Italy’s national carrier ITA Airways has applied for slots at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport, indicating its intent to commence operations from Rome to the Serbian capital this summer. However, slot application does not necessarily mean the service will go ahead as the airline can still decide against commencing flights. Tickets have not been put on sale at this point. The airline has applied for six weekly slots starting from June 1, each day except Wednesdays, increasing to daily from July 31. The planned arrival time for ITA’s service from the Italian capital is at 10.50 CEST, while the planned departure time from Belgrade is at 11.40 CEST.
ITA had previously announced its intention of commencing services to Belgrade last year, advertising flights on its website for the summer of 2022, but it ultimately scrapped those plans. The Italian carrier codeshares on Air Serbia’s flights between the two cities. This summer will see a record number of operations between Serbia and Italy with eleven airports to be served in the country in ten cities. They include Rome Fiumicino, Rome Ciampino, Milan, Bari, Bologna, Catania, Florence, Naples, Palermo, Trieste, and Venice. Air Serbia will run twelve weekly rotations between Belgrade and Rome this summer, while Wizz Air will fly to both Fiumicino and Ciampino airports, with the former to commence on July 25.
ITA’s predecessor, Alitalia, maintained flights to Belgrade until the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020. At the time, it also discontinued services to Podgorica, which was its only other year-round destination in the former Yugoslavia. Its successor is yet to restore flights to either. The Italian government hopes to get final approval to sell a minority stake in the loss-making ITA Airways to the Lufthansa Group by mid-April. According to Italian media, a takeover deal for a 40% stake could be announced between April 19 and April 21. Last December, the value of the minority stake was estimated between 200 and 250 million euros. ITA operates a fleet of almost seventy aircraft including A220s, A319s, A320s, A330s and A350s.
They would be a nice addition.
ReplyDeleteWith A220s flying the routes that were flown with A319s they will now be much more competitive.
DeleteHow many weekly flights did Alitalia have to Belgrade?
ReplyDeleteDaily
DeleteI don't see what they can add and I think this route be saturated with another daily flight.
ReplyDeleteThey would add connections through Fiumicino to Italy, Europe and Intercontinentally.
DeleteWhat a strange question...
Their network is very limited.
DeleteBEG-FCO/CIA is extremely popular this spring and summer. Flights are packed on both JU and W6. Looking at the fares it seems like there is room for yet another player.
DeleteAnon 09:20
DeleteTheir network is growing fast.
Read the comments below. People are obviously travelling with them from Belgrade even though they don't have their own flights. It is likely that these sort of statistics and the number of transfer passengers they are getting is what influenced them to decide to start flying to Belgrade. Why would they share revenue with JU when they can take it all for themselves.
DeleteWell, JU is experiencing huge issues with their fleet. They are struggling to maintain what they have right now. We haven't seen such issues since the last days of Jat Airways. Marek as the CEO isn't particularly successful in this regard.
DeleteSince JU is struggling to meet demand, that could be one of the reasons why BEG showed up on ITA's radar.Obviously JU could easily operate BEG-FCO as double daily if they had available capacity.
Italy seems to be performing well for JU. They resumed Bari much earlier this year and I know one flight doesn't mean much but for example yesterday's BRI-BEG had 44 passengers which is very good for this time of the year.
I agree with you, it's a bit odd to be announcing massive growth left and right when you can barely sustain what you have right now.
DeleteI also noticed on FR24 that foreign planes keep on arriving and departing from Jat Tehnika. Obviously they are servicing others without major disruptions.
This is something they need to address because they keep on moving flights left and right.
FINALLY !!! Someone ( PLANE MAD ) who speaks reasonably ! And not like an Air Serbia funboy .
DeleteHope they launch the flights this time around.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they will send A220s :)
ReplyDeleteWould be nice, and would make them very competitive on the route financially.
DeleteLove the livery
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteI think these were similar times they had while operating as Alitalia right?
