Air Serbia completes turboprop renewal, considers expansion


Air Serbia has completed the renewal of its ATR72 turboprop fleet with the carrier taking delivery of its last of five -600 models of the aircraft last week. It is considering further growing its regional fleet. The latest aircraft, registered YU-ASA (pictured), is nine years old and previously operated for Aer Lingus and its subsidiaries but has been stored for much of the past two years. It features the new cabins installed across the ATR fleet and is expected to enter revenue service shortly. In addition, the carrier has wet-leased an ATR72-600 from Romanian carrier Air Connect. It commenced operations on behalf of Air Serbia yesterday.

Air Serbia began the drive to replace its old ATR72 fleet last year. It was comprised of -200 and -500 models, most of which were almost thirty years old and delivered new to the carrier’s predecessor JAT Yugoslav Airlines. The average age of Air Serbia’s ATR72-600 fleet is now seven years. Air Serbia is expected to retire the last two older -200 and -500 ATR models still in service, registered YU-ALU and YU-ALP, although it still has several older turboprops stored in Belgrade. Since the Serbian carrier owns some of the ATR aircraft it has retired, the company is studying the possibility of entering the freighter market and using the planes for cargo flights. The airline is also looking into expanding its ATR fleet. “The optimal size of the [ATR72 fleet] I would say is ten because then you can start benefiting from some economies of scale”, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said last year.




The Serbian carrier also plans to unveil its naming concept for the ATR fleet this year. The names will likely be related to the country’s geography rather than personalities, as featured on some of its Airbus jets. Mr Marek recently said, “We are currently developing a different concept for our ATR fleet that will not necessarily be human related. It will be something more related to our home country”. In 2013, the airline launched a “Living Legends of Serbia” aircraft naming concept, where several narrow-body jets were named after famous Serbian sportsmen, actors and musicians. However, the concept never really took off and has been halted. The carrier named its first wide-body A330 jet after Nikola Tesla, while the second carries Mihajlo Pupin’s name.



Comments

  1. Anonymous09:02

    Finally! looks good

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous09:02

    It's interesting that they are wet leasing a 6th ATR72-600. Will it be in the fleet long term?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:05

      Yes

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:22

      Apparently for a year so far

      Delete
    3. JATBEGMEL16:51

      I doubt it'll stay for a year. I think the aircraft will stay until YU-ASA enters service. However, the way things have been with the fleet and staff the past several months, anything is possible.

      YU-ALO isn't flying since the end of November leaving YU-ALO the last remaining ATR72-200's.

      Up to 6 ATR's ATR's are needed for the current schedules at most. 4 new ATR's are flying plus 1 ATR72-500 (YU-ALU), with the 5th new ATR72 (YU-ASA) yet to enter service. This is where I think that the wet lease has jumped in until YU-ASA enters service.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:03

    Great news. No more gambling whether you will get the old or the new ATRs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:04

      Well they are still using 2 older ATRs on top of the new ones. So there is still a gamble

      Delete
    2. JATBEGMEL16:53

      Only 1 is left - YU-ALO, and that aircraft isn't used to the max.

      Delete
    3. JATBEGMEL16:53

      My mistake, YU-ALP is the one left.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:04

    So in total 8 ATRs are currently operating for Air Serbia?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:05

      7 as YU-ASA is still not in service, but should be soon.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:05

    Flew with one of the new ATRs recently. Can't be compared to the ATR72-500/-200. Comfortable cabin, much quieter. Great overall.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous09:08

    I expect to see around 10 ATRs in Air Serbia fleet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:09

      Agree that 10 ATRs would be ideal. Hope we see this expansion happen.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:09

    Now they are wet leasing and ATR. What's happening with the pilots in the Air Serbia. Are they leaving company or there is shortage?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:10

      Training new pilots takes time.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:01

      Training new pilots is cancelled because management is angry due to pilots unwillingness to work as slaves.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:34

      That is a very not true information.
      I can assure you that new pilots training is ongoing as we speak.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous15:08

      Anonymous13:34

      It's not? Hmmm ok if you say so.. I tend to agree with @annon 11:01

      Delete
    5. JATBEGMEL17:00

      The comment on the pilots isn't true. New pilots are in training. Just last week there was another recruitment round for all aircraft types. More recruitment rounds to follow. There is only so much they can train at a time so expect more recruitment drives.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous19:42

      There are two different pilots in j training we are talking about here. Off the street new hires are training, but as far as I know internal pilot captain upgrades wre suspended because company and union both wre acting like children. New captains are much needed for this new season coming up.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous19:44

      training for pilots within the company was suspended as an aggressive act towards the pilots and flight attendants unions due to the non-signing of the collective agreement, which rejected every demand of the unions. all advancement was suspended as a threat to hire Romanian women to work as cabin crew and pilots from all over the world to work instead of our pilots. The conclusion is that the following will rather give money and better working conditions to foreigners who will take that money out of the country than to our people who would leave that money in our country.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous21:13

      Sounds insane, but that is what is going to happen in reality if this idea goes through...

