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

Vlaisavljević is out and Vujović is back

In a surprise move (Predrag) Draško Vujović (pictured below) long time Jat employee and the CEO of the airline from 2001 to 2005 will return to the airline in hope he will manage to revive the struggling Serbian national carrier. Vujović successfully led the airline with the reintroduction of key services and the return of Jat as an international airline following 10 years of restrictions which were placed on the airline by the UN. He also led the airline through its name change of JAT Yugoslav Airlines to Jat Airways. Before he was forced to step down in 2005 Vujović was about to create a new Jat subsidiary named Interlink which was to be Jat’s low cost airline although the plan was dropped following a change in management. The management changed after a month long strike organised by Jat Tehnika in 2005 (at the time part of Jat Airways) that paralysed the airline. Following his departure from Jat, Vujović created the unsuccessful Centavia, which was to be Serbia’s first low cost airline, however it struggled and went bankrupt a month after operations began. Vujović has worked in Jat for 20 years (when the 2005 to 2008 period is excluded). He should be officially named by the Serbian gvernment as the new CEO of Jat Airways within the next 5 days (if not today or tomorrow).

Saša Vlaisavljević (pictured above) worked as ground operations manager for Jat Airways at Belgrade Nikola Tesla from the early 90’s and became the airline’s CEO in 2007. He has been heavily criticised by airline company employees for closing down Jat offices around the world and shutting down international services. Vlaisavljević will leave Jat and become the manager of the City of Belgrade. Meanwhile the government has not yet adopted Jat’s development strategy. This is because Serbia’s prime minister and other members of the government do not agree with the recommendations that Jat should sell its international offices in New York, Amsterdam and a few other European cities. With the change in Jat’s management it remains to be seen what will happen.

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Cargo centre to save Niš Airport

Niš Constantine the Great Airport, Serbia’s second international airport reconstructed in 2004 after it was bombed by NATO in 1999 has struggled in the past 4 years to attract airlines. The airport’s management has more than once accused the national carrier Jat Airways of ignoring the city even though in 2006 Jat introduced flights to some 4 destinations from Niš, all of which struggled to maintain more than 10 passengers. Despite promises from the airport management low cost airlines have been more than reluctant to operate flights to the city, situated in Eastern Serbia. It is currently only served by Jat Airways which maintains 2 weekly services to Zurich. Montenegro Airlines operates flights to the airport during the summer.

However, there now seems to be an investment that could save the airport and benefit the whole region. The CEO of public company Airport Niš Radisav Radojković, and the director general of company Eymaxx Management GmbH from Vienna Mihail Miler, recently signed a contract for the joint financing of the development of a logistics, commercial and cargo centre to be located at the Constantine the Great Airport. The investment, which everybody expects to be the catalyst for development in Niš, and the whole region of southeast Serbia, is worth 61.3 million Euros and construction will start in spring. The Viennese company participated in the tender together with investment fund Chayton Capital from London. The contract was signed in the presence of the Minister for the Environment and Spatial Planning of Serbia Oliver Dulić, the Deputy Ambassador of Austria Urlike Hartman, the Mayor of Niš Miloš Simonović, and the representatives of Niš’s city council. “This is our first logistics centre in Serbia. We also want to develop a trade centre at the airport and invest a total of 100 million Euros in several phases. The first phase will result in the creation of 500 new jobs”, Miler pointed out.

Is this the revival the airport needs? Only time will tell. Niš (pictured above) is Serbia’s third largest city population wise.

NOTE: Adria’s winter 2008/09 schedule, which begins tomorrow, will be published tomorrow. Apologies for the delay.

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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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Jat commencing negotiationswith Embraer and Bombardier

The management of Serbia’s national airline, Jat Airways, will within the next 10 days commence negotiations with the Canadian Bombardier and Brazilian Embraer aircraft manufacturers in order lease new aircraft, through what commonly known as a “financial lease”. According to Jat’s development strategy, created after the unsuccessful privatisation, to be published on October 23, the Serbian airline will in the next 4 years invest 50 million Euros in new aircraft. The airline will in the next 4 months commence negotiations with Boeing as well, in order to secure a purchase of 3 Boeing B737-700 aircraft to be operated on medium range flights. It has been revealed that the airline will purchase 4 aircraft with a capacity of 70-100 seats, 5 ATR72-500 aircraft and 3 Boeing B737-700. A financial lease, which is becoming more popular in aviation, is either a new aircraft, or if not new, it must have at least 75% of the aircraft's usable life left and also gives the airline an opportunity at the end of the lease term the option to purchase the aircraft at an agreed price. The price of Jat’s lease would range between 120.000 and 160.000 Euros per aircraft which should be acceptable to the airline that has an income of 150 million Euros.

