Government adopts regulation on financial support on air routes of public interest

The Government of Serbia has adopted a regulation enabling certain air routes to be pronounced lines of public interest and introduced the possibility of compensation to airlines operating those routes.

Under the regulation adopted on January 31, an air route can be pronounced a line of public interest if it is a route to an airport that services one or more regions in development in Serbia, or if it is a route with 100,000 passengers a year to any airport.

In order for a public interest to be pronounced, the condition is for other types of transport not to meet the needs of the region, that there is no commercial interest for regular air transport activities and that the route is important for the economic and the social development of Serbia.

The regulation also allows for an air route of public interest to be established on the basis of bilateral and multilateral agreements. For each air route of public interest, the traffic volume, the flight frequency, the prices, the transport conditions and the plane characteristics are previously determined.

Advantages of air transport on a public interest route can include a compensation for the transporter, the regulation says, but it mustn't exceed the amount sufficient to cover the net expenses, an adequate income and a reasonable profit.

Assistant Minister for Air Transport Zoran Ilic announced during his last week's visit to Nis, which took place several days before the regulation was adopted, that the first routes to be declared routes of public importance will be those from the Nis Constantine the Great Airport. Ilic announced at the time that a public contest would be organized for transporters on such routes.

Vlada Republike Srbije

Aerodrom Konstantin Veliki Niš

air routes of public importance

Zoran Ilic