Air Serbia has completed the renewal of its ATR72 turboprop fleet with the carrier taking delivery of its last of five -600 models of the aircraft last week. It is considering further growing its regional fleet. The latest aircraft, registered YU-ASA (pictured), is nine years old and previously operated for Aer Lingus and its subsidiaries but has been stored for much of the past two years. It features the new cabins installed across the ATR fleet and is expected to enter revenue service shortly. In addition, the carrier has wet-leased an ATR72-600 from Romanian carrier Air Connect. It commenced operations on behalf of Air Serbia yesterday.
Air Serbia began the drive to replace its old ATR72 fleet last year. It was comprised of -200 and -500 models, most of which were almost thirty years old and delivered new to the carrier’s predecessor JAT Yugoslav Airlines. The average age of Air Serbia’s ATR72-600 fleet is now seven years. Air Serbia is expected to retire the last two older -200 and -500 ATR models still in service, registered YU-ALU and YU-ALP, although it still has several older turboprops stored in Belgrade. Since the Serbian carrier owns some of the ATR aircraft it has retired, the company is studying the possibility of entering the freighter market and using the planes for cargo flights. The airline is also looking into expanding its ATR fleet. “The optimal size of the [ATR72 fleet] I would say is ten because then you can start benefiting from some economies of scale”, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said last year.
The Serbian carrier also plans to unveil its naming concept for the ATR fleet this year. The names will likely be related to the country’s geography rather than personalities, as featured on some of its Airbus jets. Mr Marek recently said, “We are currently developing a different concept for our ATR fleet that will not necessarily be human related. It will be something more related to our home country”. In 2013, the airline launched a “Living Legends of Serbia” aircraft naming concept, where several narrow-body jets were named after famous Serbian sportsmen, actors and musicians. However, the concept never really took off and has been halted. The carrier named its first wide-body A330 jet after Nikola Tesla, while the second carries Mihajlo Pupin’s name.
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Finally! looks good
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that they are wet leasing a 6th ATR72-600. Will it be in the fleet long term?
ReplyDeleteYes
DeleteApparently for a year so far
DeleteI doubt it'll stay for a year. I think the aircraft will stay until YU-ASA enters service. However, the way things have been with the fleet and staff the past several months, anything is possible.
DeleteYU-ALO isn't flying since the end of November leaving YU-ALO the last remaining ATR72-200's.
Up to 6 ATR's ATR's are needed for the current schedules at most. 4 new ATR's are flying plus 1 ATR72-500 (YU-ALU), with the 5th new ATR72 (YU-ASA) yet to enter service. This is where I think that the wet lease has jumped in until YU-ASA enters service.
Great news. No more gambling whether you will get the old or the new ATRs.
ReplyDeleteWell they are still using 2 older ATRs on top of the new ones. So there is still a gamble
DeleteOnly 1 is left - YU-ALO, and that aircraft isn't used to the max.
DeleteMy mistake, YU-ALP is the one left.
DeleteSo in total 8 ATRs are currently operating for Air Serbia?
ReplyDelete7 as YU-ASA is still not in service, but should be soon.
DeleteFlew with one of the new ATRs recently. Can't be compared to the ATR72-500/-200. Comfortable cabin, much quieter. Great overall.
ReplyDeleteI expect to see around 10 ATRs in Air Serbia fleet.
ReplyDeleteAgree that 10 ATRs would be ideal. Hope we see this expansion happen.
DeleteNow they are wet leasing and ATR. What's happening with the pilots in the Air Serbia. Are they leaving company or there is shortage?
ReplyDeleteTraining new pilots takes time.
DeleteTraining new pilots is cancelled because management is angry due to pilots unwillingness to work as slaves.
DeleteThat is a very not true information.
DeleteI can assure you that new pilots training is ongoing as we speak.
Anonymous13:34
DeleteIt's not? Hmmm ok if you say so.. I tend to agree with @annon 11:01
The comment on the pilots isn't true. New pilots are in training. Just last week there was another recruitment round for all aircraft types. More recruitment rounds to follow. There is only so much they can train at a time so expect more recruitment drives.
DeleteThere are two different pilots in j training we are talking about here. Off the street new hires are training, but as far as I know internal pilot captain upgrades wre suspended because company and union both wre acting like children. New captains are much needed for this new season coming up.
