Several North African markets are exploring the establishment of flights to Belgrade in the near future. While some have been in discussions with relevant aviation stakeholders for years, Belgrade Airport's newly introduced incentive policy, specifically targeting operations to the North African region, is anticipated to provide the necessary momentum to bring these services to fruition. Morocco, Algeria, and Libya have all expressed their interest in launching flights to the Serbian capital.
The head of the Moroccan Tourism Office, Adel El Fakir, recently said, "The Moroccan National Tourism Office is collaborating with Serbian tour operators to develop packages that promote Moroccan destinations and boost sales. Efforts are also underway to enhance air connectivity between the two countries, including the introduction of charter flights to Morocco. Our primary focus is on establishing nonstop flights between Serbia and Morocco to attract more tourists. Negotiations with several airlines are currently in progress”. The two countries have never been linked with a scheduled air service.
The Algerian Ambassador to Serbia, Fatah Mahraz, has initiated efforts to establish nonstop flights between the two countries, engaging with various key stakeholders. In earlier discussions with the Serbian Civil Aviation Directorate, the regulator stated, “During talks requested by Ambassador Mahraz, we addressed the Algerian proposal and the requirements necessary for resuming scheduled flights between Serbia and Algeria, in the shared interest of both nations”. Flights between the two countries were last operated up until the break-up of the former Yugoslavia. Both Air Algerie and JAT Yugoslav Airlines maintained operations between Belgrade and Algiers
The Libyan Ambassador to Serbia, Mohamed Ghalboun, has voiced optimism about the potential establishment of flights between Tripoli and Belgrade in the near future. "Launching flights between our two countries would strengthen tourism cooperation between Libya and Serbia. Libya offers a favourable climate and a diverse range of tourist attractions, which could enhance mutual growth in the tourism sector. Additionally, Serbian companies could play a role in investing in these projects", Mr Ghalboun said. Scheduled flights between Belgrade and Tripoli were last operated by Jat Airways in 2009 via Malta.
Cairo and Tunis account for the highest volume of indirect passenger traffic from Belgrade to the African continent. Scheduled year round flights between Tunis and the Serbian capital were operated by Tunisair until the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, after which the service was discontinued, while Serbia has since introduced entry visas for Tunisian nationals. On the other hand, Air Serbia briefly restored flights to Cairo in 2023, however, they only ran for a single season. Officials have said services between the two cities would be reintroduced soon but this is yet to materialise. Serbia and Egypt recently signed a Free Trade Agreement which is expected to significantly boost business between the two countries and could result in the resumption of flights between the two capitals. Belgrade remains linked to the Egyptian resort city of Hurghada on a scheduled year-round basis. Following Cairo and Tunis, other North African cities generating notable indirect traffic from Belgrade include Monastir (served through charters), Algiers and Casablanca.
CAI should first be restored.
ReplyDelete+1000
DeleteIf Air Serbia does not want to resume this route, is there potential in attracting Egypt Air?
DeleteThey fly to BUD. Maybe it could work with their B737-800 or upcoming A220s.
DeleteThey could offer good connections to the rest of Africa via CAI.
Delete09:49 Their upcoming A220s already came and left
DeleteYep, they sold all their A220s last year because of the engine problems.
DeleteEgyptair is also a mess in terms of management and bureaucracy. They've shed so many destinations and reduced their fleet substantially over the past 15 years
DeleteMorocco would be great - only after granting VOA...
DeleteHow many flights per week does Egypt Air have to Budapest?
DeleteJust 2 per week
DeleteWhat other flights does BUD have to North Africa?
DeleteCairo, Giza (new airport near Cairo), Hurghada and Marrakech.
DeleteAnd they also have charters to other resort cities in Egypt.
DeleteHow come VINCI is suddenly targeting North Africa? Is there really so much demand?
ReplyDeleteThey tried KWI and it failed, I think the same will happen with these flights.
DeleteJazeera Airways tried without any marketing whatsoever. No one knew the flights even existed.
DeleteNorth Africa is a growing market with huge potential, and direct connectivity will benefit both regions.
DeleteBEG should have helped in promoting Jazeera. It's the least they could do.
DeleteI'm afraid that going forward VINCI will be preoccupied with developing and strengthening BUD and BEG will be an afterthought.
DeleteJazeera just announced KWI-BUD so I am afraid you are right. What's funny is that they put limitations on INI when they got BEG but then they went ahead and took control of BUD. Serbian government should have protested.
