Airlines and airports across the former Yugoslavia have been taking part at the Routes Europe development forum in Seville, which will conclude today. Over 300 airlines, airports and tourist organisations are in attendance to negotiate the launch of new routes or the expansion of existing services. Air Serbia, Air Montenegro, ETF Airways, as well as the airports in Belgrade, Dubrovnik, Ljubljana, Mostar, Niš, Ohrid, Podgorica, Pristina, Pula, Sarajevo, Split, Skopje, Tivat, Zadar, and Zagreb are among the aviation stakeholders from the former Yugoslavia taking part.
Belgrade Airport secured some thirty airline meetings during the conference, with an emphasis on expanding services in North Africa. As previously reported, markets such as Algeria and Morocco have shown interest in operations to the Serbian capital, while the airport’s recent incentive policy, specifically targeting operations to the North Africa region, is now providing the necessary momentum to bring these services to fruition. Other airports that have expressed interest in linking to Belgrade include Bordeaux, Granada and Helsinki.
Ljubljana Airport was also present at the event. Despite recently securing a string of new carriers, including airBaltic, Luxair, KLM and Iberia, with Eurowings to enter the market this week, the airport is looking to further expand its airline and network portfolio. Ljubljana has been targeting new services to the likes of Barcelona, Berlin, Prague, Stockholm and Vienna. On the other hand, Hermes, the operator of Larnaca and Paphos airports in Cyprus, has been seeking service to the Slovenian capital.
Sarajevo Airport used the event in Seville to meet with Spain’s flag carrier Iberia to discuss the potential introduction of scheduled flights between Madrid and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital. The airport is also seeking services to the likes of Berlin, Amsterdam, Eindhoven and Prague.
Air Serbia met with existing and potential partners including Berlin, Stuttgart, Tbilisi and the Andalusia region, which the carrier already serves through Malaga. However, other airports in the Spanish region have also shown interest in a nonstop service to Belgrade. The Serbian carrier is also taking part in a panel discussion today dedicated to route planning and the decision-making factors and metrics that network planners prioritise when evaluating new routes.
Pristina Airport used the event to promote its new incentive policy to airline partners in a bid to secure new routes, including from low cost carriers. These include stimulus measures for new routes, additional frequencies on existing services, long-haul flights, airlines basing aircraft at the airport or those operating low-complexity services, carrying only passengers and personal baggage with no cargo or mail.
Podgorica Airport is also looking to secure scheduled services to Spain, as well as bolster Ryanair operations over the winter after it downsized services during the previous season. Skopje Airport has been seeking flights to Prague, as well as several major European hubs, while Izmir is hoping to secure a new service to Zagreb.
Can’t believe that OU with its new planes did not bother to attend.
ReplyDeleteHQ in Frankfurt will say what they can launch.
DeleteToo early
DeleteBecause they are retiring old planes, they are not growing guys.
DeleteThey are too sexy for this conference.
DeleteEnvy kills. The planes indeed are shiny, brand new, and no, HQ is not in Germany.
Delete^ you are justifying them not attending the biggest route development meeting in Europe?
DeleteNe mere. Daleko. Olad'će se Jasminu kahva.
DeleteThey will say they are considering or studying the potential introduction of a route and then go Silent, old recipe
Delete@10.06
DeleteEnvy? For 14 % market share? For being humiliated feeder and german fat ass kisser? For missed chances and opportunities? For corruptive process resulting in decision on single type fleet with the worst, the most expensive and for croatian market totally inadequate aircraft? For ignorance? Inertness? Incompetence? State of mind stuck in 1950's? Envy for what exactly of the above? Pozdrav iz Rijeke.
Pozdrav iz Rijeke, to be fair, these are not qualities that only OU possesses. They're shared by all regional players, some a little more, while others a little less.
DeleteBravo Fraport!
ReplyDeleteIt's sad that routes like Vienna, Barcelona and Stockholm are not served.
DeleteJust fly via FRA!
DeletePublic: But it doesn’t make any sense to fly from LJU to VIE via FRA!
DeleteFraport: of course it makes sense, there is no demand from Ljubljana and we should rely on our reliable german partner added Fraport.
FDS* is pretty similar to LDS*
Delete*Fraport Derangement Syndrome
*Lufthansa Derangement Syndrome
Oh hey it's the LDS guy again
DeleteVIE is served via KLU, Barcelona and Stockholm via TRS. LJU is a goner. :)
DeleteIt's just the delusional Fraport fanboy again.
DeleteLet's hope BEG secured something new and exciting. So far this year there are no new carriers and there wouldn't be any new destinations with JU and W6.
ReplyDeleteA good sign is that they had many meetings.
