Air Serbia has confirmed it soon plans to announce an additional three new routes to launch this summer season on top of the nineteen it already revealed in late 2022. The carrier has said one of the three will be Cairo, which it last operated prior to the coronavirus outbreak. Furthermore, the carrier is expected to return to the Middle East, while it is also considering entering a new market in Western Europe. As a result, 2023 will mark Air Serbia’s biggest network expansion to date. The carrier plans to grow its passenger numbers between 10% and 20% this year and handle over three million travellers.
Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, Air Serbia served Tel Aviv, Cairo and Beirut in the Middle East and North Africa region, although the Lebanese capital was terminated just prior to the global health emergency as a result of the Middle Eastern country’s economic crisis, which has since worsened. As its replacement, the Serbian carrier planned to launch a new service to the Jordanian capital of Amman, however, those too were shelved on two occasions. Once because of Covid in 2020 and a second time in 2022 when it was quietly removed from the network prior to its launch. Air Serbia recently concluded a codeshare agreement with Qatar Airways, which, among several dozen destinations, also includes placing its codes on its Qatari counterpart’s flights from Belgrade to Doha and from Doha to Muscat in the Middle East. It also codeshares with Turkish Airlines on services to Tel Aviv, Amman, and Cairo in the region.
Commenting on its 2023 network expansion plans, Air Serbia recently said, “We are proud of the fact that, including charter destinations, we are approaching nearly 100 destinations in the upcoming summer season within our growing network. We want to position ourselves as the leading regional airline in this part of Europe and we believe that so far, we have been successful in this respect. We would like to continue doing so in the future”. Air Serbia’s new destinations, which are to be launched in the next few months, so far include Budapest, Ankara, Catania, Izmir, Heraklion, Hamburg, Chicago, Gothenburg, Cologne, Naples, Florence, Marseille, Chania, Rhodes, Corfu, Palermo, Krakow, Varna and Ohrid. They will join Malta, Tianjin, and Malaga, which were introduced during the 2022/23 winter season and will be served in the summer as well.
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Lisbon or Dublin!
ReplyDeleteDublic certainly not!
DeleteAt this point, I wouldn't be surprised if they announced Reykjavik, Iceland :D
DeleteIt will likely be Lisbon. However, considering that Ireland is untouchable for Wizzair, then Dublin is definitely a potential market. They can easily fill those planes with transfer passenger from Romania, Croatia, Bosnia and maybe to a lesser degree from Montenegro, N. Macedonia and Albania.
Delete+1
DeleteWhy is it untouchable for Wizz Air?
DeleteFR monopoly or restrictions?
I hear there is a sale on Flybe airplanes!
DeleteIts LIS, CAI and TLV.
DeleteTel Aviv isn't a new route.
Delete@12:38 nor is Cairo and yet...
DeleteYou'll see :)
DeleteDublin or Reykjavik, that is not profitable. I think that they will wait and see how Wizzair is doing with Lisbon. JU needs Middle East expansion, Beirut and Amman. JAT legacy matters, Kuwait will be operational only during the summer. So, planes should be leased on time, if JU wants to play big longer flights should be introduced, Baghdad and Baku at the end of year. What about Bari and Trieste this summer?
DeleteWhat is the point of a legacy if it is not profitable?
DeleteThe second daily to Doha, with this new code-share agreement with Qatar airways is an option.
ReplyDeleteJU will need one more a320 for Doha and Lis
DeleteHow cam A3, LO, RO... all serve BEY yet somehow JU can't. Makes no sense. Like none at all.
ReplyDeleteThere have been some rumours they will go back to Beirut but not sure.
Delete@Anonymous 09:02
DeleteAll three airlines you mentioned are based in more populous and wealthier countries than JU is.
Also the Lebanese diaspora in Serbia is tiny.
Yes because it's huge in Romania
DeleteThe problem AirSerbia had was about inflation and payment in foreign currencies etc. . some thing they couldn't resolve in that time. Maybe it's possible now.
DeleteAnonymous 09:58
DeleteRomania has a population of almost 20 million and 6.500 dollars higher GDP per capita.
