Air Serbia - Etihad partnership enters new phase


Air Serbia is today marking five years since it relaunched under its new name on October 26, 2013 as Etihad Airways' equity partner. The Emirati carrier, which holds a 49% stake in its Serbian counterpart, has extended its initial five year partnership, however, the dynamic between the two is set to change. Etihad has not renewed its Management Services Agreement with the airline, meaning the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operations Officer it appointed, Duncan Naysmith and Declan Keller, will stay on in their current roles until December 31, 2018, after which a change in management is expected. Furthermore, a number of key departments are set to be transferred from Abu Dhabi back to Belgrade, including revenue management and network planning. The Transaction Framework Agreement between Etihad and the Serbian government signed five years ago states, "Before expiry of the term of the Management Services Agreement, Etihad will seek to identify competent Serbian nationals as candidates for the positions of Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer within Air Serbia".

Etihad Aviation Group’s Chief Executive Officer for Equity Partners, Robin Kamark, said, “Etihad is honoured to have been able to help build Air Serbia into what it is today. We are looking forward to the next phase of our equity partnership as an engaged and supportive shareholder and cooperation partner”. He added, "Air Serbia and Etihad Airways have agreed that the equity partnership between the two airlines will be continued. Etihad continues to own 49% of Air Serbia and remains a fully committed and supportive shareholder in the partnership with Air Serbia’s majority shareholder, the Government of Serbia".


Over the past five years, Air Serbia handled over twelve million passengers, grown its destination network, fleet, revenue, load factor, launched transatlantic flights and has officially been reporting a profit since 2014, albeit with government support. In 2017, the airline posted a record sixteen million euro net profit. However, the carrier has made significant changes to its business model, transitioning into a hybrid full fare - low cost airline, a notable departure from the high-end legacy carrier premise it was relaunched under in 2013. Over the past year, Air Serbia has taken steps towards restructuring its business by reducing its workforce in late 2017, consolidating its destination network and putting on sale non-airworthy general aviation aircraft and equipment. CEO, Duncan Naysmith, told employees in an internal memo in February that focus would be put on "net profit, the new fare structure, in-flight sales, additional services that bring in ancillary revenues, as well as other initiatives to boost efficiency". The airline's restructuring coincided with the collapse of Etihad's equity investment strategy across Europe, which resulted in two of the continent's key airlines, Alitalia and Air Berlin, filing for bankruptcy after Etihad pulled the plug on their funding. while the Emirati airline also withdrew from its stake in Switzerland's Darwin Airline, which later filed for bankruptcy as well.

Air Serbia's CEO recently noted, "2017 was a pivotal year for Air Serbia that saw the airline implement fundamental changes to strengthen the business, which have already positively impacted on many key operating metrics. This is a fantastic sign of things to come. Despite intensified competition and other unfavourable circumstances in the market, ever since 2013 we continue to improve our results. We started 2018 with the same goal - to push forward on all the fronts, which will hopefully lead us to even better years ahead". Despite delivering on several of its middle-term business goals set out in 2013, including the introduction of long haul flights among other things, the airline has not taken delivery of new A320neo aircraft as scheduled and did not launch an international tender for the modernisation of its regional fleet as initially indicated in 2013.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:02

    Is there any indication who will be the new CEO?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:40

      "Before expiry of the term of the Management Services Agreement, Etihad will seek to identify competent Serbian nationals as candidates for the positions of Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer within Air Serbia" xD

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:06

      Doesn't help :D

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:03

    Happy birthday, let's hope better times ahead.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:10

      2019 will be mich more of an exciting year for JU. Rationalisation measures coming to an end.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:13

      So what can we expect? New routes? Fleet modernisation?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:28

      2019 we will see a start to Air Serbia's new expansion phase.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:29

      My guess is that we will see Brac, Toronto and Nis launched in 2019.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:33

      With what aircraft?

