Air Serbia is planning for a busy 2024/25 winter season, which will see the carrier upgrade some of its summer routes and make new additions to its network, complemented by the introduction of two new long-haul destinations - Guangzhou and Shanghai. The carrier has finalised its network for the upcoming winter, which begins on October 27 and is awaiting final slot returns, expected by the end of the month, before uploading its full schedule. Speaking to EX-YU Aviation News, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said, “There will be some additional surprises. Mostar [launched this April] will be one of the destinations that will be kept over winter, and we plan for two more seasonal destinations to be extended into the winter as well”.
The carrier recently announced the resumption of flights between Belgrade and Nice on September 19, following a five-year hiatus. Explaining the reasoning for Air Serbia’s return to the French city, Mr Marek said, “Last year since we had significant growth and there were not so many opportunities left to be further explored. One of the successes behind our results and profitability during and post-Covid was flexibility and agility. We continue to prioritise these qualities to ensure we always have resources available for similar opportunities. When another operator [Wizz Air] reduced its Thursday operations to Nice, for us it was a no-brainer. With the current network which already reaches the minimum critical mass, which is completely different from when we last operated this route, we strongly believe Nice will work. This was an opportunity we decided to take”.
The carrier is set to launch flights to Guangzhou on September 30, aiming to leverage the airport's strong connectivity, particularly to markets like Australia. As China's busiest airport, Guangzhou also offers good connections to nearby regions, including Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and Macau. Additionally, services to Shanghai are anticipated to begin this year too. On the other hand, during the upcoming winter months, Air Serbia plans to carry out heavy maintenance on several of its aircraft to ensure they are prepared for the busy 2025 season.
Wondering which two seasonal routes are being upgraded to year round apart from Mostar. Have a feeling DBV may be one of them.
ReplyDeleteMake no sense with Tivat and Mostar
DeleteI'm just guessing based on the fact that DBV is doing a lot to get more winter flights, meaning they are offering some big incentives to airlines.
DeleteSPU would make more sense; DBV is within 50km from TIV.
DeleteGiven how many extra ATRs they have they will surely expand in the region. It also makes sense as those destinations will provide them with extra feed. I hope they will look beyond ex-YU for winter growth.
DeleteGood news for JU is that we are overcomming the major pilot shortage we had since post-covid era. This will allow JU to plan ahead and to plan their future growth.
I just wish they had a better commercial department/strategy. There is still no news on their corporate program nor their loyalty scheme. Such a major disappointment.
If SPU would make sense that many other legacy carriers would fly there during the winter (LH, BA, OS, LX, LO, AF, A3, TK...) and not only KL and heavily subsidized OU.
Delete@Anonymous09:34
DeleteYes, but those companies can't fly with ATR, which has significantly lower break even
Anonymous 09:08
DeleteYou forgot to mention that the trip between Tivat and Dubrovnik takes a lot because of a Schengen border crossing and poor road quality over there, so not really comparable.
SPU would rely on P2P during winter, two weekly flights actually might work.
DeleteSPU has no P2P demand in winter, it's Zadar
DeleteWell if the second biggest city in Croatia doesn’t have enough P2P demand, then ZAD surely doesn’t have.
DeleteEvery couple of weeks someone posts this nonsense that there is no P2P demand between BEG and SPU in winter. Obviously it's someone that has no idea how many business & family ties exist between these two cities. JU will have zero issues filling up an ATR 2x or even 3x weekly on this route.
DeleteIf it had been the case JU would have introduced these flights long time ago. The truth is completely different.
DeleteDuring the winter SPU has tiny 30.000 pax per month where most of them fly on subsidized domestic routes or their gastos flying to Germany and rest of West Europe. In February SPU has only 9.000 pax more than Nis (SPU 30.000, INI 21.000) and we all know that JU would not fly to INi if they did not get PSO for BEG-INI flights.
It is beyond any logic thinking that there is more P2P demand between in winter dead SPU and BEG than between INI and BEG. And yes, both destinations are flown by ATR during the winter.
The Serbian population that survived exodus from that area in 1995 is getting older and their children do not feel Split surrounding as their country anymore.
Simply said, P2P demand between BEG and SPU during the winter is non existing and JU knows that very well. Everything else are nothing but wet dreams of people who want it to be otherwise.
If market was there OU would be flying it in winter
Delete@anon 12.55
Delete"If it had been the case JU would have introduced these flights long time ago."
