Air Serbia is interested in adding more destinations in the United States once it commences operations to Chicago next year, which will complement its New York service. “We're looking at other destinations in the US. But again, our main strategy is to target cities that have year-round potential. We do not want to increase seasonality, which is already high in our region. That's one of the reasons we favour Chicago over Toronto, for example, because the Canadian city is not only extremely seasonal, but also extremely unidirectional. At the beginning of the season the flights are full in one direction, and at the end of the season in the other direction”, the airline’s CEO, Jiri Marek, told “Aero Telegraph”.
Global travel data provider OAG notes that the busiest destinations from Belgrade to the US following New York and Chicago are Los Angeles, Miami, Washington and Boston. “In the US there is a strong diaspora not only from Serbia, but from the entire Balkan region. As a result, we have sufficient utilisation in both directions. In addition, we should not forget about freight, which weighs heavily on the success of the New York route”, Mr Marek said. The Serbian carrier handled 61.702 passengers on its New York service last year, reaching 84.6% of pre-pandemic levels on the route. In terms of freight, the airline recorded its best performance on record, uplifting 3.906 tonnes of cargo, up 120% on 2019.
Busiest unserved US routes from Belgrade, excluding Chicago
Next summer season, the Serbian carrier plans to run daily flights to New York, a two weekly service to Chicago and implement a codeshare with a major carrier from the US, which would further boost passenger numbers. “We currently have interline agreements that work quite well. But we are working on reaching the next level, which is codeshare cooperation with one of the major airlines in the United States. We are in the final stages of negotiations and believe we can announce this before the end of the year”, Mr Marek said. In 2016, the Serbian carrier courted several carriers over a codeshare, including American Airlines, but with no success.
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go for Miami or Boston
ReplyDeleteI also think Miami could be a potential option, especially considering Orlando is also high on the list
DeleteAnd Tampa too. I'm really surprised to see so many cities in Florida on the list.
DeleteI'm assuming that there is a large Serbian diaspora in Florida.
DeleteSoCal diaspora is larger but MIA has better chances than LAX.
DeleteEspecially since it is operationally much cheaper to fly to Miami than Los Angeles. People often forget the entire financial aspect when selecting a destination.
DeleteThe Toronto fans won't like this :D
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteI don't really get the seasonality issue they keep drumming about yyz, because there are many people going back and forth even during winter. And lets not forgetthat beside large Serbian diaspora, there is Greek, Croatian, Macedonian, Albanian diaspora too. Plus if commerical and marketing do a really good job, you can funnel through many other transfers via Beg to YYZ.
DeleteIt is likely that the new codeshare with the US airline will cover Canada as well.
DeleteFinaly someone from JU explained the Toronto issue.
Delete+1
DeleteFlying through US is not that practical as you have to clear US immigration to go to JFK, or in case of ORD you are going a hour backwards. For JFK you likely have to fly to LGA to catch taxi to get to JFK
DeleteIt is faster via LOT AUA or LH, Paris is bad as they lose luggage frequently and have to change terminals sometimes
Has Air Serbia thought of getting A321XLR which could be used to the US?
ReplyDeleteDon't know that but what is sure is that I personally would never, absolutely never opt for narrow body jet for such a long flight. Simply, two aisle planes offers higher level of comfort and you feel better. Maybe it is just me.
DeleteThe word you're looking for is "twin aisle" but other tham that I fully agree with your sentiment. I fly the 320, and I dread the day when I'll have to fly the 321XLR to the other end of the world, with no crew rest facilities, so I cant even imagine what it would be like in the cabin with the three tiny toilets serving 200+ pax.
DeleteI hope they won't wait 5 years after launching Chicago to start another route in the US.
ReplyDeleteThey should first add frequencies to Chicago, make it a success and profitable and only then should they start a third destination. That's what they did with New York.
DeleteI agree with anon 9.15, but I believe Chicago will mature faster with good code share agreement. As they start Chicago in 2023 (+Chinese routes) I believe 2024 will be consolidation year for all long haul routes and in 2025 the third USA or some other long haul route will come.
DeleteIn long run they may have 5 routes in the USA +1-2 in Canada, but they should first focus on Asian markets that have the biggest potential to grow.