Deletetraining for pilots within the company was suspended as an aggressive act towards the pilots and flight attendants unions due to the non-signing of the collective agreement, which rejected every demand of the unions. all advancement was suspended as a threat to hire Romanian women to work as cabin crew and pilots from all over the world to work instead of our pilots. The conclusion is that the following will rather give money and better working conditions to foreigners who will take that money out of the country than to our people who would leave that money in our country.
DeleteSounds insane, but that is what is going to happen in reality if this idea goes through...
DeleteAnonymous19:44
DeleteConsidering how AS is known for mistreating its employees i don't find this as a surprise, even if it's false it sounds like a realistic scenario for AS greedy-amateur HR
ATR passenger conversion to freighter? Interesting and unexpected.
ReplyDeleteHow much would a conversion cost though?
DeleteLet's see. Maybe their feasibility study shows it's not worth investing in the conversion.
DeleteCould Jat Tehnika do the freighter conversion?
DeleteWell they are doing B767 conversions so I don't think it's impossible.
DeleteLet them first return YU-APB.
DeleteAPB is on the back burner do to conversion giving more profite. I find this unbelievable but two people told me similar stories.
DeleteAPB won't be back before summer. They used some spare parts from it from what I heard.
DeleteFinally. Should have been done a decade ago.
ReplyDeleteMore ATRs are needed
ReplyDelete10 would be optimal as Marek said.
DeleteHow much do brand new ATRs cost? The ATR72-600?
ReplyDeleteThese things change and vary based on numerous things but the -600 list price is $26.8M
DeleteFlew twice on Air Connect ATR72-600 and I just can tell y’all that the seats are very comfortable and well padded, good pitch.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThey finally have a respectable fleet of ATR's
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteGood but I believe they also need to expand Airbus fleet.
ReplyDeleteThey said they will add 5 planes to the fleet this summer, and I believe this does not include wet-leases.
DeleteHow many planes do they have now?
ReplyDelete10x A319
Delete2x A320
2x A330
7x ATR76 (incl. - 200 and -500 type)
Lete:
DeleteALU (725) y
ALP (722) y
ALX (726) y
ALW (726) y
ALY (726) y
ALZ (726) y
APC (319) y
APD (319) y
APE (319) y
APF (319) y
APL (319) y
APM (319) y
APN (319) y
APH (320) y
APO (320) y
ARB (330) y
ARC (330) y
Ne lete:
ALO (722) n stored
ALN (722) n stored
ALT (725) n stored
ALV (725) n active
ASA (726) n active
APA (319) n active
APB (319) n stored
APK (319) n active
Regarding my previous post on the above list of planes: this is as of January 15.
DeleteBoze dragi, njima vec skoro pola godine stoje tri A319 u Jat Tehnici, javasluk i katastrofa......
DeleteActually only one, YU-APB, the other two have nbeen sent to maintenance only in the last 7-10 days
DeleteYU-APE cane out of a check and YU-APK went. Issue is with YU-APB.
DeleteYU-ALV has been officially returned to the lessor, so I do not think it should be on list of JU planes anymore (as YU-APG isn't).
Delete"Air Serbia is soon set to return an Airbus A320 jet (registered YU-APG) and one ATR72 (registered YU-ALV) to their owners as their lease with the company expires"
ExYu aviation 29.06.2020
Zamislite katastrofu u planiranju s jedne strane placate lizing za APB a on ne leti vec pola godine, mora da su ga rascupali za delove kao ANH svojevremeno sto znaci da mozda nece ni poleteti vise nikada. E sad to sto on nije u vlasnistvu mozda nesto menja stvar ali sto je mnogo mnogo je.
DeleteNe verujem da su to smeli da urade jer kao sto si rekao ovaj avion za razliku od YU-ANH nije u njihovom vlasnistvu i jednog dana treba da ga vrate.
DeleteTakodje Air Serbia danas nije u situaciji kao sto je bio Jat da ne moze da kupi nove delove nego da mora da cerupa avione koji ne lete.
Sto se tice placanja lizinga neprihvatljiva mi je cinjenica da Jat Tehnika ne placa penale za ovaj avion. Ne pustaju ti avion 5 meseci u saobracaj a da ne bude finansijskih posledica to cisto sumnjam.