Jat’s new strategy outlines that the airline will decrease the number of destinations but will increase the number of frequencies to destinations. The airline’s ultimate goal is to have daily flights to every destination with double daily or more to regional destinations.

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Jat Airways development strategy12 new aircraft

As reported yesterday the Government of Serbia has announced that the development strategy of Serbia’s national airline, Jat Airways, should be drafted and complete by October 23, 2008. It is expected that the strategy will include the following plan of action. All money that Jat owes to the Serbian Petroleum Industry and air traffic control will be written off, the government will request decreased service and handling costs from Jat’s base Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport until 2011. The government will provide 400 million Dinars (4.977.000 Euros) so that the airline can provide a cash incentive for 400 workers that would be willing to leave the airline voluntary (bringing the number of employed in the airline down to 1.400). The strategy will also suggest for Jat to sell its office space in Milano and Amsterdam and instead open offices at the city’s airport. Jat’s timetable for the 2009 summer season (beginning late March 2009) should be completely changed with unprofitable lines cut while capacity will be increased to popular destinations – Podgorica, London, Dubai, Zurich and Frankfurt.

The government will, through a financial lease, rejuvenate Jat’s fleet with 4 aircraft with a seat capacity of 70 to 90 seats, 3 Boeing B737-700 aircraft (pictured above) and the current ATR fleet will be replaced with 5 new versions of the plane - the ATR72-500 jets. The government will then, in 2011, suggest for the airline to be privatised.

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Jat Airways development strategy on October 23

The Government of Serbia has announced that the development strategy of Serbia’s national airline, Jat Airways, should be drafted and complete by October 23, 2008. The plan outlines the short and medium term development of the airline so that the airline can, in the shortest period, continue to grow and develop. The Serbian Prime Minister, minister of the economy and infrastructure minister met with Jat Airways’ management where it was discussed which direction the airline should take in future development. A work group has been formed, consisting of minister advisors and employees from Jat Airways, which are putting together the development strategy and the direction the airline should take. The work group will prepare the strategy by Thursday, October 23 when all the ministers of the Serbian government meet so that the strategy can be immediately passed by the government and put into action.

The privatisation of the Serbian carrier failed when no airline responded to the government’s tender. The government is trying to act on the issue as soon as possible as it has had a lot of criticism directed towards it for the privatisation failure and the neglect of the airline in the past years. The government has promised it will provide a financial injection for the immediate purchase of new aircraft. The type of aircraft and the amount of money needed will be determined in the development strategy report.

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Good results for Adria and Jat Airways

In September this year Adria Airways from Slovenia managed to surpass a million passengers for 2008. By the end of the month Adria transported 1.040.037, which is an impressive 18% increase compared to the same period last year. Adria increased the number of its flights by a total of 16% (increase of 17% on scheduled lines and 14% on charter destinations). When compared to last year, Adria has increased the number of passengers on each flight by 4%. When charter flights are not taken into consideration 826.877 passengers flew Adria by September 30, a 21% increase compared to last year. In September alone 132.276 passengers were transported (a 3% increase compared to last year).

Meanwhile the Serbian national airline Jat Airways has managed to overcome troubles to post a good passenger number in August, increasing passenger numbers by 7%. In a statement, the company said it had transported more than 1.120.569 million passengers, some 2.112 tons of cargo and 414 tones of mail as between January and September 2008. The airline also reported a 22% increase in charter passengers. The most interesting figures should be published in December when it will be seen how the major fleet and destination reduction will affect passenger numbers in the winter period. Meanwhile IZIT experts believe that Serbia needs to find a strategic partner for Jat Airways as soon as possible, as otherwise, the airline could go under. Saša Đogović from the Marketing Research Institute (IZIT) told a press conference that the company should have been privatized last year, adding that the state had let Jat down, and that a strategic partner should be found right away, without any tender. Đogović said that the state had to act as a businessman and have a vision for development and a plan to attract foreign investment.

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What next?

Following yesterday’s announcement that the tender for the privatisation of Jat Airways had failed, there are a series of talks that must take place in order to secure Jat’s continuation of operations. Unions and workers in Jat are blaming the Serbian government for already determining the failure of the privatisation from the very begging by not signing work agreements with people employed in the company, not creating a social programme for workers and for making Jat Tehnika, Jat Catering and Jat Hotels independent from the company in turn decreasing the airline’s value significantly. The next step that should take place is a meeting between the Serbian Prime Minister and Jat’s current CEO Saša Vlaisavljević (pictured above). At the meeting ways in which the company should be restructured will be discussed including the purchase of new aircraft within the following few months. Vlaisavljević will request 350 million Dinars (EUR 4.560.000) from the country’s budget which will be distributed as a payoff to 400 workers that would voluntarily leave the company, decreasing the number of employed to some 1.400. Vlaisavljević will also demand an immediate creation of a work group which will be able to make larger decisions without the approval of the government. However Vlaisavljević’s time could also be counted. If the government, which determines the airline’s CEO, starts the restructuring process, the CEO position could be the first to be restructured. There are increasing calls from Jat unions for Vlaisavljević to step down due to his inability to deal with the new reality in aviation.

