Air Serbia and Turkish Airlines eye Joint Venture
Air Serbia and Turkish Airlines, which recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to further expand their cooperation, have said they are exploring the possibility of establishing a Joint Venture. A Joint Venture is an agreement between airlines to share revenues on a route. It also involves coordinating route planning and scheduling. These are typically large undertakings, that involve significant negotiations. They also often require government approval due to the potential removal of competition. The two said the Joint Venture “will enable the two companies to offer more competitive and more affordable flights between Turkey and Serbia, improve the quality of service currently offered, as well as expand their offer and benefits for all passengers”.
As reported yesterday, Air Serbia is adding an additional three weekly flights between Belgrade and Istanbul for a total of ten weekly from next month, while Turkish Airlines will up capacity by scheduling widebody aircraft on two of its 21 weekly flights between the two cities. Within the scope of the agreed Memorandum of Understanding, both parties will negotiate increasing existing cooperation in terms of codeshare, cargo and Frequent Flyer Program (FFP) while developing cooperation alternatives on passenger lounges in their networks. Apart from lounges in Istanbul and other airports in Turkey, Turkish Airlines also operates its own dedicated lounges in Moscow, New York (opening soon in the same terminal used by Air Serbia), Bangkok, Washington, Miami and Nairobi. Turkish Airlines already utilises Air Serbia’s dedicated Premium Lounge at Belgrade Airport.
Commenting on the growing cooperation and their potential Joint Venture, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said, “We are pleased to further strengthen our good relations and cooperation with Turkish Airlines. It is our great pleasure to announce that Air Serbia and Turkish Airlines will continue to look for new commercial opportunities for creating efficient and mutually beneficial relationships, while considering the option of joining forces to achieve better connectivity and offer for our customers through possible Joint Venture on the services between Serbia and Turkiye. In this way, we are contributing to the further improvement of relations between our two states, in the interest of users and communities in both countries”.
This year has seen Turkish Airlines add a third daily flight to Belgrade, while Air Serbia has introduced a two weekly service from both Niš and Kraljevo to Istanbul. Furthermore, the two airlines have expanded their codeshare partnership on several occasions. As recently reported, Turkish Airlines is also considering the introduction of year-round flights between Antalya and Belgrade. Serbia and Turkey are soon expected to sign a protocol enabling passport-free travel, which has been approved by the parliaments of both countries.
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