Belgrade Airport plan to save Jatand improve hub

The government owned Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport of Serbia has reported that by the end of 2008 it will have a profit of 18 million Euros which is 14 million greater than last year. The airport is now conducting a plan to reduce the dilemma of Serbian national carrier Jat. It was recently reported that Jat will be selling some offices worldwide including a few offices inside Serbia to reduce costs. The CEO of Belgrade Airport is proposing that they purchase the offices and allow Jat to continue operating them. The purchase would amount to 35 million Euros. However there is a split inside the Serbian government. The Minister of the Economy as well as the Serbian Privatisation Agency want to see Jat’s properties sold while Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković and the Ministry of Finances believe that Jat can survive without selling out extremely valuable and lucrative property. It is expected that the government will today either adopt or reject Jat’s development strategy for the next 4 years. It was supposed to be passed last Thursday however the differing opinions within the government postponed the protocol until this week. Meanwhile Jat Airways has been accusing Belgrade Airport for not helping the airline enough because it must pay some of the most expansive taxes and operational costs in Europe to operate from their Belgrade hub.

Meanwhile Belgrade Nikola Tesla will, on November 20, 2008, commence operating the category IIIb runway landing system. This system allows aircraft to depart and land in the worst of weather, especially during low visibility. Beforehand flights had to be diverted to Niš or other nearby airports due to their inability to land during fog. For now only Zagreb’s Pleso Airport and Belgrade Airport have the new system out of all the EX-YU capital city airports. The system was installed 2 years ago however only now has it been approved for use by the Civil Aviation Board. In late December 2007 many flights were cancelled and delayed due to fog and this should now become a thing of the past. There is only one category better than this system however it is used by barely a handful of the largest world airports. Furthermore the airport is devising a plan for the construction of its Terminal 3. More information about this vision and project will be known within the next month.

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New Adria and Belgrade flights

Slovenia’s national carrier Adria Airways is already in the advance stages of finalising its summer 2009 schedule which begins on March 29. With the arrival of new aircraft more new services can be expected. Adria Airways will launch scheduled flights to the capitals of Spain and Bulgaria in order to meet the demand. Soon more information will be known about the new flights from Ljubljana to Madrid and Sofia.

Meanwhile Pegasus Airlines of Turkey will commence regular services to Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport from January 25, 2009 after receiving necessary slots from Belgrade Airport and an approval from Serbia‘s Civil Aviation Authority. The new flights will operate from Istanbul’s alternative base - Sabiha Gokcen Airport. The flights will depart from Turkey’s largest city to Serbia’s capital every Monday and Wednesday late in the evening while it while its return flights will be operated on Tuesday and Thursday just after midnight. The aircraft to carry out the operations on this line will be either a B737-500 or a B737-800. This will bring the number of flights operated from Belgrade to Istanbul to 13 times a week. Currently Jat Airways operates to Istanbul Ataturk Airport 6 times a week while Turkish Airlines operates to the same airport 5 times a week. Read more

XL Airways emergency in Belgrade

A Boeing B737-800 from Germany’s XL Airways has made an emergency landing at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport (as seen above) after fire broke out in the left engine. The aircraft with 182 passengers was on route from Frankfurt to Antalya when fire broke out in its left engine. Flying over Serbia’s airspace, the pilot immediately requested emergency landing at Belgrade’s airport. Landing safely at Belgrade, the aircraft was escorted by the emergency fire services and paramedic services. Upon landing there were visible flames coming from the engine. This is the most serious incident at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport since a Lufthansa jet skidded off the runway 3 years ago. The seriousness of the situation is highlighted by the fact that the plane could have exploded above Belgrade had the pilot not responded quickly. Due to pressure in the engine the pilot had only 5 minutes to make an emergency landing. Luckily the aircraft was above Serbia’s capital at the time and could make a quick emergency landing. The passengers, which are currently at Belgrade Airport, will be flown to Germany this evening. The emergency occurred at 07.47 this morning.
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Belgrade Nikola Teslawith strong winter schedule

