The Founder and CEO of Emirates, Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, and other prominent figures and politicians from the United Arab Emirates and the Emirate of Dubai, have held a meeting with the Serbian Prime Minister, Ana Brnabić, in Dubai, where an agreement was signed for sharing expertise in a wide variety of areas, including tourism. The Emirati carrier has had Belgrade under review as a potential destination on several occasions over the past decade. It currently codeshares on Flydubai’s ten weekly service between the two cities, which will increase to fourteen weekly next month. In 2021, the Dubai - Belgrade route saw its best results on record, with passenger numbers growing over 31% on the pre-pandemic 2019.
Belgrade has performed extremely well for Flydubai during the Covid pandemic, with healthy two-way point to point traffic, and less indirect competition. However, Emirates itself is not convinced it would be able to fill its first and business class cabins on the Boeing 777 aircraft on flights to the Serbian capital. Several years ago, Emirates sent an introductory request to Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport requiring basic information for the potential introduction of services. However, according to media reports, no response was sent to the airline for some time, which occurred at the height of Etihad Airways’ involvement in Air Serbia. Over the last year, the Emirati carrier is believed to have launched another feasibility study into potential operations to Belgrade.
Cargo is among one of the main drivers for Emirates’ interest in serving Belgrade. Serbia and the United Arab Emirates have begun the export and import of perishables which must be carried under special requirements which Emirates can meet, that are difficult to fulfill on Boeing 737 aircraft, currently serving the two cities. Apples are the main Serbian export to the UAE, along with honey products, hard cheeses, wine, pasta, corn and animal feed. The UAE has recently proposed to become a logistic hub for the export of Serbian products to Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia. Emirates sees the prospect of cargo, along with solid year-round demand as a suitable launching pad for potential flights, although premium loads remain a deterrent.
OMG OMG OMG
ReplyDeleteLove the creative comment.
DeleteLack of 787s or even 330s is really showing here.
ReplyDeleteEmirates could have 3-4 destinations in ExYu with a bit smaller plane. They made a mistake canceling those 330 neos
They ordered 787s
DeleteAlright that sounds good !!
ReplyDeleteTwo days ago FZ had three flights in a single day.
ReplyDelete3?
DeleteYes two flights around 14
DeleteNice!
DeleteGood to see demand continuing to grow.
DeleteThe reason for that was tire failure during landing a day before, so they needed to wait next day flight to get new tire from DXB. Crew had layover in BEG and ferried back to DXB
DeleteThanks for the explanation.
DeleteThis is impressive
ReplyDeleteIn 2021, the Dubai - Belgrade route saw its best results on record, with passenger numbers growing over 31% on the pre-pandemic 2019.
Flydubai is a surprisingly good airline. Glad to see them performing well in BEG.
DeleteIn 2020 I think they were one of the busiest foreign airlines in Belgrade. They were probably in the top in 2021 as well.
DeleteFingers crossed.
ReplyDeleteWould love to see Emirates in Belgrade.
ReplyDelete"However, Emirates itself is not convinced it would be able to fill its first and business class cabins on the Boeing 777 aircraft on flights to the Serbian capital. Welcome to Gboard clipboard, any text that you copy will be saved here. "
ReplyDeleteBudapest can't fill them either but they have lots of cargo with 100 pax.
The route is maturing quite nicely
ReplyDeleteIndeed. 30% growth in pandemic year compared to 2019 is amazing.
Delete"Several years ago, Emirates sent an introductory request to Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport requiring basic information for the potential introduction of services. However, according to media reports, no response was sent to the airline for some time, which occurred at the height of Etihad Airways’ involvement in Air Serbia."
ReplyDeleteWhy am I not surprised??
Typical.
DeleteOTP and BEG were to follow BUD (around that time, BRU, OSL and BUD were announced). OTP was loaded briefly in their internal network, with schedules, flight numbers etc, but quickly removed. The route was never announced. EK also enquired with ZAG around the same time as BEG, ZAG responded where as BEG didn't.
DeleteIn theory, if they were to start flight, how many would they have per week?
ReplyDeleteProbably 7, or maybe even less, given that the aircraft capacity would be doubled, and then there's the problem with the first and business class.
DeleteTo be honest, I would rather have Flydubai double daily than something like four weekly Emirates.
ReplyDeleteUsually Emirates CEO holds talks with state officials when they are planning to launch flights. Let's hope it's the case this time around too.
ReplyDeleteI did not know that.
DeleteThis is a good first step.
DeleteI can see EK eventually flying seasonally to ZAG, BEG and SJJ.
ReplyDeleteor LJU if its really as good as they say
DeleteIt will happen sooner or later.
ReplyDeleteUnless CAD somehow blocks them so they can protect Etihad-Air Serbia.
