Air Serbia has decided to increase their capacity in Russia. Bomb threats are threatening these flights.
Many countries have taken sides with Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The United States, Canada, the European Union and other countries have imposed sanctions on Russia. Russian airlines have been banned from their airspace, and airlines from other countries are also banned from Russian airspace.
Serbia has taken a more neutral stance. Serbia has not banned flights from Russia. Air Serbia responded to market demand and increased flights to Russia.
Even though it doesn't fly to New York, the airline is still flying the A330 to Moscow and St. Petersburg. The demand for travel from Russia is significant, at least compared to capacity, with Aeroflot having suspended international flights and European Union airlines being banned from Russia. Air Serbia is one of the only options to fly between the European Union and Russia.
Air Serbia is making a lot of money off of the demand for travel to Russia, as other airlines pull out. I don't think we can say that cutting off air links from Russia is a good thing, even if you're anti-Putin.
Shouldn't we allow people to flee Russia if they fear for their safety? It probably doesn't describe a lot of people taking these flights, but my point is that this is complicated.
In March alone, Air Serbia received bomb threats. Emails expressing displeasure at the carrier's choice to continue flying to Russia have been reported.
In some cases bomb threats were made while the plane was on the ground, in other cases they were made after planes were airborne, and in the case of the one where the plane was on the ground, a thorough search was performed.
The first incident was from Belgrade to Moscow. When the threat came in, the plane turned around and took off from Belgrade. The plane was in the air for under 30 minutes. The plane was extensively searched and left around seven hours after the scheduled departure time. It was very bad.
On March 14, 2022, the same flight faced another bomb threat, this time a bit later after takeoff. The plane made it all the way to the border between Hungary and Slovakia before turning around. The plane flew for 90 minutes to nowhere. The plane left over six hours late.
On March 15, an Air Serbia flight to Moscow had another bomb threat. The flight was delayed by three hours because it was before takeoff. Oh and then March 17? There was a similar delay on the flight.
Air Serbia backtracked on some of its Russia flight increases. The general operational challenges of operating flights that constantly get bomb threats, as well as the issues with the optics of these flights, are likely to be the reasons for that.
Air Serbia tried to increase service to Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. The airline has faced bomb threats on these flights as a way of expressing displeasure with the company's service.
Air Serbia flights had to return to Belgrade in two instances because of threats after planes were airborne. Air Serbia is still offering service to the country even though it has backtracked on some of its growth in Russia.
What do you think about Air Serbia's service to Russia?
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