Jat Airways
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| Jat Airways Јат ервејз |
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| IATA JU |
ICAO JAT |
Callsign JAT |
| Founded | June 17, 1927 as Aeroput | |
| Hubs | Belgrade Nikola Tesla International Airport | |
| Focus cities | Niš Constantine the Great International Airport | |
| Frequent flyer program | A Trip More | |
| Member lounge | Business club at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport | |
| Fleet size | 16 | |
| Destinations | 37 | |
| Company slogan | More than Flying (Više od letenja) (1994-2007) The best fly with Jat (Sve najbolje leti „Jatom“) (2007-) |
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| Headquarters |  Belgrade, Serbia |
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| Key people | Saša Vlaisavljević (CEO) Nenad Petrović (Executive Director) |
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| Website: http://www.jat.com/ | ||
JP "Jat Airways", Beograd (Serbian: ЈП "Јат ервејз", Београд) is the national airline of Serbia, based in Belgrade. It operates scheduled domestic, regional and international services to 37 destinations in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, as well as charters and wet leases. Its main base is Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport.[1]
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[edit] History
[edit] Aeroput
| Jat Airways - History |
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| Liveries |
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The company was founded on 17 June 1927 as Aeroput (Аеропут). Its first international flight was in 1929 between Belgrade and Graz, Austria.[2] In 1937 the expansion of international routes and an increase in passenger numbers enabled Aeroput to acquire the Lockheed Model 10 Electra. Aeroput continued to operate until the Second World War. 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.[3]
[edit] The founding of Yugoslav Airlines
In 1946 it was apparent that, due to the nature of its tasks, the Air Force would not be able to become involved in the evolution of civil aviation in Yugoslavia. Consequently, preparations were made to establish an air transport company. Three C-47 military transport planes and 3 three engine Junkers Ju 52 (captured during the war) were flown to Czechoslovakia to be refitted. Along with an overhaul they were fitted with seats and converted into passenger aircraft. The name chosen was Jugoslovenski aerotransport (Yugoslav Airlines).
In 1949, Yugoslavia was faced with a dire international position: isolated both by the West and the East. This caused further rationing of fuel, difficulties in procuring spare parts and the cancellation of all flights to Eastern European destinations. JAT was forced to survive on 6 domestic lines. When Yugoslavia turned to the West, an agreement was made with Swissair to open the Belgrade-Zürich route, which was inaugurated on August 24, 1949. Company stagnation marked the operations in 1949, because the traffic volume was well below fleet potentials and transport needs in the country. However, 1950 was in many ways a tuming point. Douglas DC-6B were bought for long-haul routes, and Convair 340 and Convair 440 Metropolitan aircraft for short-haul routes. Multiple international and domestic routes were opened.
[edit] The jet age
In 1963, the first Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle 6-N jet aircraft joined Jat. In 1969 the first McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 (of 16) arrived and in 1974 the first two (of 9) Boeing 727-200 aircraft arrived.[4]
Long-haul routes to North America, Australia and the Far East were flown by Boeing 707s, introduced in 1970. In 1978 a wide body McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 (which was chosen over the Boeing 747-200) 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. Purchase of the DC-10-30 wide-body aircraft was followed several years later by the purchase of a medium-range aircraft.[4]
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). Jat also constructed a large hangar to accommodate wide-body aircraft and a jet-engine test stand.
[edit] The downfall
In 1992 the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia broke up and the Yugoslav wars started. As the national carrier of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and disintegrated by the civil war, JAT was forced to stop all domestic services. Resolution No. 757 passed by UN Security Council on May 20, 1992 resulted in economic sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro. For the first time since World War II, international transport was forcibly terminated. This was preceded by the decisions of Germany and Italy to interrupt any traffic with Yugoslavia: on December 21, 1991 - Germany (the largest JAT market in Europe with 7 flights daily and 40 million German marks gross annual profit), followed by Italy on January 10, 1992. The US introduced the embargo on air traffic with Yugoslavia on May 2, 1992: the last JAT flights to America were to Chicago and New York. That day JAT management decided to re-route North American long-range flights to Canada. However, Canada immediately copied the actions of the USA and traffic across the Atlantic was interrupted.
