New talks for new jets
The Serbian government will resume talks with Airbus tomorrow for the financial lease of four A319s, four ATR72-600s and the purchase of a further four A320s. The meetings are set to be held between the Airbus Sales Contracts Director and the Ministry of Finance. If all goes to plan, a Memorandum of Understanding between Airbus and Serbia will be signed next month, while an official order for the new aircraft will be made in February 2013. The A319s are set to arrive in March, followed by the ATRs in October and the A320s in 2015.
Last Friday the government formed a task group to deal with the creation of a successor national carrier, to be launched at the start of the 2013 summer season and likely to be named Jat Serbian Airlines. They too will be present at tomorrow’s meeting with the European plane manufacturer. Following initial talks between Serbia and Airbus two weeks ago, Boeing itself dispatched a delegation to Belgrade to present its Boeing 737 MAX model to Jat, the “Tangosix” portal reports.
Experts have expressed their concern with the government’s plan to create a new national carrier free of debt by taking over Jat’s existing slots, fleet, international agreements and employees. They believe the project is too costly and the government will in the end have to pay for debts made by the "old Jat" anyway. From the outset, the “new Jat” will have to take out a loan for 140 million euros for the financial lease of new aircraft. As part of its agreement with Airbus, the banks from which the loan will be taken will not be from Serbia itself, rather from Germany and France.
Do you think that creating a new national carrier is a good idea? Should Jat make a deal with Airbus despite its history with Boeing? Send a comment with your thoughts.
Typical EU propaganda....... Jat airways got a fleet of 733 that have plenty of juice in them. What they need is the fleet of 100 pax sitters not airbus from broke Europe.
ReplyDeleteYeah....you are an expert!
DeleteAlso if they renew the fleet, they need AVOD on board for longer routes to Moscow, London, Dubai and TEl Aviv, not the cheapest, charter interiours that Adria and Croatia purchased. That is the way to gain back their old pax.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! The IFE used by Turkish in their new Airbuses would do the trick :)
DeleteI find it very interesting that Boeing scrambled to come to BEG after JU started talking with Airbus. I really can’t believe that they see Jat as such a valuable customer.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Boeing have representatives in Europe and would send a sales team anywhere where they could make a possible sale. Not really interesting at all just over hyped by the media by using words like scrambled.
DeleteI'd say, given the price tag on a single aircraft, that they would send their representatives, organize study visits, pay for hotels and then go an extra mile to lure in customers.
DeleteI think it’s ok for them to set up a new airline but I’m a Boeing fan :D
ReplyDeleteSetting up a new airline will be amazing! Hopefully they keep the correct fleet as well and set up a few bases around ex-yu (especially Niš, kraljevo). Bring back to good ol' days jat!
ReplyDeleteYes! KVO can see the older ATR's
DeleteAny new metal will do at this point. I just hope the government dont screw this one up cause this could be pretty good if it works.
ReplyDeleteMa i Srbi neznaju sto ce...
ReplyDeleteQR to ZAG becoming double daily from March 2013.
ReplyDeleteNo one cares. Does this have anything to do with the article? NO
DeleteApparently it is cause QR is launching flights to BEG tomorrow.
DeleteDouble daily but not nonstop...
Deletehow this.
Well, they are obviously doing very well on the ZAG-BUD-ZAG leg. Double daily will make an even more convenient connection for business pax between the two cities. ZAG pax for DOH and onwards seem not to mind the layover, while BUD pax have their direct flight anyway.
DeleteOne has to wonder, though, why isn't that particular line profitable enough for OU.
I would sure love to see the numbers for these flights, in particular how many ZAG and BUD pax continue to DOH, and how many use the ZAG-BUD connection.
JAT is old and NEEDS to be updated asap. I do not care with which airline company it accomplishes this, it just needs to get done. Belgrade is becoming the Balkan hub once again and it needs an airline based there that is decent at the very least.
ReplyDeleteBelgrade will never become a hub for all of the balkans thankyou very much. But I agree jat needs some decent modern equipment asap!
