Air Serbia is adding a fourth aircraft to its fleet this summer on a wet-lease basis, this time from Greek carrier Air Mediterranean. The Boeing 737-400 jet, registered SX-MAM, is 24 years old and arrived in Belgrade yesterday. It will operate on behalf of Air Serbia for the remainder of the summer season. It features 168 seats and will be utilised primarily on charter flights, but will also make an appearance on several scheduled routes, such as Zurich this morning. It will enable the airline to operate fifteen charter flights tomorrow, among which are eight to Antalya, four to Hurghada, two to Bodrum and one to Rhodes. Wet-leases are usually short-term leases where the lessor provides aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance to the leasee. The additional aircraft will help Air Serbia better deal with the growth of its network, with the carrier launching twelve new routes over the past two weeks.
The Air Mediterranean aircraft becomes the fourth wet-leased jet in Air Serbia’s fleet this summer and the third Boeing aircraft to be operated on behalf of the Serbian carrier. The airline is currently wet-leasing two jets from Greece’s Lumiwings, including one 139-seat Boeing 737-300 and one 149-seat B737-700, as well as one 144-seat Airbus A319 aircraft from Romania’s Dan Air. The latter is the only one to feature some Air Serbia branding, with the airline’s titles highlighted over the fuselage of the jet. This summer marks the biggest amount of aircraft to be wet-leased by the national carrier.
Apart from the wet-leases, Air Serbia has also been expanding its fleet with long-term dry-leases. An A319 jet, registered YU-APN, is expected to enter the fleet soon, while the carrier has so far replaced two of its ageing ATR72 turboprops with the newer -600 series. A further three are expected to join the fleet during the year. The next ATR72-600 will be added this month and will be registered YU-ALX. “We are convinced that the arrival of these aircraft will further contribute to our operational efficiency and an even better travel experience for our passengers. Continuous improvement of our services and the user experience are among our biggest priorities, and we will continue to develop in this direction in the future”, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, recently said.
They really woke up and decided that they want to operate every available type of 737 currently on the market, didn't they?
ReplyDeleteAs planes will fly for them for 3 months, I think it is completely irrelevant what kind of airplane it is, it is important it gets those tourists from point A to point B on time.
Delete+1
DeleteIt's a bit of pain for the end costumer though... Let's say you buy Business class ticket, and you have no idea if you will be on new A319 or on 35 year old 737-300
DeleteThere is no 35 year old B737-300 in their fleet.
DeleteSX-LWA is 31 years old
Delete"Let's say you buy Business class ticket, and you have no idea if you will be on new A319 or on 35 year old 737-300"
DeleteWhat is the difference? How is aircraft age related to cabin configuration? For all we know, the 30-year old 737 might have a more comfortable business class seat that the standard JU one.
Noise... general cleanliness, and if you are able to put 139 seats in 733 you won't really have a business class seat, let alone business class leg room
DeleteQatar has the same problem as people were booking business classes on a350s and now they are getting re-booked to leased a330s... Not a nice image for airlines
DeleteTrue, Many people angry with QR this summer with their constant equipment swaps. Not a good look ahead of the World Cup.
DeleteI don't understand why JU sent it to ZRH when their competition is sending the A220 three times per day.
DeleteNo business class on wet lease planes . only economy . so you buy business class in advance and you will get 20-30 year old economy seat . good business for air serbia
DeleteWhat nonsense are you talking about. There is business class with business class catering and perks and blocked middle seat.. There is no dedicated business class cabin on any JU aircraft.
DeleteNice, I expect a big boom in passenger numbers in June.
ReplyDeleteThey should have planned out their fleet better this summer.
ReplyDeleteAgree. They should have had a proper fleet in place to support their expansion.
DeleteYep, prior to wet-leasing aircrafts, they should dry lease crystal-ball to see development and outcomes of pandemic, war, inflation... :)
DeleteAnd what makes you think that they haven't planned it this was?! The demand is piling up, they need planes for 3 months and they got them. Why old and not new? Well, price.
