Air Serbia scraps planned Amman service

Air Serbia has cancelled plans to launch four weekly flights from Belgrade to Amman this summer. Initially announced in late January, the carrier planned to maintain four weekly flights between the two cities starting June 1, with three weekly rotations operating over the winter. The airline has not provided a reason for the termination. Ticket sales have been discontinued while tour operators that were selling packages to Jordan, utilising Air Serbia’s Amman service, have also removed them from sale. Passengers who were booked on the flights have been offered an alternative with Turkish Airlines via Istanbul, with Air Serbia codesharing on both sectors.

Amman becomes the second route from Air Serbia’s planned 2022 summer expansion to be cancelled. Previously, the airline also discontinued sales for its planned Sochi flights in light of the situation in Russia. Services to Amman were initially planned to launch back in the summer of 2020 but were cancelled due to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and travel restrictions. Flights from the Jordanian capital were scheduled so as to offer convenient connections via Belgrade to other European destinations. The airline was in particular targeting transfer traffic to Berlin, Vienna, Zurich, Ljubljana, Milan, Paris, Prague, Podgorica, Rome, Stuttgart, Tivat, Trieste, Venice and Zagreb.

Commenting on the planned Amman service back in January, Boško Rupić, who was at the time Head of Sales and Marketing, but has since assumed the role of General Manager for Commercial and Strategy, said, “The decision to introduce direct flights to Amman is a result of the strategic importance of renewing our presence in the Middle East region”. Since the start of Covid-19, Air Serbia has suspended all of its flights to the Middle East. Amman was last served by Air Serbia’s predecessor, JAT Yugoslav Airlines, until 2001. In 2008, Royal Wings, the charter arm of Jordan’s national carrier Royal Jordanian Airlines, commenced a one weekly service between the two capital cities which lasted for a single season. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Turkish Airlines handled 30% of traffic between Belgrade and Amman. It was followed by TAROM with a 26% share, Aegean Airlines with 21% of all passengers, Alitalia with an 8% share and Austrian Airlines with a 7% passenger share.

EX-YU Aviation News

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