Ibiza will become Air Serbia’s sixth destination in Spain, complementing Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga and Plame de Mallorca. Mykonos will join Athens, Thessaloniki, Corfu, Chania and Heraklion in Greece for a total of seven destinations in the country, while Olbia becomes the ninth destination in Italy. The carrier also maintains operations to Rome, Milan, Venice, Bologna, Naples, Bari, Palermo and Catania. Following the launch of the new destinations next summer, Belgrade Airport’s busiest unserved scheduled leisure destination based on indirect traffic flow will be Antalya, although it is served by Air Serbia on a charter basis, with the airline handling 116.287 passengers on the route last year. It is followed by Florence and Marseille, with both having been previously served by Air Serbia, as well as Bodrum, which also operates through charters.
Air Serbia’ CEO, Jiri Marek, said last week that leisure destinations have played an important role in shaping the carrier’s network in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic. "We took the opportunity of capturing this demand by growing the company in the last two years by over 50% and opening 43 destinations, again predominantly driven by the leisure market. For example, in Spain, before Covid, we used to fly twice a week to Madrid and twice a week to Barcelona, and now we have seven weekly flights to Barcelona and four flights to Madrid per week, and fly to Valencia, Malaga and Palma. Air Serbia has proven to be very agile and flexible in reacting to any market opportunities".
And unfortunately they will start cutting summer increase soon because of crew shortage.
ReplyDeleteThey sure need to hire a lot more flight crews.
DeleteMore pilots*, they hired enough flight attendants in the last two years.
Delete@09:23 but they are keep leaving either for other airlines or changing job field completely.
DeleteRostering is their biggest complain about working for JU.
The new cabin crew management fired so many experienced flight attendants based on personal opinion and not merit this year, and many cabin seniors left because they are not satisfied with the women who is in charge of them from this January.
Delete@12:13
Delete+1000
I may even book a flight to Sardinia for next july, it's a beautiful island. Would like if they started Corsica, too.
ReplyDelete+1 Sardinia is a very interesting places. Great news there are flights there now
DeleteGrandiiii! my home airport is OLB, will buy for sure tickets now. Corsica is lovely too (isule surelle). Go to Olbia, get a 40 mins ferry and get to Corsica, is not expensive if you don't take a car
DeleteTour operators will book 90% of flight just as Catania and Palermo. Catania was much cheaper in august with travel agency then ticket on website + booking
DeleteI feel like they’re spreading themselves too thin. Much better to have more frequencies than these 1-2pw destinations
ReplyDeleteLeisure desinations are usually 2-3 pw. Exceptions are tourists mecca like BCN.
DeleteStill no news about restarting CAI?
ReplyDeleteSo much about "listening what president says".
DeleteBS.
So the president is talking BS?
DeleteYes, like the majority of politicians across the world. But it didn't stop freedom fighters here claiming the airline is taking orders from him.
DeleteBS is that people are saying how JU listens president.
DeleteBut, I think you understood it on the beginning.
Great destinations, bravo JU
ReplyDeleteHub and Spoke model is not reliable any more with all those crew, maintanance and plane issues helped with BEG''s poor support which is negative. On positive side, leisure market prooven strong and healthy and JU act promptly towards that oportunity.
ReplyDelete...and then you woke up and realized Air Serbia hub and spoke is doing great and growing. Now more than 40% of Air Serbia passengers are transfers.
DeleteIt's doing great with all those cancelations, crapy planes, TSN discontinued and ORD going 1pw. Dont get me wrong, it is stil alive but now the focus is on leisure when the money is. Which is goid for the revenue.
Delete*good.
DeleteYou must have been a frequent passenger on their 1 weekly TSN service to be so pressed about it.
DeleteAnon 14:32 Facts may hurt you, but Air Serbia is firmly on track to another record year. Fuelled by Air Serbia (certainly not by Wizz!), Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport will also have busiest year ever. When I checked couple of months ago, Air Serbia had younger fleet age than other flag carriers in the Ex Yu region. Are you a frequent JU flyer to both TSN and ORD to be affected so much? No? More likely you are the one that made a pledge to never fly Air Serbia again. And as such your opinion is rarely factual and not really relevant.
