Air Serbia outlines fleet plans, to get three ATRs in Q1 2024
Air Serbia will grow its fleet to ten ATR72-600 aircraft during the first quarter of 2024, and is looking at the possibility of adding three additional Airbus A320s and two A330-200s to its fleet. Speaking at the Aviation Day South East Europe conference in Belgrade yesterday, the carrier’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said, “Three ATRs are already contracted and should come in the first quarter of 2024, subject to issues on the market with spare parts, because they will now go through the maintenance check. The situation on the market is going from bad to worse in terms of aircraft availability and supply chain. In 2019 it was already critical in terms of the supply chain and spare parts. Currently, the biggest issue are landing gears and two of our ATRs were previously delayed because of landing gears”.
Commenting on the Airbus fleet, Mr Marek noted, “We are exploring an additional three A320s, but again, the market is very volatile, because contracts for aircraft that were supposed to be returned to lessors are being extended because of problems with neo engines on new aircraft, which will likely last four to five years. The same situation is on the A330 market. We currently have a need for additional units, but I do not want to anticipate when they will arrive. From our perspective, as soon as we conclude the deal they should be here, so we are trying to get them as soon as possible. We will continue to develop the ATR and Airbus fleet”.
The airline recently wet-leased a number of Embraer aircraft from Marathon Airlines, with cooperation with the Greek carrier set to continue. “As you notice, it is not a typical wet-lease. It is going more towards a capacity provider model, which is used in the US. The aircraft are in Air Serbia’s livery and we are currently working on damp-lease options, meaning cabin crew will be from Air Serbia and we are looking at some other functions that we can synchronise in order to make it as seamless towards our own product”, Mr Marek explained.
.jpg)
0 Response to "Air Serbia outlines fleet plans, to get three ATRs in Q1 2024"
Post a Comment