Air Serbia suspends flight to Abu Dhabi due to increase in fuel prices

Air Serbia has suspended flights to Abu Dhabi due to an increase in the price of fuel of 50% in the past few months, the company's director, Dane Kondic, said.

– As a responsible management, we've decided to suspend the flight to Abu Dhabi, primarily because we are considering which destinations are the least expensive, but also due to the price of fuel, which has increased by 50% since 3-4 months ago – Kondic says.

He cites the companys five-year plan, which needs to be updated in line with the fuel prices, as another reason.

When asked why there are flights to New York, if they are unprofitable as well, Kondic says that "we started from ground zero, the brand was not known and we needed to see how to win a piece of the market. As a small company, we need many investments, not just in the routes, but in the sales network as well".

– Let's be realistic, people haven't heard of Serbia there, except for the diaspora, but we can't rely solely on them either, though the capacities are 70% full. Winning America over is not easy, but we're working on it – Kondic says.

When asked whether Air Serbia feared losing subsidies due to the arrival of the future concessionaire to the Belgrade Airport, expected to take place in several months, he answered that "all the subsidies are in line with the agreements".

According to him, the phrase "night and day" best describes the company today as opposed to four years ago, which is the result of the investments, because, as he says, it has been decided to invest in this endeavor.

Air Serbia ad Beograd

Air Serbia

Belgrade Abu Dhabi flight

Belgrade New York flight

Dane Kondic

price of fuel