Meanwhile the failure of the tender did not send large shockwaves through Serbia. Unlike in Italy where Alitalia is a major political tool in Serbia Jat does not have very big political influence which has caused an often uninterested attitude on behalf of the government towards their national airline. However one parliamentary opposition member (whose party was in power before the May 2008 parliamentary elections) is calling for the government to immediately revive talks with Aeroflot regarding possible strategic partnership. Read more

No Jat Airways privatisation

Jat Airways will not be privatised, instead the Serbian government will invest a large sum of money in order to restructure and modernise the company as announced the Serbian ministry of economics. The ministry blames the current global economic and airline crisis for the failure of the privatisation tender. The first step now is a meeting between the Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković and the directors of Jat Airways. They will have to agree on how to restructure Jat in order for costs to decrease and efficiency to increase. Jat’s management and unions are expecting restructuring, a decrease in the number of employees and the company’s modernisation. The Serbian Government will remain the sole owner of Jat.
We will keep you updated. Read more

Who gets the most air traffic?

Eurocontrol is the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation. Created in 1963 by six founding members, this civil and military intergovernmental organisation now counts 38 Member States from across Europe. It is based in Belgium with specialised offices in six other European countries. Not only does it keep Europe’s skies safe, it also compiles information on air traffic. These are the results for countries of the EX-YU:

Bosnia and Herzegovina: In August the total number of departures from Bosnian airports amounted to 698 arrivals and 700 departures while 23.471 aircraft flew over Bosnian airspace. These results are an improvement compared to last year when there were 644 departures, 649 arrivals and 22.804 overflies. Overall Bosnia and Herzegovina has seen an increase in air traffic every month with the number of overflies increasing the most, meaning more aircraft are flying over the country’s airspace.

Croatia: Not only is August one of the busiest months for air traffic in Croatia but the country is also seeing improvements across all months when compared to last year. In August alone there were 4.527 commercial departures, 4.396 arrivals and a total of 38.324 overflies. However the August 2008 results did not see a large improvement in traffic figures as some previous months. In August 2007 there were only 51 departures less nevertheless this number was made up by the large increase in arrivals. A total of 197 more arrivals took place in August 2008 then in 2007.

Macedonia: Despite MAT being banned from Greece, causing a large decrease in charter operations, Macedonia is recording a big improvement compared to last year over all months. August was particularly successful this year when there were 645 departures compared to 527 in August 07, 643 arrivals compared to 527 the same time last year and in August there were a total of 16.107 overflies compared to 14.385 last year.

Serbia and Montenegro: Serbia controls Montenegro’s airspace until further notice and as a result all data is combined with no separated information available. Similarly Belgium takes care of Luxembourg’s airspace. Nevertheless Serbia and Montenegro are recording the largest increase in operations. In August 2008 there were 3.479 departures compared to last year’s 2.787, 3.492 arrivals compared to 2.800 and 50.285 overflies compared to 42.687 in August 2007. The increase in overflies can be thanked to Serbia’s ideal geographical location. The largest increase in passenger operations was seen in May 2008 which can be largely thanked to the Eurovision Song Contest that was held in Belgrade seeing an increase in air traffic.

Slovenia: Slovenia is also seeing an increase in operations particularly in January and February. In August 2008 Slovenia saw 2.054 departures, 2.057 arrivals and 31.134 overflies. This compared to August 2007 when there were 1.930 departures and 1.970 arrivals. However Slovenia has seen a slight decrease this year in overflies when compared to 2007. In August 2007 Slovenia has a total of 31.253 overflies.

When all data is calculated the leading countries in August 2008 are:
1. Serbia and Montenegro
2. Croatia
3. Slovenia
4. Bosnia and Herzegovina
5. Macedonia Read more

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

Jat Airways privatisationNo bids at tender

Jat Airways Union representatives say that no company has bought the tender documentation for the sale of the national carrier. The Privatisation Agency and the Ministry of Economy officials would neither confirm nor deny these claims. The deadline to buy the tender documentation expired on Friday, September 26 at midnight. The ministry did however say that "technically, it is possible that an offer sent by mail on Friday afternoon could still arrive", as was the case with B&H Air. Aeroflot, Air Berlin, Iceland Air and Air India were all mentioned earlier in the summer as the possible buyers.

