Air Serbia Launches its First Flight to Chicago After 30 Years

Air Serbia Airbus A330 (BETAPHOTO/LUKA FILIPOVIC/EV)

Speaking during a May 17 ceremony to mark the launch of Air Serbia’s first flight to Chicago after three decades, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that Serbia was the only state in the region whose airline would operate flights to two largest U.S. cities.

“Air Serbia’s most profitable service is the flight between Belgrade and New York. We believe the route to Chicago will be equally successful. It links Serbia and the Serbs, the expatriate communities in the United States, Canada and Midwest. This is a big event, connecting us with the American people. We will learn a lot about each other,” Vucic said in his speech at Belgrade’s “Nikola Tesla” airport.

The president said that there’s EUR117 million in Air Serbia’s account, and its business results were better than Yugoslav national airliner JAT’s, even though it’s three times smaller than the Yugoslav predecessor. According to Vucic, the flights to Chicago are fully booked until the end of June.

Air Serbia will operate the Belgrade-Chicago flight on Wednesdays and Saturdays until June 11, and three times a week after that date, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. The U.S. ambassador to Serbia, Christopher Hill, has said that Air Serbia brings the U.S. and Serbia together. “There are many things connecting the two countries. Not only basketball, but also this new flight, which will make our ties even closer,” Hill said.