'm aware it's on the other side of the island from Larnaca. What airport is it served by?
Delete@10,49
DeletePFO was direct.
The route you route you were thinking of was BEG-LCA-DXB (JU88/89). It replaced BEY temporarily when war broke out in Lebanon, and came back again when BEY was linked with DAM.
Anon 11.29
DeleteDepends, many head to Agia Napa and Protaras which is some 70 km from LCA. Limassol is served by both airports as it takes roughly an hour to get to either one. Nicosia on the other hand is served by LCA since PFO is some 160 km away.
Thing is that Paphos itself is not a big city and the area north to it is not densely populated. Larnaca is the main airport because it covers most of the population, including the one living in the occupied north.
Many airlines over the years have struggled to make PFO work. Even flights to Athens aren't extremely popular.
Anon 10.49
DeleteIt was for a brief period when they were fixing the runway in LCA. Jat didn't have the spare capacity to reschedule their flights so they moved them to PFO. It was horrible as the flight used to arrive at around 01.30. If you were living in Nicosia it meant driving two hours in both directions. Did it once and thankfully didn't have to do it ever again.
So they used the ATR to Athens one day. How did they manage to do that if the A319 was scheduled? Were there just 70 passengers on the flight or some got bumped off?
ReplyDeleteWas thinking the same. I assume some were rebooked onto another flight or asked to voluntarily get bumped off?
DeleteIt's not the first time they have done this.
DeleteTransfers didn't get to Belgrade, they were immediately re-routed before leaving. Locals were placed in the ATR.
DeleteThat makes sense. Thank you!
DeleteI wonder what percentage of pax on this route are transfers.
DeleteWhen will YU-APN start flying?
ReplyDeleteMy guess is this week.
DeleteThey desperately need that plane to enter service. They have delays today again. Whoever is responsible for their fleet should be punished for spreading the fleet too thin.
DeleteI don't understand what are they doing with that plane. It has been said that its cabin is being reconfigured but how long does that take?
DeleteDelays today was due to major fukcup on security on Tesla. It couldnt handle morning flights with 7 belts working
DeleteWhy does someone announce a big expansion and you don't have the proper fleet to support it ? I hope I will be wrong , but I think we are gonna see more delays this summer. And this is always bad for the reputation of a company.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Part of its bad fleet planning and part of it is operating a lot of planes that are 15+ yrs old.
DeleteThe ATRs are/were the biggest problem and would often go tech. Thankfully they are replacing the entire ATR fleet.
DeleteJU has not had major issues in the past, so this summer shouldn't be any different. The fleet this year is alot younger too. A third of their fleet is no longer 30+ years old as it was back in 2019.
DeleteYes, but those 30+years old fleet was more realiable than these younger planes, and operated a lot of schedule flights
Delete@11,16
DeleteNot entirely true. Older ATR's are wreaking havoc at JU due to age, while the B733's were always accompanied by maintenance personnel. Maintenance don't accompany the A319's. B733's have broken down a number of times at outstations as well.
They had a big meltdown this weekend. One A320 is in Moscow, one A319 on technical check and there was a massive storm in BEG during the morning departure wave so refueling had to be stopped. This cause ripple effect throughout the day.
ReplyDeleteWell this was not entirely their fault.
DeleteThe plane getting stuck in Moscow was entirely their fault. If you know that due to sanctions, you will not be able to service a plane in Moscow... well, you are just playing Russian roulette.
DeleteIt's back in BEG tomorrow.
DeleteDo you suggest JU to stop flying to Russia because there is a chance the plane will go tech? And forget all possible profit from flying there?
DeleteHow can Air Montenegro simply just wet lease a plane ad hoc without much prior notice? I mean it's not like they don't have a network of their own?
ReplyDeleteI guess they have some breathing room now that the A320 is flying for them.
