Air Serbia and Lithuania’s GetJet Airlines have signed a deal which will see the latter provide the Serbian carrier with up to four Airbus A320 aircraft through a wet-lease agreement over a one and a half year period. Two GetJet A320s, registered LY-MAL and LY-WIL, which feature Air Serbia titles on the fuselage, are already operating out of Belgrade, with a further two units to join during the 2024 summer season. Over the 2024/25 winter season, two GetJet A320s will again operate on behalf of Air Serbia. Notably, unlike on other wet-leased capacity utilised on behalf of the Serbian carrier, GetJet-operated flights will provide business class service as well. A wet-lease arrangement involves the lessor providing the aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance (ACMI) for the aircraft for the duration of the contract.
Commenting on the agreement, Air Serbia’s General Manager for Commercial and Strategy, Boško Rupić, said, “We are very happy to establish long-term cooperation with a reliable ACMI provider such as GetJet Airlines. One very interesting specific of this cooperation is the fact that on flights operated by GetJet Airlines aircraft business class service will be provided, which is currently not available with our other ACMI partners. With the continuous expansion of our fleet, both with aircraft in our livery and aircraft of ACMI partners, we are getting closer to handling four million passengers in 2023, which will be a significant and important achievement for the Serbian national airline”.
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| GetJet A320 (LY-MAL) |
The extension of Air Serbia‘s capacity will support the flag carrier‘s goal to further expand and densify its network. GetJet Airlines’ CEO, Ruta Kulvinskaite, said, “We proudly announce our new long-term partnership with the flag carrier of Serbia that allows us to use our experience and expertise carrying passengers across the European network. We believe that additional capacity and our full support will contribute to Air Serbia’s development goals and will bring the most popular European destinations closer to passengers from Serbia. These past years proved how important ACMI operations are in supporting airlines during the surge in demand and we are glad that we earned the trust of major carriers across Europe and beyond”.
GetJet Airlines has been providing charter and ACMI services since 2016. Its fleet consists of A320s, A321s, and Boeing 737 aircraft. It maintains operations on behalf of various airlines including Wizz Air, Finnair, Transavia, Icelandair, TUI Airways, Vueling and others.
They should Dry lestes them
ReplyDeleteAir Serbia staff are unable to recruit enough staff, it's easier to expand quicker by wet leasing.
DeleteStaffing is a major issue for JU in all departments, not just flight operations.
DeleteThere are a lot of people leaving and not enough people hired.
Potentially if they pay their staff accordingly for the value they provide, as well as up the recruiting starting salaries then they could recruit staff and external talent.
DeleteThey should enable hiring from other ex-yu countries not just Serbia. If they did, i would have applyed for a flight attendant with them.
DeleteWell a family member just arrived on Wizz from LCA (packed to the last seat) and he told me that the pilot was Hungarian. So obviously foreigners can work with the right permit.
DeleteEven if they enable foreigners to work who would come? Their salaries are quite low compared to other Balkan carriers, even Air Albania has better compensation then JU, not to mention CTN.
DeleteIf this manpower shortage continues in formidable future, ASL will become just a virtual airline...
Nemjee i was talking for Air Serbia, with Wizz of course you can work everywhere. In order to apply for Air Serbia you need to have serbian citizenship which i dont. @12:28 What are the salaries at JU?
Delete@Anon at 13:13
DeleteSince you are interested for applying as stewardess I will talk only for that sector.
As a new hire expext 6 days on 1 to 2 days off.
Salary ranges from 600e-900e a month.
If tou fly long haul max 1.000e in summer session.
JU has no issue with staffing, so stop spreading misinformation. It is ridiculous to even post on here how they are wet leasing an aircraft just bcs they have no crew. The reason why they are moving forward is bcs the awesome deal they are getting from get jet. Most important to JU are maintenance and insurance which is guaranteed. For your information in the first 2 quarters 1.8 staff have left AirSerbia ( compare to 18.2 left Austrian).
DeletePlease explain 1.8 staff.
DeleteIt is probably 1.8%
Delete@Anon 13:49
DeleteYou are right that there are no staffing issues...
That is regarding manager positions but essential sectors like mechanics pilots, cabin crew, oh boy there are shortages.
And shortages in this sector are results of poor working conditions and poor salary.
If you are a company bot just ask your bosses why they don't release internal reports from Lufthansa Technik and Lufthansa Consulting to the public.
So that public can see the true picture the is in.
@13:37 oh that is so bad, the salaries of W6 at SKP are 900 euros minimum for the new employees and around 1,2k for the older ones.
