Air Serbia (JU, Belgrade) can proceed with plans to begin services to the United States later next year after the US Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) upgraded Serbia's safety rating from Category 2 to Category 1.
"The Category 1 status announced today is based on a March 2014 FAA assessment of the safety oversight provided by the Civil Aviation Directorate of the Republic of Serbia, and an FAA verification of necessary corrective actions during a follow on visit to the Republic of Serbia this month. A Category 1 rating means the country's civil aviation authority complies with ICAO standards. With the International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) Category 1 rating, the Republic of Serbia's air carriers, which are able to secure the requisite FAA and DOT authority, can establish service to the United States and carry the code of U.S. carriers," the FAA said.
Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International) CEO James Hogan has stated the Serbian carrier, in which his airline owns a 49% stake, has set its sights on flights to Washington Dulles, Chicago O'Hare and New York JFK from next year onwards.
An attempt to start said routes, albeit under a codeshare agreement with Etihad, was rejected by the DoT earlier this year on the grounds that the proposed routings from Belgrade to the United States via Abu Dhabi International would be "impractical."
Since its launch last year, Air Serbia has moved to position itself as a regional carrier using its links with other Etihad partners to bolster its operations.
The Serbian carrier recently announced it would deploy a Saab 2000, wet-leased from Swiss partner, Darwin Airline (Lugano), for use on flights from Belgrade to Banja Luka International in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
