Seven years on Air France returns to Belgrade

BELGRADE, April 4 (AFP) – Air France officially resumed direct daily flights from Paris to Belgrade on Monday, after a seven-year break, officials said.

“We are opening a new window for Serbia because our planes are landing at the airport Roissy Charles de Gaulle, the most important in Europe,” said Etienne Rochou, Air France’s general director for Europe.

Hugues Pernet, the French ambassador to Belgrade, said he was “very glad” for Air France’s return to Belgrade.

“This is a new step towards Europe, but also towards the United States, because indirect transatlantic flights are also established,” Pernet told reporters, speaking in Serbian.

Air France will use Airbus A320 planes, capable of transporting 148 passengers, for its flights to and from Belgrade. Ticket prices start at EUR 99 (USD 127.34).

Air France, which has maintained direct links between Belgrade and Paris since the 1930s, suspended air traffic with Serbia in 1998 after the first announcement of a possible NATO intervention against Yugoslavia because of the Kosovo conflict.