Air Serbia is studying the renewal of its ageing regional fleet, comprising of six ATR72 turboprops, as some of the aircraft enter their 29th year of service for the carrier this summer. Both ATR and Bombardier aircraft are being considered. Plans to renew the regional fleet were made in 2017 as part of a five-year development plan. The airline has previously leaned towards the Franco-Italian manufactured ATRs, noting, "There are a few options we are looking at as part of the five-year plan. We are still wedded to the ATRs as an aircraft type because the ATR has great economics. It is not as fast as the [Bombardier Dash] Q400 and does not carry as many people but, on the short routes that we employ those aircraft, the ATR is the perfect aircraft".
Air Serbia inherited part of its ATR fleet from JAT Yugoslav Airlines, which were delivered new to the carrier in 1990. Their overall average age stands at 23 years. The airline has previously defended its decision to keep the older turboprops in its fleet, noting, "We have three aircraft which are fully owned and cost us nothing in terms of lease costs versus three that are payed in excess of $100.000 a month. When you remove a few of the older aircraft you are adding $300.000 a month to the business without the ability to improve the revenue, so they are not easy decisions to make". The Canadian manufacturer Bombardier previously urged Air Serbia to replace its ATRs with Dash 8s. "Looking at Air Serbia, the Q400 not only replaces the ATRs but also helps them on some routes that are longer and that are narrower, that go up to narrow-bodies, which we understand are not being flown to full capacity, which is important", Bombardier said. The Dash 8 program is now owned by Longview Aviation Capital.
Despite significantly expanding its route network this summer and introducing an extra Airbus A319 to its fleet, as well as wet-leasing a Nordica Bombardier CRJ900 and an Etihad Airbus A320, Air Serbia has increased its overall capacity by just 4% this summer. The CRJ900 is operating an average of three rotations per day for Air Serbia, and is being used across twelve of the airline’s routes. During the peak of the summer season, in August, the carrier will have the most Available Seat Kilometres (ASK) on flights from Belgrade to New York, followed by London Heathrow, Paris, Zurich, Moscow, Beirut, Amsterdam, Athens, Larnaca, Stockholm, Tel Aviv, Copenhagen and Frankfurt.
Comments
JU would probably have betrer bargaining power if it decided to take both CRJ's and Dash's and opt for its entire regional fleet to be from Bombardier.
On the other hand ATR is part of Airbus so together with NEO's cost cuts could be achieved.
Nonetheless, something needs to be done immediately. Fleet is falling apart, constant delays, brrakdowns... I am sure those compensations cost a lot of money for the company.
Q400 - znacajno skuplji, brzi, veca potrosnja goriva, veci dolet, veca visina leta.
Rgds, 8
And CRJ is due to be discontinued in 2020.
Stick to the good old ATR - Avions de Transport Régional. Reliable Franco-Italian jet for decades!
"We have three aircraft which are fully owned and cost us nothing in terms of lease costs versus three that are payed in excess of $100.000 a month. When you remove a few of the older aircraft you are adding $300.000 a month to the business without the ability to improve the revenue, so they are not easy decisions to make"
To me it seems like it is $100.000 for each so if the three owned ATRs from the JAT days are replaced the airline's monthly cost would increase by $300.000
A319 is too big for many routes especially outside the season. They have struggled for years to bring the average CLF close to 80%.
SMFH....
Also increase frequencies in SKG, TIA and try again VAR during the Summer season.
Agree, also they could try BUD again.
Of course they do. They carry more passengers and fly faster.
Also training pilots and crews to the ERJ/CRJ's for just two years worth of flying them is highly uneconomical.
Just my2cents
JU seem to like the CRJ900 since its the second time that it is operating for them. They are fairly familiar with the type so introducing it should be easier.
CRJ900 leasing costs are cheaper than the ERJ175. There are articles on airliners.net which get updated showing the list price.
CRJ900 is perfect for routes where ATR cannot do the job yet the A319 too much capacity. It would also allow JU to free up the ATR for expanding the shorter, regional network by upping the capacity on better performing ATR routes, as well to downsize A319 routes that show to the aircraft to be too much capacity but not too bad to discontinue.
This would allow JU to retire the B733. If JU were to have 4 types in the fleet, better to have it with aircraft that works for them. Afterall, the B733 is pretty much the same capacity as the A319, however cheaper to operate. JU is currently ooerating oy 1 B733. YU-ANI has been active this season, YU-AND hasnt flown since september last year and YU-ANK since march. The B733 might be fully paid off but operating and maintaining it isnt cheap.
At worst, 4 CRJ's would cost JU roughly 10 million USD per year. If they did not use them, there would be money for the next 2 years at least to keep them.
Im sure long term lease with crew training would be cheaper and have better benefits than leasing in a single type with crew for a few months. After all, JU did move from the B737 classics to the A319.
Besides, Im sure they would make better money in the long run with an aircraft more suited to their needs with better loads and better yields.
Αlso training pilots and crews to the ERJ/CRJ's for just two years worth of flying them is highly uneconomical.
Just my2cents
LO has 6 types in their fleet without including the B737 max.
JU has more to offer in BEG than OU in ZAG. ATR is cheaper to operate than the Dash. JU after all has kept BNX.
I'm guessing that they are looking for solution for next 5 years max.
Were not talking about Saab's.
JU has a better track record on keeping their destinations, BEG is much larger to LJU, JU has a much larger operation to JP, and this is just to start.
JU has shown that it needs the type in their fleet. KBP is back the moment the CRJ returned, the CRJ is very active in the JU fleet.
A regional jet would improve their CLF, boost yield, add frequencies while enabling them to add and return destinations.
After all, how much is JU spending to keep those B733's and old ATR's flying. Those heavy maintenance checks sure isnt cheap. They need to be replaced at some point and JU isnt in a position to buy new planes. JU also has a massive gap between the ATR and A319 thats puts them in a tricky situation.
CRJ900 gives them more capacity but not too much, seats more than the ERJ175 which is more expensive and doesnt offer much in more in pax capacity compared to the ATR. Replacing completely the ATR to a regional jet would be a disaster to many routes that see loads of 30-40 pax which defeats the purpose of a mixed ERJ fleet. CRJ900 seems to be a good fit for JU.
Also, in the upcoming period some 100 E190 will flood the market with American, JetBlue, Avianca and few other carriers retiring the type, meaning they'll be available at lower price, with most of them at around 10yrs old and younger.
:-)
In JAT Tehnika we trust
Supposedly something serious, but I dont know what exactly... Tomorrow's flight will be cancelled as well
I wonder if there is a chance to get some kind of emergency replacement from Etihad
Btw - what happened with the Stockholm flight which returned to Belgrade?
And what is happening with the B733 - seems that only 1 is operating?
One 733 has been flying for last six months or so, but I had small malfunction today as well...
Overall, Ex Yu picked the right day to publish a story about JU's need to rejuvenate its fleet
It is more that clear that JU needs an extra replacement such as a B767-300ER.
Yes, it is very convenient to have Airbus wide body and replacement of totally different type...jesus...how do you come to that idea...
Well that was a complete lie. The plane departed nomrally this morning to New York.