Etihad poised to takeover and rebrand Jat into Air Serbia
Serbia’s Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić, who is credited for initiating talks between Etihad Airways and Jat due to his friendly relations with the ruler of Abu Dhabi, has announced that the Serbian government has accepted Etihad Airways’ takeover proposal for Jat Airways. According to Serbian media reports, a takeover agreement could be signed as early as tomorrow in which case the Emirati national carrier would take control of Jat on August 1. An official signing ceremony will be held in ten to fifteen days in Belgrade. As EX-YU Aviation News learns, the proposed new CEO of Serbia’s national carrier, named by Etihad, has just arrived in Belgrade. According to Etihad’s takeover proposal, the airline will roll out the new Jat brand, along with a handful of new routes, on October 27.
A high ranking, three member, Etihad delegation arrived in Belgrade on Monday. The trio held talks with Jat Airways’ CEO and management on Monday followed by a meeting with the Serbian government on Tuesday. The delegation also payed a visit to Jat Catering and Jat’s ground handling division SU-PORT. Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Serbia’s Deputy PM said, “I have good news for Serbia. I anticipate that we will soon solve the problem of Jat and sign a deal with Etihad. Rebranding will occur so we will all be proud of Air Serbia, which will be much more successful and better than Jat in every sense It is hard to imagine a better name than that. The name “Serbia” will be represented on all continents”.
According to the daily “Večernje novosti”, one of the proposed colour schemes for the rebranded Jat, to be named Air Serbia, is visible on the photo above as released by the newspaper. Thus, the Jat brand will disappear after 66 years. Air Serbia would serve as a successor to Jat, rather than a separate new company, taking over all of Jat’s assets, international agreements and codes as a result.
Horrible colour scheme!
ReplyDeleteTangosix published more livery concepts (personal favourite: http://tangosix.rs/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/31-640x426.jpg). Only thing I would change here is the tail. When they're putting coat of arms, it's better to put stylized one (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Serbia---Air/Soko-J-22-Orao/2208148/L/). Also, three planes should have special liveries (http://www.flickr.com/photos/superstardeluxe/8412331492/; http://www.flickr.com/photos/superstardeluxe/8411231813/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/superstardeluxe/8411233269/). As for the name, I've said earlier, SAT Serbian Airlines or Aeroput. But, if they've decided to put Air Serbia, then there's nothing we can do.
ReplyDeleteThese last three liveries are really nice but it would be very expensive scheme to implement that's for sure
DeleteWhy anything with Serbia?
ReplyDeleteWhy cant we be more modern and give a name without our "great" country (nebeski narod here we come)?
What is wrong with Eagle? Or something like that?
Arghhh!!!
Why do you have an issue with the national ariline of Serbia being named anything which would be associatied with Serbia? Look at: Air France, British Airways, American Airlines, Aerolineas Argentinas, Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines, etc. I'm sure you don't think about this issue when flying with other companies...
DeleteBA888, anonymous,
Deleteway is British AIRWAYS,AIR FRANCE,JAPAN AIRLINES,CHAINA AIRLINES,RUSSIANAIRLINES
AMERICAN AIRLINES,AIR INDIA,MEXICANA, EGIPT AIR,TUNIS AIR,ARGENTINA AIRLINES,
LAN CHILE,MONGOLIAN AIRLINES,NORVEGIANS,
AIR LANKA,MONTENEGRO AIRLINS,AIR ARABIA,
AIR MOROC,BRASILIAN,TONGA AIRLINES, CANADIAN,TURKISH,AUSTRIAN,SVISS...90 AIRLINES MORE! Are all of them is "nebeski narodi" help you self.If you
dont like country of Serbia is your right and mostly your problem.Nisam siguran sta misliste o svima ovima gore navedenim drzavama. Po Vasoj "uzvisenoj"
teoriji I to su sve "nebeski" drzave, narodi.Neka i jesu,SRBIJA im prilazi.Od
Vaseg nacina shvatanja sveta se odlazi.
Avioni su nebeski aparati bez navodnika.
Slazemoli se da avioni pripadaju i nebu
i zemlji.Srbija takodje! Happy.
Yours, Rodney Marinkovic,Aircraft Mechanical Engineer(ret)SYDNEY AUSTRALIA
How about Lufthansa, Aeroflot, AerLingus, Qantas...ETHAD???
DeleteWell, Qantas was created by joining all the letters of the Australian regions, so it is more or less the same thing.
