Air Serbia and Turkish Airlines are set to expand their partnership following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in Air Transport between Serbia and Turkey this week. The agreement paves the way for more flights, the addition of new destinations, and increased capacity between the two countries. “The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding reinforces the long-standing partnership between the two countries in the field of air transport, focusing on improving routes, increasing flight frequencies, and strengthening collaboration between airlines”, the Serbian Civil Aviation Directorate said.
Air Serbia noted it will initially expand its existing codeshare agreement with Turkish Airlines. The two carriers have a wide-ranging codeshare deal in place. “Air Serbia and Turkish Airlines have started discussions on the expansion of the existing codeshare cooperation. Our shared commitment to providing better connectivity and constantly improving the quality of service remains our priority”, the Serbian carrier said. Air Serbia has significantly increased its operations to Turkey over the past two years and now maintains flights from Belgrade to Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, as well as from Niš and Kraljevo to Turkey’s largest city. Turkish Airlines has also boosted its frequencies to the Serbian capital from Istanbul, serving the city three times per day, while its low cost subsidiary AJet launched operations from Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen, Ankara and Izmir to Belgrade.
Air Serbia and Turkish Airlines began exploring the possibility of establishing a Joint Venture in 2023. This is an agreement between airlines to share revenues on a route. It also involves coordinating route planning and scheduling. These are typically large undertakings, that involve significant negotiations. They also often require government approval due to the potential removal of competition and can take several years to negotiate. Recently, Turkish Airlines’ Chairman, Ahmet Bolat, said the carrier was considering establishing a subsidiary of its maintenance arm Turkish Technic in Serbia, which would include a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in Belgrade that would primarily cater for Air Serbia’s fleet.
I wonder if this means scheduled flights to Antalya are on the table?
ReplyDeleteI truly doubt it.
DeleteAYT is cash cow for JU.
If TK wants something they will get it. JU is powerless there.
DeleteYes, we have seen it in last 10+ years.
DeleteTK never had more flights AYT-BEG.
Oh, wait...
I'm pretty sure TK won't give up on Antalya. We will see.
DeleteTK never had more flights to Turkey than they have now. They crushed everything
DeleteAir Serbia has also never had more flights to Turkey.
DeleteYes, retreating
DeleteJU in Turkey in August 2019 - 0 flights
JU in Turkey in August 2025 - 24 weekly flights
What about compared to 2022 and 2023?
DeleteIn 2022 JU had just 14 flights - 10x weekly from BEG to IST, 2 weekly from INI to IST and 2 weekly from KVO to IST.
Delete^ and that's also in August
DeleteYes and then they cut. They planned IST triple daily in the end they less than double daily. I am surprised you are insisting on them improving when TK beat them. Especially in ADB & ESB which are year round.
DeleteDo not forget connecting flights through IST as with 3x day flights they can collect a lot of transit passengers to everywhere they fly (and that is a lot).
DeleteSo you have just been proven that connectivity between Serbia and Turkey has significantly increase, as have JU's presence in Turkey whereas you claimed the complete opposite.
DeleteSunexpress from year to year request slots for BEG AYT but is always rejected. So I doubt that JU will allow TK also to fly from AYT to BEG
DeletePity they won't let them but they could try another destination.
DeleteIt isn't about the destination it is about the strict Serbia-Turkey bilateral. Basically both Air Serbia and Turkish Airlines have to agree to let another operate a route. And neither of them have any interest to do that.
DeleteYet in the past they agreed to do it. That is when JU launched ESB, ADB and planned additional flights to IST. At the same time TK got their third daily and also launched ADB, ESB and SAW. All destinations Turkish and Anadolou operate today on a year-round basis.
DeleteJU has since then tried to make ESB and ADB a year-round destination but failed. They have also failed to keep an expanded schedule to IST. It's a shame because those morning/evening flights were great for O&D passengers.
JU should be sneaky and actually look at secondary Turkish airports with large gasto demand. Penetrate deep into Turkish territory, give TK a taste of their own medicine. JU needs to understand that TK is not their friend or business partner. They are a global predator and JU/BEG are just a blip on their radar.
So ASL in the future will have an even smaller share of the Serbia-Turkey market.
ReplyDeleteComparing to the time when JU did not fly to IST at all (couple of years before pandemic) this is great improvement.
DeleteYes, the last time something like this happened TK got the third daily from IST plus new flights from SAW, ESB & ADB.
DeleteJU on the other hand reduced IST and failed in ADB & ESB.
^ way before pandemic. Then it didn't fly to Turkey at all for years.
DeleteMy goodness, the negativity.
Delete"failed in ADB & ESB."
I don't see they have failed. They fly there seasonally with more flights than they started out originally.
JU flies to ADB & ESB something like 9-10 months in a year and they have never flown to these cities before.
DeleteTruly failure.
Why is ASL so useless in the Turkey market?
