Air Serbia plans to continue wet-leasing aircraft over the upcoming 2023/24 winter season despite growing its own dry-leased fleet as it charts out one of its busiest seasons to date. Under the wet-lease arrangement, carriers provide their own aircraft, crew, maintenance support and insurance on behalf of Air Serbia. This winter, the Serbian carrier plans to wet-lease two units from Romania’s Dan Air, including a 144-seat Airbus A319 and a 180-seat A320 jet. Furthermore, it will continue wet-leasing two 186-seat Boeing 737-800s from Lithuania’s KlassJet. The Serbian airline also plans to sporadically utilise a 180-seat Airbus A320 from Germany’s LEAV Aviation. The aircraft is currently only scheduled on an average of seven flights per month, primarily to Istanbul and Milan, deployed on services towards the end of each week.
Air Serbia will continue to wet-lease Embraer jets from Greece’s Marathon Airlines. Both the 100-seat E190 and the 118-seat E195 aircraft have proven popular with passengers so far and useful in bridging the gap between the ATR72s and the Airbus A320-family fleet. A second E195 from Marathon Airlines is also expected to operate on the Serbian carrier’s behalf. Unlike the other wet-leases, the Embraer’s feature either the full Air Serbia livery or titles and are expected to eventually be dry-leased by the Serbian airline. “We'll see how these planes perform. If it turns out that they perfectly fill the gap between ATRs and Airbuses, we will keep them”, Air Serbia said recently.
Wet-leasing equipment has also drawn criticism from passengers, some of which have complained of inconsistent on board service and product. The Serbian carrier does not sell business class on wet-leased equipment, which, due to operational changes, has on occasion resulted in passengers with purchased business class tickets being downgraded to economy as a result of equipment swaps from dry- to wet-leased aircraft. However, the airline has said its strategy of wet-leasing planes has proven successful as it enables it to more easily respond to volatile market conditions without committing itself to extra capacity, which might not be required in the future.
During the first month of the winter season, this November, destinations which will see the most wet-leased equipment are Frankfurt, Vienna, Zurich and Tivat, where the Serbian carrier will be utilising the Embraer fleet to significantly boost frequencies. The wet-leased A319 will be most commonly used to Dusseldorf, while the B737-800s will be deployed most commonly to Stockholm and Zurich. Overall, Air Serbia will have 433 departing flights utilising wet-leases, more than half of which will be the Embraers.
That is a lot of wet leased planes for winter
ReplyDeletePrelot!
DeletePuno prelot!
DeleteBasically the size of the fleet with the included wet leases will be the same as during the summer. That's why they have such huge frequency growth in winter
ReplyDeleteYes but keep in mind dry leased planes go in for scheduled maintenance over the winter.
DeleteMaybe even more since extra ATRs will probably start arriving in Q1 2024 plus another Embraer should join.
DeleteWe will need a direct flight to Manchester really soon for the Champions League match
DeleteThe match was yesterday.
DeleteAir Serbia operated a charter to MAN.
Delete@Anonymous10:58
DeleteThe match was yesterday.
Hahahahaha
And here it is at MAN :)
Deletehttps://www.facebook.com/100064563829132/posts/pfbid02BxwAX73mGpLt2R9BVjHbjenqPkb8cNB4cYehWVQt1ytoQrSqi3xa5mxuKRf3orbhl/
Had Leav Aviation around 10 days ago between Barcelona and Belgrade. Got to say crew was really rude and unprofessional, which is a bit surprising considering they were German.
ReplyDeleteIt is not surprising at all.
Delete@09:04 Probably from a different region in germany to the people and service you were expecting. Like the difference between the americans from texas and california.
Deletesorry to hear you had a bad experience. I hope you told Air Serbia about it so it doesnt carry on and if they dont change to cancel the contract like they did with the one romanian wet lease they had.
There are way better offers on the market, although they continue using LEAV which, in all fairness, provide a horrible solution. They are a young operator, but that doesn't mean the service provided should be that bad...
DeleteI flew Leav to Mallorca a few months ago and the crew was SUPER polite, I was actually surprised how cool they were. So yeah, these things should not be generalized
DeleteIn german language they addressed passengers with „Du“ like staff of Apple Stores is doing, which I found quite irritating on BEG- FRA route.
DeleteThe Embraers seem to be a goldmine if you look at how many flights they have been scheduled on.
ReplyDeleteDan Air and Marathon seem to be their long term wet lease providers.
ReplyDeleteKlasjet is becoming too.
DeleteI hadn't heard of any of them until Air Serbia started wet leasing their planes.