DeleteI agree. Slovenia, Croatia and Republic of Kosovo generating markets will not connect through BEG for sure. A lot of reasons such as better connections and more frequencies at MUC, FRA & VIE for instance, geographic position, recent historical and political factors, just to name a few reasons.
Delete"Recent historical and political factors" are all but forgotten when you offer the best deal, especially to a relatively poor customer base. I don't think offering such deals to ZAG or LJU pax could be viable, plus they have some extra money to pay for a more convenient flights; however, I'd bet that Kosovo is a different story.
DeletePlus, being Balkan hub is not the same thing as being Yugoslav hub anymore - this time Jat should go more aggresively into Bulgaria and Albania or even Northern Greece, and should by all means include BiH, Montenegro and Macedonia. These market are very underdeveloped, there is much potential there.
The new Jat will start with a debt of 140 millions they owe to German and French banks. That all for leased aircraft they do not even own...
ReplyDeleteYes..
ReplyDeleteand dont forget the debt from the old Jat!
Will the new ac replace the old B737-300...
So many ATRs will replace them on routes to Sweden and Amsterdam.Which idiot will fly for hours with that crap...
well a Serbian idiot!
This deal will only benefit the foreign partners,
for Serbia it is only a new financial disaster with increasing debts,old worn out ac !
When Serbia dont pay or follow instructions the leased ac wil get confiscated immediately ,
the company gets closed.
Actually its the same mess as with Malev.
Who said that the 4 ATRs will fly to Sweden? Read carefully what was written in the text.
DeleteNIKI has to sell its seven E190 Jets.
ReplyDeleteWhy not buying them ?
They get sold with a very good price...
but very good is probably too good for a very bad
airline as Jat!
Why not purchase Tupolev 204s. Reasonable price for a reasonable aircraft. Add embraers or AN-148s for the regional routes and end this problem already.
ReplyDeleteThe whole german/french loan takeout is a joke. Its a repeat of what the Greeks did except on a smaller scale. Germany is recreating the 3rd Reich financially.
Exactly.
DeleteThe reason why Jat should not buy it is simply because Tupolev and Antonov aircraft are not as ecological and fuel efficient as Airbus or Boeing aircraft.
DeleteAlso, if in the future Jat might decide to lease a new aircraft it will be much easier to find it on the A/B market rather than the Russian/Ukrainian one.
The only aircraft Jat could consider is the SSJ which seems to be performing well.
The only reason they should opt for it is because there are too many orders for the Embraer jets.
Then again they could buy the ones that belong to Niki or wait for YM to go belly up ;)
Come on, Jat's airplanes A320 will cost 42.5 million $ per item which is really low price.
DeleteAn A320/A321 costs the double/triple than a Tupolev 204, covering in range all the routes that JU would possibly want to operate. I wonder how many years Jat will need to compensate the somewhat better fuel efficiency with the 40 million dollars price difference per aircraft. This deal is nothing more than a way of financial enslavement and timed destruction of the airline, a la Malev.
ReplyDeleteHaha a la Malev. Well said my friend.
DeleteIt may cost the double but it's reliable, new and you won't have to worry about fuel consumption or spare parts...at least the first years. Same as buying a Renault rather than Lada or Zastava for eg.
DeletePeople I don't understand you! Everybody was talking how JAT needs new maschines and now when something is on the horizon you're moaning, bashing etc. Why is this such a bad Balkan habit? I know we have suffered a lot in the last decades but why are we so negative and never satisfied with anything???!!??
ReplyDeleteJAT have to react fast and start doing something. Frankly, I don't see any other airline in Europe having such an aeging fleet B733 and B735 may be good aircraft but NOT economic anymore. Tarom, Bulgaria Air, Turkish Airlines, Croatia Airlines - all of them have newer aircraft but not JAT!
ReplyDeleteTarom still operates some older aircraft and so does Alitalia, Lufthansa, SAS, British Airways....
Deletei have read that this deal is just a dream, won't be nothing out it...how??
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ReplyDelete