Serbia targets China flights for H2 2022
Serbia and China have finalised a mid-term cooperation agreement until 2025 which outlines when individual projects between the two countries will be implemented. Among them is the introduction of nonstop flights, which has been slated for the second half of next year. The Serbian Finance Minister, Siniša Mali, held talks with the Chinese Ambassador to Serbia regarding the future service, noting the two sides must now work on details for flights from Belgrade to either Beijing or Shanghai to be launched. He noted there was a strong desire from both sides for the service to be introduced.
Recently, the Serbian President, Aleksandar Vučić, held talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, during which he expressed the need for nonstop flights between Belgrade and China to be established. Mr Vučić said a service between the Serbian capital and either Shanghai, Beijing or Guangzhou is necessary due to strong demand and asked China’s leader to look into the matter. “President Xi said he is taking considerable notice of the request. When he says something like that, you can expect for his words to be put into action within a short period of time”, Mr Vućić said. He added the flights could be operated by either Air Serbia or a Chinese carrier.
China has emerged as one of the top unserved markets to and from Belgrade since visa restrictions between the two countries were mutually lifted in 2017, with travel reaching a record high in 2019, prior to the coronavirus pandemic. A total of 145.248 passengers travelled between the two countries in 2019 (excluding Hong Kong and Taiwan). Of those, 62.518 flew to or from Shanghai, or around 43% of all China travellers. It was followed by Beijing with 52.123 passengers and Guangzhou with 14.087 travellers. Air Serbia’s CEO, Dunacan Naysmith, recently said the airline was continuing to look into options at expanding its long haul network, with the Chinese market being of interest. Air Serbia has a codeshare agreement in place with Air China between Vienna and Beijing. Last year, the Serbian carrier renewed its Special Prorate Agreement with Hainan Airlines enabling passengers to reach Beijing from Belgrade via Brussels, Berlin and Moscow.
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