DeleteTheir ultimate goal is to returne to the path of profitability, so it's the moment to earn as much as possible. Than in autumn they sit and start planning for mid or long term.
This is my assumption, but i would do that in their place.
Putting the Greek antique on scheduled flights equally with leisure charters is the clear sign of poor planning.
DeleteWhy is that poor planning? If that aircraft is already in BEG, it means it was planned for their summer operation and they were well aware what they needed .It is mostly there for charters and nobody cares what type of aircraft they are flying when going down south for some sun and fun(just get me there). Same for schedule destinations, AirSerbia aircraft is preferred but what would happen if a schedule flight was cxld and the only option was to put me on some low budget carrier where I am stuck in a tiny seat? Passenges do not care as long as flight is going .
Delete@LaneHotLane
DeletePassengers do care and you see that in the comments they leave. For the fares that they charge, they're expecting better.
Last summer they wet leased 2 aircraft. Considering the expansion this year, a minimum of 2 narrowbodies should of been leased in and not just APN, which btw has still not flown 1 month after arriving into BEG.
SX-LWA has only operated scheduled flights this week, today alone MXP, SKG, ARN.
SX-LWC is operating mostly charters, but on Monday it operated only scheduled flights and often jumps in for the scheduled flights.
YR-URS is also mostly on charter flights, however it's also jumping in for scheduled flights.
SX-MAM just arrived in the fleet and the first flight it operated was a scheduled route.
Alot of airlines are overwhelmed this summer, however JU saw last year that travel restrictions wasn't as bad for them as it was for other airlines. They insist on launching new routes in the first week of June, where they also have further increases in frequencies on other scheduled routes and this is where things get messy. Frequencies on short haul are also being affected by the lack of aircraft. Almost 20% of their fleet this summer will be wet leases. This is a little too high.
URS seems to be a regular to Athens
DeletePMI is moved to 05.00 tomorrow, I guess more aircraft shortage
DeleteI wonder if they had really planned all along to have 4 planes on wet lease or did realization come as the summer started? How far in advance are wet leases usually negoatiated?
ReplyDelete*negotiated
DeleteYes, they are negotiated in advance. It was published here a few months ago that they would have several wet leases this summer.
DeleteI think 2 or 3 are nagotiated in advance, forth came with the demand. This again proves they are reaching quickly.
DeleteThey definitely planned for a couple wet leases, but I think they were too conservative with fleet replacement and should of dry leased at least 1 more A319/A320 aircraft. They are also really short of ATR's as well.
DeleteInteresting that this one has the most capacity out all the ones they leased.
ReplyDeleteAlready on duty this morning to Zurich and back.
ReplyDeleteYes and it is doing a charter to Antalya afterwards.
DeleteAnd at least it left Belgrade more or less on time this morning so that is a +
DeleteI see it's also scheduled next Friday to Zurich. Any idea which other scheduled routes we will see it on?
DeleteI guess Swiss thanks them.
DeleteDo they have any long term fleet strategy?
ReplyDeleteObviously they do since they are renewing their ATR fleet and replacing their Airbus fleet.
DeleteGoes to show how badly they are missing those 3 Aviolet planes.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThey're missing their replacements, not the B737 classics.
DeleteHow much is wet lease for 3 737s and one A319 compared to wet lease of one A330?
ReplyDeleteThere hasn't been an updated list on airliners, but these were the prices for last year.
Deletehttps://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1460947
2 A330's would not match the capacity 4 wet leased aircraft have brought in. The 4 wet leased aircraft would most certainly have been cheaper than 2 A330's while offering more capacity.
Compared to the wet lease of ONE A330 those four jets are more expensive.
DeleteAir Serbia should have completed ATR and A319 dry lease fleet changes by May and then wet leased two narrowbodies and one A330 for the summer. Similar cost but better flexibility.
