Air Serbia to further expand fleet
Air Serbia plans to further expand its fleet with the lease of an Airbus A320 aircraft, in addition to a second A330-200 and a further two ATR72-600 turboprops. “Air Serbia has launched procedures to lease an A320 aircraft. This reinforcement will depend on market conditions, but the company will negotiate the best possible terms for the aircraft”, the carrier’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said. He previously noted, “The oversupply of A320s on the market means that some lessors are open to the winter power-by-the-hour model”. This kind of lease involves the lessor providing the aircraft for a fixed cost, usually driven by per flight hour.
Air Serbia has also begun talks over the lease of its second wide-body A330-200 jet. “Negotiations and the procurement process regarding the lease [of the A330] are currently underway. We plan for the aircraft to arrive in Serbia in October this year and enter into service shortly after”. Last week, the carrier took delivery of its third ATR72-600 turboprop aircraft, registered YU-ALX. The airline plans to take on a further two planes of the same type, one in September or October and the other in November or December. It has also signalled the lease of additional units in the coming period. “The optimal size of the [ATR72 fleet] I would say is ten because then you can start benefiting from some economies of scale”, Mr Marek recently noted.
In the short-term, the airline has no plans to renew its fleet of mid-age narrow-body Airbus aircraft, however, more jets of the same will be added in the future. Mr Marek acknowledged that eventually newer aircraft would have to be introduced into the fleet. Since both the A319-100neo and the B737-7 are niche aircraft, the airline could upgauge its narrowbody fleet and then make room for the addition of regional 100-seater jets. However, the carrier’s CEO emphasised this is not a short-term prospect for them for the time being. The carrier has been forced to wet-lease four aircraft this summer, complementing its fleet of ten Airbus A319 and one A320 aircraft.
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