Air Serbia to compete by being “Wizzier than Wizz”
Air Serbia is prepared to compete against the growth of low cost airlines which are expected to recover faster from the travel downturn caused by the pandemic than their legacy counterparts. Responding to a question at last week’s CAPA Critical Thinkers summit, Air Serbia’s General Manager for Commercial and Strategy, Jiri Marek, said, “We will compete [against Wizz Air] by being faster and ‘Wizzier’”. The low cost airline, which boasts a base in Belgrade, plans to launch two new routes from the city this coming summer season, down from the initially planned nine new services, but will also expand in the region with a new base in Sarajevo from which it will launch a number of key routes. Last year when Wizz Air initially announced plans to commence flights from Belgrade to Sandefjord near Oslo, Air Serbia introduced services to the Norwegian capital within a month.
Air Serbia increased its market share from Belgrade Airport this January by accounting for 53.1% of all passengers carried. It represents growth of over eleven points from the 42% passenger share in January 2020, although fewer airlines now operate flights to the Serbian capital compared to a year ago. “The recorded result represents an outcome of strategic planning and quick traffic adjustments to all the changes taking place on the market. The past year was marked by the coronavirus pandemic, which led to a significant reduction in air traffic, but Air Serbia, even in such circumstances, managed to achieve good results in terms of load factor on a large number of routes”, Mr Marek said. He added that the collapse of Montenegro Airlines did not significantly impact Air Serbia’s result because the company only had a 4% market share at Belgrade Airport in January of last year. “With its expansive network of direct and codeshare destinations, Air Serbia contributes to Belgrade continuing to be the main gateway of the entire region to Europe and the world”, the General Manager for Commercial and Strategy noted.
Air Serbia currently operates flights to 26 destinations out of Belgrade, and one from Niš. In a statement, the carrier said it responds to competition by acting fast. “Air Serbia further solidified its position as a regional leader by showing readiness to quickly react to all changes in the market environment. Several days before the collapse of Adria Airways, Air Serbia increased its frequencies and capacity to Ljubljana, while when Montenegro Airlines ceased operations in December 2020, it did the same to Tivat and Podgorica. Air Serbia is currently the leading airline in terms of flights to Montenegro and connects the country with the world through Belgrade”, Air Serbia noted.
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