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The Russians are using a route known as the “Serbian back door” to flee to Europe and circumvent a union-wide ban on flights to and from Russia.
Air Serbia which is largely state-owned, has doubled the number of direct flights from Moscow to Belgrade to 15 per week.
This to meet the rapidly growing demand after the EU banned Russian planes and airlines from its airspace, following the occupation of Ukraine by President Vladimir Putin.
Russia also responded by closing its airspace to EU and UK aircraft.
Serbia is not a member of the union and has refused to impose sanctions on Russia, but its planes are free to cross EU airspace.
This has made the Balkan country “the only European air corridor left open for Russia,” according to travel analyst ForwardKeys.
The passenger capacity of the airline between Russia and Serbia increased by 50% in the first week of March compared to the week before Russian tanks entered Ukraine.
According to experts, where capacity is expected to increase further in the coming weeks.
“What is most obvious is the speed with which Serbia has become the gateway to travel between Russia and EuropeSaid Olivier Ponti, ForwardKeys’s vice president of knowledge.
The Russians arriving in Serbia are traveling to Europe, with the main destinations still being Cyprus, France, Switzerland and Italy.
They are also traveling to the UK, Slovenia, Austria, Germany and Spain.
In the afternoon of March 11, there was only one business class seat left on a flight from Moscow to Belgrade on Saturday, which cost 583 euros, and no economy class seats.
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