Air Serbia has seen its upcoming new service between Belgrade and Chicago sell out for the first month of operations, as the carrier gears up to commence its third long haul service on May 17. Sales are notably strong departing Chicago, with no seats available in either business or economy class on May 20, 24, 27, 31, June 3, 7 and June 10. Few seats are available for later dates in June. The airline will initially operate two weekly rotations between the two cities with its Airbus A330-200 aircraft, increasing to three weekly from June 12. “This route has been long-awaited in our network. Many from the diaspora in the United States have written to us, urging us to introduce these flights. Its launch is justified considering that almost all flights have been completely sold out until mid-June”, Air Serbia’s General Manager for Commercial and Strategy, Boško Rupić, said.
Commenting on the Chicago service in a television report dedicated to the new route, Serbia’s President, Aleksandar Vučić, said, “We had a lot of issues when Air Serbia first launched flights to New York but now it is one of the most profitable routes in its network. We have high expectations for the new Chicago service, that aims to bring the Serbian diaspora closer to home but also serve businesspeople in the United States and bring the US closer to Serbia. From Chicago, passengers will be able to connect to Canada, LA, San Francisco and other parts of the States which were not as easily accessible before. I am pleased that our diaspora in Chicago, Illinois, Indiana and those in the mid-West are looking forward to this new route”
The new service will mark the resumption of flights between Belgrade and Chicago exactly 31 years to the day when they were last maintained by JAT Yugoslav Airlines and 43 years since operations between the two cities commenced on April 10, 1980. The last scheduled flight between Belgrade and Chicago was carried out on May 17, 1992. The United States introduced an embargo on air traffic from Yugoslavia four days later, on May 21. Figures provided by Sabre Market Intelligence show that the Serbia-US market attracted 239.000 two-way origin and destination passengers during the pre-pandemic 2019 - almost 85% of whom travelled indirectly. Belgrade - New York was the largest city pair, with Air Serbia alone handling 61.700 two-way passengers on its nonstop service, while Belgrade - Chicago was the second biggest market with 38.000 two-way passengers.
One of the airline's largest sellers in North America, travel agency Axioma Travel, recently told EX-YU Aviation News the new route is generating a lot of interest. “There is lots of interest as expected. Fares across all airlines are very high for this first full post-Covid summer and Air Serbia’s nonstop flight from Chicago to Belgrade is no exception. As far as beyond Belgrade is concerned, we are mainly seeing Skopje, Podgorica and Tivat”. Axioma Travel said.
Most important part "Fares across all airlines are very high for this first full post-Covid summer and Air Serbia’s nonstop flight from Chicago to Belgrade is no exception." It means they will make a nice profit.
ReplyDeleteOperating costs have risen significantly since 2019 so higher fares doesn't necessarily mean larger profits
DeleteAll right, Anon 09.04, they are ripping off the passengers and they will generate a loss! Opposite to all the other airlines.
DeleteAre you happy now?
And you are aware that nobody makes profits when introdusing new route. They need to obtain licenses, slots, ground crew, contact with catering, office space, visas for crew members, FAA certifications, insurance and many many other things. It cost milions to establish new route, it's not just buy the Plane, put fuel and you are good to go.
DeleteBut for future I can see this route to be daily in summer in 2-3 pw winter, especialy of they improve balkan conectivity.
I am not sure of their schedule, but if they do it only for the summer season, the profil is guarantied as the fuel prices almost halfed compared to Jun22, which took a hard hit on NYC route in 2022.
DeleteTwo weekly flights in summer season is still testing.
+ One-off costs is something you should not look to dermine the profitability of the route. They are normalized in order to dermine the profitability (Adjusted EBITDA of the route is going to be positive to be more specific)
DeleteIf Vucic is involved, that is only for profit
DeleteWhen are we going to get flights from Toronto to Belgrade?
DeleteImpressive
ReplyDeleteIt won't be an issue to fill in summer, but let's see winter.
ReplyDeleteWhat will be the frequency for ORD in winter?
DeleteThey haven't scheduled the flights for winter yet. I assume 2 weekly, increasing to 3 weekly between mid December to mid January.
DeleteDo you have any knowledge when they will publish the winter schedule?
DeleteLet's hope the Aircraft doesn't keep breaking down or it will be a big embarrassment for Air Serbia!
ReplyDeleteWell something had to be found to spit on :)
DeleteOh when I remember how many people were saying that JFK would never launch, and then when it did how it would get cancelled within a year. So it's particularly pleasing to see this news.
Delete@anonymous 09:52 don't forget that Air Serbia is a state owned airline. So why cancel JFK or anyother transatlantic route since the state covers the loses ???
DeleteThe route is not making a loss and it is obvious you were one of the people cheering for its demise.
DeleteWhy would they cancel other transatlantic routes if they are sold out?
