Air Serbia - Air Berlin partnership to end

The extensive partnership agreement between Air Serbia and Air Berlin will automatically end later this month as the German carrier plans to suspend all operations by October 28. Air Serbia codeshares on forty of Air Berlin's routes, including destinations on several European markets it does not serve on its own, such as Spain, Poland and Finland. Furthermore, Air Serbia enjoyed greater access to the United States through its partnership with the German airline, offering 61 weekly flights between Serbia and the United States via Germany to cities such as New York, Boston, Chicago, Orlando, Fort Mayer, Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco. For its part, Air Berlin also placed its codes and flight numbers onto a wide range of Air Serbia's destinations. The deal generated an additional source passengers for each carrier.

Despite the demise of Air Berlin, the Serbian airline will make few changes to its German operations. This winter, the carrier will reduce a flight each to Air Berlin's hubs Berlin and Dusseldorf when compared to last year, but will retain the same number of frequencies to Frankfurt and Stuttgart. On the other hand, its operations to Hamburg, which were maintained throughout last winter, will now be served only for three weeks during the peak holiday travel period. The airline holds just over 45% of all capacity between Belgrade and Germany, offering nearly 5.000 weekly seats between the two markets, compared to a 34% share by Lufthansa and 21% held by Wizz Air. Air Berlin itself did not operate any flights to Serbia with its own equipment. In 2015 it applied for a permit to introduce six weekly services from Dusseldorf to Belgrade, but dropped the launch plans after reviewing all economic factors.

Air Serbia has previously said that Etihad's divestment from its European equity partners such as Darwin Airline, Air Berlin and Alitalia were not having an impact on its own operations. It noted, "Despite the serious challenges facing the aviation industry on a global scale, the position of Air Serbia remains stable. Our national airline is the leading carrier in the region with a strong network of flights that serve a total of 42 destinations in Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East and North America, with passenger and freight services”. Recently, the Etihad Aviation Group's Chairman of the Board, Mohamed Mubarak Fadhel Al Mazro, said, "The Board and executive team have been working since last year to address issues and challenges through a comprehensive strategic review aimed at driving improved performance across the group, which includes a full review of our airline equity partnership strategy". Air Berlin filed for insolvency on August 15 after Etihad, its leading shareholder, withdrew its financial support.

Air Berlin flights codeshared by Air Serbia Alicante, Berlin, Billund, Bologna, Boston, Cologne, Chicago, Copenhagen, Dresden, Florence, Faro, Frankfurt, Fort Myers, Funchal, Gothenburg, Hannover, Hamburg, Helsinki, Innsbruck, Karlsruhe, Krakow, Los Angeles, Malaga, Munich, Miami, New York, Nuremberg, Oslo, Palma de Mallorca, Reykjavik, Saarbrucken, Salzburg, San Francisco, Stockholm, Stuttgart, Tenerife, Venice, Vienna, Warsaw

Air Serbia flights codeshared by Air Berlin Athens, Banja Luka, Berlin, Bucharest, Dubrovnik, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Larnaca, New York, Ohrid, Pula, Podgorica, Sofia, Skopje, Split, Stuttgart, Tivat, Thessaloniki, Tel Aviv, Vienna, Venice, Zagreb, Zurich