Air Serbia outlines future long-haul plans


Air Serbia anticipates further growth in the long-haul sector following its launch of flights to Guangzhou in September and its upcoming route to Shanghai, set to begin on January 11 next year. However, the airline plans to concentrate on reinforcing its current schedule first, having recently suspended flights to Tianjin and temporarily reduced its Chicago service to once a week during part of the winter season. In a wide-ranging interview for the “Airliners.de” portal, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said, “Of course, there is further growth potential for us on long-haul routes in the medium and long term. However, we will first take a close look at the development of our existing routes and then initially focus on increasing the density of those existing routes. But we see it as a natural next step to target one or two more destinations in North America after completing the expansion to China. After that, we will look to the Far East again, either to Korea or Japan”.

Mr Marek noted the carrier’s new service to Guangzhou is performing strongly and is gaining traction with transfer passengers as well. ”Using Belgrade as a hub for transfer passengers brings additional niche business. And that definitely works and accounts for perhaps 15% of the China routes. It is much higher on the New York service. However, the main business remains point-to-point traffic. On all Far East routes, the main demand comes from the Far East, usually 80%. Guangzhou is the largest Chinese hub with excellent connections to Southeast Asia and Australia. We must not forget that there is a strong Balkan diaspora in Australia and New Zealand. Guangzhou is a natural transfer point instead of flying over the Persian Gulf. We are suspending flights to Tianjin in the winter because our group business tends to go to the large Chinese hubs in China”, Air Serbia’s CEO explained.

Air Serbia has previously indicated it is exploring Miami and Toronto as potential new destinations in North America. In the Far East, it is studying future routes to either Tokyo or Seoul. The carrier’s General Manager for Commercial and Strategy, Boško Rupić, recently said the airline is considering introducing flights to Beijing next summer as a replacement for Tianjin, however, he noted it may instead opt to up frequencies on existing Chinese routes, where it maintains two weekly flights Guangzhou in cooperation with China Southern Airlines which also runs a two weekly rotation between the two cities. “We have signed a letter of intent with China Southern Airlines and entered into a codeshare agreement that may develop into a joint venture on these routes. As a result, there are now a total of four weekly flights between Guangzhou and Belgrade, which creates much better connecting opportunities than we were able to offer with our single weekly flight to Tianjin”, Mr Marek said.



Comments

  1. Anonymous09:01

    To me it looks like next summer they will increase frequencies, next winter they launch Miami, in summer 2026 they launch Toronto and Korea/Japan in 2027.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:09

      +1

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:22

      "in the medium and long term" doesn't sound like next winter, 2026 or 2027 to me...

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:48

      Hopefully they achieve it by EXPO, it would be a great milestone of 100 years of flying but also an opportunity to strengthen network and build awareness

      Delete
    4. Anonymous22:33

      ...beating the bush

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:01

    Tianjin was the first long-haul route Air Serbia launched, operated mostly once weekly and cancelled two years later. If Air Serbia gave chance to Tianjin, why not give chance to seasonal Toronto flights? Inexcusable! It is worth remembering Air Serbia owners at the time (Government and Etihad) confirmed plans for Toronto eleven (yes, 11) years ago and still didn't deliver:

    Serbia’s Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić said Etihad Airways CEO James Hogan has confirmed plans for the Serbian carrier to operate flights to Chicago and Toronto in 2016 with Airbus A330 aircraft

    https://www.exyuaviation.com/2013/10/air-serbia-to-go-long-haul-by-2016.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:02

      New York was first long haul route. Not Tianjin

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:13

      Tianjin was first cancelled long haul route

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:17

      One and only. People going crazy about one weekly service that will be substituted through frequencies or new route within months.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:52

      You missed the point. Air Serbia created so much drama about Toronto and it's seasonality, limited two weekly frequency etc. Instead of decade of drama just launch Toronto already and cancel it two years later if it doesn't perform,, just like Tianjin was cancelled. There are enough planes available, announce it now for 2025 summer season. JFK was announced in Nov 2015 for 2016 start.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:06

      First of all Air Serbia didn't create any drama. It's people like you that created drama. Their explanation for not launching Toronto was mentioned by them once when asked. They would be unable to operate YYZ once per week. Operating to YYZ is much more expensive and much of a larger investment than Tianjin. Tianjin was cancelled after they launched another new route in China and another is about to come. Hardly similar situation with Canada.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:22

