EX-YU carriers rethink fleet plans
Carriers from the former Yugoslavia are re-evaluating their fleet development plans in the face of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic with Air Serbia cancelling the lease of additional ATR turboprops, Croatia Airlines negotiating with Airbus to terminate its A320neo order, FlyBosnia retiring its sole jet and Trade Air acquiring its fourth aircraft.
Air Serbia has returned an Airbus A320 jet (registered YU-APG) and one ATR72 (registered YU-ALV) to their owners this summer as their lease with the company has expired. Two former Adria Airways A319 aircraft (pictured above), which were originally expected to join the fleet at the start of the 2020 summer season, continue to sit on the tarmac in Toulouse awaiting delivery. One of the remaining three Boeing 737-300 aircraft in Air Serbia’s fleet, and Europe’s oldest jet of the type, has not been in operation since the pandemic started and is unlikely to return to service. The Serbian government previously said it was the “right time” to acquire aircraft for the company. “We are thinking about starting negotiations for the acquisition of some aircraft. This is the right time, because there will never be an opportunity like this where prices on the market will be as low”, the Ministry for Construction, Transport and Infrastructure said in May.
Croatia Airlines will soon resume negotiations for the cancellation of its four Airbus A320neos which were due for delivery in 2022 and 2023. Based on the company’s five-year business development plan, up to 2025, the carrier now intends on renewing its fleet with mid-age A319 and A320 aircraft, as well as replace wet-leases with long-term dry-leases. This year, Croatia Airlines cancelled its planned seasonal summer lease of one CRJ1000 aircraft from Air Nostrum, as well as the planned long-term dry lease of a Dash 8 Q400 turboprop, previously operated by Austrian Airlines. In May, Croatia Airlines took delivery of a newly leased Airbus A319 aircraft, as the contract for the jet had already been signed and was impossible to terminate.
Over the weekend, FlyBosnia retired its sole aircraft - an Airbus A319 jet (registered E7-FBA). The plane was flown from Sarajevo to Marana Airport via Reykjavik and Bangor for part out. The aircraft last operated for FlyBosnia on a repatriation service to and from Kuwait City in June. FlyBosnia will now exclusively rely on wet-leased equipment and crew. It is currently wet-leasing an Airbus A320 from Lithuanian carrier GetJet Airlines. The company has laid off the majority of its flight crew with the remainder kept on to return its A319 to the United States in order for it to be scrapped.
Croatian carrier Trade Air, which operates Public Service Obligation flights and ACMIs, as well as charter flights from Ljubljana, is acquiring its fourth aircraft, an Airbus A320. The jet, which is sixteen years old, was formally operated by Air Malta. It will join the carrier’s two other A320s and one Fokker 100 jet within the next week.
Feature photo credit: Eurospot
0 Response to "EX-YU carriers rethink fleet plans"
Post a Comment