President: Air Serbia plans Toronto as third point in North America

The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, has said Air Serbia will introduce flights to Toronto as its third destination in North America after services to Chicago are inaugurated in April of next year. The President did not give exact details on when flights to Canada would be introduced. Mr Vučić also confirmed earlier reports that services to the Chinese city of Tianjin will commence this December. “I have some good news, Siniša Mali [Serbian Finance Minister] has just called to inform me that Air Serbia will commence nonstop flights to Tianjin in China this December. That is big news. Next April, nonstop services to Chicago will be launched, and after that Toronto as well. So, Belgrade, and a small country like Serbia, will have nonstop flights to New York, Beijing - Tianjin, Chicago, and Toronto”, Mr Vučić said while opening a new production plant.

Air Serbia has been exploring the potential launch of flights to Toronto for several years and has held talks with Pearson Airport in the past. Last year, the Canadian Ambassador to Serbia, Giles Norman, said bureaucratic conditions have been met for the launch of flights between Belgrade and Toronto and that it was up to Air Serbia to decide whether it will introduce the transatlantic service. “In May 2018, Canada and Serbia signed an Air Transport Agreement as part of the ongoing process of acquiring the necessary permits to allow direct Air Serbia flights between Belgrade and Toronto. The Embassy of Canada has supported the Serbian national air carrier’s efforts in receiving these permits, but the decision on further developments is with Air Serbia. The introduction of a direct flight between Canada and Serbia would be highly welcomed by the large Serbian and regional diaspora in Canada, as well as businesses from both countries as it would encourage the further expansion of growing economic ties between the two nations”, Mr Norman said.

Air Serbia has so far confirmed a new one weekly service to Tianjin starting this winter, and a two weekly service to Chicago from the 2023 summer season, which begins in late March of next year. Commenting on Toronto, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, recently said, “Our main strategy is to target cities that have year-round potential. We do not want to increase seasonality, which is already high in our region. That's one of the reasons we favour Chicago over Toronto, for example, because the Canadian city is not only extremely seasonal, but also extremely unidirectional. At the beginning of the season the flights are full in one direction, and at the end of the season in the other direction”.

Air Serbia plans to operate up to five wide-body aircraft in the future as it prepares to take delivery of its second twin-aisle jet in the coming weeks. “In 2023 we will operate two Airbus A330s. If China proves to be a success story and the markets open up, we could increase to three aircraft. In the long-term, I can imagine a fleet size of around five aircraft on long haul routes”, Mr Marek recently said. He added, “The two aircraft we will be using now are the A330 Ceo, which offer good value for money. We already have a lot of experience operating this aircraft”.

EX-YU Aviation News

Share this post