What codeshare in ORD? Jetblue has no routes west of Chicago being able to feed JU ORD flights. Only if they pull a miracle and get AA to pay attention to them by agreeing to codeshare with JU.
DeleteAlaska Airlines perhaps? It covers West Coast pretty well.
DeleteThere is going to be a lot more passengers once they finally get that codeshare.
ReplyDeleteWith more Balkan connections and a codeshare, the US market could perform extremely well.
ReplyDeletePerhaps they should take LAX into consideration
ReplyDeleteI don't think they are thinking about west coast at the moment.
DeleteWest coast is bit to far for their schedule and rotation, I think maybe Boston or Miami would be best options however Canada should be their no. 1 priority
DeleteThey can definitely make LAX working twice a week, just not sure that A330 is ideal for this flights.
DeleteHavana will be seasonal. That doesn't seem to be the problem for Air Serbia but seasonal Toronto is? First flights of the season to Havana will also be empty on the way back, so that directionability is fine for Air Serbia but not okay for Toronto? That reasoning makes no sense.
ReplyDeleteIt seems they will give up on Havana. I.e. they won't fly it this year. At least those are the rumors. But even if they didn't the costs of flying to Havana are significantly lower than flying Toronto, especially since they would depend on tour operators buying the majority of seats.
DeleteIt would be great if a Canadian airline takes up this route
DeleteHavana high season is during Europe's winter time
DeleteFlight duration is similar if not longer for Havana than Toronto. Even if Air Serbia doesn"t start Havana they are considering other long haul seasonal tourist destinations, but they won't consider Toronto as a seaasonal destination? Tour operators will not buy empty seats on a first return flight of a season, same as for any other seasonal flight Air Serbia has. Somehow that only prevents launch of Toronto but not other seasonal flights?
DeleteObviously they did the causations and the costs are greater flying to Toronto. Not sure if you realize Toronto is one of the most expensive airports in the world.
Delete*calculations.
DeleteTrue, YYZ is expensive, but that was not quoted in today's article as one of the reasons Chicago was selected over Toronto. Air Serbia mentioned Toronto being extremely seasonal and directional, that's why comparisons to potential winter seaasonal flights to Havana, Thailand, Maldives etc. Somehow flying summer seasonal to Toronto is an issue but winter seasonal to other destinations is not.
DeleteJu doesn't want competition from air canada from yyz. They want to be only player, thats a problem...
DeleteBecause in summer, existing long routes to US & China will be at peak a there is no spare capacity for seasonal Toronto flight.
DeleteIn winter, they can "squeeze" additional route with existing capacity.
Summer capacity squeeze didn't seem to affect Air Transat flying also extremely seasonal route Toronto to Zagreb. Two flights a week are not an issue for them and I have a feeling Air Serbia could have scheduled two flights a week to Toronto if they really wanted to. Oh and Canada will drop covid entry requirements from October, so that reason for not selecting Toronto also goes away.
DeleteYou are right, it is quite easier for Air Transat to do it because they have larger fleet and they are well established airline in Canada.
DeleteAir Serbia needs to advance carefully and this article is not talking about next summer new routes anyway.
BEG ORD is a next summer new route, and not too late to make YYZ 2023 summer route.
DeleteInteresting to note that Turkish flights to Havana have a refuel stop in Venezuela on the way back because the fuel is way less expensive.
DeleteI think AirSerbia ignores Toronto only to annoy some People here, shame on them. We should report them to our parents or to the teacher even!
DeleteAir Serbia official made a public comment on why they chose Chicago over Toronto. If Chicago route ends up being extremely seasonal and directional they won't be able to point fingers at anon comments.
Delete@09,15
DeleteMarek had mentioned in that interview that seasonality it a big problem in JU and that they will focus on reducing this. 4 wet leases had to be brought in for the peak 3 months this summer. This is why you will see a couple charter routes go scheduled next year as a push to lower the seasonality problem. YYZ currently would just increase the seasonality problem.
The summer months isn't an issue for JU, it's the winter months. That is why HAV is being considered, because it'll operate during the winter months, which will lower that seasonality problem with their fleet.
