Air Serbia is preparing to incorporate dry-leased Embraer E195 jets into its fleet, which will mark the first time the carrier has operated the Brazilian-manufactured aircraft itself. The planes are due to enter commercial service in July. One of them, currently registered OY-GDA, was previously operated on the airline’s behalf by Marathon Airlines until the agreement between the two was cut short by an accident at Belgrade Airport involving another aircraft. The E-jet has since been returned to its owner. The other, OY-GDB, is currently stationed in Poland. Both units are owned by a Danish company. Presently, OY-GDA is based in Belgrade.
The two E195s will be complemented by two wet-leased Bulgaria Air E190 jets. One is already operating on Air Serbia’s behalf, while the other is due to enter service for the Serbian carrier on June 10, although changes remain possible. As EX-YU Aviation News learns, the two wet-leases will run for the summer, with the carrier considering adding a third dry-leased E195 from the winter season. The two incoming E195s have been tentatively scheduled to enter service on July 1. They are set to debut on Air Serbia’s morning wave of departures, to Frankfurt and Milan, and continue by operating services to Naples and Bucharest in the afternoon, and once again to Frankfurt and Milan in the evening. Besides these, they have currently been scheduled to operate flights to Amsterdam, Athens, Sarajevo, Skopje, Thessaloniki, Rome, Podgorica, Tivat and Zurich throughout July.
Commenting on the incoming E195s, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said last month, “We set the target [for the introduction of the Embraer in the fleet] at three months with one month buffer which brings us to the beginning of July. At the moment, it is going according to plan. We have already hired several pilots. We are also working on the introduction of the aircraft into our internal systems, starting from maintenance to flights ops and others. At the moment, we believe that if everything goes according to plan, we will have them in the fleet flying commercial flights by the beginning of July”.
Did OY-GDB operate for JU?
ReplyDeleteNo, it was planned to (gda, gdb, gdc) but then the incident happened
DeleteI think that OY-GDA flew for JU and that OY-GDB arrived to BEG week or two before accident with Marathon, but that plane made no single flight for Air Serbia.
DeleteGDB was planned for JU but it never made it to BEG.
DeleteYou are right, my bad.
DeleteGDA arrived actually to BEG shortly before accident with Marathon happened.
Marathon basically paid for the livery on GDA so that's a bonus :)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations air serbia for making best out of really bad situation
10 ERJs would be perfect on a long run!
I'm pretty sure Marathon will be paying for a whole lot more other than livery when the official investigation is over.
DeleteI think GDA is also sitting painted in Katowice. Not 100% sure though.
Delete"Presently, OY-GDA is based in Belgrade."
DeleteSorry, I meant GDB
DeleteE17x/E19x are not ERJ. It's a designator for E13x/E14x models. The E17x/E19x are usually referred to as E-Jets.
DeleteWhat about gdc? Any plans for repairs? Insurance should pay for it
DeleteIt will be written off after investigation
DeleteAre you guessing or you know?
DeleteCool. How many seats do they have?
ReplyDelete118
DeletePerfect. Thanks
DeleteAnd E190 has 108
DeleteThat is very quick entry into service for an airline that has not operated Embraers in the past.
ReplyDeleteTrue. Had they been an Embraer operator these planes probably would have immediately entered the fleet.
DeleteAgree.
DeleteWhere are the pilots coming from? Ex Air Montenegro? Ex Air Pink?
ReplyDeleteEx Marathon probably.
DeleteBut Marathon still exists and flies.
DeleteMarathon pilots are ex air Montenegro pilots
DeleteAir Pink had Embraer aircrafts?
DeleteYes, they had Embraer Legacy 600s.
Deleteex air pink...
DeleteThanks, makes sense
DeleteThese are especially needed in winter time.
ReplyDeleteGood news is that they plan to get more.
DeleteHow much does cabin crew training take for these E195s? Or will they hire completely new cabin crew just for Embraers?
ReplyDeleteAnyone flown on the Bulgaria Air E190 yet?
ReplyDeleteTraveling to and from Mostar (end of April, beginning of May). Both flights were full, with the flight to Mostar being completely full. The cabin of the plane was not in the best condition; only the first two rows had seats similar to those on LOT or Montenegro Airlines. The other seats were slimmer and far less comfortable. However, the flights were on time, and the cabin crew was extremely nice. Overall, the experience was very positive.
DeleteInteresting. I guess the first two rows are meant for business class. Good to hear about the loads.
DeleteThe first two rows of Bulgaria Air E190 feature a bit different seats and the overhead baggage compartments are marked "Silver Business Class". Leg space is also quite decent for these two rows.
DeletePretty sure JU got a good price to lease the Bulgaria Air Embraers. They were initially supposed to operate new Varna seasonal flights and back the current A220s, but those plans were cancelled. Those same Embraers used to operate for TAP Portugal in 2023. It seems the airline is becoming more ACMI, but hey those E190 jets are the best solution for JU.
ReplyDeleteDo you maybe know what will be the next E190 that is being wet leased from Bulgaria Air coming next month?
DeletePlovdiv LZ-PLO is currently flying, guess it will be Sofia LZ-SOF similar to what happened to TAP but those are the older Bulgaria Air planes.