DeleteYou don't think it has something to do with there being more demand in Budapest?
DeleteBUD is very popular in the Middle East/Gulf. That is why you have Emirates, Qatar, Flydubai, as well as Wizz flights to the Gulf. On the other hand most have never even heard of Belgrade.
DeleteAirlines have tried and failed to make Belgrade to Africa routes work before. Without consistent demand, these flights will disappear just as quickly as they started.
DeleteName recognition hasn't prevented PRN or SJJ being popular with Arab travelers so I don't think Belgrade with some promotion wouldn't be at least as popular.
Delete@9.54
DeletePast failures can also provide valuable lessons.
^ Bingo. Past failures don’t guarantee future ones. If airlines and stakeholders apply the lessons learned, there’s potential for more stable routes.
Delete@9:32 Jazeera also largely caters to the Russian diaspora with its connecting flights to Russia. BEG already has direct scheduled flights to the 2 largest Russian cities (previously also Sochi and Kazan). Budapest has nothing, meanwhile
DeleteI seriously doubt Russians from Hungary travel to Russia via KWI instead of IST.
DeleteYou would be surprised. I travelled 2 weeks ago on QR's flight QR232 from Belgrade to Doha and there were quite a few Russians onboard, mostly families with small children or couples. TK, apart from being expensive in also full on flights to Russia.
DeleteJust to continue from my above comment, I wonder if QR actually sells tickets between Belgrade and Russia or if these passengers bought separate tickets.
Delete@anon 13.02/43
DeleteIt is possible that these passengers weren't going to Russia but somewhere on holiday. With so many Russians now living in Serbia and Belgrade in particular, QR is a very popular choice for travel to South East Asia, especially Thailand, Vietnam and Maldives. It is possible these people live in Serbia and were just going on a holiday.
True, I didn't think of that. It's possible.
DeleteResuming flights to Cairo and adding new routes like Casablanca would be good.
ReplyDeleteI feel like those are the only two that coulf work.
Delete+1
DeleteCharter flights Marrakesh-Belgrade could possibly work with support from tourist agencies in Serbia but many agencies are not always willing to take the risk.
DeleteMorocco - only after getting a VOA or no visa at all!
DeleteSome of these would be a great addition to Air Serbia’s network. With the right strategy, some of these routes could work.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely but the airline currently needs to have wet leases year round to execute its existing flight program, imagine if it wanted to expand to north Africa where some countries like Morocco are an over 3 hour flight.
DeleteExactly JU's main issue is lack of aircraft and crew.
DeleteMaybe the guys from Morocco and Algeria should first think about removing visa regime for Serbian citizens. It is insane that they still keep it- at least they could do the same like Egypt to organise visa on arrival.
ReplyDeleteLybia is not realistic due to situation in that country.
You know the situation in Libya is changing. Turkish Airlines has launched flights to Libya (they now fly Tripoli and Benghazi), ITA has launched Tripoli too.
DeleteVery, very slowly.
DeleteThe most of European airlines do not fly there (LH, OS, LX, KL, AF, IB, LO, BA, A3) and TK and ITA fly there due to Lybian citizens in these countries and not due to tourism.
Visa for Morocco is extremely easy to get.
DeleteLibya is still dealing with internal instability. I doubt any airline would prioritize launching flights from/to Belgrade until the situation there improves significantly. This is just the ambassador being overly optimistic.
DeleteExactly. I wanted to travel to Morocco. Saw pile of document needed for visa - no thanks. Even if it is easy to get, I have no wish to spend several working days collecting documents, going to Embassy etc.
DeleteLiterally everybody needs visas for Algeria. And you need all kinds of documents to enter. Even funnier, if you would like to travel to the south/Sahara, for there you need another visa.
Delete^ Don't you mean Morocco?
Deleteanon 10.58 I meant Algeria,
DeleteAnd since you mentioned Morocco, Moroccan citizens, cannot even enter Algeria, or if at all are subjected to scrutiny. I know this as I have to travel there for work sometime in April and my boss happens to be morrocan and I will be travelling there because she can't. And since I will be travelling there for work, I thought I'd travel as a tourist to the Sahara and this is how I know you need a separate visa for the south of the country. If you do it via an agency, you can get a visa on arrival, but I have yet to see what is needed for this. Was surprised to find out Algeria is such a closed country.
Aw and also, recently France and Algeria have started some feud so this seems to complicate consular things for them as well.
