Serbia and Belarus are some of the few countries that have not sanctioned Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine. Air Serbia not only continues to fly to Russia, but its flights have been fully booked due to it being one of the very few carriers still operating flights there.
Air Serbia has been experiencing a high demand for flights between Belgrade (BEG) and Moscow (SVO). Moving forward, they will be using the largest aircraft in their fleet for this route, the Airbus A330-200, which has a greater passenger capacity of 257.
The European Union has called on Serbia multiple times to impose sanctions on Russia. President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, said that it would be impossible for them to sanction Russia and that Russia has been a guarantor of Serbia’s sovereignty. He stated:
“As for the sanctions, just tell me how can we simply impose sanctions against Russia overnight just to please someone? Against the only country that did not impose sanctions against us in the 1990s, against the country that has not imposed sanctions against the Republic of Srpska, against the country that saved us in the UN Security Council in 2015? Do you think you have the right to forget such things in state affairs? Let alone that it is dishonest in respect of people who have never done anything wrong against our country,”
Serbia has a strong relationship with Russia and in recent years has reportedly received multiple orders of tanks, fighter jets and helicopters from its ally.
Whilst the European Union and other countries have been sanctioning Russia, Air Serbia has been profiting and increasing its flights. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
