Serbian diplomats were meeting with Turkey's aviation authorities Wednesday in a last-ditch attempt to settle a row which threatens Serbia's summer tourist trade to Turkey's beaches, local newspapers said.

Ankara last month revoked the permit for Serbian charter flights, expected to carry nearly 200,000 tourists to destinations on the Turkish coast in the coming summer, because Belgrade refused to allow Turkish air companies to compete for passengers.

Serbia had set a June 1 deadline for the renewal of its aviation permits to fly to Turkey - with no response by Monday from Anakara.

The Serbian carrier JAT Airways asked for a total of 300 charter flights this summer to Antalya, Dalaman and Bodrum during the summer season, but at the same time turned down two private Turkish air companies requesting some six flights per week from Nis and Belgrade.

Turkish civilian aviation directorate head, Ali Aridiru, last week said there JAT's charters will not be allowed without reciprocity, meaning that Serbia must allow Turkish companies to fly in if it wants its own aircraft to fly to Turkey.

The row does not affect regular flights. With the summer season still in early days, JAT so far managed to transport tourists on regular flights to Turkey, but has warned it would be unable to meet the demand later on.

Serbian travel agencies still hope for a solution and basically have no "Plan B," the daily Blic said.

Some would offer bus rides instead of flights - taking 16-24 hours instead of two or so, some plan to squeeze their passengers onto regular flights and all are bracing for the possibility of having to refund clients, the newspaper reported.