Air Serbia Halts Guangzhou Flights Until Late March

Air Serbia has suspended ticket sales for flights between Belgrade and Guangzhou from December 2026 until late March 2027, with the last flight currently scheduled for November 27, EX-YU Aviation News reported on November 14, 2026. Tickets for next summer hadn't been put on sale when the pause was reported.

The airline's chief executive, Jiri Marek, told EX-YU that Air Serbia is reviewing the long-term performance and future development of the Guangzhou route, and that it hasn't taken a final decision on next summer. He said the Serbia-China market has shrunk 26% this year, and that the route itself performed well in October.

The route is young. Air Serbia launched Belgrade-Guangzhou service in September 2024, cut it to once a week for much of the summer of 2026, then restored a second weekly flight at the start of the winter season in late October. The winter restoration lasted about a month before sales stopped for December.

Travelers aren't left without a nonstop option on the city pair. China Southern Airlines still operates two flights a week between Guangzhou and Belgrade, and Air Serbia still flies twice a week between Belgrade and Shanghai, which gives its own passengers a one-stop path into China with an onward domestic connection.

The two airlines are also partners. Air Serbia and China Southern began a reciprocal codeshare covering Serbia-China routes on October 16, 2026, including Belgrade-Guangzhou, so the route Air Serbia is pausing is one its partner still flies and can still sell under the partnership.

What happens next is a schedule decision, not a cancellation notice. Late March is when the 2027 summer season begins, and Marek's wording leaves the route's return open. Until Air Serbia puts summer tickets on sale or says the route is closed, November 27 is the last confirmed departure and everything after it is undecided.

A sales suspension isn't the same as a route cancellation, and the difference matters for anyone holding a booking. Flights through November 27 are still scheduled, December through March simply can't be bought, and the summer season hasn't been loaded at all. A traveler who needs Belgrade to Guangzhou in December still has China Southern's twice-weekly nonstop on the same route.

The 26% market shrink Marek cited is the number the decision turns on. A route can perform well in a single month, as he said Guangzhou did in October, and still lose money across a winter if the wider market keeps contracting. The review he described will weigh that full-year picture against a summer schedule that has to be filed months ahead.