The leisure brand of Israel’s national carrier El Al - Sun d’Or - has reinstated plans to commence scheduled flights between Tel Aviv and Belgrade. Initially, the carrier was to launch the route in April, but due to a fleet shortage was unable to follow through with its plans. However, after securing wet-lease capacity from Lithuania’s KlasJet, Sun d’Or will introduce a two weekly service starting July 11, operating on Thursdays and Sundays, with KlasJet’s Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Tickets are now available for purchase through El Al’s website. El Al last maintained flights to Belgrade in late 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, when Serbia and Israel created a travel bubble for Israeli nationals, enabling them to visit Serbia without restrictions. Although the travel corridor itself was short-lived, it saw Israeli carriers maintain several daily flights to the Serbian capital.
Commenting on the new route, Sun d’Or’s CEO, Gal Gershon, said, “Belgrade joins our list of new summer destinations, offering sixteen nearby vacation spots loved by the Israeli public. Belgrade is a beautiful and unique city in the Balkans, just a three-hour flight from Israel, providing a variety of family activities, spectacular nature, fine cuisine, and excellent shopping centres. The aircraft lease agreement [with KlasJet] allows us to expand our destination range and adjust the flight schedule according to demand, offering the Israeli public the chance to refresh and relax this summer”. KlasJet is no stranger at Belgrade Airport, having operated flights on behalf of Air Serbia throughout last year and part of this year.
Sun d’Or will compete directly against Arkia Israeli Airlines’ two weekly flights between the two cities, however, Arkia does not sell individual tickets, offering them instead as part of tour packages from Israel. Air Serbia, which operated flights between Belgrade and Tel Aviv until late October of last year initially scheduled its return to the Israeli city for October 27, at the start of the 2024/25 winter season, however, the service has now been suspended indefinitely. Further flight details for the new service can be found here.
Great news, well done El Al and BEG!
ReplyDelete+1
DeletePity Air Serbia has no plans to resume this route.
ReplyDeleteWhen it was flying there longer than other airlines people were saying how it's dangerous and that they shouldn't.
Delete+1
DeleteThey have completely removed Tel Aviv from their website. I don't think they will be going back there any time soon.
DeleteTrue just checked.
DeleteOk but majority of airlines have now restored flights. So the consensus is that it is safe
DeleteIt's not about safety, it's about demand. Israeli tourists are going to fly on local airlines. So there is not many others Air Serbia can carry. Serbian pilgrims which made up a chunk of passengers on the route are probably not going to go to Israel at the moment (also consider the fact that a Serbian national is being held hostage in Gaza).
Delete00:00 Seriously, didn't know about that?
DeleteWho are these flights going to be for? Who is going to travel to Israel at the moment?
ReplyDeleteIt is for Israeli tourists.
DeleteI've noticed quite a few Israeli tourists lately in Belgrade.
DeleteDidn't some Israeli sport teams move their base to Belgrade?
DeleteYes
DeleteMaccabi basketball team moved its base to Belgrade for the season.
DeleteInterestingly, based on statistics, there have been more tourists from Israel to Serbia this year than last year.
DeleteIsrael, despite its small size, has a large population of around 9mil. Israeli tourists love travelling to Europe, and Israel itself has several attractions concerning Christianity that'd be of interest for Serbian tourists. There's probably demand from both sides, albeit more from Israel
DeleteIs Israir still flying to BEG or no?
ReplyDeleteIsrair was I think bought by LY, they no longer exist.
DeleteOh didn't know that. Thanks
DeleteIsrair pretty much still exists (not bought by LY).
DeleteAnd no, it doesn't fly to BEG. In the ex-YU region they're flying to LJU and TIV
KlasJet back in Belgrade :D
ReplyDeleteThey haven't been away long :)
DeleteThose ACMI airlines are killing it since Covid.
DeleteKlasJet back at Belgrade :D
ReplyDeleteIt's their secondary base.
DeleteCool
ReplyDeleteWhat equipment is Arkia using on their Belgrade flights?
ReplyDeleteTheir own A320, B737-700 wet leased from Electra Airways and B737-800 wet leased from Smartwings.
DeleteSome days E95 and some days A321neo.
DeleteIn June it is A320, 737-700 and 737-800. No Embraers.
DeleteAnd in August they have scheduled A321neo for entire month :)
DeleteSorry meant to say in July and August.
DeleteGood times for Israeli tourists.
ReplyDeleteWould be nce to eventually see El Al in BEG.
ReplyDeleteMakes no big difference.
DeleteI guess El Al is a bit more premium. Sun d'Or is basically what Aviolet used to be to Air Serbia although they have scheduled flights unlike Aviolet.
Deletethey even use El Al designator code.
DeleteBut I don't think it's possible to transfer in TLV.
DeleteYes, I don't think so either.
DeleteI transfered few years ago to Bangkok in TLV. I am not sure is it possible Sun D'Or to EL AL.
DeleteWhat was the transfer experience like in Tel Aviv?
DeleteI wonder that too. Is it as easy to use as other hubs in the Middle East or is there a lot of security checks?
DeleteI'm surprised JU is not resuming flights considering they were one of the last airlines to stop flights to Tel Aviv.