During that time JAT operated only domestic services, between Belgrade, Podgorica, Tivat, Niš, Priština and for a very short time Užice-Ponikve Airport (many of these were money losing destinations). Finally, in 1994, Jat resumed some of its international services, with aircraft in a new livery (after EU lifted the air embargo). In 1998 Jat ordered 8 Airbus A319, this was seen as a political stunt by the president. 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 Airways is negotiating with Airbus in order to change the deal.[4] Soon after all flights were cancelled as Europe introduced a new ban and Yugoslavia was bombed for 78 days.
In April 2000 director general Žika Petrović (Жика Петровић) was killed in a mafia-style execution, in front of his family home in Belgrade.[4] The murder is suspected to have been ordered by Slobodan Milošević who had major disagreements with Petrović about how to run the airline.
[edit] Jat Airways
After the October 5 regime overthrow in 2000, FR Yugoslavia was accepted back into international organisations and sanctions were dropped. Jat was given the rights to fly across the continents. To celebrate the move that coincided with the country restructuring from FR Yugoslavia to Serbia and Montenegro, Yugoslav Airlines modified its name to Jat Airways on August 8, 2003. Jat Airways started flights across Europe, Asia and Africa. Jat sold its last DC-10 on June 24, 2005. During 2005 the company also phased out all 727 and DC-9 aircraft from its routes. The last airworthy DC-9 is leased to the UAE. The DC-9s were to be replaced with 2 leased CRJ-700 aircraft. The aircraft were scheduled to arrive at the end of 2006, but did not, because government representatives did not want to sign the documents.
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 then intended to re-start the flights to New York in May 2006 and Toronto in June 2006 with a leased Boeing 767-200ER aircraft, but were never given rights to fly to the destinations. Jat has since received the rights to fly to Canada.
Jat Airways is not a member of any alliances or partnerships but does codeshare on some routes with Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Alitalia, Aeroflot, B&H Airlines and Czech Airlines. Jat Airways also has agreements with Emirates Airline on flights to and from Australia. Jat Airways has recently launched a campaign to join SkyTeam airline alliance, with Air France and Alitalia as a major sponsor of their campaign.
Jat Airways introduced its online booking system in September of 2006 and electronic tickets on April of 2007. Jat Airways celebrated 80 years of service on June 17, 2007. In 2007 the airline received an award as one of the five best brands from Serbia. It also received an award for its advertisements celebrating 80 years of service.[5]
The airline is wholly owned by the Government of Serbia and has 2,065 employees (as of March 2007).[1] The airline is expected to be fully privatised by the end of 2008.
[edit] Liveries
[edit] Yugoslav Airlines
When the name Yugoslav Airlines first appeared on aircraft in 1950 the airline had a simple, mainly white livery. During these years there was a Yugoslav flag on the tail, and on the body the words Yugoslav Airlines. Shortly afterwards the airline changed its livery, when the word JAT appeared on the tail section with a red shaped egg on the tail in which JAT was written in white colours. The rest of the tail was blue, with Yugoslav Airlines written on the fuselage in red. There were variations of this livery during the 60s, 70s and 80s. The biggest change in this period was when the first Boeing 737-300 aircraft arrived with a silver body.
[edit] JAT Yugoslav Airlines
As the 1990s approached, Jat changed the look of the aircraft again. All aircraft were repainted, with the tail section receiving a flame-like blue, white and red colour - the colours of the Yugoslav flag. For the first time the word JAT was written on the fuselage of the aircraft, in block blue letters along with Jugoslovenski Aero Transport, which were written in silver italics. Later, the livery was modified, with the Jugoslovenski Aero Transport tiles changed to small blue block Yugoslav Airlines tiles. The remaining DC-10 had Yugoslav Airlines tiles written in italics on the fuselage with silver colour. The logo also changed from the egg to the flame.