DeleteAer Lingus stems from the shamrock which is the national symbol of Ireland. Plus, all of their aircraft carry the names of saints.
So...isnt there something else from out national identity that we can use? Indeed like shamrock...
DeleteOr..shall we than involve Vojvodina in the name of out national carrier and follow Ozzies?
(And if you read carefully I mentioned eagle...)
Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Service = QANTAS. This is not all regions of Australia.
DeleteBTW, why skip Croatia Airlines as an example?
What is wrong with Serbia? I mean it is the airline of Serbia.
DeleteI am so shocked by unprofessional bahviour of Novosti newspaper. There were a couple of colour schemes on the tango six blog. But none of them is official or professional! It is just an illustration of the journalist how it COULD look like. Please check and verify with tango six before publishing.....THANKS!
ReplyDeleteI agree, I think what happened is that tangosix put this up as an example of what it could be. After that, Novosti and other people spun it as a insider story that Etihad suggested this livery as a part of the agreement. So stupid...
DeleteEven if Etihad already thought about these things as part of total rebranding I don't think that would be put in the takover agreement but who knows.
I definitively like this proposal, as it looks fresh and modern. However, I would put the serbian tricolor in a stylish way on the tail and on the engines instead. Something in style with Delta's old livery. Congrats Serbia!
ReplyDeleteThessaloniki (begin june 2014), Geneva (begin 28 march 2014), Barcelona (begin june 2014), Larnaca (begin march 2014)
ReplyDeleteon Wikipedia it says these will become seasonal routes from Belgrade with Wizz Air... is this true?!!?
No
DeleteAmong millions of people of Serbia, including Serbs around the world. JAT or Jat is belong to history, to aviation museum on NIKOLA TESLA INTERNATIONA AIRPORT, Belgrade. Thanks to GOD!
ReplyDeleteTime bringing smile on the face to people from Serbia to LAX,SIN,BUE.SYD,JNB,FRA,ORD,MOW,MEL,TLV,
MEL,JFK,ACL,NII,CDG,ATE,DUB,PKG,LHR,BEG.VIE...
Tople i iskrene pozdrave iz zimskog Sidneja.
Vas Rodney Marinkovic,Aircraft Mechanical Engineer
SYDNEY / KRALJEVO.
You have no idea about the aviation industry. What about the international codes - JAT and JU. Will it be now be B9I or what?
DeleteWhy does this guy think anyone cares that he is an AME??? lol
DeleteYou obviously care too much...
DeleteI'm absolutely shocked with the proposed livery. I cannot believe anyone would back up this. I could see it on a government (presidential or..) plane but on a commercial airline it's absolutely horrible and embarrassing!
ReplyDeleteDo keep in mind that Etihad has the national emblem of their country on their tail as well.
Delete+1
DeleteAbsolutely agree with you mate.
This looks like kids were playing in kindergarten honestly!
So unprofessionally done!
@ Anonymous July 4, 2013 at 10:25 AM
DeleteTruth, so what? Do you like Etihad's livery? Do you think it's modern, innovative and nice to see (or to look at from the ground)? I don't like theirs either (and it looks far better than this one proposed for Jat)
you must be 14 year old guy who played with those liveries :P
Deleteall of them are better than what JAT have now!
DeleteEtihad did not decide yet either about the name or livery...it is all bull..it! They want to create a regional airline, and name will most likely be neutral. Let's wait and see. More on http://www.aviokarta.net/vesti/1915-dogovor-sa-etihadom-skoro-gotov-air-serbia-nagadjanje/
DeleteA new era of aviation in the balkans!
ReplyDeleteThis is just a concept, I doubt this will be the final livery version. I think they should do a stylized double white eagles on the tail, similar to what Etihad has, since that's a nice way of showing Serbia's symbol.
ReplyDeletePeople here are getting all bent out of shape about it but I don't think this is even a concept. To me it's more what one blogger (i.e. tangosix) gave as an example of what it could be. He also gave 5-6 others as well. Check the story yourself: http://tangosix.rs/2013/03/07/treba-li-jatu-menjati-ime-u-air-serbia/
DeleteAnd what happened to all the 'Jatovanje' comments now if I may ask?
ReplyDeleteserbovanje would be fine
DeleteI thought the name Air Serbia was registered subject already (the web portal and forum Air Serbia)?
ReplyDeleteHow will they use a name that already is taken?
