Jat Airways
Encyclopedia : J : JA : JAT : Jat Airways
Jat Airways is the national carrier of Serbia, former national carrier of Yugoslavia, and the sixteenth-oldest airline in all of Europe.
History
The company was founded on 17 June 1927 as Aeroput (Аеропут). The expansion of international routes and an increase in passenger numbers enabled Aeroput in 1937 to acquire from the USA the most modern aircraft of the time with a metal construction, the Lockheed Model 10 Electra, thus ranking the company among the more successful air carriers in Europe. On 1 April 1947 the name was changed to Jugoslovenski aerotransport - JAT (Југословенски АероТранспорт), then to JAT Yugoslav Airlines and finally to Jat Airways in January 2003.After World War II Jat resumed its network with Douglas DC-3 and Junkers Ju 52 aircraft. Later Douglas DC-6 s were bought for long-haul routes, and Convair 340 and Convair 440 aircraft for short-haul routes.
In 1963, the first Caravelle jet aircraft joined Jat. In 1969 the first Douglas DC-9 (of 16) arrived and in 1974 the first two Boeing 727-200 aircraft arrived (of 9).
Long-haul routes to North America, Australia and the Far East were flown by Boeing 707s, introduced in 1970. In 1978 a widebody Douglas DC-10 was purchased to succeed the Boeing 707s on the longer-haul routes, although the 707s stayed in service into the 1980s on ad hoc charters and as scheduled-flight replacement aircraft.
In 1985 Jat was the first European airline to purchase Boeing 737-300s. During those years the company carried 5 million passengers annually and served 80 destinations on five continents (19 domestic, 45 medium haul and 16 long haul routes).
In 1992 the Yugoslavia broke up and Jat stopped all international services because of United Nations sanctions. During that time Jat operated only domestic services, between Belgrade, Podgorica, Tivat, Niš, Priština and for a very short time Užice-Ponikve Airport. Finally, in 1994, Jat resumed its international services with aircraft that had been repainted with a new livery.
In 1998 Jat ordered 8 Airbus A319s. The original delivery date was June 2000 but this date has been postponed until a total of $16 million is paid off to Airbus. Jat is expecting its first A319 in Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport by June 2007.
In April 2000 director general Žika Petrović (Жика Петровић) was killed in a mafia-style execution, in front of his family home in Belgrade.
Jat sold its last DC-10 on 24 June 2005. During 2005 the company also phased out all remaining 727 and DC-9 aircraft from its own routes. Some of its aging Boeing 737-300 will follow in a few years time. The last airworthy DC-9 is leased in UAE. The DC-9s are due to be replaced with leased CRJ-700 aircraft in winter of 2006.
The company had plans to restart long-haul operations to North America (New York, Toronto, Montreal and Chicago) in June 2005 with two Boeing 767-200ER aircraft that it had planned to lease, but these plans have been postponed and changed. Jat Airways now plans to receive its Boeing 767s in early 2007.
Jat Airways is not a member of any alliances or partnerships but does codeshare on some routes with Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Air France and Aeroflot. Jat Airways has recently launched a campaign to join SkyTeam airline alliance, with Air France as a major sponsor of their campaign.
Jat Airways will celebrate 80 years of service on the June 17th, 2007.
Destinations
Jat Airways flies to over 50 destinations across 3 continents. The numbers of destinations are set to expand from 2007.See full article: Jat Airways destinations
Former Destinations
During the "golden years" of Jat (70's to 90's), the airline served 80 destinations on five continentsSee full article: Jat Airways former destinations
Services
Jat Catering
Jat Catering is the company, which provides catering services for Jat Airways. Jat Catering was once part of the “Jat Corporation” however became independent in 2005. Even though it is independent it still has very strong ties with Jat and uses the Jat Airways logo. Jat Catering is situated in the industrial part of Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport.