Delete@anonymous 14:24 you are forgetting that for the first 5 years they were losing money from the JFK route , they have already admit it . The last 2 years the route became profitable. So who do you think covered the loses those first 5 years ??
DeleteEvery new route needs time to develop, especially when an airline launches long haul flights for the first time. The important thing is that the route is now profitable, flights for the next month on that very same route are sold out and flights will be operating daily this summer. So despite all your well wishes for the service to fail it didn't. I don't know what kind of mind you have to have to actively cheerlead for some airline or route to fail. Something isn't alright with you in that case.
Delete@anonymous 15:48 you completely missunderstood the point ! I'm just saying that if it was a private owned airline lets say Aegean , they would never allow a route being unprofitable for 5 years. So in that case Air Serbia is lucky having the back up of the government.
DeleteSame way Alitalia/ITA is lucky to get billions from the Italian government. Or Croatia Airlines millions from the government only to withdraw from Zagreb and start Mostar as its biggest development of the summer.
Delete@anonymous 18:16 of course you are absolutely right I never said the opposite for the airlines you mentioned .
DeleteThis seems to be becoming common with their long haul flights. Tianjin was also sold out for the first month.
ReplyDeleteFares are expensive. Over 1000 euros return in economy.
ReplyDeleteWell in peak season on a nonstop 11 hour flight, I think it is expected.
DeleteIt means demand is high.
DeleteMore than reasonable
DeleteIn summer cheapest fare is €1200(transfer) and may €800 so very logical JU is asking more than €1000
DeleteThat's not bad, 1000€ return is seriously good price if you ask me.
DeleteOn top off that good connection times for most of the region are going in their favor aswell.
Chicago sells out and so will Toronto.
ReplyDeleteHundred percent. Toronto has more demand and will have just two weekly flights.
DeleteWow, hundred percent sold out, nice.
Delete100% sure it will also sell out once it starts.
DeleteARB goes to Turkish technic again.
ReplyDeleteWhy?
DeleteThey went to replace an engine part. A part from TK was put last week until the new part arrived. Now it has arrived and it will be replaced.
DeleteWhat did get damaged on ARB, i heard ot was engine cowling but haven't read anything about it?
DeleteGood work
ReplyDeleteThis is great. Now waiting for the announcement on their Toronto flights.
ReplyDeleteMiami goes first..you'll see
Delete10x weekly to USA this summer is great.
ReplyDeleteMany of their New York flights are also sold out in June and July.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! Means they have a good sales team in the US.
ReplyDeleteAre you kidding? What sales team in the US? This is due to agencies and summer demand.
DeleteThey have a representative office in the United States, which is obviously doing something right.
DeleteI wish them luck with ORD launch
ReplyDeleteChicago will be a huge success for connecting flights.
ReplyDeleteP2P is dominant on this route.
DeleteA couple of years ago these sort of route launches seemed unimaginable. Great work.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteCongratulations to Air Serbia for expanding long haul.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteBravo Air Serbia! 🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸
ReplyDeleteGood luck JU with the hope of YYZ flight soon. Competition in this market is fierce but hopefully they can find the way to make it work.
ReplyDeleteOr MIA.
DeleteI'm really hoping for MIA. We will see what they choose in the end.
DeleteMIA has a 1/4 of the passengers from YYZ. Who would fly BEG-MIA. Please tell me.
DeleteLOL
Delete@14:49 hahah you made me laugh..More than YYZ for sure, apart of 2 summer months
DeleteAnonymous14:49
DeleteI would
Well then why isn’t the data backing up your claims? It’s simple math. 1/4 the passengers.
Delete@03:44 Where did you get these numbers? They are not acurate, not good technique of data collection..
DeleteCan't wait to see JU506 back in Chicago after so long!
ReplyDeleteIt is good that they started ticket sales to Chicago much earlier than they did to New York
ReplyDeleteHow much in advance did they start JFK sales?
DeleteThey started ticket sales in mid February for route that launched in mid June.
DeleteMuch better planned this time around.
DeleteHope it can grow to 4 weekly in summer 2024.
ReplyDeleteHow many flights did JFK route start off with?
Delete5pw
DeleteThanks
DeleteHope they don't stop there and we see more long haul routes from them later this year or next year.
ReplyDeleteWould it not have made more sense to start flights in April and catch the Easter traffic?
ReplyDeleteThey could not. They knew that YU-ARC would be going for D check. They would be unable to operate New York, Chicago and Tianjin with one plane.
DeleteMakes sense, forgot about that.
DeleteMiami and Los Angeles in the queue…
ReplyDeleteAirSERBIA has a great potential in North America and China.
Hope they also look at other destinations in Asia outside China. I think there is potential.
DeleteWhich ones?
DeleteThailand and/or Singapore should be looked into.
