Summary
- Air Serbia launches nonstop flights from Guangzhou to Belgrade using Airbus A330-200 aircraft on Mondays and Fridays.
- It also has plans to introduce a Shanghai route by December.
- Serbia’s visa-free policy attracts Chinese tourists to the Balkan region – benefiting neighboring countries.
Air Serbia announced on the 18th that it will launch a direct flight from Guangzhou to Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, on September 30 this year. The flight will operate twice a week, using an Airbus A330-200.
Flight JU988 will depart from Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport (BEG) at 00:50 every Monday and Friday, arriving at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN) at 17:10; flight JU989 will depart from Guangzhou at 22:10 every Monday and Friday, returning to Belgrade at 04:30.
Photo: Great Circle Map
In addition to the Guangzhou route, Air Serbia plans to launch a direct flight from Shanghai to Belgrade in December this year. Together with the Tianjin route, which was launched in 2022, there will be three direct routes between China and Serbia. Air Serbia is also the only non-Chinese airline to launch new international flights to China after the pandemic.
As of this month, 19 non-Chinese airlines operate routes to and from mainland China (including the soon-to-be-suspended Virgin Atlantic), down from 27 in 2019 before the pandemic, a decrease of 8 airlines. The only addition is Air Serbia, while 9 airlines have stopped operating routes to mainland China.
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Air Serbia flights to China
In early 2022, under the consensus of the national leaders of the two countries, Air Serbia planned to launch direct flights to China. Through the joint efforts of both sides, it took less than 8 months to achieve the inaugural flight of the “Belgrade-Tianjin” route on December 11. This was the first direct flight route between China and Serbia in 22 years.
On December 11, 2022, the inaugural ceremony of the direct flight from Tianjin to Belgrade was held at Tianjin Binhai International Airport (TSN). Due to China’s strict control measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, this intercontinental route attracted widespread attention.
Photo: Air Serbia
The flight operates once a week, flying from Belgrade to Tianjin on Fridays and returning from Tianjin to Belgrade on Sundays. The aircraft used for this route is an A330-200, the only wide-body aircraft in Air Serbia’s fleet, with a one-way flight time of about 10 hours.
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According to a company memo, the Serbian flag carrier has secured an alternative for the Airbus A330 initially eyed for delivery in mid-2023.
The Belgrade-Tianjin route has been in operation for over a year and a half and currently runs once a week. As of the end of last month, it had transported more than 33,500 passengers.
Serbia attracts Chinese tourists with visa-free policy
The main sources of passengers for the Belgrade-Tianjin route are business travelers and outbound tourists. Due to the mutual visa exemption between China and Serbia, more and more Chinese tourists are making Serbia an important destination for traveling to the Balkan region. While enjoying the local scenery, Chinese tourists can also visit neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Albania without a visa.
Serbia is also the first European country to grant visa-free access to Chinese citizens. Chinese Ambassador to Serbia, Li Ming, stated that in recent years, the “mutual visa exemption + mutual recognition of driving licenses + launching of direct flights” has built a new framework for cultural exchanges between China and Serbia, providing significant support.
Photo: Air Serbia
It is worth mentioning that traveling to other European countries from Belgrade, Serbia’s capital, is very convenient. It is only a little over an hour’s flight to famous European tourist cities such as Istanbul, Rome, and Vienna.
The China Tourism Academy pointed out that in 2023, the number of outbound tourists from China exceeded 87 million, and it is expected that the number will reach 130 million in 2024.