DeleteAlso 6 days on 2 days off is really excausting for the crew, simillar to what FR does. This makes the job not very different from all other jobs, the difference here is that every flight you risk your life for nothing, not enough money for that plus your health will be trash.
DeleteWizz air salaries are not even close to that, not to mention that salaries at Wizz Air depend on how much products you sell on board. Please don't write nonsense.
DeleteWhat are you talking about? Their minimum base salary is 450 euros no matter if you fly or not that month. The other comes from flights hours and yes procentage of what you sold on board. 450 is base salary for the new ones that are no longer then 2 years in the company, for those who are up to 4 years in the company the base salary is 600 and so on.
DeleteOn such low base salaries you somehow calculated that they earn thousands of euros. They must be selling lots of tapas meals on the Skopje flights then.
DeleteI don't know the salaries in AirSerbia, but if they are on nationwide average, we should not say that they are low. I agree that is not a competitive salary, but 700-800 € is neither the bad one.
DeleteHow about some people here share their salary and position? I work abroad so I am not relevant, but my mother as super experienced nurse has around to 900€ with holidays and night shifts. Being a nurse and a cabin crew is much different and I dare to say, nurse is more difficult.
What you are missing is that people can do any old job and get the same money they would flying for Air Serbia so they logically choose jobs that give more time off, less 3am wake ups and 8 hour duties instead of twelve.
DeleteПо неким коментаторима, изгледа да посаде плаћају ЈУ да би летели.
DeleteBravo Air Serbia 🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸
ReplyDeletelol
DeleteWhy can't they have all their planes in AS colour scheme? Various aircraft, half white, half coloured.
ReplyDeleteBecause wet leases are usually short term
DeleteGet Jet has a very nice symbol.
DeleteI’d prefer AS colours on all of them, too.
DeleteWhy is Bosko dealing with fleet matters? Doesn't he have more pressing matters to deal with like improving the business class product, making sure passengers can check-in online at every airport, introducing a loyalty program, introducing a corporate program etc.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note very good news for JU and congrats to the team that worked on this.
Bravo, Nemjee.
Delete+1000
For instance I assume that leased planes having business class is very important for line of business :D Let's be real - he's one of the few guys there making all this work, and for that kudos to him; other than that, yes - for sure it's a very 'fluid' organisational situation out there...
DeleteHonestly seems like the only work he's doing is making statements and giving interviews. Meanwhile next to nothing was done to make JU commercial strategy more competitive.
Delete+1
DeleteInteresting that they have business class
ReplyDeleteProbably because the galleys have ovens for reheating food unlike the other planes they are wetleasing where the owners got rid of that to maximize seat capacity.
DeleteThere is no correlation between ovens and seat capacity, at least in the front galley. Ovens themselves are dirt cheap in used condition.
DeleteYes there is correlation because if there are no ovens thr galley space ia significabtly smaller.
DeleteOf course it is... Ever seen and installed an oven?
DeleteYou simply don't get it and are yet another armchair expert. Yes, not having ovens and other kitchenette equipment that comes along with it saves space because it permits the removal of entire galley sections, enabling you to add more rows into an aircraft. That is why no LCC aircraft has them. You can get rid of this entire section
Deletehttps://aviationweek.com/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2021-01/jamco-enhanced-galley.jpg?itok=N6P9C8F9
It's good that they are finding more longer term capacity providers
ReplyDeleteIf you pay enough you can find everything.
DeleteUntil you don't have any money to pay...
DeleteFor your disappointment, Anon 12.50h, AirSerbia has money.
DeleteGetting employees in Serbia becomes harder and harder. Many business partners compain to me.
ReplyDeleteWell when they can have better conditions abroad
DeleteWith the average salary lagging behind the inflation and the cost of living crisis slowly crawling all over Europe, it's up to employers to offer better salaries and work conditions, no industry should be spared of strikes, since they're running people into the groud with those terms.
Delete@Anon 09:22
Delete+1000
ASL salaries are a joke not only compared to what the other European airlines pay but also for the cost of living in Belgrade.
I'm sure they can offer better wages with their 40+ million profit this year...
DeleteAgree. They are expanding quickly and its a good thing. But you will plateau with your progress if your salary packages are way below competitor counterparts. If JU wants to be a true European leader one day they will have to up their salaries and aggressively engage in a talent war.
DeleteHow can they increase salaries when the government took almost all of their H1 profit?
DeleteAs a side note salaries in Belgrade have grown quite a bit. I think average salary has grown to more than 100K.