The name Air Serbia is very badly chosen it does not sound fluent. Serbian Airlines or Serbian Airways sounds much better. I think that Etihad does not want Jat Airways because they will also own Jet Airways in India and that could be mixed up. Guess Air Serbia or whatever the name will be keeping the twolettercode JU.
ReplyDeleteThe above livery looks like a 14 year old played on his home pc.........
Sva ova ponudjena vizuelna resenja (a uopste se ne pominje ko ih je predlozio - neki klinac se malo igrao?) su...jeftina (ne mogu da nadjem bolju rec).
ReplyDeleteFascinantna je upornost da se izbegava prvobitno ime Aeroput! http://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/aeroputl.htm
Dakle, Aeroput, Serbian airlines.
Mogla bi da se angazuje Brandimage, agencija koja je uradila sveobuhvatnu modernizaciju Air France vizuelnog imidza http://www.brand-image.com/case_studies/air-france/
In the lack of a better word, all those suggested solutions are – cheap. (Btw, no one mentions who proposed them? A kid having some fun?)
ReplyDeleteFascinating is the stubborn avoidance of the original name Aeroput http://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/aeroputl.htm
So, Aeroput, Serbian airlines.
They could engage an agency such as Brandimage, which performed a comprehensive visual modernization of Air France http://www.brand-image.com/case_studies/air-france/
Just out of curiosity - would the Tel Aviv route continue given the investment from the UAE?
ReplyDeleteWhy not? Air Berlin flies to Tel Aviv from several cities despite Etihad's investment.
DeleteI'm referring more to the point that Etihad will have a higher shareholding and will also be in charge of the management. Simply out of curiosity because many of the ruling elite in Abu Dhabi have close ties with certain Israeli officials.
DeleteIt would be interesting to see. On one hand, this is business run by professional management (mostly from the West) and headed by the guy from Australia. On the other hand, politics and politicians had major say in all of this. JAT was for sale since forever and all of this started only when politicians got together.
DeleteWhat about:
ReplyDeleteSerbiana
Fly Serbia
or just:
Fly Sky
All of these fly + something scream low cost.
DeleteAir France works, Air Serbia sounds horrendeous in English. It has a low cost vibe to it. Serbian Airlines or Serbian Airways sound more like a national carrier.
ReplyDeleteAnd plus to that: Air France is French name, having also the same spelling in English.
DeleteNe razumem zbog cega ste svi ovde nalozili na ovome.
ReplyDeleteI would like to start by saying that Air Serbia is an idea/concept for rebranding Jat Airways.
Second, just because some journalist has paintshop on their computer it doesnt mean it is an actual proposal by the parties involved (Jat and Etihad).
I think this is an indicator that there will be a massive rebranding done, bigger than that in 2003 and definately bigger than that seen in the 1990's. JAT has a long tradition, an image, and has a brand name throughout the Balkans. Just as Aeroflot did their rebranding, they kept their communist symbols of the hammer and sickle.
So a new livery will come, which will come with new uniforms and a fresh interior with newer a/c. Etihad working with Jat Ketering means changes to the catering product offered out of BEG. The ME airlines offer meal trays even on short sectors, maybe meal tray services will return to JAT flights to be more competitive? Etihad influence in Jat Tehnika could mean more efficient technical work by the company? There was even talk of using Terminal 1 exclusively for JAT flights, so some investment into the terminal could provide a great product for its customers. I am sure a media campaign would come, I think 'Jat - PriJatno' would be cool :)
I like your PriJatno concept :) Hope they stick with the name Jat.
DeleteThis means that soon we will be seeing first changes in Jat's winter timetable. :D
ReplyDeletecalm down guys..
ReplyDeletehttp://www.aviokarta.net/vesti/1915-dogovor-sa-etihadom-skoro-gotov-air-serbia-nagadjanje/
Southeast European Airlines - Air Serbia (that should be the final version, combining both the regional and the national element, ala MEA - Air Liban which is just perfect).
ReplyDeleteI repeat, those examples of liveries are not anything actually proposed by the company for the new Jat, whatever the new name might be. I cannot believe a reputable newspaper would publish them, and then to plaster a watermark all over them. I have no doubt the new name and new livery will be a professional job...in the end, it can't be any worse than what the government has done so far with Jat.
ReplyDeleteI have just returned from AUH to BEG with EY flight and must tell you that the load factor had significantly improved within last 15 days. On the flight to AUH the plane was almost full, there were only some 10 seats empty, while on todays flight to BEG some 80% seats were occupied. Having in mind that the first flights were almost half empty i must say that this is a really nice surprise, and this line have a really nice future. As far as i saw a lot of passengers were just in transit from AUH, mostly to Asian destinations. Oh and one more thing, guess which city is at the cover of this months Etihad inflight magazine,...BEG of course :-) Pozdrav svima.