DeleteLeased A320 arrived to Ljubljana yesterday under TradeAir flight number... so they don't have A320 stationed in Montenegro anymore (maybe other A320 will be stationed there, but I have no idea why, as the A320 in question did B-check a month ago)
DeleteAnyone care to explain why there is a Trade Air F100 flying between Belgrade and Lyon today. It can't be for Air Serbia because those flights start in a couple of days.
ReplyDeleteHaha what a disaster would it be to put an F100 on your inaugural flight.
DeleteAir Serbia starts Lyon on Friday, not today. So it's not operating on their behalf.
DeleteMaybe sport charter?
DeleteThe plane flew Innsbruck-Belgrade stayed in BEG for an hour and then went to Lyon. Maybe it's a sports charter. No idea.
DeleteA lot of their flights are delayed again today. Tirana was late 2 hours! Milan an hour etc...
ReplyDeleteHmm yes and that was the midnight flight to TIA. Departed at 2AM.
Deletemakes you wonder what they are going to do in a day or two when all these new routes start - 29 flights! (not a small number) and their fleet is the same.
ReplyDeleteThey will be wet leasing a lot of planes.
DeleteOne can have a view on the commercial/network decisions and whether or not they are right/wrong. HOWEVER, what is happening operationally ? Why are they having so many issues - and even before the full season swings into action ? Who is their COO and what is he doing (or not) as seems to be the case ?
ReplyDeleteThey have been having operational issues now for some time. Clearly, whoever is currently in the chair is simply not up to the job. This will be their biggest achilles heel and they need to put somebody far more competent in such a critical role - or else, they will be toast this summer
DeleteAll over Europe and the US there are problems. It's not isolated to JU.
Deletehttps://www.euronews.com/travel/2022/05/29/will-airport-chaos-continue-into-the-summer-top-tips-from-industry-insiders
https://www.traveller.com.au/i-dont-need-this-irate-pilot-on-delayed-wizz-air-flight-loses-his-cool-h241lx
https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/28/business/memorial-day-flight-cancellations/index.html
https://www.brusselstimes.com/228884/chaos-and-queues-klm-temporarily-halts-ticket-sales-for-schiphol-flights
There are alot of articles about this.
Yes, but JU have no staffing issues and BEG airport is not experiencing undue operational issues either. What JU is suffering from is aircraft reliability and scheduling issues - both of these are outside of the issues being experienced elsewhere and are by and large of their own shortcomings. You need to call it out and not simply say that it is "not isolated to JU"
DeleteBEG is experiencing issues when pax are being asked to come earlier than needed due to construction at the airport. JU has asked pax to come to BEG 3 hours prior to departure due to this.
DeleteAircraft reliability isn't too bad at JU, dispatch rate seems to be good, however when 1 ac goes AOG it has a bigger impact on a smaller airline that might not have a replacement immediately. Large enough delays could cause crew to exceed their duty times and replacing crew isn't easy. Airlines don't tend to have an abundance of staff on stand by for 'just in case'. JU currently have new crew in training that will be ready in about 2 weeks. You have airlines such as Wizz that have a large fleet and yet massive delays and staffing issues. Easyjet removing seats due to staffing shortages. JU isn't the worst.
Saturday was an isolated incident due to the storm that hit our city. It is practice not only in BEG but in many airports around the world to not fuel aircraft during a storm. JU suffers the most being the largest airline operating from the airport, with fuelling done by trucks and not from an underground piping system. This slows down the refueling process on a normal day, manageable but not ideal in a storm. I would say that is why the morning TK arrival came in on time and left 4 hours late.
Overall, every summer we hear about them potentially having massive delays due to an overstretched fleet but it never happens. Same was said about 1 A330 operating 6 pw to JFK and dispatch reliability has been over 99%. Comments here tend to be overly dramatic.
Don't consider me a hater because I like Air Serbia but I have a feeling the majority of these new routes will operate for one season. Part of the reason I purchased tickets for Salzburg. Always wanted to visit but have a feeling it won't be around this time next year.
