Montenegro Airlines “survival unimaginable” without Belgrade

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Montenegro Airlines has warned it is incurring significant losses due to its inability to resume flights to Belgrade. The Serbian Civil Aviation Directorate banned the Montenegrin carrier from operating services from Podgorica and Tivat to Belgrade after Montenegro restricted entry for Serbian nationals into Montenegro. The carrier’s CEO, Vlastimir Ristić, said, “We are still awaiting information on when we can restart flights to Belgrade. There is significant interest from both us and our passengers. We are getting inquiries regarding these flights every day. We share traditional and business links with Serbia. We have students studying there. We are connected with Serbia in many ways. These huge generators of people-to-people exchange have been halted by these decisions. As soon as this political problem is resolved we will restart flights, but at this point we can’t predict when that may be”. Mr Ristić added, “The route to Belgrade is not just our most successful service but also the region’s most successful. We can’t even imagine surviving without this route. It is very important in all aspects. This service has organic demand where we always have a sufficient number of passengers, as well plenty of interest and it is a route that is extremely important for our tourism industry, as well as other sectors of the economy”. As a result of the ongoing spat, Air Serbia has also delayed its resumption of flights to Podgorica and Tivat for a second time, from June 7 until June 10.