Serbia to reopen airports
Serbia has outlined plans for the phased reopening of the country’s economy from next Tuesday until mid-May, including its commercial airports. The “controlled” opening of the airports is expected to occur between the week of May 4 and May 11. Some commercial flights are expected to resume, however, they will be severely limited due to travel restrictions elsewhere, as well as the grounding of most European carriers. The reopening of the airports will be coordinated with other supporting infrastructure such as intercity transport and hotels. However, the plans could be halted if the number of coronavirus Covid-19 cases increases.
Foreigners are currently banned from entering Serbia. Serbian nationals arriving on repatriation flights at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport are transported to government-run facilities where they are tested for the virus. If the results come back negative, they are then obligated to self-isolate for 28 days. It hasn’t been communicated whether these measures will continue to be enforced once the airports begin reopening next month. Air Serbia has scheduled flights from May and is selling tickets across its network, although it will be impossible for the carrier to maintain all of its operations. Wizz Air plans to resume flights from Basel, Dortmund and Memmingen to Niš Constantine the Great Airport from May 15. Services from Vienna and Malmo to the southeast Serbian city are due to restart on June 1. The budget airline will commence operations between London Luton and Belgrade in May, while all other services from its Belgrade base have been pushed back until June 1.
Outlining measures to reopen the economy, Serbia’s President, Aleksandar Vučić, again reiterated the country’s commitment to supporting Air Serbia. “Those employed at Air Serbia shouldn’t worry about their jobs. We will seriously strengthen the airline. Just recently, there were negotiations between the national carrier and JFK Airport in New York regarding the improvement of business terms and conditions. The airport said it sees a serious partner in the Serbian carrier because they know the state will never allow it to collapse. The European Union will now enable recapitalisation and state aid. Everything that wasn’t allowed in the past will be from now on”, the President noted.
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