Air Serbia takes delivery of ATR72-600 and unveils new cabins
Air Serbia is today taking delivery of its first of five ATR72-600 turbopros, with plans to replace its entire regional fleet with newly leased aircraft by the end of the year. As previously reported, the first ATR72-600 is six years old and will arrive from Toulouse with the registration YU-ALY. As EX-YU Aviation News learns, the aircraft will likely enter into commercial service on February 1. It will be scheduled throughout the carrier’s regional network on flights from Belgrade to Banja Luka, Bologna, Bucharest, Ljubljana, Podgorica, Prague, Sarajevo, Skopje, Sofia, Thessaloniki, Tivat, Trieste, Tirana, Vienna and Zagreb, as well as seasonal services to Bari, Dubrovnik, Pula, Rijeka, Split and Zadar. Furthermore, it will be utilised on flights from Niš to Ljubljana and Athens, as well as from Kraljevo to Istanbul and Thessaloniki.
Air Serbia’s ATR72-600s will feature new leather slim seats, which will enable the airline to increase its capacity on the aircraft to 72, up from 66 in the -200 series and seventy in the -500 series. The seats were manufactured by Geven from Italy. The “Prestige” seats featured provide baseline features such as recline, a high literature pocket and eighteen inches in width. Furthermore, in contrast to the current turboprop fleet, the ATR72-600s also enable passengers to store large roller bags in the overhead bins.
 |
| Air Serbia ATR72-600 cabin |
Commenting on the arrival of newer aircraft, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said, “Fleet renewal is one of the most significant strategic decisions and Air Serbia is capitalising on current favourable market conditions regarding aircraft availability. We are starting with our turboprop fleet and replacing all ATR 72-200s, of which we currently have three in the fleet, as well as two ATR 72-500 airplanes, with state-of-the-art ATR72-600 during the upcoming period. This will significantly increase our operational efficiency, as well as service provided to passengers. Our ambition is to continue to develop further as a regional leader and the upgraded turboprop fleet is an essential step on this path.
The arrival of newer ATR aircraft will significantly reduce the average age of Air Serbia’s fleet, which currently stands at nineteen and a half years. The current ATRs range between 24 and 32 years. The two ATR72-200s were delivered new to JAT Yugoslav Airlines in 1990.
0 Response to "Air Serbia takes delivery of ATR72-600 and unveils new cabins"
Post a Comment