Air Serbia expands Europe network with new route


Air Serbia will introduce flights between Belgrade and Nice from next month. Flights between the two cities will commence on September 19 and run twice per week, on Thursdays and Sundays, with the Airbus A319 aircraft. The airline will compete directly against Wizz Air on the route, which also maintains two weekly flights from mid-September, on Tuesdays and Sundays. Further flight details for Air Serbia’s new Nice service can be found here. Tickets are now available for purchase through the airline's website. The city becomes its third destination in France, complementing Paris Charles de Gaulle and Lyon.

Air Serbia has already served Nice in the past. The city was introduced as part of its 2019 expansion as a summer seasonal destination. Following disruption during the coronavirus pandemic, the carrier scheduled its return to the city in the summer of 2022, however, shelved those plans after Wizz Air introduced the same route. As a result, the Serbian carrier will return to Nice after five years. Over the majority of the summer months, Wizz Air maintains three weekly flights to Nice and the service has proven popular. This winter, Air Serbia and Wizz Air will compete head-to-head from Belgrade on nine routes, including Nice, Barcelona, Berlin, Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Hamburg, Larnaca, Lisbon, and Malta.

Commenting on the new route launch, Air Serbia's General Manager for Commercial and Strategy, Boško Rupić, said, "Air Serbia introduced nonstop flights between Serbia and Nice in June 2019, as a seasonal service. Today, I am pleased to announce that scheduled flights to this destination will launch on September 19. Nice is one of the most attractive cities on the French Riviera, and a very popular tourist destination in Europe. Bringing this city back into our growing network of destinations enables a fast and comfortable link, as well as good connections from Nice via Belgrade to a large number of cities around the world".

Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, recently said the carrier would introduce new routes to its network this winter. “There will be some positive surprises when we decide to keep some summer routes over the winter. We also plan to introduce new shorter destinations during the winter”, the CEO said in June. Although the Serbian carrier has made no confirmation so far, the CEO of Mostar Airport has said the seasonal route, which was launched this summer, would be extended into the winter months. Air Serbia has already upgraded its flights to Ankara, Hannover, and Naples for operation throughout the upcoming 2024/25 winter season. The three were suspended mid-way through the winter of 2023/24 and restored this summer. Further afield, the Serbian carrier is expected to schedule its new service to Shanghai shortly, which is expected to launch before the end of the year.




Comments

  1. Anonymous09:10

    Well was not expecting Nice!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:32

      Well was not expected, Nice.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:21

      LOL!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous06:05

      Surely not in winter. I would not consider going there between Nov to Mar! South of Spain, Faro, AGA, Canarias, Cyprus, maybe even HER/CHQ or CTA/MLA make all sense but not this one at all.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:00

      I guess there is enough demand in winter since Wizz is flying the route in winter.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:12

    Why not Dublin already?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:00

      Everlasting story of visa for Serbian passport holders.
      I heard it from a colleague who went on business trip to Cork, you cannot enter anymore with UK visa, you need Irish visa.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:05

      Irish visa is not difficult to get. Unlike UK visa.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:25

      Its not difficult to us whose companies are solving all those paper work, but for an individual whose preparing himself/herself, its pain in the bottom.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:52

      It's not just the procedure, unless people *really* wanna go to the UK/Ireland, why would they bother with the visa? The cost is not minuscule, and although both countries have immense histories so do many others that do not require visas. Until visas are abolished there won't be any flights to Ireland and the new routes to the UK will be minimal.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:55

      Don't forget that Ireland is only this year opening their embassy in Belgrade.

      Delete
    6. Vlad11:23

      @anon 10:10

      Absolutely not true, you can still enter Ireland with a UK short-term visa as long as you've entered the UK before entering Ireland (it can even be on separate trips).

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:29

      As Vlad said, absolutely not true - I recently went to Cork, and entered Ireland with a Serbian passport and a UK visa. Please check the facts before you post.
      Official info: https://www.irishimmigration.ie/coming-to-visit-ireland/short-stay-visa-waiver-programme/

      Delete
    8. Anonymous12:13

      Does anyone have any insights if something is being done between our and UK government to solve the visa situ???

      Delete
    9. Anonymous12:24

      12:13
      Nothing

      Delete
    10. Anonymous13:06

      Anon @10:55
      Where can one read about opening of the Irish embassy?

      Delete
    11. Anonymous13:09

      It was in the news some months ago, try Googling it.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous14:54

      https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/2b55f-government-to-open-five-new-overseas-missions-under-global-ireland-programme/

      Delete
    13. Anonymous05:54

      Service to Dublin would be met with retaliation by Ryanair.

