Air Serbia to unveil planned innovations tonight
Air Serbia will today mark the tenth anniversary since launching operations under its current brand name on October 26, 2013, as the successor to Jat Airways. The carrier, which today serves eighty destinations with a fleet of some thirty aircraft, will mark the anniversary at the Museum of Contemporary Arts in Belgrade this evening where the airline will present its results over the past decade and “certain innovations planned for the upcoming period”. The event will be attended by Air Serbia executives and employees, as well as high-ranking officials from the Serbian government. EX-YU Aviation News will bring you live updates from the venue from 19.00 CEST.
Air Serbia has confirmed it is planning to unveil certain surprises this evening. Commenting recently on the matter, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said, “I won’t open up on what is expected. Don’t expect any big announcement but I think there will be some nice surprises”. Over the past month, in the lead-up to its anniversary, the carrier has opened a new retail store in Belgrade, announced the launch of a new service to Porto, refreshed its website and outlined plans to improve its onboard soft product. Tonight’s announcement is also expected to be in line with those and result in a notable change for employees and passengers alike.
Air Serbia launched operations under its new name and branding on October 26, 2013 by inaugurating flights from Belgrade to Abu Dhabi, the home of its part-owner at the time - Etihad Airways. Circumstances have significantly changed since. Air Serbia no longer flies to the United Arab Emirates and Etihad’s input and effective control of the Serbian flag carrier is non-existent. However, the Emirati airline still holds a 16% stake in the airline on paper. On the other hand, Air Serbia’s route network had 32 destinations in 2013, growing to eighty in 2023, with the airline also serving long haul destinations including New York (introduced in 2016), Tianjin (2022) and Chicago (2023). Over the past, it has transformed its fleet from predominately Boeing jets to Airbuses.
Since 2013, Air Serbia has also transformed its business model after its initial boutique offering ultimately failed. The airline had originally set out to be one of Europe’s best carriers in terms of its onboard service offering, with a dedicated business class product on its jet-engine short-haul fleet, menus and hot meal choices on short-haul economy flights, pillows and blankets on each seat, tablets and amenity kits on short flights in business class and the list goes on. However, by 2017 it was apparent the model was unsustainable, and the airline began a strategic transformation, bringing itself in line with the business strategy adopted by most European carriers. However, this also came at a cost, with a number of routes discounted and frequencies slashed. The airline returned to growth in 2019, by announcing its first major network expansion since 2013, which continued following the pandemic, with over twenty new routes launched in 2022 and more than twenty this year as well.
Air Serbia anticipates handling four million passengers this year and is expected to post a record profit, after it significantly slashed costs over the past few years. “Our entire efforts over the past decade have been on improving our services, developing our fleet, and expanding the network. Air Serbia today flies to more than eighty scheduled and charter destinations across Europe, the Mediterranean, North America, Asia and Africa, while our fleet consists of wide-body A330-200 aircraft and narrow-body A320-family, as well as turboprop ATR72-600 aircraft for regional flights. With over 1.400 employees, the youngest fleet in the region, a growing network of destinations and a clearly defined and sustainable growth strategy, Air Serbia is entering its second decade of operations ready to adapt to any market changes, operate at a profit, and constantly improve its services in the interest of passengers”, Mr Marek said.
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