Etihad Airways’ maiden flight to Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, has landed on schedule at the city’s Nikola Tesla Airport.
The Airbus A319 aircraft flight EY71 from Abu Dhabi, touched down at 12.15pm (local time) and was welcomed with the traditional water cannon salute from airport fire engines.
The national airline of the United Arab Emirates now flies daily between Abu Dhabi and Belgrade, carrying the JU code of Serbian national carrier, JatAirways.
Cooperation between Etihad Airways and JatAirways continues to grow and the two airlines will (subject to government and regulatory approval) add their code to more than 40 destinations across each other’s networks.
Etihad Airways operates a two cabin Airbus A319 aircraft on the service between Abu Dhabi and Belgrade, configured to carry 106 passengers, with 16 seats in Pearl Business Class and 90 seats in Coral Economy Class.
The aircraft was welcome at the gate by Joost den Hartog, Etihad Airways’ Vice President for Europe, and Violeta Jovanović, Belgrade airport Chief Financial Officer. They were joined by Captain Suliman Yaqoobi, Chief A320 pilot at Etihad Airways, who operated the return flight to Abu Dhabi, and Aisha Al Mansoori, First Officer.