DEVELOPMENT OF AIR TRANSPORT BETWEEN YUGOSLAVIA AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 1945-1992

Air transport between Yugoslavia and the United States was one of the defining aspects of Yugoslav civil aviation after the Second World War. Cooperation between the two countries developed in several fields. Early attempts to regulate civil air transport by the means of a bilateral agreement were made as early as 1945, but without success. Three agreements on air transport were eventually signed in 1949, 1973 and 1977. Pan American World Airways started overflying Yugoslav territory in 1950 on its international routes between North America and the Middle East and started landing at Belgrade in 1963, thus providing a true connection between the two countries. From 1970, Yugoslav Airlines operated charter flights between Yugoslavia and USA, followed by the introduction of a regular service between Belgrade, Zagreb, and New York in 1976. From 1964 to 1966 and during 1972, another Yugoslav air operator, (Inex) Adria Airways also flew charter flights between Yugoslavia and the United States. Apart from this, most passenger airplanes used in Yugoslavia were made in the United States, while some Yugoslav factories manufactured components for American aircraft producers. Yugoslav airmen and other aviation experts undertook training in America, greatly improving the functioning and safety of Yugoslav civil aviation in general. The disintegration of Socialist Yugoslavia and international sanctions imposed on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992 also led to a ban on air traffic between Yugoslavia and the rest of the world. The United States introduced this ban several days before the sanctions came into force, ending all air transport services between the two countries.