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:37

      We will probably see some aircraft arrive next year.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:41

      With vaste spare capacity they currently have after cutting so many frequences.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous09:43

      No info about new aircraft or routes has been even hinted.
      Just some partial replacement of leases for the A320s.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous10:03

      Air Serbia needs to grow destinations, passengers and fleet, both long haul and narrowbody.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous10:08

      Indeed. Either to grow dramatically to over 40 planes and 5+ mil passangers to make hub system work or to shrink to reasonable fleet size and serve fewer destinations and 1.2-1.5 mil passengers.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous10:13

      Well aren't they doing the latter?

      Delete
    12. Anonymous10:18

      Growing is good but risky and would involve further substantial state expenditure.

      Delete
    13. Anonymous10:27

      @ anon 10:13
      They should definitely go for the second option.

      Delete
    14. JATBEGMEL11:56

      @ anonymous 10,08am

      they dont necessarily need to double to make a hub system work. JU already has an ok system working. Their biggest issue is poor planning and poor implementation of their changing stratergies and not their size.

      Delete
    15. Anonymous12:16

      @Jatbegmel
      Not sure. They do not have enough passengers and that might be connected with limited frequences offered to those transfering. They fly half empty planes to many destinations most of the year outside holiday seasons (just my impression from numerous flights, I do not have statistical data for particular routes and dates).

      Delete
    16. JATBEGMEL01:55

      Flying half empty is abit exagerated when they have an average CLF of just under 80%. Destinations and frequencies they havnt been able to adequately fill have been cut. Transfer helps in many factors but the important one is O&D and that is what EY (JU) quickly realised in their first year from rebranding.

      I think JU would benefit more from additional banks, which naturally means additional frequencies, but again its using existing capacities. For example, ZAG rotation should not keep an ATR 7 hours when the block time is just over 1.

      JU has advantages it simply doesnt use and thats down to poor planning and poor, incomplete implementation of their product and services. Thats not something frequencies will change. The general mind set of its home market is that JU is an expensive airline to fly with and wont look at JU's prices expecting a better deal with any other airline.

      Since JU rebranded as Air Serbia, the management has raped every bit of peoples hope that something better is becoming of it. Confusion over business models, constant changes to its services and offering, poor PR...JU simply needs more than just throwing in aircraft and frequencies to make a transfer hub happen.

      Having said that, Air Serbia has been a big step forward from Jat.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:03

    Positive news is that revenue management & sched. are coming back

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:06

      +1 more logical, especially for scheduling, to be handled at your base and not in the UAE.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:07

      Especially when they have been bad at doing both :)

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:42

      I still laugh when I remember they programmed 2 AM flight from Belgrade to Tivat!

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:48

      Exactly. You can't have a guy in Abu Dhabi planning schedules for 3 airlines with no clue on passenger flows and habits.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:55

      Or when the airport is closed as it does not have a proper equipment :)

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:05

    It is interesting to point out that state subsidies have actually halved from 2016 to 2017 and will be even lower in 2018. From 2019 I believe there are no subsidies planned. We will see I guess.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:12

      there will be, but in the shape of PSO to Niš

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:14

      Well as far as I can see, many airlines benefit from PSO. It's completely legal.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:43

      There are no PSO for JU. There are just on average 40-50 mil EUR injections as proven and well documented numerous times.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous15:06

      Can you post the numbers you used to reach the conclusion about 40-50 mil EUR on average?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous18:53

      Google and read any analysis published on their financial reports in past years.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous00:03

      So here it is.  All in all , 2013-2017 Air Serbia received subsidies worth EUR 224.4m (nominal) or EUR 259.2m in today's money (assuming 5% cost of funds)


      Can we all agree on these figures going forward as they come from annual reports ?


