The Serbian and Macedonian capitals have emerged as one of LOT Polish Airlines’ busiest routes for transfer traffic to and from Toronto. Data accumulated by provider OAG for 2024 indicates that 60% of LOT’s passengers between Warsaw and Canada’s largest city are transfers. Belgrade to/from Toronto is the second busiest citypair for the airline among transfers, behind only Delhi. Skopje has positioned itself as the eleventh busiest among LOT’s Toronto transfer traffic. Notably a number of cities within the wider region, including Bucharest, Budapest, Istanbul and Tirana rank within the top fifteen for LOT’s connecting passengers on its Canada service.
The development comes as Air Serbia continues to evaluate the potential launch of nonstop flights between Belgrade and Toronto, which could also provide feed to several regional destinations where LOT also sees strong transfer traffic. The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA), which manages Toronto’s Pearson Airport, has said it is still working on establishing flights to Belgrade. “Serbia continues to be a target for Toronto Pearson to expand our global reach, and we are working closely with new and existing partners on how we can better serve both Serbia and Canada”, the GTAA noted.
Commenting on potential Toronto flights, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, previously said, “Our main strategy is to target cities that have year-round potential. We do not want to increase seasonality, which is already high in our region. The Canadian city is not only extremely seasonal, but also extremely unidirectional. At the beginning of the season the flights are full in one direction, and at the end of the season in the other direction”. However, the airline has since said that Toronto remains high on its “priority list”.
Toronto remains Belgrade Airport’s busiest unserved long-haul route and Skopje’s fourth busiest. LOT Polish Airlines will maintain fifteen weekly flights to Canada’s largest city during peak season. On the other hand, it plans to serve Belgrade twelve times per week this summer, up from ten to eleven weekly last year, while Skopje will be operated seven to eight times per week, mostly in line with last year’s operations.
No surprised. LOT has very good fares for transfer passengers too.
ReplyDelete* not surprised
DeleteAnd Toronto has huge ex-yu and Balkan diaspora.
DeleteAlso LOT is surprisingly comfortable, using the fairly new B787 as opposed to the older and more cramped B777 or A330s
Delete15x weekly is great!
DeleteThe 787 is infinitely nicer than an A330. The A350 is even better.
DeleteHas anyone flown with LOT long haul? I've heard mixed reviews.
DeleteThey're about as good as any European legacy carrier. Better than Lufthansa, worse than Air France or SWISS
DeleteThe airlines are all the same. What makes the difference is what aircraft you are on.
Delete^ Sure thing buddy.
DeleteHow many Dreamliners does LOT have?
Delete15
Delete8 787-8s and 7 787-9s.
DeleteThanks. That's a large wide body fleet
DeleteThey also have a B777 wet leased from Euro Atlantic Airways.
DeleteI flew with them many times and they are very outdated, old and extremely uncomfortable seats with no legroom . Service on their flight is terrible and super poor entertainment system. Someone on here is saying how they are fairly new? If they are, then something is terrible wrong there. The other route I take during the summer is on LH 350 via Munich, where they are using airbus which is 5x more comfortable then those dreamliners. People on here that are making such a statement probably have never flown on 787.
Delete^ SMFH
DeleteMost people here have no idea what they are talking about. I get laughed at when I say that the aircraft type is more important than anything else. These people have never been on an A350 because if they were then they would know what a difference it makes. It's truly the best aircraft out there.
DeleteMost people on here don't even read the article, just the headline. Balkanmania then kicks in and all sorts of nonsense is spouted.
DeleteI wonder if JU will eventually launch Toronto
ReplyDeleteThe real question is sustainability. Can this route maintain high passenger volumes year-round?
DeleteMaybe they could if they improved their marketing and sales channels in other markets.
DeleteWhy not serve YYZ as a summer seasonal route?
Delete@ 09.4 It will happen sooner or later
DeleteI think a lot better than ORD does.
Delete^ But you have no idea how ORD does. You have no data on financial performance on the route, no data on passenger numbers and no data on revenue per passenger.
DeleteWhat about landing and handling fees in Toronto? I read somewhere that it is a rather expensive airport to fly into.
DeleteThey are high to deter foreign airlines because of Canadian government's protectionist attitude towards Air Canada.
Delete@09:09
DeleteIt clearly states in the article that JU doesn't want more seasonality.
@10:16
The 2 pw limit set by Canada just makes the situation wors,e on top of the high fees.
Yes, bilateral remains big issue for potential Canada flights.
