Etihad evaluating Belgrade return
Etihad Airways has said it is evaluating the possibility of resuming flights between Abu Dhabi and Belgrade which were terminated as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. In a statement to EX-YU Aviation News, the Emirati national carrier said, “Serbia is not currently part of our operating network, but it remains an important market for Etihad Airways. We continually review the forward development of the network, and as part of this process will be regularly evaluating the potential to reinstate a connection between Abu Dhabi and Belgrade”. Since Etihad’s withdrawal from the route, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi has commenced flights between the two cities with its Airbus A321 aircraft and currently maintains three weekly rotations.
Etihad Airways' Belgrade - Abu Dhabi v.v. passenger performance
| Year | PAX |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 120.367 |
| 2017 | 121.583 |
| 2018 | 88.220 |
| 2019 | 114.256 |
| 2020 | 20.485 |
Etihad Airways handled 114.256 passengers between Abu Dhabi and Belgrade in 2019 on its daily flights. Its average annual cabin load factor stood at an extremely high 90.9%. However, the service relied heavily on transfer passengers, primarily to China and Australia. Its top five feeders for the Belgrade service in 2019 were Shanghai, Beijing, Sydney, Hong Kong and Melbourne, based on OAG data. Both the Australian and Chinese markets remain closed for most inbound and outbound travel with China recently announcing it plans to reopen to international passengers in 2023 while Australia’s boarders are expected to fully reopen in mid-2022. Air Serbia, Etihad’s equity partner, indicated last year that the Emirati airline has not terminated its Belgrade service for good, but will return once circumstances permit.
Etihad Airways' top O&D destinations to/from Belgrade in 2019
Etihad resumed flights to Belgrade following the global lockdowns in the spring of 2020, restoring services in June that year. They were maintained until October when operations were discontinued again. In December that year, Etihad reduced its ownership stake in Air Serbia from 49% to 18%. However, the two airlines expanded their codeshare partnership in February of last year. Air Serbia now has its designator code and flight numbers on Etihad’s services from Paris, Zurich, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and London Heathrow to Abu Dhabi, while it has extended its codeshare on Etihad flights from Abu Dhabi to Manama, Bangkok, Colombo, Dammam, Riyadh, Jeddah, Seoul, Karachi, Lahore, Kuwait, Muscat, Singapore, Sydney and Melbourne. The agreement now counts over thirty routes. However, that same year, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, conceded there may be less demand for these flights as they require transferring via a point in Europe. “We recently renewed our codeshare agreement [with Etihad] and basically we are maintaining connectivity via the main Etihad gateways in Europe. Being a smaller regional player, any codeshare agreement is important to us because it gives us access to a more global network and also gives us extra feed for our regional network. So, we are maintaining strong cooperation with Etihad. The codeshare has been quite expanded but, of course, there will most likely be less demand since the direct flights is, let’s say, currently suspended. We are developing other codeshare partnerships to cover that part of the world”, Mr Marek said at the time.
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