The Ministry of Economy said in June that the starting price for Jat would be EUR 150 million for 100% of its shares. However, by July 31, when the tender was at last called, the minimal price for a 51 percent stake was set at EUR 51 million. This price was determined on the basis of the data submitted by the company itself, with no independent auditing. The union now blames the world economic crisis and the state's irresponsible behaviour for the drop in the value of Jat Airways. It states that the airline should have be put on sale as planned late last year and early last year when there were strong contenders for the purchase.

The Ministry of Economy promised that if the tender was unsuccessful it would give Jat a financial injection to purchase new aircraft and would wait at least a year until putting the airline on sale again. Meanwhile it is expected that in a few weeks a new CEO will be named by the government ending Vlaisavljević’s one year as head of Serbia’s national airline, having had many critics. Meanwhile the sale for Jat Tehnika looks much better with 4 companies buying tender documentation. Three of these are known the the public while the fourth, still unknown, is now widely speculated to be Boeing following the meeting between the company and Serbia’s heads of state in New York a few days ago. 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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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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Jat denies bankruptcy rumours

The management of Serbia’s national carrier has denied claims that the airline is on the brink of bankruptcy as speculated in some Serbian tabloids after yesterday’s cost cutting measures were announced. The airline’s management has said business is as usual and is reminding that 2008 will, in passenger terms, be the most successful year since 1990. The airline did confirm it will be decreasing its fleet however they remind people that this is done every winter due to the decrease in frequencies and that the 2009 summer season is already in the planning stages. It has been confirmed that 2 B737-300’s will be leased to an airline in Africa.

Some media have also started questioning if yesterday’s announcement of cost cutting measures is genuine and have actually been introduced to decrease costs. They suggest that Jat’s management is actually preparing the airline for an unsuccessful privatisation and that way it will be able to fire as many as 800 people under the explanation it is due to the financial state of the airline. Further adding to the argument is an announcement less than a month ago from Jat’s CEO that the airline will have a healthy profit by the end of December 2008.

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“Jat Airways facing biggest crisis in history”

Jat Airways, Serbia’s national airline which is currently on sale has found itself in a financial crisis as airlines around Europe go bankrupt on a daily basis with XL and most probably Alitalia becoming the latest victims. Jat Airways CEO Saša Vlaisavljević has outlined the new cost cutting measures stating that the airline is facing “the biggest crisis in its 81 year history” and is asking the government for help. The new cost cutting measures are outlined below:

EMPLOYEES: More than half of Jat’s employees working in the airline’s offices outside the country have been returned back to the airline’s headquarters in Belgrade. Many offices have been closed with official Jat ticketing agents only staying open only at airports. Jat has a unique network of worldwide offices including Toronto, New York, Chicago, Beijing and Sydney. The office in Dubai recently closed its doors and all sales have been left to Jat’s station manager at the airport. Employees got even worse news today when it was announced that 800 people will lose their jobs which would bring Jat down to 1.000 employees. On top of this employees, including the airline’s CEO and directors will get a 15% pay cut starting October.
FLEET: From October 25, 2008 (when the winter season begins) Jat will ground many of its aircraft in order to reduce costs. Jat will operate with a fleet of 9 aircraft – 6 Boeing 737-300’s and 3 ATR72’s. Jat currently operates with a fleet of 16 aircraft (10 B737-300’s, 5 ATR-72’s and 1 B737-400).

CATERING: Even the airline’s Jat Catering agency will not be speared. Catearing will be reduced by more than 50% meaning that there will be less food and beverages (which are for now still all free of charge) offered on flights. Jat’s CEO is asking for understanding from passengers.

PRIVATISATION: Adding to the crisis is practically no interest in the purchase of the company. The Serbian Privatisation Agency will, in late September, release the list of airlines interested in purchasing Jat while an opportunity for companies to make offers for the purchase of the airline will end in mid October. Reports suggest there have been no offers sent in signalling a failure for the privatisation.

Jat Airways managed to survive the 1990’s when all international services were cut, plenty of aircraft sold and thousands of staff fired as the UN imposed sanctions and war broke out across the Yugoslavia. It even survived the 1999, 78 day, bombing of its country and hub. Will the airline survive the 2009 global economic crisis remains to be seen. The signs for now are not pointing in a positive direction.

Note: Soon the blog will publish Jat’s new winter schedule and all the changes that will come with it. This will be followed by all the other national airlines from the EX-YU region.

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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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