So what does that have to do with anything? Most passengers on BEY-OTP are transfers, not locals.
DeleteCan't wait to see which ones
ReplyDeleteI'm qurious how is BUD selling this time?
ReplyDeleteI was told by a salesperson in JU that it is doing really, really badly. I don't think anyone is really surprised. We all knew this was going to be their biggest challenge. Now they have to fight the big guys over there.
DeleteNot surprising at all.
DeleteThe bus companies and the fact that you can take with you a lot of luggage means that a BEG-BUD route would always have been a challenge.
I would really take anything you get from someone anonymous with great reserve.
DeleteStrange if true. I don't travel to Hungary that often but I'd pay good money to not have to deal with Horgoš and other border crossings because it's a living hell and chances of you getting stuck for hours on end are solid, especially in the summer.
DeleteIs there any marketing going on in Budapest?
DeleteBrac, Maribor and Osijek.
ReplyDeletePlus SJJ going double daily from May.
Brac, Maribor, Osijek??? Other than Brac, there is a reason no one flies to Maribor and Osijek.
DeleteIm sure they are waiting with portoroz for slo government
DeleteBrac will be great
DeleteBrač will be great.
DeleteAny idea when the new destinations will be on sale?
ReplyDeleteFinally Cairo returning
ReplyDeleteThey should have brought Cairo back earlier.
DeleteGood to see. Wonder if they will operate CAI and other routes in Middle East it in the midnight wave or morning wave.
ReplyDeleteIt will be midnight wave.
DeleteWhat was the schedule before Covid?
DeleteDeparture from BEG: 23.10
DeleteArrival in CAI: 02.05
Departure from CAI: 02.50
Arrival in BEG: 05.55
Problem is that CAI, like TLV, is too far in order to leave and come back in time to catch connections in both directions. They need to have a split schedule like they planed to have to AMM or ROV.
DeleteJU should also consider Belgrade-Kuwait City
ReplyDeleteAny info what is the PDEW traffic numbers between the two countries?
DeleteMaybe BEG-KWI could work Aegean is also starting to fly there this summer.
DeleteKuwait could be a good choice. There is a large Serbian expat community there, mainly doctors and medical staff who have the means to travel. Also Serbian citizens get visa on arrival in Kuwait. It is a very simple process.
DeleteAlso Kuwait airways starts flights to Athens on 16th of june .
DeleteThe difference is that A3 can rely on ATH o&d plus its network for this route.
DeleteJU's situation in BEG is very different.
Too late
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2023/01/kuwaits-jazeera-airways-launching.html
Is there an official reason as to why Air Serbia didn't start Amman last summer as scheduled?
ReplyDeleteConsidering how streched their fleet was this summer, Amman would just add fuel to the fire.
DeleteHopefully JU brings back AMM
DeleteHow about they start fixing their Airbus fleet. A total of 6 planes are not flying at the moment. Looking at Flight Radar 24 a total of 4 A319s are out and the two Romanian planes.
ReplyDeleteWhat is going on with their fleet? If they are having such problems in January what can we expect in July and August? Why is Marek pushing for all this expansion if they can't operate what they have now.
The other day NUE was rescheduled to midnight!
In winter it is usually when your fleet undergoes technical checks and may be out of service for a week or two. It's not done during the summer.
DeleteTwo planes are gone for C check, Romanian A319 and YU-APK (which is in Istanbul).
DeleteFour planes are broken including YU-APB which they can't fix since September.
They are cancelling flights, my business partner lost a meeting two weeks ago due to cancellation. Apart from the fleet issues, that they can resolve before summer timetable starts, I'm afraid they will have a serious lack of crew. They have problems with the pilots, they were unable to agree on the new Collective agreement. It will be a huge mess in the summer, it is more or less clear now. However, every expansion of this scale, cannot go without the mess for passengers - that's a classic experience with low costers.
DeleteAnd just to add - I hope that the airport will finish expansion by then, otherwise, I cannot imagine how the passport control will look like.
DeleteCollective agreement talks are ongoing.