The winter season at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport in Serbia begins on Sunday October 26, 2008 and will last 5 months until March 28, 2009. The airport is expecting a growth of 10% in air traffic when compared to last year, despite a few airlines ending certain services including the airport’s biggest user – Jat Airways. Although Jat will end its flights to Gothenburg, Munich, Prague, Tripoli and Malta it will increase frequencies to regional destinations – flights to Podgorica will operate 3 times a day while to Tivat twice daily. Flights to Skopje will be operated on a daily basis, Dusseldorf with 5 flights per week, Trieste 4 times weekly while Milan is newly introduced with 3 flights per week and Thessaloniki will feature in the winter schedule for the first time (twice a week). As a result Jat will operate 161 return flights weekly which is roughly the same as last year.

After Jat, Lufthansa and Montenegro Airlines will operate the largest amount of flights from Nikola Tesla Airport. Lufthansa will operate 3 daily flights to Munich and 2 daily flights to Frankfurt (although it will end services from Dusseldorf which will be taken over by Jat with 5 weekly flights). The Montenegrin national carrier will operate the identical amount of frequencies from Tivat and Podgorica as Jat. Alitalia will operate daily flights to Rome and Milan while Swiss will operate twice weekly flights to Basel (on top of its flights to Zurich). The airline will increase its capacity by upgrading its equipment to an Airbus A321. Meanwhile ČSA will operate daily flights to Prague and Turkish Airlines will increase from 3 to 5 weekly flights from Istanbul.

The airport expects it will have around 865.000 passengers in the 5 winter season months which would see an increase of 5% compared to that period last year when the airport had 824.000 passengers. In total the airport is poised to have more than 2.5 million passengers by December 31, 2008.

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Cargo centre delayed again

The tender to find a strategic partner for the construction of the largest cargo terminal in the Balkans to be located at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport has been delayed again, 2 years after an agreement with American DynCorp failed. The CEO of Belgrade’s Airport did not determine a new date for the tender. The CEO states that the airport is currently analysing the American and global economic crisis and the effect this can have on air cargo transport. Belgrade Airport is looking for a company which would build a cargo and logistics centre at the airport which would significantly increase cargo operations and make Belgrade Nikola Tesla the largest cargo destination in the region.

After an agreement with DynCorp, signed in 2006, which was employed to build the new terminal failed, the CEO of Belgrade’s Airport is hoping that whenever a new company is found it will already be a cargo centre operator. Meanwhile the CEO announced that the construction of a third terminal would commence in 2010. Read more

Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport privatisationAdvisor by the end of the year

The tender for finding the privatisation advisor for Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport could be opened by the end of the year announced CEO Bojan Krišto. “The sdvisor will prepare the privatisation of the airport within next year, which will be done through the public sale of shares, implying that the company will until the go through reorganisation and will create a well devised plan of development” he explained. Krišto estimated that airport shares, soon to be enlisted on the stock exchange, “would be a true hit” and will contribute to better operation activities of the company and the privatisation of Serbia’s national airline Jat Airways. He added that the decision on the amount of shares to be sold through privatisation will be reached by the Serbian Government, while some proposals will be made by the privatisation advisor. “I believe that no more than 50% of the airport will be sold, with the most realistic expectations being between 30% and 32%”. He stated that it is difficult to determine the value of Nikola Tesla Airport as the company is not listed on the stock exchange. “After enlistment, the value of the company is assessed on the market”, said Krišto. Read more

Jat Airways to introduce flights to Milanas Rome stays in network

Jat Airways will, despite earlier financial troubles, commence flights to a new destination from October 26 to Milan Malpensa Airport. The destination which was just added into the reservation system will be operated using an ATR72. Flight JU416 will be operated three times a week on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. The flights on Tuesday and Sunday will depart from Belgrade at 13.10 while they will return from Milan at 16.25. Friday will provide a morning flight for passengers, departing Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport at 8.30 and departing back to Belgrade at 11.45. The price of tickets will range from 99 to 259 Euros.

