Serbia seeks low-cost airlines: report
(BELGRADE) - Serbia will invite five low-cost airlines to Belgrade to acquaint them with the local market in response to EU plans to lift visa requirements on Serbian citizens, the Tanjug news agency reported Wednesday.
Three companies -- Ryanair, easyJet and Wizz Air -- have already been invited, the agency quoted civil aviation spokeswoman Katarina Andric-Milosavljevic as saying.
She did not name two remaining companies but said they would be "highly rated airlines that have been tested in the market."
The companies were chosen after they expressed interest in operating in Serbia, she said.
The European Union is expected to ease the regulations next month. The move was a key condition for facilitating the operation of the carriers in the Serbian market, Andric-Milosavljevic said.
The European Commission has proposed lifting visa requirements for citizens from Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro who want to enter the European Union. The requirements were imposed following the break-up of the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s.
The EU Council of ministers is expected to approve the visa-free regime for the three Balkan countries on November 30 after the European parliament passed a resolution last week strongly supporting the move.
"By this invitation we want to let them know that the conditions have changed," Andric-Milosavljevic said.
Three low-cost companies are already operating in Serbia, while a fourth carrier, Fly Niki, will start flying from Belgrade on February 1, 2010.
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