Air Serbia to maintain wet-leased capacity over winter

Air Serbia will continue to rely on wet-leased aircraft during the 2025/26 winter season while also expanding its dry-leased fleet, making this the airline’s largest winter schedule to date. Under wet-lease agreements, partner carriers provide aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance on behalf of Air Serbia.

This winter, the Serbian carrier plans to wet-lease four Embraer E190s from Bulgaria Air, doubling the number compared to last winter and matching the arrangements in place over the summer. According to current schedule filings, Bulgaria Air’s aircraft will most frequently operate on routes from Belgrade to Frankfurt, with 154 flights planned between late October and late March. Other key destinations include Athens (99 services), Zurich (91), Copenhagen (88) and Thessaloniki (75). These allocations remain subject to change as airlines adjust capacity during the season.

The Serbian carrier also plans to deploy two Airbus A320 aircraft operated by Lithuania’s GetJet Airlines from November, matching the number of units wet-leased from the carrier during the previous winter. During the 2025/26 season, GetJet-operated aircraft have been most scheduled on flights from Belgrade to Paris, with 133 rotations planned, followed by Amsterdam (83), Oslo (46) and Larnaca (45). Both of Air Serbia’s wet-lease partners have recruited locally based crew, resulting in the presence of Serbian-speaking staff on many of their flights.

Commenting on the airline’s wet-lease strategy, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, told EX-YU Aviation News earlier this summer, “Our wet-lease strategy is helping us bridge the gap by avoiding long-term commitments when aircraft prices are high. Once we find the right opportunities, we can gradually phase out wet-leased capacity. One issue that’s often overlooked is the impact of our aging fleet. While the V2500 engines are generally excellent, over the past two years they’ve been increasingly affected by what are known as AD notes. This creates periods where several engines have been in the shop at same time which requires backups with utilisation of spare engines to support operations. He added, Ideally, we aim to concentrate our heavy maintenance during the winter season. That way, we can avoid major disruptions during peak months. Interestingly, because wet leases are usually in demand during summer, we’ve been able to negotiate favourable deals by also offering winter operations as part of the arrangement. This strategy allows us to maintain continuity at lower cost”.

As previously reported, the Serbian carrier is set to take delivery of two dry-leased Embraer E195s during the winter and further expand its fleet with three additional A320s by the start of next summer. According to the current schedule, which is still subject to adjustment as the winter season approaches, Air Serbia plans to offer 2.11 million seats on scheduled services between October 26 and March 28, representing a 9.2% increase on the previous winter. The number of planned operations is also set to rise by 12%, reaching 18.755 flights.