In 2016 Air Serbia
welcomed the arrival
of its f irst wide-
body jetliner. The
Airbus A330-200
is being leased from
Jet Airways and is
conf igured with 18
business and 236
economy class seats.
This has enabled
the Serbian f lag
carrier to return
to intercontinental
business 24 years
after JAT ceased such
services in May 1992.
A S
scheduled and charter f lights, of which 1,213 were operated
by Aviolet. The growth of Air Serbia’s network meant that
the airline’s network reached 44 destinations in 2016 while
the codeshare partnerships with 19 carriers expanded Air
Serbia’s connectivity to 127 cities worldwide.
Meanwhile, Air Serbia made history on May 10, 2017
when for the first time in the 90-year history of the Serbian
f lag carrier, a A320 airliner operated with an entirely female
f light and cabin crew departed Belgrade on a special f light
to Paris.The Future
With a history that can be traced back more than 90 years
the Serbian f lag carrier is now in a very positive position.
However, faced with the ending of government subsidies
the company will need to seriously decrease its operational
expenses and accumulate more profit through better f leetutilisation and strengthening of its short-haul network. To
that end, Air Serbia plans to use the A319 f leet to target new
short-haul European destinations.
Speaking on this, Air Serbia’s CEO Dane Kondic told
Serbian media that he believes that for the 12 hours each
A319 needs for a single Belgrade – Abu Dhabi – Belgrade
rotation the aircraft can perform four more-profitable short-
haul rotations in Europe.
The carrier's focus on further development of its short-haul
network in Europe is visible in the recently announced plan
for outfitting the existing f leet of leased A319/320 aircraft
with slimmer seats to increase the seat density and to better
utilise cabins for serving shorter f lights. These aircraft are
to remain in service until they are gradually replaced by the
ten Airbus A320neos on order.
For the first time in decades the airline’s future appears to
be promising.Air Serbia’s f leet was
boosted in May 2015
with the arrival of a
sixth ATR-72. The
airline’s new livery
was designed by
25-year-old graphic
designer Tamara
Maksimovic. It is
a stylised double-
headed eagle inspired
by the Serbian coat-
of-arms.
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