Air Serbia opens second base

Air Serbia will open its second base in Niš today, after winning a tender, valued at five million euros per year, to carry out scheduled air services declared to be of public interest from the south-east Serbian city. The carrier will inaugurate flights to Nuremberg this evening with an Airbus A319 aircraft, which will be stationed at Constantine the Great Airport. It will be followed by the introduction of services to Bologna, Tivat and Hanover tomorrow, Gothenburg and Hahn on July 17, as well as Ljubljana, Budapest, Friedrichshafen, Salzburg, Rome and Baden Baden between August 1 and 3. The development marks an end to Air Serbia's single base model. Furthermore, it will see the carrier serve Ljubljana, Rome and Tivat from both Belgrade and Niš. The subsidised flights will also result in the airline's return to Budapest after four years and Gothenbrug following a six-year hiatus. The new destinations will see the Serbian carrier serve a record ten airports in Germany, as well as four in Italy and two in Austria.

Tivat has so far proven to be the most popular destination amongst travellers from Niš, with the route to be served three times per week during the summer. In a statement, Air Serbia said, "Our aim is to enable the citizens of Niš to fly under the most favourable possible conditions to these twelve destinations on offer. The flights will be performed using an Airbus A319 aircraft in Air Serbia’s livery. We will provide Serbian hospitality to our passengers at the best possible prices". The new services from Niš top off a significant summer expansion for the airline, which has seen it add a total of 21 new routes. Air Serbia's General Manager for Commercial and Strategy, Jiri Marek, said, "We are very pleased to be connecting Niš to Nuremberg, a new destination in Germany and the first that we will serve from the south of Serbia. With this flight today, Niš Constantine the Great Airport is officially becoming a hub for our aircraft alongside the Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. We are certain that better connections to Germany will contribute to the strengthening of commercial activities and tourism between our two countries".

In another first for Air Serbia, its Niš flights will mark the launch of operations to a number of secondary airports, which are primarily served by budget carriers. However, Niš Airport has said the twelve routes are not aimed against low cost carriers Wizz Air and Ryanair that have been serving the city for several years. "These low cost airlines won't be chased out. Traffic from Niš will continue to develop and there will be more demand and the need for more carriers", Niš Airport said. It added, “Southern Serbia’s connectivity will be significantly improved with these new routes and we are certain planes will be full on all services, considering the excellent conditions offered by the airline”. Constantine the Great Airport saw a second consecutive month of growth in June by handling 29.832 passengers, representing an increase of 2.7%. During the first half of the year the number of travellers declined 4.9% to 165.658.

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