Serbian national airline Air Serbia set records over the first six months of 2023, transporting around 1.7 million passengers, which was an increase of 87 percent over the previous year and 59 percent more compared to the record year 2019, which was prior to the pandemic.
This also translated into good business.
“According to preliminary financial reports, the Serbian national airline recorded a profit of 22.4 million euros in the first half of the year, which is practically at the level of profit for the entire year of 2022,” the company said in a press release.
Air Serbia passengers made up about 50 percent of those traveling through the Belgrade airport, and in June alone the market share of Air Serbia passengers at the Belgrade airport was 55 percent.
During this period Air Serbia made a total of 19,181 flights, which is 63 percent more compared to the same period last year, or 38 percent more than in the first six months of 2019.
“Bearing in mind the good financial result, Air Serbia, in accordance with domestic laws and respecting the legislative framework of the European Union, decided to pay EUR 20 mln to the Republic of Serbia already this year, based on the funds received through the recapitalization procedure,” the release added.
The airline emphasized that it wanted to thank the Republic of Serbia for its support, and that it would continue “to fulfill obligations under the Recapitalization Agreement.”
The Republic of Serbia carried out the recapitalization of the Serbian national airline in accordance with European and domestic regulations in December 2020 and in September 2022, as a measure to eliminate business disruptions caused by the Covid 19 pandemic during 2020 and 2021.
Photo by Petar Milošević, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.