DeleteIt’s actually good move to do necessary maintenance in Jan, Feb, and Mar. and you can also get good deals on wet-leasing in slowest months.
DeleteThere used to be quite a few transfers from TLV onto the New York flights.
ReplyDeleteIs there much demand between Tel Aviv and Chicago?
DeleteThere is demand from almost all US cities to Tel Aviv.
DeleteUnited flies from Chicago to Tel Aviv.
DeleteThey are really scheduling these flights late.
ReplyDeleteNice to see Air Serbia continuing to expand
ReplyDeleteGood news for Belgrade too.
DeleteIf Air Serbia was smarter and worked on the transfer model they could have had a more active role in the Middle East and Central Asia.
ReplyDeleteCompetition for that type of market is big from TK and A3.
DeleteYou also need a good percentage of o&d traffic to make up for the smaller margins connecting tickets sell for.
Just my2cents
In addition to Turkish Airlines and Aegean, I'd also add Pegasus which has a solid presence in this area. Also, mind you, when looking at the Middle East to Europe market, we can also add Egyptair and Royal Jordanian. They both have a respectable network in both the Middle East and Europe.
DeleteAegean might not be competitive for Balkans/Russia-EU market but in the Middle East and the Caucasus they are a decent operator and ATH is conveniently located as a transfer hub.
It's good that JU is improving their presence in Turkey where Aegean has a limited presence. Like JU, Aegean is on very good terms with TK.
Once the expansion and reconstruction of Belgrade Airport is completed, BEG will offer a better passenger experience than ATH. This will be another competitive advantage JU will have over A3.
Good luck
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised they generally don't have a more extensive route network in the Middle East.
ReplyDeleteThey can’t beat TK and A3.
DeleteExcellent news. Looking forward to the new routes.
ReplyDeleteThey need to rebuild their Middle East network
ReplyDeleteJU needs a serious increase in the pilot and flight attendant groups to cope with the 2023 schedule.
ReplyDeleteUnless of course it gets even more wet leases.
They will be wet leasing more in 2023.
DeleteWaiting for the crash! They need planes! Not ATR but A320!
ReplyDeleteThis summer they will need 10 aircraft on wet lease! This is crazy!
+1
DeleteThis summer:
Delete( for example)
Podgorica canceled no Atr
Tivat delayed no atr
Sarajevo delayed
Rome delayed
Frankfurt delayed
Larnaca canceled no A320
Zurich canceled
Other: opby Dan Air , Lumwings, Air Mediterranean and many other!
Will be interesting to see this step in the summer.
Delete@10.15
DeleteYou are Nostradamus now?
@10:17 Why are you so mean, he was just fact-checking. It's obvious to all of us that JU has some serious issues. They just leased A320 from Trade Air again.
DeleteSay hurray to wet leases and incompetent management!
He was "fact checking" what will happen in the summer? ok.
DeleteThat incompetent management brought you 50 new routes in 2 years, 21 million profit, new codeshare and interline agreements, long haul expansion etc.
He probably did it by looking what happened last summer. We all remember how JU handled their operations. It was so bad that they fired their COO.
DeleteYes, it was so bad that just 2% of flights were cancelled for the entire summer while most European airlines and airports had a complete breakdown in operations. Oh do you remember that some airports had to limit the number of passengers airlines could carry? No?
DeleteUmm @10.34 you should really google the meaning of the word "fact checking"
DeleteWhat I have "checked" is completely visible, we all saw how last summer Air Serbia had 4-5 leased planes. As for delays, we are too small a market to experience such problems as in Amsterdam or London.
DeleteBut it's not normal to cancel a flight because there is no plane!?
Same as Blue Air in Romania . Routes,routes,routes, cancelations....
DeleteSpeaking of Blue Air, it is most likely going to liquidated following the government seizure recently. It doesn't really make any sense as the reputation of the airline has been seriously damaged.
Delete"Entering a new market in Western Europe" makes it sound like it's a new country rather than another destination in Germany, France or Spain. Given their propensity to respond to Wizz's expansions, I reckon it's going to be Lisbon!!
ReplyDeleteYes, I think that is likely. We will find out soon enough.
