Air Serbia » Er Srbija | 51 Tekst/Words: Petar Tržin, kapetan na A320 / captain on A320 / A330 aircraft Fotografije/Photography: Air Serbia A I R SERB I A AND HEROES F ROM THE SHADOWS I’LL TELL MY KIDS THAT WEWERE PART OF AN IMPORTANT STORY During the time of the state of emergency, during the time of cancelled flights, Captain Petar Tržin and his colleagueswere called upon to fly toChina and bring back essential medical equipment. They all respondedwith great enthusiasm, andAir Serbia achieved a previously unrecorded role and once again confirmed the importance it has as a national airline. This is his story, whichwe are sharingwith gratitude WE ALL GRADUALLY, YET SOMEHOWQUICKLY, entered the story of the global pandemic and grew accustomed to the strange scenes of deserted Belgrade streets, as well as other similar things that were previously unimaginable and yet became elements of our everyday life. After the initial decline in the intensity of traffic and the cancelling of a large number of flights, my colleagues and I were called on to fly to China, in order to bring home essential medical equipment by plane. We all responded with great enthusiasm. We flew to multiple cities in China, then also toWashington, Los Angeles, Seoul... New destinations came one after another, and our experience was enriched with each new flight. We departed from an empty airport in Belgrade, flew across the Atlantic and great swathes of North America, while we also flew eastwards over the territory of Russia, the endless Siberia and exotic Mongolia. The actual flights were extremely long and demanding. Due to the epidemic and the urgency of delivering equipment, we worked under special permissions regarding working hours, thus all flights had unusually long durations and required a large number of crewmembers. Apart from the pilots, there were our flight attendant colleagues, mechanics and people in charge of loading and scheduling cargo. We all collaborated wonderfully, with all of the aforementioned staff giving their all to get the job done as quickly and professionally as possible. Of course, we had great support from our colleagues in the country, including colleagues from the Operations Centre and other support services. I was proud to be part of such a team and extremely happy to be able to provide my own contribution. A further motive for me was also that I will one day be able to tell my children howwe were part of a very important story. With the great support of my family, which makes me very proud, I came into a situation where I am able to do a job that I love, and thanks to Air Serbia and the company’s mission during these important and difficult times, I was part of a team that gave its all to help and do something good for our country and our people. Kapetan Tržin na radnom mestu (levo) Captain Tržin at work (left)
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