      Announcing plans for Toronto 11 years ago and delivering excuses is not drama, it is failure. Air Serbia can operate Toronto twice a week, not once. YYZ is shorter route than TSN and burns less fuel, crew doesn't have to stay there for 24 hours, seasonal demand is significantly higher than for Tianjin. Absolutely no reason to delay Toronto to 2026. If it doesn't work by 2028 reassign those 2 frequencies to other long haul routes.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:26

      You are comparing a 11 hour flight to TSN to 8 hour flight to YYZ and you are saying a plane with low load factors to a second rate destination in China was profitable than a direct flight to a major diaspora destination. I am not sure why they never tried a summer seasonal flight one year just to see.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous10:27

      "crew doesn't have to stay there for 24 hours"

      Since you are an expert, how long do you think crew need to stay there before they operate the return flight?

      Of course your comment is nonsense. Yes, crew must stay there for minimum rest 24 hours.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous10:28

      If Toronto was an option it would have started by now, even if they started flying tomorrow, Im sure many on here wouldnt even fly with them dispite saying they should start the service

      Delete
    10. Anonymous10:29

      Are you forgetting why they launched Tianjin in the first place? They didn't have much choice cause of COVID restrictions but still needed presence in China

      Delete
    11. Anonymous10:34

      @10:27. Given you are an "expert: you do realise most airlines have multiple crews so that another crew does the return flight. It is unheard of to rest the same exact crew (and rest the plane at the same time) like they are doing in China. It shows a lack of crew which will put handbrakes on expansion.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous10:39

      Air Serbia is operating CAN and PVG and ORD during winter twice a week. Toronto twice per week is not an issue

      Delete
    13. Anonymous10:45

      Anon 10:28 If Toronto was an option it would have started by now

      Toronto was an option since 2013 as you can see in the link. It was and, as unserved destination from Belgrade with most demand, it will have to remain option.

      Delete
    14. Anonymous13:52

      JU and Serbian gouvermant is well aware of the current economy and social situation in Canada. Very high amount of homeless people on their streets, drugs and guns issues, high inflation and many other issues . Airport is very much number 1 most expensive Airport in the World with extremely outdated facilities (especially at T3).
      At the same time Canada is isextremely poor and only able to afford one embassy in Europe (Vienna) to process visa applications compare to USA for example. At this time processing time in Vienna for Serbian citizens is 218 days compare to USA visa being done directly In Belgrade in 1 to 4 weeks. Serbian gouvermant has tried to upgrade air agreement with CA ministry of transportation and upgrade landing slots from 2 -3, unfortunately none luck there due to high corruption and AirCanada involvement. I left Canada 2 years for good and hope to see JU in MIA as that is a much better choice for us in Serbia.

      Delete
    15. Anonymous13:59

      Wow, Canada must be the new third world. Stop spreading lies.

      Delete
    16. Anonymous15:48

      Anon 13:52 are you okay? If the economy in Canada is doing so bad as you claim, why did YYZ-ZAG get seat capacity increase this year? BEG doesn't come close to abundance of functionality T3 has and had for years and decades. What high inflation, is it significantly lower than in Serbia. Just checked prices for St Regis Toronto this weekend, cheapest room starts at just under $2,000 and goes to over $10,000. What crisis?

      Delete
    17. Anonymous17:04

      2 pw to Canada (YYZ) isn't really the issue. The issue is how quickly Canada would approve of additional frequencies, and we all the answer. China on the other hand is alot easier to work with, easier to get additional frequencies and Chinese carriers are willing to cooperate with JU. The same cannot be said about Canada and Canadian carriers.

      Another plus for TSN is that it isn't as seasonal as is the North American market (as seen with the change in frequencies to JFK and ORD) while having the advantage of being an excellent cargo route, improving the profitability of the route seeing as Tianjin is a major cargo hub. With CAN now available, TSN no longer makes much sense, and with PVG announced even less.

      YYZ will come at some point, but it's not as if YYZ is looking for more connectivity that isnt on AC and new airlines that isn't a partner to AC.

      @09:52
      Firstly, JFK was announced in February 2016 for a June 2016 launch. Secondly, JU has made no drama about YYZ, it's the commentators such as yourself that has. They commented about the route when asked about it, nothing more nothing less.