Government owns JU so what are you talking about?
DeleteThey have to open cabin crew call to all of ex-yu ASAP. Problem with that is that you have to provide some sort of housing in Beograd. And dats expensive. So what to do?
DeletePilot salaries are good and on par with what others are offering. The reason why they are struggling from what I heard is because work conditions are better elsewhere. We will see what European aviation will look like next year since the market is still somewhat distorted.
DeleteWhy on earth can this airline not find its own aircraft????
ReplyDeleteThis simply has to be burning cash for the airline - unless it is a model such as that being used for the E Jets, wet leasing is notoriously expensive.
If this is a staffing issue - why is GoS not relaxing visa rules and why is JU not increasing pay and/or conditions in attempts to retain staff?
Relaxing visa rules would just push out even more workers out of Serbia to the EU, it would effectively be a full stop to any real wage growth in this industry.
Delete@09:20
DeleteWhich countries have aviation professionals that would come to work for JU wages and Belgrade cost of living?
It is not a visa problem, it is a low wage vs high cost of living problem that makes it difficult for JU to find enough staff for its flights schedule.
I don't think it will be resolved any time soon so wet leases it is.
Just my2cents
Key issue here seems to be JU wages and conditions then no?
DeleteI wonder what a cost/benefit analysis of wet leasing vs improvement n conditions would show
Good that they are locking in summer capacity now so we avoid a repeat of this summer.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteSo I'm guessing this will replace Dan Air?
ReplyDeleteDan Air's fleet is inactive since their last JU flights, doesn't seem like they have a viable plan for their operations.
DeleteThey were supposed to start scheduled flights at the start of the winter seasons but seems like they have problems. Originally was meant to start from Bucharest, then they moved everything to Bacau.
DeleteBacau routes are doing terrible - a lot of joint flights so it feels like a bus service, empty legs etc. They should've started them with E190 not with A320. Bound to fail from the getgo, idk why they don't focus solely on ACMI
DeleteContract with Dan Air is terminated as of 01NOV.
DeleteDanair cheaper then getjet, safety reason? :)
DeletePersonaly not for me and many others . I don't like flying in white liveries , foreign registration and crew that does not speak the native language.
ReplyDeleteFew at QR and EK speak the native language either :)
DeleteThat is because both of them are hiring forein cabin crew members. Air Serbia is hiring only Serbs or people who have serbian passport which means they are required to know the language. I also dont want to fly with white planes and foreign cabin crew. This is very bad for the airline especially for their product! When they have become this far, they should focus on small details now to make the travel more enjoyable for the pax, and they are wet leasing aicrafts for 18 months instead. This airline reminds me of Air Bulgaria which is doing the same just with less capacity and network.
DeleteThey way things are going they will have 40 planes operating for them next summer. Very interested to see their summer schedule.
ReplyDeletedoesnt metter when half of them are white and nobody knows which airline it is.
DeleteHahh it is super important for an aircraft not to be white . Lol people on here are more for the reality shows then an avion blog.
DeleteOf course it matters. There is a reason why airlines invest millions into branding. All serious airlines pay close attention to these things. If this didn't matter then Ryanair would be the first to fly all white planes.
DeleteIndeed, I agree with you. I flew on Dan Air A319 a few times, it was ok but would have been better if it was JU.
DeleteQuite puzzled with JU's strategy. Yes, there is a fleet and crew shortage worldwide, but this random fleet collection is odd. Romanian startups, Greek ones too and now yo want to collection A320s to your already small ATR, Embraer, А319 and A320. Just strange...
ReplyDeleteThey signed more wet lease contracts than dry lease contracts. It seems to me that they're saving up on dry lease deals and that they're searching only for a cheap short term deal.
ReplyDeleteJU is experiencing the biggest expansion and demand growth ever, yet they're struggling to grow their fleet, maintain its product on every aircraft etc.
Maybe EY was ripping them off with lease prices, but everything was unified, well planned, business class was available on every Airbus aircraft, honestly I hope they'll focus more on that.
1.5 years is not a short term deal
Deleteyeah, right
DeleteA321 are coming so that's a good thing
ReplyDeleteSo this two A320s are completely new in fleet, from today?
ReplyDeleteLY-WIL and LY-MAL are flying for 2 months at least already.
DeleteA year and a half is not a short period, I think it would be good to paint the entire fleet in ASL livery. This way, it somewhat sadly resembles Jat Airways during the period when they operated planes without distinctive markings.
ReplyDeleteDo we know from which airline they will get the remaining aircraft for next summer?
