NEWS FLASH
British Airways has extended its flights between London Heathrow and Belgrade into the 2024 summer season. The airline had initially scheduled the newly launched route only for the 2023/24 winter season, noting its fate for the summer was dependant on its performance. Services will continue to be maintained three times per week throughout the summer. The route is also served by Air Serbia, while Wizz Air maintains operations between London Luton and Belgrade.
3 weekly while in other capitals in the region ( OTP 2 daily, LJU 6 weekly and ATH 5 daily !!! ) is pretty low. I see them leaving BEG again.
ReplyDeleteAnon 10:38: BEG has 15pw to London this winter, although Serbs do need visas.
DeleteLondon-Athens market is huge from both directions and cannot be compared to any ExYu market, in any way.
DeleteExactly LON-ATH has British 5 daily Aegean 3 daily and Sky express 1 daily. Not to mention Wizz, Ryanair, EasyJet and Jet2 all flying year round to other London airports. That’s not gonna happen in BEG anytime soon..
DeleteBA ony flies to ATH 3 daily, same as A3.
DeleteBut U2, Sky Express and W6 fly from LGW and FR from STN.
Athens is bigger tourist attraction then Belgrade. Also Tirana has 6 daily flights to many other routes not just London. Not to mention Milan, Rome, Venice and Bologna.
DeleteAthens serves as a transfer point to many of the Greek islands, there is a Greek diaspora in the UK and Athens is a popular tourist destination. Greeks don't need a visa to enter the UK.
DeleteTirana has many flights to the UK because it has become one of the biggest European immigrant populations in the UK in the last few years. Many Albanians are requesting asylum in the UK and many are illegally entering the UK, so much so that it has become a political issue in the UK.
There is a huge Romanian diaspora in the UK, especially after Romania entered the EU. Romania is a large market with a population of 20 million and Romanian don't need a visa to enter the UK.
You can add SOF, they have up to 10 daily London flights on Saturdays during the ski season. 6x BA LHR, 5x FB and 2-3 daily W6 LTN, 3-4 daily FR STN, 1-2 daily U2 Jet2 1x STN, TUI 1x LGW. Additionally, 787 El Al to TLV every Friday in February and March
DeleteAn11:15 BA flies 5 daily to ATH on summer
DeleteMany Bulgarians moved to UK during the time when UK was a part of EU and at the same time Bulgarians have something to offer to Brits during the winter.
DeleteATH is so big wih population and number of passengers that it is insane to compare it with BEG while LJU has no national air carrier so therefore BA flies there 6 weekly.
BEG, not being a part of NATO and EU and having extremely strict and expensive visa regime with UK still has 16 weekly flights to London - the same like Zagreb (no visa regime, far stronger tourism, NATO membership).
14:09 Brits love ski resorts and Serbia has them. The thing is that it needs good advertising. INI charters were good at the time, so if INI takes the initiative then it can be added by BEG. After all, the distance is not that far. Serbia is not well known in the UK and this needs to change.
DeletePart of NATO has got nothing to do really. As long as you have cheap booze, nice hotels and good food..Brits are all yours. One will argue that they are notorious tourists, but they end up paying and sustaining the local economy anyway. Not all of them are the same.
Same applies to Ireland....barely any connection with Serbia and if you combine both countries, we are talking of a population of roughly 70 million!
Yes, Bulgarians have Bansko and Pamporovo, but participate in big tourism events. Serbia must do the same.
Yes, agree about ATH. Also the diaspora in UK is much much larger and moved there many years ago. Plus, ATH is an year-round destination like southern Spain. More enjoyable in winter because of the cooler temperatures although it is definitely not the prettiest in Greece compared to the rest of the country, but quite developed transport wise.
They do not know skiing or boarding. They like to drink and watch Premiership.
DeleteAny news on the Visa situation?
ReplyDeleteBritish Visa remains by far the most difficult visa-procedure a Serbian citizen kann undertake.
DeleteNo signs of simplifying of this horendous procedure.
