Serbia’s president seeks Belgrade – Tokyo launch within six months despite management’s hesitance

Air Serbia A330-200
Air Serbia operated charter flights between Belgrade and Tokyo in October 2024. (Image: Anna Zvereva, CC BY-SA 2.0)

At the Serbia-Japan Business Forum held in Belgrade last week, Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vučić indicated he would like to see Air Serbia launch scheduled Belgrade – Tokyo flights within the next six months.

According to the Development Agency of Serbia, one of the event’s organizers and supporters alongside the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), the Government of the Republic of Serbia, the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, the Embassy of Japan in Belgrade, and the Japan Business Alliance in Serbia, “The event marks the visit of the largest economic delegation from Japan ever to visit Serbia.”

EX-YU Aviation News reported that Vučić said, “I have discussed this matter with [Minister for Finance] Siniša Mali. There are three new routes we will need to launch in the next six months. One of those three direct routes is Tokyo.”

Vučić said that while the Tokyo route is the least popular among the airline’s management of the three, “connecting us with Japan is of outmost importance for our country.” “If Japanese airport authorities can be of help with some small incentives, we would be very grateful,” he added.

Air Serbia is in the process of expanding into the Far East. It already operates flights from Belgrade to Guangzhou and Tianjin in China and is planning to add flights to Shanghai early next year. In August 2024, it appointed APG as its General Sales Agent (GSA) in Japan.

The business delegation from Japan traveled from Tokyo Narita to Belgrade on October 14, 2024, on an Air Serbia charter flight, which marked the first time a non-stop flight was operated on the route. It traveled back on another Air Serbia charter flight, on October 20, 2024. Both flights were operated by Airbus A330-200 aircraft.

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