Air Serbia has launched direct flights on newly introduced Belgrade - Rostov-on-Don route with JU 676 flight, operated by the Airbus A319. The Serbian national airline will operate flights to its fourth destination in the Russian Federation twice a week, on Fridays and Sundays.

The inaugural flight was welcomed with traditional water salutes at Platov International Airport, which is one of the newest Russian airports, opened in 2017. Representatives of Air Serbia and the airport attended the ceremony held on that occasion.

“We are pleased that, despite the current circumstances, we are further expanding our network of destinations and strengthening our presence in Russia, which is a strategically extremely important market for us. We are glad that by improving our offer, we are contributing to the strengthening of commercial and tourist activity between our two countries. This is evidenced by the high demand and good load factor of flights to Rostov-on-Don in the coming period,” said Jiri Marek, General Manager of Commercial and Strategy at Air Serbia.

Known as the “Gate to the Caucasus”, Rostov-on-Don represents one of the largest cities in the European part of Russia and the political, cultural and economic center of the south of this country. The Serbian national airline planned to establish an air connection with Rostov-on-Don in June 2020, but the start of flights had been postponed due to the global coronavirus pandemic.

“We are always glad to see new airlines at Platov airport. We hope for long and mutually beneficial cooperation with Air Serbia. The new route from Rostov-on-Don to Belgrade is very important, since it activates further development of international and domestic flights. Belgrade is a major transport center in Europe while Platov has a well-developed network of direct air flights to the regions of Russia. These factors open up prospects for the growth of Rostov airport as a transfer hub. Moreover, Platov already has a successful experience as a hub for servicing flights from Russian regions abroad,” said Alexander Serov, Executive Director of Platov airport.

The flight schedule on this flight is designed to provide seamless connections with numerous cities in the Air Serbia network, such as - Athens, Bucharest, Istanbul, Larnaca, London, Ljubljana, Tivat, Paris, Podgorica, Prague, Sarajevo, Skopje, Thessaloniki, Tirana and Zurich. A direct flight between Belgrade and Rostov-on-Don takes an average of two hours and 50 minutes.

Air Serbia has also renewed flights to Krasnodar, and on 8 June, it will be renewing air traffic to Saint Petersburg - two destinations to which flights were temporarily suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

More information about the activities of the Serbian national airline can be found on the Air Serbia Media Centre web page.