Starting December 9, 2022, Air Serbia will launch once weekly service between Belgrade and Tianjin in China. The route will be serviced with an Airbus A330, with flights departing Belgrade on Fridays, and the return flight departing Tianjin on Sundays.
On Thursday (November 3, 3033), Air Serbia announced the launch of new direct service between Belgrade and Tianjin, China’s fourth largest city. This marks the first time the carrier has offered direct passenger service to China since October 2022, when predecessor airline JAT operated their last flight to Beijing. The route will be serviced with an Airbus A330 with flights departing Belgrade on Fridays, and the return flight taking off from Tianjin on Sundays. The outbound flight time from Belgrade is approximately 10 hours, while the return flight time from Tianjin is around 12 hours.
In Thursday’s announcement, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiří Marek, said,
“In spite of the still limited international air traffic with China and strict rules imposed since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, our airline has succeeded in obtaining all the necessary permits and completed all preparatory activities, so that we can launch flights to Tianjin in December. Air Serbia is not a stranger to China. In 2020, we operated dozens of special cargo flights, transporting hundreds of tonnes of medical devices and equipment to Serbia. I am convinced that our direct service will help boost the already strong economic and cultural relations between the two friendly countries.
“Our ambitions in regard to flights to China do not end here. We hope that we will expand our network to other strategically important cities in the near future, such as Beijing and Shanghai. We will continue to closely monitor the status of COVID-19 related restrictions and promptly react on new opportunities, once the market access limitations have ended. The ground time that Air Serbia aircraft will be spending in Tianjin is not optimal and comes as the results of a combination of various COVID-19 restrictions still in place. We will continue to work to improve that in the future, whenever such an option becomes available.”
Air Serbia's Schedule Between Belgrade and Tianjin - Courtesy Air Serbia
With the new service, Air Serbia will be the only European airline offering direct service to Tianjin, and one of the few European carriers offering nonstop service to China. Tickets on the Belgrade-Tianjin route are now available for booking from €649 and €1,086, one-way and return, respectively. Inbound customers to Serbia will also enjoy seamless onward connections via Belgrade to destinations across Air Serbia’s network, including Amsterdam, Barcelona, Oslo, Paris, Stockholm, Frankfurt, Ljubljana, Valencia, Prague, Venice, Zagreb and other destinations throughout Europe and in the wider Balkans region.
Source: Air Serbia