      @10:34
      Actually there are quite a few examples of airlines doing this. Just yesterday Play announced a 1 pw KEF-AYT route with a Tuesday departure and a Wednesday return flight, with their aircraft staying on ground in AYT for crew rest. It's bot common but there are examples. It's more efficient for airlines to do this for a number of reasons, legalities, acclimatisation of crew, the ability to have them back at base earlier etc.

      Delete
    18. Anonymous17:37

      Compared to infamous case of UAE-Canada, if Air Serbia launched YYZ instead of JFK in 2016, it would be very likely frequencies would have been increased to at least 3 in the first five years and at least 4 weekly by now. Air Serbia waited 5 years for JFK route to be profitable, so why not wait 5 years for increase in YYZ frequencies?

      Air Serbia did not announce JFK in Feb 2016, as a matter of fact it was announced in Nov 2015 (and so can announce YYZ now for July 2025 start):
      https://www.exyuaviation.com/2015/11/air-serbia-tipped-for-big-announcement.html

      TSN has small demand compared to YYZ and very little transfers. Toronto would have significantly higher transfer numbers from the Balkan region connecting at BEG to YYZ. That is one of major advantages.

      Westjet and Porter could be partners on the Canada side, not AC. Porter now has sizeable network out of Toronto and could be the right partner for Air Serbia.

      Announcing goals to launch Toronto in 2013 and not beeing able to officially launch it 11 years later is something Air Serbia should not be proud of.

      Delete
    19. Anonymous17:42

      Give it a rest

      Delete
    20. Tejlor svift ima 6 koncerata u tor i cene hotela su divlje

      Delete
    21. Anonymous18:35

      Fact-based, respectful answers that support YYZ service have been provided. They can be ignored but only service launch will make them go away.

      Delete
    22. Anonymous18:38

      Ako narod ima para za 6 koncerata svaki sa 50,000 paprenih karata i takve hotelske cene onda nije kriza zar ne?

      Delete
    23. Anonymous20:06

      For the guy that is wonders why ZAG YYZ by TS has increased, it is due to aircraft being available as they were not able to operate TLV service. Airtransat is getting ride of 400 employees due to huge loses and poor cabin loads.
      And for those that are saying Candian economy is great why is your immigration ministry stopping import of cheap labor? Why GDP is below average? Why yourr homeless situation one of the worse in the World? Have you check conditions of terminal 3? You need to stop making Canada as a great country, bcs it is dar from it. It looks more like 2nd India.

      Delete
    24. Anonymous23:46

      @17,37

      New York is almost always the entry point to that part of North America not Toronto. It made more sense in every aspect to launch New York first and not Toronto. Trolling doesn't cancel out facts.

      The fact that Canada isn't liberal with air traffic rights is exactly what you are repeating. Just reword "Canada would of increased frequencies" to "Canada might of increased frequencies" would make that statement fact, as is the case. United States on the other hand immediately went with Open Skies with Serbia. Huge difference. Canada concluded the Air Traffic Agreement with Serbia in 2006 and only signed it in May 2018, in force from March 2019, 4 summer seasons since JFK launch to be precise.

      https://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/9.872721/publication.html

      JU launched JFK in 2016 at 5 pw, bilateral signed with Canada limits operations to 2 pw. So what to with the aircraft for the other 5 days of the week taking into consideration the phase and size of JU at the time?

      JU's intention to return to Canada was not in 2011 but in 2001, which Canada blocked. Another attempt was made in 2007 with leased B767 which again was blocked by both Canada and the US.

      The next incorrect "fact" you posted was JFK launch, which precisely was February 18th 2016 at the Belgrade Tourism Fair.

      TSN wasn't there primarily for demand and transfers, but for cargo which JU picked up during the pandemic and why JU launched TSN. JU still had decent year round demand for the route.

      Too many mights, coulds, ifs and no facts.

      Delete
    25. Anonymous01:07

      Fact: Air Serbia announced JFK flights on Nov 8 2015, started ticket sales Feb 18 2016 and launched flights on Jun 23, 2016. Nov 2015 service announcement was documented in provided link earlier in this thread.

