Belgrade among top unserved Shanghai routes
Belgrade was the eleventh busiest unserved route from Shanghai and the seventh busiest European market currently without flights to China's second largest city. According to the airline network and analysis portal "Anna Aero", some 35.390 passengers flew indirectly between Shanghai's Pudong Airport and Belgrade during the scrutinised period, from October 2017 until September 2018. Overall, Dusseldorf was the busiest unserved route from the Chinese city, followed by Manchester, Cairo, Penang, Sao Paulo, Venice, Athens, Hamburg, Berlin and Johannesburg. Behind the Serbian capital were the likes of Stuttgart, Santiago, Las Vegas and Casablanca. Despite efforts by the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade to lobby for the introduction of flights between Belgrade and Shanghai, the long haul service was never launched.
According to Sabre Airline Solutions, most of the traffic flow between China and Serbia over the past few years has originated from Shanghai. This is in part because the largest portion of Chinese nationals residing in Serbia have their origins in two provinces south of the Shanghai region. The majority of passengers on this route are currently handled by Aeroflot via Moscow, as well as Turkish Airlines and Qatar Airways through their respective hubs. During 2018, a total of 102.351 Chinese nationals visited Serbia, representing an increase of 98% on the year before. Numbers are projected to further grow in 2019, with January figures rising 19%.
Air Serbia has shown interest in launching operations to China. The Serbian carrier previously said, "China is not only important to the continued expansion of Air Serbia, but is also important to the development of Serbia and the Balkan region. We will reintroduce Belgrade as an affordable and convenient gateway to Europe, and build greater awareness of Air Serbia as the airline of choice to the Balkan Peninsula and Southeastern Europe for Chinese travellers". Hainan Airlines, which maintained flights from Beijing to Belgrade via Prague suspended the service last November after a little over a year of operations. In late 2016, China Eastern Airlines, which boasts a hub in Shanghai, held talks with the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade and the Serbian government over potential services to Belgrade, alongside Air China and Hainan Airlines.
Among Asia's top ten airports, which include Beijing, Tokyo Haneda, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Jakarta, Guangzhou, Singapore, Seoul, Bangkok and Delhi, no city from the former Yugoslavia made it into the top fifteen busiest unserved routes, with exception to the abovementioned Shanghai - Belgrade line.
0 Response to "Belgrade among top unserved Shanghai routes"
Post a Comment