[edit] Jat Airways
In 2003, the airline changed its name to Jat Airways.[6] A national competition was held to design the new logo and livery. The winning design had 3 dots on the tail: blue, red and blue. The fuselage of the aircraft had a large Jat Airways written on it, with Jat in red and Airways in blue. The new logo was the name Jat Airways written with 3 dots in blue, red and blue following it. Jat Airways painted only one aircraft in these colours, a Boeing 737-300 with the registration YU-ANJ.
Jat started painting its aircraft all white and in 2006, most aircraft were white with a small Jat Airways logo. In December 2006 the airline decided to return to its dot livery. By August 2007 all aircraft have been painted. The livery is slightly different than the previous dot livery. It has the dots on the tail, but the small jat titles remain rather than the big Jat Airways logo across the fueselage.
[edit] Destinations
During the summer season, March 30, 2008 - October 25, 2008, Jat Airways flies 212 flights a week to 37 international destinations (as of June 2008).[7]
The airline is planning an expansion of its network during 2008 and 2009. The airline in its 2008 plans included Thessaloniki and Oslo which commenced in June that year. The following are the planned destinations that the carrier plans to commence in the near future:[8][9]
[edit] Privatization
Due to competition in the Serbian market, the Serbian Government (Jat Airways' owner) is considering privatization as an option for future development of the airline.[11]
On May 25, 2007, Velimir Ilić, Minister of infrastructure said that Russia's Aeroflot has so far made the most concrete offer for the purchase of a portion of Jat Airways. Aeroflot offered to keep all Jat Airways employees, settle any debts and buy new airplanes for regional routes.[12]
Recent reports claim Aeroflot is prepared to invest USD 450 million in Serbia's Jat Airways. Aeroflot also has interest to commence international flights from some other domestic and international airports in Serbia. The delegation of Icelandair visited Belgrade as they are also interested in privatization of Jat Airways.
In September 2007 technical consulting and joint bid by: Rothschild & CIE, Clyde & CO LLP, Citadel financial advisory, Aviation Economics and Dekonta became Jat Airways’ financial advisors. They will monitor and suggest the best privatization offer. On January 16, 2008 it was announced that the government of Serbia will sell 51% of shares and that the airline should be privatized by the end of August 2008. [13]
[edit] Services
[edit] Jat Catering
Jat Catering provides catering services for Jat Airways. Jat Catering was once part of the Jat Corporation but became independent in 2005. It has strong ties with Jat and uses the Jat Airways logo. Jat Catering offices and kitchens are situated in the industrial area of Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport.
Jat Catering has provided catering services for the 2005 European Basketball Championships in Belgrade. It also offers catering for the following airlines when flying from Belgrade:
For commercial airlines the company also makes special meals for vegetarians, toddlers and vegans.
[edit] On board
Jat Airways aircraft have two classes. In the Boeing aircraft, Jat has a business-class section and an economy-class section. On ATR-72 aircraft, the airline also offers two classes; however, the business class on the ATRs are located to the back of the aircraft. Every passenger gets a complimentary copy of Jat’s in-flight magazine “Jat Airways Review”. All drinks, food and [[duty-free] items are available during flight.
- Jat Economy Class
Includes copy of Jat Airways Review Magazine, cloth seats with limited reclining capabilities, and stowaway tray tables.
- Jat Business Class
Includes copy of Jat Airways Review Magazine, large black leather seats with limited reclining capabilities, and stowaway tray tables.
[edit] Frequent Flyer
"A Trip More" is the name of the Jat Airways Frequent Flyer Programme. If passengers fly with Jat on five return or ten one-way international 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 on select routes between Serbia and Germany.
[edit] Charters
Jat Airways organizes individual and group charter flights on all types of Jat Airways aircraft, both domestic and international. The users of this service include 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, Turkish, Egyptian and Tunisian holiday resorts.
[edit] Freight
Jat Airways offers cargo services on all destinations in its network with special cargo only flights to Podgorica and Tivat in Montenegro (due to high demand). However Jat also operates these two cities as passenger flights.
