Executives from Air Serbia and the city’s Department of Aviation marked the return Wednesday of direct flights between Chicago and Belgrade after 31 years.
Jamie Rhee, the city’s aviation commissioner, said the wide-body service will help the Chicago area’s 350,000 residents of Serbian descent and is projected to create $55 million over the next year in economic activity.
The flights, on a 257-seat Airbus A330-200, will take off from O’Hare Airport on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Starting June 12, the airline will add a flight on Mondays.
Air Serbia, the country’s national airline, said travelers in Chicago can connect in Belgrade to other cities in its network, including Berlin, Prague, Bucharest and Sarajevo. Passengers who fly to Chicago from Belgrade can connect to other U.S. cities via a partnership with American Airlines.
Tracking service FlightAware said the Chicago-to-Belgrade route lasts around nine hours.
“The importance of that service, among other things, is evidenced by the fact that a large number of flights in the coming weeks and months have already been well-booked,” said George Petković, vice president Americas at Air Serbia.
The airline’s predecessor, Jat Airways, last flew the route in 1992.
The service resumption also was celebrated Wednesday in Belgrade with an event that included Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.
Since 2016, Air Serbia has also offered direct service between Belgrade and New York.
