Air Serbia set to take delivery of its first Airbus jet
Air Serbia is set to take delivery of its first of ten Airbus A319s on Monday October 21, the Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić has confirmed. Speaking during a session of Parliament, Mr Vučić outlined the arrival date saying that, “This is a good move”. He added the airline would allow Serbia to improve its business environment and for its citizens to be served by a reliable carrier with destinations throughout Europe and beyond. Mr. Vučić also noted that Air Serbia will have ten Airbus aircraft in its fleet in 2014.
Air Serbia’s first Airbus A319 is set to make its inagural revenue flight on October 27 from Belgrade to Moscow. The aircraft will also be used on the service to Abu Dhabi later that day. According to earlier reports, the aircraft will have a business and economy class section with personal television screens in each seat, a first for the region. Next week, Jat Airways pilots will begin a month long course in Berlin to train for the aircraft. During last week, employee unions at Jat threatened to launch industrial action if they were not included in the transition process and the planned reduction of administrative staff. Following immediate talks with government officials, the unions announced they have been included in the process.
Meanwhile, preparations for the launch of Air Serbia are continuing to progress. During this week, the price structure for the airline’s new destinations is set to be finalised. Furthermore, despite much speculation, Air Serbia recently bought the local aviation website airserbia.com, allowing it to use the domain name for its future website. The domain is currently redirecting visitors to the Jat Airways website. Regulatory approval for Air Serbia, granting it successor status to Jat Airways, is expected within the next few days. Etihad Airways hopes to take complete control of Jat Airways in early September.
Upsss... industrial action of employees? Can that happen in paradise, in such a perfect win-win situation, in best possible story...?
ReplyDeleteWell, it starts! Etihad is blessing, only Serbian mentality can destroy it. Like it destroyed so many opportunities in past.
Like what opportunities did the Serbian mentality destroy in the past?
Delete"30 planes, slots, big property, intercontinental routes"
DeleteOh, please stop pulling this stupid kind of comments. JAT never had 30 planes, and its routs and slots, interconinental lines in the 80s or 1991 are just FUNNY if you compare them to a network and frequency number of a typical today opperating companies. It was a totally different time of aviation when a direct flight (even one per week) was more worth than transit-connection possibility. Nowdays if you don´t fly a route ones a day, you practically lose it.
http://airlineroute.net/2011/03/01/w85-ju-eu/
And, yes, JAT really did have some very good properties abroad. But alltogether they were just few that were really owned, and all together properties are a marginal economical question for serious airliners. A pitty that many JAT facilities in Croatia were eventually sold out by Croatia Airlines few years ago (office at Pile, Dubrovnik for instance). Onother time, another needs!
JAT did have some glorious history in the 50-80s, but with or without Yugoslavia, the transit to the 90s and to the 21st century would have completely to change the business manner. So there would be some huge restructuring inJAT with or without Yugoslavia. Still, very proud to have such a company.
DeleteWell, in end of 80's JAT fleet was:
Delete3x ATR 42-300 (1987-1990) – all (later changed with ATR 72)
12x 727-200 (1970-2005) - some of those was flying on that time, not all 12
10x 737-300 (1985-today) – all
16x DC0-32 (1969-2005) - all
4x DC-10 (1978-2005) - all
so, that was al least 40 planes!
CSA, OK, doesn't meter if you want to make example of CSA (Czech not Slovak airline) and on that way JAT that flies as Serbian company but with many routes from Prague to Slovakia (Bratislava, Tatry, Košice, Ostrava...) or SAS as combination of 4 national companies. That was opportunity for Jat and Serbia which was blow by Serbian mentality.
Sure, that Jat model from early 90's could not survive, but chance was there to change model. Let me remind you that in end of 80's Jat was gigant compare to Austrian or Turkish. So, if there was no blowing the chance Jat could change to modern all exYU company (on model of SAS, CSA, Austrian, Turkish...) with much more planes than 40 like end of 80's.
What is the point of this 2013 year phantasies of JAT getting a Yugoslav SAS in the 90s, ehen we both know that Corats would be the last ones to accept something like that - with or without war. The whole Croatian identity is centraly based on denining and destructing of everything that is Yugoslav and common to Yugoslav nations, and the Yugoslavia nothing more that a prison for Croatian historians. Back in the 90s even Montnegro, that stayed in Yugoslavia, insisted to have a separate national airliner.
DeleteI´m quite glad that JAT never had a chance to become a kind of SAS with stocks from Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, montengro, Macedonia, Sloevnia after the dessolution of Yugoslavia. We both know that it would end up in undless critics of JAT flying to much from Sarjaevo, or to little from Skoplje, to much from Belgrade and not enough from Zagreb. The company would be forced to practice an extramly nonprofitable time table just in order to fly "politically correctly". That way JAT could never accept the newer business modells, including the stronger stress on hubs and transfers, and it would take just few years for JAT to be totally destroyed.
This way we still have JAT. I´m not happy about the rebranding, but still hope that we will see some regional branding very soon in coule of years.
3x ATR 42-300 (1987-1990) – all (later changed with ATR 72)
Delete12x 727-200 (1970-2005) - some of those was flying on that time, not all 12
10x 737-300 (1985-today) – all
16x DC0-32 (1969-2005) - all
4x DC-10 (1978-2005) - all
This is the number of planes that was totally opperated by JAT through out the history, and not the actual number that company had when big Yugoslavia coplapsed.
+ 1
DeleteCeli dan pišen i pričam na engleskom i nemam više energije za to...
