Montenegro Airlines is boosting capacity this summer season by wet-leasing a Boeing 737-500 aircraft. The jet in question, registered 9H-OME, has been sourced from Malta's AirX Charter company and is 27 years old. It was initially delivered new to Norway's Braathens in 1991 and continued operations with SAS Scandinavian Airlines following the merger of the two companies. The jet was purchased by AirX Charter in 2014 and wet-leased to foreign carriers, including Volotea, ever since. The aircraft has a capacity to seat 120 passengers. Its entry into service is expected soon with the wet-lease arrangement to run until September. The Boeing 737-500 jet recently received Montenegro Airlines titles and arrived in Podgorica yesterday.
Montenegro Airlines initially planned to use the aircraft on popular routes out of TIvat, primarily to Belgrade and Moscow. However, Russian authorities have declined to issue the carrier a permit to use wet-leased equipment on its flights to the country. "The leased aircraft will be utilised on other scheduled and charter flights operated by Montenegro Airlines", the company said in a statement following the setback. During the 2018 summer season, Montenegro Airlines will be operating six aircraft. This includes three 116-seat Embraer E195s and two 109-seat Fokker 100s. The addition of the B737-500 will bring the carrier's total fleet capacity to 700 seats. As a result, Montenegro Airlines plans to handle some 360.000 travellers over the coming peak summer months, from June until the end September, while it is targeting 620.000 passengers in 2018 overall.
The CEO of Montenegro Airlines, Živko Banjević, recently said, "Plans concerning the fleet past 2018 are much more complex because we must replace the remaining Fokker aircraft. This has to be done in a way that meets the needs of the market, which is becoming more complex from year to year due to a range of different factors, making it difficult to forecast and plan". The CEO added, "As a result, the recently adopted five-year plan outlines two scenarios. One is for the remaining two F100s to be replaced with two E195s in the coming period, in addition to short-term aircraft leases over the summer. In that case, Montenegro Airlines' fleet would be made up of five E195s and one leased aircraft for summer operations. The second scenario calls for the replacement of the Fokkers with two Airbus A320 family aircraft or Boeing 737 family jets. Therefore, the fleet would comprise of three E195s and two A320 or B737 family planes".
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EHR9T4y8ns
https://www.cdm.me/english/daliborka-pejovic-podnijela-ostavku-2/
She inherited the debt already and was not an easy job..
http://9h-ome.com/intern/tour_126y.html (official AirX Website)
Mihael
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/9h-ome
If they anticipate that they can sell more seats in summer, which is natural for every airline in the Northern hemisphere, then why do they not at least go for a 150-seater. I'd have understood an A319 or B737-700 but a -500 seems to be a ridiculous choice.
Had they needed the same capacity as they have, then there are other choices of aircraft available with much lower initial and running costs, i.e. very cheap Sukhois SSJs, but also CRJX, E190-E195, etc. (I'd wish for C-Series of course, have flown on one of LX CS's and it is the quietest, best aircraft passenger-comfort and experience wise ever in my opinion, but too expensive for YM)
If they cannot afford the lease of an Embraer, what makes them think they can afford a Boeing? Yes, an old B735 can have a similar lease rate compared to a new E195 but then why didn't they lease a 20 or 25 year old Embraer? It would have given them fleet commonality, not even to mention the significant lower costs as E-Jets are less havy (less ATC fees, smaller airport fees, less fuel burn and costs, commonality in maintenance etc.)
Or did they get the Boeing for free? Which however seems very unlikely as it is the high season, for which they will rent that bird.
I'd love to know the real reasons or catch (or bribe) behind the scenes.
Source: I've worked for the airline for quite a while.
Which markets were you mostly serving? Who mainly leases from AirX?
It's scheduled to operate two flights tomorrow. It lands at BEG at 08.15 and at 18.45.
https://www.flightradar24.com/airport/beg/arrivals
For a true year-round LCC operation, you need new aircraft. No 25-year old aircraft will match the reliability of a new one, regardless of how good maintenance you have.
P.S. Ryanair would have wet leased many more aircraft from Air Explore if they could.