Alitalia operates flights from Milan to Belgrade however the airline is already bankrupt and could lose its license to fly in a matter of days, giving Jat Airways an opportunity to capitalise on its new destination. Jat already operates flights to Rome and Trieste in Italy although Rome was planned to be cut from Jat’s network it has now been decided for it to stay until firther notice.. For now, Milan will be the only newly introduced service in the winter 2008/09 schedule together with Thessaloniki which has been in operation since summer and will continue through winter. All changes to Jat’s winter schedule can be read here.

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Madonna sells out seatson Jat Airways and Montenegro Airlines

Both Jat Airways and Montenegro Airlines have been sold out on flights between their biggest markets – Serbia and Montenegro as the pop star Madonna prepares to hold her concert in Montenegro’s seaside town of Budva, near Tivat on Thursday September 25. A very large number of Serbian and Croatian fans are expected. During this week 52 return flights will be operated from Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport to Tivat Airport. On Wednesday and on Thursday all tickets have been sold between the two cities on the 19 flights that will be operated (14 by Jat and 5 by Montenegro Airlines) as well as for the 3 flights to Podgorica to be operated before midday. Belgrade Airport’s management expects that due to the concert 2.000 extra passengers will pass through its doors. Serbia’s national airline Jat Airways has sold 544 tickets for Thursday’s 5 Tivat flights, three of which will be operated by a Boeing 737-300 and 2 using an ATR72. For Wednesday’s 3 flights Jat has sold 198 seats. Jat has also increased its frequencies to Podgorica and sold 318 tickets for Thursday while only a handful of tickets to Montenegro remain. These tickets are to Podgorica on Wednesday. Jat will operate a total of 14 flights to Montenegro on Wednesday and Thursday. Due to the concert Jat is seeing an increase in passengers from Banja Luka and Sarajevo. Montenegro Airlines is also increasing its frequencies. Madonna will for the first time hold her concert in the region. It will be located at Budva’s Jaz Beach (pictured above) and has gained widespread media attention across the EX-YU region. Read more

UPDATE: Jat Airways winter 2008/09Farewelling four destinations

On October 25, 2008 Jat Airways, the national airline of Serbia will begin with its winter schedule. For Jat this usually includes the decrease in frequencies which will occur this year as well however the main difference is that the airline will farewell 5 cities from its destination network as it will decrease its fleet to 9 (6 Boeing 737-300’s and 3 ATR-72’s). Two Boeing 737-300 will be leased to an African airline which is a practice Jat commonly employs during the winter although it is unknown what will occur with the other aircraft, however it is expected they will be returned to their original owners since these aircraft are leased.

Jat will after many years cease flights to the Albanian capital Tirana. Flight JU412 was operated using an ATR72 twice a week. Another line operated for many years, Malta (Luqa) will also cease and effectively flights to Tripoli will end which were operated via Malta. Flight JU454 to Tripoli via Malta was operated twice a week using a Boeing 737-300. Jat will not return to Oslo this winter. Flight JU394 to the Norwegian capital was operated twice a week however was only planned as a summer destination and was not expected to return to the schedule in the winter. Finally Jat will also farewell another city in Scandinavia - Goteborg will no longer be served.

Jat will also no longer fly to Prague and Munich. These flights will not be pulled out of Jat’s scheduling. It will be operated by partner airlines ČSA and Lufthansa in a strong codeshare collaboration agreement where the flights will be treated as if operated by Jat. Belgrade – Prague JU8170 will be operated with a B737-500, Belgrade - Munich JU8344 will be operated using an Avro RJ85.

