Air Serbia mulls second long haul route

Air Serbia is considering introducing its second long haul service after New York. The carrier's Head of Corporate Communications, Nikola Vukomanović, told Serbia's public broadcaster, "We are seriously considering expanding our destination network with another long haul service. Of course, a final decision concerning this matter will be made in the coming period. In any case, numerous benefits and possibilities are on their way for our passengers. We are in step with the competition". It marks the first time the airline has publicly confirmed it is considering its second long haul route, more than a year after it launched five weekly flights between Belgrade and New York with its sole wide-body Airbus A330-200 aircraft.

Air Serbia stopped short of revealing which destination is being considered. In 2016, the now former President and CEO of the Etihad Aviation Group, James Hogan, said the Serbian carrier could expand its footprint in North America in two to three years. "We have already considered flights to Chicago and Toronto and these services could be introduced in two to three years. First off, the New York route must become functional. We don't want to make a decision that would set Air Serbia back", Mr Hogan noted at the time. More recently, Serbia's Prime Minister, Ana Brnabić, said her government is currently negotiating the launch of nonstop flights between Belgrade and the Indian capital of New Delhi, although, she did not indicate which carrier could operate the route.

Air Serbia has previously considered introducing long haul winter charters to Thailand and the Caribbean. However, the airline has said that the economics required to make it breakeven on these routes were too large, adding that Serbia is a price sensitive market. In an interview to the German "Aero International" magazine last October, Air Serbia's CEO noted, "The Far East is also a potential market for us if you consider relations between Serbia and the People's Republic of China. We believe that Serbia has enormous potential and when we grow we aim to do it responsibly". The President of the Air Serbia Supervisory Board, Siniša Mali, previously noted there was room for another destination to be introduced from Belgrade to China, such as Shaghai, following the recent launch of Hainan Airlines' flights from Beijing to the Serbian capital.