DeleteIt isn't. It's just in your head because you have to be angry about something.
DeletePls don't feed the troll.
DeleteThe Turks after the first "partnership" agreement ate our lunch.
DeleteAfter this one they will probably eat our dinner too.
^ when someone is detached from reality.
DeleteAre you aware JU cut these flights like two weeks ago and IST is not even double daily . You are delusional
DeleteThey didn't " cut them" . It's a seasonal service as it was last year. In you quest to spit, belittle and moan about everything, it is you that is delusional. I guess you were happiest when they had no flights in Turkey like in 2018 and 2019.
DeleteThey were not seasonal at first, they cut them recently in winter
DeleteAs someone who used to live in ESB until recently, I'd like to add that JU definitely didn't fail. Quite a few people use it for transfers, and BEG is a popular tourism destination. Demand is just very low in general, given the enormous rate of inflation.
DeleteHow come they didn't fail when they cut flights in winter? TK beat them
DeleteThey didn't fail. They are operating the same number of flights this winter as they did last. And they only began these flights in the summer of 2023. Flights you didn't have before. But keep digging that whole deeper.
Delete"Anonymous10:34
DeleteThey were not seasonal at first, they cut them recently in winter"
Another fabrication. The flights were launched in summer 2023. They operated seasonally in winter 2023/24 as they are this winter. Although it is not completely seasonal as they operate in during peak winter travel period.
From what I know ESB was planned as a year-round destination and flights were initially on sale for the whole winter season. Ankara got the first cut somewhere in November, seems like this route suffered from the start.
DeleteAnkara is not a small city and it is not a poor city. It's a market JU needs to fight for. That's why they need to get their act together and fix their Embraer fleet.
I wonder which new routes we could see
ReplyDeleteTo be honest other than Antalya I don't see what else could work.
DeleteBodrum is a possibility. Air Serbia flies charters. There was an article here last year that in 2023 they handled 30,000 passengers on these charter flights.
DeleteI’d love to see more direct flights to Turkey’s tourist hotspots like Bodrum or Dalaman
DeleteGood to see JU-TK cooperation continuing to progress, despite what some seasoned experts wrote in the comments here.
ReplyDeleteIt's just codeshare not JV or MRO that Marek announced
DeleteSeasoned expert detected. Maybe read the text where is says these things take some time and that governments also have to be involved. And before being so miserable maybe you want to read that it is Turkish Airlines that also said they are exploring JV.
DeleteAnd what exactly happened since the first deal was signed? Did they move past the code-share? We read about the JV, MRO, JU being part of their mileage program etc.
DeleteNone of that materialized and after all that time TK is still evaluating various proposals among which is the JV. In other words nothing concrete was done to actually move from the starting position.
I still believe in what I wrote in the beginning. Air Serbia does not need TK for anything more than code-shares via IST. JU needs to find a way to consolidate their position on the Turkish market without relying too much on them. After all, with such massive O&D demand it should not be too hard. Small carriers such as JU need to be careful with mega players such as TK.
How many weekly flights in total between Turkey and Serbia in the peak summer season? Does anyone have this information maybe?
ReplyDelete58 weekly
Deleteand just to note that's without charters.
DeleteWhat is this number in peak season?
DeleteIf you mean chatters I'm not sure. Last year on some days there were 8 daily flights to Antalya
DeleteWith this partnership expanding, I hope we see scheduled flights to destinations like Antalya or Cappadocia.
ReplyDeleteTK hangar in BEG would be very welcome considering that shambles that is Jat Tehnika.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteHope we see ore flights from INI!
ReplyDeletePossible Ajet starts INI
DeleteThat would be fantastic.
DeleteFlights from smaller cities like Niš and Kraljevo to Istanbul are a blessing. I hope they add even more destinations. It’s nice to see regional airports getting some love
DeleteI know in the past there was talk of looking at the Turkish Frequent flyer program and using that. I think if Air Serbia could negotiate good terms it could be a winner.
ReplyDeleteFor TK it will be a winner for sure.
DeleteI’m hoping this partnership means more affordable flights
ReplyDeleteCould these additional new flights start this summer?
ReplyDeleteIt's possible yes
DeleteTK going 4 daily soon on IST-BEG :D
ReplyDeleteI think the current number of flights to/from IST and SAW is more than enough.
DeletePoor Pegasus Airlines
ReplyDeleteWhy not just liberalize the sky between Serbia and Turkey.
ReplyDeleteBecause TK does not want to and it suits JU perfectly.
DeleteBecause TK would eat JU alive, like most of other european companies.
DeleteIt is actually Turkey that does not want to liberalize the sky. Turkey has quite strict bilateral air agreements with most countries in the world. Turkey has also rejected making an air agreement with the EU. So each individual EU state has to have a separate agreement with Turkey.
