Air Serbia touches down in New York

Scroll down for live coverage as it happened

Air Serbia has introduced services between Belgrade and New York this morning, 24 years after its predecessor, JAT Yugoslav Airlines, suspended the route. Using the same flight numbers (JU 500/501), the carrier will maintain the flights five times per week with its newly leased 254-seat Airbus A330-200 aircraft, named after Nikola Tesla. The airline's management has described the occasion as the start of "the next phase" in the company's development. The CEO of the Etihad Aviation Group, James Hogan, notes, "Air Serbia is about to take a huge step forward on its journey to become the leading airline in the region. With an A330 in its fleet and a strong network, the airline has laid the foundations for the success of its New York service". The maiden service to the largest city in the United States is being piloted by the airline's Chief Operations Officer, Davor Mišeljić, while some of the passengers on board the sold out flight include Air Serbia's CEO, Dane Kondić, as well as Mr Hogan, the Ambassador of the United States to Serbia, Kyle Scott, the Serbian Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Zorana Mihajlović, and the Mayor of Belgrade, who is also the Charimain of Air Serbia, Siniša Mali.

New York JFK Airport

Mr Kondić says the airline is extremely satisfied with sales on the route so far. He notes that some 60% of bookings have come from the United States, and a further 35% from Serbia. The carrier will now work on building its brand awareness in the States and developing Belgrade as a stopover point. According to Mr Kondić, the airline has seen "good traction" in business class sales and the region has responded favourably towards the new service. In addition, some of Air Serbia's newly launched flights, in particularly Kiev, have aided the New York route when it comes to sales. The carrier's Chairman, SIniša Mali, notes, "This new air link will supercharge relations between Serbia and the United States, and as such, it is fitting that our A330 has been named after Nikola Tesla, the man who was responsible for so much progress in the 20th century. We are turning a new page in the history of this country. We are the only country of eleven in the region with a national carrier offering flights to the United States".

It took Air Serbia nine months to gain all necessary regulatory approvals from US authorities in order to inaugurate the new route. The carrier has also drawn resources from other airlines in the Etihad Aviation Group in order to make the flights possible. It has leased the A330 from Jet Airways, trained its pilots at the Alitalia Training Centre in Rome and its crew at the Etihad Airways Academy in Abu Dhabi. Furthermore, maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of the wide-body jet will be carried out jointly by Air Berlin and Etihad. The Emirati carrier will codeshare on Air Serbia's New York service under flight number EY 6023/6024.

---

James Hogan, President and CEO of Etihad Aviation Group

As an airline executive, what an exciting day. When you consider the vision of the Prime Minister in approaching the government of Abu Dhabi to re-establish Yugoslav Airlines back in 2013 and to see where the business is today, it's quite a journey. In aviation terms, this has been one of the fastest turnarounds of any airline. From an aviation perspective, the vision to replace this airline has been extraordinary. JAT is no more. The days of JAT are gone. This is about the era of Air Serbia. Air Serbia is the leading airline in the Balkans and, quite frankly, will be the leading boutique airline in Europe.

Today, being able to create Air Serbia operating to New York is all about Air Serbia being part of a family. If Air Serbia was not part of the Etihad equity family we couldn't be launching flights today. No airline this size in their own right could have launched one flight per week. But being part of a family of airlines, we sourced the aircraft from Jet Airways, the MRO is managed in conjunction with Etihad Engineering and Air Berlin Engineering and the training of the pilots was undertaken by Alitalia. In fact, Alitalia pilots are supporting the A330 transition. So we have all come together to launch this five days per week flight. Today is the start of the next phase. What we have seen over the past three years is a repositioning and moving Air Serbia to a mature brand. I think New York today marks the next phase of the development of this airline. Just think, after 24 years, today you are launching and creating the gateway to the Balkans and to the Americas, connecting to the other states of the region, to Athens and the greater Mediterranean area. As importantly, it's not just about ethnic traffic and transfer traffic, it is about the destination. In my opinion, the next phase is about selling this wonderful country and this great city. I'm excited about being on the first flight. It's good to be in Belgrade.

---

More on the services being offered on board Air Serbia's A330-200 can be found here. 

---

LIVE AS IT HAPPENED

20.00: Ribbon cutting ceremony held at JFK Airport prior to the first flight from New Tork to Belgrade (JU501)

17.55

Approaching Gate A4 at JFK T4

Air Serbia landing at JFK #airserbia #BEGtoJFK

17.39: Touchdown! After 24 years, a Belgrade-based carrier has landed at New York's JFK Airport.

17.35: Preparations for return flight, JU501, in progress

17:27: Flight JU500 has started its descent into New York. Arrival is expected in some fifteen minutes.

17.25: Passengers have started checking-in for the first flight from JFK Airport to Belgrade.

Checked in @airserbia pic.twitter.com/BDt095zVne

— Darko Nikolic (@nikolichdarko) June 23, 2016

16.40: James Hogan, the President and CEO of Etihad Aviation Group and the Vice Chairman of Air Serbia has written an editorial regarding the flights to New York for the UAE daily "The National". You can read it here.

16.35: Flight JU500 has entered US airspace and is expected in New York in around an hour. Meanwhile, New York is prepared:

15.10: Some photos from the inaugural flight. Click to enlarge

14.00: As flight JU500 nears New York, the airline will be hosting a gala evening at the Lincoln Center tonight to celebrate the new route. Among the 300 guests invited are sportspeople, actors and musicians. Actress Stana Katić, best known for her role in the TV drama "The Castle", will be the master of ceremonies.

12.40: Flight JU500 is now at the half way point. Estimated arrival at 11.40 local time, 17.40 CEST.

12.00: Serbia's Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Zorana Mihajlović, who is on the flight, says, "Today is a very proud and happy day for Air Serbia and the country and people of Serbia. It feels great to be back in New York. This is the first flight operated by a Serbian carrier to the United States since 1992 and it shows the huge steps we have taken to develop our economy and reposition our country, and Belgrade, on the world map".

10.00: On the other side of the pond, New York is ready to welcome the first commercial flight from Belgrade after twelve years.

08.30: Serbia's national broadcaster, RTS, has confirmed that Air Serbia will be advertising across Times Square over the next two days to raise its brand awareness and celebrate the new route launch.

08.05: We have lift off. Twelve years after the last flight between Belgrade and New York and 24 years since a Belgrade-based company operated the route, services between the Serbian capital and the largest city in the United States have resumed. Live coverage continues at EX-YU Aviation News until the arrival of flight JU500 at JFK Airport, currently estimated at 12.00 local time / 18.00 CEST.

Pushback at Belgrade Airport

07.50: The gate is now closed and departure is expected in the following ten minutes.

07.35: As the last of the passengers board the aircraft, it has been confirmed that the first three flights from Belgrade to New York have been sold out in economy class. In the article below, Air Serbia's CEO explains more about the passenger structure and where the bookings have been coming from.

07.05: Passengers have now begun boarding the flight. All 254 seats will be occupied today. As reported, the aircraft will be piloted by Davor Mišeljić, while the head purser on today's maiden service is Anica Rakonjac (pictured).

06.30: The ribbon cutting ceremony is taking place. Air Serbia's CEO, Dane Kondić, says, "This is one small step for a Serb and one big step for Serbia". The Ambassador of the United States to Serbia, notes, "I flew with JAT thirty years ago to the US but this is something completely different. You are opening the gate to New York with a modern aircraft, although it's an Airbus not a Boeing". The Serbian Prime Minister, Aleksandar Vučić, expressed hope that flights to the United States will never be suspended again.

---