Air Serbia won the public tender in the style of a PSO that will see it operate ten routes, six of which are brand new. The public tender will see it receive almost €24 million ($27 million) from the Serbian Government, which is also the majority owner of the airline. Let's take a look at the details.

Air Serbia wins PSO tender

As expected, Air Serbia has emerged as the winner of a PSO-style tender that will see it operate ten routes that were selected by the Serbian Government as routes of public interest.

Thanks to the tender, Serbia will get its first domestic flights since the country became a successor to Yugoslavia. This will be the Air Serbia service from its base in Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport (BEG) to Niš (INI).

The new tender will see Air Serbia operate the following routes with the following starting dates:

  • 4th January 2022: Niš (INI) - Istanbul (IST)
  • 5th January 2022: Kraljevo (KVO) - Istanbul (IST)
  • 6th January 2022: Belgrade (BEG) - Niš (INI)
  • 6th January 2022: Niš (INI) - Ljubljana (LJU) (route resumption)
  • 7th January 2022: Niš (INI) - Cologne (CGN)
  • Summer 2022: Niš (INI) - Tivat (TIV)
  • Summer 2022: Niš (INI) - Athens (ATH)
  • Summer 2022: Kraljevo (KVO) - Tivat (TIV)
  • Summer 2022: Kraljevo (KVO) - Thessaloniki (SKG)

Six of these routes are brand new. Four are from Niš (INI): Athens, Belgrade, Cologne, and Istanbul. Two are from Kraljevo (KVO): Istanbul and Tivat.

Three of the ten routes in the tender are route resumptions for Air Serbia. These are Kraljevo (KVO) to Thessaloniki and Niš (INI) to Ljubljana and Tivat.

One route in the tender is merely a continuation of a route that Air Serbia already operates. This is the Niš (INI) to Frankfurt Hahn rotation.

Air Serbia A330
Photo: Getty Images.

The $27 million tender details

The tender stipulates that the routes will be maintained between the start of 2022 and the end of 2023. This means that the first flights will start in less than two weeks already.

According to the tender, all seven routes out of Niš must be operated twice weekly with the airline's Airbus A319 aircraft. However, the very short domestic service between Belgrade and Niš will have an additional two weekly flights with an ATR 72 aircraft for a total of four weekly services.

Out of Kraljevo, the three routes of public interest must all be operated twice weekly as well, but with an ATR 72 aircraft.

For the operation of these routes on a year-round basis, Air Serbia will receive a total of €11.9 million ($13.5 million) per year. This makes the total value of the tender $27 million.

Air Serbia
The airline saw its best September in history. Photo: Getty Images

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The tender builds on past tenders and agreements

This tender was announced last month as an expansion of the first such tender in Serbia, launched in 2019, for which Air Serbia was also awarded government funding. That tender was for brand new routes out of Niš deemed to be of public interest, though most of these ended up being discontinued early due to the pandemic or low demand.

The tender is also an expansion of the existing arrangement between Air Serbia and the Government of Serbia for the airline to operate international routes out of Serbia's brand new airport, Kraljevo (KVO).

What do you think of this tender? Let us know what you think in the comments below.