DeleteHow old are the planes?
ReplyDeleteBoth are 16 years old
DeleteLovely...
DeleteI don't see an issue. The ones used by US, Canadian and western European carrier are much older.
DeleteMature birds; but those are the best- they know what issues they have etc, whilst getting NEOs, MAXs, A220s is tricky right because of that fact
DeleteI wonder if they’re still committed to phase out A319, they’re still performing quite well
ReplyDeletePhasing out A319s is difficult now considering the lack of A320s on the market due to neo issues.
DeleteThe A220-300 has a 36% better fuel burn than the A319ceo.
DeleteWith 80$ a barrel it is imperative for airlines to reduce their fuel consumpion.
They are expensive and many of them are grounded with engine problems.
DeleteThose being delivered now have the problem already fixed by Pratt.
Delete36% less fuel burn for the same capacity pays for the price difference between them and then some.
a220 more efficient for the passengers but a319 are better for the cargo. since JU been trying to grow air freight side of the business too.
DeleteRumour is that JU will make an A320neo order that will be larger than the initial order back in 2013 (10 A320neos).
DeleteJU have 3 dry lease A320's, 5 wet lease A320's and 10 dry lease A319's.
>> it is imperative for airlines to reduce their fuel consumpion
DeleteIf you have just 70 passengers that used to fly on a route operated by Q400 but are now flying on A220, you are not making fuel consumption savings per occupied seat.
Will they sell business class on these?
ReplyDeleteI checked BEG-FRA on 1 July and it shows E195 with business class seats available.
DeleteAlso while I was checking, I realized there is promo on flights to Germany. BEG-FRA on 1st of July is just 58 euros (one way).
DeleteJust to clarify it's 58 in economy. Business is crazy at 377 EUR one way.
DeleteIt somehow seems that FRA is perfect destination for E195.
DeleteDoes anyone know why?
Because they doubled frequencies on the route so they can offer more flexibility. Probably sending two A319/A320 per day was too much in addition to Lufthansa competition.
DeleteJU can best comlete against LH if it has a high number of frequencies.
DeleteOdlično , jedva čekam da letim iz Sarajeva . Prošli put je bio Airbus za Beograd ( petak ) , a nazad je bio ATR ( nedjelja ) .
ReplyDeleteZa sada u julu planirani za SJJ 2, 9, 16, 23, 27 i 30. Vidim i A319 je planiran 6.7, 13.7, i 20.7
DeleteIzgleda sa ima potraznje. Svakako da nemaju manjak ATRova.
DeleteMuch needed
ReplyDeleteAgree. The capacity of these planes is well suited for JU and certain routes.
Delete+1
DeleteWhich route will have the most Embraer capacity?
ReplyDeleteMy guess would be Frankfurt
DeleteIt seems FRA will be almost exclusively operated by Embraers.
DeleteItalian destinations also seem to have a lot of Ejets scheduled.
DeleteThey use it so much on FRA route. It was the case while they had the Marathon planes too.
DeleteAircraft is currently scheduled only on a limited numbers of routes. In order of usage: Frankfurt, Milan, Bucharest, Tivat, Podgorica, Naples, Amsterdam, Zurich, Athens, Skopje, Sarajevo, Rome, and Thessaloniki. One flight each in September is scheduled to Palermo and Stuttgart. The E195s are currently scheduled in the reservation system until the end of September.
Deletewow thanks!
DeleteSo looks like Mostar stays exclusively with Bulgaria Air E190s.
DeleteJU should quickly educate ATR pilots to land at OMO, so route could be prosperous
DeleteWhy change to ATR if they have good loads on E90? Do you mean frequency development?
DeleteWill this allow them to increase frequencies/open new routes or is it going to be used to maintain current schedule?
ReplyDeleteMaintain existing schedule.
DeleteI think it is to maintain current schedule and increase capacity on certain routes where ATR is too small.
DeletePity no expansion planned. Maybe next year
DeleteIs this first time Embraer will be in YU registry?
ReplyDeleteNope
DeleteWhat are the other ones?
DeletePresidential plane, AirPink etc.
DeleteDidn't know about that. What Embraer does the president use?
DeleteEmbraer Legacy 600
DeleteFinally we know the registration for the two incoming E195s.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realise Embraers used air bridges.
ReplyDeleteOf course they do...
DeleteGood news. Hope they can surpass 5 million passengers this year.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there is any chance for that.
DeleteLet's wait and see.
DeleteOn the cover photo I can't seem to see the register number of the E195. Is this GDA ?
ReplyDeleteNice to see SKP is getting some increase.
ReplyDeleteSo, we are still awaiting
ReplyDelete1 ATR72-600
2 E195s (in July)
1 wet-leased E190 (in June)
2 A330-200s (late July-August, October)
Not bad
DeleteAny idea when the 10th ATR is arriving?
DeleteI expect in June and July. Flew from BEG the other day B apron completely full with JU ATRs :)
DeleteYou were i the middle of the wave
Delete^ huh?
DeleteDa li mozete da kazete kako proveravate koji tip aviona leti za koju destinaciju?
ReplyDelete