The new addition to this year’s winter schedule will be Thessaloniki which was originally planned to be operated only as summer destination however it will continue throughout the winter. Jat Airways will, despite earlier financial troubles, commence flights to a new destination from October 26 to Milano Malpensa Airport. The destination which was just added into the reservation system will be operated using an ATR72. Flight JU416 will be operated three times a week on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. The flights on Tuesday and Sunday will depart from Belgrade at 13.10 while they will return from Milano at 16.25. Friday will provide a morning flight for passengers, departing Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport at 8.30 and departing back to Belgrade at 11.45. The price of tickets will range from 99 to 259 Euros. All other destinations operated by Jat Airways, including Dubai, Larnaca, western European destinations, Moscow and North African destinations will continue throughout the year. All destinations within the EX-YU will remain in the schedule (Podgorica, Tivat, Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Ljubljana and Skopje).

Any related updates will be posted. Any question our readers might have regarding the new schedule can be posted by using the “comments” option or contacting us using our e-mail address. Soon Croatia Airlines’ 2008/09 winter schedule will be published on the blog.

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Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport breaks all records 2 million passengers pass through doors

Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport today, on the 15th of September, welcomed its second millionth passenger for 2008, a record 3 weeks ahead of last year. Figuratively speaking this means that the whole city has passed through the airport’s doors as the city of Belgrade is called home by 1.8 million people. An increase of 10% in passenger numbers has been recorded this year compared to 2007. It is now more than certain that the airport will be able to break last year’s peak record which stood at 2.5 million passengers on December 31.

The current capacity of Belgrade’s Airport is larger than presently needed. The reconstructed Terminal 2 has a capacity of 5 million passengers. Check-in on average lasts 3 minutes per passenger. The airport has improved services by recently introducing E-check in, new television flat screens with flight information, new air conditioning system, greater parking capacity, the taxi system has been regulated and new duty free shops have been opened. The airport has 2 terminals and is used by 19 scheduled airlines although it is expected this will rise to 20 in November with news that Italy’s Air One is holding talks on commencing new services. The airport is also served by a few cargo airlines and is the largest in the EX-YU region.

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Jat Tehnika privatisation: Deadline closes - four companies in the race

Three companies have bought tender documentation for the privatisation of Jat Tehnika, the largest aviation maintenance company in the EX-YU based in Belgrade. The interest for the purchase of the maintenance company, which was made independent from Jat Airways in 2005, has been more than encouraging. The tender commenced on June 16 and closed on Friday August 29. Two Israeli companies are in the run – El Al and Israel Aerospace Industries (Bedek Aviation) while the third compay comes from the neighbourhood, more precisely from Hungary – Malev. A fourth company has also purchased the tender documentation however its name has not been published although some it is rumoured to be either Lufthansa Technik from Germany or ST Engineering from Singapore.

Jat Tehnika is 100% owned by the Government of the Republic of Serbia. Tehnika has hangers at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport with a capacity to service 100 aircraft per year. In 2007 it had a profit of 22 million Euros while it is expected it will have a profit of 45 million by the end of this year with Jat Tehnika servicing jets from ČSA, Transaero, Jet2.com, Jat Airways and many others. The company employs 1.000 people while the company’s purchase price is estimated at 100 to 200 million Euros. The four companies have until September 26 to send in their offers.

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UPDATED: Interests, stars and protests

Two companies from Israel and one from Hungary have purchased tender documentation for Jat Tehnika in Serbia as said by Dragan Bogdanović, president of the aviation mechanics’ union. He did not want to give any details about the companies, not even their names so as not “to affect” the tender procedures, but expressed satisfaction that “they are all reputable companies”. Earlier, domestic media reported that SIT of Singapore, Lufthansa of Germany and companies from Russia, Germany, Israel and Austria were interested in Jat Tehnika. Last week the mechanics union threatened with a strike as it believed that the Serbian Privatisation Agency had already agreed to sell the company to SIT Engineering which was no longer acceptable to Jat Tehnika as they demanded a cut in jobs. However problems were settled only 24 hours later when the Serbian Privatisation Agency promised Jat Tehnika it would not be sold for less than the set price. The strike has been indefinitely called off.

