Air Serbia reintroduces Belgrade-Sofia flight after 15 years

Geat news. This is exactly what Air Serbia needs to be doing - building a regional network to attract transfer passengers - not dreaming of North America flights which would only be a pride thing not particularily useful or profitable.

Serbia is expanding its fleet of ATRs this year, which is just what is needed to firm-up its regional network. It's a good move that isn't particularily financially risky - you don't need many passengers to break-even in an ATR.

Lots of people think flights to North America would be some sort of milestone of progress. A real milestone of progress would be 4x/day flights to/from Nis. That would be something that would require cooperation between various Serbian agencies that aren't used to cooperating with each other and it would be good for economic development outside of Belgrade.

Seeing the Nis airport expand would truly be a milestone, and even the Kraljevo airport that was recently redone. Some flights from Nis to say Frankfurt and London would be huge. Flights from at least Belgrade to Kraljevo and maybe a highly populated Serbian diaspora city like Frankfurt, London, or Zurich would be truly an amazing milestone. Kraljevo is probably a far fetched dream, but RJ's from Nis might be feasible.

Going back to North America wouldn't be a huge milestone, but it would be significant. I firmly believe it can be profitable with the right equipment (767 or A330). It doesn't have to be daily, but it can work going BEG to Chicago, NY, and Toronto 3 or 4 times weekly. Also, BEG to Sydney or Melbourne a couple times a week might be a market. The flights wouldn't be daily to each city, but you would be utilizing the aircraft daily to fly the different routes each day.

I was thinking more 4x a day between Belgrade and Nis with good connection times. easier to do and less costly and risky. Belgrade and Nis are 3hrs away by bus and there are about 45 busses/day between the two cities. Busses are full and tickets aren't cheap. I have a hard time believing that Air Serbia couldn't make a go out of several flights a day between to/from Nis. I know people are going to say that "people are used to taking the bus". Fine. Some will also fly, if Air Serbia makes the right package, the right promotion, the right price. Maybe include a shuttle that picks you up right at the plane and takes you downtown. Have commuter books where you buy 10 tickets in advance for a reduced rate. Like I said, bus tickets aren't cheap. I'm sure they can fill at least 2 small planes with point-to-point travellers willing to pay double for not sitting on a stinky bus for 3 hours, and other passengers transferring to other flights abroad.

Geat news. This is exactly what Air Serbia needs to be doing - building a regional network to attract transfer passengers - not dreaming of North America flights which would only be a pride thing not particularily useful or profitable.

Serbia is expanding its fleet of ATRs this year, which is just what is needed to firm-up its regional network. It's a good move that isn't particularily financially risky - you don't need many passengers to break-even in an ATR.

Lots of people think flights to North America would be some sort of milestone of progress. A real milestone of progress would be 4x/day flights to/from Nis. That would be something that would require cooperation between various Serbian agencies that aren't used to cooperating with each other and it would be good for economic development outside of Belgrade.

Seeing the Nis airport expand would truly be a milestone, and even the Kraljevo airport that was recently redone. Some flights from Nis to say Frankfurt and London would be huge. Flights from at least Belgrade to Kraljevo and maybe a highly populated Serbian diaspora city like Frankfurt, London, or Zurich would be truly an amazing milestone. Kraljevo is probably a far fetched dream, but RJ's from Nis might be feasible.

Going back to North America wouldn't be a huge milestone, but it would be significant. I firmly believe it can be profitable with the right equipment (767 or A330). It doesn't have to be daily, but it can work going BEG to Chicago, NY, and Toronto 3 or 4 times weekly. Also, BEG to Sydney or Melbourne a couple times a week might be a market. The flights wouldn't be daily to each city, but you would be utilizing the aircraft daily to fly the different routes each day.

I was thinking more 4x a day between Belgrade and Nis with good connection times. easier to do and less costly and risky. Belgrade and Nis are 3hrs away by bus and there are about 45 busses/day between the two cities. Busses are full and tickets aren't cheap. I have a hard time believing that Air Serbia couldn't make a go out of several flights a day between to/from Nis. I know people are going to say that "people are used to taking the bus". Fine. Some will also fly, if Air Serbia makes the right package, the right promotion, the right price. Maybe include a shuttle that picks you up right at the plane and takes you downtown. Have commuter books where you buy 10 tickets in advance for a reduced rate. Like I said, bus tickets aren't cheap. I'm sure they can fill at least 2 small planes with point-to-point travellers willing to pay double for not sitting on a stinky bus for 3 hours, and other passengers transferring to other flights abroad.