Several North African markets are exploring the establishment of flights to Belgrade in the near future. While some have been in discussions with relevant aviation stakeholders for years, Belgrade Airport's newly introduced incentive policy, specifically targeting operations to the North African region, is anticipated to provide the necessary momentum to bring these services to fruition. Morocco, Algeria, and Libya have all expressed their interest in launching flights to the Serbian capital.
The head of the Moroccan Tourism Office, Adel El Fakir, recently said, "The Moroccan National Tourism Office is collaborating with Serbian tour operators to develop packages that promote Moroccan destinations and boost sales. Efforts are also underway to enhance air connectivity between the two countries, including the introduction of charter flights to Morocco. Our primary focus is on establishing nonstop flights between Serbia and Morocco to attract more tourists. Negotiations with several airlines are currently in progress”. The two countries have never been linked with a scheduled air service.
The Algerian Ambassador to Serbia, Fatah Mahraz, has initiated efforts to establish nonstop flights between the two countries, engaging with various key stakeholders. In earlier discussions with the Serbian Civil Aviation Directorate, the regulator stated, “During talks requested by Ambassador Mahraz, we addressed the Algerian proposal and the requirements necessary for resuming scheduled flights between Serbia and Algeria, in the shared interest of both nations”. Flights between the two countries were last operated up until the break-up of the former Yugoslavia. Both Air Algerie and JAT Yugoslav Airlines maintained operations between Belgrade and Algiers
The Libyan Ambassador to Serbia, Mohamed Ghalboun, has voiced optimism about the potential establishment of flights between Tripoli and Belgrade in the near future. "Launching flights between our two countries would strengthen tourism cooperation between Libya and Serbia. Libya offers a favourable climate and a diverse range of tourist attractions, which could enhance mutual growth in the tourism sector. Additionally, Serbian companies could play a role in investing in these projects", Mr Ghalboun said. Scheduled flights between Belgrade and Tripoli were last operated by Jat Airways in 2009 via Malta.
Cairo and Tunis account for the highest volume of indirect passenger traffic from Belgrade to the African continent. Scheduled year round flights between Tunis and the Serbian capital were operated by Tunisair until the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, after which the service was discontinued, while Serbia has since introduced entry visas for Tunisian nationals. On the other hand, Air Serbia briefly restored flights to Cairo in 2023, however, they only ran for a single season. Officials have said services between the two cities would be reintroduced soon but this is yet to materialise. Serbia and Egypt recently signed a Free Trade Agreement which is expected to significantly boost business between the two countries and could result in the resumption of flights between the two capitals. Belgrade remains linked to the Egyptian resort city of Hurghada on a scheduled year-round basis. Following Cairo and Tunis, other North African cities generating notable indirect traffic from Belgrade include Monastir (served through charters), Algiers and Casablanca.



Comments
Lybia is not realistic due to situation in that country.
The most of European airlines do not fly there (LH, OS, LX, KL, AF, IB, LO, BA, A3) and TK and ITA fly there due to Lybian citizens in these countries and not due to tourism.
Past failures can also provide valuable lessons.
And since you mentioned Morocco, Moroccan citizens, cannot even enter Algeria, or if at all are subjected to scrutiny. I know this as I have to travel there for work sometime in April and my boss happens to be morrocan and I will be travelling there because she can't. And since I will be travelling there for work, I thought I'd travel as a tourist to the Sahara and this is how I know you need a separate visa for the south of the country. If you do it via an agency, you can get a visa on arrival, but I have yet to see what is needed for this. Was surprised to find out Algeria is such a closed country.
Aw and also, recently France and Algeria have started some feud so this seems to complicate consular things for them as well.
Back to the topic of flights: with such consular drama plus the general instability in Libya, flights to this region make very little sense at this point imo. The already existing ones are, I think catering for the Algerian diaspora in Europe.
It is possible that these passengers weren't going to Russia but somewhere on holiday. With so many Russians now living in Serbia and Belgrade in particular, QR is a very popular choice for travel to South East Asia, especially Thailand, Vietnam and Maldives. It is possible these people live in Serbia and were just going on a holiday.