DeleteHow come LOT or TK are able to fly with much higher frequencies to Canadian airports?
DeleteMarek or someone at JU said that when looking at Toronto or Miami that both end up with the same or similar profit potential for JU.
DeleteSo loads or seasonality is really irrelevant. What does it matter that there are more passengers in one direction than the other if at the end of the year the same profit is made flying to Toronto as it would to Miami.
Marek can say he doesn't want seasonality all he wants but the main goal of JU is to make money so his justification is worrying when it's not logical and not relevant.
@11,46
DeleteCanada has Open Skies policy with the EU hence why LOT has the frequencies they do. TK was once again rejected the additional frequencies they requested for this summer. TK might have it easier as they are a Star Alliance partner of AC.
Who would have thought that so many people between Toronto and Delhi via Warsaw.
ReplyDeleteThere is a huge Indian diaspora in Canada now, and they fly a lot because they arrived only recently.
DeleteI know but wouldn't have expected they transfer via Warsaw of all places considering Gulf carriers and other options.
DeleteThe issue is that Gulf carriers can't operate with a lot of frequencies because Canada has vey protectionist policies.
DeleteMost population in Canada are Indians and Pakistani people. LOT has signed a deal with the Canadian gouvermant regarding those flights in 2021 when they allow massive import of Indian "students" under curruptive deal inside Canadian gouvermant. They needed an airline and transfer airport where it can be dine smoothly. LOT got air agreement to fly up to 3 flights a day YYZ WAW and much cheaper landing fees until.2028. However, the 787 engine issue created an issue for LOT to offer 3 daily flights to YYZ and that is now planned for 2026. At the same time Canada is dealing with many issues and they are stopping curruptive agreement for Indian student Visas which means less Pax transfer from India .
DeleteHaving more direct options from Canada to Eastern Europe is long overdue. The diaspora communities would greatly benefit.
ReplyDeleteThe diaspora is only useful if they are willing to pay premium $$$ for nonstop service.
DeleteWhich they are mostly not.
DeleteExactly
DeleteA lot of the Serbian diaspora in Canada has moved to the US and many have also returned to Serbia actually.
DeleteYes many have gone to Florida
DeleteThat is actually very true, so many Serbians are moving back from Ontario.
DeleteSeeing Skopje make the list for transfer traffic is impressive.
ReplyDeleteSo when will we see Skopje-Toronto :D
ReplyDeleteJust a dream to go for transatlantic. Better to focus in Europe and middle east flights.
DeleteYes, direct flights from Skopje to Toronto would be a dream come true for many of us here.
DeleteIt is about time someone seriously considers Skopje Toronto direct...even as scheduled charter in the becoming. Toronto is second largest Macedonian city after Skopje.
Delete^ didn't the minister say they are negotiating long haul flights?
DeleteAir Transat should operate these flights seasonally.
ReplyDeleteIf Air Serbia were to eventually launch these flights, a codeshare with Air Canada would be very beneficial and would guarantee more passengers.
ReplyDeleteAre there flights from Toronto to any country in the region other than Croatia? And I don't mean ex-Yu region I mean wider region. Thanks
ReplyDeleteJust Athens as far as I'm aware.
DeleteVenice, Vienna, Budapest
DeleteWhich airlines flies between Budapest and Canada?
DeleteThere are no flights between Budapest and Canada. Actually, there are no flights between Budapest and North America at all.
DeleteAir Canada and Air Transat fly to ATH seasonally. AC I think flies 8-9 months a year from both YYZ and YUL. They have a codeshare with Aegean so you can get there through ATH if A3 has flights to your airport.
DeleteInteresting data
ReplyDeleteLove these. Hope we get for more airlines.
DeleteAs a regular traveler on LOT, I’ve appreciated their efficient transfer process in Warsaw. Arline itself is ok. Nothing spectacular but prices are good.
ReplyDeleteWhich means JU is very late for this route. They need to start it ASAP with good prices and be ready to sustain losses for next 2-3 years, until become profitable. Also, JU need more feeding shoit haul flights now. This status quo lasts too long. While you are stagnating, others going forward, which means you are actually going back
Delete^ +1
DeleteBetter connectivity to the Balkans and the Middle East would help a lot.
BEY and CAI for sure!
Zagreb literally had a Star Alliance airline fly non-stop from Toronto, but useless Croatia Airlines could not offer onward connections and has missed a great opportunity to gain some traffic.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteAir Canada? True
DeleteI wonder which ex-yu cities are in British Airways' Cleveland transfer traffic.