DeleteMakes sense
ReplyDeleteI checked what was offered by Aegean in Athens and this is what I found for the first the period 05.06-11.06 (Monday to Sunday).
ReplyDeleteATH-CAI
11x weekly by Aegean, mostly operated by the A321neo.
14x weekly by Egyptair, operated by a mix of A220 and B738.
In total, the two Star Alliance partners will offer 25 weekly flights between Cairo and Athens. On top of that the two will have a lot of capacity on the market.
07.05-08.00 _ A3 _ A321neo
13.15-14.05 _ MS _ B738
19.40-20.30 _ MS _ A220
23.55-00.50 _ A3 _ A321neo
That is what Sundays will look like. Below is what is being offered on Sunday on IST-CAI.
00.40-01.50 _ TK _ A332
04.30-05.45 _ MS _ A321
06.50-08.05 _ TK _ A321
14.00-15.15 _ MS _ A321
18.35-19.50 _ MS _ B738
18.35-19.55 _ TK _ A321
So basically between BEG and CAI there is a thick Star Alliance wall which is made up of ten daily flights distributed between Aegean, Egyptair and Air Cairo.
That said, the market is large enough but Air Serbia will need to work hard to position itself on the Egyptian market. Hopefully they have more than 3 weekly flights here in order to remain competitive.
*Mistake:
Deletedistributed between Aegean, Egyptair and Turkish Airlines.
Sve ove najave pocinju da lice vise na marketing samo da bi se pricalo o JU. Bojim se potpunog otkazivanja nekih linija i masovnih kasnjenja kad krenu guzve od juna
ReplyDeletePrva ce BUD biti pomerena. Usla im voda u usi, to je problem.
Delete"Lako cemo ili nema problema" ...dve recenice kojih se u Srbiji najvise plasim kad cujem! )))
DeleteI mnogo ozbiljnije kompanije se i po dve godine pripremaju unapred za pustanje u rad 20+ novih linija. Sta ce biti? ... pa zna se, opsti haos i izvinjenja mada iskreno zelim im da ide to sto su osmislili.
Quite interested in this new market in western Europe they are considering.
ReplyDeleteThere isn't a lot of them left. Ireland, Iceland, Portugal, Slovakia, Finland and Luxembourg I think that is it.
DeleteExactly! Slovakia isn't Western Europe, Luxembourg already served by LuxAir, Finland would be a return rather than a 'new market', so we're left with Dublin, Lisbon and Reykjavik. Given that Wizz is launching Lisbon, I'm hoping it's one of the other two.
DeleteOr manchester if they follow numbers
DeleteI think a UK expansion could come next year. This year seems to be building the foundation needed for those longer routes. There is alot of UK demand for this area of Europe where JU could be an attractive addition - Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Croatia, Montenegro, Cyprus. Perhaps a second London airport (LGW) as well as MAN, BHX and GLA come to mind. This I think could follow with an expansion to the east on longer routes as well (Caucuses, EBL, JED).
DeleteI would like mor ethan anything else to see JU flying BEG-KEF, but I am afraid that it is not realistic.
DeleteIt is way too far, too expensive and not enough Serbian diaspora there. Also no cultural or economic ties.
Not big possibilities for connecting flights as there is already competition due to the fact that flights to KEF have Wizzair from BUD, Austrian and Wizz from VIE, Icelandair and Play from PRG, whole Poland covered with Wizz...
Only tourists and Iceland is very, very expensive.
Lisbon, Košice would be my guess
ReplyDeleteAmbitions are extremely high. So many questions:
ReplyDelete- Will they cope to find so many planes? Will they end up with Montenegro Embraer, ATR, Romanian planes and Serbian planes? Already 2 of their A330s have a different interior cabin i.e. JU brand might be affected
- Will BEG be able to handle such a huge wave of flights effectively?
- Do they desperately need cash and end up cancelling routes similar to what Wizz is doing?
- Will they work on their business class, because apparently the current product leaves a lot to desire?
- Pilots! The industry is lacking a shortage. The same applies for the airport personnel and cabin crew. You need at least a couple of months to train them from now as many of the new destinations will start in May onwards.