Someone could've said the same about JU's Spanish destinations 5 years ago. The fact that flights do not exist between a certain city pair doesn't mean that there is no demand (or that demand can't be created). You completely underestimate the number of regional businesses and multinational subsidiaries based in Belgrade who would appreciate a direct link with Dalmatia during winter months, as well as the number of young people from SPU and the surrounding area that would be more than willing to hop over to BEG for an extended weekend if they had a quick way to do so.
Anyway it's just my 2 cents, I have no dog in this fight.
I will remind you that JU flies to SPU during the summer as it has been recognized that the demand is there. But the demand finishes when the season of swimming is over and that is a fact contrary to the situation with Spanish cities which have much better climate during the winter than SPU has.
DeleteI don't wish to destroy your dreams, but regional business between that part of Croatia and Serbia are minimal and general opinion of local people is not very friendly orientated towards Belgrade / Serbia.
The number of young Dalmatians visiting Belgrade or Serbia especially in winter months could be counted in promilles. Their attitude towards Serbia is even more negative than by older generation although they were born after the war.
Sorry, it is the truth. I would personally like that the situation is different, but it's not.
p.s. who really wants to visit Belgrade from Split in winter can drive 2 hours and reach airport of Mostar. From there JU will fly directly to Belgrade.
"It is beyond any logic thinking that there is more P2P demand between in winter dead SPU and BEG than between INI and BEG."
DeleteDude, Niš is a 2,5 hrs drive frome Belgrade.
Who lied you, guys, Dalmatians are not visiting Belgrade?
And Nis is iin the same country as Belgrade.
DeleteSaying that SPU has more demand to BEG than INI is the same like saying that BEG has more demand from SPU than ZAG.
Pointless.
People want to visit Spain in winter, that's not the case with HR
DeleteI think you are missing the point. It's not the matter of p2p, tourists, gastos, but transfers. JU HAVE to fly to every airport with 200k passengers per year in the region to feed its short and long network. Also, it will have to fly to every airport with 3+ million passengers in Europe as soon as possible if it wants to position itself as long haul option
Delete@17:31
DeleteExactly, but it’s too hard for some people to read beyond 3rd sentence as it requires a bit more concentration.
Even Marek says this in the text: “ With the current network which already reaches the minimum critical mass, which is completely different from when we last operated this route, we strongly believe Nice will work. This was an opportunity we decided to take”.
As far as I'm concerned, winter SPU flights will more than pay off even if the only passenger flying is Rozga :)
DeleteIn winter Plovdiv makes more sense than Split. Air Serbia needs to think outside the typical ex-YU mentality.
DeleteToo close to Sofia, makes no sense. Although is a beautiful city.
DeleteIf they plan to start Shanghai this year, they should really put tickets on sale soon.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. Otherwise we have to book alternative airlines for travel to Europe during Chinese New Year. It's the busiest travel season in China and many expats as well as Chinese travel to Europe. Would be nice to fly home directly even though Air Serbia treats its premium passangers badly.
DeleteThey treated me right. Is it just you? Are you even flying with Air Serbia, I thought you don't fly with them?
DeleteAir Serbia must keep on growing if they want to become a stable and profitable business. You can't shrink yourself into profitability.
ReplyDeleteIt's very good that they are attacking Wizz Air in NCE. W6 has been rather slow in rebuilding their BEG network so let JU make the most of it. What worries me is what will BEG do in order to cope with this increased aircraft movement.
Current facilities might not be enough and we might see serious congesting next year.
They will need slots soon, terminal can be built for enough pax flow but there won’t be enough gates and parking positions etc.
DeleteIt will be interesting to see their next step
In my opinion they are already late. Their next expansion phase should have already begun. They need to move that cargo building and expand A gates all the way to the end. They can surely add another 4 or 5 airbridges. Same with the C gate area.
DeleteThank God Vinci started construction during covid otherwise I don't want to imagine what a mess BEG would have been.
By the way, we see that more and more JU long-haul flights arriving before 05.00. This will further complicate the gate space situation at the airport. In the past you could at least schedule some charter flights before the night wave starts coming back.
Maybe one way to overcome this matter is to ban charter flights from operating during the busy periods of that day. No more AYT or Egypt flights at 06.30.
I don't think even the four additional gates will help much.