Delete@ Anon 9.01 if you exclude all the new routes that start each year then you can say every year that there are no new destinations lol.
DeleteHe excluded those by JU and W6 so it's ok. Only Transavia should launch flights and they delayed them. Let's see if they even happen in the end. No bueno overall.
DeleteOf course it's ok to exclude routes by two airlines. Next time make it 3 or 4 to exclude. Very no bueno that there are already 7 new routes scheduled from BEG this year. Of course it's no bueno. lol. It should be 50 new routes each year of course. Demand in Serbia is limitless. Some people...
DeleteStill it is too early for JU to launch MUC.
DeleteThe route probably isn't mature yet.
Or maybe they don't see the value in dedicating capacitty to a route served 2 daily by LH to satisfy your desires?
DeleteAnon 09.28
DeleteHome carriers were excluded which makes sense. Are you saying Vinci is doing a good job by not making sure more foreign carriers come to BEG? So farr they lost more carriers than they added new ones. I understand you have an obsession with defending Vinci but growth at BEG is not thanks to them.
Why feed LH?? JU have its own network to feed. Better use that capacity at new Caucuses routes or Northern Africa
DeleteI have an obsession for being realistic. You deciding who to include or not only makes sense in your distached reality.
Delete@anon 9.51 the other anon decided that JU must fly to MUC. I'm sure he did all the analysis, knows the cost structure and passenger structure. So he decided that JU must fly to MUC and writes the same comment every other day.
DeleteJU has surrendered all the Serbia-MUC traffic to LH.
DeleteSo my reality is distracted because I am stating facts? Vinci has done next to nothing to promote air traffic development. Even China Southern came because of a political deal between Serbia and China. So tell me, what major development did Vinci secure besides the loss of Air France, airBaltic, Jazeera, Luxair etc.
DeleteI do not see why farsa around MUC, when there is better place for AirSerbia to fly in and have more connecting passangers. Let's face Germans will not use AirSerbia over LH to come to Belgrade or connect to go to Podgorica or wherever when they have LH. Another fact is that it is true that there are no new companies in BEG, I am happy to see AirSerbia developing a network and improving itself but also I would love to see other companies starting to flight to BEG.
Delete@11.22 yet all those airlines (and more) came during VINCI. Yet during VINCI, Wizz Air expanded its base
DeleteNone of it happened during the expert leadership of Sasa Vlasaivljevic. VINCI can't do much that Serbia is one of the poorest countries in Europe whose tourism board is staffed by political appointees who have not lifted a finger to promote the country or that the capital city currently looks the way it looks. VINCI can't create demand.
@09:54
DeleteThere is also W6 to FMM , serving part of Minken traffic.
Norwegian could operate HEL-BEG, They filed slots a few years ago but never launched the flights,
ReplyDeleteI think it could work with JU if they used the Embraer on the route.
DeleteYup, new JU E195 should be already at BEG, according the announcements
DeleteNo, it was said mid April
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2025/03/air-serbia-to-expand-fleet.html
Although I must ask does it make such a difference to you if the plane is here a month earlier or month later. How does it impact your life?
And mid April is when? On 25.04.? My life is negatively impacted only by stupid comments. They make me sad
DeleteMid april is 15.4. Not 10.4.
DeleteMid April is from 10-20.04.
DeleteIt seems that JU always faces delays in getting E-jets on its fleet.
DeleteI guess so. They should have employed you to handle it for them.
DeleteThey really should have, maybe there would be less delays then.
DeleteOh well. Until then, back to airline tycoon for you.
DeleteWhy are you always so aggressive on here? I recognize your bitter comments every time. You need to chill out. It's a fact it won't arrive in April and it won't enter service until mid-May.
DeleteIf you say so. They should hire you too.
DeleteWould be fantastic to see Iberia operate scheduled flights to SJJ! I hope something comes out of it.
ReplyDeleteIs there sufficient demand for flights from Madrid? Barcelona yes but Madrid I'm not so sure.
DeleteMAD is a huge hub to the Americas.
DeleteThere is demand from the Americas to SJJ and vice versa?
DeleteWhat's this obsession with is there demand? Demand can be generated. If the price is right and the slots are favorable, there will be demand!
DeleteBordeaux is interesting considering its location but wouldn't Toulouse make more sense?
ReplyDeleteBordeaux is very popular with tourists.