ReplyDeleteBravo :-)
DeleteAhh...good!
ReplyDeleteI waited for you as you wrote that you fly this weekend.
So nice to hear from someone who has personal experience.
How was the service on board and are flight attendants speaking also Serbocroatian language?
What nationality you think were the passengers?
Regards
It was already my 3rd time to fly on this route and today was the 1st time that none of the flight crew was serbian! On each and every previous flight at least one of the crew was serbian, and usually very beautiful girls... The service is really excellent, During the flight one meal is served, you can choose from three menu courses, free drinks, alcohol, coffee...The flight entertainment is just superb, its called E*box and there is a choice of at least 50 movies to choose from. My recomendation -Olympus has fallen :-). All in all the EY flying to BEG is one of the best things that happened to BEG in the last dozen of years. Regarding passengers nationality, i was surprised to see lots of chinese, there were some koreans and japanese too and couple of other foreigners, but mostly serbians. Pozdrav
DeleteHave you flown economy or business?
DeleteAnd is business class also good loaded?
I am so glad to hear from you..
Thank you!
Thanks, i'm glad to answer to any questions you might have! I have flown economy every time except last weekend on the route from BEG. The thing is that during checking at BEG i was offered business class upgrade for additional 260$, i thought it was a good deal and accepted it, and didn't regret it, the service was superb. I must mention that in the economy there is really a lot of space, and i can't remember that i saw more comfortable seats with that much space on any other airline. To answer your question, business class is usually half occupied except today when it was almost completely full! I really do hope that very soon EY will start flying to BEG with at least A320. Pozdrav
DeleteI heared it will be double daily flight once they takeover Jat. I think that would kick off Qatar from Belgrade. With a stop in Ankara they just can not compete to Etihad direct daily service.
DeleteQatar could compete pefectly if they would replace BUD
Deletestopover with a stopover in BEG.
^ On their ZAG-DOH route...
DeleteFor the start the A319 is the perfect plane with
Delete90 seats in economy,
+16 seats in business.
Their A320 has
120seats in economy
+16 seats in business.
EY will use a mix of A319/A320/A321
as LH,SU and AS already do with success.
EY will receive its first A321 from november this year.
Actually, I will continue to use QR, not only for their two meals on BEG-DOH route :) but actually due to loyalty program which really works for me. Also, whether I connect for 2 hrs in DOH or 4 in AUH makes no difference, my arrival time to my usual Asian destination is exactly the same. I do mind that QR schedule works only on two days per week, that's a pain.
DeleteI do have a question regarding EY's long haul. Did you fly only to AUH, or connected to somewhere else? I've been reading some horror stories about their seat pitch and reclining seats in Y, and I have to say, on bunch of different websites, their reviews are consistently below QRs, by far. QR product really works for me, planes are not really that full, service is great - if I had love for the buses, I would've found a perfect airline there.
Can you give some more info and details about your flights
DeleteBEG-DOH please?
Regarding EYs longhaul...
DeleteOn the 777s EY and Emirates have 3-4-3 seats,
while QR has 3-3-3 seats configuration.
Thus QR is a bit more comfortable.
Still most people do not mind.
We can only hope for increase in frequency before upgrading to widebodies because the A319-321 are in general much more comfortable!
@ 4:22
DeleteSure, gladly! As this is a tag flight (BEG-ESB-DOH), and there are no fifth freedom rights between BEG and ESB, the BEG-ESB leg will be very comfortable, as the plane is quite empty (roughly, 60% pax are ESB-bound). So, that's two hours, plus a 70 minutes stop in ESB, and then another three hours to Qatar. Yeah, it takes a lot of time.
The equipment used is A320, sometimes, but rarely, A321. It is quite adequate, though, even though it can be packed to capacity sometimes. They have long haul - style recliner seats (with adjustable headrest, sliding cushion), as well as the new IFE (with large individual touchscreens with movies and music on demand). They also give out headphones, but not the amenity kit you get on long haul flights (earplugs, socks, etc.). Also, they provide pillows and blankets at your seats prior to takeoff.