      2013 prihodi od donacija                                                   EUR 3m

      2014 prihodi od donacija  RSD 8.4bn  EURRSD 121.5            EUR 69 m

      2014 Otpis duga aerodroma   RSD 1.5bn   EURRSD 121.5     EUR 12.3m

      2015 prihodi od donacija   RSD 5.96bn   EURRSD 120.67      EUR 49 m

      2015 Otpis duga aerodroma  RSD 2.3bn  EURRSD 120.67      EUR 19m

      2016 prihodi od donacija   RSD 4.95bn  EURRSD 123            EUR 40 m

      2017 prihodi od donacija   RSD  2.46bn  EURRSD 121.35       EUR 20.3m

      2017 pomoc za razvoj saobracajne mreze RSD 1.43bn  EURRSD 121.35   EUR 11.8m 

      2018 ???

      Delete
    7. Anonymous00:38

      Thank you!!!

      Delete
    8. Anonymous09:09

      This doesn't account for a sweet airport fees deal to start with, which is indirect help but can also be quantified.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous15:20

      That is normal as to any biggest customer which is also state-owned.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous21:13

      I don't have details on similar arrangements so I can't comment on what is normal. What I do know is that we are long past the age of state owned airlines, save for Turkey and MEB3.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:07

    Air Serbia has certainly had some success in recent years but a lot of what they promised didn't happen. The major thing they promised, TATL, did happen, but they did not renew the regional fleet which they announced on the day they launched. They said they would organise a tender for the purchase of new regional aircraft. I also doubt the A320neo agreement will be honoured at all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:14

      I think it will partially, with some delay. JU does not need 10 A320neos at the moment.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:34

      Another promise they did not keep is retiring the 737s.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:08

    I wish all the best to Air Serbia

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous09:09

    People here were commenting and claiming with certainty a few months ago that EY was leaving the partnership. Guess they were wrong.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:25

      True that. People were writing comments how JU would post a record loss and that it would be used by Etihad to announce they are leaving. So much for that.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:27

      Usually the opposite happens of what people write in the comments.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:28

      Bless your heart

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:48

      JU did have a record loss in 2017 if subsidies are taken out of picture. We can not really count 2013 when loss amounted to 70 mil with former JAT during preparation of AirSerbia project, which was then transferred to taxpayers.
      Etihad is in complete mess and they are de facto leaving JU. They are keeping 49% shares as it does not cost them anything but might bring some additional million through aircraft lease, etc.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:50

      No actually it did not have a record loss. If subsidies are taken out (which were lowest so far) they had the smallest loss ever at 4.6 million EUR. You can check in their financial reports if you don't trust me. This is half of what it was the years before.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:58

      We were looking at the same report. At first glance it looked that subsidies were just around 20 mil but it turned out they are 40. I am really worried what 2018 will bring. Not sustainable. :(

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:06

      This time, major portion was disguised as tourism development support. With even major airlines announcing flat or declining profits due to oil price, it will be interesting to see JU's results. Unfortunately, we'll have to wait until July '19 to find out.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous00:06

      2017 funds received from Rep of Serbia EUR 32.1m

      Delete
    9. JATBEGMEL02:25

      Looking at the numbers above, JU didnt have a record loss in 2017. That should be reworded simply as another year of loss.

      JU was given 40 million euros in 2016 for a 'profit' of 900 thousand euros (a loss of 39,1 million euros).

      JU was given 32,1 million euros in 2017 for a 'profit' of 16 million euros (a loss of 16,1 million euros).

      2017 seems to be one of the cheaper if not the cheapest years in decades for Serbian tax payers. Dont forget at the same time that:

      - airworthy fleet has quadrippled.
      - pax figures more than doubled.
      - average CLF is up by almost 10 points (63-67% with Jat and 73,4% in 2017).
      - more frequencies.
      - more destinations.
      - more reliabilty.

