The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is hopeful Air Serbia will commence flights to the country, which would serve the wider Balkan region. Bogdan Gligor, TAT’s marketing representative for Romania and the Balkans, told the “Bangkok Post”, “With no nonstop flights from the region, most tourists connect via routes from the Middle East or Turkey. The office is working with more airlines in the region to seek opportunities for new direct flights, including Air Serbia, for which China is its only long-haul destination in Asia. Even if the airfare is expensive for tourists in this region, they remain eager to visit Thailand because of its tourism products and hospitality. We have 50% repeat guests, setting Thailand as an unbeatable market”.
Air Serbia had previously said it was considering long-haul leisure flights over the winter period, but emphasised Bangkok as well served by Gulf competitors. In 2023, the carrier noted, “We are definitely looking into the leisure winter destinations but rather at some niche because everybody is putting capacity into Bangkok Suvarnabhumi”. Speaking to EX-YU Aviation News that same year, the airline’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said, “For us, leisure destinations will be more opportunistic, and by that, I mean niche destinations, not the strategic ones. For example, there is high demand for Bangkok during winter, however due to overcapacity on the market, we might achieve full flights but not profitable ones due to low yield, as there is strong competition from Middle East carriers. In the past, we were looking at Mombasa or Zanzibar and some other options, but this will always be in synergy between us and the tour operators”.
Based on data from global travel provider OAG, cities that could be considered as leisure destinations with strong demand from Belgrade include Bangkok, Pattaya, Denpasar (Bali), Male (Maldives), Havana, Colombo, Seychelles, Zanzibar, Mauritius, Cancun and Varadero in Cuba. Following the launch of flights from the Serbian capital to Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai over the past few years, Bangkok is now the top unserved Asian destination from Belgrade Airport based on indirect passenger flow, followed by the likes of Tokyo, Seoul, Delhi and Singapore. Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines and Flydubai/Emirates handle the bulk of passengers between Belgrade and Thailand. Air Serbia’s predecessor, JAT Yugoslav Airlines, maintained flights between Belgrade and Bangkok until Yugoslavia’s collapse.
link