The best fly Jat As the slogan of the Serbian national airline, Jat Airways, says “The best fly with Jat” On August 19 (2 days ago) this was confirmed when the Serbian silver medal Olympian, Milorad Čavić returned from Beijing via Vienna on flight JU313 (as pictured above). Čavić won the medal in Beijing being beaten in the 100m butterfly style by Michael Phelps by only 100 millisecond . Since Čavić is the first Serbian Olympian (as the country competed under the name only in 1912) he was flown on Jat’s evening ATR72 operated flight with the crew applauding the Olympian as he entered the aircraft with the rest of the passengers. The pilot of the flight presented a gift from the airline to the Olympian, the book “Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint Exupéry (a French aviator). In front of a screaming crowd of 50.000 people Čavić was welcomed in front of Belgrade’s city hall which is a city old tradition as any major international succusses by a Serb is celebrated in front of the building (in the last few years these included Serbian tennis players, Serbian women’s volleyball team and Marija Šerifović – winner of the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest).

UPDATE: Protest cancelled
Earlier today the pilot and cabin crew unions of Jat Airways announced they were to protest on Friday August 22 in front of the Jat Airways headquarters in Belgrade. The union was unhappy with the current situation in the airline and wanted a pay rise. It was expected for talks to be held between the airline's management and the unions on Friday. No strike action was announced.

Later today the pilot and cabin crew unions announced there would be no protest as the management of Jat Airways has agreed to increase wages of both pilots and cabin crew. Possible strike diverted!

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Belgrade Nikola Tesla exceeds all predictions

The CEO of Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport, Bojan Krišto, announced the airports end of year profit will be 4 times of that in 2007. Last year’s profit stood at 360 million US dollars. Krišto states that this result has partially been achieved due to the decrease of the number of those employed at the airport as well as thanks to a decrease in expenditure. The CEO states that this profit is encouraging as the airport prepares for privatisation. “In the next five to six months we expect for a tender to be distributed to find the airport’s privatisation advisor” says Krišto. The advisor would prepare the privatisation process within 18 months and then the airports stocks will be put on the Belgrade stock exchange.

It is expected that the airports aircraft movement will on average increase from 10 to 12% per year. When the EU ends visa restrictions imposed onto Serbia (expected in late 2008/early 2009) the aircraft movement should grow by 15 to 20%. By the time Serbia enters the European Union the airports growth will average around 20%. Belgrade is the largest airport of all the EX-YU airports. It recently began reconstruction of its terminal 1 while a completely reconstructed terminal 2 was opened 2 years ago.

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Jat Tehnika privatisation: Out of turbulence...for now

Management of Jat Airways’ independent engineering branch, Jat Tehnika, has said its union could go on strike as it believes the Serbian government has already agreed to sell the company to the Singaporean ST Engineering despite an ongoing tender. ST was favoured from the beginning by Jat Tehnika management however problems began a few days ago when the management of the Singaporean based company, which already has its European hub in Poland, announced that if it purchased Tehnika it would cut jobs and workers would have to work “twice as hard” in order for its profitable run to continue. Angry, the mechanics announced they would strike which would paralyse the national airline. Franticly the Serbian government immediately held talks with the director of the union. Emerging from the talks, the union director seemed pleased for the time being. He announced that the Serbian Privatisation Agency and Jat Tehnika would now work together in order to resolve the issue and that the strike action is for now postponed until further notice.

Jat technicians went on strike last in 2005 causing mass disruption to Jat Airways scheduling. The airline was so badly affected it had losses by the end of the year due to the industrial action, had to lease Airbus aircraft operated by foreign pilots, hired technicians from Tunisia and the end result led to a complete change in Jat Airways management. The industrial action was ended when Jat Tehnika was recognised as a separate company owned by the government – not as a part of the Serbian national carrier. Since there had not been problems as both went into profit by 2007. Had Jat Tehnika stayed with Jat Airways the current total price in the airlines privatisation would stand at 400 million Euros. Jat Tehnika is based at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. It is the largest aircraft maintenance company in the EX-Yugoslav region.

