Air Serbia inaugurates second long haul service

---

AS IT HAPPENED

14.25: Lift off, flight JU702 has taken off for Tianjin.

14.17: Air Serbia's A330-200 destined to Tianjin has pushed back from the gate and is expected to take off within the next ten minutes.

11.30: Check-in procedures for the Tianjin flight have begun, with long lines at the dedicated check-in desks for today's service. The flight from Belgrade is sold out, along with all other flights to the Chinese city this month and in early January.

10.50: The press conference is now complete. Press will now tour the A330-200, registered YU-ARC.

10.30: Ms Brnabić notes, "I am very happy with the cooperation between Air Serbia and VINCI [Belgrade Airport] concessionaire. That synergy is and will bring excellent results".

10.28: Mr Marek notes Air Serbia is in the final stages of concluding a codeshare partnership with Air China and is also working with Hainan Airlines and several others to unlocking greater connectivity in China. "We want to be the gateway for Chinese passengers in the Balkans. We also plan to grow operations to Tianjin and other destinations in China as soon as Covid restrictiona are lifted", Mr Marek said.

10.20: Prime Minister, Ana Brnabić, said, "After two decades we are restoring flights to China. Tianjin is an exceptional city, the twentieth largest in the world and one of the most important economic hubs in China, which in 2021 had a GDP of 224 billion dollars. Hainan Airlines also operates to Belgrade so now we have Hainan and Air Serbia linking the two countries. As soon as restrictions in China are lifted we expect a big influx of tourists from the country. Before the pandemic, there were 145.000 Chinese tourists in Serbia. After the pandemic, with visa-free travel and flights, you can only imagine the tourist potential". 

10.15: Ambassador Chen Bo notes,  "These flights will bring new opportunities to strengthen relations between Serbia and China".

10.10: The CEO of Air Serbia, Jiri Marek, is now speaking. He notes, "It wasn't easy to come to this point, as Covid restrictions are still in place in China. However, with the help of the governments of Serbia and China we secured all necessary permits. Special gratitude goes to Air Serbia's employees who made this launch possible. In the future, we hope to launch flights to Beijing and Shanghai. We started planning our service to China two years ago. Air Serbia will no longer be the same following this launch. We are becoming stronger and have set the pace for future growth". 

10.09: All set to begin

10.00: The start of the conference is running slightly late. 

09.30: Ahead of the route launch, the Director General of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Tianjin Municipality, Luan Jianzhang, said, "Tianjin attaches great importance to the opening of nonstop flights with Serbia. We began talks with Serbia’s national airline back in April and since then various stakeholders have been involved and are coordinating with each other for the successful launch of this route, including the airport, the transportation commission, health commission and other relevant departments. We will make full use of all the resources at our disposal to promote the service between Tianjin and Belgrade”.

09.25: Officials from Air Serbia and the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade have started arriving ahead of the start of the press conference at 10.00.

09.00: Today's agenda: 10.02 - Air Serbia's CEO, Jiri Marek, will address the press. 10.07 - Ambassador of China to Serbia, Chen Bo, will address the press. 10.12 - The Prime Minister of Serbia, Ana Brabić, will speak. 10.15 - Q&A. 10.25 - Press will tour A330-200 jet registered YU-ARC.

08.55: Tianjin on the departures board at Belgrade Airport.

08.45: Journalists will have the opportunity to tour one of Air Serbia’s two A330-200s, registered YU-ARC, today. The aircraft will feature the cabin product of its previous operator South African Airways, until early next year. 

08.35: The inaugural flight between Belgrade and Tianjin is expected to operate with Air Serbia’s A330-200 registered YU-ARB (Nikola Tesla). The carrier’s other A330-200 jet, registered YU-ARC (Mihajlo Pupin), is expected to operate its first revenue service for the company tomorrow, to Zurich, as flight JU370, followed by New York on Sunday. Equipment changes remain possible. 

08.30: Air Serbia will hold a press conference at Belgrade Airport’s VIP lounge this morning at 10.00 CET to mark the launch of the new route. Further details on the attendees can be found in the article below.

---

Air Serbia will today inaugurate flights between Belgrade and Tianjin, its first destination in China and its second long haul service. Due to Covid-related restrictions in China, the flights will initially run once per week, each Friday from Belgrade, and each Sunday from Tianjin. The airline will host a press conference this morning to mark the launch of the route. Attending will be Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, the Prime Minister of Serbia Ana Brnabić, the Minister for Construction Transport and Infrastructure Goran Vesić and the Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Chen Bo. Tianjin becomes the second destination in China to be served from Belgrade, following the launch of nonstop flights from Beijing by Hainan Airlines earlier this year.

