JAT becomes Air Serbia and expands its route network

A few weeks ago JAT Airways, the national airline of Serbia and previously of Yugoslavia, rebranded itself as Air Serbia. The move is linked to a large investment by the United Arab Emirates' Etihad Airways. The new partnership promises to significantly expand Air Serbia's fleet and route network, increasing Belgrade's importance as a hub for travel in Southeast Europe.

The impact of the changes can already be seen in the winter 2013/2014 timetable which contains several new routes. Of particular interest to travellers in the Balkans is the expansion of short-haul flights within the region. New routes have been launched to Bucharest, Ljubljana, and Banja Luka, to be followed by Sofia and Varna in spring 2014. There will also be more frequent services on the existing routes to Istanbul, Athens, and Thessaloniki.

For a lot more information about Air Serbia and other airlines in the region, head to Ex-Yu Aviation News.

BalkanViator plans for online bus tickets

In a previous post I mentioned the BalkanViator website, which provides online timetables for bus routes in Southeast Europe, as well as information about taxi services and car pooling. Now the team behind Balkanviator are planning to add the ability to book bus journeys online. This is an ambitious goal, due among other things to the vast number of bus companies operating in the region. They have launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise money to fund the software development and other costs involved. If you want to know more, click through to the Indiegogo site below.