Jos jedna posledica koja je vidljiva je da je Air Serbia poslala jedan A319 u Turkish Technic. Pitamo se zasto?
Ne plaća se lizing tokom perioda kad nisu operativni.
DeleteCorrect, API, APJ and APG were returned to the owners at different times in the past, however, ALV was used until recently. Perhaps it was finally returned just a few weeks ago.
DeleteALV wasn't returned just a few weeks ago. It stopped flying for Air Serbia in August of 2020. So that was 2,5 years ago!
DeleteAPI and APG were also returned to lessors during pandemic, while APJ was returned in October 2021.
I actually think they need a regional jet plane. Something with the capacity to seat 100 passengers.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. They need something in between the Airbuses and ATRs. Especially for winter operations.
DeleteIf they replace more of their 319 fleet with 320, 100-seater(s) is a must.
DeleteMarek mentioned a few months back that a regional jet is an option, but not in the short term plans. I guess this will happen once the A319's leave the fleet, as they're (going to be) being replaced by the A320. ERJ in particular was mentioned.
DeleteI have been wondering why is YU not considering Embraer family 170/175/190?
ReplyDeleteAny thought on that?
I know that they are more expensive than the ATR's but they are also faster and have longer range.
E's will make YU much more competitive.
They said they will consider some of Embraers newer generation planes to fill the gap between ATRs and Airbuses but that it is a longer term plan and something they are looking to do immediately.
DeleteWhen they transition to A320/ATR76 fleet and have a sufficient number of both, it could make sense to introduce a sub-fleet of regional jets to fill the gap. However, with only 5 ATRs and numerous A319s, there is still no strong need for regional jets, except on some routes at certain parts of the year.
DeleteIs it just me or are many Romanian carriers offering wet lease services?
ReplyDeleteYes. Romanian aviation is focused on ACMI. They have big number of airlines -17 for now.
DeleteIt's nice to see an ex-Yu airline expanding, adding new routes and growing its fleet. There is too much stagnation in the region.
ReplyDeleteIndeed but overall we are talking of a very small segregated region / market where there is no room for too many serious players.
DeleteThis wet leasing seems to be a bit out of control, it is not a cheap sport!
ReplyDeleteHow many are wet leased at the moment?
Delete1 A319 from Dan Air
1 E190 from Air Montenegro
1 ATR72-600 from Air Connect
Did I miss anyone?
Second E190 from Air Montenegro also flew on certain days for Air Serbia, plus another A320 from Dan Air.
DeleteQuite a few wet leases in the middle of winter.
DeleteI guess they did not plan well their fleet for winter. I guess they did not expect such strong demand.
DeleteNo, they did not plan that Jat Tehnika would be doing such a bad jobs and take months to service their planes. They sent a plane to Turkish Technics the other day, presumably as Jat Tehnika can't service it.
DeleteYou cant blame everything on Tehnika. Yes, they sre holding on APB but none of the ATRs. How would you explain wet lesse for that plane too?
DeleteAnswer is much simpler. Someone is doing fleet planning horribly, plus there is a muh lack of ceew and pilots due to poor worl conditions and compensation. Its only about money, its about general work environment which has drastically deteriorate in the past years and people dont want to work in JU anymore
There is also Dan Air A320 with the nice livery flying for JU
DeleteWhat is wrong with APB and what is wrong with Jat Tehnika?
DeleteC’mon guys, it’s not about Jat Tehnika at all, it’s only about lacking the pilots to fly the increased number of planes. In the summer, this will be even more visible. You cannot hire/train 100 pilots just like that, especially to fly for Serbian airline.
DeleteEspecially to fly for Serbian airline?
DeleteFor AA they are born as pilots?
You can easily hire pilots for AA, but it’s much harder to attract pilots to live and work in Serbia.
DeleteGreat benefits to Air Serbia's ATR 600. Let's hope five more of the same turboprops aiding to present fleet. Nis, Cacak or Kraljevo and Uzice should be among name's.
ReplyDeleteLet hope to be fwe ATR's in future cargo fleets of AirSerbia.
