European Commission reviewing Serbia’s new air transport regulations

The European Commission is checking whether the amendments to the regulations on foreign air carriers, which Serbia adopted in March, are in line with Belgrade’s commitments to the EU, Brussels confirmed to BIRN. The European Commission is reviewing amendments to Serbian air transport regulations, and the procedure was initiated after Wizz Air announced that due to the new rules, which it claims distort competition, it could be forced to close its base in Belgrade.

– The Commission is in contact with the Serbian authorities on this issue, in order to check the compliance of the regulations with Serbia’s obligations arising from the European Common Aviation Area agreement – the European Commission’s response to BIRN’s questions states.

The Commission said they had been contacted by the low-cost airline Wizz Air regarding the amendments to the Regulations on the issuance of permits to foreign air carriers for the performance of international public air transport, which had been adopted in March by the Serbian Civil Aviation Directorate. In a statement released on June 3, Wizz Air called the move a “calculated attack on fair competition, consumer choice, connectivity and thousands of jobs in Serbia” and warned that the changes could force the company to close its Belgrade base from November.

Wizz Air has had a base in Serbia for years, allowing it to park and maintain aircraft at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport, and to employ some of its crew through a branch registered in Belgrade in 2011. According to Wizz Air’s annual report, the company’s market share in Serbia last year was 16%.

The changes to the regulations further detail the approvals that a foreign airline must obtain from the Civil Aviation Directorate in order to carry passengers to and from Serbia, but do not explicitly mention the right of a foreign airline to establish a base in Serbia.

Neither the Directorate, Wizz Air nor Air Serbia responded to BIRN’s questions.

WIZZ AIR HUNGARY LTD OGRANAK U BEOGRADU

Wizz Air Hungary

Direktorat civilnog vazduhoplovstva Srbije

Air Serbia ad Beograd

Wizz Air

European Commission

Regulation on foreign air carriers