Serbian regulator block AnadoluJet flights
Turkish Airlines’ lower cost unit AnadoluJet has discontinued sales for its planned new Antalya - Belgrade flights, which were to launch this July, after the Serbian Civil Aviation Directorate failed to issue the carrier with a permit to maintain the service. Operations were to be carried out four times per week with the Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Air Serbia announced last week it plans to run charter flights to Antalya this summer. The route was among the busiest in July and August last year when there were several flights per day to the Turkish coastal city. Furthermore, the carrier will also run charters between Niš and Antalya from June 19, with flights to operate every ten days.
Services between Serbia and Turkey are regulated by a rigid bilateral air service agreement which came into force in 2019 after it took four years for it to be approved by Turkish parliament. The deal designates Air Serbia as Serbia’s operating carrier, while Turkey has nominated Turkish Airlines and Pegasus Airlines. The three carriers are able to maintain services between the two countries with limitations in the number of operated flights and capacity. The agreement does not regulate charter operations between the two countries, which has been a contentious issue on several occasions. Acting in line with the agreement, the Serbian Civil Aviation Directorate has the right to turn down AnadoluJet’s flight request. Under the deal, each airline must take into consideration how their operations will affect their competitors, while regulators are able to determine if any increase in capacity or frequencies is justified and in line with market conditions.
The Directorate previously blocked Turkish Airlines from deploying its wide-body Airbus A330-200 aircraft on flights from Istanbul to Belgrade and later refused to allow the Turkish carrier to increase frequencies from fourteen to eighteen weekly. AnadoluJet is significantly expanding its international operations this summer with dozens of new routes to be launched. Within the region, it has already commenced services from Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen Airport to Sarajevo and also plans to introduce flights from Antalya and Bodrum to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital, as well as from Istanbul and Bodrum to Pristina and from Antalya to Skopje.
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