      Basically were paying less for more at least, and that amount of state subsidies in 2017 wasnt needed to keep the airline profitable. As the stratergy shift began later in 2017, I wouldnt be surprised to see JU pull of a small profit even when subsidies (which I'm sure they had) are deducted.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous09:43

      @JATBEGMEL
      This sounds very optimistic :)

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:11

    Just imagine Jat 5 years ago with a wide-body with lie-flat business class seats, young crew, IFE system, TV in each seat... You have all that today on Air Serbia's A330. This was unimaginable in 2013.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:16

      Online check-in was unimaginable at Jat 5 years ago, let alone a wide body.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:22

      Online check-in isn't fully available either at the moment, only at select airports. For example they don't offer it in Berlin where they fly 9 times per week!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:24

      Same as for other ex-Yu airlines where online check in is not available for all routes.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:51

      I feel prestige every day because JU's A330 has lie flat seats!

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:16

      "lie-flat business class seats, young crew, IFE system, TV in each seat..." That is a standard in all long holt products. If Jat got financial injection to start intercontinental route again, you would have it in Jat branded leased aircraft. As for the "young crew" - do I see some ageism in your comment?!

      Delete
    6. Anonymous15:08

      "As for the "young crew" - do I see some ageism in your comment?!"

      Young people are more pleasant to look at than old people. Deal with it.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous16:42

      Wow, so the purpose and the duty of the Cabin Crew is to be looked at! Masala majstore, ziveo Balkan!

      Delete
    8. Anonymous18:57

      I am still young (35) but old enough to remember good old Jat. I thing both Jat and AirSerbia can be proud of their senior cabin crew. Skills of senior cabin crew I have witnessed on my countless flights over these years are incredible.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:12

    Mixed feelings about JU. Was great when they launched, now just an overpriced legacy airline on short hauls like BA, Iberia, for example.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:16

      Productwise Air Serbia is more or less the same as EasyJet:

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:16

      Which is more or less becoming the same as many european "legacy" airlines nowadays.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:18

      Decent but with horrible starting prices when it comes to tickets. Easyjet at least offer one way tickets from major airports starting at 20 eur, JU never does in for less than 50. I am speaking about what they offer to their main Belgrade market.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:17

      Yes, the "color" fares are just a very bad arrangement for ordinary Ary passengers.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:20

      I have no problem with white/blue/red. I have a problem with JU charging the same starting price as before for "white product" but without possibility to rebook, no baggage, no seat reservation and of course - no sandwich. They have basically increased prices over the past year or so.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous15:09

      If they can sell their seats at those prices, then why not? It's a business, not a charity.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous19:05

      It is not a regular shop operating on open market. It is heavily subsidised state owned company with many privileges arising from international aviation regime, designated carrier from Serbia, privileged charter operator, etc. They have duty towards Serbian citizens to enable affordable flying and connectivity.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous08:38

      Last year they got 4 million from the government, that's far from being a heavily subsidized carrier. Also the national designated airline was dropped with almost all countries in the world, including Russia (2013) and Israel. JU has very little protectionism.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous09:45

      Try something like 40 mil.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:17

    Happy fifth birthday!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:36

      I thought they were 80 years old or something.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:19

    It´s good JU is getting back those mentioned departments. Chance to employ some more friends and family in JU.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:21

      You have obviously never went for an interview process at Air Serbia. These jobs were advertised 5 months ago, by the way.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:21

    Interestingly Alitalia which has the a similar fare structure to Air Serbia still gives you 23kg free of charge baggage on its lowest fare.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:31

      That is becoming rarity in Europe.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:19

      Actually on many routes now they offer fare without baggage.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:21

      Oh ok didn't realise that. Yesterday I bought an economy saver fare from Belgrade to Madrid via Rome with them for EUR160 and I was surprised when I saw they give you luggage.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:35

      160 is fantastic price! AlItalia always had most competitive prices but is not turning profit. That is why AZ is now introducing many long halt flights to try to boost revenue.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:38

      It is quite good. Plus I can still earn JU miles by flying with them :) i'm only worried about the 50 minute stop in FCO. I hope it will be enough time to make it to the next flight.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:12

