NEWS FLASH The Serbian government has acquired the latest generation full-flight simulator from Canadian manufacturer CAE for the training of future commercial pilots. The simulator will be based at the Aviation Academy in Belgrade. “Pilots as well as cadets from Air Serbia will no longer have to go to France and other countries to undergo training. We know how difficult it is to find simulator slots and they will have priority when it arrives in Serbia next spring. The agreement was signed in March, and the simulator will be delivered within a year. However, with the assistance of the Can ..read more

NEWS FLASH Air Serbia handled its millionth passenger of the year today, April 25. The milestone was achieved two weeks ahead of last year, when the millionth traveller was welcomed onboard its aircraft on May 8. “Last year was very successful for us, and the results achieved so far show that 2024 has started off well. One million passengers carried in less than four months is an exceptional result that we can be proud of. A million thanks to all the passengers who have placed their trust in us. Their satisfaction is our top priority, and accordingly, we will continue to work diligently an ..read more

All but one of the capital city airports in the former Yugoslavia are expected to see passenger growth during May when compared to last year, based on available scheduled seat capacity levels. Ryanair will retain its position as the region’s largest carrier, ahead of Air Serbia and Wizz Air. Belgrade Airport has the most available seats on scheduled flights in May, standing at 870.185. The figure represents an increase of 6.1% on 2023. It does not include character services which see a notable volume during the month. Air Serbia will continue to maintain its position as the largest carrier ..read more

NEWS FLASH Air Serbia is in the process of developing its own frequent flyer program as it plans to exit the Etihad Guest loyalty scheme it has been utilising for the past decade. Speaking at the Southeast Europe Aviation Summit this week, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said, “We are currently working on it both on the technology side and the business concept side and we strongly believe that within this year we will be able to introduce our own program, which we want to position more as a lifestyle program, not just within aviation. Therefore, it won’t be based on miles, it will be based o ..read more

Wizz Air plans to start growing operations out of its bases in Skopje and Belgrade next year after being forced to reduce capacity and operations in 2024 due to defects in the Pratt and Whitney geared turbofan engines that power some Airbus A320neo-family aircraft, which is impacting the entire industry. Speaking to EX-YU Aviation News, Silvia Mosquera, Wizz Air’s Executive Vice President and Group Chief Commercial Officer, said, “Currently we have around 20% of our fleet on the ground. We are expecting for the inspection to take between eighteen and 24 months, however, for next year, there ..read more

NEWS FLASH Croatia Airlines will wet-lease additional capacity as three of the carrier’s own aircraft have seen their scheduled maintenance prolonged. In addition to a Trade Air Airbus A320 and an incoming Fly Air41 Airways A319, the national airline will now wet-lease an ETF Airways Boeing 737-800. The jet is due to commence operations on Croatia Airlines’ behalf on the morning of May 10, operating between Zagreb and Copenhagen. In addition to the Danish capital, it will also be deployed on flights to Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Berlin, Brussels, Dubrovnik, Rome, Frankfurt, Munich, Skop ..read more

NEWS FLASH Italian carrier Neos will operate several charter flights to Croatia this summer, including to both Zagreb and Split. The airline plans to run one charter flight from Reykjavik in Iceland to Zagreb, on May 9, as well as three charters from Iceland’s capital to Split on May 17, 24 and 27. Furthermore, Neos will run four charters between Tel Aviv and Zagreb on July 10, 17, 24 and 31. All flights will be operated by the airline’s Boeing 737 fleet. EX-YU Aviation News ..read more

Air Serbia is preparing to take delivery of several aircraft in the upcoming days, weeks and months, including ATR72-600s, Embraer E195s, and Airbus A330-200s with the airline noting network expansion will only be announced once the aircraft are physically on the ground in Belgrade. Speaking at the Southeast European Aviation Summit in Belgrade yesterday, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said, “One thing we learned last year is that we won’t be announcing new destinations and opening sales unless aircraft are physically here in Belgrade for the purpose that we don’t get caught by surprise by m ..read more

NEWS FLASH Airlines and airports across the former Yugoslavia are taking part in the annual Routes Europe development forum taking place in Aarhus in Denmark from today until April 24. Over 320 organisations including airlines, airports and tourism authorities are attending the event to engage in conversations to negotiate the launch of new routes or the expansion of existing services. Attendees at the event thus year include Air Serbia, Airports of Serbia (Niš and Kraljevo), the airports in Belgrade, Dubrovnik, Osijek, Split, Zadar, Zagreb, Ljubljana, Pristina, Skopje, Ohrid, Sarajevo, Tu ..read more

NEWS FLASH Turkish Airlines will deploy its Airbus A330-200 aircraft between Istanbul and Ljubljana this week. The carrier will utilise its 250-seat A330-200 jet, featuring eighteen seats in business class and the remaining 232 in economy, on its morning Ljubljana rotation this Thursday, April 25. The carrier had initially scheduled an A321 aircraft for the service. The one-off upgrade corresponds with the start of the school holidays in Slovenia. Last minute equipment swaps remain possible. Turkish Airlines A330-200 business class Turkish Airlines A330-200 economy class ..read more