DeleteIf they build 4 air-bridges with 4 bus gates underneath then it might be enough. They can also move Wizz Air to remote stands as is the case with most European airports.
DeleteIf W6 pays Vinci to use jet bridges why would they move them to remote stands?
DeleteBecause another airline would pay more? Maybe one that either brings more passengers to the airport (JU) or one that doesn't have access to reduced fees.
DeleteAir bridges are not cheap to use.
Is JU willing to pay more in order to use jet bridges?
DeleteIs there even a plan to remove the current cargo facility next to A gates?
DeleteAnon 10.01
DeleteJU is absolutely ready since no jet ever uses the remote stand
Nemjee, as a pax service agent at BEG it is my strong belief that we won't survive if JU keeps expanding. I say this because we are understaffed, BEG doesn't have enough stands for future expansion which will be done by JU, W6 and LH group. Let's say that we have a peak wave at 0600, everything is landing and taking off at around the same time, JU has a habit of waiting for pax from RU which take a lot of time to get to the a/c cause they are not OSS and their stations don't approve pax docs for final destinations and we have to check them again which take 45 seconds to 2 minute per pap. BEG doesn't have enough buses for Bravo and Echo stands which depart at the same time. To top it all off, imagine HU, JU or TK widebody which take 2 gates at the same time. Now the expansion does make sense but not in an absolute sense if you don't make a new passport control. Let's say you have a pap who checks in at counter 400 or 300, they have to wait at the passport control, security check and then go to C19 and the fast walkers are not functional. Or W6 pap who has to check in at 600 and then go A8 which makes him make a whole circle at the Airport even though there a passport control at A1 for crew. If they reopen it and make it available for only certain companies who Let's say have a check in at T1 that would be great. Or just use it for PRM pax. BEG needs to rethink how they will approach next summer season.
DeleteSorry for the long grind.
Probably one of the best comments so far. Thank you
DeleteGreat observation anon 11:04!!
DeleteVery true, had to do that once this year with my wife. Only with her I realized how much walking you have to do from terminal one check-in to passport and and back to the end of C gates.
DeleteOld border crossing next to T1 will open again.
DeletePeople don't mind the walk in FRA, AMS, MUC... but they mind walking from the passport control to A9 or C14. No wonder we are becoming so obses in Europe. People are allergic to physycal movement.
DeleteRumor is Cluj and Chisinau will be launched. As for upgraded seasonal destinations, not really sure.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I am hearing, Dubai and Tenerife will be added too. I was a bit surprised but it is what the rumor has it
DeleteI think those rotations are very long and my guess route network growth will come from the region, i.e. Eastern Europe due to all the additional ATRs they have. The article mentions aircraft will be going for heavy maintenance and those are A319/A320s. So they will probably have at least 2-3 out of service. But we will see soon.
DeleteTenerife would be amazing. I've been there 3 times, I. October, November and February and had amazing time. Santa Cruz, La Laguna, Puerto d/l Cruz, Orotava, car ride to the middle of the island with amazing views and near the Teide, baraquito coffee, food on the Market of Nuestra Segnora Di Africa in SC, Teresita beach, Garachicco, Ikod, Drago milenario....i cena keep on counting till tomorrow the list of must do and visit, and still my to do would be long enough. Looking forward to the 4th visit.
DeleteAh, right, when there plan a trip to La Palma by plane, it's another amazing island.
@ 09:15
DeletePlan was two A330's to go to a cabin reconfig and service once the two new big ones arrive. So in upcoming winter we will have just two A330 running.
I woud love Tenerife to be introduced, but I am afraid they are too far away.
DeleteDXB - I believe this route would not be successful for them taking in consideration competition they have here. Of course, JU have shown that they can fight with competitors, but the point here is that it is too long routte with established air carrier flying trhere already 14 pw.
Between Dubai and Canary Islands I believe Tenerife would have more success.
330s are not going for the cabin configuration at the same time . You are funny .
DeleteI doubt it will be Chisinau either, it's too risky for JU. The diplomatic relations between the two countries aren't that good and Serbian passport holders might be denied to enter the Moldova
DeleteNot true.
DeleteWhy should Serbia-Moldova relationships be bad? Common regional cooperation memberships like CEFTA, common internal issues, but until today very badly connected
DeleteIt happened to Partizan fans last year. Maybe it’s because they are just football fans, not normal passengers
DeleteIt also happened to two random tourists from Serbia, you have a video on YT. They couldn't enter Moldova and the police officers asked them if they are Russians lol.