Food service is a particular high for me, as their catering is actually good, which is an exception in airline business. And they serve the food twice (first on BEG-ESB leg, and then on ESB-DOH) - these are two full meals. You get a choice of two dishes each time (usually, BEG-ESB will be pasta or an elaborate desert like pancakes with cherry and vanilla sauce, while ESB-DOH will see lamb and chicken).
However, C seats on A320 are nowhere near long haul service, even though their 2-2 configuration and plenty of legroom take them miles above C class on short and mid haul flights with European carriers.
Also, never had a Serbian member of cabin crew, which is quite strange, as I know there are a lot of people from this country working for QR. However, flight deck is a different story, had a Serbian captain more than once, so the inflight announcements are in three languages, or four once they pick up pax in ESB.
Their loyalty program is nice as you can actually earn miles for flight with decent amount of flights. However, I love their recognition of FTs, even at the lower tiers (BGDY, SIL) - you will get greeted at the entry, again at your seat with a thank you from the company, plus sometimes you get some extra attention in the form of pre flight drinks, or you get your meal order taken first, and your meal brought to your seat before the general service starts. No op-ups though, it's their policy it seems, too bad...
Also, flew QRs 777, I would hate to see them go 3-4-3. I even had a flight with 773, which had 18 pax on board. Boy, that was fun, I had an entire section of Y cabin only for myself :) No pax in C, and still, they wouldn't upgrade, even with Y meals...
Well 40 percent loadfactor for the Belgrade leg and flying a 773 nearly empty -
DeleteA good option for the passenger but not so much for the airlines profibility i guess...
It would be really interesting if you once tried Etihad on that route to give a comparison between both airlines.
Well, in their defense, it was Jan 1 and a weird scheduling, plus on return that flight was packed and cargo was full, that's why they sent the 773. I did ask, it was a really strange situation :) As far as 40% goes, for a tag flight, that's more than okay.
DeleteJAT - Javni Avio Transport.
ReplyDeleteOk, that's just stupid.
DeleteI guess it makes sense if they already want to replace the meaning of "Jugoslovenski"
DeleteOT:
ReplyDeleteAlitalia from the end of 2013 to:
SARAJEVO
ZAGREB
SKOPJE
PRISTINA
First route will be Rome FCO - Sarajevo (probably from 30.10.2013).
Alitalia expects between 70.000 and 130.000 passengers on this route (in 2014), mostly of them being Italian tourists visiting Sarajevo, Mostar and Medjugorje.
As far as I remember, Alitalia used to fly MXP-SJJ few years ago. Hopefully this time they stay.
DeleteYes, that was before Alitalia went bankrupt and they cancelled all flights from Malpensa outside Italy.
DeleteA bold livery would be better http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q59/collection3/JAT-3.png
ReplyDeletewell, this is just a kid playing in paint.
DeleteYou mean there are people that actually take seriously anything written in Vecernje Novosti?
ReplyDeleteOh dear...
ANOTHER OT:
ReplyDeleteB&H Airlines ordered 2 new A319-200!
B&H Airlines is looking to flights from Sarajevo-International to
Amsterdam, Istanbul (A319 instead of ATR), Frankfurt, Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm and Gothenburg.
(http://www.airbus.com/company/market/orders-deliveries/)
ALSO:
Sarajevo-International had a record June with more then 70.000 passengers. Statistics in few days!
wouldn't mind if they flew to Belgrade.
DeleteI can't believe how expensive it is for that 40min flight.
Sarajevo,where did you get this news from?
ReplyDeleteDo you have sources?
Alitalia story is from routeonline I believe, although destinations from Rome are stated as a possibility there, not as fact...
DeleteAs for the Airbus order Sarajevo, isn't thatjust the old Air Bosna order that has been in Airbus's books for years now??
Because in the June portfolio, there is no BHA order
Awful name and livery chosen (if that is the final decision), but the change away from JAT is LOOOOOONNNNGG OVERDUE!
ReplyDeleteAlso be great to see the current fleet urgently retired, flew SKG-BEG-SJJ with them last week and wasn't impressed by condition of aircraft or service on board. Let's hope EY shakes some life into the place!
Today no news in media about JAT and Etihad... seems yesterday no deal reached?
ReplyDeleteWELL DONE, SERBIA! Live long and prosper, Air Serbia! Greetings from Montenegro. We hope that Air Serbia will decrease prices on flights to Montenegro.120 euros is a shame price for that short return flight on line Belgrade-Podgorica.We expected half price decreasing, at least.Farewell, my old friend JAT, and welcome a board Air Serbia!
ReplyDelete