Five carriers restore Belgrade operations

Five foreign carriers are in the process of restoring services to Belgrade, as the airport’s number of flights declined 52% over the weekend when compared to last year’s values, making it one of its better results since the pandemic began. As previously reported, over the past two weeks, LOT Polish Airlines, Aeroflot and Israir have resumed flights, with Tunisair to recommence operations today after seven months, followed by Arkia Israeli Airlines over the coming weekend. The Polish carrier is currently maintaining four weekly services from Warsaw, while Aeroflot runs two weekly rotations. The latter is expected to begin ticket sales for the route for the upcoming winter season during next week, once it receives approval from the Russian government.

Israir has ramped up its operations from Tel Aviv to the Serbian capital to daily after Israel dropped the country from its travel restrictions list in mid-September. It will be joined by Arkia Israeli Airlines on October 17, which will maintain three weekly services. As of today, Tunisair will restore operations between Tunis and Belgrade with its Boeing 737-600 aircraft, making it its first flight on the route since March 17. Services will run once per week, as has been the case in previous years over the winter months. In addition to the five aforementioned carriers, other airlines currently serving Belgrade include Air Serbia, Air France, Air Cairo, Austrian Airlines, Belavia, easyJet, Etihad Airways, Flydubai, Lufthansa, Montenegro Airlines, Pegasus, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Qatar Airways, Swiss and Wizz Air. 

In a statement, operator VINCI said, "The decision to open the borders at the end of May helped traffic to recover. Further encouraging signs include the continued improvement, month after month, in passenger numbers (down 84.1% in July compared to 69.7% in September). Across the full third quarter, passenger numbers at Belgrade airport fell 77.7%".

Percentage of cancelled Belgrade Airport flights on weekly basis

However, the airport will see several airlines temporarily suspend their services in the coming weeks. Air France will not serve Belgrade over the winter, while Etihad will operate its last flight between Abu Dhabi and Belgrade tomorrow before a six-week hiatus. Furthermore, easyJet will not run any services to the Serbian capital in November and will resume its operations from Basel, Berlin and Geneva in December. Meanwhile, both Aegean Airlines and Alitalia have announced they will not be restoring their respective flights to Belgrade from Athens and Rome before the start of the 2021 summer season. Dutch low cost carrier Transavia plans to return to the Serbian capital in mid-December. Changes remain possible. In addition, frequencies have been significantly reduced on almost all operational routes when compared to last year.