DeleteSerbia is on the grey list because of its close ties with Russia, and right now Moldova tends to be very anti-Russian.
So yes, people might be at risk to be returned from Moldovan borders.
Air Serbia's flights to Moldova would have nothing to do with non existant demand from Serbia to Moldova but with Moldovan transfer passengers
DeleteThat's true, but the environment in Moldova is unfortunately not ideal so it might affect establishing the flights.
DeleteHappy Mostar has worked out for them.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteAlthough I am hoping for many, I guess 3 extended summer routes + 2 new long haul ones and 1 or 2 other than Nice is what we can see this winter, with some frequency adjustments and hopefully growth. Overall, amazing result in this hravy year.
ReplyDeleteI think this is more than enough, especially in a difficult year for European aviation. Demand for travel is generally down across Europe. Look at the financial results for European airlines in the first half of the year. All of them are terrible. And even the ones that are profitable like Ryanair have their profits down by a lot.
DeleteDemand is not down, quite the contrary.
DeleteIt is down. Nowhere near the levels seen last year.
DeleteYes but Serbian economy does really well so demand from here is strong.
DeleteHow come no additional A320 are entering the fleet? If the mantra is that we are getting rid of A319 where are the A320's? It has been a long time since APO and APS entered service.
ReplyDeleteDo you realize there is a shortage of A320s on the market because of the issue with neo aircraft?
Delete@09:11
DeleteThere is a shortage only if you are looking to pay peanuts.
it is the same strategy that delayed the A330s for two years.
Sure, some people and 'experts' detached from reality.
DeleteThey can find A320s on the market. Problem is that they can't find enough pilots to operate them. That's why all wetleases were A320s (no more A319s).
DeleteAre pilots still leaving JU for other companies?
DeleteFrom what I heard not as much as before. O'Leary said that Arab carriers aren't hiring as much as they did before. I think that's one of the reasons why they are not leaving JU like they did before.
DeleteThey also increased salaries for pilots at JU.
DeleteYes and they kept leaving after they increased it by 25%. What does that tell you?
DeleteAlso only pilots got a salary increase in ALL of company. The rest of us are working with covid salaries.
@Namjee ... well if they get A320 and release some A319 there should be no shortage of pilots as pilots are rated for both types.
Delete@Anonymous09:59
DeleteMy guess is that this switch was not realistic before introduction of Embraers, since the problematic gap between ATR and next bigger plane would get even larger.
Regarding seasonal routes, so I doubt they are extending Greek island destinations. Potentially it could be a Croatan destination. What about Italy? Do they have any seasonal destinations there?
ReplyDeleteYes Bari, Palermo and Catania
DeleteHER could work year-round if they time them right. Crete is home to some 600.000 people and they have strong diaspora in places like Germany.
DeleteAlso HER has year round flights to AMS, FRA, LCA etc
DeleteWe need BEG-HER!
DeleteWe also need BEG-Santorini from next year..
DeleteJMK as well
DeleteI hope it will be Palma Mallorca
DeleteWizz flew from Belgrade to Santorini and stopped it. Destination is expensive for price sensitive market like Belgrade. JMK is even more expensive.
DeleteThey also flew to Rhodes and stopped yet Air Serbia turned it into a regular destination and is thriving right there this summer. Just because Wizz Air terminated a route doesn't mean no one else can make it work. Am I right or am I right?
DeleteStill waiting on Manchester, United Kingdom
ReplyDeleteDon't hold your breath. Its like waiting for Godo and UK visa abolishment.
DeleteAny possibility for Air Serbia to fly in to London-City airport?
DeleteYes with ATR 4 times per week
DeleteThese are all the seasonal destinations Air Serbia has
ReplyDeleteBari, Catania, Chania, Corfu, Dubrovnik, Heraklion, Ohrid, Palermo, Palma de Mallorca, Pula, Rhodes, Rijeka, Split, Varna, Zadar
My pick for the two that are being extended are Ohrid and Bari ot Palermo.
Impressive how many routes are actually year-round. That's not a lot of summer only destinations.
DeleteI don't think any of these destinations are viable in winter except maybe Mallorca.
DeleteYes Mallorca could be a possibility
DeleteIs there really potential for winter operations to Bari?
