Serbia - Russia air market set for strong growth
Flights between Serbia and Russia will run up to 34 times per week this winter season, with three airlines to maintain operations from four Russian airports. Aeroflot will continue to run three daily flights, for a total of 21 weekly, between Moscow and the Serbian capital, while Red Wings Airlines has scheduled three weekly services between the two cities throughout the winter. On the other hand, Air Serbia will run daily flights to Moscow, three weekly to Krasnodar and two weekly services to St Petersburg, although the latter will operate only between December 28 and January 11. Aeroflot and Air Serbia have recently expanded their codeshare partnership to offer more destinations from Moscow, including Omsk and Volgograd. The Serbian carrier also codeshares on its partner’s flights from the Russian capital to Sochi, Kazan, Samara, Yekaterinburg, Rostov and Novosibirsk. It comes as the Serbian carrier considers potentially ordering Russian-made aircraft for its fleet renewal.
Commenting on its Russia operations, Air Serbia previously said, “These services enhance the flow of trade and strengthen the long-held and friendly bilateral relations between Serbia and Russia. Our flights have also been carefully scheduled to offer business and leisure guests from Russia seamless connectivity over our Belgrade hub to key destinations in the Balkans and Southern Europe, where we have an extensive network of flights”. The airline saw its passenger numbers decrease 3.4% on the Russian market in 2018 when compared to the year before at the hands of decreased capacity and increased competition. However, the carrier is expected to improve its results this year with the addition of new flights.
Russia continues to be one of Belgrade Airport's biggest markets. The two countries maintain visa free travel for each other’s nationals. A total of 42.888 Russian tourists visited Serbia during the January – August period, which is up 24.9% on last year. Recently, the Mayor of the Black Sea resort city of Sochi initiated the introduction of flights to Belgrade. The Serbian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications, Rasim Ljajić, said, "This initiative has been met with great understanding and can be used to increase people-to-people exchange between our two countries. Sochi is an important destination for us. I have held talks with the Mayor of Sochi and we also discussed what Serbia has to offer to Russian travellers. However, the prerequisite is for nonstop flights to be launched between our two cities. I believe this initiative is a real turning point". Russian carrier iFly Airlines recently received permits from the country's federal aviation authority Rosaviatsia to launch flights from Sochi to Belgrade. The company filed an application to operate up to four weekly services from the Black Sea resort city, however, it is yet to schedule any flights.
0 Response to "Serbia - Russia air market set for strong growth"
Post a Comment