DeleteInteresting
DeleteIf the partnership grows further, I wonder if we’ll see TK send A330 or 787 to Belgrade.
ReplyDeleteI would love that but with 5 daily flights between IST and BEG (TK+JU) is there really need for widebody capacity?
DeleteI don't think so, especially since TK mostly sends A321s which have a lot of seats anyway.
Delete@10.16 highly doubt it.
DeleteI hope the potential MRO facility happens.
ReplyDeleteIt would reduce JU's maintenance costs and downtime significantly.
Delete+1
DeleteSo Nemjee, how this sounds?
ReplyDeleteLOL. Why Nemjee?
DeleteSounds fine, their codeshare was never an issue, it's the rest that is a problem. I already wrote about the rest in the past, no need to do it again. JU isn't doing that well in Turkey and that's an undeniable fact.
DeleteJU improved in Turkey heavily.
DeleteThe problem is that people expect JU to be as successful as TK is. Taking in consideration huge transfer options in IST it is far from being realistic.
Issue here is that JU first made bombastic statements and then they loaded an unrealistic schedule into the system. In the end next to nothing became of those statements and their network to Turkey was massively downsized.
DeleteThere is a person on here who desperately tries to show JU is thriving in Turkey when in reality they are not. As mentioned above, JU planned ESB and ADB and year-round destinations. What went wrong? Why can Anadoloujet make them work while JU can't? Why did JU first think these can work in winter?
I hope JU changes something and that they actually put up a fight. Turkey is a massive market which should not be ignored. Will they change something and actually improve their performance there? Only time and their upcoming summer timetable will tell us.
I really try to understand the state of mind people complaining that Ankara and Izmir are not year-round operations although "they were planned to be".
DeleteIs it really so difficult to understand that introducing certain destination and flying it 9-10 months in a year is more than not flying at all? Yes, they reduced it for 2-3 months, but they still fly there for the rest of the year. Since when three weak winter months are more important than the rest of whole year? Of course, they aren't, but some people still have their own reasons (only known to them) why keep trying to "sell the fog" here.
Ankara and Izmir are routes with wast majority of Turkish citizen, which prefer Turkish companies rather that ASL. So it's logical when demand is less, JU stops flying there
DeleteAnyone have data how many Turkish tourists visited Serbia last year?
ReplyDeleteNot for full year yet but January-November is 217,177
DeleteAnd that's an increase of 14.4%.
DeleteAnd surely another 100k unregistered
DeleteHow do you mean unregistered.
DeleteTourists that are not registered via eturista portal. Accomodating in unregistered accomodations, without paying taxes
DeleteIt's a pity the bilateral between Serbia and Turkey is so strict. It would be great to see Pegasus expand past the 4 weekly to BEG they are allowed or start flights to Nis.
ReplyDeleteOr SunExpress start flights to Serbia.
DeleteIt's a shame Pegasus can't grow in BEG especially with TK launching SAW-BEG. They should be granted at least daily flights.
DeleteI wonder how the Kraljevo-Istanbul flights are performing. I was at IST Airport recently and it was surreal to see "Kraljevo" on the departure board. On my arrival in Istanbul from Belgrade we arrived at the same time as Nis and parked next to each other. Pity that our plane was an all white wet lease. The baggage belt across ours was for Nis. Crazy :D
ReplyDeleteOh and might I say that Nis flight seemed rather full. We disembarked at the same time (gate next each other) and a lot of passengers came from the INI plane, although very few seemed to have checked in luggage.
DeleteI know people who went from BEG to Nis to catch the flights to IST because it was much less expensive.
DeleteSame, not so uncommon.
DeleteSince the war in Ukraine, TK's fares between IST and BEG have skyrocketed. They used to be very affordable but now they are extremely expensive. I think lots of Russians are using this route.
ReplyDeleteI think they generally became very expensive across their network.
DeleteThis partnership has been mentioned how many times now, and always ends up with nothing happening!
ReplyDeleteHow exactly nothing happened? First of all frequencies were significantly increased and new routes introduced. Then they introduced a wideranging codeshare. People in search of juat being negative and spitting on everything can't even look at the facts.
DeleteHe means nothing meaningful happened. JU had very ambitious plans for Turkey and in the end they were left with one year round destination.
DeleteAnd others that are not year round are
DeleteAnkara
Izmir
Antalya
Bodrum
Dalaman
and actually nothing else remained to be covered.
I would never called it "nothing".
If JU had a good marketing strategy they could make so many destinations work based on transfers alone. Not everyone wants to transfer at the massive IST or the hectic SAW. BEG can be a decent alternative to both. However in order to succeed in secondary Turkish markets they need a strong commercial strategy.
DeleteJU has a new head of marketing as of last week. Let's see f she changes anything.
DeleteVery good then.
DeleteSaying that making so many destinations working in Turkey next to huge TK is, at least, not serious.
DeleteGood news
ReplyDelete