ReplyDeleteLjubljana, as there is a Slovenian diaspora there.
Delete1) BA doesn’t fly to CLE haha
Delete2) if it did, and had flights to BEG, it would be BEG, major Serbian diaspora (larger and more visible than Slovenian), many also recently came, strongly connected to back home..
And yet BA discontinued BEG and boosted LJU.
DeleteIt didn't boost LJU. It suspended winter flights to LJU. In any case it is certainly unrelated to Cleveland as they don't fly there.
DeleteMaybe because no competition at LJU?
DeleteToronto has huge ex-yu and Albanian and Bulgarian diaspora. I hope Air Serbia sees the potential in these flights.
ReplyDeleteThey are obviously looking into it. But all of these are low yielding passengers.
DeleteThe money is in summer season when both Canadians and diaspora come to the Mediterranean for holidays.
Delete2 pw doesn't make flights all too attractive for transfer traffic which is likely forcing JU to look at other options.
DeleteThe government needs to amend that restrictive bilateral.
DeleteCongrats LOT
ReplyDeleteCanada discriminates against Serbs and Macedonians with its visa policies.
ReplyDeleteThe Canadian visa processing in Vienna for Serbian citizens complicates everything.
DeleteUS visa is granted easily. But for Canadian visa they take your passport and send it to Vienna and they even ask for documents like proof you served military service and stupid things like that.
DeleteHow long on average does it take to get a Canadian visa in Serbia?
DeleteWeeks!
Delete@Anon 10:14 Before COVID, in 2018 it took 5 work days for approval (Temporary Resident - visitor).
DeleteThanks. I'm supposed to go to Vancouver in June for a work conference and I'm trying to figure out when I should apply. I've never been to Canada. But I have a valid US visitor visa if it counts for something. Getting a bit worried how long the whole process may take since it does not just depend on me, I have to wait for visa letter from conference organiser etc. Anyone know the cost or has any more info it would be appreciatrd
DeleteI hope some serious discussions with JU have started. It will benefit the Serbian diaspora.
ReplyDeleteGood fares and relatively good service. Winning combination for LOT.
ReplyDeleteIntroducing direct to YYZ would be amazing and very lucrative as JU would catch transit pax from whole region.
ReplyDeleteAt 2 pw not alot of transfer traffic could be gained especially when compared to competition, notably the LH group.
DeleteI think Air Transat missed a goldmine in this region.
ReplyDeleteDid that Canadian airline Sky Service fly to Skopje 10 years ago?
ReplyDeleteNo, it was just ZAG and BEG.
Deletewondering if a triangle route YYZ-BEG-SKP-YYZ in the summer makes sense or adding a tag on on their ZAG flights to both.
ReplyDeleteI wish they considered it.
DeleteWhat is the transfer experience like in WAW? Is it a big airport? Is it complicated to get around?
ReplyDeleteNot at all
DeleteBy all means amongst the most “transfer-friendly” airports in Europe (alongside MUC/CPH/etc.). The only issue is that you rarely get a stand (i.e., jetbridge), but thankfully the bus ride to the terminal doesn’t last 2 hours like in FRA…
Delete“LOT loyal” here, frequently found on the afternoon service from BEG. I’ve always wondered how they can sustain 2 (ish) daily flights to/from BEG, even in the “quiet months” (I don’t think there’s any subsidy set-up, but no doubt the BEG expert will correct me if I’m wrong).
ReplyDeleteWhat are the loads like on your BEG flights with them?
DeleteThe 574 is mostly operated by 175 and 170 aircraft, mostly full(ish) in my experience. You rarely see families with kids (or “backpackers”), even in summer, yet another reason why I’ve always wondered what sort of traffic this service attracts (~12 flights per week, for a “minor” carrier like LOT, is no “peanuts”…)
DeleteToday’s 574 had roughly 70 pax in economy, 3 in business; just over 80 pax this past Saturday.
DeleteMerely for the records, today’s earlier flight to WAW (LO572) was nearly full (4 pax at the front, only a couple of free seats at the back).
DeleteFirst I wonder how many canadian tourists come ti Poland
ReplyDeleteThen I imagine how it could have been possible and likely to have "Croatia Airlines " instead "LOT" in the headline of todays topic
Then I realize once again how corrupt, incompetent, pathetic, miserable and useless LH feeder Croatia Airlines is