Etihad Airways has mentioned it’s evaluating the potential for resuming flights between Abu Dhabi and Belgrade which have been terminated because of the coronavirus pandemic. In an announcement to EX-YU Aviation Information, the Emirati nationwide provider mentioned, “Serbia shouldn’t be presently a part of our working community, nevertheless it stays an necessary marketplace for Etihad Airways. We frequently assessment the ahead improvement of the community, and as a part of this course of will probably be often evaluating the potential to reinstate a connection between Abu Dhabi and Belgrade”. Since Etihad’s withdrawal from the route, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi has commenced flights between the 2 cities with its Airbus A321 plane and presently maintains three weekly rotations.
Etihad Airways’ Belgrade – Abu Dhabi v.v. passenger efficiency
| 12 months | PAX |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 120.367 |
| 2017 | 121.583 |
| 2018 | 88.220 |
| 2019 | 114.256 |
| 2020 | 20.485 |
Etihad Airways dealt with 114.256 passengers between Abu Dhabi and Belgrade in 2019 on its each day flights. Its common annual cabin load issue stood at an especially excessive 90.9%. Nevertheless, the service relied closely on switch passengers, primarily to China and Australia. Its high 5 feeders for the Belgrade service in 2019 have been Shanghai, Beijing, Sydney, Hong Kong and Melbourne, primarily based on OAG information. Each the Australian and Chinese language markets stay closed for many inbound and outbound journey with China lately asserting it plans to reopen to worldwide passengers in 2023 whereas Australia’s boarders are anticipated to completely reopen in mid-2022. Air Serbia, Etihad’s fairness companion, indicated final yr that the Emirati airline has not terminated its Belgrade service for good, however will return as soon as circumstances allow.
Etihad Airways’ high O&D locations to/from Belgrade in 2019
Etihad resumed flights to Belgrade following the worldwide lockdowns within the spring of 2020, restoring providers in June that yr. They have been maintained till October when operations have been discontinued once more. In December that yr, Etihad decreased its possession stake in Air Serbia from 49% to 18%. Nevertheless, the 2 airways expanded their codeshare partnership in February of final yr. Air Serbia now has its designator code and flight numbers on Etihad’s providers from Paris, Zurich, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and London Heathrow to Abu Dhabi, whereas it has prolonged its codeshare on Etihad flights from Abu Dhabi to Manama, Bangkok, Colombo, Dammam, Riyadh, Jeddah, Seoul, Karachi, Lahore, Kuwait, Muscat, Singapore, Sydney and Melbourne. The settlement now counts over thirty routes. Nevertheless, that very same yr, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, conceded there could also be much less demand for these flights as they require transferring through a degree in Europe. “We lately renewed our codeshare settlement [with Etihad] and mainly we’re sustaining connectivity through the principle Etihad gateways in Europe. Being a smaller regional participant, any codeshare settlement is necessary to us as a result of it provides us entry to a extra international community and likewise provides us further feed for our regional community. So, we’re sustaining sturdy cooperation with Etihad. The codeshare has been fairly expanded however, after all, there’ll almost definitely be much less demand because the direct flights is, let’s say, presently suspended. We’re creating different codeshare partnerships to cowl that a part of the world”, Mr Marek mentioned on the time.
