Jat proposed to become the carrier of Guinea

Conakry, Jat's new base in 2009?

The Government of the Republic of Guinea, an impoverished African country located in the continent’s west is interested in the Serbian national carrier Jat Airways to commence services from its capital Conakry to other cities in the region. The leader of the Guinea Industry Delegation, Yasuf Sampil, who is currently visiting Serbia’s capital Belgrade, has said that Jat Airways could commence services from Guinea, as the country does not have its own national carrier. Sampil said, “We are not interested in buying or leasing aircraft. Instead we are interested in Jat opening services from Conakry and connecting it to the world”. Coranky has a modern airport however only 3 airlines operate to the city. Air France and British Airways twice a week and Royal Air Maroc operates services to its country’s capital as well.

The Industry Delegation has said that the need for air travel in Guinea is extremely large and that the market is heavily underserved. They are offering Jat to commence flights from Conarky with either three, five or seven aircraft. Radoslav Tomašević, advisor to Serbia’s minister for air transportation said that Serbia is prepared to help Guinea by schooling pilots from the country at the Jat Flight Academy, providing technical support on behalf of Jat Tehnika and helping the country with air transportation in general. Serbia has a long tradition in aviation. The first law regarding air traffic was passed in Serbia in 1914, six months before the USA.

Meanwhile Guinea is making deals with Serbia not only in the field of aviation. It will purchase 50 busses from Serbia’s Ikarbus bus maker and 50 to 100 tractors from Serbian maker IMT.
Guinea has a population of 10 million people. The capital is located in the country’s west on the coast. The country experiences big problems with electricity and basic services.

Meanwhile Jat has said its flights to Pula, Croatia will begin much earlier than planned. Flights will now commence in late March, instead of June meaning they will be serviced from the beginning of the summer schedule. Flights to Dubrovnik will commence in June if the airline is given the necessary license by Croatian authorities. Last night Jat announced that low cost tickets will go on sale in 2 days. The tickets are for travel between January 19 - January 25. The 20.000 tickets can be purchased via the airline’s website however passengers must be quick if they want to book the cheapest tickets.