      Delete
    9. Anonymous01:28

      Anonymous19:44

      Considering how AS is known for mistreating its employees i don't find this as a surprise, even if it's false it sounds like a realistic scenario for AS greedy-amateur HR

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:10

    ATR passenger conversion to freighter? Interesting and unexpected.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:13

      How much would a conversion cost though?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:20

      Let's see. Maybe their feasibility study shows it's not worth investing in the conversion.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:01

      Could Jat Tehnika do the freighter conversion?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:04

      Well they are doing B767 conversions so I don't think it's impossible.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:08

      Let them first return YU-APB.

      Delete
    6. APB is on the back burner do to conversion giving more profite. I find this unbelievable but two people told me similar stories.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous16:14

      APB won't be back before summer. They used some spare parts from it from what I heard.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:13

    Finally. Should have been done a decade ago.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous09:16

    More ATRs are needed

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:02

      10 would be optimal as Marek said.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:16

    How much do brand new ATRs cost? The ATR72-600?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:20

      These things change and vary based on numerous things but the -600 list price is $26.8M

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:20

    Flew twice on Air Connect ATR72-600 and I just can tell y’all that the seats are very comfortable and well padded, good pitch.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous09:20

    They finally have a respectable fleet of ATR's

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous09:23

    Good but I believe they also need to expand Airbus fleet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:31

      They said they will add 5 planes to the fleet this summer, and I believe this does not include wet-leases.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:23

    How many planes do they have now?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:56

      10x A319
      2x A320
      2x A330
      7x ATR76 (incl. - 200 and -500 type)

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:01

      Lete:
      ALU (725) y
      ALP (722) y
      ALX (726) y
      ALW (726) y
      ALY (726) y
      ALZ (726) y
      APC (319) y
      APD (319) y
      APE (319) y
      APF (319) y
      APL (319) y
      APM (319) y
      APN (319) y
      APH (320) y
      APO (320) y
      ARB (330) y
      ARC (330) y

      Ne lete:
      ALO (722) n stored
      ALN (722) n stored
      ALT (725) n stored
      ALV (725) n active
      ASA (726) n active
      APA (319) n active
      APB (319) n stored
      APK (319) n active

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:02

      Regarding my previous post on the above list of planes: this is as of January 15.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:04

      Boze dragi, njima vec skoro pola godine stoje tri A319 u Jat Tehnici, javasluk i katastrofa......

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:11

      Actually only one, YU-APB, the other two have nbeen sent to maintenance only in the last 7-10 days

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:21

      YU-APE cane out of a check and YU-APK went. Issue is with YU-APB.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:22

      YU-ALV has been officially returned to the lessor, so I do not think it should be on list of JU planes anymore (as YU-APG isn't).

      "Air Serbia is soon set to return an Airbus A320 jet (registered YU-APG) and one ATR72 (registered YU-ALV) to their owners as their lease with the company expires"

      ExYu aviation 29.06.2020

      Delete
    8. Anonymous10:29

      Zamislite katastrofu u planiranju s jedne strane placate lizing za APB a on ne leti vec pola godine, mora da su ga rascupali za delove kao ANH svojevremeno sto znaci da mozda nece ni poleteti vise nikada. E sad to sto on nije u vlasnistvu mozda nesto menja stvar ali sto je mnogo mnogo je.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous10:38

      Ne verujem da su to smeli da urade jer kao sto si rekao ovaj avion za razliku od YU-ANH nije u njihovom vlasnistvu i jednog dana treba da ga vrate.

      Takodje Air Serbia danas nije u situaciji kao sto je bio Jat da ne moze da kupi nove delove nego da mora da cerupa avione koji ne lete.

      Sto se tice placanja lizinga neprihvatljiva mi je cinjenica da Jat Tehnika ne placa penale za ovaj avion. Ne pustaju ti avion 5 meseci u saobracaj a da ne bude finansijskih posledica to cisto sumnjam.