DeleteThis. Toulouse is a lot more industrial than Bordeaux, which is known for its vineyards and nearby surfing spots
DeleteWas it Krasnja who attended the forum in the name of Fraport? I hope the guy met JU and its shareholder Etihad to discuss its impact on Chinese and American market :)
ReplyDeleteKrašnja is an "old-guard" employee. It was conditioned he be kept once Fraport took over (not sure if I'm allowed to post news links but you can google it, it was reported in the news when they were finalising the takeover). He's most likely utterly incompetent. He's been in charge of "route development" for years and we all know what his results are. Even with taxpayer subsidies barely anyone is crazy enough to fly here. God knows why he was really kept there after the airport had been sold. LJU is a big fat mess, it was one before, it remains one still. So we're doomed to fly from ZAG and TRS, whichever is closer to where you are in SLO.
DeleteThanks for the context I was not aware of. And the CEO can not find any “better” position for him? I mean, one must be totally blind not to see that he is just not fit for his job.
DeleteStop with conspiracies! In Krašnja we trust!
DeleteNo mention of the Caucus region. I wonder why?
ReplyDeleteJU is starting flights to Tbilisi.
DeleteOther than Tbilisi
DeleteMorocco visa regime is ridiculous. They ask for employment proof, pictures, bank statements, airplane tickets, accommodation reservations, etc. How they imagine tourism at all??
ReplyDeleteTour operators probably.. marocco is really hurting me as I study in Italy and there are so cheap flight to there but visa says no
DeleteIs it the same visa conditions for EU passport holders?
DeleteI'm not sure about the whole of EU, but my aunt went there on a Slovenian passport and didn't require a visa. I think the limit was 90 days.
DeleteNo visa needed for any EU country.
DeleteIn Europe only Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Albania, BiH, Serbia, Montenegro and N. Macedonia need visas for Morocco.
I actually think Seville would be a great addition to JU's network. Stunning city too.
ReplyDeleteThey do serve Malaga
DeleteHardly, Malaga is too close. But Bilbao may be new undiscovered gem
DeleteSeville is 2 hours by train from Malaga.
DeleteMalaga and Sevilla are not that close, by bus almost 3 hours..Valencia and Alicante are much closer..Valencia and Madrid by train are almost the same duration like Sevilla and Malaga- around 20 min. difference
DeleteSevilla, Sevilla, Sevilla ;)
DeleteBTW. Barcelona is 2 hours and 37 min(2 horas 37 minutos con AVE) by train from Madrid, and? :)
Sevilla would be good desitnation for W6
DeleteCyprus Airways LCA-LJU would be ideal.
ReplyDeleteThey wanted to open a base in LJU but the Slovenian airline subsidy committee wasn't happy with their application.
DeleteAnd they will launch LCA-VCE instead.
DeleteAs much as I like scrapping at the Slovenian MoT, these are European funds being used, not Slovenian ones, meaning there's less leeway. The application wasn't entered properly and they can't just give it a go
DeleteNo european funds were used. Stop with this BS. Cyprus didn’t proceed with its application, so stop spreading fake news how the tender commission didn’t like its application. So much stupid comments
DeleteThe commission asked for additional documentation.
DeleteBottom line is CY went for VCE instead.
DeleteIt probably will be much more successful than LJU and get some Slovenian traffic.
So launching LJU in the future, either CY, W6 or whoever else will be more difficult.
Just my2cents
Didn't know Belgrade has incentive for north of African continent. Would be nice if they also had incentive for north of North American continent. That could help airlines considering service between Belgrade and that region.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you should read the incentive plan. There is an incentive for long haul flights.
DeleteThat's great, thank you!
DeleteZero chance of US carriers launching BEG in the near to medium term.
DeleteThey have cut flights all over Eastern and Central Europe plus Scandinavia.
Instead they have put all this capacity to Portugal. Spain, Italy and Greece.
And with TLV situation slowly returning to normal in the coming years they will have even less free capacity to launch flights in the region or the wider area.
Good luck. I hope some of the airports attract new routes after this conference.
ReplyDeleteBerlin is a no brainer from Sarajevo.
ReplyDeleteThis s great but I think most ex-Yu airports are missing better connectivity with the Middle East.
ReplyDeleteTrue dat!
DeleteNorth Africa too
DeleteI don't think there is much demand from north African countries for travel to the exyu countries.
Delete^Wrong.
Delete^ It would be interesting to know which countries in northern Africa have demand for travel to Serbia and our region.
DeleteIs this north African tourists? Business travelers? VFR? And from where? Morocco? Algeria? Tunisia? Libya? I can see demand from here to Egypt and lots of connecting traffic from Egypt to the rest of JU's network.
Many thanks for any info you have.
LJU is mainly looking for destinations with tourists visiting SLO, how about flights for Slovenians to sunny and warmer destinations such as South Spain, South Italy, Greece, Cyprus? Malaga for example is a year round destination and also attractive in terms of prices, as southern Spain is still cheaper than many regions in Europe.