Delete@anon 18:39
DeleteFYI just flew 2 times with JU last month and I've chosen JU over W6. And I will choose JU again over any other carrier on a specfic route even if the price is equal. Very much proud to fly a plane running by Serbian crew and Serbian FA's speaking Serbian hi in the sky. And my dear friend my first flight ever was JU on Caravlle back in 1973, than DC9, B727, B707 and so on for the last half a century. So if my opinion is not relevan than OK. I can live with that. Anyway, I wish all the best to JU and it's business model, fund it good and pro active and I support it. JU is at the moment dominant regional carrier and BEG is regional hub. No doubt. But fir a real Hub And Spoke model they have a lot of work to do together with Vinci and the Ground Agent. Long haul service in reallity relies on JFK alone with 3pw during winter.. let's wait and see CAN performace in couple of months. ORD and TSN are symbolic and PVG starts in a couple of months.
So yes, record year is here, but a lot should be done to become a serious player. Mind you, FF program, various uneffective code shears, crew shortages, scrapy Pupin and partly Tesla's interrior and so on. But I like them and support every time by flying with JU.
* sorry for typing mistakes, texting from a phone. And the @ refers to an anon 18:29, not 18:39. ofc.
DeleteGood, we are in agreement on most things now. Don't expect them to become big and serious player. Their goal is to be regional player as far as I understand. Probably smaller version of Austrian or LOT. There is a lot of work ahead.
DeleteWhy not Cagliari??
ReplyDeleteWhy not why not …. Now you can fly directly to Sardinia, and rent a car to the south….people are never happy with them what get, only unhappy what’s they don’t get
Delete@anonym 0954h
Delete😂 +1
Isn’t the most popular tourist region in the south of Sardinia?
DeleteOlbia has the best beaches.
Delete10:37 got it right. Olbia region is much more expensive but the best sea is there. that's why fools like tim cook and leo di caprio go there instead of Pula (yes, there is a Pula also in Sardinia) not to say the south does not deserve a visit
DeleteSo, I'm completely weird to find South much much more attractive, calm and generally nice, spending every late summer there.
Deleteit's not weird. I am saying for me, as Sardinian, the best sea places are there. But people can also see the nuraghi, our ancestors that manage to build towers 3000 years ago. South is calmer as there is not 1.5 million italians going there from july to first week of September. If you go now to Olbia is full of austrians, germans and Poles with campers as it is easier for them to get access to Olbia port.
DeleteTenerife definitely isn't on their radar, so only W6 might consider it.
ReplyDeleteTenerife would be too long rotation.
DeleteJust like KZN.
DeleteYou are right. I think Tenerife would be much smarter move than Kazan.
DeleteAnonymous12:16
DeleteYes because Canarian diaspora has about 100k people living in Serbia unlike Russian diaspora...
@12:43
DeleteSerbs actually want to go to Tenerife. Not so much to Kazan.
Russians can try Air Russia or something.
Tired with all these stupid seasonal leisure destinations.
ReplyDeleteThey need to launch business and cargo-heavy year-round medium to high frequency routes such as:
- Cairo
- Tel Aviv
- Baku
- Yerevan
- Baghdad
- Erbil
- Tbilisi
- Delhi
... and many others.
This is not strategy but a lack of strategy.
Also, they've got 10 ATR but haven't launched ONE single new ATR destination, such as in Romania and other.
+1
DeleteWe do not care about Baku o, Yevram or whatever is on your list. More choices for our summer summer vacations is more then welcome.. Mykonos and Ibiza are great money makers and extremely popular tourist spots. Great choices JU.
DeleteThey make money on leisure routes. So I think they know better than you what to add. They certainly don't add destinations for your entertainment, as you are tired.
DeleteJU is becoming Aviolet...
DeleteAviolet was part of JU, nothing new.
DeleteAnd yes, they should follow this path because on these routes they earn much more money than on connecting flights from Cairo, Yerevan etc...
+1 @ 09:41
DeleteWhat exactly strategy are you talking about? Outlining a list of cities in unstable countries and those Serbia barely does any business with is a strategy? Man's out here bringing out Erbil and expecting us to take him seriously
DeleteWhat a list, and well developed business case to boot: business and cargo heavy year-round high frequency route like Erbil. Wow!
DeleteIn the old days, proposing such a list would be countered with a list of medications that person should be on. And frequent reminders not to skip taking them! Alas, those good old days are gone and we now try using empathy and guidance to help those poor souls. Here's my advice: give up and try meditation instead.
13:44 You are a "poor soul". Your empathy is record high.
DeleteEverybody has a right to write the routes the company should fly without being insulted...
these days. I thank JU for introducing JMK however I am familiar to it and my old and new opinion is that it would last for a season; if any.
Looks like you don't even understand what empathy means :D
DeletePost those lists wherever you want, but you won't get same response here as on some amaterur analyst sites. Here you get response commensurate with your "expertise".