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Airport reconstruction becoming a hobby in EX-YU as Zagreb Airport announces new plans

Zagreb Airport is expecting the commencement of the construction of a new multi-million Euro terminal building. However as is a tradition in any Ex-Yugoslav republic the project is running late and it is already looking unlikely that a completely new terminal will rise from the ground at Pleso by 2011 – the current deadline. In the meantime the airport management will entertain itself with the reconstruction of the current terminal which is in bad shape resembling more a train station then an airport terminal buidling (as presented by the photo of the airport above). Minor reconstruction projects such as lighting and the reconstruction of the domestic transfer area have already been complete however the entire project will be finalised by summer of 2009. The airport management wishes to improve the foundations of the airport in order for it to remain stable in case of any earthquakes. Lighting around the airport as well as the airport park will soon have an improved look while the airport plans to open up 300 new parking spaces for cars. Ultimately when the new terminal at Pleso is built, Terminal one will become a low cost and domestic traffic terminal.

Zagreb Airport joins a list of airports in the EX-YU region undergoing reconstruction. Ljubljana Airport, as reported yesterday, is undergoing heavy maintenance with a planed Terminal 2 and a runway expansion. Belgrade Airport Terminal one is also undergoing surgery in order to fit in with the reconstructed T2 while Podgorica Airport in Montenegro also plans to reconstruct its Terminal one building, reminding readers that Podgorica has had a brand new terminal since 2007. Tivat also had its airport renovated recently.

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Belgrade Airport beats all

During July this year all of the weekly records of traffic operations in the last 18 years at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport have been broken, since the disintegration of Yugoslvia. For example, the highest weekly passenger volume is now 79.391 and the highest number of aircraft movements (total number of takeoffs and landings) is 1.213. This makes Belgrade’s airport unbeatable this year with no chance that other EX-YU airports can catch up by the end of 2008 (if no extrodinary events occur). According to present trends the airport management expects with certainty that the new weekly passenger record will be broken this week already.

Regardless of the present world crisis in air transportion, caused by high fuel rates, foreign airlines operating from Belgrade’s airport have foreseen for the coming winter season 2008/2009 (beginning this October and ending March 2009) an increase in the number of flights by 10% compared to the same period last year, while the national carrier of Serbia, Jat Airways, is still expected to announce its winter flight schedule. The only airport in the region currently ahead of Belgrade is Sofia’s airport.

The current standing of three most visited airports in EX-YU are:
1. Belgrade Nikola Tesla
2. Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport
3. Zagreb Airport Pleso

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Update - Jat Airways privatisation: Tender starts as Aeroflot looses interest

The State Secretary for the economy and privatisation at the Serbian Ministry of Economy and Regional Development Nebojša Čirić said today announced the tender for the sale of Jat Airways. The deadline for submitting offers is the beginning of October. In a statement to the news agency Beta, Čiric said that investors will be able to submit offers for buying a minimum of 51% and a maximum of 70% of the Serbian airliner. The starting price for the airlines 51% share is 51 million Euros decreased from the earlier announced 150 million in order to increase interest. Serbian government has allowed potential buyers to decide which shares they want to buy so that companies from countries that are not in the EU may compete as well, and signed international agreements are not violated. According to the Open Skies Agreement, companies not registered in the EU or Serbia cannot be owners of more than 49% of Jat Airways, but companies from non-EU countries can compete as consortiums, explained Čirić.
Companies participating in the purchase must have an Air Operators Certificate (AOC), that it carried over 1.3 million passengers in the last year and that it has a profit of at least 200 million Euros. Interested investors will be given a deadline of nearly two months, until the end of September or beginning of October, for submitting binding offers.

