Air Serbia handled 4.44 million passengers in 2024, representing an increase of 6% on the previous year, and just under the record set by its predecessor JAT Yugoslav Airlines in 1987. The airline operated 47.022 flights, up 4% on 2023, while cargo traffic grew 25.14% to 7.144 tons. Both the number of travellers and uplifted cargo were the highest since the company rebranded in 2013. The carrier also achieved a record amount of revenue, which is the total amount of money brought in by the company's operations, exceeding 700 million euros. Although it is yet to report its financial performance later this quarter, the company is also expected to register its highest profit on record, which is anticipated to exceed 2023’s 40.5 million euros.
Commenting on its operational performance, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said, “When we entered 2024, we were aware of the success achieved in 2023 and we were determined to achieve even better results, focusing on stabilising our operations and upgrading services. The strong business results in 2024 demonstrate that we have accomplished what we had set out to do. Over the past 366 days, we have flown to 33 countries across four continents, carrying over 4.4 million passengers. We have also made significant steps to further develop the aviation industry in the Republic of Serbia, including training the first female captain in the company's history and launching a cadet pilot program in collaboration with the Aviation Academy, allowing us to potentially employ ten promising young pilots immediately after completing their training”. He added, “None of this would have been possible without the work and commitment of our employees, whose professionalism and dedication contribute daily to achieving goals and advancing our business. Aware that passengers are at the heart of everything we do, we thank them for their trust. As the national carrier, we remain committed to connecting Serbia with the world and building bridges between people, cultures, and economies. We will continue expanding our network, modernising the fleet, and improving all aspects of our operations to achieve even better results and strengthen the position of Serbia's national airline on the market”.
During 2024, Air Serbia’s busiest destinations in the wider region were Tivat, Podgorica, Istanbul, Athens, Vienna, and Ljubljana, while the most popular services in Western Europe included Zurich, Paris, Larnaca, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Milan, London, and Rome. During the year, the carrier’s Premium Lounge in Belgrade welcomed 86.000 passengers through its doors, with July being the busiest month with 9.600 customers handled. In addition to Air Serbia passengers, the lounge is also used by Qatar Airways, Flydubai, Turkish Airlines, China Southern Airlines and Luxair. The airline is in the process of building a new larger Premium Lounge at Nikola Tesla Airport, which is expected to open soon.
Well done Air Serbia!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations.
This is great news for Air Serbia
ReplyDelete25% growth in cargo traffic is impressive
ReplyDeleteThey handled alone the yearly cargo of BEG airport some years ago.
DeleteThe impact of more long haul ops.
DeleteThey should have converted those 737 into cargo. BEG had an ideal location for that.
DeleteIt’s great to see Air Serbia growing, but I hope they also focus on modernizing their fleet
ReplyDeleteSome commenters here seem to think that if the airline leases/buys A320neos will go bankrupt.
DeleteIt will definitely increase costs and impact on finances.
DeleteActually it greatly reduces fuel costs, maintenance costs and CASK making the airline more competitive. It also offers more seats compared with the ceo aircraft.
DeleteThat is why the vast majority of airlines get new technology aircraft instead of looking for the cheapest 15+ year old airframes.
Air Serbia still has the youngest fleet in ex-Yu. They replaced their entire ATR fleet with aircraft 20 years younger and plan to replace their A319 fleet. They only have a few aircraft that are over 15 years old. Meanwhile many large western airlines have dinosaurs in the fleet still flying. Meanwhile, Air Canada will be flying B767-300ERs this summer which are 33 years old.
DeleteWhen are they going to replace the A319s and with which planes?
DeleteWhy don't you just read the news here? It has been reported.
Delete@09,33
DeleteYou also need to factor in that lease rates are significantly higher for newer models. Are all those cost savings you mentioned worth the extra in lease rates? A320neo lease rates are similar if not more expensive compared to the A332. Another factor to look at are the various issues that have plagued newer models creating headaches for airlines around the world. For an airline the size of JU it might not be worth the trouble just yet. Cheaper leases has been part of the factor that has allowed them to finally grow into profitability.
Sooner or later they will have to go down the path of ordering new aircraft, I don't think the time is just yet. When they do, I wouldn't be surprised if it's the Embraer E2.
Flew on Iberia a350 and on an old delta 767. Delta product way better. It comes down to product and upkeep of interior. The only thing the a350 had going was that it was slightly less noisy
DeleteAnon 12:41
DeleteSo you want to say everyone is losing money when ordering new gen jets? Sure.
Actually yes! But they can deal with it through higher prices of tickets and especially business and first class. If you have that kind of customers, then you should offer higher class of product. Soon you will see how OU made mistake with new jets. Or you won’t, because government will pay the debts
DeleteThat's not true at all. No one is taking new jets because of "higher class of product". "Higher class of product" has nothing to do with generation of aircraft but with hard and soft onboard product.