None since 2011, but you can go to Calais and hop on a boat then they will place you in 5 star hotel free of charge
DeleteRight, in Rwanda
Delete@olhanense
DeleteStill no illegal emigrant from the UK has gone to Rwanda, just millions and millions of GBP.
Anonymous11:26
DeleteHahahahaha it's funny but also very true!
I see BA leaving soon too, they probably wont make it more than one year.
ReplyDeleteThe visa issue needs to be resolved.
DeleteSerbian passport holders are unfairly treated for now reason.
The UK has zero issues with Serbian gangs or illegal migrants.
So BA extends flights into summer and all of you in a choir say "BA is leaving soon". Ok lol.
Delete^ it's a dream and wish for some.
Delete@anon 11:40
DeleteWe see here some wishful thinking?
No, in BEG it won't happen soon that what happened to Finnair, TAP, Vueling, Air Canada, Emirates, Korean, Swiss, Brussels...in ZAG.
There is no visa issue. Such matters don't involve categories such as fair and unfair. You better ask yourself, why the UK requires entry visa from Serbia's citizens.
DeleteWe need Manchester
ReplyDeleteTbh, not much is "going on" between UK and Serbia. Ok, stats show 70 thousand Serbs living in UK but the figure is not too high to have many flights. Plus, Serbia has almost zero tourism ads to promote itself in UK. Visas are also a silly issue. If INI ski charters are restored, this may help BEG to get additional flights in winter. It will encourage Brits to visit other parts of Serbia to the north. Also, the current fares from and to Heathrow are very high. TSR offers London prices 3 times cheaper for instance.
ReplyDeleteBA was selling return tickets LHR-BEG-LHR for 118 EUR.
DeleteHow expensive is that?
Super cheap!
DeleteAnd why is this newsworthy? It's London, not some desirable exotic destination.
ReplyDeleteBecause they originally planned to fly the route only during the winter.
DeleteSimply because this will be their first summer in BEG after 13 years.
DeleteLondon is a major world city. Like it or not.
DeleteGreat news. Well done BEG!
ReplyDeleteBravo Vinci!
DeleteI live in UK and am British. It is a disgrace that Serbs need visa. UK government " outsources" visa applications to agencies.now. the father of my Serbian friend has just been refused visa for UK. my friend lives here and is married to an English lawyer. her dad had previously had 6 visas to visit. Then refused..he is almost 80 and said he felt shame at the refusal. It is UK which should feel shame..for this behaviour.. and also for Rwanda horror. France ( much closer) has offered more help, processing visa applications on North French coast but UK prefers to pay Rwanda 290.million GBP.. more in April.
ReplyDeleteOur prime minister's wife has a company in Kigali. of course there is no connection. If BA drops out..yoh still gave air Serbia and Wizz though I have no idea why anyone would now want to visit UK.. U paklu smo. I am trying to.leave
I spent one semester studying at Cambridge and find England to be the most unwelcoming country in the world. Most of my friends from the US that have visited there regret it.
DeleteHaving said that I do have some good friends who are English and I don't understand why they still live there. I do know they leave England often for warmer climate and a good time.
There is a reason why the English live all over the world and it's not just that the Royal Navy was so powerful for such a long time
Do yourself a favor and just leave. The world is a big place and you won't regret it.
And there is the added bonus of seeing the ☀️ more than once a week.
This is good news. We don’t need Ba everyday we have air serbia and Wizz but it’s good they are flying. Only raises the profile of Belgrade. There will be an article soon in one of the main papers by one of the uk’s top travel writers. 2024 could be the year that Brits realise there is more to the Balkans than just Montenegro and Wizz.
ReplyDeleteVisa situation is sad but unfortunately won’t change soon but more British companies are exploring Serbia for business and the region. So hopefully greater ties we will see this visa situation once and for all resolved for the whole region.
Sorry meant Croatia and montenegro. Got ahead of myself!!!
DeleteI always winder why people even bother going to that ultra depressing city of London.
ReplyDelete