Serbia plans for flights from new markets

The Serbian Ministry for Construction, Transport and Infrastructure is aiming to attract more medium and long haul flights to the country in an effort to boost tourism and connectivity. It has identified several markets which hold potential to generate inbound or outbound travel from Serbia in the form of seasonal or charter flights, including Canada, Japan, India, South Korea and Morocco, as well as further opportunities in the United States and China. In its latest report, the European Travel Commission linked Serbia's tourism growth during the first half of the year to strong marketing efforts and improved air connectivity. Last week, Iranian carrier Qeshm Airlines launched charter flights from Tehran to Belgrade, while from mid-September China's Hainan Airlines will introduce two weekly services from Beijing via Prague.

Commenting on its upcoming plans, the Serbian Minister for Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, Zorana Mihajlović, said, "In the coming period we expect even more new flights from Belgrade Airport, which will link us with previously unserved markets and in turn boost tourism. The government is working towards establishing flights to Chicago, and hopefully to Canada". The head of the National Tourism Organisation of Serbia, Marija Labović, added, "The development of air transport is one of the most important factors in increasing tourist numbers. When it comes to new markets, our selection is based primarily on the availability of direct flights. Thanks to our national carrier Air Serbia, in recent years, both Belgrade and our country have been well connected to a number of destinations, which is a basic prerequisite for the development of tourism. Furthermore, the upcoming flights to Beijing represents an extremely positive step forward". The substantial 40.3% growth in the number of visitors from the US to Serbia this year has been linked to Air Serbia's service to and from New York. Furthermore, the country has seen the largest growth in the number of Chinese tourists in Europe this year, up 166.6%, which has been attributed to the abolishment of visa requirements for Chinese nationals.

The Transport Ministry told EX-YU Aviation News in a statement it has renegotiated a number of air service agreements in order to open up new markets and attract new carriers. Over the past year, new agreements have been inked with the United States, India, South Korea, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand, the Dominican Republic, Israel, Iran and Iraq, to name a few, while new accords are being negotiated with Canada, Azerbaijan and Pakistan. The importance of such agreements is illustrated in the case of Israel, where an additional two airlines launched services between Tel Aviv and Belgrade after the two sides reached an air deal. "By revising the agreement we have encouraged competition and increased the number of seats between Israel and Serbia, which has resulted in lower fares. In 2016, approximately 55.000 passengers flew between the two countries, and the number of travellers is expected to increase significantly this year, with capacity also rising", Israel's Minister for Transport, Yisrael Katz, said.

The Serbian government has also expressed its hope to further boost connectivity with China through the potential introduction of flights to Shanghai and has announced nonstop services from Beijing next year, without the intermediate stop in Prague. Furthermore, 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. Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister for Civil Aviation in the South Korean government, Suh Hoon-Taik, said last month, "There is interest on both sides to establish scheduled flights between Korea and Serbia and we will undertake a study to determine if there is sufficient demand. The prerequisite for these flights is an Air Service Agreement, which was concluded with Serbia last year".