Mahan Air suspends Belgrade service amid pressure

Iranian carrier Mahan Air has abruptly suspended its two weekly service between Tehran and Belgrade over increased US pressure on service providers to end their cooperation with the carrier, which it alleges supports terrorism. Mahan Air maintained flights to the Serbian capital with its 299-seat Airbus A340-300 widebody jet. The US Treasury Department recently warned both companies and governments across the world regarding dealings with Mahan Air and sanctioned a Malaysian tour operator for selling the airline's tickets. The new US Ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, requested the German government last month to block Mahan Air from flying within German airspace and deny it landing rights in the country. "We know that Mahan Air has been used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a mode of transport for weapons, resources and fighters, so we’re asking our allies to help us put a stop to it”, Mr Grenell said.

Despite Mahan Air's suspension, the US has not blacklisted other Iranian carriers and both Iran Air and Qeshm Air continue to operate flights to Belgrade. Iran Air recently reaffirmed its commitment to its Belgrade service, launched this March, by putting tickets on sale for the route for the upcoming 2018/19 winter season. The Iranian national carrier will maintain two weekly services from Tehran to the Serbian capital with its 260-seat twin-aisle Airbus A300-600 aircraft. The airline recently noted it would consider either adding extra frequencies to Belgrade in the future or introducing an additional service from a secondary Iranian city such as Isfahan or Shiraz, from which it sees potential for flights. Similarly, Qeshm Air will continue to maintain its two weekly service to Belgrade throughout the winter season.

Iran Air will serve Belgrade this winter with its A300-600 jet

Serbia and Iran inked a Bilateral Air Service Agreement this June. A spokesperson for the Iran Civil Aviation Organisation, Reza Jafarzadeh, said that Air Serbia will commence flights to Tehran within "the next few months". The airline itself has not commented on the matter. It initially planned to launch services to Teheran by mid-2017, however, the route never materialised. Mr Jafarzadeh added that the visa free regime currently in force between the two countries has had a positive effect on people-to-people exchange and that further growth in tourism is expected in the coming period. Another Iranian carrier, Kish Air, has announced it will launch flights between Shiraz and Belgrade later this year. During the first half of 2018, a total of 8.556 Iranian nationals entered Serbia.