TS seasonal flights to ZAG have that capacity thrown onto the Caribbean during the winter months. JU currently doesn't have this. Im sure once they work out what to do with the spare capacity during the winter months YYZ will be launched. After all, they haven't rejected the possibility of launching YYZ in the future.
Seasonality is a known issue for decades. Good for Air Serbia for attempting to find new ways to deal with that such as Havana etc, but going year round to Chicago is not one of those ways. Simply put, summer seasonal Toronto brings more money than Chicago year round.
Delete^^ How much more?
Delete@12,22
DeleteJU doesn't believe so at this moment and I think we should trust their judgment on that one. Im sure we will see YYZ in the next couple of years.
It could also be down to the codeshare agreement that they managed to finally arrange in the US, making ORD more attractive over YYZ. ORD also allows for more flexibility with frequencies compared to the uncertainty of any potential Canadian route, where its limited to 2 pw and little sign it'll increase any time soon.
Havana will not happen this year because of the this morning news out of Moscow. That route was relying on tourist transfers from Russia. So that route is gone for foreseeable future.
DeleteToronto, well people who live in Toronto they think that Toronto is the center of the Universe LOL...almost like that entitlement attitude that whole world is running according to their mind projections . so it is hard for them to understand when even the CEO lays out the reason for Toronto not being selected this time. There are better long term route options for JU to work on then Toronto.
Codeshare with American Airlines would help Air Serbia in Chicago but so far they had closer relationship with JetBlue. Codeshare with JetBlue would not help much unless JetBlue Spirit merger gets approved and becomes operational in 2025.
DeleteAn airline would likely need to start flying between Canada and Serbia for limit of 2 flights per week to be shown as insufficient. Indefinitely postponing service launch does not seem to boost chances of increasing weekly limit.
I am also certain we will see BEG YYZ flights in the next couple of years. Airbus will soon have 3rd A321XLR ready for route proving. Air Canada and Air Transat combined have 44 orders including options for that variant. Air Transat already operates A321LR to Europe so step up from LR to XLR will give them additional range to cover Ex Yu zone. Even if some airports like Belgrade end up being better suited for widebody service, those 44 potential XLRs can free up a lot of widebodies for other destinations like Belgrade. Triple digit XLR orders for US carriers are also expected to reshape transatlantic services to Ex Yu zone.
Boris, other than China flights there are no better options for new Air Serbia long haul than seasonal service to Toronto.
DeleteAnonymous15:48
DeleteYes, maybe on this very moment on 21 of September, 2022.
In just 3 months there could be 5 better options in Asia and Middle East.
This is P2P demand. Would be interesting to see which cities come out on top when you add connecting traffic from the main Air Serbia destinations which act as feeders for US.
ReplyDeleteI am sad that Toronto seems to be completely sidelined.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteI'm glad they picked ORD over YYZ.
DeleteNot sure about business aspects completely but Toronto is now bigger than Chicago, plus growing, and Serbian diaspora in Toronto more connected to Serbia. Too me doesn't make sense.
DeleteExcellent news
ReplyDeleteBravo Serbia !
ReplyDeleteAt least some airlines have ambitious plans in the region
ReplyDeleteEverything Mr. Marek said is true. Imagine now OU CEO, with more favourable geographical position, with transfer passengers from Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia "behihd", in addition to those "behind" JU has, with shorter flying time, and therefore less operational costs, with hundreds of thousands of American tourists visiting Croatia which is not the case with Serbia, with Croatia in visa waiver programme, with NATO relations and ties which generate traffic as well, imagine OU CEO saying what Mr.Marek is talking about. And it could and it should have been the case if Croatia had an airline. Unfortunately, Croatia does not have an airline. It has pathetic feeder and humiliated servant that makes profits for the Cartel on behalf of its tax payers
DeleteYeah! OU should have been the ''LO of the Balkans''! Lol
DeleteYeah, Air Canada, Air Transat, United, Delta and American LOL with you! So are KLM, Lufthansa, Turkish, Air Serbia, LOT, Aer Lingus,, British, Air France, Austrian, and many others which carry millions of North Atlantic transfer passengers to and from Croatia. They all LOL with you at Croatia Airlines that voluntarily let go its most lucrative market
DeletePozdrav I know you are used to interact with trolls around here. Answer ''take madikajsn'' and that's it. When someone tried to challenge your fantasies with facts and arguments you dissappeared. That's why you can't be taken seriously.