      If New York made sense as an entry point into North America, so does Beijing (or at least Shanghai) for China. Yet Air Serbia launched Tianjin given the circumstances. Now that JFK and ORD are operational, YYZ is by far the most obvious choice as the next destination on the continent. No reason to wait until 2026, start YYZ for 2025 summer, then switch to MIA for the winter.

      UAE-Canada had disagreement over traffic rights that was detailed in media and yet they managed to increase frequencies over time. If they managed to overcome that issue, there is no reason to doubt Serbia-Canada frequencies would have been increased over time. That's not a fact but very likely outcome.

      After all, Air Serbia operated TSN most of the time at just 1pw and operates CAN at 2pw, same frequency was announced for PVG. ORD is going at 2pw during winter, will go down to 1pw for a short period. Two weekly is now a fact for most JU long haul routes and has been proven as sustainable for Air Serbia so there is no point in bringing up 2pw as a showstopper for starting Toronto service. It isn't and that's a fact.

      Delete
    26. Anonymous04:50

      And they are happy to start PVG with a cap of 2 weekly flights from the Chinese Government.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:03

    At least Toronto is still on the cards

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous09:05

    1 to 2 North America routes must be YYZ and MIA.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:06

      Definitely.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:27

      What about LAX?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous16:28

      Actually there are several airport around Ohio state with two Serbian Orthodox monastery and biggest Serbian and Slovenian population. Only problem is that Americans do not like to change plane outside US for Greece and Italy for example.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous16:50

      So you suggest pilgramage route to Ohio?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous19:03

      Two of five destinations of JAT were in that region. Since you stopped reading after monastery point was on big population and problems with American travelers in numbers, they travel all around world, but JU need lot of them from Ohio to make real profit.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous00:28

      If you are talking about CLE, DTW and PIT, they ain't happenin'. Also there was a large Slovene population which used the CLE flights and LJU was a stopover on BEG-CLE.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:05

    We heard actually nothing new here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:10

      Most of these Marek interviews are PR fluff pieces and he says a lot without saying much. We are still waiting on his winter surprises unless TSN termination and upcoming summer cuts are that.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:11

      Upcoming summer cuts?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:12

      They have so far announced 3 new routes for next summer and increased flights by around 100 per week next sunnet.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:22

      People's imaginations often run wild here. I remember reading several comments how they are suspending Tianjin so they can operate Seoul or Tokyo flights upon Vucic's request.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:25

      The company must come clear with reasons for termination and there will be no speculation. When a company goes silent, of course people will come up with hundreds of possible reasons...

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:28

      They gave the reason. Marek said it here and Rupic said it a week or two ago. Whether you like it or not or think it's the real reason is another thing.

      Delete
    7. @09:28 so what exactly was the reason of cutting Tianjin? From his answer I couldn't figure it out..You you managed to understand the reason, please let me know

      Delete
    8. Anonymous12:57

      Well maybe read one more time slowly and maybe you understand.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous13:03

      Transferring to flights which have not yet started in the case of PVG? Interesting.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous13:04

      Well yes, you book tickets in advance

      Delete
    11. Ok, I didn't hear this reason about tranfer of pax from TSN to new china routes, it was not mentioned on this web site..

      Delete
    12. Anonymous13:23

      No one mentioned that they were transferred. I don't know who came up with that and the airline never said that. In fact they told passengers who asked to be rebooked on their on their other China flights that they could try to do that but passengers had to pay for their own ticket to/from TSN afterwards.

      They gave their reasoning for the service suspension here
      https://www.exyuaviation.com/2024/11/air-serbia-considering-beijing-service.html

      Delete
    13. Anonymous14:26

      So CAN and PVG cannibalized TSN?

      Delete
    14. Anonymous14:42

      @13:23 No, he didn't say that the passengers were being transferred, nor did anyone make it up. Air Serbia has not, as far as I have seen, made an effort to rebook the passengers onto other flights, or organize transfers anywhere else. He said, and I quote: "The decision to end flights (to Tianjin) came as a result of large number of passengers spilling onto flights bound for Shanghai and Guangzhou." It seems that China-bound passengers were using Tianjin as a stepping-stone for other places in China, transferring further via TSN, or via Beijing. With PVG and CAN giving better options in terms of connectivity, they found TSN to be redundant. That is what I infer from his statement, but who knows what's really up.

      Delete
    15. Anonymous00:31

      Redundant means cannibalised. It meant that the route was no longer viable as no one wanted to fly to TSN in the first place.

