Iran, Serbia resume direct flights after 27 years
The air route between the two countries was re-established after a plane of Iran’s national flag-carrier airline Iran Air touched down at Belgrade's Nikola Tesla airport.
Iran Air is offering a direct service between Tehran and Belgrade twice weekly, with all flights fully booked until the end of the summer, according to reports by Serbia’s domestic media.
A second Iranian carrier, Qeshm Air, is also planning to launch a service between the two capitals starting from March 19.
This past December, Iran and Serbia agreed to revive the direct air flight route between the two countries. This came in light of several key trade deals the two countries signed during a visit to Belgrade by Mojtaba Khosrotaj, the head of Trade Promotion Organization of Iran.
Khosrotaj was quoted by media as saying during the visit that the recent measures taken by the Serbian government – particularly the removal of visa restrictions for Iranian nationals travelling to the country – would help boost mutual trade.
In 2017, the government of Serbia announced that in order to improve bilateral relations as well as to attract tourists and investors to Serbia, it had passed a legislation to abolish visa requirements for citizens of Iran and India intending to travel to the country.
The level of trade between Iran and Serbia stands at $20 million.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in February visited Belgrade to explore the avenues for expanding economic relations between the two countries.
In a meeting with his Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic, Zarif named oil, gas, petrochemicals, mines, agriculture and IT as some areas appropriate for expansion of ties between the two countries.
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