51 million Euros for Jat

Jat holds press conference

Jat will seek a 51.5 million Euro loan from a bank in order to pay off outstanding debt and purchase new aircraft, the airline said at a press conference in Belgrade on Tuesday. The Government of Serbia has given guarantees to the banks which make the process of obtaining the loan simpler. "We have received state guarantees and by April we will pick a lender", Jat Airways CEO, Srdjan Radovanović said. "These should be long-term loans with good interest rates and grace periods". The CEO said that the airline was in debt but that the number was slashed in 2009. He went on to say that the airline is still carrying the burden of mass debt from the 1990s era. Since the start of the Yugoslav wars in 1991, Jat has lost a cumulative total of about 180 million Euros, the CEO said. However, that figure was not equal to the company's total current debt, he said, as all six Yugoslav republics had a share in the company, making the subsequent accounting tangled. “We are not thinking about bankruptcy. Instead, we believe our time is yet to come”, Radovanović said. He confirmed that Turkish Airlines has expressed interest to commence strategic partnership talks with the airline but that no decisive action has been taken by either side. Serbian Government minister Sulejman Ugljanin confirmed that a Turkish Airlines delegation will arrive in Belgrade today. Radovanović also revealed that Jat Catering has won a recent tender to provide meal services to the airline from March 28. As a gesture of good will the media were distributed sandwiches which will be offered on Jat’s short haul flights.

The 51 million Euros will be divided into 49 million for debt payment to Jat Catering, Jat Tehnika, Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport and Serbian Air Control. The money will also be used for the overhaul of jet engines on aircraft. The rest will be used on the purchase of 2 Boeing B737-700 aircraft.

At the conference, the airline also promoted its 2010 summer timetable. The media noted the absence of flights to Croatia. Radovanović said that Jat has been offered flights to Dubrovnik from its airport authorities and that the airline is “thinking about it”. Radovanović did not wish to clarify the reason why Pula has been cancelled, saying only that he believes that the flights are profitable and that the situation with those flights is out of Jat’s hands for now. Speaking about the lack of flights from Serbia’s second international airport Niš, Radovanović said that it isn’t economically viable for the airline to operate from the city.