EasyJet will launch services from Milan Malpensa to Belgrade from Friday, April 19. Despite still awaiting government approval, the low cost airline has begun selling tickets for the route on its website. Services are set to operate three times per week, every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Return ticket prices vary from eighty to one hundred euros, depending on the dates. However, easyJet charges extra fees for check in baggage.
EasyJet will go head to head against Jat Airways on the route. The Serbian national carrier plans to operate five weekly flights to the Italian city this summer season. It runs services on the same days as easyJet, while the departure from Belgrade to Milan will be only fifteen minutes apart. Jat saw competition on the service late last year when Alitalia’s low cost offshoot Air One launched three weekly flights. However, due to poor loads the flights were suspended in early January. Milan is one of Jat’s busier routes with the airline attracting both point to point and transit passengers.
easyJet will be the second new arrival in Belgrade this year after Pegasus Airlines launched flights earlier in the month. However, the airport has bid farewell to Niki with Air France to suspend services in a couple of week’s time. These departures, coupled with Jat’s massive network reductions during the winter as a result of an ongoing fleet shortage, will prove difficult for the airport to maintain its passenger growth.
Source Balkans