I haven't taken my medication for a few a days, but smoke like a chimney, here's my wet dream list of destinations JU need to fly to. Almaty, Tbilisi, Tehran, Shiraz, Ekaterinberg, Samara. Ulaanbaatar, Riyadh, Baku, Ganja. Thank you
DeleteI did not wrote an expertise. I post opinion on subject, hence Mykonos is beyond the pocket for 2x week, that was the argument. Also, I do not think that introducing new leisure routes is stupid. In addition, I occasionally find false argue comments on this website for whatever reason and I dislike it.
DeleteAnon 20:42 Keep on (wet) dreaming...
DeleteAny country from where you can easily get to Russia will be instantly sought after by Russians. Such destinations could be Tbilisi, Baku, Astana and Yerevan.
DeleteNice to have. However JU should focus on year-round operations with potential for more than 2pw. 2pw should be LCC thing...
ReplyDeleteHa ha ha
DeleteBravo Air Serbia 🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸
ReplyDeleteTouristic island destinations are very important for any southern European airline. Seems like a good decision
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I didn’t notice that they had charters to Sardinia or Ibiza so far. Mykonos maybe, I am not so sure. Anyway, Hurghada, Marsa Martuh, SarmElSheikh, Lefkada, Cephalonia, Zakyntos, Skiathos, Dalaman, Monastir, Bodrum, Antalya are still not planned as a regular season routes
DeleteSo?
DeleteSo it's a shame you can not buy ticket to a lot of destinations where JU anyway flies
DeleteThey used to have charters to Alghero before Covid.
DeleteEgypt, Turkish and Tunisian destinations cannot be regular because of the bilateral agreement. Only charters are an option.
For Greece it is otherwise, strong charter routes are becoming regular ones because JU.
Idemo dalje...
ReplyDeleteSo soon have they announced the summer 2025 routes? In Spain that's something more like Seville or Alicante
ReplyDeleteThey usually do it end of January.
DeleteWeren't people complaining here how they don't announce routes in advance and that it is bad. Now it is an issue when they announce them early?
DeleteYou can never make people happy.
DeleteIt is great that they announced these routes and others who don't like the fact JU opens new destinations will find some complaint, but only they could feel better. It has nothing to do with reality.
DeleteI don't think it's bad that they announce it soon (it's their money), I'm just surprised that it's at the beginning of November, when Air Serbia's policy is to do it later
Better sooner than later.
DeleteCongratulations Air Serbia!
ReplyDeleteThis winter we have OMO, CAN and NCE and next summer AHO, IBZ and JMK. Well done!
* OLB not AHO.
DeleteYou are right, but this morning it was mentioned here AHO. Thanks.
DeleteLoving Ibiza!
ReplyDeleteNext year:
ReplyDelete1. MAD 7x
2. BCN 12x
3. PMI 5x
4. VLC 3x
5. AGP 4x
6. IBZ 2x
7 Why not ALC?
DeleteToo close to VLC.
DeleteProbably more wet leases coming for the summer!
ReplyDeleteBetter to have more flights with wet leases planes than to have less flights with less planes.
DeleteFinally Mykonos !!!
ReplyDeleteSantorini next year !!
DeleteToo bad they are not launching winter getaway destinations like Tenerife. I can drive to Montenegro or Greece if I want sea and sun in the summer. But during the winter, it's difficult.
ReplyDeleteMiroslav NY12:14
DeleteI see your point and I can partially agree. However, depending where in Serbia, but lets say you are in Belgrade and you want to to Budva its an 8h drive, to go to the nearest beach in Greece you need about 6 to 7 hours on a day without issues at the borders. Soooooo using a car to reach a beach even in the summer is hell.
@Miroslav NY12:14
DeleteCAI would be useful to visit during the winter the Red Sea Riviera.
You can drive to Zagreb and fly to Tenerife from there.
Deleteand risk leaving a car with Belgrade license plates in Zagreb?
DeleteYou can also drive to Budapest and fly to Tenerife. No issues with licence plates
DeleteDon’t get surprised if you see Italians inside, because those flights are hot, Palermo, Sardegna and very expensive from Northern Italy.
ReplyDeleteYes, JU is know for having lower costs than for example FR in BGY. Please.
Deleteknown*
DeleteThey are asking even 600 euros in peak Season, Ferragosto.
DeleteRyanair is not that cheap, during a summer. Also, they know how to screw passengers to board onto plane, by placing 15 flights to be delayed all by 89 minutes.
Then if you are not in front of the gate, more likely you are watching screen/monitor, waiting on speaker, you will find person in front of the gate to tell you, that he already closed the list, even if aircraft will depart one hour later.