      Delete
    16. Anonymous11:37

      Then why did they glorified TSN in first place?

      Delete
    17. Anonymous11:38

      Maybe read the news a little bit. It was the only city available for launch in 2022 in China due to Covid restrictions on foreign airlines

      Delete
    18. Anonymous22:25

      Perhaps they should have changed to PEK or PKX sooner as soon as COVID restrictions ended (which for some reason Hainan was not subject to).

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:13

    Smart plan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:27

      That's a common plan for many airlines, nothing spectacular

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:29

      What's a common plan? How can these plans be the same "for many airlines" when they are individual? Which European airline is planning to grow China ops in upcoming period?

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:15

    So I'm guessing 4 A330s will be enough for next summer

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:17

      Yes

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:37

      More than enough. They probably only needed 2

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:41

      They have said multiple times now that 3 will be in constant use and one as back up

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:42

      "They probably only needed 2"

      How with 15 weekly long haul flights next summer?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:02

      You could do a rotation to China within 24 hours without the 24 crew rest.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:07

      They flew ARA 6pw to JFK. So 2.5 planes are enough for 14 scheduled flights. Keeping 1.5 planes as a backup is expensive. They can launch 2pw Toronto easily for next summer

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:09

      And the half plane they will get from where exactly? Most of their A330s are on power by the hour contacts.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous11:15

      It does not mean it should just sit there in China for 48 hours a week (2 times 24 hours) when you can leverage it to open new routes.

      Delete
    9. @11:09 How do ypu lnow that? Please give us some details if that is true?

      Delete
    10. Anonymous12:56

      Because the CEO said so in an interview a few months ago

      Delete
    11. Renting 4 planes in order to fly with 2,5 during summer, and less then 1,5 during winter is not really smart move, regardless of type of contract..Nobody rents planes to have them sitting on ground..No one can defend this kind of behavior, unless he /she is cheerleader...I'm sure Air Serbia will come up with new route, because densifying the existing ones cannot fill up all their capacities...They are not that stupid, they know that..

      Delete
    12. Anonymous14:08

      They definitely need 3 wide bodies for the current scheduled operation for 2025. Guy that claims something different has no much experience in OPS operation and network scheduling. The 4rd aircraft is perfect to have as a back up in BEG. Many of you are crying how it is expensive to have one of their 330s sitting on the ground, it will be scheduled top operate bunch of short routes so they can take it easly out of operation if needed.

      Delete
    13. Anonymous14:18

      I don’t have am issue of a plane in BEG. I have an issue with planes in CAN or PVG being stuck there to rest crew. They are not in reserve there!

      Delete
    14. Anonymous15:15

      Anon 12:56 CEO never said most of their A330 are on that kind of a lease. Please provide link to the source. If no link, it's another myth.

      Delete
    15. Anonymous15:34

      He did. I am not your secretary. You can search for the link yourself

      Delete
    16. Anonymous16:43

      Nothing comes up except for comments and they don't count as reliable source.

      Delete
    17. Anonymous16:57

      JU dakle ima potrebu za 3 aviona (tj. 2.5 kako neki kažu 😊), ali ih ima 4, međutim uslovi su tako dobri da zapravo plaća samo ta 3, a jedan joj bleji kao back-up?
      Ili se niko nije setio da napravi takav deal ili su u JU magovi pregovaranja, ne pada mi ništa treće na pamet.

      Delete
    18. Exactly..And during winter they need 1,3 planes, and they are going to have 4 starting from this December....Only in summer they would need 2,5 to cover existing routes....Count is just not right, however someone is trying to present it

      Delete
    19. Anonymous17:49

      I would pay pretty penny to see that interview.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:21

    Serbian population in Canada has been falling - this’ll be a shrinking market. Lagos on the other hand, that’s where the potential is.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:29

      Belgrade is literally more busier airport than Lagos, are you on something?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:02

      Come now @09:29 no need to get aggresive. @09:21 said that there is potential in Lagos. And I agree, since African market will be growing in the coming decades.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:10

      They can look into Africa but Lagos definitely makes no sense for them in Africa. If they were ever to launch something in Africa you would see Zanzibar start as a leisure route.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:41

      And why not Entebbe? An agreement has just been signed.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:43

      And agreement was signed with many countries like Australia, Maldives, Thailand, Mexico. Get a grip.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:16

      And do you have statistics about this supposed Serbian population in Canada that is falling?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous12:40

      Air Serbia shouldn't sleep on Lagos. They have once in a lifetime opportunity now with the extra capacity. If they keep delaying it for much longer, it might be too late...