Delete@14,11
DeleteI never made that claim. Have a look at the order books of both A320neo and B737 Max and it consists largely from airlines with large orders and with significantly better finances than JU. Not to mention the higher yield pax. Do you honestly think JU will get the same deal compared to FR, Wizz, BA, TK, KLM etc when purchasing brand new aircraft? All with which JU competes. 10 years ago when JU converted the A319 order for 10 A320neos there was alot of controversy considering the 2 A320's were barely being used at the time, today JU has 3 A320's in dry leases and up to 5 more in wet leases and we all wonder when more will arrive. Cheaper aircraft have allowed JU to grow both their operations and finances while bringing in younger aircraft. There will come a time when JU can take on the finance of factory fresh aircraft, it's just not yet.
@anon 12:57
DeleteAt old JU B733's seats and legroom were much more confortable than this Recaro slim s**t. It makes no difference than any other LCC.
Exceeding €700 million in revenue is no small feat for an airline in this region.
ReplyDeleteIt's HUGE. They're closing on a billion revenue.
DeleteNow let's some experts say how you should release your market to foreign LCC.
DeleteNo expert will ever say that it is of no good to have a competitive market. Airlines are not around to serve only their own purposes.
DeleteWith such huge revenue they need to have a better product.
DeleteTheir are making steps to improve product. It shows in the trip report posted on Sunday, check it out.
DeleteThere are other reports that show in what state the rest of their fleet is. They have a long way to go.
DeleteSo they need just 13 destinations to reach their goal of 100 destinations in 2027.
ReplyDeleteThis year they will add 3-4.
DeleteYes, they are.
DeleteAny info as to when they'll be joining the fleet? Are they gonna be available for the start of the summer season and how many will they be.
DeleteMany thanks for any info.
Iirc they're adding 2 routes to Greece this summer, right? Alongside Shanghai that's already 3 routes for this year
DeleteAnother E195 will be joining soon.
DeleteThey will add Miami, Toronto and Seoul in time for centennial. That leaves only 6-7 new routes in 2025 and 2026 to reach 100 destinations, which should be doable.
DeleteYes, I think it is more than doable.
DeleteGood news.
ReplyDeleteBut we need to keep things into perspective, JU while no.1 in the exyu region is still no.34 in Europe by passengers carried.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_airlines_in_Europe
I think that's impressive.
Delete+1
DeleteAgreed. Especially given the relative size of Serbia both in population and economy.
DeleteLooking at the list of airlines in Europe one can see that only Air Serbia and LOT made the transition from
DeleteCommunism to modern market with any success in Eastern Europe (i'm excluding Russia in that observation). Air Baltic is the closest in terms of passenger numbers to JU it seems and they have a multi-hub network. All in all good news for Air Serbia. I fly them alot and while they are never amazing service wise, they are no worse than other airlines one can use.
Your observations are wrong and do not include financial performances. Amount of money pumped in Air Baltic and Air Serbia is too big to declare these airlines successful. It is questionable is money invested in these airlines ever be returned.
DeleteLet's be realistic, even in an optimist scenario JU could move up a few places in that list. Considering how those ranked above are either huge LCCs or national airlines of countries with way stronger economies than Serbia serving tourist hotspots and/or economic powerhouse cities. To get within top 30 we would probably need to see Serbian tourism and economy explode so much to support the network growth that can in turn grow transfer pax. The case is JU is around where it needs to be and it's pax numbers reflect the state of its primary market which is south east Europe at the moment
Delete@10:38 Looks like you are not up to speed. Air Serbia has been paying back the government for a while, this is from 2023, Air Serbia repays state aid:
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2023/08/air-serbia-posts-record-profit-and.html
Has it repaid state aid totally? No.
DeleteIt is in the process while other neighboring airlines have never repaid anything.
DeleteSo in 2024 Air Serbia had 4.44 million passengers, record revenue, record profit, added another wide body aircraft, added another narrow body aircraft, launched another long haul route (Guangzhou), launched another 2 short haul routes (Mostar and Nice) and yet some say it is falling apart, doomed, terrible etc.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteNegative comments are generally politically or nationalistically motivated and should always be taken with a pinch of salt.
Delete+1
DeleteAnyone who doesn't praise JU management constantly is a hater.
DeleteThere is nothing negative about the airline's strategy, route performance, its fleet and certainly there is no lack of staff. Also its onboard offering, catering, FF and corporate programes are excelent and zero improvements are needed.
With record figures like these, they deserve praise.
DeleteImagine if it wasn't flying from an underdeveloped airport:)
DeleteThey do. But it's not bad to remind they had a major issue at BEG with wet leased plane. It's the most important lesson of 2024 in my opinion.
DeleteCongratulations to Air Serbia.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThat Premium Lounge must have been buzzing
ReplyDeleteYes it is becoming very crowded at times.
DeleteThat's why they are building a new one.
DeleteThe best thing about the new lounge is that it will have natural light and views of the tarmac.
DeleteAgree. Finally
DeleteWhen its finally going to be finished?
DeleteThey said by the start of summer season. So by the end of March.
DeleteA new, larger Premium Lounge is exactly what was needed. The current one is great but often crowded. Can’t wait to check out the new space
DeleteAnd it will also be a big upgrade for the Belgrade Airport "Business Club" airport lounge since they will move to the current Air Serbia lounge.