      50 min is very risky with FCO. They have improved significantly over last few months however. If there are huge crowds go straight to security fast track or EU passport control lines and panic that you have short connection. They always let you go through :)

      Delete
    7. Anonymous12:07

      Thanks for the tip. Fingers crossed it works out. If not there is another flight to Madrid a few hours later so hopefully it won't be a problem for them to rebook me.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous12:24

      You are welcome. If you miss it, make sure they give lunch voucher, there is quite a good restaurant above B gates which has a deal with AlItalia. And of course ask for 250 eur compensation if you are delayed for more than 3h :)

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:23

    We might not like the new hybrid model but it has obviously increased revenue significantly. It's visible in their financial report. Certainly trashed the brand though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:52

      I find it hard to believe that this hybrid model has been working.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:54

      Why? Almost all major European airlines uses hybrid model on short routes.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:20

      The only problem, everything except New York is a short route for JU :)

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:26

    Any plans for fleet renewal?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:30

      I think that will depend on Etihad.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:20

      Maybe some expensive leases as usual. I am not sure they can buy an aircraft without the Government help.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:30

    Anyone know how their passenger numbers are so far this year? It is a shame they don't publish monthly statistics like good old Jat did in the past.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:32

      I'm also interested to see how their numbers are performing this year, especially since I think they are operating fewer flights this year.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:10

      I think less and less people are flying with Air Serbia, especially with more competition/choice around. High fares and low cost service are not a good option. What could prop their numbers up are the record number of charters they operated.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:36

      Lufthansa group is packed from Belgrade and increasing frequency. Aeroflot as well. Practically everybody is growing except JU.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:09

      Let's hope that Vinci does not attract Eazyjet and Ryanair flights on competing destinations with JU.
      It would greatly destroy itsi revenues.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous15:13

      Let's hope that they do. I don't care about anyone's revenues, I care about flying as cheaply as possible. Capitalism.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous19:07

      We need connectivity not protected national carrier.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous19:37

      Nonsense. Connectivity is superior in BEG compared to ZAG, where national carrier is protected against ULCCs Wizz, Ryan and Easy.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:35

    Would be nice if Etihad got its act together and kept Belgrade as double daily the whole year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:39

      Apparently this will happen from next summer season. I just booked a few days ago a business class seat on their flight to Abu Dhabi in early November. Interestingly only 2 seats left on the seat map to select from. All others are occupied already.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:43

      They were overbooked a week ago but all passengers showed up. EY has finally become smart and they cautiously increase either frequencies or capacity on flights that are popular but try not to affect profitability. But I do think BEG will go double daily from next year. Should have been Air Serbia ooerating the second daily flight like they used to.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous09:35

    I hope that from 2019 Etihad will let Air Serbia do its own thing and become a silent partner. I think JU would do much better then. Etihad's "know how" has proven a disaster in every company they touched.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous09:37

    They should expand the Aviolet brand. It's probably the most profitable part of their business.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:47

      +1 cash cow for them

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:34

      If they want to keep Aviolet alive, they will have to get it some more aircraft.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:48

      Aviolet's charter operations are a cash cow for the simple reason that JU deploys 737's which have no ownership costs attached to them - unlike the leased Airbuses - meaning that other than direct operating costs, everything they make is pure profit. Added to this, is the fact that they have a protected market, in that the Serbian CAA limits the number of foreign carriers who can provide capacity to Serbian tour operators.

      Once JU starts to use its current fleet of leased Airbuses for charter flights or the Serbian CAA allows more foreign players into this segment, the previous "cash cow" will disappear

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:52

      JU has slowly started using Airbus metal for charters this summer. 1 Airbus was operating since they retired 1 B737. But last anon is right.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:22

      JU should focus on charter mainly, the big money is definitely there.
      Long-haul leisure destinations like Condor have demand.