DeleteHong Kong/Guangzhou.
DeleteI hope they get Thailand and Bali
DeleteNice!
ReplyDeleteNot a surprise. They could easily double the frequencies for next summer.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile ARB went to D check and ASL leased Wamos for help
ReplyDeleteThis is not true. It's not a D-check. Don’t spread false information.
DeleteSeems that Vamos's best customer is Air Serbia
DeleteYeah they are operating flights for Saudia, Air New Zealand and others day in and day out but Air Serbia with total of 3 flights is their best customer
DeleteSo why ARB went to Türkisch Technics?
DeleteThey went to replace an engine part. A part from TK was put last week until the new part arrived. Now it has arrived and it will be replaced. Spreading misinformation about D check is really unnecessary.
DeleteThey couldn't replace it in BEG?
DeleteNo, the part has to be returned and the service is done by the company you contracted to maintain your A330s.
DeleteNo D checks on A330 exist in maitanance schedule
DeleteThe YU-ARB is returning in the morning of April 25. We will finally see both ASL A330 aircrafts fully operational, and let's hope that they keep flying without any issues throughout the summer. And that the next 330 bird arrives at the end of summer at the latest...
Delete“Fully operational” - Air Serbia is a joke of a company. They put Romeo Charlie on JFK flight last Thursday without having operating entertainment system. In business class, they didn’t have even printed menus because, the menu was changed and the new printed materials are missing. Every few days Romeo Bravo is out of service. Vamos is flying without business class. Romeo Bravo and Charlie have totally different lyout in business - they changed the aircraft on Thursday and with lower number of seats, they had to downgrade business travelers to economy. I can just imaging what will happen when they introduce Chicago.
DeleteNice to see Air Serbia expand further west to Chicago and provide access to the Balkans/Eastern European region. Forming a partnership with American should now be a priority.
ReplyDeleteThe frequencies are conservative and it seems they could add another weekly flight.
ReplyDeleteTirana is a successful transfer destination for Air Serbia JFK flights. Is TIA likely to have many passengers to ORD?
ReplyDeleteI don't think there is a big Albanian community in and around Chicago.
Delete^ true
DeleteSo glad they’re doing with Chicago, I hope they’ll extend their long haul network to ICN, PEK, PVG, SIN, YYZ and MIA, and others maybe
ReplyDeleteso glad they’re doing great**
DeleteI hope they will be able to introduce new night flights when Sarajevo extends work hours so they can better connect onto these.
ReplyDeleteThey will
DeleteThis route will perform better than JFK and achieve profitability much earlier than JFK.
ReplyDeleteJasmineeeeeee! Dje si? Je l'se ispila kahva? Aj' pitaj gazda Ivana jel'ga bar malo sram
ReplyDeleteI am really finding it difficult to properly kick off the day without that call!
DeleteHahaha!!
DeleteJFK-BEG is also sold out for May 15th - June 15th. Looks like Air Serbia will make huge money in that period!
ReplyDeleteIt depends if they'll have aircraft. It could loose a lot of money, too, if the situation stays like this for some time...
Delete^ all that is left for you is to keep hoping.
DeleteFor all of us, my friend.
DeleteAir Serbia is a joke of a company. They put Romeo Charlie on JFK flight last Thursday without having operating entertainment system. In business class, they didn’t have even printed menus because, the menu was changed and the new printed materials are missing. Every few days Romeo Bravo is out of service. Vamos is flying without business class. Romeo Bravo and Charlie have totally different lyout in business - they changed the aircraft on Thursday and with lower number of seats, they had to downgrade business travelers to economy. I can just imaging what will happen when they introduce Chicago.
DeleteYeah, I bet JU is the only airline in the World where things as described above happen. Saying for an airline to be joke of a company, based on lack of printed menus and entertainment system on ONE flight, or for adhoc lease of an aircraft to operate its flight, is actually a joke. Actually not only joke, it shows total lack of knowledge how the airline industry today functions. And it's mean and outrageous. I suppose you would prefer JU opening one new service from its hub this year, instead of its immense growth, and keeping on wasting public money, instead of making profits.
DeleteWhen you buy a business class ticket for 2,500 EUR and the crew tell you that the entertainment system is down, that they pulled the aircraft from maintaining too early as they lack fleet, that the seat will hopefully decline, and not to worry because this is not the only thing not working on the plane - yes, that is actually a “joke” of a company. It’s funny that I like aviation and I’m happy with their growth and ability to fly directly, but they are not good at all, and I’m pretty sure their summer timetable will be a disaster of its one. Maybe you should try some flight this summer from Pula to Budapest for instance via Belgrade, and share us your actual experience with JU.