In this case, they can put aboard extra passengers, that Ryanair has sold tickets for more money, without telling others to been screwed over.
They have lot of fraud schemes, every day you find people in front of their window office at BGY, yelling and complaining with Security to protect Ryanair employees.
Maybe for that reason, Ryanair has closed all their office windows in Italy and some other company will represent them.
Not good for Company image, seeing every day fighting.
Pay less for having bad service.
Only kids in Italy are flying with Ryanair, let’s say around 20 years old.
Wizzair is also well known for bad service.
Easyjet and Vueling are more likely to be flown by serious people, low cost but with descent service.
No Service, No Party, simple as that.
Nonsense
DeleteBeautiful! :)
ReplyDeleteManchester, Dublin?
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately - visas....
DeleteThe next routes in Greece should probably be Santorini and Kefalonia! JU can make them work.
ReplyDeleteKefalonia (sometimes via Preveza) and Santorini are served as charters.
DeleteSkiathos?
DeleteSkiathos, Kalamata, Santorini, Kefalonia, Volos, Mytilene, Samos, Kos … and many more. Greece has many more destinations and potential that could work with JU!
DeleteIdemo dalje...
ReplyDeleteI can just see the marketing slogan now, “Air Serbia, now connecting you with all of Europe’s party and nightclub destinations.”
ReplyDeleteAnd what is wrong with "connecting with party destinations"? When Lufthansa flies to such destinations it is okay, but for Air Serbia it is not, I guess...
DeleteHow can you compare? Lufthansa maintains daily flights to all major destinations with a fleet of about 200 narrowbodies and maintains multiple daily frequencies to all major business destinations. JU has 13 narrowbody jets not including the wet-leased aircraft from GetJet and Fly2Sky. Attempting to fly to any and all tourist destinations with limited frequency at the expense of increased frequency to major business destinations and the complete absence of flying to major cities and/or capitals such as Munich, Warsaw, Dublin, Helsinki etc means that JU is becoming more of a point to point leisure airline catering for the domestic market and less of a hub and spoke connector. That's the problem. The economy does not grow from leisure flying of 20 year old university students but from business connectivity.
DeleteHave you maybe thought there is no demand for Dublin even with some transfer feed and that the expense of operating such a long rotation would not make financial sense? Obviously not. Your notion that they are becoming a point to point carrier is complete bullocks illustrated by the rising share of transfer passengers they carry. Love the know it all armchair experts who talk out of their ass without any data, any market research or any market analysis. Btw a flight to Ibiza on which tour operators will buy out 80% of seats in advance whether they fill them or not will actually make them money. But I'm sure you know better.
DeleteNot much of a difference in flight times between Belgrade and Ibiza and Belgrade-Dublin.
DeleteIbiza is 2.30 hours, Dublin is over three hours. Ibiza is visited not only by tourists from Serbia but from many other places in the region. You may have noticed that the Spanish market has seen the biggest increase in tourists from Serbia this year among Serbian tour operators. Ireland requires visas for Serbians, Albanians, Bosnians, Macedonians, Spain does not. There are barely any economic relations between Serbia and Ireland, making business travel almost non existent. Tour operators will book out most seats on flight between Belgrade and Ibiza, making it a safe choice for the airline which will get paid regardless if the tour operator can fill the seats. You are right Dublin is the right choice. They should choose routes where they need to burn money or struggle to make money instead of routes where they can definitely make money. Genius. And I can assure you Ibiza will have more transfer traffic than Dublin ever could.
DeleteAnon 1:07 The economy does not grow from leisure flying of 20 year old university students but from business connectivity.
DeleteActually it does. That's how Ryanair grew their own airline business into largest one in Europe.
I was talking about the country (not the airline). Sure you will get more low yield pax but you will never compete on cost against Wizz, EasyJet and Ryanair, nor should you.
DeleteTake a closer look at routes where W6/JU overlap and you will see JU competing well against Lcc
DeleteWell, Dublin is repeatedly listed in top 3 unserved destinations from BEG, despite Ireland requiring visas for Serbians.
ReplyDeleteIt is listed in the top 3 because almost everything else is served from Belgrade
DeleteMykonos at last!!! So happy that they will put it on their network!
ReplyDeleteGiven our geographical position, it's perfectly reasonable to go for these destinations used by high yield pax.
For sure there will be quite nice cabin load from both P2P and connecting travelers.
Even think that they could consider Paros as well - it's growing really fast as a destination, will for sure get near to where Mykonos was couple of decades ago - and so few airlines are flying over there directly.
Normal Students can hardly affored Ibiza.. But for me its great since I can go directly now
ReplyDelete