ReplyDeleteYes
DeleteIt would be nice if one day Air Serbia has enough of its own aircraft to serve its network.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteLithuania, Romania, Greece are good choices for ACMI.
ReplyDeleteLithuania seems to have a lot of ACMi operators.
DeleteAir Serbia is wet leasing Lithuanian KlasJet aswell.
DeleteHow old are these two Getjet planes?
ReplyDeleteBoth are 16 yrs old.
DeleteFinally that at least they will have business class.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of having an exclusive capacity provider is a good one. Looks as if they are headed in that direction with the Marathon and Getjet deals.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of them
ReplyDeleteBest of luck. This is one of the worst ACMI operators you can find.
ReplyDeleteHaters gonna hate...
Delete@13.58 based on what exactly did you draw that conclusion?
Deletedefenders gonna defend...
Deletethey have no money to seize better aircrafts...big mess just like everything there....
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm sure you know. Also the plural of aircraft is in fact aircraft, not aircrafts.
DeleteBrand awareness matters, especially if you are not literally in the market for rock-bottom fares. JU has no business competing in the rock bottom market because it (like all other reasonable airlines) will always be outplayed by Wizz and such. But once you leave the rock bottom, the feel of the airplane matters. Whether the crew seem to know what they are doing matters. Uniforms matter. Being addressed in Serbian matters. The feeling of familiarity and safety as you enter the kind of plane and routine you've experienced many times before matters. If buying a JU ticket becomes the same as buying a lottery ticket -- the yields will suffer in the medium term. This seems pretty obvious
ReplyDelete"will always be outplayed by Wizz"
DeleteLOL, reality is not confirming your imaginary statements.
I don't think you understood his comment. JU won in markets which are obviously not price sensitive. If they tried to beat them in places like DTM, FMM, EIN ..then JU would not stand a chance. They can't compete if price is the only thing that matters to a potential client.
DeleteNemanjee I don't think you understand the meaning of the word 'always' in 'will always be outplayed by Wizz' statement. Look it up.
Delete'JU has no business competing in the rock bottom market because it (like all other reasonable airlines) will always be outplayed by Wizz and such.'
DeleteI think you have a problem with reading. He said that JU has no business chasing rock bottom markets, in other words markets which are extremely price sensitive. Given Wizz's cost structure the author said that JU will always lose and he is right. There is a reason why JU flies to CPH and not MMX, why they fly to DUS and not DTM, AMS and not EIN etc.
Both Air Serbia and Wizz Air have their own markets and clientele. Naturally there are relatively large markets such as BCN, BER, LCA, MLA... where there is room for both but equally so there are markets where there is room for only one player.
So chill out and try not to get triggered by the smallest thing.
Poznat si kao osoba kojoj drugačije mišljenje drma kavez. Ljudi koji imaju znanje prestali su da te ispravljaju kad grešiš. Ti to doživljavaš kao da si u pravu.
DeleteVery unattractive.
ReplyDeleteAir Serbia feels and looks like a charter airline.
Says the person that has never sat in any of their planes.
DeleteI agree with the first anon and i have sat in one of JU’s planes, i shta chemo sad?
DeleteNothing, don't fly with them anymore and enjoy Wizz Air where you will feel like a king because there is paint on the fuselage. Unless you stumble upon their Getjet wetlease.
DeleteAnon 18:58 You sound like you're about 12 years old
DeleteHe doesn't have to fly on Wizz, there are enough legacies in Belgrade.
DeleteI flew AS not too long ago and first we were supposed to use GetJet A320, then it was turned into KlasJet B738. Paid for my front row seat, was chucked to row 32 (aisle seat). Very disappointing it wasn’t AS. The online check-in process did not inform me my seat was going to be changed, despite paying for the seats after the planes had been switched. Was only told of this when boarding. The crew was nice though, but still, I was hoping for AS product and I’m not even Serbian.
ReplyDeleteI struggle to understand the financial logic of JU wet leases. The wages for Serbian crew are low therefore there's lack of crew, so the ACMI provide it. But then there's absolutely no way that Lithuanian or Greek crew wages are lower than Serbian ones, so would it just not make more sense to raise the wages and hire more of it's own crew rather than pay extra for ACMI? What even is the benefit of outsourcing these jobs to countries with higher income?
ReplyDeleteThe logic is that it is limited term. It covers multiple groups of employees. It increases the salaries of just a few people to the proper level instead of the whole cabin crew.
DeleteWell that makes it easier to understand. Appreciate the insightful reply 🙏
Delete