      Cancun, Sri Lanka, Mozambique, Bali, Canary Islands, Rio de Janeiro or Recife.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:54

      Anonymous at 11.22 - JU is NOT a tour operator, they are a scheduled airline and what you are talking about is a matter for tour operators to initiate, not the airline. The market in Serbia is way too small for any tour operator to take the risk in chartering a wide body aircraft, such as JU's A330. Otherwise, if it was feasible, then somebody would have already made a move in the market to sell destinations such as the one's you mention with a direct chartered aircraft from BEG. As it is, no one has done so because it is not cost effective to do so and way too risky. In any event, all of these destinations (and many others) are already available with the bigger tour operators / travel agents, who sell these destinations in conjuntion with air fares from existing scheduled airlines out of BEG - way cheaper and way less risky

      Delete
    7. Anonymous12:27

      +1 anon 11:54
      Our market is rather small.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous23:14

      Small for those destinations but big for Russia, Egypt and Turkey.
      Oh come on, why are you being pessimist about it?
      Those are CHEAP destinations and Serbs can afford to go there on holiday.
      850€ all in for 1 week.
      If 330 has 230 seat then this will be 103500€ per flight

      Delete
    9. Anonymous00:49

      Do you have 12x230 people who have 850 EUR and desire to go to the same destination?
      And btw with 850 package holiday how much JU would make to Sri Lanka or whenever you are suggesting affordable holidays?

      Delete
  19. as i hear, old JAT guys are already having a blast waiting for EY people to leave and are building up their position with SNS. some key places are up for grabs, especially in operations, starting from chief, fltops director, fleet directors...

    back to JAT, I guess. nevertheless, it was good that the company was thoroughly refreshed during these 5 years. too bad it is losing money without any signs of breaking even

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:46

      The old Jat guys did a better job then the Air Serbia guys. The reason Jat was such a hopeless airline was not because of them, but because of politically appointed top management who had no clue what they were doing and little support from the government in terms of funding.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:52

      @Petar Celik
      Please don't use JAT. JAT was, especially in the 1980-1990 period, worldwide wellknown name, big, important and significant player, with fleet of 35 planes when Emirates had 8, with over 70 destinations in 40 countries on 5 continents bigger and better than Austrian and Turkish, and something all ex-yu airline peanut sellers can only dream about. Jat is completely differrent story, so please be so kind and don't even mention JAT name when talking about today. Thanks!

      Delete
    3. let me remind you that people who worked in jat during 80s are 95% retired, especially pilots and maintainince guys

      Delete
    4. Anonymous15:24

      JAT was a political tool and a company which made little economic sense. No wonder it's management failed to run the airline in the post-2000 period.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous17:00

      Yugoslavia was not Eastern Block. Everything was de-centralized. Every company had competent management. Yes, there was parallel structure of Communist Party which with time stopped to have any influence on the decisions of expert management. JAT was achieving fantastic results in FULLY MARKET ECONOMY. They had competition of Adria and Aviogenex on domestic market and some 30 foreign companies that flew to Yugoslavia. Domestic lines were not profitable, but were financed party by euromediterranean and intercontinental service s which were absolutely profitable. Not one single service, except for once weekly Tirana and Peking before the "opening" of China were political. No state aid at all in period 1980-1990 I was talking about, unlike today. And you can write lies as much as you like, but you will not change the fact that JAT had been all I wrote in my original post. Also I don't know how old are you, and can only feel sorry for you being brainwashed, but I am 53, I used to work for JAT in that period, and I know very well what I am talking about, unlike you who haven't given any single explanation why and how was JAT "political tool" .