      Jos jedna posledica koja je vidljiva je da je Air Serbia poslala jedan A319 u Turkish Technic. Pitamo se zasto?

      Delete
    10. Anonymous10:40

      Ne plaća se lizing tokom perioda kad nisu operativni.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous10:46

      Correct, API, APJ and APG were returned to the owners at different times in the past, however, ALV was used until recently. Perhaps it was finally returned just a few weeks ago.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous14:31

      ALV wasn't returned just a few weeks ago. It stopped flying for Air Serbia in August of 2020. So that was 2,5 years ago!

      API and APG were also returned to lessors during pandemic, while APJ was returned in October 2021.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:23

    I actually think they need a regional jet plane. Something with the capacity to seat 100 passengers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:31

      Absolutely. They need something in between the Airbuses and ATRs. Especially for winter operations.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:43

      If they replace more of their 319 fleet with 320, 100-seater(s) is a must.

      Delete
    3. JATBEGMEL17:06

      Marek mentioned a few months back that a regional jet is an option, but not in the short term plans. I guess this will happen once the A319's leave the fleet, as they're (going to be) being replaced by the A320. ERJ in particular was mentioned.

      Delete
  17. I have been wondering why is YU not considering Embraer family 170/175/190?

    Any thought on that?

    I know that they are more expensive than the ATR's but they are also faster and have longer range.

    E's will make YU much more competitive.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:38

      They said they will consider some of Embraers newer generation planes to fill the gap between ATRs and Airbuses but that it is a longer term plan and something they are looking to do immediately.

      Delete
    2. When they transition to A320/ATR76 fleet and have a sufficient number of both, it could make sense to introduce a sub-fleet of regional jets to fill the gap. However, with only 5 ATRs and numerous A319s, there is still no strong need for regional jets, except on some routes at certain parts of the year.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous09:32

    Is it just me or are many Romanian carriers offering wet lease services?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:21

      Yes. Romanian aviation is focused on ACMI. They have big number of airlines -17 for now.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous09:32

    It's nice to see an ex-Yu airline expanding, adding new routes and growing its fleet. There is too much stagnation in the region.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:41

      Indeed but overall we are talking of a very small segregated region / market where there is no room for too many serious players.

      Delete
  20. Anonymous09:35

    This wet leasing seems to be a bit out of control, it is not a cheap sport!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:39

      How many are wet leased at the moment?

      1 A319 from Dan Air
      1 E190 from Air Montenegro
      1 ATR72-600 from Air Connect

      Did I miss anyone?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:49

      Second E190 from Air Montenegro also flew on certain days for Air Serbia, plus another A320 from Dan Air.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:12

      Quite a few wet leases in the middle of winter.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:19

      I guess they did not plan well their fleet for winter. I guess they did not expect such strong demand.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:40

      No, they did not plan that Jat Tehnika would be doing such a bad jobs and take months to service their planes. They sent a plane to Turkish Technics the other day, presumably as Jat Tehnika can't service it.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous15:55

      You cant blame everything on Tehnika. Yes, they sre holding on APB but none of the ATRs. How would you explain wet lesse for that plane too?

      Answer is much simpler. Someone is doing fleet planning horribly, plus there is a muh lack of ceew and pilots due to poor worl conditions and compensation. Its only about money, its about general work environment which has drastically deteriorate in the past years and people dont want to work in JU anymore

      Delete
    7. Anonymous16:26

      There is also Dan Air A320 with the nice livery flying for JU

      Delete
    8. What is wrong with APB and what is wrong with Jat Tehnika?

      Delete
    9. Anonymous21:08

      C’mon guys, it’s not about Jat Tehnika at all, it’s only about lacking the pilots to fly the increased number of planes. In the summer, this will be even more visible. You cannot hire/train 100 pilots just like that, especially to fly for Serbian airline.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous21:36

      Especially to fly for Serbian airline?

      For AA they are born as pilots?

      Delete
    11. Anonymous18:34

      You can easily hire pilots for AA, but it’s much harder to attract pilots to live and work in Serbia.

      Delete
  21. Great benefits to Air Serbia's ATR 600. Let's hope five more of the same turboprops aiding to present fleet. Nis, Cacak or Kraljevo and Uzice should be among name's.
    Let hope to be fwe ATR's in future cargo fleets of AirSerbia.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous09:46

    I wonder why they wouldn't use those old ATR's in Kraljevo or Nis? I for one never cared about the noise they made. Perhaps they could have added some new routes?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:49

      They are probably becoming too costly to operate plus require constant supervision from someone in maintenance.

