Air Serbia sees glimmers of recovery as operations grow
Air Serbia is beginning to increase its operations and continues to rebuild its network after recovery efforts stalled in July and the first half of August. According to the European air service provider Eurocontrol, Air Serbia saw its operations grow 8% at the end of last week compared to late August, with the airline restoring flights to Podgorica, Tivat and Brussels over the past few weeks. Furthermore, as of yesterday, the carrier doubled its operations to Zurich to two daily flights after Switzerland lifted quarantine requirements for incoming passengers from Serbia. In addition, the airline has increased capacity on select routes such as Tivat and Tirana and ramped up charter flights to Turkey due to growing demand.
Travel restrictions remain an obstacle for the carrier as the majority of European Union member states, in most cases, do not permit Serbian nationals from entering their country. However, there is growing indication the bloc will advise its members to reopen their borders for Serbian citizens at a meeting on September 15. Although each country makes its own final decision on entry requirements, the advisory has a significant impact on member states. In the coming weeks, Montenegro is also expected to lift its requirement for all passengers from Serbia to be in possession of a negative PCR coronavirus test, which would further boost travel between the two countries.
Air Serbia currently maintains scheduled flights to thirty destinations from Belgrade and three from Niš. It plans to increase frequencies to Istanbul to daily from September 19, outstripping the number of flights operated on the route prior to the coronavirus pandemic. It will also resume services to Rome and Milan from September 25, although changes remain possible. The carrier has said, “We continue to closely monitor developments and will constantly adjust operations to possible changes in travel restrictions and demand”. According to Serbian travel agents, the strongest demand is currently being registered for flights to New York. Air Serbia also recently said that the Big Apple and Zurich are its two most successful routes at the moment.
0 Response to "Air Serbia sees glimmers of recovery as operations grow"
Post a Comment