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:30

    15% transfer on China routes is actually more than I thought.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:35

      Especially when an expert claims they are actually charters for construction workers :D

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:07

      Wonder from which markets they see transfers from these flights.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:32

      Actually, I expected more, considering the fact that JU is one of handful European carriers that flies to China.

      Delete
    4. I expected much more..Hopefully it will be better during winter, CAN is major link for entire South East Asia and Australia, where people from Europe ( and Serbia) go on vacation during winter..Where are all those Qatar and Fly Dubai planes flying to during winter? And they are all full from BEG..Air Serbia has to snatch part of those tourists flying to hot winter destinations

      Delete
    5. Anonymous13:08

      You are confusing airlines (QR, EK and CZ) which offers an ability to deliver you to your final destination with JU.

      Delete
    6. Well, Air Serbia announced they would sign code share agreement with CZ...Also it is not a problem of buying 2 seperate tickets if fares are good, and layover not to long..For many Southeastern Asian destinations QR and .EK/FZ are crazy long..TK has much better transfer timing..

      Delete
    7. Anonymous13:45

      I am sure it will be as good as their QR codeshares where JU tries to charge triple the QR price

      Delete
    8. Anonymous13:46

      Actually QR and EK are a lot shorter for South East Asia. You are backtracking via CAN

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:37

    I was flying from BEG yesterday and was at the airport at the same time China Southern's B787 was at the gate. The line for that aircraft when boarding started was halfway down the hall. Flight looked packed. Would say majority Chinese pax but saw quite a few non Asian passengers standing in line. Remember it's mid November and mid week So I'm not surprised this route is working well for JU too.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous09:50

    Smart decision by Air Serbia to pause and focus on optimizing existing routes before adding more destinations. Expanding to North America and exploring options in Japan or Korea sounds exciting, but managing demand on current routes is crucial for sustainability. Looking forward to seeing what’s next

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:30

      Japan is struggling economically. Not sure why they would launch flights there. Hardly any Japanese are flying.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous16:58

      They could launch flights for Japanese that will soon flock Serbia in search for better life.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:51

    Suspending Tianjin flights make sense, but it's a reminder that new routes need time and resources to build steady demand.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous09:56

    While the expansion sounds ambitious, I worry that Air Serbia is biting off more than it can chew. Reducing Chicago flights and dropping Tianjin temporarily show they’re struggling to maintain consistent service on new routes. Maybe it’s better to focus on regional growth first.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:09

      They have already grown a lot in the region

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:10

      They have more than enough ATRs to launch Cluj, increase frequency to Sarajevo and other regional destinations. Nothing stops them.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:28

      Lack of pilots does

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:00

      They didn't mention lack of pilots in recent Tango6 interview

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:04

      Yes because that's something they are really going to advertise publically

      Delete
    6. Anonymous22:29

      @Anonymous11:04

      You are correct.
      The shortage is definitely there , especially it is difficult for them to produce captains. Unfortunately the future 2 years will be very limited due to this issue.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:57

    Instead of constantly looking to add new routes, Air Serbia should address the high ticket prices. For many routes, their fares are not competitive, and they might lose customers to larger airlines with better pricing and services.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:08

      Air Serbia actually has extremely decent prices for most routes when booked on time. It is sometime even cheaper than LCCs on short haul routes.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:11

      Visoke cene karata su posledica popunjenosti kabine. Rezervišite let 2-3 meseca unapred pa će te platiti jeftiniju kartu.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:31

      It is also a function of a lack of competition.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:48

      Does someone stop ITA, Air France, British, SAS, TAP or Iberia to start flying to BEG?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:17

      Low yield.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:23

      I do not think that all of them have low yield and at the same time Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss, KLM, LOT, Aegean, Turkish, Qatar to have good yields.