Jat Catering has been awarded many international awards and has also provided catering services for the 2005 European Basketball Championships in Belgrade. It also offers catering for the following airlines when flying from Belgrade:
For airlines the company also makes special meals for vegetarians, toddlers and vegans.Onboard
All Jat Airways aircrafts have two classes. In the Boeing aircrafts Jat has a business class section and an economy class section. On ATR 72 aircrafts the airline also offers two classes however the business class on the ATR’s are located in the back of the plane. Every passenger gets a free copy of Jat’s in-flight magazine “Jat Review”. All drinks and food and duty-free is available in the sky.Frequent Flyer
"A Trip More" is the name of the Jat Airways Frequent Flyer Programme. If passengers fly with Jat on ten international or domestic flights in a twelve-month period passengers will gain a free round-trip flight with the ability to make a reservation.Jat Airways passengers who are participating in the Lufthansa programme "Miles & More" can earn miles flying Jat Airways.
Charters
Jat Airways organizes and negociates individual and serial charter flights, upon customer request, on all types of Jat Airways aircraft, both domestically and internationally. Charter flights are founded on the principle of a full charter for one or more parties. The most frequent users of this service are tourist agencies, sports teams and fans, artistic groups and ensembles, as well as participants of congresses and fairs. Most charters take place during the summer to the Greek and Turkish holiday resorts.Freight
Jat Airways offeres cargo services an all destinations in its network with special cargo only flights to Podgorica and Tivat in Montenegro (due to high demand). However Jat also operated these two cities as passenger flights.Financial progress
First six months of 2006 recorded traffic increase
In the period January - June 2006 Jat Airways carried 503,818 passengers, 1724 tons of goods and 338 tons of mail. In comparison to the same period last year the number of the carried passengers soared by 28%, the transportation of goods recorded the 5% drop while the mail transportation rose by 13%. The cabin load factor recorded the increase of 3 indexes equalling 53%. The whole aircraft load factor increased, too.On flights to Montenegro the number of the carried passengers soared by 77% , in the Euro-Mediterranean traffic the number rose by 21% while the number of passengers on charter flights recorded the drop of 10%.
The number of flying hours achieved by Jat’s whole fleet increased while the daily number of flying hours soared by 26%.
Fleet
Jat Airways fleet currently consists of the following aircraft:
| Type | Number | Seats | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATR 72 | 4 | 62 | YU-ALN, YU-ALO, YU-ALP, YU-ALR | |
| Boeing 737-300 | 10 | 126 | YU-AND, YU-ANF, YU-ANH, YU-ANI, YU-ANJ, YU-ANK, YU-ANL, YU-ANW, YU-AON, YU-ANV | |
| Boeing 737-400 | 2 | 156 | YU-AOR, YU-AOS | |
| DC-9-30 | 1 | 115 | YU-AJL |
Jat Airways future aircraft:
| Type | Number | Seats | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A319 | 8 (on order) | 124 | Delivery in 2007 (uncertain) |
| Boeing 767-200ER | 2 (to be leased) | 208 | Delivery in 2007 |
| CRJ 700 | 2 (to be leased) | 70 | Delivery in 2006 |
- 2 Boeing 727-200's are to be sold in 2006. They are not used in any scheduled or charter service.
- 1 Boeing 737-300 is on lease to each Aero Contractors (Nigeria) and Bellview Airlines (Nigeria).
Airbus
In 1998 president of the Yugoslavia (1992-2003) (today’s Serbia), Slobodan Milošević signed a letter of intent to Airbus on ordering 8 A319 aircraft models. The aircrafts were supposed to be delivered from 2000 to 2005 however this never happened, after a deposit for the aircraft was never made. Jat Airways has reported in 2006 that it will somehow change the order by most likely ordering a smaller number these aircrafts or changing the aircraft model. However if none of this works Jat Airways will have to pay the full price for the aircrafts and the delivery would start in mid 2007.DC-9
Jat Airways leased its last DC-9-30 to Bellview Airlines (Nigeria) a few years ago. It was returned to Jat in July, 2006 and started operations on short haul routes such as Belgrade - Tivat and Belgrade - Split - Dubrovnik.External links
- [Jat Airways (English)]
- [Jat Airways Fleet Detail]
- [Jat Airways Passenger Opinions]
- [Jat Airways Chronology]
|
Lists of Aircraft | Aircraft manufacturers | Aircraft engines | Aircraft engine manufacturers
| Airlines | Air forces | Aircraft weapons | Missiles | Timeline of aviation |
| Airlines of Serbia |
|
|---|---|
| | |
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.