Indian travel giant in talks over Serbia flights

InterGlobe Enterprises, the parent company of India’s largest and busiest carrier, IndiGo, with capital in tourism and aviation, has expressed interest in linking India and Serbia to cater for Indian tourists visiting the entire region. The company is currently seeking cooperation with Air Serbia to jointly establish flights between the two countries. According to the “Večernje Novosti” daily, InterGlobe Enterprises has already held talks with the Serbian government and the country’s tourism board over potential services from Delhi and Mumbai. The matter was also discussed between India's Prime Minister and his Serbian counterpart during the latter's visit to the sub-continent this January. “India is a large and promising market. We are currently in talks with one of India’s largest tour operators concerning our inclusion in its package tours”, the head of the Tourist Organisation of Serbia, Marija Labović, said.

InterGlobe’s regional representative in Belgrade, Zoran Dražeta, said, “If Air Serbia accepts the offer and becomes a partner, we could secure up to 1.000 passengers per week, maybe even more. This is a major opportunity for Serbian tourism, as well as the hospitality sector”. He added that the company will look elsewhere to the region if a deal is not reached, “If no deal is made with Air Serbia, then Croatia Airlines or Aegean Airlines most likely will. Talks are underway with the government and the tourism board as well”. However, Air Serbia’s CEO, Dane Kondić, told EX-YU Aviation News earlier this year that there is little interest in charter flights from Belgrade to far away markets. “There are very few destinations where you can fly the A330 that are going to be appealing to tour operators. Serbia is a price sensitive market and when we gauged interest for charters to Thailand – which is further to fly to than New York – the economics required to make it breakeven were too large. Another option we considered was the Caribbean, but that also can't be sustained from a market such as Serbia”, Mr Kondić explained. On the other hand, InterGlobe is aiming the potential service at Indian tourists. The last time Belgrade was linked with flights to India was just prior to the collapse of the former Yugoslavia when JAT Yugoslav Airline maintained services to Calcutta.

Serbia and India revised their Air Service Agreement in late March. Under the deal, Indian carriers can operate flights from any city in the country to any point in Serbia, while Serbian carriers can fly from any city in Serbia to four metropolitan cities in India, including Mumbai, Delhi and two other points which will be specified at a later date. Furthermore, any intermediate and beyond points can also be served by the designated carriers from both sides. Designated airlines are able to exercise domestic codeshare rights to any four additional points in the territory of the other party. According to the Indian government, "The new updated and liberalised Air Service Agreement between India and Serbia has the potential to spur greater trade, investment, tourism and cultural exchange between the two countries. The agreement will provide commercial opportunities for carriers on both sides, ensuring greater safety and security. Currently, there is no connectivity between the two nations and the revised agreement may lead to establishing connectivity between the two countries". India's second largest airline, Jet Airways, is partly owned by Etihad Airways, which also holds a 49% stake in Air Serbia. India’s GMR Infrastructure Limited is currently bidding for a 25 year concession of Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport.