Air Serbia has suspended ticket sales on its flights between Belgrade and Tianjin past November 5. Passengers who booked tickets past this date have received notification of their flights being cancelled. The airline closed reservations past the first week of November this Thursday. EX-YU Aviation News reached out to Air Serbia about the matter on Friday morning but did not receive a response by the close of business. However, according to sources familiar with the matter, the airline opted for the move recently with staffing playing an important role in its decision. At this point, it is unclear if and when sales will be restored. The last flight out of Belgrade is currently scheduled for November 5, and the return service from Tianjin on November 6.
The development comes as Air Serbia continues to expand into China. Following the launch of its two weekly service to Guangzhou last month, the carrier is set to inaugurate two weekly operations to Shanghai on January 11. Air Serbia claimed as early as this month that it would continue to serve Tianjin, emphasising the route has been profitable since the day it launched in December 2022. Based on passenger figures over its first year of operations, the route did perform well with a high average cabin load factor. However, the airline only maintained a one weekly flight between the two cities, with exception to November and December of 2023 when the route was operated twice per week. Due to the one weekly frequency, Air Serbia’s aircraft stays in Tianjin over 24 hours upon arrival, in order to enable the same crew to operate the return service after rest. As a result, the entire rotation lasts three days.
Earlier this year, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said the airline would not hesitate to discontinue any long-haul service that failed to perform. However, on the same occasion he noted that Tianjin had been a successful route. Air Serbia launched flights to Tianjin while coronavirus-related restrictions were in place in China. At the time, foreign carriers were restricted to where they could fly to in the country. As a result, the carrier was unable to introduce services to Beijing, which is located just over 100 kilometres from Tianjin. The two cities are linked by high-speed rail. After restrictions were lifted, the Serbian carrier said it would stick with Tianjin instead of transferring operations to Beijing as the route was performing well. Air Serbia faces no direct competition on the Tianjin service, although Hainan Airlines maintains two weekly rotations from nearby Beijing.
