Air Serbia suspends operations, plans China humanitarian flights


Air Serbia has temporarily suspended all scheduled flights as of today, following a decision by the Serbian government to close Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport to stem the outbreak of the coronavirus Covid-19. The airline’s last scheduled service arrived from New York this morning. The carrier will today (crew pictured above) operate a special charter from Belgrade to Guangzhou via Shanghai with its wide-body Airbus A330-200 aircraft, which will bring medical supplies, as well as doctors from the country. A second charter service to China is planned next Monday.


In a statement, the airline said, “Due to the situation resulting from the coronavirus pandemic and the temporary suspension of all commercial international traffic, Air Serbia will temporarily suspend passenger transport. In the meantime, the Serbian national air carrier’s full resources are placed at the disposal of government authorities to support all activities that are required in the interest of the Republic of Serbia”. The airline is today operating a triangle Belgrade - Paris - Amsterdam service to bring back stranded passengers, with more rescue flights expected at short notice in the coming days.  

Serbia daily traffic change (vs 2019)

Air Serbia was expected to have a strong summer season this year, with the addition of four aircraft to its fleet and the launch of seven new routes. The carrier handled a record number of passengers during the first two months of the year, with key operational metrics improving compared to 2019. Air Serbia joins a growing list of carriers around the world which are temporarily discontinuing all commercial operations.




Comments

  1. Anonymous09:12

    Good luck Air Serbia. I hope they pull through.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous09:15

    When does the flights to Shanghai leave?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:23

      JU 001 at 13.20 today.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:03

      Thank you

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:17

    :(

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous09:23

    Izadji iz svega jaca i bolja Air Serbia!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous09:24

    So Serbia and Italy are the only countries so far to get direct aid from China?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:25

      Czech Republic has too.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:58

      Belgium as well.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:04

      Bulgaria, too. I think most of Eastern Europe.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:09

      What help did these countries get?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:21

      I don't know about others but Belgium got 5 million masks. And another shipment is expected next week.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:24

      What about doctors? I know Italy got them.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:38

      Czech Republic is sending 6 planes to China. But I'm not sure if these are donations or if they actually purchased medical equipment from China (I think it's purchased).

      Delete
    8. Anonymous13:14

      Poland got help from China as well. Most European countries are/will be getting help from China.

      Also EU as a whole got a big package of help from China but it was decided to send it all to Italy.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous16:36

      Even though many got material help, only Italy and Serbia have received Chinese doctors to help. Italy because of crisis and Serbia because of strong ties between the two countries. I expect this crisis to bring the two countries even closer. China has been a wonderful partner these past several years, especially in terms of infrastructure.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous16:51

      In these dark times, such rays of sunlight gives us all hope. :)
      Nice to see there is still solidarity between the two people and that Chinese are standing by us. These flights to bring help are just a small part of it all.

      http://www.politika.rs/scc/clanak/450453/Kineski-narod-zeli-da-pomogne-Srbiji

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:27

    That is bad news!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:03

      Yeah it's bad news for the entire industry, unless you have been living under a rock.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:53

    Can someone explain to me how come QR was allowed to fly into Belgrade? Did they get a permit like TK to operate to bring stranded Serbs back home?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:03

      I don't see any QR flights.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:09

      It's there of FR24

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:11

      It departed at 09.32 and is about to enter Greece.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:17

      That QR flight has nothing to do with bringing Serbs back. It was a flight that departed Budapest this morning but was for some reason diverted to Belgrade. They quickly left BEG (within an hour and a half). It is possible that they evacuated Qatari citizens or that they had some mechanical issue.

      Delete
    5. They have evacuated QR crew who was in Belgrade.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous10:05

    The Serbian government should use Air Serbia planes to evacuate many people who are stuck around the world. I'm not talking about gasterbaiters who actually live and work in other countries, I'm talking about people living in Serbia who are currently abroad. Embassies are being inundated with calls, from far afield as New Zealand.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:19

      I agree. Many governments are finding ways to return their citizens. For now Serbian government hasn't done anything.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:39

      +100

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:01

      This is twisting the truth, until yesterday AirSerbia was flying to couple of major hubs. There were also some special flights for people outside those hubs.
      It is not realistic to send instantly airplane for every single person that send message this morning. Those things have to be planned, people grouped at some points etc.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:02

      "There were also some special flights for people outside those hubs."

