T he first aeroplane to fly in the livery of the new Serbian national airline – an A319 named Novak Đoković – took to the skies on 26 th October 2013, departing Belgrade bound for Abu Dhabi. This first flight between the capital of Serbia and the United Arab Emirates symbolically established the new hope of Serbian commercial aviation – Air Serbia. In this year that has seen the company commemorate 90 years since the country’s first commercial flight (15 th February ) and 91 years of tradition as an airline (17 th June), the fifth birthday of Air Serbia (26 th October) is also being marked. The launch of the new Serbian national carrier began with the sign- ing of a codeshare agreement between then JAT Airways and Etihad Airways on 15 th April 2013. Then, on 15 th June that same year, Etihad EY 71 flights were launched between Abu Dhabi and Belgrade, on which JAT Airways had its mar- keting code. Subsequently, on 1 st August 2013, a Strategic Partnership Agree- ment was signed between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and Eti- had Airways, according to which 51 per cent of shares in the Serbian airline remained under Serbian state ownership and the national airline of the United Arab Emirates became the owner of a 49-per-cent stake. In 2013, on 24 th October, one of the popular symbols of JAT – the branch office beside St. Mark’s Church in Belgrade, formally opened in its new colours, under the new name and new brand of Air Serbia. A day later, a ceremony in the large hangar of JAT Technical saw Air Serbia officially presented to the pub- lic, in the presence of the highest representatives of the Government of Ser- bia, Etihad and numerous officials, domestic and foreign media representatives and airline staff. The first promotional flight was conducted the next day, with YU APC - Novak Đoković Air Serbia, JU 800, flying from Belgrade to Abu Dhabi. Novak was the first plane to be named under the auspices of the “Living Legends” programme, which aims to recognise individuals from Serbia who shine in their own field of expertise and whose achievements are in line with the Air Serbia brand and values. Aircraft have to date been named after top ten- nis player Novak Đoković, basketball player Vlade Divac, footballer Dejan Stank- ović, star of Serbian and European acting Predrag ‘Miki’ Manojlović and music superstar Goran Bregović.
The first aeroplane to fly in the livery of the new Serbian national airline – an A319 named Novak Đoković – took to the skies on 26 th October 2013, departing Belgrade bound for Abu Dhabi Prvi avion u bojama nove srpske nacionalne avio-kompanije, A319, pod imenom „Novak Đoković“, poleteo je 26. oktobra 2013. iz Beograda za Abu Dabi
The region’s leading airline Vodeća avio-kompanija u regionu
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