Aeroflot: We will not take part
The Russian Aeroflot who was rumoured to have taken great interest in the purchase of Jat will most likely not compete in the tender due to unreasonable demands of the Serbian government, according to its press secretary. Aeroflot, as the biggest problem, sees the large starting price for the purchase of 51% of the airline. The chief of Aeroflot’s press management Irina Tanenberg said that Aeroflot is aware of the outlined conditions of Jat’s tender and that the airline has serious reserves about it. “I think that we most likely wont participate in the tender due to the condition which the Serbian government has set., meaning the price. We do not want to pay for an airline which is worth nothing especially during the current world oil crisis“ says Tenenberg.

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Jat Airways privatisation: Offers to be submitted

Serbia’s privatisation agency has announced the beginning of the privatisation process of its national airline - Jat Airways. It has called upon investors to send in their letter of interests within two days. After this it will be known who is interested in the purchase of the airline and if rumours are true that Russia’s Aeroflot is no longer interested. Being sold are 9 Boeing 737-300 jets and 3 ATR72 planes (the rest of the current Jat fleet is leased). It is also selling its fleet of 24 aircraft from its regional aviation division with its grand offices in New Belgrade, traffic technicians centre, flights operations building and its international and domestic offices all being sold. Jat in total owns 3.815.313 square metres of land. The aim of the privatisation is to expand Jat into a regional leader as well as a competitive international airline. The aim of the privatisation is also to attract strategic investors which will invest in the airlines fleet and development. Jat has a share 62.4% of traffic at Belgrade’s airport. 51% of the airline is being sold. Serbian media suggest that currently Aeroflot, Icelandair and Air Berlin are interested in the airlines purchase with Aeroflot offering the best conditions so far. Read more

Ryanair rejects Serbian offer

The Serbian government has often been criticised for not providing enough competition in the airline industry in order for it to protect its airline Jat Airways. Although one can debate this as the Serbian government provides minimal funding for its national airline, Jat has claimed for the last few years that it has no special status and that it is unlikely for low cost airlines to begin services to Serbia as the market has not developed yet. Lately low cost airline such as Germanwings and Norwegian Air Shuttle have begun services to Belgrade with lines to Cologne/Bonn, Stuttgart, Oslo and Stockholm. The Serbian Civil Aviation Board recently offered the worlds largest low cost airline Ryanair slots at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport however the low cost airline rejected the offer saying the market does not have enough potential yet. The airline requested that if it were to start services the Serbian government would have to invest thousands of Euros in its promotion. The biggest problem, which is keeping low cost airline away from Serbia, are visa restrictions for travel to EU nations imposed on Serbian citizens. Citizens often have to wait months before their visa applications are approved. When this obstacle is overcome (expected to occur in late 2008) it is expected that the Serbian aviation industry will grow by at least 30%.

Best examples that the Serbian aviation industry is not ready for a low cost airline are previous unsuccessful attempts. The first Serbian low cost airline Centavia lasted only a month before it went bankrupt. Air Maxi, which planned to establish itself in Serbia as a low cost airline and begin operations decided not to midway through its processes of gaining a license. The national airline, Jat Airways, also planned a creation of its own low cost subsidiary to have been name Interlink however it also decided not to. Belgrade Airport is currently served by 19 scheduled airlines with 2 scheduled low cost airlines operating flights.

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Jat Airways privatisation: Approval from government

The government of Serbia has given its approval for the privatisation of the national carrier, Jat Airways, to begin. The minister of economy and development Mlađan Dinkić announced that the starting price for the airline will be lowered due to the international fuel crisis while the tender for the submission of offers will begin in the last week of this month (between the 26th and 31st of July with the 30th or 31st the most likely dates). New reports by Serbian media suggest that Aeroflot is still interested in the purchase even though it was reported a few days ago that the Russian carrier is no longer interested and has its eyes set on other airlines in Europe about to undergo the privatisation process. Icelandair from Iceland is also said to be still interested however Aeroflot has already offered the Serbian government and Jat Airways management a 10 year plan, earlier this year, for future development which includes a large purchase of new planes, employment security and wage increases for workers. Read more