Passenger plane takes off from Belgrade for New York

The "Airbus A330" aircraft took off this morning at 8:08 AM from Belgrade's "Nikola Tesla" Airport, officially opening the direct Belgrade – New York line after almost 25 years, reports Tanjug, as relayed by NAP.

Air Serbia will operate this route five times a week.

This is the first wide-body aircraft for regular intercontinental traffic between the Balkans and the USA, which is now the largest aircraft in Air Serbia's fleet, and which arrived in Belgrade on May 11.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić and US Ambassador to Belgrade Kyle Scott, along with other officials, cut the ceremonial ribbon today to mark the introduction of the direct flight from Belgrade to New York.

Preparations for the first direct flight lasted a year and a half, and the opening of the line has been met with an excellent response from passengers, as more than 15,000 tickets have been sold so far.

At the ceremony marking the opening of the line, Prime Minister Vučić said this morning that the introduction of the direct flight from Belgrade to New York shows Serbia's commitment to opening up to the world.

- This flight means new life for the national airline and our country, it shows Serbia's commitment to opening up to the world, as well as to achieving friendship with those with whom we could not in the last 25 years, emphasized the Prime Minister, recalling that this is the first direct flight of Serbia's national airline to the USA in the last 24 years.

He pointed out that one learns throughout life, and "that we have learned from our mistakes from the previous three decades." 

- Today, we are slowly passing one exam after another and bringing the country to the heights it deserves. If we manage to preserve regional stability, and we invest a lot of time and effort into it, we will succeed in gathering citizens from the former Yugoslavia in Belgrade as we used to, and this flight will help with that. There is no better or more affordable flight for those who would travel from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Montenegro to New York, explained Vučić.

Belgrade, according to him, is becoming an important center, and he expressed his belief that much can be done in the future in this regard.

He also expressed regret that he cannot fly to New York, because "the government must be formed quickly."

US Ambassador Kyle Scott congratulated Serbia on the strategic decision to open the line to New York, stating that this line will strengthen ties between the two countries.

- I am sure that this strategic decision is good for Serbia and the USA, for our relations and tourism, Scott underlined.