DeleteOnce again you are missing my point. What happened to you on JU, can happen to everyone, on each and every single airline in the World. JU overall results however show completely diferrent picture. And btw why should I fly from PUY to BUD, it's four hours from Rijeka to Budapest on the most modern highway without border crossings and also there is the flight from RJK to BEG which I will highly likely use. Cheers!
Delete"Many from the diaspora in the United States have written to us, urging us to introduce these flights"
ReplyDeleteDear Mr. Rupić,
Canada/Toronto diasporra is aparentlly not writing as mucho as the USA diasporra but we also urrge u to intrroduce Toronto flights. We will keep writing until u do.
Sinserely,
Toronto diasporra
sincerely*
DeleteI'm sick of this Toronto 🤮.
DeleteHope you will get better
DeleteDo Air Baltic and Air Serbia codeshare on their Riga/Chicago flights? It seems too random they're starting flights at the same time and Baltic diaspora is huge in Chicago area.
ReplyDeleteArticle says: from Chicago, passengers will be able to connect to Canada. President specifically said Vancouver in the TV interview but I can't find any Vancouver Belgrade flights this summer connecting in Chicago with Air Serbia. Or from any other Canadian airport.
ReplyDeleteWell don't believe in anything what president says, he better stick to his job, JU has its own CEO.
DeleteHahaha
DeleteThis is comedy show LOL
I hope JU will maintain current network in respectable time fashion and not worry about “Pozdravi i želje” from the peanut gallery. 😊
But this summer is shaping to be a sh..t show for travels in terms of price, crowds and etc
Boris what does your predictions of summer operations have to do with mentioned connections via ORD?
DeleteYou would be lucky to get an return airfare at 2000 euros from Vancouver via Toronto/Frankfurt-Belgrade for July and August on any airline. And here we have request from the poster that he would like Air Serbia to connect him through Chicago from Vancouver because he saw the President’s speech on some clip on the news.
DeleteI just watched the entire presidents conference after reading this post and there was no mention of Vancouver or Airserbia. When was this said? Also it is shocking to read that some people expect president of a country to arrange and detail flights and codeshares, normally they are just briefed by the companies that are responsible to the state, and only relay that info, in which some details may be lost in translation. Actually you can fly from Vancouver to Belgrade via Chicago, just you cant buy it as a single ticket, would need 2. Buy one ticket from Yvr to Chicago, then buy a ticket on Airserbia site for flight Chicago to Belgrade. Or you can drive to SeaTac and fly from there on a single ticket.
DeleteRead more carefully what it says. He didn't comment after any press conference. "Commenting on the Chicago service in a television report dedicated to the new route," These comments were made last week to RTS' US correspondent in an interview that was only and about the Chicago flights.
DeleteBoris where did you see a REQUEST in Anon 16:19 comment? Can you please comment once okay?
DeleteSince you don't know how to use internet search:
https://www.rts.rs/lat/vesti/politika/5177032/vucic-za-rts-o-obnavljanju-leta-beogradcikago-prilika-da-nasim-ljudima-priblizimo-otadzbinu.html
If you had at least basic aviation knowledge you would know buying two separate tickets YVR-ORD and ORD-BEG never equals bying single ticket YVR-ORD-BEG. Not even Wizz would say they fly BCN-AUH just because someone could byu BCN-BEG and BEG-AUH separate tickets!!! Get well and then come back to comment.
Oh my god!!
DeleteYou were looking, searching and posting your inquiry about that segment of the flight on AirSerbia and calling on Presidents words and his press conferences and so on. Obviously you would like to request President to keep his word on whatever you read on internet?
Isn't it so? Otherwise why bother about his press conference, who said, what not, how yes no? Its just trivia.
Boris if you are okay just use GDS to search for YVR ORD BEG.
DeleteIf you are not okay tuck your thumb into the palm, then fold the four other fingers down.
I've lived in Vancouver for 29 years, and I am yet to see anyone flying from Vancouver to Belgrade via ORD. However, I just returned from Belgrade on April 7 via Frankfurt (LH), Chicago (LH) and to YVR (AC). I had to recheck the luggage at ORD and enter USA which was a bit of a pain in the b....
DeleteNot formally recheck but pick it up and drop it off though.
DeleteWas it a single ticket?
DeleteYes, single itinirary
Deletehttps://www.airserbia.com/teaser
ReplyDeleteInteresting: ORD-BEG had 38.000 two-way passengers in 2019.
ReplyDeleteI thought in 2019 there was 32.135, with LH and LX having 50% combined market share.
I personally think they've lost time with NYC and should to fly to Chicago O'Hare first, then to other places.
ReplyDeleteThere are also people in Florida from ex-YU, Tampa, Clearwater, St.Pete, Sanford, Central Florida, as well North of Miami, not less than 30.000.
St. Louis Missouri than 100 .
000 from Bosnia.
And may I suggest Bali DPS direct flights, 1pw? Our Aussies would fill it.
ReplyDelete