DeleteEtihad no longer flies to Belgrade and CAD can't do that anyway, as Serbia and UAE have open-skies agreement in place
DeleteTurkish would suffer.
DeleteThe Flydubai flights are constantly full and tickets are becoming quite expensive frankly speaking. It is often cheaper to fly with Qatar Airways via Doha than nonstop.
ReplyDeleteTrue. I was checking business class fares lately and Flydubai was pretty outrageous. 3000 euros for a return ticket on Flydubai. Meanwhile, Qatar Airways was 1.200 euros on A320 and B777 with Q suites.
DeleteYes but there are obvious drawbacks flying with QR on this combination. You have a stop, which is ok but you arrive in Dubai at 2.30AM and you arrive at the terminal used by international airlines which is T1 which is a bit of a hassle and longer process than Emirates' T3.
DeleteIf the difference was 500 EUR I would think about it, but almost 2k? It's too much
DeleteDifference is huge. And this isn't a one off. It is regularly like this. The cheapest business class ticket I have seen on Flydubai is 1,800 euros but these fares have become very rare.
DeleteIf you fly in business with Qatar to Dubai you get to use the amazing first class lounge in Doha which few passengers get to use (because they have first class only on A380) but the business class on their Dubai flights is categorized as first. That lounge is amazing. An experience in its own right.
DeleteIn this case you can buy economy class ticket and upgrade onboard for 1900aed or 475eur. Of course, if there is seat available
DeleteOther than being some sort of status symbol I don't see what people would gain with Emirates in Belgrade. Apart from being more expensive than the existing FZ/EK combination for transfers, FZ already flies to Terminal 3 and you get free food and luggage if you are transferring onto an Emirates flight, so I don't see the benefits.
ReplyDeleteMore seats on the market, more cargo potential and so on. There is obvious more potential when a larger planes flies.
DeleteCargo obviously.
DeleteTwo advantages that immediately come to mind are mileage accrual that EK provides and a proper wide-body cabin to the Middle East.
Delete@An.09.24
DeleteI flew combination FZ/EK once and never again. Next time I went to VCE instead ZAG to have EK all the way. What you get on FZ is not food, it's two bites of something uneatable. Free drink for 5 hours flight consisted of tiny box of juice, 1,5 dl, no choice, packed in the same carbord box with before mentioned two bites of uneatable stuff. I had to pay even for cup of tea, despite I was continuing on EK to Jakarta. Also cabin crew looked cheap, even lacking some manners. Luggage was for free, but except for that, overall experience in economy was such that have no wish at all to repeat it
They changed service. Now you are getting meal with free hot drink and water. Alcohol is still for additional charge
DeleteFlydubai doesn't have that many transfers on its BEG flights. Majority are point to point. Emirates would definitely stimulate a lot more transfer traffic and could be a threat to Qatar Airways. This way QR does not have any major Gulf competition since Etihad left.
ReplyDeleteHere in Australia the Serbian diaspora avoids flying with Emirates-Flydubai combination. Most have a bad experience with them. Almost everyone uses Qatar Airways nowadays with much easier transfer and better service on all legs.
DeleteYes! As someone who flew Sydney-Dubai-Belgrade once per year for several years I would recommend people avoid the Emirates and Fly Dubai combination. It's just not worth the hassle and the Fly Dubai service leaves a lot to be desired. Also the "free food" is so tiny its hilarious. Also the crew acts as if you are a regular passenger not EK passenger and they will try to sell you food. Only if you tell them that you are coming from an EK flight will they check and give you something awful. This is for eco class though so maybe its probably different in business. Etihad service was nothing better either.
DeleteAll QR has to do is boost BEG to double daily to compete with a possible EK entry. QR is flexible in terms of seating capacity, EK isn't. This was one of EK's weak points in ZAG when competing with QR.
DeleteQR also had better marketing in ZAG, offering better deals for agencies compared to EK. However, Asia and Africa packages offered in Belgrade seem to favour TK then FZ, QR is barely noticeable in that regard. Some form of relationship has been established, EK would just take over.
As for transfers, the transfer market has shifted the past 10 years since the arrival of EY and QR. While Jat was operating to DXB, the Australian transfer market was using mainly DXB. The arrival of QR and EY, and Jat being replaced with FZ, that segment went over to AUH and DOH respectively, that is now mainly DOH. FZ is usually used for transfers to places such as MLE, ZNZ and CMB, however it seems they are making a come back for the Australian market as well.
Emirates certainly has capacities and potential...
DeleteFlydubai will eventually merge with Emirates completely
ReplyDeleteIf they didn't do it during the pandemic, they won't do it now.
