Emirates will be extending its reach into the former Yugoslavia by codeshareing on Flydubai's operations from Dubai to Belgrade, Sarajevo and Skopje. The Middle East's largest airline has already added its designator code and flight numbers on services to the Serbian capital (EK2220/2221), with others to follow, as the two launch an “extensive partnership” agreement. The deal will go beyond codesharing and will include integrated network collaboration with coordinated scheduling. The carriers already boast an interline agreement on services to and from Belgrade, Sarajevo and Skopje, which allows passengers to catch connecting flights on either airline without checking in again, however, unlike a codeshare, such deals don't usually cover coordinated flight times, joint marketing or reciprocal frequent flyer benefits. Between them, the two carriers currently operate to 216 cities. They expect to be serving 240 destinations as a combined operation by 2022, with a total fleet of 380 aircraft.

Emirates introduced its first service to the former Yugoslavia this summer, between Dubai and Zagreb, after Flydubai suspended the route in November 2016. The carrier has said it is pleased with the reception of its product on the Croatian market, while booking levels over the coming months have been strong. "The new flight is a year round service and we will work hard to support the route and grow passenger numbers going forward", it said in a statement. However, it ruled out launching operations to other cities in the former Yugoslavia for the time being. "For now we are not planning on introducing flights to other destinations in this region", Emirates said.

Flydubai has announced it will boost its operations to the former Yugoslavia this coming winter season. The carrier will introduce an additional weekly flight to the Macedonian capital each Saturday starting November 4 for a total of three weekly services. Furthermore, it will add an extra three weekly flights to its Belgrade operations for a total of seven per week, starting November 25. The airline will continue to maintain four weekly services to Sarajevo, as was the case last winter. Although Emirates has already added its codes onto Flydubai's Belgrade service, the remaining codeshares are expected to come into effect from the fourth quarter of this year.