On May 17, Air Serbia expanded its international offer with the start of flights between Belgrade (BEG) and Chicago O’Hare (ORD), reconnecting these cities by air after more than 30 years.
This new service is the airline’s third long-haul route and second destination in the United States. Initially, the service will have two flights per week and will increase to three weekly operations as of June 12.
Flight JU 506 was operated by an Airbus A330 registered YU-ARB and christened «Nikola Tesla,» which took off from Belgrade Airport (BEG) at 07:17 local time and landed at O’Hare International Airport (ORD) at 10:13, after nine hours and 56 minutes.
«On behalf of Mayor Brandon Johnson, I welcome Air Serbia to Chicago and we look forward to a long and continuing partnership connecting Chicago residents to this new destination in one of Europe’s great cities.More than 350,000 Chicagoland residents are of Serbian origin and we are thrilled to be able to offer them a quick and easy connection to their Balkan roots«, said Chicago Department of Aviation Commissioner Jamie L. Rhee.
The last air connection between Belgrade (BEG) and Chicago (ORD) was in 1992 with service from Air Serbia’s predecessor, Jat Airways which operated between the two cities on McDonnell Douglas DC-10 aircraft.
According to information obtained through Cirium, the Serbian carrier by June of this year will have an offer of 4,178 seats to and from the United States. In addition to its services to the «Windy City,» the airline will also non-stop flights to New York (JFK) five times a week.
«This day is of special importance for our company, Serbia, Belgrade and the entire Western Balkan region, as well as for the large number of our compatriots living and working in North America«, said Jiri Marek, Air Serbia’s chief executive officer.
Air Serbia’s flight schedule to Chicago
Starting June 12.
Flight JU 506: Belgrade (BEG) – Chicago O’Hare (ORD)
- BEG 12:50 – ORD 16:30 Monday.
- BEG 06:50 – ORD 10:50 Wednesday.
- BEG 17:20 – ORD 21:20 Saturday.
Flight JU 507: Chicago O’Hare (ORD) – Belgrade (BEG)
- ORD 18:40 – BEG 11:30+1 Monday.
- ORD 12:40 – BEG 05:30+1 Wednesday.
- ORD 23:10 – BEG 16:00+1 Saturday.
The route is operated with Airbus A330-200 aircraft with a capacity of 268 seats in two classes (18 Business Class/250 Economy) and promotional fares are available from 1,121 USD round trip. The airline on this service offers convenient connections to Berlin, Bucharest, Prague and Sarajevo.
Earlier this year, Air Serbia expanded its partnership with American Airlines giving passengers from Belgrade more travel options to the United States and access to destinations such as Phoenix, Houston, Las Vegas, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas and Washington, among others.