      Ne drzi vodu.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:28

      What don’t you understand?German, Austrian, Swiss, Turkish and Greek companies have larger presence in Serbia and for longer. Qatar is a connector so yield is to long haul destinations.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous12:45

      Well, they do have longer and larger presence because they dared to arrive and to fly more often. I don't understand why AF, IB and rest of the company do not have cojones to start flying daily to BEG. It seems you also don't understand as I heard no logical explanation here.

      KLM arrived after pandemic and they fly now 14 weekly to BEG, next year they change it to mainline. BA arrived with 3 weekly flights and we all saw how that episode ended.

      Either go big or go home. Air Serbia flies to so many destinations in Spain and Italy (next year with addition of Ibiza and Olbia) but ITA and Iberia play dead. Not bad for Serbian national carrier but not so good for passengers.

      AF and IB can also be connectors to long haul destinations.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous13:11

      I was talking about actual businesses operating in Serbia not the airlines.

      Delete
    10. Air Serbia doesn't have high prices..They have very decent prices considering the fact they are only direct carrier on many routes..Even on those that have competition, they are often cheaper than LCC.. When you account luggage, W6 is often more expensive

      Delete
    11. Anonymous13:50

      Prices would be even lower with more competition from other carriers to France, Spain, Italy etc

      Delete
    12. Anonymous13:53

      ^ you are becoming extremely boring and repetative with this. If airlines from those countries see potential they will launch flights. Obviously they don't

      Delete
    13. Anonymous14:02

      They are not interested because they can make more money flying elsewhere. That’s why they let JU fight with Wizz or take it all. They just don’t care.

      Delete
    14. Anonymous14:07

      Of course they do not care and anon 13:53 obviously has a problem to understand it.

      The fact that other carriers including JU have good yields to Italy and Spain shows they are very wrong.

      Delete
    15. Anonymous14:17

      Prices at JU are very good and they do not need to change much. I am able to travel every month with them due to great prices. I honestly get some great deals with them on promotions and those are available almost like 5x a year. Even with their interline partner flights. Just bought AirSerbia promo fare with Condor from BEG to YYZ return Jan 22 to Feb 05 495 euros return. They offer sine amazing deals.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous10:45

    CAN does not have excellent connections to Australia unless you want to wait 21 hours at Guangzhou airport if you are flying to BEG from Melbourne.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous11:31

    Idemo dalje...

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous11:33

    Would love to see India and Thailand

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:41

      Just pay some "paket aranzman".

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:48

      Fly FlyDubai!

      Delete
    3. @11:41 Nowdays people don't like that much to have a " guide" that would take them where he wants, but they like to organize their own trip upon their own needs..World has changed a lot..Some nations still use travel agencies a lot, like Spanish, Japanese, but majority travels on their own..People from Serbia tand to be on that independant side..World has become much more reachable, so no wander people prefer go where they want, and not where travel agency tells them..

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:01

      Wow you really don't know the Serbian market too well to write something like this. In fact official statistics are completely the opposite of what you say. Majority of people in Serbia book their holidays through a tour operator.

      Delete
    5. Which statistics haha, the ones organized by tour operators..Maybe 15 years ago, but not now..I'm very connected to tour operators.I know what people from tour operators tell me...Serbians use tour operators for summer holidays only because is cheaper to get accommodation through them..For furtheraway destinations that is opposite, that's why there are not so many agencies that organize trips to far away destinations..Even 9 years ago there was about 2500-3000 visas a month issued for Thailand for Serbian citizens only in consulate in Zagreb, and all tour operators together had less then 600 pax on tours in Thailand during month , in that period..

      Delete
    6. Anonymous14:02

      Tresnja you come off as an extremely stubborn person claiming to know absolutely everything when in actual fact I saw some of the false "facts" you posted just a few days ago. You are actually rather wrong here again, particularly with long haul. Anyway, discussions with such stubborn people who are experts at everything is a waste of time.

      Delete
    7. Ok, I gave you facts I have..What are yours to back up your claims? I had 1 false statement few days ago, not many..What do you think, how many people here that comment anonymously, like yourself, have wrong info? One someone , under the nick- anonymous, could be posting 30 comments on each topic..

      Delete
    8. Anonymous16:36

      Just another sexpert.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous18:25

      Treshnja doesn't make positive contributions to this blog.