- In August there will be an additional Wizzair plane, which means more traffic. Don't wanna think of the eventual huge delays combined with the JU destinations. Remember the utter chaos with the old IST airport
- I cannot think of another airport in Europe with such aggressive expansion. BEG might be a nice city but also not a financial centre, magnet tourist destination nor does it have the basic and essential services such as airport hotel, underground, light-rail, etc.
- They need to prepare the taxi companies from scams as there will be much more traffic and secure more buses
+100000
DeleteThe main problem is their capacity( their own planes not ACMI) .
>> BEG might be a nice city but also not a financial centre, magnet tourist destination nor does it have the basic and essential services such as airport hotel, underground, light-rail, etc.
DeleteNema ni ZAG so what? Didn't stop Ryan from opening a base and expanding.
MNE will not give the plane to JU, as they will utilize it for their own schedule and route increase over summer.
DeleteJETBEGMEL
Delete"For future pilots, they could introduce a pilot program where JU pays the schooling fees in exchange for the candidate being guaranteed a job in JU, under the condition that the candidate stays with JU for a set period. Many airlines do offer this"
+1000
Very good suggestion!
There is a perception Air Serbia has an issue with lack of planes, crew and maintenance at the moment. If it's just a perception and not a real problem it should be clarifed. Next opportunity to hear about it will be on Thursday in Slovenia.
DeleteI forgot to mention above that YU-ARC will be going for it's maintenance check in the next week or 2 where the cabin will also be refitted. Both A332's will have the same cabin product and configuration.
Delete@14,45
I doubt that we will hear about their internal issues in Slovenia. If it wasn't for a couple of posters here we would not have that info. However, the amount of wet leases in the slowest winter period is a good indication of staffing issues.
@JATBEGMEL
DeleteWhere have you seen that Pupin is going for maintenance in the next week or two? As far as I know, that was planned at the end of March, but now it cannot be seen anymore from the flight schedule.
@15,12
DeleteMarek had mentioned that they wanted ARC to be in service as soon as possible upon arrival and that the cabin refit will be done once the aircraft goes in for maintenance. It was mentioned to be going for service in February, as well as a cabin refit. Mid-late march is when frequencies typically start to increase for JFK, while the whole service of ARC should take about a month. Add that ARC is the only widebody allowed for SVO ops. February is also the slowest month in air travel. February and November are months when JU sends the A330 for maintenance.
@JATBEGMEL now that Air Serbia internal issues are out of the bag, most PRs would address it instead of letting self proclained analysts have a field day with it.
Delete@19,02
DeleteHe will still find ways to create ultra exclusive first to report mega important news to ignite our regimes on call bots to boost activity to his site. Every article where JU is mentioned comments go well above 100 and are the only articles to do so.
"JETBEGMEL
Delete"For future pilots, they could introduce a pilot program where JU pays the schooling fees in exchange for the candidate being guaranteed a job in JU, under the condition that the candidate stays with JU for a set period. Many airlines do offer this"
+1000
Very good suggestion!"
Most airlines that offer cadetships (that I know of anyway) actually charge a premium for the flight training sometimes as much as double compared to other flying schools. You pay extra because you a guaranteed a decent flying job once you complete graduation and don't need to worry about trying to find your first "flight hours" building job. There could be some exceptions in say China and maybe the Middle East but I think they are rare.
JETBEGMEL might be thinking of when an airline trains a new pilot on aircraft type and that candidate has to commit to work for a period of a few years while they pay the endorsement off. Very common in LCC's.
DeletePerhaps it would be nice to unveil new airplanes in ther fleet. The last few days are complete desaster, YU -APA,APB,APK are out for months/weeks now, and YU APD has done perhaps 3 Rotations in last ten days.
ReplyDeleteThe DAN Air planes are in Romania for C Check.
Really bad fleet planing...in summer it would be even worse, with no actuall new A319/320 arriving.
There is news from last week that they will dry lease A320 which will arrive in time for summer. There is an article about it here from last week.