[edit] Jat Tehnika
Although a separate company from Jat Airways, Jat Tehnika is a services and maintenance company for Jat's fleet and other airplanes used by regional carriers, like CSA Czech Airlines and Transaero.
[edit] Fleet
The Jat Airways fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of April 2008):
| Aircraft | Total | Passengers (Business/Economy) |
Routes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATR 72-202 | 5 | 62 (6/56) | Regional/Short haul | |
| Boeing 737-300 | 10 | 126 (12/114) | Western and central European services as well as North African and Middle Eastern destinations | One on lease to Benin Golf Air |
| Boeing 737-400 | 1 | 156 (12/144) | Popular Western services and charter destinations |
As of 3 June 2008, the average age of the Jat Airways fleet is 20 years ([2]).
[edit] Miscellaneous
- In 1953, JAT began organising their flights with the introduction of flight codes. The first code, JU720 was used on the Belgrade-Zagreb-Ljubljana route, while the return flight took the code JU721.
- Towards the end of August 1959, JAT transported its first millionth passenger since the founding of the company back in 1927.
- A JAT Boeing 727-200 flew around the world. Commencing on the 10th of November 1974, the flight took 19 days to complete, flying: Belgrade-Beirut-Bombay-Singapore-Tokyo-Honolulu-Los Angeles-New York-London-Belgrade.
- Jat Airways was the first operator of the Boeing 737-300 aircraft in Europe. It arrived at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport on 8 August 1985 as YU-AND.
- In 2004 Jat Airways was named one of the safest airlines in Europe by the IATA organisation.
- Former JAT flight attendant, Vesna Vulović, holds the world's 4th-longest fall record when she fell from 10,160 metres (33,000 feet) with no parachute and survived.
[edit] Incidents and accidents
| Date | Aircraft type | Fatalities | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 November 1974 | McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 YU-AJN |
None | The aircraft crashed 1 mile short of the runway after losing visual contact while on an approach at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. None of the 50 passengers were hurt. |
| 16 August 1980 | Boeing 707-340C YU-AGG |
None | The aircraft overran Stockholm's Arlanda Airport runway 26 while landing in a thunderstorm blowing several tyres and receiving mud in all 4 engines. There were no fatalities in the incident.[15] |
| Date | Aircraft type | Fatalities | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26 January 1972 | McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 YU-AHT |
27 | JU364, DC9-32 was destroyed in flight by Émigré Croat terrorists (Ustaša) who had placed a bomb on board. Of the 28 passengers and crew members on board, 27 died, with flight attendant Vesna Vulović the only survivor.[16] |
| 11 September 1973 | Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle 6-N YU-AHD |
41 | This is JAT's most recent accident with loss of life. The plane flew into the Babin Zub peak on Sinjajevina mountain near Podgorica, killing all 41 on board.[15] |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Directory: World Airlines", Flight International, 2007-04-03, p. 97.
- ^ Jat Airways. Istorijat (Serbian).
- ^ jatairways.com. Aeroput Istorijat (Serbian).
- ^ a b c d jatairways.com (old website - no longer available). JAT: 80 Years (English).
- ^ Jat Airways - Home
- ^ B92 - Komentari - Jugoslovenski aerotransport postao JAT ervejz - Internet, Radio i TV stanica; najnovije vesti iz Srbije
- ^ www.beg.aero | Aerodrom Nikola Tesla Beograd | Saopštenja Aerodroma
- ^ Jat Airways - New Positioning of Jat
- ^ Blic Online | Društvo | "Jat" uvodi letove za Pulu, Solun i Oslo
- ^ [1]
- ^ Ekonomist Online. JAT: Vežite se polećemo (Serbian).
- ^ B92.net. Aeroflot interested in Jat Airways (English).
- ^ Privredni pregled-Tender za Jat do aprila
- ^ Jat Airways active fleet
- ^ a b Richard Kebabjian. By Airline/Operator (English).
- ^ www.thelongandtheshort.com. THE LONGEST FALL SURVIVED (English).
[edit] External links
- Jat Airways (English)
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