DeleteBoring and predictable as usual, Rijeka.
DeleteI do agree with Mr. Pozdrav on these.
DeleteI do hate when politics start getting into the comments here to much, but what he says is true. And I guess he's saying because he really does wish for Croatia Airlines to work properly.
His points here are spot on.
Croatia is closer to core EU market and US. The only thing Serbia is closer to is Russia (that doesn't help anymore) and Asia.
Geographically Croatia has one of the prettiest coastlines, good weather and lots to offer.
Historically it had better position since mid 90's.
Unlike YU that couldn't fly domestically at a few times OU was making it's network, and doing nicely enough.
Finally like Mr. Pozdrav said, Croatia is in EU and NATO. Generally better looked upon then Serbia.
Just look at comment section on any AirSerbia article on Simply Flying.
As someone who's pro AirSerbia as Mr. Pozdrav is pro Croatia Airlines I can say it bugs me that OU has such management, that it can barely keep it's network together, that it has to move out of Zagreb do to LCC coming there
I agree with Pozdrav because I feel that way about some companies in Serbia that got ruined by so called "experts".
There's no denying that Croatia has all these advantages and of course OU had the potential to be in a much much better situation than it is today. But the discussion was whether OU could ever become the LO of the Balkans which it clearly can not due to the insignificance of ZAG.
DeleteWe have people here who can judge objectively, who love and appreciate their own, and not speaking negatively and with hate about others, as @maxi4492 for example. On the other hand, we have Anonymouses who speak about "insignificance" of the airport served by Air Canada, Emirates and Korean, and Pan Am and Malaysian before, at the same time not willing to accept the fact that major part of an airport "significance" might be, and usually is, the consequence of the strong carrier based on the airport concerned and making it its hub, which is precisely what I repeatedly talk about
DeleteСan A332 make it to LAX on a direct flight and with a full payload?
ReplyDeleteI'm quite interested in this too.
DeleteYES! During covid JU flew to LAX to transfer students..Plane was full and I think flight was 11 or 12 hrs.
DeleteThey didnfly BEG-LAX with YU-ARA during COVID lockdown. It was full with passengers towards LA and full with cargo, including cargo in the main cabin, in the way back
Deletedidnfly = did fly
Deletedidnfly = didn't fly
Which one?
https://www.exyuaviation.com/2020/03/air-serbia-to-operate-los-angeles.html?m=1
DeleteWhen should we expect tickets to go on sale for Chicago?
ReplyDeleteThe sales for JFK flights started in February for June, so maybe November?
DeleteHope so. Diaspora in the US buy tickets early for travel the following year.
DeleteI think they will do it when YU-ARC is in its full livery and once it arrives in BEG. I'm sure there will be media hype around the aircraft when it arrives, giving them a great PR moment to announce the launch of ticket sales.
DeleteLAX and MIA 2 times per week would be great.
ReplyDeletein order to be seriously considered for business travel you need at least 3-4 weekly frequencies.
DeleteHopefully ORD frequencies will grow in 2024.
DeleteMy guess is in 2024 there will be 3 weekly in summer and they will keep it 2 over winter.
DeleteIt will all depend how this route performs next year.
Delete^ True
DeleteIt is good to fly to many places in USA as they can.
ReplyDeleteBut they need to fly to Lagos also.
Massive potential for them in Lagos for transfer passengers.
Just look at Qatar Airlines, Port Harcourt, Lagos, Abudja, Kano and all full and all transfer pax.
Here we go again...
DeleteI think I have right to comment like everyone else :)
DeleteYou need to promote this at some Nigerian aviation portal, to generate demand :)
DeleteDemand is there. A lot of it! Even Lufthansa added flights to Abudja and Port Harcourt!
DeleteI guess my picture is clearer where Nigerian demand might come from: highly likely from countless number of rich widows asking for help through e-mails from Europeans, to reach for the wealth of their deceased husbands :)
DeleteYou do not know how many of these rich diaspora people who buys tickets in advance are caught to Lagos widows.
