Air Serbia, Georgian airports discuss Belgrade - Tbilisi service

The head of operator United Airports of Georgia, Irakli Karkashadze, held talks with Air Serbia’s Head of Network Planning and Scheduling at the CONNECT Route Development Forum in Tangier in Morocco to discuss the possibility of the airline introducing services between Belgrade and Tbilisi. Mr Karkashadze said nonstop flights between the two capital cities would be “important” for developing economic and cultural ties along with enhancing tourist flows, adding the airport operator was “making every effort” for the service to be launched. The two cities have never been linked with scheduled flights.

Mr Karkashadze pointed out Serbia as an “interesting” market for the Georgian airline sector and highlighted the 87% increase in the number of tourists visiting Georgia from Serbia in 2022 compared to the previous year, with the corresponding passenger flow number marking growth of 107%. In 2021, Georgian authorities first held talks over possible services between Belgrade and Tbilisi, as well as potential flights between the Serbian capital and Georgia’s third largest city of Kutaisi. The negotiations, which were facilitated by the Georgian Embassy in Greece, also involved potential services between Niš and Kutaisi. Both Serbian and Georgian citizens can travel visa free to each other’s countries.

Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, noted late last year, “We are looking at countries like Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, for which Belgrade would be a good option for connecting to Europe”. Belgrade Airport has seen growing demand for flights from the main gateways in the Caucuses, which, combined with transfer traffic to and from Western Europe and North America, could generate healthy loads on nonstop flights. In a five-part interview for EX-YU Aviation News, which is to be published shortly, Mr Marek spoke about Air Serbia’s network development strategy past this summer, which will see the carrier introduce 22 new routes.

EX-YU Aviation News

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