      Delete
    2. JATBEGMEL17:13

      The old ATR's are increasingly expensive to maintain regardless of being owned by the airline. Cargo flying isn't as demanding as pax flying which might make it worth while to prolong their life as cargo aircraft. Not to mention the cabin condition isn't great and requires further investment.

      KVO has no fuelling capabilities so basing an aircraft there is not possible. Destination demand from INI isn't exactly distances that is suitable for an ATR.

      Delete
  23. Anonymous09:56

    I'm nervous about their plane naming :D

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous09:58

    Great news!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous09:59

    Do they all have the same seat layout? I heard rumors that some of new -600 have 72 seats but some have 70 seats though?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:12

      It is possible that some have 70 depending on the location of the lavatory. But all have the same seats and cabin.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:18

      They all have their previous owner's cabin so each one is different.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:21

      ^ This is not true. All the cabins have been retrofitted are like the ones in the photo.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:40

      Flown with them in summer, and the cabins were different (one had white seats)

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:43

      It is not true that they have previous owners cabins.

      Delete
  26. Anonymous09:59

    Cabin looks good

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous10:00

    Why doesn't Air Serbia have ATR-42 in their fleet?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:12

      Because they do not need them.

      Operating costs are the same as for ATR72, but they bring less money due to less seats available.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous21:10

      Operating costs cannot be the same for such a larger plane - just out of the basic logics.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous21:54

      They are not the same, obviously. But more important is price per seat, because that influences price which passengers are paying and that figure is greater on ATR42 than on ATR72. Meaning that it's more economical for JU to have ATR72 than ATR42.

      Delete
  28. Anonymous10:00

    Would love to see Air Serbia Cargo logo on the ATR72s :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:12

      Is there something like Air Serbia Cargo logo?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:21

      Here you go: http://92.249.52.115/img/logo/ASL_Cargo_Logo.svg

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:23

      Thanks.

      Delete
  29. Anonymous10:14

    Wet leases again? And the summer expansion didn't even start yet

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous10:18

    Is Air Connect in JU livery? I suppose the crew is Romanian like Dan Air?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:21

      Nope it's in their livery, the crew is also not from Air Serbia

      Delete
  31. Anonymous10:24

    Air Serbia needs to grow! They need to follow the needs of the Serbian market. We saw in December when they had a massive increase in passenger numbers but their share at BEG fell to below 50%.
    Actually they are very lucky to br based in such a good market.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous01:30

      They need to grow, yes they do, but step by step otherwise they will end up like all other Etihad partners that rushed growth

      Delete
  32. Anonymous11:55

    JU is making good progress with its fleet. Will be interesting to see what it looks like in a year's time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:56

      Hopefully with third A330 :)

      Delete
  33. Anonymous11:57

    The Air Connect ATR flying for Air Serbia to Tirana and Podgorica today.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:05

      It flew yesterday to TIA as well. My friend was flying TIA-BEG-ARN and even the second leg was operated by Dan Air

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:14

      Today: PRG, TIA and TGd.

      Delete
  34. Anonymous13:12

    On low cost seat. The cheapest one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:47

      What is wrong with the seat? Routes that ATRs fly are no longer than 2 hours, usually are about an hour, what kind of seats do you need for such a short flight?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous16:08

      For more than one hour flight on a fix seat, thank you.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous16:15

      Recaro seat, same as at his Z 101!

      Delete
  35. Anonymous18:31

    There are plenty of Q400 on the market, they could make use of. They are much faster than ATRs and could allow them to use on longer thinner routes like NUE, VIE, ATH, KRK and may be Italy. On top of that they could have E1/E2 for medium sized European O&Ds and 320s for trunk routes and charters and 321LR/XLR to reach Middle East, Central Asia and Central Africa. A330-800/900s would be the right option for US/Canada and Far East.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Anonymous18:48

    Hallelujah!! Was on one of the -200s on a trip from BEG-PRG. That machine was OLD. Glad they're renewing the ATR72 fleet.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Anonymous19:16

    Q400 is a great plane for short hauls. And Air Serbia would not have to lease. There must be a reason why it wasn't an option.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Anonymous18:25

    Flew YU-ALW on the BEG-TIA route today. Very nice plane! And there was no maintenance technician flying along like in those incredibly old ATRs. That was reassuring.

    ReplyDelete

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