DeleteJat jeste nekada imao flotu od 35-40 aviona... U letnjim sezonama su čak lesovani dodatni avioni(DC-10 i Tristar itd.), ali ne možete da ignorišete činjenicu da je Jat u svoje zlatno vreme bio avio-kompanija koja je opsluživala ogroman broj ljudi (oko 23.000.000) ako se ne varam... Sada JAT opslužuje Reubliku od 9,5 miliona i normalno je da se flota smanji... I još jedan problem predstavlja to što se Jat nalazi samo na BEG...a imao je priliku da se proširi i na PRN i na INI(da jesu bili prisutni, ali destinacije nisu imale veze s mozgom)
Guys, why do we always return to what JAT used to be waaaay bach when? It was a formidable airline at that time but even if YU survived as a country, we would have a completely different airline now. The route structure and fequencies are hilarious for todays standards. There would be no stopovers in ZAG and LJU, we would have zillion flights to/from PRN. The only thing it would be as it is now, is that no one would still be flying to Maribor.
DeleteAir Serbia is not old JAT and never will be. New JU will conect Belgrade to as many destinations as possible, people in Serbia will hopefully have the chance to fly decently and travellers from neigboring countries will have an option to fly from or connect in Belgrade, should they chose to. People from the region would stil be free to choose to fly whichever airline they want and connect wherever they desire, TIA, ZAG, LJU or MUC...
Regarding Niš... Niš is 3 hours by car from Novi Sad, 2 from Belgrade and not really the fountain of prosperity at the moment. We may see regular flights from Niš but only after Belgrade is reestablished as a hub. Until then, charters and lowcost flights only. We keep hearing "professional management"... that means "no sentimentality" and in this case "no flight from INI at the moment".
Good night from Novi Sad
On 14th and 21st September Korean comes to Zagreb with 777.
ReplyDeleteThey had 8 flights in April and may, are they adding additional flights this year ?
DeleteWould be nice if JAL comes back with their season fistfights, loads of Japanese tourists visit Zagreb and Croatia, 127000 in 2012, Korean Air could make it full service via Prague or something ?
Seoul - Prague - Zagreb - Seoul could work well, twice weekly service to Zagreb.
JAL cold also do same, Tokyo - Vienna - Zagreb - Tokyo.
OT: What happened with LX1419 in BEG? The A320 landed on time but the return flight at 20:00 was cancelled...
ReplyDelete@Ex-YU
ReplyDeleteDo you maybe know what the logic of new Air Serbia flight numbers? Cairo, Beirut and Abu Dhabi are in JU8xx format. But regional routes are mix of JU1xx and JU6xx. And Varna got JU132/133 flight number, which is used for SVO route. Does it mean all flight numbers will be changed!?
Also, morning flights seem to have JUxx2 format, midday JUxx4, afternoon/evening JUxx6 and late night/midnight departures JUxx8.
Im curious to find out the logic. It doesnt seem theres any.
Yes, SVO changing numbers to JU650/651 (morning flight) and JU565/657 (night - red eye). Trying to work out the logic myself as well.
DeleteBut the numbers make sense! :) JU1xx goes regional, JU6xx goes Eastern Europe. Bulgaria is considered regional destination.
DeleteIf morning flights have JUxx0 or JUxx2 format, midday JUxx4, etc, as stated above, it provides enough “space” in the numbering plan for new flights to those destinations, if needed. Assuming the JU565 for SVO is typing error and that it is actually JU656, we have Moscow flights listed as JU65X, there could be 4 or 5 daily flights some day, 650/654/656/658, flight numbers are already “saved for the occasion”. Flight JU658 could be the last flight of the day, departing Belgrade after midnight, as many flights from Europe to Moscow already depart European airportss at around that time. JU656 (timed like JU134 now is) could easily be just one of the red-eyes to SVO, not the one.
I am not saying it will happen, we are long way from there, but the logic is there, and the numbers as well.
Now, I cant wait to see what else was moved and where. It would make sense to see TGD, TIV, SKP, OHD and even Croatian airports moved to JU1xx range, but who knows, maybe they got entirely different range, JU5xx for example, with Greece and Italy, for example.
We shall see on Sunday and know more, I guess.
Best regards from Novi Sad.
Budapest is in the region and flt code begins with 6. Kiev is far from the region and flt code begins with 1.Does that fit into your theory?
DeleteNope it doesnt :) But hey, it only a light hearted theory, not the Bible.
DeleteI saw Kiev fligt numbers later :)
Where we can find all those new flight numbers?
ReplyDeleteThey are not official yet. You are likely to find them on the airline's website on Sunday.
DeleteDoes anyone know whether Air Serbia will operate the A319s with IAE V2500 or CFM56-5 engines? The images shown would indicate IAEs, but the CFMs would make more sense, seeing as JAT has operated the 737-300 (which comes with CFM56-3 engines) for some time. Also, would the A320neos come with CFM LEAP-X engines, or the Pratt & Whitney PW1000G???
ReplyDeleteFor anyone interested in the Facts as to why Etihad bought into Jat/Air Serbia.
ReplyDeleteIn summary, they (etihad) were given an opportunity to invest and if Hogan thought they could make a profit then he was given permission to do so, if he thought otherwise then no deal.
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/buying-in-balk-512907.html
There is an Air Serbia facebook page. It seems to be official, with a lot of interesting stuff :)
ReplyDeletethat is NOT an official FB page
Delete@ExYU
ReplyDeleteCan you list all flight number change? I would really appreciate it!
Where can we find that info ourselves?