DeleteAs a frequent traveler between Vienna and Belgrade, I can confirm Air Serbia has been more reliable and enjoyable to fly with lately especially with the ATR72-600s. Congrats on the great year!
ReplyDeleteYes their ATR72-600s are excellent. Very enjoyable flight every time.
DeleteGlad to see the airline doing so well and expanding
ReplyDeleteDoes the fleet of 27 planes include wet leased planes?
ReplyDeleteNo
DeleteDry leases:
Delete10 x ATR
1 x ERJ
10 x A319
3 x A320
3 x A330
= 27
Wet leases for summer 2024:
2 x ERJ
5 x A320/B737
There will be 4th A330 soon, so 28 dry leased
DeleteThanks.
DeleteThe 4th A330 will be arriving this month.
DeleteHow much would it be if not for the Marathon debacle?
ReplyDeleteThey probably would have surpassed the JAT record.
DeleteAnd some here who have a lot to say will tell you the CEO is doing a bad job.
ReplyDeleteVery bad job. Extremely bad job. 🤣
DeleteNot a bad job but overall a lot of PR from his side with promises not kept and not delivered. Let's be realistic!
DeleteThere is always room for improvement 😀
DeleteThere is a huge difference between "room for improvement" and "the worst CEO Air Serbia had".
DeleteNaysmith was the worst and then comes Marek. JU still has major flaws and problems that they are not fixing.
DeleteExceeding €700 million in revenue is a strong indicator of growth. Hoping the profit margins are equally impressive when the report comes out.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteWeren't people saying how no one will fly with them in 2024 due to the delays they had in 2023 because of their huge growth?
ReplyDeleteA lot of passengers are not returning after a bad experience so if they didn't have the 2023 fiasco and still ongoing delays they would have even more passengers than they actually did. So sorry to disappoint you but your comment and line of thinking are wrong as in a competitive industry you must raise the bar constantly and fight for every additional sale while not trying to lose existing client base.
DeleteDespite your wishes, they obviously didn't loose passengers.
DeleteOf course they did not and they won't.
Delete@ 11:23 and @ 11:32 of course they did loose passengers ...read Skytrax reviews. Also I am not flying with them unless I absolutely have to as I am tired of their constant delays. When I plan my trip with a connecting ticket I have either to chose a 4-5 hrs transfer time as safety margin when flying JU or fly another airline so it is obvious that they are losing passengers.
DeleteIf you read Skytrax, you will know Air Serbia has been ranked as one of the best airlines in Eastern Europe by Skytrax visitors. Few people write reviews to praise anyone. But thankfully your logic is that them having a record number of passengers means they lost passengers. Must be a VERY difficult day for you.
DeleteNews:
Delete"Both the number of travellers and uplifted cargo were the highest since the company rebranded in 2013."
Anonymous expert commentayor:
"it is obvious that they are losing passengers."
Living in dreamland.
@13.11 your hatred is so strong that you are completely detached from reality.
DeleteMaybe his comment is too strict but we have to wonder why local demand is not more faithful to JU? They control only half of the market. That's not such an impressive result in a small market like Serbia. Obviously they angered many who are avoiding them.
DeleteIn a year, they had more passengers than Ljubljana had since 2019...
ReplyDeleteShock and horror
Good result
ReplyDeleteBravo Air Serbia 🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸
ReplyDeleteThose figures should bring their profits into 100 mil EUR range.
ReplyDeleteNo, revenue is usually much larger than profit. They should profit of around 50 million euros.
DeleteHappy to hear that airserbia is profitable
ReplyDeleteI wish that they part of this profit invest into product on their flights, new planes that are not wet leased, human resources and not in commercial buildings but would be interesting if they would start once when they open hotel offer fly and visit, eg to enable passagers to stay for a night or two while waiting for there flight as Turkish, Emirates have but I suppose I expect too much 😅
That's a nice wishlist. As long as we dream and talk about wishes, I would like to add A350 to that wishlist.
DeleteYou're right those things would be great.
DeletePersonally I'm hoping for the MRO facility instead. So they will never be delayed again to start flying by waiting at foreign companies for work to be done.
Then to upgrade their onbaord product.
But it is fantastic news they made so much revenue and hopefully will mean significant amount of profit to keep people paid and re-invest.
You mean the MRO they planned with TK?
DeleteIdemo dalje...
ReplyDeleteNot bad at all but still a bit away from JAT record. Will they manage to achieve it this year?
ReplyDeleteYes, without doubt they will surpass it this year.
DeleteFantastic performance. By far the best airline in the region.
ReplyDeleteAny idea what the load factor was?
ReplyDeleteIt was 74,6% in 2023. Passenger growth larger than an increase in flights only means a higher CLF.
DeleteSteady as she goes Air Serbia! Continual growth does not need to be the goal. The goal should be providing exceptional service, reliability, and a high quality product. Get this right, and you will always have customers.
ReplyDeleteBig part of this is the Serbian economy performing so well. That is why local demand remained strong and they did not suffer like they did in some markets like Germany where they had big cuts. Almost all airlines did well in BEG.
ReplyDelete