      Can you tell me to where and when?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:24

      Government announced this morning that they are looking where to send planes to evacuate as many people as possible.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous16:47

      Today Serbia's national carrier, Air Serbia, will operate a triangle flight BEG-CDG-AMS to bring back stranded Serbian citizens.

      Delete
  9. Does anyone know the LF for the last flight from JFK?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nemjee10:25

      About 150 passengers.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous10:22

    Stay strong JU! You have been through tougher times :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous10:46

    I'm a bit surprised by that graph. Flights operations were holding up quite well until a few days ago.

    ReplyDelete
  12. U ovakom vremenu koje prezivljavaju ljudi u gotovo svim oblastima, pored medicine, putnicka avijacija i aerodromi prozivljavaju tesko vreme i velike tegobe...
    Osobe koje u ovo vreme olajavaju nastojanja vlada i ljudi iz avijacije, jesu neljudi. Ne samo da nemaju razuma i znanja.
    Vec ni oraza. Bezdusni su. Sirom sveta ih je mnogo. Pa ima ih i u Srbiji. Sve sto se moze reci jeste:
    Zivela Srbija. Bolesna i zdrava. Pala i ustala!
    Ne zaboravite da vas voli i pozdravlja Rodney Marinkovic and Aviation Enthusiast Group.
    U dobru i u zlu. Na aerodromima i u vazduhu u podnebesju Gospodnjem.
    Rodney Marinkovic Kings Park Sydney Australia. 🛫🇦🇺🛫🇷🇸🛫😀🛫❤🛫

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous11:00

    I must say I was quite confused by their flight cancellation email. On their website it says that the cancellation emails would have a link from where you could choose what option to take, and that one of the options would be to get a refund. But the email I got has no links, doesn't mention refund as an option and is written quite hastily.

    I understand the difficult circumstances, but they should be used as an opportunity to give your passengers clarity and thus keep their trust and loyalty for the future.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:11

      I agree. The website says you are entitled to a refund, but the email I received says you have to call them and they will reschedule you.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous11:15

    RIP aviation

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:33

      Yesterday Air Canada announced that they will fire half of their cabin crew among which are all of those working for Rouge!!

      Delete
  15. YU-ARA took of at 2pm. Anybody knows where?

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:05

      Read the article... it literally says it in the title too.

      Delete
  16. Srbija je iznajmila i Antonov za kargo prevoz da bi se što pre dopremila neophodna sredstva. Kinezi su nam mnogo medicinske i zaštitne opreme donirali, takođe smo mnogo i kupili. Toliko robe ima da bi A330 morao da obavi 40 povratnih letova. Prvi teret sa A330 je donacija predsednika Kine. Sa njim će sleteti i grupa kineskih lekara koji će pomoći našim lekarima

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous15:38

    I bought some tickets through consolidator site (Scansaver), now they are not answering any calls / mails anymore after our flights were cancelled by the airline. The airline refers us to the agency while those shut off their doors completely. Over 2000E lost in space! DO NOT purchase tickets online from various agencies, only directly from the airlines. НАРАВОУЧЕНИЈЕ!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:38

      Exactly, because of similar experiences I stopped buying them from agencies. From the airline website is the safest and best way to do it.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous16:46

    Aeroflot is operating normally the afternoon flight, I suppose they are taking Russian citizens out of the country before the worst hits Serbia

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:50

      Such comments make me feel pain simply because it reminds me of where we were supposed to be right now. Serbian aviation was supposed to be in turbo mode right now but in stead our beautiful planes are sitting idle, collecting dust. I hope things will return to where we were some time ago, before this dark chapter of our lives started.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous09:21

    Good social distancing in that photo!!!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous10:35

    Come on Air Serbia we wish you the Best!

    ReplyDelete

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