Air Serbia focuses on secondary destinations for growth
Air Serbia has added ten new destinations to its Belgrade network over the past month, all of which have been secondary cities in markets it already serves, with future expansion also expected to include similar additions to its route map. . “We are pleased to have significantly improved the functionality of our network by carefully choosing destinations in line with passenger wishes and the company’s strategic plans. The strong demand and fill rate of flights in the coming period show us that we made the right choice and we are happy to have provided passengers with an even better selection of summer destinations,” the company said.
The Serbian carrier has placed particular emphasis on Western Europe in its latest expansion, with the airline currently exploring other secondary cities in this part of the continent. According to the data, unserved secondary destinations in Europe with high demand from Belgrade airport include Manchester, Krakow, Catania, Porto, Turin, Marseille, Naples, Palermo, Bilbao and Birmingham. The Serbian carrier now serves the majority of major Western European markets, with the exception of Portugal, Iceland and Finland, the latter which it tried to maintain in 2019 but eventually halted operations due to of the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. It has decided to permanently halt flights to the Finnish capital and instead offers connections via its codeshare partners Finnair and airBaltic.
The airline’s network expansion in 2019 and 2022 marked a departure from its previous strategy, which aimed to add more frequencies rather than destinations. Several years ago, the carrier said, “With many destinations we serve today, we want to add frequencies. We don’t see many more opportunities for new destinations, as our network in Europe is established.” However, at the end of last year, Air Serbia CEO Jiri Marek said: “The reaction in the market is essential. You basically see a seize the opportunity and seize it. We proved it during the pandemic. We launched a few new destinations and some of them within two weeks. I think this flexible model will stay with us for the next five years, where you will still have to react very quickly to all the changes coming. The greatest undiscovered truth of Covid is that change is possible and the speed of change is incredible.”
