Flights to Tunisia suspended

Evacuees unite with their families as all flights to Tunisia are suspended

Services to Tunisia have been suspended until further notice from the only EX-YU airport which offered regular flights to the North African country – Belgrade. Jat Airways operated its last service to the country last week when it chartered two special flights from Belgrade to rescue stranded tourists following the violent overthrow of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who has ruled Tunisia for the past 23 years. The special service saw Jat aircraft land in both the capital Tunis and the city of Monastir. Some 200 Serbian tourists and a dozen Macedonian holiday makers were flown back to Belgrade, while Serbian construction workers and embassy employees were also returned home following an outbreak of violence in the normally peaceful and stable country. Tunisair, which operates flights from Tunis to Belgrade, has also suspended the service until further notice while all tour operators in the EX-YU region have shelved sales of Tunisian holiday packages.

Tunisia is an extremely popular holiday destination for Serbs and lately Macedonians, Croats, Bosnians and Slovenians. During the 2010 summer season flights to Tunisia were operated not only from Serbia but from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia as well. During the winter, regular weekly flights operate out of Belgrade to Tunis and Monastir.

Within the next 48 hours Jat will charter a special flight to either Hurghada or Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt to evacuate 120 Serbian tourists as violent political demonstrations hit the second most populous African nation, the Serbian diplomatic mission in Egypt told state media yesterday. There are no regular flights between any EX-YU country and Egypt although Jat operates all year round charter flights and numerous Egyptian airlines operate flights to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia and Serbia during the summer.

Meanwhile, normality has returned to Podgorica Airport, which was closed due to heavy snowfall earlier in the week. Some 1.500 passengers were stranded at Montenegro’s hub as only Jat’s flight to Belgrade left the airport and Montenegro Airlines’ incoming flights from Priština, Skopje and Niš were able to land. Over the past week, Sarajevo Airport has been closed several times due to thick fog while Skopje was also forced to close its doors earlier in the month due to poor weather conditions.