ReplyDeleteYes it was
DeleteFinally the Ex-Yu airports are in ITA focus. With A220 they have the right fleet. I hope they will consider LJU as well - FCO is on the secondary priority list for subsidies, so money guaranteed.
ReplyDeleteFingers crossed
DeleteI never understood why Alitalia didn't expand more in the region.
DeleteA few years ago they announced how they would launch ZAG, PRN and even SJJ. But nothing happened. By that time they were purchased by Etihad and all of those plans were cancelled.
DeleteThey used to fly to Skopje too, but they suspended it a few years ago.
DeleteAlitalia flew to Zagreb until late 2008, twice daily from Milan.
DeleteThey also operated triple daily MXP-BEG with the E45.
DeleteOnce they cut the route LH stepped in and launched MUC-BEG.
Something tells me they won't go back to TGD.
DeleteI think they will. Especially since Air Montenegro isn't flying to Rome either.
DeleteI believe that will see a FCO-TGD route launched by them, even for political reasons.
DeleteEU just approved SLO plan for subs. once they get Airbus A220-100 they might start flying to LJ.
DeleteUnfortunately, Air Montenegro would need ITA network to be able to start flying to FCO. With just MNE flying, it is not sustainable as there is just no enough P2P demand on the market.
DeleteI wonder if to Belgrade they will use the A319/A320 or the A220s
ReplyDeleteWhich equipment did they used to use?
DeleteA319
DeleteThey used to send the E75/90 back in the day but once they expanded their partnership with JU they upgraded to the route to A320.
DeleteJU will talk them out of it. Wait and see.
ReplyDeleteHow exactly will they do that?
DeleteRemember that they are part of LH group now.
The deal hasn't been signed yet.
DeleteVlad it is only a matter of time. The decision has been made.
DeleteI'm aware (and looking forward), just saying that it's not like LH is in charge of anything just yet. They probably won't have a veritable impact on AZ operations before summer 2024.
DeleteBEG-FCO market has good potential
ReplyDeleteWe can already see that from the number of flights offered.
DeleteDoes ITA fly to anywhere in ex-Yu?
ReplyDeleteThey started Split seasonally last year. They also announced Belgrade and Dubrovnik for 2022 but it never happened.
DeleteFantastic news for BEG, not so good for ASL.
ReplyDeleteEarly days still if these will even happen. Also I don't know why you think ITA is more competitive than Air Serbia
DeleteITA will soon be part of LH group of companies. And yes, it will be a much more formidable player than old Alitalia.
DeleteWith half of the old Alitalia management in the ranks and the same old union situation in the Italian air sector, I don't see where you get the optimism that ITA Airways will do much better than its predecessor.
DeleteI found a great and affordable fare in February Belgrade-Rome-Tokyo with Air Serbia/ITA. Since they codeshare transfering was really hassle free.
ReplyDeleteI had a similar experience. Last year I flew Belgrade-Milan-New York-Rome-Belgrade. It was cheaper than Belgrade-New York nonstop with Air Serbia although I admit it was a last minute booking.
Delete+1
DeleteAZ was one of the cheaper connecting option from the Balkans. It will keep JU's pricing honest.
Are we in kindergarden? Fligts FCO-BEG-JFK will be in general always cheaper than direct FCO-JFK. Same when departing from BEG via MXP or FCO vs nonstop. How are we if this is not already known?
DeleteI expected this would happen when it was announced LH would take them over. Doubt LH would just sit and happily allow Air Serbia to basically rule the Serbia-Italy market with 10 routes.
ReplyDeleteTrue dat.
DeleteThe most interesting part will be AZ’s strategical positioning after integration into LH Group. LH Group and *Alliance will be rulling even more some markets and its quite questionable if they will continue codesharing with JU. In that case we can expect a real price war between JU-AZ-W6 on BEG-ROM and maybe some other Italian routes.
DeleteLufthansa CEO explained that they need a southern LH/*A hub. FCO and ITA will do the job.
