newstodate.aero

May 11, 2023 (newstodate): As one of the few European carriers today allowed through Russian airspace, Air Serbia has a strong focus on business opportunities in China.
   As its first scheduled destination in China, the carrier launched flights from Belgrade to Tianjin on December 9, 2022, with one weekly rotation operated with Airbus A330 aircraft.   
   But Air Serbia's plans go beyond this: the carrier hopes to add also flights to Beijing and Shanghai, as well as Guangzhou and Chengdu.
   One step towards this goal, Air Serbia has now secured traffic rights to Shanghai, but will still have to negotiate for slot allocation to open up the route.
   The carrier will also expand its fleet of Airbus A330 aircraft; two units are now in the fleet, but negotiations over the acquisition of a third aircraft to be delivered in July 2023 broke down and are still pending, with Q4/23 as a new delivery target - and a fourth acquisition is also being planned.
   Before the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world in 2019, China was the largest long haul market from Serbia based on OAG data, even outperforming the United States.