Air Serbia eyes long-term fleet of over fifty aircraft

Air Serbia has set out ambitious growth plans for the coming period, in preparation for the centenary of Serbian aviation in 2027, when a surge in demand is anticipated as Belgrade hosts the specialised EXPO, while long-term, by the end of the next decade, the carrier believes it could boast a fleet of over fifty aircraft. “We believe the market and the region will continue to grow. We would like to capitalise on that growth and to keep our market share. If we look toward the end of the next decade, our airline could have more than fifty aircraft. Our network is reaching a respectable spread. We currently fly to more than eighty destinations and we have ambitions to reach 100 destinations by our 100th anniversary [2027]. That is not so far away from the current eighty, and it means that our main focus will now be on network densification rather than adding more destinations”, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, told “Aviation Week”. He added, “Our last two years were characterised by network spread, and moving forward we will continue to spread the network, but we will go into more depth. Air Serbia currently has 22 aircraft in its fleet and continues to utilise eight aircraft on a wet-lease basis through the winter season, so as to proceed with all the base maintenance tasks due on its own fleet to be ready for the next summer season”.

The airline’s CEO noted there is currently no urgency in renewing the carrier’s existing fleet of mid-aged aircraft. “It is not urgent for us for two reasons. With the existing size, we can still capitalise on the current volatile market and continue to target secondary, mid-aged, mature aircraft until we reach a size of between 35 and 40 aircraft. When we reach that size, it starts to become critical to establish long-term fleet plans, including possible new orders from manufacturers, which will naturally mean evolving to new technology. In a way, we are lucky not to have the new technology yet - like the A320neo, for example - due to growing problems with the engine”, Mr Marek said.

According to the CEO, once Air Serbia is ready to order new aircraft, issues faced by manufacturers and their suppliers should be resolved. “We believe that by the time we are ready for new orders, the technology will have matured and all the problems will be resolved. If you have a fleet of 200 or 300 aircraft, then you have many options for overcoming such challenges when part of the fleet is grounded due to engine issues. However, for an airline of a smaller size, when you forcibly ground, for example, 40% of the aircraft with engine issues, it can be very hard to overcome. From that viewpoint, Air Serbia will continue to use current technology until the problems with the new technology are resolved”, Mr Marek concluded.