Things Air Serbia could have done with wet leased 2nd A330 that are not doable with A319 or 737:
Delete-Increase JFK to daily
-Start seasonal YYZ 2-3 per week
-Send A330 1-2 per week to BCN or other destination in need of more capacity
-Use 2nd A330 later in the season to send YU-ARB for maintenance without cancelling JFK for couple of weeks
@17,25
DeleteJU needs the wet lease narrowbodies for their scheduled flights as well, so it's not better flexibility replacing 2 narrowbodies for an A330. 4 narrowbodies offer more capacity than 2 + 1 A330.
@20,03
YYZ can only be done 2 pw.
Routes such as BCN should have more frequencies to better compete with their competitors, not low frequencies and large capacity. There isn't many places to send a widebody on a regular basis.
Maintenence on the A330 is done in the winter, not summer. Wet leases don't stay with JU past the summer season.
Anyone flown with one of these four wet leased planes to Air Serbia? What was the experience like?
ReplyDeleteWasn't this the airline that was flying out of Pristina for years?
ReplyDeleteYes, they wet leased planes to some tour operator there.
DeleteYep in 2020
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2020/01/air-mediterranean-to-be-based-in.html
Interesting
DeleteAny pic of the cabin?
ReplyDeleteIt looks alright. Standard
Deletehttps://scontent.fbeg1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/48359712_535442363626360_4187343713439055872_n.jpg?_nc_cat=108&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=YeZvbCiXCTUAX_fakIZ&tn=T0SavVsQG0XKYFSC&_nc_ht=scontent.fbeg1-1.fna&oh=00_AT-MjNUOalzyIe1OBEsIznq6-Z915ZVtjP-mDrnfWzKOZA&oe=62D1A3F7
Thanks. Look fine
DeleteWhat is the approximate price for this type of leasing? Does it have to do with the number of flights, flight hours or ...?
ReplyDelete8 flights to Antalya tomorrow... crazy
ReplyDeleteUsually on the weekends they have either 8 flights to Antalya or 8 to Hurghada.
DeleteToday they also have charter to Monastir which hasn't happened in a while
DeleteIm happy seeing both Nouvelair and Airserbia operating charter flights to and Monastir
DeleteThey really went for Greek airlines this year for the wet leases.
ReplyDeleteSo does this mean that they have 22 planes operating this summer?
ReplyDelete22 if a ATR-72-200 won't leave the fleet when the YU-ALX comes .
DeleteThis demonstrates complete lack of planning and preparation for network expansion and comes as a last minute solution to contain the fire.
ReplyDeleteWhy? They obviously need short term wet leases. Majority of the routes they launched this summer are seasonal and they won't need all these planes in winter time.
DeleteThis shows that they are ready to cope with the situation and thet is great!
DeleteWith big airlines around Europe cancelling thousands of flights, Air Serbia is proving to be rather nimble and willing to do whatever it takes to operate its summer schedule as planned. But haters gonna hate.
DeleteDemand at BEG has been picking up since January. JU should have known summer would be crazy. This is bad planning
DeleteSo you trash 2 B733 that you own and that still had available resources in order to wet lease more or less the same planes. Smart decision as was made with AKK and AKI many years ago when they cut them up while planes were still in good flying condition.
ReplyDeleteThose 2 B737s would be 38 years old now. And you would complain about their age.
DeleteNo I would not as I loved those birds! and what is the difference they have now some 30yrs old B733 ?
DeleteThe difference is they don't have to pay for maintenance, which was a bottomless pit with Aviolet aircraft.
DeleteNot only higher maintenance expenses but also expensive crew training, higher fuel burn.
DeleteInteresting that they went mostly for Boeing planes rather than Airbus.
ReplyDeleteThose were available on the market.
DeleteVery difficult to find planes available for wet lease. There is huge demand.