      Delete
    14. Anonymous11:01

      As long as racist visas are in place we don't need the flights to Dublin or more flights to the UK.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:14

    Looks like they are finally going after Wizz Air.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:16

      Yes, even one of the days is the same.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:23

      Return of the Jedi.

      Delete
    3. Nemjee09:52

      Wizz hit them in LCA with a morning flight on Friday and a late flight on Sunday so JU is responding by attacking them on BEG-NCE.
      JU flights are perfectly timed both for locals and transfers.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:14

      Shame they could not react earlier to all the Wizz cuts. But better later than never.

      Delete
    5. Nemjee10:23

      Wizz will have to react otherwise they will continue to lose marketshare. JU is slowly recovering and they are in the mood to fight. Mind you, they are not the only one, just look at the Lufthansa Group in BEG. They keep on boosting capacity from all of their hubs.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous14:06

      I would assume airlines don't attack each other? They likely see market opportunity that they can capture with their product. Airserbia thinks they can offer a competitive product at their price point and expand capacity in France. From Airserbia point of view, there is an unmet need that they think they can fill. Never flown on wizzair, but I avoid Frontier, Spirit in US, I gladly pay extra $200 for Delta, Jetblue or American

      Delete
    7. Anonymous14:40

      They attack each other all the time because they want to kick out their competition and takeover the market. Then they can incrwse prices like Wizz did when they crushed JU in NCE the last time

      Delete
    8. Anonymous11:02

      I as a consumer hope there will be more and more competition between the two. It's working just fine in Beograd

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:15

    Bravo Air Serbia 🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous09:16

    Excellent news

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous09:16

    Does this actually make sense, Nice in winter? Not much of diaspora in Southern France.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:16

      Wizz operates it year round

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:20

      I know. Air Serbia has connecting flights, too. Maybe some Russian owned real estate is a contributing factor. I hope it might work.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:21

      It might have something to do with China expansion too.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:27

      They probably would have added it from the start of summer but were unable to because of lack of aircraft. Since some seasonal routes end in middle of September, like the Greek holiday destinations, then they probably had spare capacity.

      Delete
    5. ilijabgc11:45

      It is a great news, so many Serbs lives in the French Riviera coast :)

      Delete
    6. Anonymous18:55

      Do you think Serbs would be the only ones using this route?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:02

      Who else?

      Delete
    8. Anonymous15:23

      Take a guess.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous19:46

      My guess is Hungarians and Romanians

      Delete
    10. Anonymous23:27

      Plus Balkans

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:20

    Wow so they launch it in just a month!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous09:21

    Great fares available at the moment. Just 100 EUR return

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous09:22

    So it begins :) hope we see some more routes added.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous09:22

    Interesting they choose A319 over E195.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:26

      I think they put A319 by default and then they might change it.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:09

      Is it cost per seat on A319 similar to the one on E195?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:56

      No because the E95 is much lighter and has 25 less seats.

      Delete
    4. But E195 does not carry as much cargo as A319 can.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:08

      Yes but very few markets have enough cargo to make a difference.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:23

    Let's goo

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous09:28

    While it's great they added a new route I would have preferred if it was unserved.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:30

      +1

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:36

      Too bad they don't ask you for your opinion before launching a new route...

      Delete
    3. Anonymous15:18

      You should see if they have opportunities at their corporate office and apply. Maybe you can then have better understanding of how they plan their routes and share the details with us on this wonderful blog 😀
      I'm actually very curious how these decisions are made and much time they spend to determine what routes/services to pursue

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:03

      JU has many openings at the HQ since many people quit

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:31

    Now all they have to do is restore Marseille :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nemjee09:53

      Maybe if they add more E90s. That route was perfect for the E75 when they had it.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:59

      Hope it comes back

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:23

      Sure, Marseille is second largest city in France. Also one destination is needed in western France, like Nantes, Bordeaux or Rennes

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:24

      E195’s are postponed again… DCV needs serious punishment

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:32

    Definitely attacking Wizz

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:51

      Let's see who wins

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:54

      I think both can coexist, although my guess is JU will out E195 on the route in the end.