DeleteDubai has become hugely popular in Serbia especially during the pandemic as it was one of the rare places Serbian citizens could travel to.
ReplyDeleteIt is also becoming more and more popular for travel from the UAE. Especially with Indian citizens living there as they don't need visas. I travel to DXB often and on my last few flights more than 50% of passengers on the plane were of Indian descent I would say, if not more.
DeleteGood to hear that more Gulf based tourists are coming to Serbia.
DeleteThere are Indian tourists, mind you.
DeleteDoes that matters that much? What is the color of money?
DeleteIt would be nice to see a widebody from one of these GCC airlines in BEG.
ReplyDeleteI'm quite sure we will see Qatar Airways widebodies in Belgrade in November and December for the World Cup.
DeleteWithout doubt. I'm hoping for the A350 😀
DeleteNo way it would happen unless they completely kill the prices. They cannot sell a single seat for weeks now on outbound flight for Brazil match, with these prices they want to achieve.
DeleteExcellent news for Belgrade Airport. Hopefully numbers will continue to grow on this route in 2022 and we might see EK in 2023.
ReplyDeleteEK coming to Belgrade is more realistic now that Etihad left the market.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely.
DeleteAgree. While Etihad had sway on the airport, the directorate and the national airline, it was unlikely for EK to come.
DeleteThings have changed now.
DeleteIs there any possibility flydubai may increase capacity by using the 737MAX9 to BEG insted of the MAX8?
ReplyDeleteThey already use a mix of both.
DeleteThere are only 10 extra seats on their MAX9 compared to MAX8.
DeleteMax 9 has bad performance, especially during summer time in dubai, so they stopped ordering it.
DeleteIt would be exciting if they came along.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest problem EK has is that they mainly fly bigger planes which can be tricky for smaller cities and markets.
ReplyDeleteI completely understand their apprehension. Filling 50 premium seats per flight is not easy.
ReplyDeleteThey also have 2 class configured B777's which just have the 42 seats in business class, however a much larger economy capacity. They're typically used on markets where premium demand isn't great (MNL, CGK for example), however economy is quite full.
DeleteLet's hope Brnabic left a good impression :D
ReplyDeleteHmmm
Deletewell, there is room to replace three weekly FZ services with EK due to cargo
ReplyDelete+1
Deleteit is nice to see how gulf airlines are interested into ex-yu lately. Tomorrow qatari minister of transport is coming to slovenia.
ReplyDeleteExcellent. It means QR might come to Ljubljana after all.
DeleteWe might see a combination of both in BEG.
ReplyDeleteDoubt it
DeleteEK would have more expensive fares.
ReplyDeleteEK and Flydubai had the same fares between Dubai and Zagreb. Doubt it would be any different with Belgrade.
DeleteDidn't know we exported so much to the UAE.
ReplyDeleteIt will increase more this year.
DeleteHope VINCI does everything it can to attract Emirates.
ReplyDeleteMarket would be oversaturated with EK's B777.
ReplyDeleteBring on the A321XLR with premium class :))) perfect for this route
ReplyDeleteSvakako je pitanje vremena kad ce EK doci u BEG i to je jos jednom potvrdjeno ovaj put. Zbog velikog Kargo tereta ce krenuti najverovatnije sa 777 da lete leti, a zimi verovatno sa A359. Ovi razgovori su jos jednom ovo potvrdili.
ReplyDeleteINN-NS
I travel to Dubai for business often and I got to say that Flydubai's business class is more full than not.
ReplyDeleteIt is one thing to fill 10 business class seats per flight, another to fill over 40 premium seats per flight
DeleteMore people would be willing to book business/first class on Emirates 777 than on 737 Max.
DeleteBEG always made more sense than ZAG.
ReplyDelete+100
DeleteWhile I am not one of those who think Emirates service is one of the most important events for one's airport (or country) aviation, I do think Emirates will bring advantages over FlyDubai so good for Belgrade/Vinci for making it happen.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand Emirates have been criticized for years for their inability to quickly pivot to capture some smaller markets now dominated by QR, FZ and TK. For those routes they have to go smaller, drop the first class and introduce premium economy. Took years until they finally got it but will need more time to implement it. Boeing delivery delays are just adding insult to injury.
Belgrade is ready for EK widebody service I but don't see EK 787-9 coming to BEG before late 2024 or 2025. Can they make 777 work in the meantime? Perhaps in the summer but we have to see if year-round is doable.
+100
DeleteInteresting that the government is now engaging Dubai too. They used to be mainly Abu Dhabi oriented.
ReplyDeleteThey would be an adequate replacement for Etihad :D
ReplyDeleteFlyDubai is ultra low cost at high price, we need Emirates to fly from Serbia to Dubai.
ReplyDelete