DeleteThat's still not enough though... They should dry lease at least 3 A320 even before summer
Delete@13,07
Delete1 additional A320 isn't enough to replace the capacity from last summer, and we have another another expansion this year plus frequency increases.
4 wet leases last summer, only 1 A320 has joined the fleet since the summer season. An additional aircraft means a 50% replacement of the wet lease capacity from last summer. At least 4 aircraft will be needed to be wet leased (roughly 20% of the fleet) for this upcoming summer season if only 1 ac is joining the fleet (5 if we include the ATR that has joined from Air Connect), which is way too much since this seems to be more of a longer term solution rather than short term.
Dont forget about charters and more frequencies on existing routes. Smell like disaster
DeleteJAT Tehnika must do a much better job than it currently does to service the fleet.
Delete@14,20
DeleteJat Tehnika is only part of the problem.
Jat tehnika is almost doesn't exist anymore and JU maintenace is going in the same direction. Biggest problem for tham is going to be maintenace..
DeleteJU is able to find alternatives to Jat Tehnika and have done so in the past when Jat Tehnika temporarily lost their license, as well as this winter with APK in Turkish Technic since 09.01.
DeleteJat Tehnika has had some investment into it recently. Cargo conversions being the recent news from them. It'll be interesting to hear what's up with them, are they lacking manpower or hangar space. APA (since 26.12), APB (14.09) and APD (30.01) are currently at Jat Tehnika. Considering the time the aircraft are spending out of service, I think they're out on their C check. YR-URS is on C check in Bacau (27.01) at Aerostar. It'll be interesting to see which of the 3 maintenance facilities can do the job quicker.
JU is literally adding new destinations like crazy same as Aegean, the thing is that A3 has planes to do so meaning that Air Serbia might have a problem...
ReplyDeleteJU also needs more pilots and flight attendants.
DeleteHaving a lot of destinations doesn't mean that you're a good airline the costumers service must be the most important and this summer JU will disappoint that's what I feel.
DeleteDoes anyone know the contact (e mail) for Air Serbia IT / site maintenance? Need to send them some inquiry about fixing their site (related to calendar work). They are not listed in the section about Thanks in advance!
ReplyDeleteLIS/CAI/TLV that's it! It's not a secret anymore...
ReplyDeleteWhere did you get this?
DeleteThis summer will be bumpy ride for all the Airlines. Also do not forget that all airlines are not independent but interdependent. There is inter-dependencies between them and inter-dependencies between them and Airport operations and between them and bilateral agreements of the countries they operate.
ReplyDeleteAdd to all that current realigning of the geo-economic markets and currency zones. There are quite a few countries in eastern europe, middle east that will be facing challenges in operations in few new currency zones that will be developed in the next 10 years. Serbia and ex-Yu republics that are currently not in eurozone, are among them. By just briefly looking Air Serbia as of moment is operating as of now in potentially 4 future currency zones. It is a challenge but also its an opportunity. Passengers should avoid prime busy seasons if they want to avoid potential delays and cancellations.
Portorož please!
ReplyDeleteWhen they say new market, that may mean a new city, not the whole country. However, my bet is on Lisbon.
ReplyDeleteI see everyone talking about CAI resumption. I think JU can create a niche by launcing HBE (Alexandria) instead. JU will be a monopoly there for non-Arab flights.
ReplyDeleteAegean already flies to Alexandria and they're doing pretty well there and I think they're the only European airline serving HBE. I could see a potential for JU there.
DeleteHBE has strong historic links with both Greece and the UK, two key markets that can't be served via BEG. That's where A3 has such a strong advantage over there.
DeleteWhy Air Serbia do not fly to Dubai or Abu Dhabi?
ReplyDeleteBecause it can't compete with either Wizz Air or Flydubai on either route.
DeleteAND HELSINKI??? WHEN
ReplyDeleteProbably not in next 5 years.
DeleteManchester and Maribor.
ReplyDeleteMaribor 😂
DeleteAny updates for Toronto YYZ ?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHonestly it would be nice if LIS came as a destination and Airserbia.
ReplyDeleteMaribor
ReplyDelete