Air Serbia halts deal with Greek airline after plane damaged

Belgrade (AFP): Serbia’s national carrier Air Serbia said Tuesday it was halting its partnership with Marathon Airlines after a flight being operated by the Greek carrier made an emergency landing over the weekend.

Air Serbia confirmed that its Sunday evening flight to Dusseldorf, which was operated by Marathon under their partnership, was damaged shortly after takeoff but that the Embraer 195 regional jet returned safely to Belgrade with none of the 106 passengers or crew suffering injuries.

Social media showed pictures the aircraft suffered serious damage, but Air Serbia declined to provide any details while an investigation was underway.

“Air Serbia has not and will not make any announcements regarding the details of flight JU 324 of 18 February while the investigation is in progress. However, the Serbian national airline would like to emphasise once again that it understands the inconvenience the passengers experienced on that occasion,” the airliner said in a statement.

“Air Serbia informed Marathon Airlines today that it is terminating cooperation with that company,” the company added.

Air Serbia has been using the Marathon Airlines to operate some if its flights since June 2023.

Serbia’s airport in Belgrade has multiple daily flights to several Germany cities, where a large community of Serbians have settled over the decades.