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Canada is one of Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport’s largest unserved markets, with 61.232 indirect passengers traveling between the two in 2019. Talks between Serbia and Canada over the resumption of flights between their two largest cities has been ongoing since 2018, when the two countries signed a bilateral Air Service Agreement, which had been drafted twelve years earlier. "The agreement paves way for negotiations to start between Air Serbia and Air Canada. Their representatives have to determine how many flights there should be and what would be the most profitable solution. However, there is no doubt that the introduction of nonstop flights to Canada would be extremely important for our citizens and country", the Serbian Ministry for Foreign Affairs said.
Flights between Belgrade and Toronto were the busiest citypair between the two
countries. In 2019, Toronto was Belgrade Airport’s third busiest
unserved route after Shanghai and Beijing, as well as the busiest in North
America. Overall, there were 40.856 passengers travelling between the two
cities. The majority of travellers flew in combination with Air Canada and Air
Serbia, with passengers shuttled by the latter to several European points such as
London Heathrow, Amsterdam and Zurich and then continued their journey with
Canada’s national carrier. On the other hand, the single most used feeder
airport to and from Toronto was Warsaw with around 19% of passengers traveling
on the route with LOT Polish Airlines through its hub. LOT’s Sales
Coordinator, Krystian Rolla, told EX-YU Aviation News that, under normal
circumstances, the largest number of passengers on its service from Belgrade
to Warsaw are headed onwards to Toronto.
Top transfer airlines on Toronto - Belgrade - Toronto route in 2019
Top transfer airports on Toronto - Belgrade - Toronto route in 2019
Other airports in Canada which had over 1.000 passengers traveling indirectly to or from Belgrade included Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton.
Busiest Serbia - Canada - Serbia routes in 2019
Air Canada and Air Serbia hold the largest share of connecting traffic between the two countries, handling 27% and 24% of passengers respectively. Lufthansa, which has a codesare agreement with Air Canada on flights between Germany and Belgrade came third. Overall, London Heathrow is the most utilised feeder airport for flights between Serbia and Canada, with a market share of 15%, followed by Warsaw, Munich and Amsterdam.
Top transfer airlines for Serbia - Canada - Serbia travel in 2019
Top transfer airports for Serbia - Canada - Serbia travel in 2019
Transport Canada, which regulates aviation matters in the country, has told EX-YU Aviation News that the initial Air Service Agreement between the two countries was drafted back in December 2006 but has only come into effect with its signing in 2018. It noted that the deal was only provisionally applied over the past decade and was updated three years ago. Air Serbia and Air Canada have been designated by each country as their operating carrier, while the routes and associated rights remain confidential. "We would really like for flights to commence and we are certain Canadian Serbs would want it too as they have fond memories of JAT's nonstop service", the Canadian Embassy in Belgrade said.
In 2007, leisure carrier Skyservice launched flights from Canada's largest city to the Serbian capital, but the airline suspended all operations and declared bankruptcy later on. Prior to that, during the 1970s and 1980s, JAT Yugoslav Airlines maintained services from Belgrade to Toronto and Montreal. In its last normal year of operations, prior to the break-up of the former Yugoslavia, during the summer of 1990, JAT operated three weekly flights to Toronto, both via Zagreb and Montreal. It should be noted that JAT was limited in its number of flights to Canada due to the bilateral Air Service Agreement between the two countries at the time.