AIR SERBIA
then hopefully ramp up, said the ambassador.
JFK and O’Hare have daily flights between JFK and Belgrade during the summer and two to five flights per week in the winter. Serbia’s government initially subsidized these flights, but they became profitable after five years.
“MIA is doing a really good job in convincing people to come to Miami,” Djuric said. “They are really making sure airlines feel like they are welcome.”
South Florida travelers may also find some reasons to consider boarding Air Serbia.
Belgrade will host the World Expo 2027, an international fair that in the past 100-plus years has helped Paris and San Francisco gain visibility.
One of Eastern Europe’s largest hubs, Serbia’s capital allows travelers to fly nonstop flights from Belgrade to the U.S., Europe, Russia, China and the Middle East. It has service throughout the Balkans and nonstop flights to Greece, Budapest, and Romania.
A CASE FOR SERBIA-MIAMI FLIGHTS
Serbia is growing.
While 2023 investment figures are not yet available, the government expects them to exceed the $4.4 billion of foreign direct investment the country received in 2022.
Another potential appeal is the multiple daily flights between Belgrade and Tel Aviv. That could be useful for Miami’s large Jewish community as well as its many Israelbound travelers. The current tension in the Middle East has led to the curtailment of flight options between South Florida and Israel to just El Al’s direct service.
Djuric, the ambassador,
said Air Serbia is in the final stages of analyzing the business case, but there is strong political will from the government to make the new service to and from MIA happen. What may that case be? About 50,000 SerbianAmericans live in Florida and there are eight churches.
One member of the diaspora towers over the others: forward Nikola Jović.
Ambassador Djuric attended a Miami Heat game and met him during his trip, the solidarity particularly important amid the grief Serbs worldwide are feeling over the shocking death last month of beloved countryman and Golden State Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojević.
Serbia has been investing a lot in growing relations with the U.S.
For one, Americans don’t need visas to travel in Serbia.
In 2023, about
169,000 Americans visited Serbia, according to Serbia’s Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications, a 22% increase from 2022.
Additionally, the United States has become Serbia’s largest provider of services, said Djuric, and “the tech sector is driving a huge part of that growth.”
Microsoft has a large campus there. Electric vehicle company Rivian, headquartered in California, opened a technology center in Belgrade in 2022. Serbia is also a significant source of the world’s explored lithium deposits.
DEVELOPING TIES BETWEEN SERBIA AND MIAMI
And so Djuric was also in search of tech companies in Miami.
There should be plenty of more opportunities for new ties to develop. Reflecting the growing importance of both the U.S. and South Florida’s tech sector, Serbia plans to open a new consulate in Miami later this year, Djuric said, and it’ll have both diplomatic and trade representatives. The country currently only has consulates in Chicago and New York.
“I think the procedure for Miami is likely to be initiated during this year,” he said. After Miami, they plan on opening one in San Francisco.
“The government is very determined to step up economic, political, cultural and all other ties with the U.S.,” the ambassador said. “We know that the economy of Florida is a good match for Serbia when it comes to opportunities.”