LONDON – Earlier this week saw, Qatar Airways & Air Serbia sign an extensive codesharing arrangement, which will become effective from February 1.
The New Arrangement…
Under the deal, Qatar Airways will be opened up to new destinations within Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, Slovenia, and other countries that Air Serbia serves.
Up to 40 destinations will be added to the Qatar Airways codesharing network, offering further connectivity around Europe.
For Air Serbia, it will add its IATA code to direct flights from Belgrade to Doha with the Qatari airline, as well as to destinations across the world, with the airline naming the following as an example:
- Adelaide
- Baku
- Brisbane
- Tbilisi
- Ho Chi Minh City
- Hong Kong
- Melbourne
- Muscat
- Nairobi
- Perth
- Seychelles
- Singapore
- Sydney
Upon acquiring regulatory approval, Air Serbia intends to expand its coverage to the following destinations:
- Bangkok
- Cape Town
- Johannesburg
- Phuket
- Seoul
- Tokyo
- Yerevan
- Zanzibar
- And other destinations!
Executive Comments…
Commenting on the arrangement was Qatar Airways’ GCEO, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker:
“This partnership will allow us to expand our footprint in the Central and Eastern European markets, where we are looking forward to offering additional travel choices for our customers.”
“We are extremely proud to unveil this partnership with Air Serbia, the leading airline in this region since it was founded in 1927, and we look forward to working effortlessly together.”
Also commenting on the new deal with Qatar Airways was Air Serbia’s CEO Jiří Marek:
“It is our great pleasure to announce the codeshare agreement with Qatar Airways, known for its global network of destinations and premium service.”
“We are joining forces to provide passengers with new connection opportunities and access to unique destinations from both networks.”
“Through this cooperation, we believe that we will be able to jointly bring to Serbia more traffic and opportunities for trade and tourism, as well as to increase the traffic between the two hubs.”
A Significant Expansion for Air Serbia…
This does represent a significant expansion for Air Serbia in terms of brand presence, which will no doubt open itself up to new passenger markets globally.
From the appearance of this deal, this would benefit Air Serbia more on the international stage, with Qatar Airways benefitting from major connections within Eastern Europe and beyond.
If the other destinations acquire regulatory approval as well, then this will further extend that point of a bigger brand presence globally.
Either way, this is a unique deal and will be one to watch out for, especially if we see Air Serbia expand in size over the next few years.
Overall…
It remains clear that this deal is going to be one to watch out for, especially as the agreement expands over time.
For Air Serbia, this is a significant opportunity to set a standard in its own global branding and footprint, especially from the perspective of Serbian tourism as well.
But for now, all eyes are on Qatar Airways and Air Serbia to see how well this extensive deal will perform and whether we could see a larger expansion going into the future.
