The President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić, has said the country’s state-owned flag carrier will resume flights between Belgrade and the Egyptian capital of Cairo shortly. The announcement came after Serbia and Egypt inked a Free Trade Agreement earlier this week aimed at boosting economic and trade cooperation between the two countries. According to Mr Vučić, “Many people have complained over the lack of flights between Serbia and Egypt. Air Serbia will resume its flights between Belgrade and Cairo as soon as possible. When I say as soon as possible, this will happen within the next two month, no later than that. As a result, we will once again establish even better connectivity between Egypt and Serbia”.
Air Serbia itself has not commented on the matter. The airline commenced services between Belgrade and Cairo in the summer of 2019, but the flights were suspended following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. It then restored the overnight service last summer, however, the route was suspended in February 2024 amid capacity restraints and has so far failed to make a return to its network. The halt of the airline’s Cairo service also marked the end of Air Serbia’s scheduled flights to North Africa, although the airline maintains a busy charter network to Hurghada, Marsa Matruh, and Marsa Alam in Egypt, as well as Monastir in Tunisia. During the summer of 2023, Air Serbia saw significant transfer traffic on its Cairo service, primarily to and from Germany, Italy, France, and Scandinavian markets.
The only scheduled flights between Belgrade and Egypt are currently maintained by Air Cairo, which runs year-round operations between Hurghada and the Serbian capital. The new Free Trade Agreement between Serbia and Egypt is expected to boost business travel between the two countries, as well as cargo demand. Trade exchange between Egypt and Serbia reached $120.4 million in 2023, compared to $104.7 million in 2022, an increase of 15%. Egypt’s main exports to Serbia in 2023 were vegetables and fruits, fertilisers, and plastics. On the other hand, Serbia’s main exports to Egypt included tobacco, grains, machines, electrical appliances, mechanical devices and tools, as well as rubber.
