lation, a completely empty airport and a runway whe- re we are the only crew except some cargo flights. And it was like that everywhere, and even now things ha- ven’t returned to the state from before. I flew the last flight from New York before the declaring of the state of emergency and flew the first return flight on 6 th Ju- ne, when we re-established traffic. And even JFK, the airport where I’ve grown accustomed to waiting for an hour just to park, now has so few planes. These are all things that one doesn’t forgot...” It was both physically and mentally difficult to en- dure the flights to China... “We rested in shifts of three to four hours, six pilots, two stewards and, of course, loadmasters for cargo and mechanics. It was psychologically difficult to en- dure being closed in for 30 hours, but we all knew why we were there and there was no dilemma – that’s also where we wanted to be,” recalls Jovanović. He also recalls with particular excitement the re-
turn journey from Washington, with the state having organised the evacuation of our students - mostly high school pupils and university students - from the- re, and he brought them back to Serbia. “The crew emerged among the first in Belgrade, because the passengers had to follow certa- in procedures, and we were wel- comed by their parents in front of the airport building. They applau- ded us with tears in their eyes and thanked us for bringing back to them the most precious thing they have in life – their children. I felt both pride and satisfacti-
Kapetan Aleksandar Jovanović već 30 godina na svetskom nebu Captain Aleksandar Jovanović has already spent 30 years in the skies
ispred zgrade aerodroma doče- kali su nas njihovi roditelji. Tapša- li su nam sa suzama u očima i za- hvaljivali što smo im vratili ono
najdragocenije što u životu imaju – decu. Osetio sam i ponos i zadovoljstvo i sreću što sam pilot i što sam to mogao da učinim – kaže Jovanović, kome je još jedan let iz vremena vanrednog stanja ostao kao dragoce- no sećanje. – U Alitaliji sam završio obuku za A330, i to je bi- lo čarobno doba moje letačke karijere, a onda sam imao čast da baš tim avionom ponovo dođem u Rim i donesem iz Srbije neophodnu pomoć. To mi je mno- go značilo, da se odužim bar malo – ističe ovaj hra- bri kapetan, koji na kraju naglašava da je epidemija ko- ronavirusa pokazala koliko je važno imati nacionalnu avio-kompaniju. – Kad dođu teška vremena, vidi se koliko je koncept nacionalne kompanije važan za državu. Mi smo bili je- dini u regionu, samo Er Srbija je mogla da leti do Kine, a svi znamo šta nam je to značilo. Drago mi je što smo dr- žavi i svim našim građanima mogli da vratimo bar jedan mali deo...
on, and happiness that I’m a pilot and was able to do that,” says Jovanović, for whom another flight from the period of the state of emergency remains as a precious and unforgettable memory. “At Alitalia I completed training for flying the A 330 and that was a magical period of my flying ca- reer, and then I had the opportunity to return to Ro- me with that very same plane and bring much-nee- ded help from Serbia. That meant a lot to me, to be able to pay back at least a little,” notes this brave cap- tain, who emphasises in conclusion that the Corona- virus pandemic showed how important it is to have a national airline. “When hard times come you see how important the concept of a national airline is for the state. We we- re the only ones in the region; only Air Serbia was able to fly to China, and we all know what that meant to us. I’m glad that we were able to return at least a little part to that same country and all our citizens...”
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