Air Serbia: the youthful 90-year old marks first year of New York service, suspends Abu Dhabi

Air Serbia celebrated its 90th birthday on 17-Jun-2017, making it the world's eighth oldest airline still in operation (counting also its predecessor brands Aeroput, JAT and Jat Airways).

The airline was most recently relaunched in 2013, after Etihad Airways invested in a 49% stake. Under the Air Serbia name, which will turn four in Oct-2017, it has returned to profit (but has yet to announce its 2016 results) by reducing unit costs and realigning its network and commercial positioning.

In a busy month for symbolic milestones, 23-Jun-2017 marked the first anniversary of Air Serbia's only long haul operation: Belgrade-New York. The route has enjoyed better load factors than the airline as a whole, but with soft yields.

Under CEO Dane Kondić, Air Serbia is continuing to evolve. A recent review of its five-year business plan has led to a decision to increase its focus on shorter routes, specifically suspending its services from Belgrade to Etihad's Abu Dhabi hub and Istanbul. It has also re-equipped its Airbus A320 family with higher density seating, migrated to Sabre and introduced an unbundled ticket offer. An expanded codeshare strategy has helped to offset increased competition, but the threat from LCC Wizz Air is growing.