      Delete
  18. So basicly they rented 4 planes for nothing...What does that mean- one is gonna be used as back up? During winter they need 1,3 planes to perform 8 flights, during summer 2,2 planes..And they will have 4...They need to desify all the routes on maximum, to 6 a week, in order to fill up their capacities..and that not gonna happen..especially not during winter ( apart of CAN possible incease)..If they just remain the same number of routes ( they have 4 at the moment), they are gonna be losing lot of money during winter, and winter schedule is 6 months..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:58

      Treshnja, the armchair CEO.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:00

      One or two will go to a refurbish and service. So in reality it will be 2 or 3 at the same time in operation for a couple of months. We dont even know the arriving date of ARE yet. So dont count of 4.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:01

      It arrives before the end of the year.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:08

      Winter schedule is 5 months

      Delete
    5. Anonymous13:14

      And what happens after the refurbishment?

      Delete
    6. Anonymous13:25

      Back in 1988, despite socialist inefficiency, JAT was able to serve 14 destinations weekly with 3 DC-10. Air Serbia today is wondering how to deploy 4 aircraft to 4 destinations weekly!

      Delete
    7. @13:08 Yes, winter schedule is officially 5 months, but Air Serbia adds more frequencies from may ( and of april) especially on leisure destinations.They might change that, but lets see..

      Delete
  19. Anonymous13:12

    Cleveland will take Air Serbia with open arms lol just like back in the day.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous14:24

    Before great Chinese expansion they had one destination in China and after the expansion they will have two. It took them three years for this development.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:27

      Yes. It is a small airline with limited resources. I don't know what do you expect?Most European airlines went to having 0 routes in China in three years and they are much larger and with much bigger home markets than Air Serbia.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:44

      It's not about my expectations but about talking, talking, talking...

      Delete
  21. Anonymous14:34

    I desperately want a YYZ-BEG route. However, if that isnt possible why dont they make a deal with someone to connect toronto to NY and feed passengers that way. So tired of connecting at horrible places such as Frankfurt.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:29

      Toronto-Belgrade is possible, but... In 2013 Vucic pushed for JFK ahead of YYZ. Then Serbia wanted to negotiate Air Services Agreement with Canada. That was completed in 2018. During and after pandemic Vucic then pushed for China flights. Air Serbia said they would expand in North America once they had more aircraft. Now they have everything yet they are looking for every possible excuse not to start Toronto.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17:02

      Haven't we learned from ORD that diaspora-driven routes do not have bright future?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous17:51

      Isn't diaspora from China driving traffic to Belgrade?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous17:57

      No. It is tourism and business that is driving traffic on China routes.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous18:00

      Diaspora is still the core of Belgrade New York flights.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous18:13

      It may be but it has significantly more diversified passenger structure, not to mention it is the number 1 unserved airport from all countries in the region.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous18:20

      Same could happen after 8 years of flights to Toronto if serious sweat equity is invested to promote business and tourism over time. Toronto is number 1 unserved from BEG and close to top for most countries in te region.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous18:28

      No, you can't compare New York and Toronto.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous23:06

      In 2015 YYZ-BEG and back had more passengers than JFK-BEG and back.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous00:37

      Yes agreed. And JFK is not the airport most people in North America want to connect through. It is a prestige route. Canadians will never want to fly through there, no would people from LAX, ORD or MIA. Most domestic routes to New York go to La Guardia and Newark. No one wants to change airports to get to JFK when they could connect in well run airports like AMS, MUC or ZRH.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous09:44

      You do know that JU has codeshare with B6, so there's no need for anyone from LAX or MIA to change airports in NYC to get to JFK?

      JFK is obvious choice as it not only has diaspora as a target group, but there's also (constantly growing) P2P demand.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous10:01

      And you do realise that JetBlue does not fly everywhere in the US and they don't fly to Canada! And you do realise you need to change terminals in JFK. It is much quicker to fly from LAX to Europe (route flies northwards over Canada and Greenland) which is shorter and faster than transiting in JFK.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous06:59

    Start Bali BRE! Not Korea.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:24

      As if that would be profitable. Bali is only worth it for the Australians and even then the government here subsidises it

      Delete
  23. Anonymous09:22

    There us a large Serbian population in Australia. It be nice if Air Serbia flies to Singapore. That way we can make our way there via a number of carriers and from Singapore-Belgrade. Worth considering.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:05

      There is too much competition on that route and it is too far.

      Delete

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