Low cost carrier Air Arabia has cancelled plans to launch four weekly flights between Sharjah and Belgrade this summer season. According to the "Aviatica" portal, the airline decided on the move due to insufficient time to prepare for the launch, which was scheduled for June 28. The decision comes just weeks after the carrier selected its general sales agent in Belgrade. Ticket sales for the service, which began in January, have now been suspended.

The Middle East and North Africa’s largest low cost airline would have faced stiff indirect competition on the route, with Etihad to run double daily services between Abu Dhabi and Belgrade during the peak summer months, while Flydubai will maintain five weekly services until July 1, after which flights will be increased to daily. In total, the two airlines will offer 3.066 seats each way between Serbia and the United Arab Emirates during the height of summer.

The Chairman of operator VINCI Airports, Nicolas Notebaert, said on Monday, "Traffic development is vital in VINCI's objectives for the development of Nikola Tesla Airport. Our teams, in partnership with various airlines, identify opportunities for new routes to provide airlines with the best conditions to allow efficient operations and a friendly environment for passengers. This is exactly what we are doing here in Belgrade where our experts are already at work to develop solutions. New routes will benefit the citizens of Serbia and Belgrade. Like any airport in a capital city, Nikola Tesla is an essential asset for both the country's economic development and international visibility".

Air Arabia has had mixed success in the former Yugoslavia. It currently maintains seasonal summer flights to Sarajevo which were initially scheduled to run throughout the year. The carrier will operate double daily services to the Bosnian capital this summer. On the other hand, in 2011, the budget airline introduced two weekly services from Dubai to Tuzla, which were cancelled a month later due to extremely poor loads. A year later, in 2012, the airline introduced two weekly flights between Sharjah and Pristina. The service was also discontinued within a month. Air Arabia currently operates a fleet of 54 Airbus A320 aircraft, serving over 150 routes from four hubs - Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE, Alexandria in Egypt and Casablanca in Morocco.