Air Montenegro wet-leases E190 jet

NEWS FLASH

Air Montenegro has concluded a wet-lease of a 104-seat Embraer E190 aircraft from Ukraine’s Windrose Airlines. The thirteen-year-old jet, registered UR-EMA, will operate on Air Montenegro’s behalf until October 31, during which it will perform 1.600 flying hours. A wet-lease is a leasing arrangement whereby the lessor provides an aircraft, complete crew, maintenance and insurance (ACMI) to another airline.

Although the airline had previously said it does not plan to operate wet-leases this summer, it noted it is still negotiating a dry-lease for additional capacity. "Although Air Montenegro strives to dry-lease the aircraft in its fleet, it is not so straightforward or simple to completely eliminate wet-leasing after many years in which 50% of the fleet and about 60% of seat capacity were from wet-leases", the carrier said. It added, "Currently, we are engaged in two simultaneous procedures concerning the dry-leasing of an aircraft to expand our fleet. The first procedure entails the inspection of the specific aircraft and its documentation, which is essential for the 'airworthiness review' process and for registering the aircraft under the Montenegrin aircraft registry and incorporating it into Air Montenegro's AOC certification. The second procedure involves finalising the lease agreement. While we are confident that this aircraft will join our fleet, the contract has not been signed yet, and therefore, we will refrain from providing further details at this time". The jet, which is expected to arrive from Denmark, could enter the fleet in several months.

Air Montenegro is currently operating one of its two E195s with the other, registered 4O-AOB, undergoing scheduled maintenance until March 20. The Windrose Airlines E190 has entered the fleet in its place.