Back to the topic of flights: with such consular drama plus the general instability in Libya, flights to this region make very little sense at this point imo. The already existing ones are, I think catering for the Algerian diaspora in Europe.
interesting, thanks.
DeleteOut of these three Morocco makes the most sense.
ReplyDeleteCairo should also be restored.
DeleteMorocco without visa or VOA. The list of papers needed to get a visa is long one - thanks but no!
DeleteSerbia’s introduction of visas for Tunisian nationals is a major hurdle. So I doubt we will see Tunis back.
ReplyDeleteWhy did they introduce visa for Tunisians?
DeleteBecause EU threatened Serbia it would introduce visas for Serbians if they didn't introduce visas to a range of countries.
DeleteJU seems utterly uninterested in North Africa.
ReplyDeleteThey also seem unable to make North African and Middle East destinations actually work.
DeleteNorth Africa has so much to offer Serbian tourists if the right connections are established.
ReplyDeleteIt could also be a good market for transfers through BEG.
DeleteAir Arabia Maroc would be great for Morocco flights. If it were Air Serbia it would be expensive.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThese talks have been going on for years with no real outcome. I’ll believe it when I see the flights actually take off. Until then, this just feels like empty promises.
ReplyDeleteThere’s simply not enough business or tourism traffic between Serbia and North Africa to justify these routes. That's why the talks have been ongoing.
DeleteTrue, talks have dragged on for years, but with Belgrade Airport's new incentive policy and increasing tourism interest, this time might actually be different. Let’s stay hopeful and see how things progress
DeleteBelgrade Airport’s incentive policy might attract airlines initially, but if the routes aren’t profitable, they’ll be cut just like before. Incentives alone won’t guarantee success.
ReplyDeleteThere’s no real evidence these routes will succeed, especially given the weak demand in the past.
DeleteDemand may seem limited now, but growing trade agreements and tourism initiatives could gradually increase the need for these connections.
DeleteInstead of North Africa, VINCI should have offered these incentives for Middle East routes. Much more opportunities there, not to talk about visa free regime with many countries. That way they maybe would have attracted Etihad back or Air Arabia to launch those Sharjah flights like they planned years ago.
ReplyDelete+100
DeleteIt might seem like a publicity stunt, but the recent agreements and incentives suggest there’s genuine effort behind this push. Time will tell if it’s more than just talk.
DeleteI also agree that Middle East makes much more sense.
DeleteIf visa policies aren’t relaxed, it’s just going to be a waste of effort.
ReplyDeleteVisa restrictions are definitely a hurdle, but if these flights resume and demand grows, there might be more pressure to ease those policies in the future.
DeleteI disagree. Visa restrictions can be a deal breaker for many, especially tourists. Without addressing visa policies upfront, it's unlikely demand will grow significantly enough to justify the routes. Easier visa access needs to be a priority alongside the launch of these flights to ensure their success
DeleteEspecially as these visas are totally needless. Nobody will move to live from Serbia to Morocco or Algeria.
DeleteIncentives are just one part of the strategy. If the routes are marketed well and partnerships with local tour operators are developed, these flights could have a better shot at success.
ReplyDeleteAirlines also need to target the right audiences, from tourists to business travelers, to make these routes sustainable.
DeleteWhat is the visa policy like with Algeria? Is it difficult to get a visa?
ReplyDeleteIt is not difficult to get. You fill out a form and the requirement is that you have health insurance. But you have to submit documents at Algerian embassy in Belgrade.
DeleteAnd how long does it take to issue visa?
Delete48 hours.
DeleteThanks
DeleteAir Algerie is a terrible airline. Stay away!
ReplyDeletelol they are quite nasty
DeleteI think main focus should be on Cairo and perhaps Casablanca. Everything else makes no sense.
ReplyDeleteSmaller markets might not seem viable initially, but they could grow with the right partnerships and marketing efforts.
DeleteInterestingly Algerians can enter Serbia if they have a valid EU or US visa.
ReplyDeleteThe same applies for many countries that require a visa to enter Serbia.
DeleteNone will materialize.
ReplyDeleteMost likely
DeleteBelgrade needs more flights to North Africa, that's for sure
ReplyDeleteTo Africa in general
DeleteUseless VINCI
ReplyDeleteWhy exactly?
DeleteBecause North Africa is a bit bizarre to focus on when there is much more potential in other areas.
DeleteI wonder what is the main transfer airline people are using from BEG to reach these markets.
ReplyDeleteProbably LH.
DeleteOr Austrian.
DeleteBravo!
ReplyDelete