I wonder why they wouldn't use those old ATR's in Kraljevo or Nis? I for one never cared about the noise they made. Perhaps they could have added some new routes?
ReplyDeleteThey are probably becoming too costly to operate plus require constant supervision from someone in maintenance.
DeleteThe old ATR's are increasingly expensive to maintain regardless of being owned by the airline. Cargo flying isn't as demanding as pax flying which might make it worth while to prolong their life as cargo aircraft. Not to mention the cabin condition isn't great and requires further investment.
DeleteKVO has no fuelling capabilities so basing an aircraft there is not possible. Destination demand from INI isn't exactly distances that is suitable for an ATR.
I'm nervous about their plane naming :D
ReplyDeleteGreat news!
ReplyDeleteDo they all have the same seat layout? I heard rumors that some of new -600 have 72 seats but some have 70 seats though?
ReplyDeleteIt is possible that some have 70 depending on the location of the lavatory. But all have the same seats and cabin.
DeleteThey all have their previous owner's cabin so each one is different.
Delete^ This is not true. All the cabins have been retrofitted are like the ones in the photo.
DeleteFlown with them in summer, and the cabins were different (one had white seats)
DeleteIt is not true that they have previous owners cabins.
DeleteCabin looks good
ReplyDeleteAgree!
DeleteWhy doesn't Air Serbia have ATR-42 in their fleet?
ReplyDeleteBecause they do not need them.
DeleteOperating costs are the same as for ATR72, but they bring less money due to less seats available.
Operating costs cannot be the same for such a larger plane - just out of the basic logics.
DeleteThey are not the same, obviously. But more important is price per seat, because that influences price which passengers are paying and that figure is greater on ATR42 than on ATR72. Meaning that it's more economical for JU to have ATR72 than ATR42.
DeleteWould love to see Air Serbia Cargo logo on the ATR72s :D
ReplyDeleteIs there something like Air Serbia Cargo logo?
DeleteHere you go: http://92.249.52.115/img/logo/ASL_Cargo_Logo.svg
DeleteThanks.
DeleteWet leases again? And the summer expansion didn't even start yet
ReplyDeleteIs Air Connect in JU livery? I suppose the crew is Romanian like Dan Air?
ReplyDeleteNope it's in their livery, the crew is also not from Air Serbia
DeleteAir Serbia needs to grow! They need to follow the needs of the Serbian market. We saw in December when they had a massive increase in passenger numbers but their share at BEG fell to below 50%.
ReplyDeleteActually they are very lucky to br based in such a good market.
They need to grow, yes they do, but step by step otherwise they will end up like all other Etihad partners that rushed growth
DeleteJU is making good progress with its fleet. Will be interesting to see what it looks like in a year's time.
ReplyDeleteHopefully with third A330 :)
DeleteThe Air Connect ATR flying for Air Serbia to Tirana and Podgorica today.
ReplyDeleteIt flew yesterday to TIA as well. My friend was flying TIA-BEG-ARN and even the second leg was operated by Dan Air
DeleteToday: PRG, TIA and TGd.
DeleteOn low cost seat. The cheapest one.
ReplyDeleteWhat is wrong with the seat? Routes that ATRs fly are no longer than 2 hours, usually are about an hour, what kind of seats do you need for such a short flight?
DeleteFor more than one hour flight on a fix seat, thank you.
DeleteRecaro seat, same as at his Z 101!
DeleteThere are plenty of Q400 on the market, they could make use of. They are much faster than ATRs and could allow them to use on longer thinner routes like NUE, VIE, ATH, KRK and may be Italy. On top of that they could have E1/E2 for medium sized European O&Ds and 320s for trunk routes and charters and 321LR/XLR to reach Middle East, Central Asia and Central Africa. A330-800/900s would be the right option for US/Canada and Far East.
ReplyDeleteHallelujah!! Was on one of the -200s on a trip from BEG-PRG. That machine was OLD. Glad they're renewing the ATR72 fleet.
ReplyDeleteQ400 is a great plane for short hauls. And Air Serbia would not have to lease. There must be a reason why it wasn't an option.
ReplyDeleteFlew YU-ALW on the BEG-TIA route today. Very nice plane! And there was no maintenance technician flying along like in those incredibly old ATRs. That was reassuring.
ReplyDelete