ReplyDeleteI think Salzburg will stay around. Wizz Air originally launched it for a short while in 2020 and then had to stop when Austria banned traffic from the Balkans. They never returned because Wizz Air pulled out of Salzburg. But I think JU will do well on that route.
DeleteSome of the Italian routes won't be back for sure.
DeleteI think people underestimate how much pent-up demand there is for travel to Italy after two years + performance will really depend on how much ethnic traffic JU can capture.
DeleteIn my opinion, Salzburg is success guaranteed. It will serve as Munchen Sud/Munich South
DeletePlus SZG is on the ATR, shouldn't be too hard to make it work when you combine local gastos plus transfers.
DeleteMany airlines around the world are having operational problems at the moment. Be it because of staffing issues, supply issues, fleet issues. It's not the end of the world.
ReplyDeleteAirport too.
Delete*airports
DeleteThis is true. KLM had to stop selling tickets over the weekend due to a lack of staff at Amsterdam airport and huge lines being caused because of it. Over the weekend in Dublin many people missed their flights because of the huge lines.
DeleteWho is Air Serbia's COO at the moment?
ReplyDeleteGoran Grozdanić
Deletehttps://www.airserbia.com/en/footer_menu/corporate/about-us/governing-bodies
DeleteWell, that explains EVERYTHING !! Welcome to Jat Airways ver 2.0 !
Delete@11,48
DeleteNot everyone at Jat Airways was incompetent at their job. I don't have much info on Grozdanic, anything to note? He has been with JU for decades.
This guy is a dinosaur - it says much about a person who insists on being referred to as "Gospodin Direktor" ... in 2022 !! Where do they find these people ??
DeletePity Amman didn't make it back onto their destination list.
ReplyDeleteGood that it didn't. Considering how many operational issues they are having a flight like Amman with its flight time would have been a huge burden.
DeleteWell, it's at night so no really.
DeleteIs it possible that all flights from SVO to BEG are sold out for June? I've just tried to find available flight.
ReplyDeleteYes. It's madness. People who were left when the A320 return flight was cancelled were unable to be reallocated on other JU flights from SVO because they are sold out every day. In June Russians go on holiday and many more still want to leave Russia. Belgrade is full of Russians at the moment. Property prices have skyrocketed and over 3000 businesses have been registered by Russians in Serbia in just 3 months. They can stay 90 days visa free and then just have to leave and reenter and it resets (most go into Bosnia and come back straight away).
DeleteOn SVO-BEG flight the other day there were just 6 Serbian nationals. The rest were Russian.
DeleteWhy don't they add more flights?
DeleteBecause they were preassured and threatened to reduce them last time they added flights.
DeleteOne of the reasons they have so many fleet issues is because of charters. Demand for charters is growing and growing and their fleet becomes streched. It was a different story when they had 4 planes all dedicated just for charter flights.
ReplyDeleteVery simple solution - lease in short term seasonal capacity to focus on charters while the core fleet is dedicated to scheduled flying and in meeting the network expansion needs. It can't be that difficult. That's how all airlines manage market demands with highly fluctuating seasonality. Someone obviously isn't doing the job that they being paid to do
DeleteThey are not ready for this season adsolutely! Even when is one plane (A320) losted in Moscow, they had a lot problems. Whole flight schedule was disrupted , and delays were abot 2-3 h
ReplyDeleteSo, can you imagine when in June or July one aircraft must be grounded because malfuction. Passengers for chartes will wait for their flight abot 5-6 h, or some of them will be canceled.
Actually charters have absolute priority because they are contracted. Have a look. None of the charters are delayed or cancelled. This of course affects then scheduled flights.
DeleteScheduled flights also have "contracts" with paying passengers who have rights under EU law. Why are they any different ?
DeletePrioritizing charters is a disaster for an airline, that operates a hub and spoke model.
DeleteYou see how clever actually Croatia Airlines is. They don't have such problems. They don't operate charters. They don't operate hub and spoke, ok, ok, they do, with ten percent of potentials, they don't grow the network, and now they have no such problems 😃
DeleteJU should start feeding LH asap, and all problems solved! 😃
Thank you Mr Uhlijeb.
