Air Serbia will perform its last flight on the Kyiv-Belgrade route this year on 30 September, avianews.com reports, citing the information in the airline booking system.
The company told that the flights were being discontinued because of their seasonal nature. However, Kyiv-Belgrade flights are absent in the flight timetable for summer 2017 and searches on the airline’s website returned the error message “Invalid Routes.”
Air Serbia entered the Ukrainian market at the second attempt in 2016, when it began operating daily flights (except on Wednesdays) between Kyiv and Belgrade on 16 June. It operated a Bombardier CRJ 900 Slovenian regional aircraft belonging to the Adria airline on the route.
Air Serbia first tried to enter the Ukrainian market in 2014, when it began selling roundtrip tickets for flights between Kyiv and Belgrade at the price of UAH 1,450, including charges. However, the launch of the flights was postponed indefinitely in April. In a statement, Air Serbia only said, "the safety of passengers and crew is paramount" for the airline.
Air Serbia was created on the basis of the Serbian national air carrier JAT Airways. Etihad Airways from the United Arab Emirates became a shareholder in the airline, acquiring over 49% of the shares in JAT Airways.
Until 2013, Kyiv-Belgrade flights were performed by the Ukrainian airline AeroSvit. Direct flights between Ukraine and Serbia were suspended after AeroSvit stopped flying.