DeleteKlasjet used to transport the national German football team around Europe
DeleteTheir deal with Dan Air seems to be quite successful. I think it has been going for 2 years now, right?
DeleteKlasJet basically replaced the two A321's that didn't arrive.
DeleteToo much capacity. Trim down winter network.
ReplyDeleteTheir passenger numbers and load factor indicates otherwise.
DeleteThey are getting rid of seasonality.
Delete@anon 09:10
DeleteAre you the one from neighbourhood who suggested JU to have only 40-45 destinations? 😀
Even that is too much. It should be 13 destinations. And 11 flights daily to Minken and Vrankvurt to kiss german ass as much as possible
DeleteWhy constant wet leases? If it is now clear that they need the same number of aircraft in the winter as in the summer, then there is no argument as to why the shouldn't dry lease planes. The main explanation was that they don't need so many planes in winter because of seasonality which is why they wet lease planes in summer.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteProbably someone at the top in the company is having a % cut of this lucrative business.
DeleteCrew issues obviously. Not enough.
DeleteBe patient.
Well this is the first winter having this huge expansion. They want to see how it develops and wet leasing planes mitigates risks.
Delete^ makes sense
Delete@09.19, the 1st
DeleteI don't mind if someone gets a % cut on contract, or is awarded bonus, or has huuuge salary, as long as he or she has visible work results. In case of JU, we see visible work results. In case of OU we have more % cuts, and much more public money spent on them, and the result is pathetic humiliated feeder which kisses german ass
Odd statement. I would like all the guys getting their illegal “cut” going to jail. The world would be a better place then. Re. JU, they don’t have crew to follow this kind of expansion and it is more than difficult/impossible to train it in such a short term. On the other side, if they look at the market, the salaries of pilots will easily justify wet lease, especially during winter when it is much cheaper than in summer. Plus, flexibility to add/remove routes is much better in this setup. JU is still finding itself, realistic route’s numbers, frequencies, etc. So, it makes lot of sense to do it this way. Re. “cuts”, I suppose these are unfortunately customary in the Balkans.
DeleteSo some anonymous makes up that someone is "probably" getting a "cut"' from wet leases and you all eat it up like it's a fact, no questions asked even though there have been numerous reasons given why they choose wet leases. Crazy.
Delete@10.25
DeleteGetting percentage on a deal is normal thing everywhere, not only in the Balkans. The difference is in the deal itself, being beneficial for the part getting the cut, or not. If it is beneficial, and it is about to bring and make more money, or other benefits for the company, than "cut" is kind of reward for concluding a good deal. But if the deal is corruptive, and will result with more losses and is harmful for the part signing the deal, and "cut" is still paid, than that's the one which deserves the jail, but rarely ends with jail in the Balkans. If you look it that way, it's not odd at all
Thanks, I misunderstood it. This is fair and I agree.
Delete+1
DeleteThat's a lot.
ReplyDeleteWinter is going to be busy.
DeleteLol
DeleteWinter is coming, ali nema zime za JU 😀
DeleteDok prognoza za Zagreb kaže : dubok snijeg, ledeni vjetar i debeli minusi
DeleteGood luck!
ReplyDeleteI'm happy they have taken regional jets. I think it will turn out as a success story in JU's fleet.
ReplyDeleteYes, that makes sense. But these 180-seat planes definitely don't make sense. They have their 3 A320s and that is quite enough for them.
DeleteIm sure you know best how many 180 seat planes they need.
DeleteYes, I know.
DeleteProbably they like to fly empty. It gives a comfort to the passengers on board so everyone is happy, except experts and analitičars.
DeleteOk I'll let them know that you said that they have too many right now.
DeleteHow do they plan to load these planes with 180-186 each? OK during the summer when they have charters to Antalya, Hurghada, Skiathos... But during the winter?
ReplyDeleteTheir network is much larger and there a lot of transfers.
DeleteAnd where did so many transfers come from? What will they do with their 3 A320s? Are they not enough?
DeleteThey come from the fact that their network now has 90 destinations in it. The bigger the network the more transfers you have, not to mention with the additional long haul flights. I read a trip report by a lady on some international review site. She is from London and flew to Salzburg via Belgrade with Air Serbia because it had the best times for her on the days she wanted to go.
DeleteYes, I agree that the network has grown. That's why 3 A320s are enough. They increased the frequencies to fight against Wizz Air and to increase the number of transfers. But where did so many transfers come from? From where? With 3 A320s you can quite well cover SVO, ESB (all are night flights), LED and the occasional flight to CDG, MAD, IST, ADB, ZRH.
DeleteThis winter they are actually using the A330 on Moscow flights on some days of the week.