ReplyDeleteIt is questionable how much demand there is now for the type of passengers that JU used to fly there. It is different for Israeli carriers who rely on local demand.
DeleteMost foreign airlines have now resumed TLV flights.
Delete^ not really. Flights are still way down on last year. That is why Israeli airlines are wet leasing so many planes. Because they have huge demand as there is so few other airlines offering flights.
DeleteGood job. Let's see if Arkia remains though.
ReplyDeleteArkia has been flying for years and successfully competed against Air Serbia and Israir. So I don't think it will be an issue.
DeleteThey have been the most consistent with their BEG flights and operate year round.
Deletei'll wait a few more years before visiting Israel again.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteHopefully it will be a year round route.
ReplyDeleteCurrently scheduled until end of summer season.
DeleteAny new addition is welcome.
ReplyDeleteIs this the only new carrier to launch flights to Belgrade this year?
DeleteSky Express starts flights this Sunday. Not scheduled but they are regular charters and operate 1x per week until the end of September.
DeleteThe more new airlines the better
DeleteVery small number of new arrivals this year to be honest.
DeleteThe reason is strong national air carrier.
DeleteTrue, a national carrier with over 80 destinations. Doesn't leave much room for others on a generally small market.
DeleteFares are quite good actually.
ReplyDeleteNot too expensive at the moment but that will probably change.
Deletewow they scheduled flights just a month before launch. I guess people are still booking last minute.
ReplyDeleteThere is huge demand from Israel but not too many flights so many people will book whatever becomes available.
DeleteThat livery is a bit odd.
ReplyDeleteTo say the least
DeleteWhat is the chicken on the tail supposed to represent?
DeleteWell you won't be seeing this livery in BEG since they will be using a white Klas jet plane.
DeleteThey actually have a new livery but have not painted it on any plane yet
Deletehttps://media.licdn.com/dms/image/D4E22AQG7gBOxJX-I3A/feedshare-shrink_2048_1536/0/1718092368445?e=1721260800&v=beta&t=qdNH14qJTuSijNj_oW-q_VgeO5kj00FV5FKJqdPA4so
I like it!
DeleteMuch nicer than current one.
DeleteUnfortunately they did not reinstate flights to Ljubljana and Zagreb. They were supposed to start in June, but when they cancelled Belgrade a few months ago they also cancelled the other two.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they schedule LJU and ZAG too eventually now that they have planes.
DeleteConsidering how badly relations between Israel and Slovenia have deteriorated, don't expect them in Ljubljana any time soon.
DeleteTrue. Forgot about that
DeleteDoesn't El Al fly to ZAG anymore?
DeleteNo
DeleteEl Al flights were taken over by Sun d'Or some time ago
DeleteDidn't know that. In any case hope one of the two returns.
DeleteDo they offer any on board service?
ReplyDeleteSome flights include light refreshments, and food and beverages may also be purchased on-board.
DeleteThank you.
DeleteHow many airlines serve BEG this summer at this moment?
ReplyDeleteBut I didn't include Nouvelle Air, which has more weekly flights than most scheduled airlines since they have 10x weekly. I also didn't count Arkia
DeleteSo basically 26. Not bad.
DeleteGreat news
ReplyDeleteIt's great that their flights don't clash with Arkia.
ReplyDeleteWhat days do the Arkia flights operate?
DeleteMondays and Fridays. While Sun d'Or will be on Thursdays and Sundays.
DeleteThanks. Good it's spread out.
DeleteIt is good you can buy their tickets online unlike other Israeli airlines.
ReplyDelete`Yes on Arkia you can't but they have constantly flown to BEG for many years. So they must be doing something right.
DeleteIn general very few flights from the region to TLV.
ReplyDeleteFrom ex-Yu yes
DeleteOutside of ex-Yu there are a lot of flights actually. Tirana, Varna, Athens, Budapest, Bucharest, Sofia....
DeleteGiven that IDF is doing GPS spoofing and you cannot use e.g. navigation, don't know who would want to travel in the direction towards Israel right now.
DeleteCurrently I'm in Cyprus, and half of the time, current location on all devices points to Beirut Airport, in some days needed to drive around only by following road signs.
Pretty terror style measures employed by Israelis imo.
^ In a war situation this has to be expected.
Delete^
DeleteI agree, but then there's no roses & civil aviation, tourism n stuff.
Nobody travels over there until it's safe.
And I would add my personal frustration that they are obstructing GPS in Cyprus and there is no real protest - civil planes are most probably navigating around Larnaca manually, there is increased risk due to that, there might be, God forbid, some accidents etc...
Generally you are right and everything you said is reasonable, i cant say anything against that.
DeleteBut you dont understand aviation at the moment in Israel.
Tel Aviv is 100% outbound at the moment, no or nearly no foreigner is flying into Israel at the moment as tourist or etc.
The foreigner that do so are Israelis with double citizenship or in someway affiliated with the country.
A bit comparable with Belgrade where outbound is also very strong.
Now at the end of the day all these flights will be 99% full with Israelis and those flying into Tel Aviv are those who have to fly back at the end of their journey.
And GPS, well what can i say ofc its bad but in war you cannot expect that life goes on as if nothing happened.