Air Serbia previously noted that Tianjin is being introduced as a temporary measure, until pandemic-related restrictions in China are eased, which would enable the carrier to commence flights to both Beijing and Shanghai. It noted that Tianjin, China’s fourth largest city, would continue to operate alongside the two others, if there is sufficient demand. Tianjin is linked with a high-speed train service to Beijing, taking approximately half an hour. “We are planning at least two weekly flights to Beijing and two to Shanghai with the possibility of increasing the frequency to three weekly and also serving Tianjin depending on the results”, the company previously said.

Air Serbia will have several advantages on its flights to China compared to its European competitors. It is one of the few European airlines which can fly through Russian airspace, reducing flight time and costs. Furthermore, Chinese citizens do not require a visa to enter Serbia, allowing for greater transfer opportunities. Once travel to China reopens for leisure purposes, Serbian citizens do not require a visa to enter the country, a rarity for a European nation. In addition, cargo is expected to play a key role in boosting the new route’s profitability.

In preparation for the launch of the new service, Air Serbia has begun hiring Chinese-speaking Cabin Crew Brand Ambassadors whose main role will be to perform simultaneous translation for the needs of cabin crew and cabin crew leaders in communication with passengers in-flight and with visitors at the carrier’s Premium Lounge in Belgrade. Among other tasks, the Brand Ambassador will “help in solving problems of passengers/cabin crew members/cabin crew leaders in a satisfactory manner”. Furthermore, they will “assists the crew in communicating with ground services in China in order to maintain a smooth flight process and procedures on the ground”.

Covid restrictions are expected to initially have an impact on the new route. Due to quarantine requirements and frequency limitations, the Air Serbia crew operating the service from Belgrade will also be in charge of the immediate return flight. In order to enable minimum resting requirements for the crew members, Air Serbia’s aircraft will have to be parked in Tianjin for just over 24 hours. The airline said, “The ground time that Air Serbia’s aircraft will be spending in Tianjin is not optimal and comes as the results of a combination of various Covid-19 restrictions still in place. We will continue to work to improve that in the future, whenever such an option becomes available".

China has begun rolling back its strict zero-Covid strategy following unprecedented protests across the country last month. People with Covid can now isolate at home rather than in state facilities if they have mild or no symptoms. They also no longer need to show tests for most venues and can travel more freely inside the country. Until now, China had forced people with Covid and anyone who was a close contact to go to quarantine camps. Furthermore, lateral flow tests will replace PCR tests in most scenarios where a result is needed. However, most restrictions related to international travel will continue, although there has been some respite. China has scrapped a system that penalises airlines for bringing virus cases into the country. Furthermore, the amount of time people coming to China must spend in mandatory quarantine has been reduced to seven days of home isolation.

The Serbian carrier is launching its first service to China in the lead-up to the Lunar New Year in late January, which generates significant demand for travel to the country. The Global Distribution System indicates the carrier has sold out all its flights from Belgrade to Tianjin until January 13. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, China was one of Belgrade’s largest international markets, with Shanghai and Beijing the two busiest unserved routes from the Serbian capital.

---

Services between Belgrade and China commenced 50 years ago, in August 1972, when the predecessor to Air China, CAAC, introduced flights between Beijing and Bucharest via Karachi and Belgrade with its Ilyushin 62 aircraft. In 1978 the airline upgauged its equipment to a Boeing 707 and operated a one weekly service to Belgrade via Karachi and another weekly service via Urumqi. The flights would then continue to Paris Orly and Zurich respectively.

On April 2, 1979, JAT Yugoslav Airlines launched regular charters between the Yugoslav capital and Beijing via Karachi using a Boeing 707 aircraft under its Air Yugoslavia brand. A year later, scheduled flights were introduced as JU610, while the stopover was shifted to Dubai in 1980, Several years later additional flights were introduced operated via Calcutta. On the other hand, CAAC shifted its stopover destination enroute to Belgrade from Karachi to Tehran and in 1989 would replace its B707 on the service with the B767.

JAT DC10 in Beijing, 1999

Upon the collapse of the former Yugoslavia and the introduction of UN sanctions, operations to China were discontinued. They were restored on December 18, 1997, by JAT. Due to fuel shortages in Belgrade, the outbound service often operated via ether Kyiv or Moscow during 1998 and early 1999. Flights were suspended during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in the spring and early summer of 1999 but resumed on July 17. They were maintained nonstop until October the following year. In September 2017, Hainan Airlines launched operations between Beijing and Belgrade via Prague with its A330 aircraft. The service was discontinued in November 2018. The carrier commenced nonstop flights between the two capitals in July 2022 with its A330-300 jet.

JAT sales office at the Kun Lun hotel in Beijing, 1999

---