A decade ago, Etihad Airways bought a 49% stake in Air Serbia, as part of the carrier’s global partnership strategy at the time. In recent years, the airline has been decreasing its stake in the airline, and now Etihad no longer has any involvement in the company, as flagged by EX-YU Aviation News. What does…
Continue reading: Etihad No Longer Has Stake In Air Serbia: Now What?
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In regards to financials it’s telling that the Serbian foreign minister says nothing about profitability but merely talks about growth and national identity etc.
For the past year and a half, Air Serbia has benefitted from the Russia-Ukraine war. If you flew them recently, a huge percentage of passengers are Russian traveling home or to visit family, especially since the routes to Moscow on TK have been so expensive and it's really the only other (convenient) way to get there from the US.
In that same article and interview, Marek states that they have also considered joining Turkish Miles & Smiles or Flying Blue. The latter would make sense for Air Serbia and also connect them (eventually) to Skyteam. However, I’ve long argued that Air Serbia could be a good fit for oneworld. Eastern Europe is one of the biggest holes in the oneworld network.
He actually does comment on profitability, but that part of the statement was not relayed in English-language media. 2023 is the first year in which Air Serbia has been profitable without state subsidies, and they are on track to end the year with a €50M profit.
Just like Austrian Airlines hugely benefitted from the Balkan wars in the 90s. It's funny how the tables have turned.
Interestingly enough, Air Serbia currently operates fewer flights to Russia compared to before the Ukraine war, because it's restricted by the bilateral agreement and Russian carriers can't operate to Serbia (for obvious reasons). As a result, ticket prices to and from Russia were insane for a while (think €1000+ for an intra-European return ticket). Lately the prices have started to come back to more sane levels.
Agree that both SkyTeam and OneWorld would benefit from the addition of Air Serbia, as they have excellent coverage of the Balkans. However, their CEO has said several times that for an airline of their size, joining a global alliance would bring more cost than benefit. It was probably a signal for the alliances to sweeten their offer somehow.
The entire Europe is a hole for oneworld, which only has bases at edges of the continent (MAD, LON, hEL). Air Serbia won't solve this since they're also located in an excentric place. Oneworld desperately needs a central European carrier, such as LOT, otherwise it just won't work because people will still be forced to fly Lufthansa.
@Ben ---Not sure why no mention was made of the comprehensive codeshare agreement between Air Serbia and Qatar Airways. It might be an indication of even closer arrangements in the future, potentially leading to OneWorld!!!
> I do hope Air Serbia continues on its path, since we don’t have many global airline options in Eastern Europe.
Serbia is in Southern Europe, along with the rest of former Yugoslavia (a country that bordered Italy and Greece). Go look up the United Nations geoscheme for Europe.
I would say Serbia is almost as central as Poland is. Yes there is more Europe north of Poland, but probably just as many people in the Balkans, Italy, Greece and Turkey region.
OneWorld does need more central European partners as Star and ST have eaten up almost all the other major airlines.
I also think LOT would benefit by switching to OW. I see no reason why both Lot and Air Serbia couldn't both join OW as Star owns or controls AT, LX and now AZ.
If the ceo of JU is right then OW provides the least overlap and most opportunity for JU to shine on its own.
BA should get on this before LH does cause it is just a matter of time IMO.
I’m pretty sure the old Swissair also followed a similar strategy in the 1990s with a similarly disastrous result. Not sure how much money they lost but it might rival Etihad when adjusted for inflation.
They also have comprehensive codeshare agreements with Air France and Turkish Airlines, so their codeshares aren't really a big giveaway 🙂
Small national flag carriers have a tendency to suck up sovereign wealth.
Best for them to find a dance partner to maintain volume and cash flow.
Word has it Miles & Moore and Fly Blue have requested space on the dance card.
Belgrade is getting inpatient attending so many debutant balls.
EX-YU aviation wrote not to long ago that Air Serbia had first half profit of about 22.5m $.
The best thing now for the airline is to grow a bit more and then for the Serbian government to find it a strategic partner. Right now it's still a small regional player but if they manage to continue growth they should be more attractive to bigger players.
But in that region I'm more concerned about Croatia Airlines, their survival will pivot on A220 transition that's soon to start.