      Delete
    3. Nemjee09:54

      Passengers win for the time being. <3

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:01

      That's true. Looking forward to the pricing war

      Delete
    5. ilijabgc11:45

      I’m based at Cannes and I need to take Wizz from Nice to Belgrade, Wizz’s price are too expensive, you can it for 500€, imagine

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:47

      Now thanks to JU they won't be able to charge that much.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:35

    How many weekly flights do they have to Lyon?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:50

      2 weekly

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:50

      So in total 18 weekly flights to France by Air Serbia.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:51

      And 10 weekly by Wizz Air from BEG to France, but 6 weekly in winter.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:52

    Fantastic news. So so far we are sure to have new routes for winter:

    1) Nice
    2) Guangzhou
    3) Shanghai

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:54

      Mostar for sure will be in the winter schedule.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:04

      Maybe Baku and Cairo too

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:14

      So much for the doom and gloom scenario predicted by some experts.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:42

      That's old news. New fetish are the wetleases and how the entire world hates them.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:51

      Wet leases have been around for quite a few years, nothing new there.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:57

      Of course, that's how normal people reason.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:08

      So why mention that wet leases are a new fetish, when people have been complaining about them for years? Nothing new there.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous11:10

      They have not complained about them. No one cared in reality until a certain person and his friend started nagging about it online.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous11:24

      True dat.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous12:23

      We had some people here announcing Cluj but that is yet to happen.

      Delete
  17. Please start MAN and DUB next.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:04

      Commenting on potential new routes, Mr Marek said, “Unserved destinations with the highest share of point-to-point demand are Dublin and Manchester but neither has been launched by a low cost carrier, which means that logically that can only be introduced if you have the hub behind. I am not indicating that those will be the destinations we will be opening but we are looking at them”,

      https://www.exyuaviation.com/2024/06/air-serbia-plans-new-romania.html

      Delete
    2. Anonymous20:17

      Yes. Please BEG-MAN (and return)

      Delete
  18. Anonymous10:11

    Interesting and surprising choice in my opinion.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous10:11

    Good luck JU

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous10:13

    Bravo JU! Kick wizz where it hurts xD

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous10:30

    Winter is coming...and I can't wait.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous10:38

    ho- ho! What expansion. Air Serbia is almost on the limit.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:41

      The limit depends on how many aircraft they have.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:55

      @10:41
      And labor.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:05

      And maintenance of planes.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:57

      Where to?

      Delete
  23. Anonymous10:40

    Nice Has a significant Russian Diaspora. Not sure if this new route will connect well from Moscow.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:43

      They will, they have a very good schedule to NCE and it's not tight in either direction.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:49

      Nice.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:51

      Nice is nice.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:39

      Regarding Nice, Bre(a)st:

      https://img-9gag-fun.9cache.com/photo/ajV3pNp_460s.jpg

      Delete
    5. Anonymous14:41

      Hahaha fantastic

      Delete
  24. Anonymous11:50

    This is a lot considering Wizz Air's network size from BEG
    "This winter, Air Serbia and Wizz Air will compete head-to-head from Belgrade on nine routes, including Nice, Barcelona, Berlin, Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Hamburg, Larnaca, Lisbon, and Malta."

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous12:11

    It is great for passengers to have competing airlines on the same route. Wondering why JU does not consider EIN where Wizz is rocking, upgrading BEG from 4 to 5pw this coming winter

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:16

      Well, Air Serbia as a legacy carrier flies to AMS.

      Delete
  26. Anonymous13:14

    OMO, SPU, DBV nothing?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:41

      Nope, not enough pilots

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:08

      SPU and DBV should not be year round.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous15:17

      SPU & DBV could probably work twice weekly in winter.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous21:21

      Surely not.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:04

      No demand in winter both airports barely have 20.000 passengers outside the summer

      Delete
  27. Anonymous13:18

    I want Geneva back :) I know they could not care less about what I want but it would just be perfect, having in ming dreadful schedule Easyjet is maintaining in winter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:49

      Geneva would be great!

      Delete
    2. +1. With normal schedule, on Friday, Monday and maybe Wednesday from Belgrade. It would be amazing. Prices on U2 or DS are close to legacy prices when all essential auxiliaries are included.

      Delete
  28. Anonymous17:52

    Alicante-Elche, when? It is a must.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:51

      Agree. I hope they add Alicante soon

      Delete
  29. Anonymous19:54

    I would like to see Baku, Cairo, Cluj and Shanghai by the end of the year, OMO and SPU all year round, Helsinki, Warshaw, Miami next year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous01:04

      100%

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:21

      + MUC next year.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:05

      With LH increasing MUC to 21 forget about JU flying there.

      Delete
    4. Agree, MIA and CAI should be next destinations..Personally would love to see one route to Canary Islands, but I'm not sure about seasonality, and the length of flight is about 5h...Also, BOM in India should be working well..

      Delete
  30. Anonymous16:32

    They need to add Manchester or Birmingham..it's only London airserbia has in the whole UK 🇬🇧

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous21:37

    Please not Baku!
    Yerevan (Armenian diaspora in USA)and Tbilisi (massive inbound tourism) are best in the Caucasus region.

    ReplyDelete

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