United Arab Emirates, will be commencing daily nonstop flights between its home base of Abu Dhabi and Belgrade, the capital of Serbia from June 15, 2013.JatAirways, Serbia’s national carrier, will place its JU code on the new service, as well as to 21 destinations on the Etihad Airways network. In return, Etihad Airways will place its EY code on 23 of JatAirways’ European flights.

Etihad Airways will operate a two cabin Airbus A319 aircraft on the service between Abu Dhabi and Belgrade, configured to carry 106 passengers, with 16 seats in Pearl Business Class and 90 seats in Coral Economy Class. 

The announcement was made on April 15, at a media conference in Belgrade hosted by James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ President and Chief Executive Officer. “The launch of Etihad Airways’ flights between Abu Dhabi and Belgrade, and the partnership development with JatAirways, will cater for the significant and growing demand for air travel between the UAE and Serbia, as well as cities with large Serbian populations around the world, particularly in Australia and the US,” said Hogan at the event. 

As part of the codeshare agreement, subject to government and regulatory approval, JatAirways will place its JU code on Etihad Airways flights to Abu Dhabi and beyond to Bangkok, Beijing, Brisbane, Chengdu, Chicago, Colombo, Ho Chi Minh City, Islamabad, Johannesburg and Karachi among others.

In return, subject to government and regulatory approval, Etihad Airways will place its EY code on JatAirways flights between Belgrade and Amsterdam, Athens, Berlin, Brussels, Copenhagen, Düsseldorf, Rome, Frankfurt, Gothenburg, Istanbul, Heathrow, Larnaca, Milan, Moscow and other cities.

Belgrade will become the third of six new destinations to be served by Etihad Airways in 2013, following the launch in March of flights to Washington, DC, and in May to Amsterdam.Services will commence later this year to Sao Paulo, Brazil; Sana’a, Yemen; and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.