DeleteI am also convinced that Africa should be seriously considered in the mid term plans of next 5 years and I would like admin to publish an article about Arfica -ex-Yu markets, history, indirect passenger and whom they fly with, potential for the future etc.i am sure the discussion will be interesting.
DeleteLagos has enormous potential and Nigeria is one of the largest English speaking nations in the world. The A320 can make it from LOS to BEG.
DeleteOwu is correct.
DeleteLagos would perfect choice for JU considering the changes in that part of the world including Central African Republic, Mali etc...
Ofcourse there is a risk but this would be calculated risk move.
How long will the flight to Chicago take?
ReplyDeleteAround 10 hours.
DeleteInteresting. Nice to see US market developing for JU. Many were saying here that there would be no passengers.
ReplyDeleteCongrats Air Serbia. That is quite a good development.
ReplyDeleteAre there any limitations as to how many flights/destinations Air Serbia is allowed in the US?
ReplyDeleteNo limitations.
DeleteSerbia and US have an open skies agreement.
DeleteWest coast is bit to far for their schedule and rotation, I think maybe Boston or Miami would be best options however Canada should be their no. 1 priority
ReplyDeleteI believe that Washington DC is more realistic than Boston ...
DeleteIdeally, they should implement both. Fly from DC and pick up passengers from Boston :) Aside from Serbian diaspora, there are a lot of Bulgarians living in Washington and with 9 daily flights from BEG to SOF this route would be a success.
DeleteFinally someone explained Toronto issue, but some people still seem to be refusing the accept the fact that Toront flights are not happening anytime soon. Someone more qualified than you did a calculation, accept it.
ReplyDeleteOr they made an error during calculation
DeleteYeah, I'm sure their entire route planning department made an error and should instead take your word for.
DeleteYou would be surprised how many routes Air Serbia had to cancel or reduce frequencies or make seasonal even though entire route planning department did their job. Do you want me to list all those routes since 2014?
DeleteWhen you do a financial analysis of the route to Toronto then you can say in confidence that they should fly there. Until you can do that, I will take their word over yours.
DeleteMany could do it having access to the same data they did. For example were they looking at seasonal service?
DeleteFinances behind European short haul routes is not the same as long haul routes. Messing up a couple of frequencies or destinations on the short haul fleet isn't as bad as messing up a long haul route.
DeleteSure JU cut a fair few amount of destinations since 2014, however they have launched a fair few in the mean time.
Canceled routes:
-CAI (returns next summer)
- OHD (returns next summer)
- BUD (has been looking into relaunching the route)
WAW, KBP, HEL, HAM, GVA, BEY, AUH, VAR, NCE, MLA.
Launched routes:
TIA, ZAD, RJK, SOF, OTP, MAD, BCN, PMI, VLC, BRI, BLQ, TRS, ZAG, LJU, LED, KZN, AER, ROV, KRR, OSL, SZG, BNX, HAJ, LYS, JFK, INI, PRG, VCE.
As for frequencies, these have seen big increases since 2014. You don't have the same number of operations with 6 aircraft and 21. IST, LJU, ATH, LCA and AMS frequencies have doubled, SKP isn't far behind, ZRH has increased by over 30%. Just a couple of routes mentioned. JU since 2014 hasn't operated those triangle routes it used to such as BEG-AMS-BRU-BEG, BEG-CPH-ARN-BEG. Capacity on all jet routes have increased from 126 to 144-180 seats. SPU went from ATR to A319/A320. SKG is mostly on the A319. IST used to see a mix of ATR and B733, now it's A319/A320. TIA has 3 pw flights on the A319. JU is also the largest airline in Montenegro in terms of capacity, where as in 2014 YM had the advantage on the BEG-Montenegro market.
"for example, because the Canadian city is not only extremely seasonal, but also extremely unidirectional. At the beginning of the season the flights are full in one direction, and at the end of the season in the other direction”
ReplyDeleteBRAVO. Gotta luv this man. Finally someone had to say it. Many European carriers struggle with YYZ. El Al is also pulling out of Toronto completely this winter. Imagine this happening to a rich and bigger country in population and diaspora country. Enough of the YYZ hysteria and stick to the real destinations with dough such as LAX or Frisco.