DeleteAbsolutely, huge Serbian community there
DeleteBari is popular to the entire region (Albania, Montenegro, Romania, Bulgaria) although I think there are some year-round operations, I would expect from Tirana and Bucharest for sure...
DeleteNot sure, because Naples is year around, only 200 km from Bari. My pick is Split and Paletmo. If Split proves right, Dubrovnik may continue next winter
DeleteGuys Bari already operates in winter
DeleteNot directly from BEG.
DeleteYes there are nonstop flights from BUD
DeletePalermo is also from BUD.
DeleteMaybe Cairo and Baku :D
ReplyDeleteWell at least we know the new routes will be at slot coordinated airports :D
ReplyDeleteINI keeps on winning!
ReplyDeletePotential is Romania with the struggles of Tarom. Especially for transfers
ReplyDeleteSo with Nice being introduced I guess Marseille won't be bank any time soon
ReplyDeleteIt would have to wait enough Ejets in the fleet. But surely interesting destination as second biggest city in France. Primary for transfer passengers
DeleteI always thought Lyon is the 2nd largest city in France, certainly it's the city with significant Serbian diaspora.
DeleteNice isn't selling as well as expected
DeleteOMG, they announced the route a week ago, and there are people already claiming how it does not sell as expected. Incredible!
DeleteIs Cairo coming back?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely not
DeleteIt was said to be launched (same as Baku), but not by someone from company.
DeleteWhy not? It has been said in two months by Vucic. Wait and see...
DeleteC'mon we already know one destination will be in Romania, most likely Cluj:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2024/06/air-serbia-plans-new-romania.html
I guess Split and Bari. Cluj and Baku. Cairo as well. Nice was nice surprise...
ReplyDeleteIt would be very profitable for them to increase frequencies to/from Russia or even expand its network. JU flights are almost always full to/from Russia especially since the pullout of most Western carriers. But even before the current sanctions in place since 2022, JU flights have already been busy with its Russian network.
ReplyDeleteI think Minsk would be a nice addition. Other large Russian cities are too far and rotations would take too long. But surely profit would be high
DeleteMinsk is impossible since Serbia sanctioned Belarus.
DeleteGood point about the rotations, so more frequencies for the current cities served would make sense ... Interesting about Serbia sanctioning Belarus - I wonder what for...?
DeleteFor the same reason EU sanctioned them.
DeleteSomehow I thought Serbia defied (almost) all EU sanctions against Russia ..and if I understood correctly, EU sanctions Belarus mainly due to its connections with Russia . But honestly Minsk is a relatively small market. And I think most Belarusian fly via Russia abroad for cheaper as they can fly between the two countries without "borders" anyway.
DeleteIn Spain for Winter Alicante and Tenerife are cool and for Summer Sevilla,Ibiza and perhaps Bilbao too
ReplyDeleteI vote for Vigo
DeleteSeems like no MIA this winter season? Summer isn't the most ideal time to start Miami flights.
ReplyDeleteFor the past 10 months they have been announcing PVG and CAN for this year and North America expansion in 2025 so I don't know how ypu expected Miami. MIA will probably come in winter 25/26.
DeleteThis is how https://www.exyuaviation.com/2024/02/air-serbia-could-announce-miami-launch.html
DeleteYes and that's from Februrary announced by a politician. They still may announce Miami, as the article says, but that just means sales beginning this year for launch next year. US market is not China and you can't begin sales a month or two prior to launch. Sales for both New York and Chicago started 6 months before the launch datem
DeleteWell yes, and that was my point - if they are not announcing by end of year they are only looking at the end of 2025 to start MIA flights which is quite unfortunate.
DeleteThey will have more than enough capacity by the end of the year. I don't see what should they waiting for. Planes sitting at BEG brings only debts
DeleteI hope they will ad more rotations to Salzburg. Diaspora, tourism, Alps. Salzburg is about 1,5h drive away from MUC and they dont fly over there. LF on SZG is above 80% and I can for sure tell there is huge demand but somehow AS dont realise that.
ReplyDeleteThe Amadeus-GDS is showing 3 weekly flights BEG-SZG for summer 2025, which would be an increase of capacity of 50%
DeleteYe but the problem is that if you are in SZG, MUC and FMM are not that far and they offer a lot more flights. Lufthansa is also planning their third daily from MUC for next summer.
Delete