DeleteYou mean this review where the Salzburg - Belgrade - London ticket was paid 79 euros? (Seat reservation included)
DeleteIt sounds like no one is sending big(ger) planes to BEG during winter and that's not true. Just a reminder that Wizz has 5 ac of bigger size in their Belgrade base.
Delete5 or 4?
DeleteYes, but Air Serbia already has its 3 A320s. It is quite enough to cover routes with a large number of passengers. Plus the A330 will join them on some shorter routes.
Delete@9.52 it's 4
DeleteOK, Anon 09.54, you are right. 3 A320 is enough and AirSerbia will just fly those other big birds empty. OK? Happy?
DeleteWizz has four, sorry. Hope to see a fifth next year, although they already use some from other bases (Abu Dabhi). Nevertheless, those birds are bigger than JU's A320 and they fly with high LFs so it's not stupid to have focus on A320.
DeleteWhen will YU-ASD start flights?
ReplyDeleteEmbraer additions changed a lot in JU fleet, hope we see more soon
ReplyDeleteToo late for Tenerife this winter?
ReplyDeleteThis is insane and shows incredibly poor fleet planning. There’s simply no way that a wet lease over a 1-2 year period is cheaper than a dry lease. Either these operators are making huge losses on these contracts or JU is forgoing potential further profits.
ReplyDeleteManagement’s duty towards the shareholders is to maximize their returns (profits) and they are clearly failing here.
Just because they made a profit at all, doesn’t mean there is additional money to be made by implementing proper strategies.
It is not between wet lease and dry lease, it is between flying or not flying. Dry lease requires own crew and maintenance, what AS is obviously (still) missing, especially for embraers and boings
DeleteGood
ReplyDeleteSo many wet leased planes mean the demand this winter in Belgrade will be huge!
ReplyDeleteI am very glad to see Air Serbia is growing.
At this point wet lease A330, and start flights to China. They have permits and demand...
ReplyDeleteAgree completely. Put them on China flights (Tianjin and Shanghai/Canton) and use the two A330s on the US ops.
DeleteDid they ever find that ACMI expert they had a job vacancy for?
ReplyDeleteYes, they have actually hired a lady for the position.
DeleteLoads of European airlines are wet leasing planes this winter.
ReplyDeleteSome people complaining here about the number of wet leased places, fail to understand that to fly, you need much more that a plane. You need crew, you need maintenance, you need backoffice support to stand behind this increases and it takes time to hire train and grow like that. With Wet lease you just add a plane and process an invoice for it and that's all.
ReplyDeleteAlso, as stated in other comments, this mitigate the risk of the expansion giving AirSerbia the time ro see if the growt is feasible, to try some new airplane types, new destinations and also gives you a flexibility to change your plans on the go if necessary.
Having in mind all this, AirSerbia is doing this very smart actually. And yes, this costs them more, but they also earn more so they are good.
+1
DeleteAnon 10:11,
DeleteI'm afraid that you're wasting your time trying to explain such basic concepts.
Most of these complainers aren't fit to even manage a kiosk, they think pilots grow on trees.
They do not grow on trees but guess what - they are not going to be growing on the trees not even tomorrow. So, they better invest in pilot schooling if that's the issue. You are not renting a new house because in the one you own the heating system doesn't work; you fix the heating system.
DeleteDoes anyone know how much their cabin crew makes monthly? Or how much are they paid hourly per flight?
ReplyDeleteJust a wild guess - pilots from EUR 1.700 to 5.500,, cabin crew from EUR 700 to 1.200 per months.
DeleteCabin crew around 1500 euros per month. First officers around 3000 per month. Captains around 5000 per month.
DeleteIf those salaries mentioned by Anon 12.11 are true, they are rather decent I would say. I don't know the salaries globally, but in Serbia and I would say whole Balkans those would be ok salaries, no?!
DeleteIf those are amounts people receive, they are ok. If before taxation, then too low
DeleteAll salaries in Serbia are shown in net value, so after tax.
DeleteIt would be nice if one day Air Serbia has enough of its own aircraft to serve its network.
ReplyDeleteLithuania, Romania, Germany and Greece are good choices for ACMI.
ReplyDeleteThere are decent ACMI airlines in Croatia as well, like Trade Air or ETF. Then, we have proximity which make easier and cheaper aircraft and crew positioning, permanent and as hoc, and spare parts delivery. Also, the same language is spoken by the crew, or at least part of the crew, which is a great benefit for passengers, so one of those two would be the perfect fit for JU, of course within the need for the type(s) they operate. Frankly speaking, I am a bit surprised JU leases aircraft from Lithuania or Germany, and not "across the fence". But then, if some negotiations took place at all, they probably asked too much money, "mladi gazda" of TDR in particular
DeleteAsked for some charter quotes recently, and both Trade Air and ETF were crazy expensive. Much better rates with JU even if you calculate ferry flights. Probably they have good utilization anyway and they don’t care.
