Air Serbia to resume Istanbul service in December
Air Serbia will resume flights between Belgrade and Istanbul following a two-and-a-half-year hiatus on December 11, marking the carrier’s return on the Turkish market with scheduled flights. Services will run three times per week, each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with tickets already on sale. A fourth weekly service will run between December 22 and January 10. Operations will be maintained with an Airbus A319 aircraft. The development comes just a day after Turkish carrier AtlasGlobal discontinued all flights due to financial difficulties, including its four weekly service to the Serbian capital. Air Serbia will compete directly against Turkish Airlines’ double daily flights on the route, while low cost carrier Pegasus Airlines continues to run four weekly services from Sabiha Gokcen Airport.
Air Serbia discontinued its flights to Istanbul in March 2017 as a result of poor loads caused by strong competition and falling demand for travel to Turkey. At the time it noted, “The decision was made as a result of declining point-to-point passenger traffic and yield on the route, which has underperformed company expectations, and follows in the footsteps of other airlines that have withdrawn from the Turkish market". Two years ago, the carrier operated daily flights to Turkey’s largest city but often downgraded its equipment on the route to the 66-seat ATR72 turboprop aircraft. In the years since, it has continued to serve the Turkish market through seasonal charter flights.
The Serbian carrier will also launch state subsidised flights from Kraljevo to Vienna next month, after signing a three-year agreement with the Serbian government on Tuesday. The service is expected to be scheduled and put on sale in the coming days. Air Serbia’s General Manager for Commercial and Strategy, Jiri Marek, said yesterday, “Along with the new destinations launched this summer, we have new surprises in store, which I am sure will be a step in the right direction and will generate even greater growth for Air Serbia”. Further flight details for Air Serbia’s Belgrade - Istanbul flights can be found here.
0 Response to "Air Serbia to resume Istanbul service in December"
Post a Comment