The national airline of the United Arab Emirates, Etihad Airways, has said it will commence daily nonstop flights between its home base of Abu Dhabi and Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, from June 15, 2013.
JatAirways, Serbia’s national carrier, will place its code on the new service, as well as to 21 destinations on the Etihad Airways network.
In return, Etihad Airways will place its EY code on 23 of JatAirways’ European flights. All subject to government’s and regulatory approval.
According to a statement from the airline office in Nigeria, the flights will help to provide better access to Belgrade for several hundreds of thousand Serbian nationals living around the world.
Etihad Airways will operate a two cabin Airbus A319 aircraft on the service between Abu Dhabi and Belgrade, configured to carry 106 passengers, with 16 seats in Pearl Business Class and 90 seats in Coral Economy Class.
The announcement was made at a media conference in Belgrade hosted by Etihad Airways’ Chief Executive Officer, Mr. James Hogan and JatAirways’ Chief Executive Officer, Vladimir Ognjenovic’.
Hogan said, “The launch of Etihad Airways’ flights between Abu Dhabi and Belgrade, and the partnership development with JatAirways will cater for the significant and growing demand for air travel between the UAE and Serbia, as well as cities with large Serbian populations around the world, particularly in Australia and the US.”
“Etihad Airways’ strategy of working closely with a local partner in new markets has brought impressive results and we are confident that the cooperation with JatAirways will benefit both airlines and, most of all, air travellers who will now have better connections and services to and from Serbia.”
Among the many benefits that the Etihad Airways’ Belgrade service will bring was seamless connectivity with the airline’s flights between Abu Dhabi and Melbourne and Sydney, supporting the strong historical and cultural links between Serbia and Australia, the statement added.
Currently, there are more than 100,000 Australian citizens of Serbian ancestry, mostly residing in Melbourne and Sydney.
Ognjenovic’ said, “It is our great pleasure to welcome Etihad Airways to Belgrade and codeshare with the UAE’s national airline and the world’s leading airline. We look forward to increasing the number of passengers travelling between Belgrade and Abu Dhabi and enhancing the relationship between Serbia and the UAE.”