That is what seasonal flights are for.
DeleteAir Canada and Air Transat fly many seasonal routes to Europe. Get off your high horse JU and start flying seasonal Toronto. You won't be able to fly a lot to China if pandemic restrictions continue next year in China, so Toronto starts to look a lot better now
DeleteI think China is being pushed especially for cargo. TSN is a massive cargo hub in China. JU has preformed alot of cargo only flights to China since 2020. The pax demand to PEK will just take the direct flight into TSN, which isn't far away. Marek did mention that they would of preferred PEK and PVG, this is the best alternative.
Delete@11,15
Marek is focused on reducing the seasonality problem in JU, not increase it. The problem is winter, not summer.
The problem is solid and long minus 20c in Canada for 6 months duration of the winter. You don't want to go to around zero Celsius and drizzling Belgrade in Winter. If you are in Canada you would prefer to go Cuba, Jamaica, Mexico and lay on the beach and sip pina colada LOL
DeleteChicago in the winter is as cold and snowy as Toronto. Let's wait for February 2024 to see how will Air Serbia fill A330 BEG-ORD twice a week.
DeleteTrue, it is as cold as TO. But this could be political decision to choose Chicago over Toronto.
DeleteWell we'll not judge ORD or any other destination based on their February performance. Make it work year round doesn't mean each flight or each month has to be full nor is that possible.
DeleteMake it work year round will in this case mean: what is the tolerance for winter losses compared to summer profits on the route? If winter wipes out all the summer earnings and then some, how long will this be tolerated? If Air Serbia won't tolerate it for long, they will downgrade Chicago to seasonal service. If they make ORD seasonal, those arguments about Toronto being extremely seasonal and Chicago being better suited for year round service will be crushed. So we will be watching cabin LF on Nov-Feb ORD flights as an early warning system for downgrade to seasonal.
DeleteMiami seems as logical choice, or even some other city in Florida (Tampa, Orlando). Florida has very big and growing diaspora from ex yu countries, people are massively moving from northern countries to this US state (I personally now couple of families who moved from New York to suburbs of couple of largest cities in Florida, over the last couple of years. Also, costs of flights to Florida would be much cheaper than flights to cities on West Cost... Miami could also be interesting for P2P passengers from the region...
ReplyDeleteAgree. I think Miami could work really well.
DeleteLol Miami has four times less passengers than toronto. Four times bre!
DeleteWho cares, Toronto is seasonal airport, unidirectional and madly expensive.
DeleteMadly expensive with more than 50 million passengers per year in 2019? Imagine it being just very expensive like JFK. Somehow Toronto YYZ is not too madly expensive to have Zagreb flights.
DeleteI live in Miami for more then 20 years. When I came here there was not so many people from Balkans but in 20 years everything changed. Just go to any restaurant in Miami Beach and you will meet somebody from former YU. In the past 2.5 years of Covid so many people from all over US moved to South Florida so I am sure that there are plenty of Balkan in that group as well. Miami is holiday, cruise and diaspora destination and will work all year long. That would be perfect choice.
DeleteAt this pace JU will have 10 widebodies in its fleet in a few years xD
ReplyDeleteDefinitely looks as if more than the current two are planned :)
DeleteI joked about 10, but 5-6 in the next 3 years is quite possible.
DeleteMarek mentioned in that interview that they intend to have 5 A330's in the fleet in the near future.
DeleteIt's pretty exciting to see BEG and JU growing rapidly over this decade. I know it's a guessing game, but what does everyone think JU's widebody fleet will be like by for example 2028, as well as the number of JU and BEG long haul routes?
DeleteBy 2028 I guess it'll be 5-6 A330's.
DeleteJFK will probably be 5-10 pw, ORD 5-6 pw, YYZ 2 pw, PEK and PVG 3-4 pw each. 1 more US route (BOS, MIA or IAD) and 2-3 winter seasonal routes, something along the lines of HAV, MLE, PUJ, BKK.
