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Flydubai is Belgrade’s busiest carrier from the Gulf region, outperforming both Qatar Airways and Wizz Air Abu Dhabi. The Dubai-based airline, which boasts the most flights and capacity out of the three with double daily rotations throughout the year, handled 148.191 passengers on its Belgrade service last year and is set to replicate that success in 2023 as well. Whereas Dubai had the least passengers of the three Gulf destinations served from Belgrade prior to the coronavirus pandemic, it has now become the busiest. This is in part due to Flydubai’s swift return to the Serbian market following the lockdowns in 2020 and Dubai’s prominence as a global travel hub in the aftermath of the global health emergency. The Serbian Prime Minister, Ana Brabić, held talks with the Founder and CEO of Emirates, Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, in Dubai both last year and this February, with attempts being made to bring the Emirati carrier to Belgrade. Emirates previously studied options of introducing flights to the Serbian capital. Qatar Airways fully restored its pre-pandemic frequencies in Belgrade only this summer, although its capacity continues to lag. In 2019, the airline maintained daily operations with its Airbus A321 aircraft, which has since been retired from its fleet. It now runs its Belgrade flights with the A320 instead. Boasting fewer frequencies and less capacity, the Qatari carrier handled 64.687 passengers on its Belgrade service last year, down 33.9% on 2019. However, with high loads and a good performance throughout 2023, the carrier is set to exceed its pre-pandemic operations from December 23, when it introduces an additional three weekly flights on its Belgrade service for a total of ten. The airline has recently said its short-term goal is to serve all cities in Eastern and Central Europe double daily. Gulf carrier Belgrade passenger performance in 2022
Wizz Air Abu Dhabi commenced operations to Belgrade in 2021, filling some of the void left by the departure of Etihad Airways, which, until it discontinued flights in 2020, was the busiest of the Gulf carriers in Belgrade. In 2022, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi handled 55.084 travellers on the Belgrade route, which is notably down on the 114.256 passengers welcomed by Etihad in 2019. However, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi has found success, doubling its frequencies on the route this winter from two to four weekly. For its part, Etihad noted, “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”. Gulf carriers continue to face increased pressure from the cooperation between Air Serbia and Turkish Airlines, which offer over thirty weekly flights between Belgrade and Istanbul and numerous onward connections at all times of the day. This is particularly true for Qatar Airways, which has the most transfer passengers of the three Gulf carriers serving Belgrade. During 2023, Kuwait’s Jazeera Airways became a new Gulf entrant on the Serbian market, however, its seasonal flights were cut short and primarily marketed towards Russian transfer passengers. It is unclear if the airline will restore its service between Kuwait City and Belgrade next year, with the carrier yet to finalise its 2024 summer network. Gulf carrier Belgrade capacity levels in 2023
EX-YU Aviation NewsBy: EX-YU Aviationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/[email protected]
Title: Flydubai leads Gulf carrier battle in Belgrade
Sourced From: www.exyuaviation.com/2023/12/flydubai-leads-gulf-carrier-battle-in.html
Published Date: Sat, 09 Dec 2023 08:00:00 +0000
