Air Serbia flight to Moscow returned to Belgrade after security concern involving Aleksandar Vulin

An Air Serbia flight bound for Moscow was returned to Belgrade on the night of November 3–4, 2026 after authorities raised security concerns tied to a passenger on board, Serbian officials said. The aircraft, flight JU134, diverted back to Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport after takeoff and entered an extended security procedure while authorities checked a passenger and luggage. ([nezavisno.com](https://nezavisno.com/avion-vulin-moskva-vracen/))

Airport teams applied a procedure described in reports as a "bomb warning" scenario and inspected the aircraft and baggage for several hours. After the checks, the airline and airport services cleared the situation and the flight later resumed. Flight tracking records show the plane first left Belgrade at 18:48 and was airborne again shortly after 01:56 the following morning. ([nezavisno.com](https://nezavisno.com/avion-vulin-moskva-vracen/))

Air Serbia said it acted on instructions from the competent airport services and that passenger and baggage screening is the responsibility of airport security and the relevant authorities. Company representatives stressed the crew followed established procedures and safety standards. ([nezavisno.com](https://nezavisno.com/avion-vulin-moskva-vracen/))

Passengers and political figures on board

Among those on the flight were Aleksandar Vulin, Dusan Bajatovic — director of Srbijagas — and Nenad Popovic. Vulin told television viewers he was travelling on official business to negotiate a gas arrangement and rejected the accounts of irregularities as politically motivated. He described the reports as an outrage and called them false. "Of course it is all a lie. It is only harassment and an attempt to show how the new authorities defend their ideology, even here at our airport. Liars as they are, they try to invent something that does not exist; these are all serious nonsense," he said. ([kossev.info](https://kossev.info/potvrdjeno-avion-sa-vulinom-bajatovicem-i-popovicem-vracen-sa-puta-u-moskvu-vulin-za-informer-izivljavanje/))

Dusan Bajatovic said the trip was related to problems with gas supplies and payment operations following the Alta Bank case. He also reported that, shortly before 02:00 on the night of the incident, all passengers re-boarded and the aircraft continued to Moscow. Reports put the number of people on board at about 150, mostly Russian nationals. ([glassrpske.com](https://www.glassrpske.com/lat/novosti/srbija/avion-er-srbije-vracen-u-beograd-zbog-vulina/660480))

Independent accounts cited by local media allege that a passenger who had not passed the required security screening managed to board, and that the airport’s corporate security director ordered the return after reviewing footage. Those specific claims have not been officially confirmed by prosecutors or the police. Authorities involved did not immediately release a detailed public statement about the precise cause of the diversion. ([nezavisno.com](https://nezavisno.com/avion-vulin-moskva-vracen/))

Photo: N1)