DeleteBusiness-wise Croatia is not cheap at all, they have certain standard they don't want to deteriorate and that's OK. They are not after call centers and cable factories and that's also good. What is not OK is the cost of living which gets really high.
DeleteCroatia prestigious as always :)
DeleteThe most logical thing to do would be for Croatian and Serbian operators and aviation businesses to cooperate for all the benefits Pozdrav mentiones, to both parties.
Deletebut im guessing its either for political reasons they wont, or for personal reasons (meaning both sides want to walk away with the biggest amount directly to their pocket) so they cant agree on a deal.
even for JU if they worked together then those Pilots and and other staff would be easier to directly evaluate and employ from Croatia as they expand.
I am the first one who despise "prestigious" posters, but as you are obviously one of them, and not here to discuss aviation, let my politely answer : With its 4 airline companies, 11 million air passengers annually and 8 international airports, Croatia is prestigious and superior to all other ex-yu countries, despite the fact that it could be even better, with proper flag carrier
DeleteThe above was addressed to @15.50
DeleteNo hard feelings, that was a joke, I guess. Dubrovnik is most certainly a prestigious destination, as for the others I'm not sure, too many apartments to be prestigious in my opinion.
DeleteAs for Serbo-Croatian cooperation, it is happening, at least for two decades, wherever money finds interest, and that's how it should be.
No I wasn't joking actually. And my friend mr. Pozdrav confirmed it in the last sentence.
DeleteCroatia has a proper flag carrier Pozdrav!
DeleteLOL!!!! Podguznu muhu Lufthanse o trošku hrvatske sirotinje?
DeleteThis goes to show that JU needs to more aircraft.
ReplyDeleteYes, and it covered that need with wet leases.
DeleteThis seems to be more common now with most airlines.
ReplyDeleteThird paragraph is completely right. Getting subpar wetlease equipment is very annoying.
ReplyDeletenothing make sence within air serbia
ReplyDeleteFRA will double this winter, almost double for BCN and FCO not including Wizz increases. BUD will be 17 or 18, didn't exist last winter. Hard to imagine full flights on a cold snowy day in Feb. Good luck Air Serbia.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThey definitely can provide more options and value for the customer with additional capacity and routes. Hopefully they can deliver on their commitments and are not stretched too thin
DeleteFRA double?
ReplyDeleteThey had 6 pw last winter and this one they have 10 pw.
Don't listen to analyst, he is wrong.
Point is: approximately double the number of Air Serbia weekly flights for destinations like FRA, BCN, FCO compared to last winter. Capacity increase was moderate to many destinations, adding 1 or 2 weekly frequencies in line with organic growth.
DeleteWho is paying fuel for wet leased planes? Air Serbia or Dan Air / Klassjet/ Marathon / LEAV?
ReplyDeleteAir Serbia
DeleteNot only fuel but Dan Air & co also pay for each empty seat. Smh
DeleteI think JU does not pay any empty seat, but they generally pay the costs of the flight according to Dan Air's invoice and the income for ticket sales goes to JU.
DeleteThis just proves that the demand is astronomical. Keep expanding.
ReplyDeleteThis year I shifted from wizz air to air Serbia. So that's approx 15 flights a year. Reason price cheaper than wizz when I buy luggage, more polite personal and I'm fan of ATR
ReplyDeleteW6 does not fly from BEG on the routes where JU's ATR's are flying to.
DeleteNa kojoj to destinaciji gde leti Wiz, JU leti ATR-om?
DeleteLol 🤣
DeleteATR is absolutely a great aircraft, very masculine, reminds of the aviation as it once was.
DeleteYesterday the morning flight to Lju was A319 and the evening one was with wet leased A320. I know its not connected to the article but thats the first time I saw capacity like that in one day from JU to Ljubljana
ReplyDeleteI think that Dan Air wouldn't exist without Air Serbia wet leasing contract
ReplyDeleteMaybe Dan is short for Dane? :)
DeleteHahahahahahahaha, good one 😃
DeleteWhat's with the Marathon Embaer 175 flying for ASL?
ReplyDeleteReally, from September 20th SX-ASK flies for JU: https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/sx-ask#
DeleteThere is one additional wet leased DAT ATR: https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/se-mdc#
ReplyDelete