      Delete
    6. Anonymous17:04

      And btw people in charge of JAT, and later JAT are not the same. The part you said about Jat 2000 on leadership who completely destroyed company and were politically appointed, I agree

      Delete
    7. Svaka čast kume. Svaka riječ ti je kao od zlata. Ne znam kakvi su bili financijski rezultati JATa. No znam da su letili za Australiju, što još danas iz Europe nitko osim BA ne leti. Virgin možda, ali nisam siguran.
      A znam i nešto drugo. Nakon osamostaljenja dok su slovenske firme (ne govorim o aviokompanijama, ono općenito) vodili stari "partijski" kadrovi poput Turnšeka, Kosmine i ostalih te su firme rasle. Kad su "young boysi" preuzeli sve je otišlo do vraga. Evo, prije neki dan čitam: Ukrajinci kupili Perutninu Ptuj. Ja ne znam zašto uopće imamo "državu" kad ništa više nije naše

      Delete
  20. Anonymous09:57

    What are the real benefits of this this partnership continuing for Air Serbia?

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous10:02

    Is the partnership for another 5 years?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:04

      They can sell their stake whenever they want.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:11

      It will eventually be purchased by 4K Invest :D

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:24

      Never say never.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous10:25

    Happy 5th birthday AirSerbia!
    Oh wait, but it did turn 90 last year if I remember their campaign and livery correctly?!
    https://www.exyuaviation.com/2018/02/air-serbia-to-publish-anniversary-book.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:29

      Air Serbia is the legal successor to Jat. The company wasn't removed from the Serbian business register, it was just renamed. If it wasn't the legal successor it would not retain IATA membership, international agreements, codeshares, fleet, workforce, slots etc. Today is the fifth anniversary since the rebranding and Etihad partnership. It's very simple only you don't get it.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:40

      I am fully aware that AirSerbia is a legal successor of company established in 1947.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:10

      Neka im neko kaze koliko imaju godina, vidite da se gube...

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:28

      Actually, JAT was the legal successor of AeroPut which was a private Serbian airline founded in 1927. AeroPut never went bankrupt, it was just rebranded and nationalized.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous17:17

      JU is 91 years old, period. One of the oldest airlines in the world.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous23:24

      @An.13.28

      The name of the country in which AeroPut was founded was Kraljevina Srba, Hrvata i Slovenaca, not Kingdom of Serbia. The countrie's teritorial division did not include today's states or ex-yu republics ;It was divided to 33 "okruga" and subvided to "srezove i opstine". Not one single teritorial division unit was Srbija. The names of the first directors and pilots :Tadija Sondermajer, Leonid Bajdak, Vladimir Strizevski - so not exactly Serbian names. The bigger shareholders were companies and banks from Belgrade, Zagreb, Sarajevo and Novi Sad, so not only from Serbia. The inaugural flight was not from Belgrade to Nis or Uzice but from Belgrade to Zagreb, so again outside of Serbia. The country which flag carrier Aeroput was became Kingdom of Yugoslavia, not Kingdom of Serbia after only 2 years after founding. So could you please tell us based on what you claim AeroPut was Serbian airline?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous00:56

      Aeroput seazed operations. Jat was completely new legal entity. Sorry but we do not have one of the oldest companies. We should realise that and learn to live with that.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous08:33

      Without Serbia there would NOT be AeroPut, that's a fact.
      In 1913 (so before the creation of the new unfortunate state) the Kingdom of Serbia became the fifth country in the world to have regulated norms of air operations.
      Once SHS was founded the first commercial flight wasn't to Zagreb but it was Novi Sad-Belgrade-Nis to Skoplje operated by the two seat Bregue.
      Passenger flights you are referring to started after that- that is the ones from Belgrade to Zagreb and then onwards.

      The founding of AeroPut came from the Belgrade based Aero-klub (Аеро-клуб) whose founders included Serbian aviation pilots from WW1 including Mr Sondermajer.

      As for your comment about names, what was Tadija Sondermajer if not a Serb? His father was of Polish-German origin while his mother (Станиславa Ђурић) was from Belgrade. His father worked in Belgrade as is actually the founder of the first ever surgery department at the Belgrade hospital.