ReplyDeleteOr you can just fly LJU-FRA-AGP :)
DeleteIndeed LX offers quite good prices and connections to AGP, but a nonstop flight is still a nonstop flight
DeleteI'm disappointed SAS does not have greater presence in this region.
ReplyDeleteSK just launched Budapest and Bucharest while they skipped BEG. Must be because of the fantastic Vinci incentives. lol
DeleteBudapest is also operated by Vinci.
DeleteBoth BUD and OTP had no legacy carrier serving CPH-BUD/OTP which isn't the case with BEG. Meanwhile, JU has been serving a number of Scandinavian cities for decades. The question should be why it took SK soo long to launch these 2 routes.
DeleteAn interesting question would also be why BUD and OTP have much higher growth than BEG despite not having a legacy carrier in the case of BUD or a joke of a carrier in the case of OTP?
DeletePerhaps because Budapest is one of the most visisted cities in Europe or that Bucharest is the capital of a country of 20 million that is an EU member with a fast growing economy. Have you thought of that?
DeleteBudapest was one of the most visited cities in Europe 5-10 years ago too. And Bucharest was the capital of a country of 20 million that is an EU member 5-10 years ago too.
DeleteBut they have grown exponentially since and most importantly continue to grow in double digits.
Please add Morocco
ReplyDeleteVisa regime.
DeleteAnd visa must be obtained in advance, no visa on the border.
I really don't understand what ZAG is doing? They have a huge potential for many long haul routes, especially from South America and far east Asia, also Indian subcontinent, but they are doing nothing..Also TGD, considering how unaproachable their country is by land, should open at least quadriple more seasonal routes..They live on tourism, come on...TVT is better in that regards..
ReplyDeleteAir Serbia should take subsidies offered by Granada, open 2x weekly route, and keeping AGP on 2x ( maybe during peak summer months on 3x) that would be 4x per week for that popular region, full of Russians and other tourists, and that would be good frequency...Sell multi ticket as roind trip- outbound to GRX, inbound from AGP, perfect...also BEG is sleepy, I expected much more from this young CEO, but obviously was wrong..They seem like they don't do anything in attracting new airlines, nor even keeping the old ones, at least..So they made incentive sheme, and that's it, we gonna wait like spider till some fly catches alone in the net...It doesn't work like that..
Omg with this Granada route....
DeleteSorry, but why not? They are paying for it...Granada airport is 1 hour away from Malaga
DeleteAnd besides that, tourist fly to Andalusia, they don't just stay in Malaga...Everybody , literally every tourist that flys to Malaga ( exept Russians who livrs there) goes to Granada to visit Alhambra, also many go to Cordoba as well, which is even closer to Granada than to Malaga..That's why...Tourists visit Cordoba, Granada, Sevilla and Malaga on their tourist trip..
DeleteWill INI do anything productive in this century?
ReplyDeleteINI there but not on a scope for any airline and anyone...
DeleteLooks like speed dating for airlines and airports.
ReplyDeleteExactly what it is.
DeleteSkopje will get Prague flights for sure,possible they be launched next year , there is also talks of Ohrid-Karlovy Vari flights too , fingers crossed for both airports!
ReplyDeleteOhrid - Karlovy vari može da izmislat samo neozbilni i nestručni polotičari
DeleteBelgrade really lost an important airline with Jazeera Airways.
ReplyDeleteThey are expanding like crazy.
I hope they will eventually come back with a better thought out schedule.
^ Instead they will fly to Budapest from 5th june...
DeleteYes. You know there is a reason 5 million people visit it each year. Dilapidated buildings, dog shit on every step, unfriendly locals, nonstop traffic jams, 3 attractions and the most polluted air in the world are not something that drives tourist demand to a city. Or make people want to visit again.
DeleteKuwait just introduced visas for Serbian citizens, now almost impossible to get iit..before we had visa on arrival..same thing with Qatar...it was counter- reaction to our introduction of visas to their citizens..Our MFA obviously has very smart people , since they alllowed this to happen..I know we were forced to do this, but diplomatic relations and tactics could've smootlhy explained our friends from Gulf, and not in this way..This could've been done much better, and I'm sure we wouldn't have been given such a strict visa rules by those 2 countries..
Deletewell, what I do not understand is that LJU is not struggeling to connect for transfer inteconti flights through MXP and ROM (star alliance has a hub), MAD and LIS also for further intercontinental flights, season flights to PMI, BCN, OPO and AGP. Transavia could add Rotterdam, GB Manchester and Birmingham. VIE could be in future changed for RJX direct fast connections by train. SAW/AYT? OSL/ARN? so the basic wish list listed :)
ReplyDelete