Delete3 critics:
ReplyDelete1. Very late and last-minute planning
2. The disappearance of the Aviolet charter brand
3. Domestic airports sudden expansion. I think reality is that the capital generates much more money compared to KVO or INI charters.
They get money to fly from Kraljevo and Nis.
Delete@09,48
DeleteEnlighten us the reason behind the Aviolet brand. To give you a hint, it wasn't for charters.
Another question, is Air Serbia not allowed to operate charters? Or is it a must for an airline to spend money on creating a dedicated brand for charter ops?
Aviolet was an Etihad stupidity. Glad it is gone.
DeleteNo, Etihad's initial stupidity was for Air Serbia not to operate any charters whatsoever. When new Air Serbia management was shown how much money charters brings, they made a compromise to appease Etihad and form a separate brand.
DeleteAviolet was created to distance the B733's from the Air Serbia brand and nothing more. Plan was for the aircraft to be retired quickly.
DeleteReality however was different, especially since all these poorly thought out decisions costed the company money. Aviolet was a costly problem with 0 benefit.
Don't see why all the complaining. Many European airlines are wet leasing planes this summer. Just this week wet lease planes taken by Aegean Airlines, ITA Airways, Air Baltic, Air France...
ReplyDeleteI guess it's tough for some people to stomach the growth of JU. It's far from an ideal airline, but it's just as far from being the worst out there.
DeleteJU wet leased 2 aircraft for the smaller schedule they had last year. Frequencies are slowly returning to prepandemic levels, while they also added a large expansion to their network this year and were anticipating a busier charter season. Logic would have that at least 2 A319/A320's would have entered the fleet as dry leases and not 1. They also had 3 B733's which are yet to be replaced. JU isn't the worst but they have a tendency to be sloppy.
Delete+1 JATBEGMEL
DeleteNot just those, many almost all European airlines are wet leasing equipment this summer including British Airways, Finnair, SAS...
DeleteYes but they are not leasing these ancient B737s
Delete@anonymous 22:27 I guess nothing else was available any more on the market at normal prices… can’t imagine most other airlines leasing A319 from some noname Romanian company or old 737s…
DeleteSo when all the new ATR'S come and the old leave , in winter they gonna have 17 planes . 10 a319 ,1 a320 , 1 a332 , 5 ATR-72-600 .
ReplyDeleteYes
DeleteI thought the big bird was A330.
DeleteIt's A330-200, or specifically A330-243.
DeleteShort for that is A332
200 has longer range, 300 has more capacity.
thanks bro.
Delete^ Bravo Air Serbia
ReplyDeleteFirst time I hear of this Greek airline
ReplyDeleteIt has been around. Flew a lot of ACMIs from PRN over the last few years.
DeleteLooks like Serbia is in high demand for charter airlines.
ReplyDeleteDon't know why no one considered creating a charter airline in Serbia.
DeleteThere was a famous one called Aviogenex!
DeleteWell Aviogenec was bankrupted in 2013 despite interest for 4 different companies to purchase it. Charters had to be handed over to Air Serbia at all costs.
Delete*aviogenex
DeleteGreat news
ReplyDeleteWhat is next, YU-ANI returns to service.
ReplyDeleteThese planes will be around for 3 months. So I don't understand the drama.
DeleteTrade Air should get more closer with Air Serbia in future .
ReplyDeleteEspecially for charters .
Why Trade Air if JU can get better deal with Greeks?
DeleteNo need
Finally, after a month since it was delivered, YU-APN entered service this morning on the flight to Rome.
ReplyDeleteA new era has officially begun.
Flown to Turkey yesterday with this bird :) Nice crew and nice trip.
ReplyDeleteThey need A340-600, cheap and reliable, A380 also, cheap market value, but can't land in Belgrade.
ReplyDeleteBelgrade to Barcelona, instead of sending 5 planes, send one.
3 month wet lease.