As mentioned before, JU is becoming the Balkan LOT!
DeleteAre there any plans to introduce the A330neo? I think this aircraft is very sexy and versatile and just suits JU very well.
DeleteNo
DeleteBoston does not have a large Serbian diaspora. Does anyone know about the rest of the Balkan diaspora?
ReplyDeleteDon't think it's that large compared to Chicago.
Deletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Massachusetts
Also don't remember any East European connection with Logan Airport. Chicago is where JU must act. Home to the largest East European and Balkan diaspora.
Unless Havana is some village near Zaporozya it doesn't look like Russians will travel there this winter in great numbers.
Delete@Anonymous 21:21 bruh that's too funny 😂 Putkin mobilized half of Russia, but not Muscovites and Saint Petersburgians, which are the only rich kids that travel anyway.
DeleteFlights from Moscow to Belgrade are now sold out until 25th October
DeleteOctober 31st now is the next available date for purchase. This morning it was sold out until October 9th. Interesting is that the evening JU652/653 rotation shows A320 sharklets.
Deleteas of today, they should send all A330/A320 to Moscow for a week. There is mass evacuation of potential conscripts from "beloved mother Russia" these days. One way fare to Dubai and Istanbul are over 1K USD already...and BEG flights are full.
ReplyDeleteThey were already slapped on their hand by the EU for trying to increase capacity to Moscow. Unfortunately for everyone, that capacity will need to stay where it is, and the fares will, of course, do what the law of supply and demand says they will do. OTOH I think there is sufficient demand from Moscow (even if all military-age men end up unable to leave) to feed the Havana flight... there were some comments here saying that won't happen now, and I disagree given the sheer size of the market.
DeleteHere is a hope for Washington...
ReplyDeleteI truly hope so. It makes sense.
DeleteAir Serbia ads are back again today in New Yorks Times Square.
ReplyDeleteWow I'm surprised they can afford that marketing. Good for them though. Hope to see ads here in Chicago when flights get closer to launching.
DeleteIt's not an Air Serbia ad. It was an ad for Serbia which played only yesterday until 3PM and featured an Air Serbia animated plane for a millisecond during a transition between two frames.
DeleteAs usual, an intelligent synopsis of the situation by the Air Serbia CEO. And lets face facts: Chicago can work. Toronto cannot. And Miami is the obvious choice for the next North American route.
ReplyDeleteAnd as far as Zagreb is concerned - Zagreb is not Beograd. The only reason there is potential in Zagreb is because of the Adriatic. And the Adriatic Riviera is very seasonal. Zagreb can never be a regional leader like Beograd.
Nek' si ti rekao ...
DeleteAir Canada, Air Transat, Emirates, Malaysian, Korean, and more, never flew to BEG but did fly to ZAG. There is a reason behind it. If ZAG had home based carrier strong as JU, it would have had much much more traffic. I don't like speaking in terms of "regional leader" or "mine is bigger" but you should be aware that in addition to Adriatic potential, ZAG has the entire Balkans potential as a transfer hub, the same as BEG. Unfortunatelly, because of lack of strategy, and crime and corruption, that potential remains unrealized. BEG has always been, and probably will always be the biggest ex-yu airport, but relating ZAG potential to Adriatic only is simply not true
DeleteIt is not that I am suppressed. It is not true that Toronto is highly seasonal and statement that is one directional is to say the least stupid. When they needed financial support they did not go to NY, Chicago or LA. They were coming to Toronto. We have send hundreds of millions of dollars. At a time it was their biggest money inflow, specially during the sanctions. But now they have bigger picture with an idea to service the whole Balkan. In the case of the direct flight from JFK to BGD, that did not work out and will not work for any other US destination.
ReplyDeletePlease come to Boston! Ton of people from the balkan region live here. In recent years Albanians have been moving here in big numbers. This year people have been scrambling to get a flight to Europe due to strikes by big airlines. Huge potential for Air Serbia, and Americans interest to visit Greece have at least doubled in the last 3 years.
ReplyDeleteTampa, Clearwater, Orlando, Sanford, St.Petersburgh, lot of refugees from Bosnia and Croatia.
ReplyDeleteSome people are in Miami Area.