Etihad Regional and Air Serbia announce codeshare agreement

Etihad Regional, the Swiss-based regional carrier, and Air Serbia announced a new reciprocal codeshare agreement, offering European travellers greater access between Switzerland and Serbia.

The new codeshare flights, which are in effect from 1 August 2014, will bring the combined number of weekly return flights offered by both airlines between Switzerland and Serbia to 15.

Under the agreement, Etihad Regional will place its F7 code on the daily Air Serbia-operated flights between Belgrade and Zurich. In return, Air Serbia will place its JU code on the Etihad Regional flights between Geneva and Belgrade and Geneva and Lugano.

Maurizio Merlo, Chief Executive Officer of Etihad Regional, said: "We are delighted to announce this new codeshare agreement with Air Serbia which is a significant development for the airline and important for us in a number of ways. Agreement demonstrates the potential of the partnership between both airlines in terms of network synergies. But most importantly, it makes Etihad Regional's route network even more attractive by providing our guests more travel options between Switzerland and Serbia."

Dane Kondić, Chief Executive Officer of Air Serbia, said: "We recently expanded our network to over 38 destinations in Europe and the Middle East, and this codeshare announcement further supports our strategy to provide greater access and connectivity to our guests. We are confident that the agreement will significantly enhance business and leisure traffic between the two countries, and feed passengers onto each other's flight networks."

Air Serbia's Belgrade-Zurich route is operated by an Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft, configured to carry 128 and 155 passengers respectively. In line with the airline's new livery and modern aircraft, the onboard service proposition has been refreshed with new menu options, a complimentary bar service and improved inflight entertainment offering more choices for guests flying with Air Serbia.

Etihad Regional operates the Geneva-Belgrade and Geneva-Lugano routes with a two-class Saab 2000 turboprop aircraft, configured to carry 50 passengers.

Both airlines are network partners with Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, which holds a 49 per cent stake in Air Serbia, and is in the process of formalising a 33.3 per cent equity investment in Etihad Regional.