Delete@PozdravizRijeke
DeleteI wouldn't mind JU resembling Croatia airlines. Serving a number of routes for the benefit of Croatian citizens and tourists coming to visit and spend money in Croatia. Providing perfect connectivity through StarAlience. Charters should be left to charter companies and small national carriers should not try to pretend they are some super connectors.
3 h for Hurghada and one cancelation to Hurgada too.
ReplyDeletePlane from Moscow scheduled to return tomorrow according to beg.aero website
ReplyDeleteA320
DeleteWhy are JU and BEG silent about the issues? Communication is key - be proactive and honest, don't wait social media to provide the interpretations of the event and to create your image. Sure, people will resent but many will say: hey at least they are honest. It's much better to be mind-positioned as frank airline/airport than as unreliable. Furthermore, you can't hide anything today. It goes out, like it or not. So the only question is who'll control the narrative: (social) media or you.
ReplyDeleteAll airlines don't tend to communicate much, unless they have to. Sometimes it's better if they didn't say anything.
DeleteIt would be nice for a bit more transparency for situations like on Saturday, with comments on steps they are taking to avoid a repeat in the future. It would be great to see more transparency with BEG.
Nije mi jasno zašto ne uvedu Istambul u 1. talasu. Ne treba im dodatni avion a dnevni letovi su im non stop rasprodati.
ReplyDeleteПо мени није им потребан ноћни Истанбул већ јутарњи који ће стизати релативно рано тамо. Тренутно најранији долазак је око подне. Ако би ЈУ увео јутарње и вечерње летове онда би били крајње конкурентни за све веће O&D тржиште. Нажалост. мислим да тренутно немају довољно ваздухоплова за тако нешто.
DeleteAir Serbia retired 737s long time ago and knew 2022 charter season would be record-breaking. They planned major expansion of new destinations for a while. Air Serbia had crappy ATR reliability record for years. Jet fleet changes were in the works for a long time.
ReplyDeleteStarting charter season and major expansion without completing ATR/737 replacement and without contingencies in place for AOG scenario is why I called them names in a post three days ago. All of this was predictable and mostly avoidable with solid risk management. I would have been more understanding for very low probability/high impact risks like Egyptair incident in 2019, but this was not the same.
When well behaved passenger was violently dragged off United plane in 2017 to make room for crew, UA faced social media backlash. UA then sent employees through core4 training. Air Serbia and BEG should do similar training and add better communication guidelines for delayed/cancelled flights.
During early stage of Kondic tenure some pilots were heard in the passenger cabin due to a hot mic in the cockpit. Conversation was not intended for passengers and some yelling or swearing was involved. Kondic acted swiftly to make sure it doesn't happen again.
DeleteI live by airport. In morning a lot if fligth. But i think Russia-Belgrade is only flight from Europe. And many Russians come here and proceed to Montenegro. Last year we had a lot of people from India. Full town of them. I hope they will stop bomb treats from Poland/Ukraine. Such a nonsense and crime act, wich should be treated as terrorism, but obviosly supported by West ?!
ReplyDeleteInteresting info, mate. Thanks for sharing. This is maybe why JU has so many flights to the Montenegrin coast. Serbia is used a transfer zone and most of them are going there after having much fewer options to holiday in Spain.
DeleteDo Indians still require visas to enter Serbia? I heard on the news the other day that MNE is abolishing visas to Saudi nationals....I think they want to taste the piece of nice cake that SJJ has following their Middle East huge route expansion lately.
Slijede najbolje tradicije JAT-a kad je riječ o putnicima. Joke about the time. Na Šeremetjevu ostavili putnike tri dana, bez da im je itko ponudio čašu vode.
ReplyDelete6 putnika koji su ostali na aerdromu dobili su hotekski smestaj.
DeleteWhen is the lease ending on that 320, it's been spending to much time broken down lately?
ReplyDelete