Montenegro Airlines to sell Fokker jets

Fokker jets leaving Montenegro’s flock

Montenegro Airlines will sell the majority of its Fokker 100 fleet. The aircraft have been progressively grounded by the carrier since 2011. Montenegro Airlines’ Fokker fleet now averages 23.7 years. Out of the 34 commercial airlines operating this type of aircraft, the Montenegrin carrier now has the third oldest Fokker fleet in the world. The airline grounded its first of five F100s in 2011 (registered 4O-AOL), however, the jet has not been cannibalised for spare parts. Its second aircraft (registered 4O-AOK) operated its last flight for the airline on December 31, 2013 before it too was permanently grounded. Finally, a third jet (registered 4O-AOT) ended its run for the carrier on March 1 this year.

During the week, the Montenegrin government approved the sale of the three grounded jets. In a statement it said the aircraft registered 40-AOL has been placed under a Storage Program, meaning it can no longer be used for commercial service while 40-AOT and 40-AOK have been placed under a Fly Away Storage Program, meaning the aircraft can continue flying following substantial investments. The three jets have been estimated to be worth 1.440.000 US dollars. Although the aircraft were once the workhorse of Montenegro Airlines’ fleet, the carrier now has only two operational F100s (registered 4O-AOM and 40-AOP), both of which are 23 years old. The jets have the capacity to seat 102 passengers.

Montenegro Airlines’ fleet now primarily consists of Embrarer jets. The carrier has three E195s and one E190 it took delivery of only recently. However, the airline only owns one of the jets while the other three are on financial lease from the aircraft leasing company GECAS (General Electric Aviation Services). Following the expiry of the lease, which lasts eight years for each aircraft, Montenegro Airlines can purchase them if it wishes to do so. In March, the Montenegrin government issued an advisory to its national carrier to get its fleet in order which, according to them, should consist of three larger and three smaller jets. “The current fleet does not fully meet our traffic requirements due to the airline’s high seasonality. There is a need for smaller E175 jets with the capacity to seat 88 passengers”, the government said in its report.

Comments

  1. puta jedan moj prijatelj, Zašto nema Ryanair -a i Virgina u Beogradu?
    Pa eto ako neko zna da prenesem prijatelju odgovor.

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    1. Anonymous11:53

      Pa kad pogledas, ni nema nekih destinacija koje su nepokrivene a koje bi im pruzile veoma veliki Load factor vec na samom pocetku... Mozda Linc, Salcburg, Billund, al to je to... Kazu da ima dosta Srba u Engleskoj, Birmigemu... Dijasporske linije su najpogodnije za Ryanair a one su zauzete... Mozda bi neke od ovih linija i proradile ali su im subvencije potrebne bar u pocetnom periodu. A znamo da ljudima na drzavnim pozicijama apsolutno ne pada na pamet da tako nesto i urade...

      E, da, mislim da bi bilo sasvim fino kada bi se otvorila linija neka iz Beograda do grckih destinacija... Wizzovi letovi za Krf prosle godine su bili sasvim solidno popunjeni...

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    2. Anonymous13:57

      pa što nisu leteli na CFU i ove godine?

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  2. Anonymous10:27

    Banja luka with saab 2000?

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    1. Anonymous10:46

      Yep. Part of a cooperation agreement with Etihad Regional. Aircraft will also be used to Tirana once the route is established (on certain days).

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    2. Anonymous10:56

      It operates three times per week since JU needed the Atr for flights to PUY.

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    3. imao čast da radim prvog što je dolazio u RS ,imam i sliku. ;)
      prava mašina, ja jednostavno obožavam saabove.

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    4. Anonymous11:33

      Е па ето, долазиће вам целе зиме тако да ћеш моћи да га се нагледаш.
      Додуше, сва срећа што није летео ових дана јер је Бања Лука имала преко 50 путника.

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    5. Anonymous13:46

      Can you show us the photo please? It's really a fantastic aircraft!

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    6. Anonymous13:47

      First of all, glad to hear that a certain plane (I do not care how small capacity is) is almost small for a destination such is BNX, a huge improvement, still plenty to be done, but again, I think the route is doing great. I flew with JU from BNX to LHR via BEG on Sunday, excellent connection, LF very good on both flights. I was surprised how many passengers from BNX were transit passengers in BEG, they continued further. Wish they had an early flight from LON to BEG so I could connect from here to BNX. I have used almost all airlines which tried to do something in BNX and had no success, believe me this is a success. LF was over 65%. With Saab LF will be even better. Summer holidays coming, diaspora will fill those planes. Excited about it.

      Just looked at beg.aero, don't know about you guys, but makes me so happy to see this afternoon wave of regional flights, like good old days in Yugoslavia:

      JU142 Dubrovnik 13.35

      JU162 Skopje 13.45

      JU182 Tivat 13.45

      JU224 Pula 13.45

      JU175 Podgorica 13.50

      JU102 Banja Luka 13.55

      JU152 Split 13.55

      JU112 Sarajevo 14.00

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    7. Anonymous13:58

      all of ex yu flights shouldve been switched to Terminal One, just like in Yugo days :)

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    8. kako da podignem sliku na ovaj blog? jedino da ti posaljem na mejl.

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    9. Anonymous17:43

      Air Serbia certainly has good punctuality when it comes to the Croatian flights. Today Dubrovnik, Split and Pula all arrived early. lol

      I think June numbers will be impressive to say the least.

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    10. Anonymous00:43

      And DBV with just 30 pax or 45% LF today

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    11. Nikola08:32

      @AnonymousJune 22, 2014 at 1:58 PM

      actually, few years ago JU's all regional flights were from T1

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  3. Shame that another operator is slowly starting to retire the Fokkers from its fleet. It's a pretty nice and comfortable regional aircraft. On the other hand, I think Montenegro Airlines doesn't need more than four aircraft.

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    1. Anonymous11:10

      In the summer season it does need more than 4 but in the winter 2 aircraft are enough.

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    2. Well yes but the problem is that because of seasonality they can't afford to have more than 4 birds. It would cost too much to have them parked throughout the winter season. They can always lease extra aircraft during the summer months, I know these short term leases are usually pricey but at least it's better to pay more rather than to lose a share of your market.

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  4. Ehm, adminu, ona slika DC-8 sa desne strane nije u LJU, nego Trst:
    http://www.aeroporto.fvg.it/si/stampa/photogallery.htm
    http://www.aeroporto.fvg.it/foto_ok/albums/historicgallery/1971_DC8_Inex_Adria.jpg
    Mada je greška u godini, jer je DC-8 leteo u letnoj sezoni 1972.
    Pozdrav, Milan

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