Air Serbia to discontinue four routes
Air Serbia is expected to terminate four routes served prior to the coronavirus pandemic as part of its cost cutting measures after the airline was recapitalised by the Serbian government for 100 million euros. The majority of the affected routes that are expected to be discontinued were introduced as part of the airline’s last network expansion in the summer of 2019. These include Helsinki, Cairo and Rijeka. In addition, operations to Beirut, which were suspended just weeks prior to the onset of the global lockdowns in the spring of 2020 due to the deteriorating financial situation in Lebanon, are not expected to be restored. Ticket sales for the abovementioned routes have been terminated and these cities have been removed from the airline’s route map, however, further changes remain possible.
The scope of the airline’s network out of its secondary bases in Niš and Kraljevo remain uncertain at this point. The Serbian Finance Minister, Siniša Mali, had previously said that as part of Air Serbia’s restructuring, unprofitable routes would be terminated. Due to the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the Serbian airline was unable to carry through with its 2020 summer expansion which was to see the introduction of flights from Belgrade to Geneva, Amman, Rostov-on-Don, Florence, Lviv, and Chisinau. None of these are expected to be introduced this year either.
During 2020, Air Serbia was able to launch one new route, from Belgrade to Oslo, which continues to operate over the winter and will be served throughout 2021 as well. “We were seriously shocked by the biggest crisis in commercial aviation in recent history, but we weren’t disheartened. We at Air Serbia are entering 2021 full of optimism and ready to adapt to new circumstances, because only those companies that adopt changes quickly and efficiently can survive and move forward”, the company recently said. This month, Air Serbia is operating 819 flights (both directions included) and has 94.770 seats on sale. It represents a 65.9% decline in capacity compared to the same month last year.
Air Serbia's top routes in January based on offered capacity
0 Response to "Air Serbia to discontinue four routes"
Post a Comment