DeleteI would very much like to see a trip report of them. Especially long haul.
ReplyDeleteWould love to see that Azure livery in Belgrade :)
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteOMG, no. I mean I welcome any new airline coming to any ex-yu airport, but concerning livery, ITA has the ugliest livery ever, worldwide. I am not very much into visual stuff and design, but ITA livery makes my eyes soar. It's simple painful. Totally opposite of old Alitalia.
DeleteITA Livery is like mens Versace shirts, “Look at me” look ..Lol
DeleteBut it is Italy we are talking and it is fine by me
The more the merrier.
ReplyDeleteThey have no money
ReplyDeleteThey have brand new planes :)
DeletePlanes will be repossessed if they continue burning money at this rate :)
DeleteI'm interested to see what their fares will be like. They fly to several cities in the US and could be a good transfer option.
ReplyDeleteAlso to South America too
DeleteWorth mentioning that the airport in Rome is now great. Especially non Schengen. One of the best in Europe in my opinion.
DeleteAnd Tokyo.
DeleteAlitalia wasn't a bad airline at all. They were a great alternative to JU on the FCO route. Their prices were good are competitive, they didn't charge for luggage and they had some sort of service on board even on short haul flights.
ReplyDeleteAnd in its latter years, AZ was always on time on the route.
DeleteTrue. They really improved. Also with handling luggage. Some 10-15 years ago they would constantly loose bags because the airport in Rome was a mess but they improved a lot.
DeleteAnyone know the current loads for BEG-FCO and BEG-MXP?
ReplyDeleteBased on how much they have grown frequencies on this route, they should be very good.
DeleteCan't believe Alitalia only flew to Belgrade and Podgorica in ex-Yu. I think years ago they had a much more substantial network.
ReplyDeleteITA would be great addition to SJJ.
DeleteNot true Alitalia flew to Belgrade and Podgorica only. They flew to Skopje, Zagreb and Dubrovnik as well
DeleteI'm referring to their final years before Covid. They flew to Zagreb and Skopje over 10 years ago.
DeleteWell, if you are referring to their final years then you should have written it. I don't have a crystal ball to know what you think. But after the explanation, I agree. They should have focused more on ex-yu, especially with no flag carriers and/or incompetent flag carriers around, except JU
DeleteGood that they plan to come back to BEG.
ReplyDeleteWell the article says they just applied for slots. So it is not 100% certain that they will launch flights. We will see.
DeleteDoes anyone remember Alitalia's former timetable in BEG (up until 2020)
ReplyDeleteI believe the timings were similar to these ones filed by ITA.
DeleteYes they were. Almost the same
DeleteThanks
DeleteTheir new Business class product on the A350 looks very, very nice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udIDX1zbtYw
ReplyDeleteLooks very good.
DeleteFingers crossed they coome.
ReplyDelete*come
DeleteNice. This would be another national carrier/legacy airline to come in the just 2 years, as we recently had KLM, Luxair, airBaltic and Hainan Airlines.
ReplyDeleteAs well as Air France but they left in the meantime.
DeleteIf they go ahead with the flights, when could tickets go on sale?
ReplyDeleteIn a month maybe.
DeleteAlitalia also used to be very popular with transfers from Belgrade to North Africa - Tunisia, Algiers and Egypt.
ReplyDeleteIt is surprising that they have almost no presence in ex-Yu. Just Split seasonally.
ReplyDeleteAnd those flights are operational just for a few weeks.
DeleteAlitalia had daily flights to Belgrade most of the time with A321 before they left .
DeleteThat was when JU was only a shadow of an airline .
How things have turned around !
They never used to send A321s. They started with Embraers and upgraded to A319 and A320s.
DeleteOh well, they send them nearly daily .
DeleteI must know as i often travelled with them between Rome and Belgrado .
It is amazing how much the Serbia-Italy market has expanded in just 2 years. 11 airport served in Italy from BEG. wow.
ReplyDelete