Serbia holds talks with IndiGo founder over potential flights

The Serbian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Nikola Selaković, has held talks with Rahul Bhatia, the founder of India’s largest airline IndiGo, over the potential introduction of flights to Belgrade. It comes after the number of Indian arrivals into Serbia increased 168% on the pre-pandemic 2019. Mr Selaković noted that the launch of nonstop operations from Indian cities to the Serbian capital would further improve business and tourism ties. The Foreign Minister said Air Serbia is interested in cooperating with IndiGo, particularly regarding flights to third countries. IndiGo has a wide-ranging codeshare agreement in place with Turkish Airlines, which sees the low cost carrier maintain services to Istanbul, from which passengers are transferred onto Turkish’s European network of flights. 

IndiGo had previously expressed interest in serving Belgrade, with talks taking place with the Serbian government and Tourism Board in 2018. This summer, the airline, which boasts a fleet of over 270 aircraft, operated a series of charter flights from New Delhi and Bangalore to Belgrade, catering for Indian nationals requiring to undergo quarantine in a so called “safe” country before proceeding to their final destination, primarily in the Middle East, United States, Canada and Hong Kong, due to travel bans and restrictions imposed on citizens and residents of India at the time. "Serbia is aggressively looking at tapping into the Indian outbound market. Abolishing visas for Indians travelling to Serbia has proved quite helpful and is becoming a unique selling point for Serbia as a destination. The next few years are very important in terms of marketing and promoting Serbia effectively in India. From India, Serbia is targeting young professionals and backpackers who like to explore countries and are open to new experiences", the Serbian Embassy in India said.

Indirect traffic between India and Serbia has increased significantly over the past few years. In the pre-pandemic 2019, 17.775 passengers travelled between the two countries on a single itinerary, making it the sixth busiest long haul market from Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad were the largest sources of traffic between the two nations, with Delhi and Mumbai themselves accounting for 67% of all passengers between the two countries. Qatar Airways was the most popular transfer airline, handling 30% of the traffic. It was followed by Etihad Airways and Aeroflot, each with 23% of the market, then Flydubai with 8% and Turkish Airlines with a 4% share. During the first three quarters of 2021, Indian tourists accounted for the third largest number of overnight stays in Serbia following those from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Turkey. The number of Indian nationals entering Serbia between January and October stood at 20.849. up 168% on the same period in 2019 and 119% on the whole of 2019.

Serbia and India revised their Air Service Agreement in March 2017. Under the deal, Indian carriers can operate flights from any city in the country to any point in Serbia, while Serbian carriers can fly from any city in Serbia to four metropolitan cities in India, including New Delhi, Mumbai and two other points which would be specified at a later date. The last time Belgrade was linked with scheduled flights to India was just prior to the collapse of the former Yugoslavia when JAT Yugoslav Airlines maintained services to Calcutta. In the late 1980s it was to introduce services to Mumbai as well and opened its representative office in the city. However, negotiations with the relevant authorities stalled after the Indian government said ticket sales would be subject to a royalty tax, making it unfeasible for JAT to introduce the flights. The route was primarily aimed to cater for Indians travelling to the United States.