Serbia and Canada would restore regular direct flights between the Serbian capital Belgrade and Canada's largest city Toronto after 15 years of disruption, the Canadian embassy said on Monday.

 

The Toronto-based Skyservice Airlines has received the permit from competent Serbian authorities to operate a direct flight between the two cities, the embassy said in a statement.

 

The first promotional Toronto-Belgrade flight is expected to arrive from Canada to Belgrade Tuesday at 16:05 (1405 GMT) and will be greeted at Belgrade's Nikola Tesla Airport by Canadian ambassador to Serbia Robert McDougall.

 

Skyservice Airlines' Boeing 757 will depart from Toronto at 23:45 (0445 GMT) on Mondays arriving in Belgrade at 16:05 (1405 GMT) on Tuesdays. The return flight will depart from Belgrade at 20:05 (1805 GMT) on Tuesdays arriving in Toronto at 01:40 (0640 GMT) on Wednesdays.

 

In March, Skyservice Airlines announced that it also has planned to commence direct scheduled service from Toronto to the Croatian capital Zagreb on June 20.

 

"The addition of Croatia and Serbia to our network provides more opportunities to our partners and offers exciting vacation experiences for travelers. These flights represent the most direct and fastest routing from anywhere in North America," said Rob Giguere, president of Skyservice Airlines. "We look forward to these scheduled routes becoming a popular choice for travelers to and from Eastern Europe."

 

Skyservice Airlines, which is founded in 1986, carries over one million passengers annually and currently operates a fleet of 23 aircraft to popular vacation destinations in Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, Mexico and Europe.

 

(Xinhua News Agency June 20, 2007)