      Sondermajer organized a special flight from Paris to Bombay (with a promotional stop in Belgrade) in order to prove the value of aviation for Serbia. After a successful trip he was welcomed by 30.000 Belgraders as a hero. After that shareholders bankrolled the whole project. These were the main ones:

      - Vracarska Zadruga
      - Privredna banka
      - Postanska stedionica
      - Gejert
      - Srpska banka iz Zagreba
      - Amerikansko-srpska banka iz Sarajeva
      - Teleoptik
      - Veleauto
      - Ikarus from Novi Sad
      - Tehnicko drustvo Vox

      First promotional flight took place onboard an aircraft named Beograd and it flew to Zagreb. Pilots were a Serb, Sondermajer, and a Russian pilot, Strizevski.

      AeroPut and KLM did not go under during the war, both companies survived. After the war Ribar who was a shareholder before the war basically killed AeroPut as a private company as there was no room for private ownership.

      All in all, AeroPut was the pride of Serbian aviation and it was one of our greatest achievements but it was also the continuation of commercial flights that took place before WW1 (primarily mail flights). Serbia has one of the oldest aviation tradition in the world.

      I know there is a tendency on this blog to belittle anything and everything that comes from Serbia but there was nothing 'Yugoslav' about AeroPut. Frankly, your comment that Tadija Sondermajer is not a Serb because of his name is borderline racist.

      Delete
  23. Anonymous10:50

    Happy Birthday, dear JU.

    You had 5 challenging years of ups and downs but, the best is yet to come.

    If EY gears up, by 2025 we should see new markets and horizons and fleet:

    3 A330s
    10 320 neo
    10 new ATR-72

    YYZ
    BJS
    ORD
    DEL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:02

      JAT 1977 :

      4 x B707
      5 x B727
      13 x DC-9

      New York
      Baghdad
      Kuwait
      Singapore
      Sydney

      Pametnom dosta!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:07

      It was a completely different World in 1977.
      However, JU could be much better performing at the moment.

      Delete
    3. Kako je bio drukčiji svijet? Znaš kako je bio drukčiji svijet? Radilo se za narod, a ne kralo narod! To je sva razlika. I nismo slušali upute iz Washingtona/Brisela/Moskve što nam je radit. I ljudi nisu kopali po kontejnerima.

      Delete
  24. Srecan rodjendan postovanim ljudima Er Srbije, njenim putnicima i svima koji joj doprinose sa dobrim cinjenjem. U zelji da kompanija se privatizuje. Sa najiskrenijim zeljama, tek pristigli Rodney.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous14:46

    Pa to je normalno novi naruceni Airbus320 nije dovoljno kvalitetan i to je razlig zasto nisu ga nabavili u Beogradu-Air Serbija, prvih 100--njak vlasnika novih aviona tipa Airbus320 sa 251 i 271 sa neo motorima je nepouzdan avion i u servisu imaju prepuno posla, potrosnja goriva je velika samo u prospektu je napisano da je avion ekonomican i doverljiv.pametan potez bi bio kad bi nabavili jos pouzdanih ui udobnih aviona tipa Boeing737 za Aviolet aviokompaniju.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous15:42

    Last year over 2.000 Serbs got their living permit for Malta. On top of that there were a lot of them there from before. I am still shocked JU failed to MLA. Quite depressing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:52

      Air Serbia flies to Malta...

      Delete
    2. Anonymous16:11

      Seasonaly but they failed in winter.

      Delete
    3. Pa dobro... 2000 ljudi. To ti je taman za 20 aviona ako svi lete. Nije to neka masa

      Delete
    4. Anonymous23:21

      2.000 је добило боравишну визу САМО прошле године. Дакле само 2.000 их се преселило тамо у 2017. години.

      Delete
  27. Anonymous01:41

    Није вам пети рођендан него пет година од промене имена, што није исто.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:06

      Umalo pa ce ici u skolu.

      Delete
  28. Anonymous00:11

    Milan Belgrade 200€ RT, more less.
    Isn't too much?

    ReplyDelete

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