Jat Airways

Not to be confused with Jet Airways

Jat Airways

IATA JU ICAO JAT Callsign JAT
Founded	17 June 1927 (1927-06-17) (as Aeroput)[note 1][1]
Commenced operations	1 April 1947 (1947-04-01) (as JAT Yugoslav Airlines)
Ceased operations	26 October 2013 (2013-10-26) (became "Air Serbia")
Hubs	Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport
Frequent-flyer program	Extra Flight Club
Airport lounge	Business Club
Fleet size	17
Destinations	35
Company slogan	In safe hands (U sigurnim rukama)
Parent company	Government of Serbia
Headquarters	Belgrade, Serbia
Key people	Dane Kondić (CEO)
Revenue	US$ 171.24 million (2012)[2]
Net income	US$ -39.27 million (2012)[2]
Total assets	US$ 252.54 million (2012)[2]
Employees	1,250 (August 2013)[3]
Website	www.jat.com

Jat Airways (Serbian pronunciation: [jât]) was the national flag carrier and largest airline of Serbia, and formerly Yugoslavia. Originally founded in 1927 as Aeroput, the airline ceased operations during World War II. After resuming flights in 1947, the airline was renamed JAT Jugoslovenski Aerotransport on 1 April 1947. The airline was renamed again in 2003. Jat Airways and their predecessors were one of the oldest airlines still in operation. Flight operations were based at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport, and the airline operated scheduled services to 72 international destinations, outside the areas formerly part of Yugoslavia, as well as charters and wet leases.^[4] Jat Airways was owned by the government of Serbia and had 1,250 employees.

On 1 August 2013, the Government of Serbia and Etihad Airways entered into an agreement which saw the operations of Jat Airways reorganized and rebranded into Air Serbia after the transitional period ended.^[5] Certain assets, such as the ATR 72 aircraft will be transitioned to Air Serbia while other assets (such as the 737-300s) will remain in JAT Airways branding until retired.^[6] The change had marked the end of 66 years of the JAT brand.

History

Aeroput

JAT traces its heritage back to 1927 when Aeroput, the first civil airline in Yugoslavia was founded. Their first international flight was in 1929 between Belgrade and Graz.^[7] 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 start of World War II. Jat Yugoslav Airlines was launched on 1 April 1947, and formally replaced Aeroput in 1948. the name was changed to JAT - Jugoslovenski Aerotransport (Yugoslavian Air Transport), then to JAT Yugoslav Airlines and finally to Jat Airways on 8 August 2003.^[8]

JAT Yugoslav Airlines

In 1946, it was apparent that the Yugoslav Air Force could not be involved in the nation's post-war build-up of civil aviation. Consequently, preparations were made for the formation of an air transport company. Three Douglas C-47 Skytrain and three Junkers Ju 52 were converted to carry passengers. The airline was officially renamed to JAT - Jugoslovenski aerotransport on 1 April 1947.

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 six domestic lines. When Yugoslavia turned to the West, an agreement was made with Swissair to open the Belgrade-Zürich route, which was inaugurated on 24 August 1949. Company stagnation marked operations in 1949, because the traffic volume was well below fleet potentials and transport needs in the country. However, 1954 was in many ways a turning point. Convair CV-340 and Convair CV-440 Metropolitan aircraft were purchased for short-haul and medium-haul routes, after which the Douglas DC-3 was used only on domestic routes. Multiple international and domestic routes were opened soon after. In 1957, six Ilyushin Il-14M aircraft were purchased. JAT purchased several Douglas DC-6B for long-haul routes in 1959.^[8]

Jet age

In 1963, the first Sud Aviation Caravelle joined the JAT fleet. In 1969, the first McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 (of 16) arrived, followed in 1974 by the first two (of nine) Boeing 727-200s.^[9]

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 longer-haul routes, although the 707s remained in service into the 1980s on ad hoc charters and as scheduled-flight replacement aircraft. The purchase of a DC-10-30 was followed several years later by the purchase of a medium-range aircraft.^[9]

In 1985, JAT was the first European airline to purchase Boeing 737-300s. During those years, the company carried five 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 at their Belgrade hub.

1990s

In 1992, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia broke apart resulting in the Yugoslav Wars. JAT was forced to stop all domestic services. The United Nations imposed sanctions on 20 May 1992 against Yugoslavia. 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 21 December 1991 - Germany (the largest market for JAT in Europe, with seven flights daily and 40  million German marks gross annual profit), followed by Italy on 10 January 1992. The US introduced an embargo on air traffic with Yugoslavia on 2 May 1992: the last JAT flights to the United States were to Chicago and New York City. JAT management decided to re-route North American long-range flights to Canada. However, Canada quickly followed and banned all JAT flights entering the country, terminating all JAT operations across the North Atlantic.

During that time, JAT operated only domestic services between Belgrade, Podgorica, Tivat, Niš, Priština and - for a very short time - Užice-Ponikve Airport. In 1994, JAT resumed some of their international services. In 1998, JAT ordered 8 Airbus A319. This was seen as a political stunt by the president.^[10] The original delivery date was June 2000 but this date has been postponed until a total of $23.5 million is paid off to Airbus while Jat is hoping to divert the deal to another airline. Soon after all flights were canceled as Europe introduced a new ban and FR Yugoslavia was bombed for 78 days.^[9]

In April 2000, director general Žika Petrović was gunned down in front of his home in Belgrade.^[9]

New millennium

International sanctions were lifted in 2000, and JAT resumed regular flight services. To celebrate the move that coincided with the country restructuring from FR Yugoslavia to Serbia and Montenegro, JAT Yugoslav Airlines changed their name to Jat Airways on 8 August 2003. Jat sold its single DC-10-30 on 24 June 2005 to France based company TAT Industries. During 2005, the company also phased out all remaining Boeing 727s and DC-9s. The last airworthy DC-9-32 was leased to the United Arab Emirates company Eastern SkyJets.

Jat Airways is not a member of any alliances or partnerships but does code share on some routes with Adria Airways, Aeroflot, Air France, Alitalia, Austrian Airlines, B&H Airlines, KLM, LOT Polish Airlines and TAROM.

Jat Airways introduced their online booking system in September 2006 and electronic tickets in April 2007. Jat Airways celebrated 80 years of service on 17 June 2007. In 2007 and 2008 the airline received an award as one of the five best brands from Serbia. They also received an award for their television advertisements celebrating 80 years of service.^[11] On 3 July 2008 the Jat Airways reestablished air links with Croatia after a 17-year absence.^[12]

In 2012, Jat celebrated their 85th birthday and began refurbishing their cabins in both business and economy class, at the same time introducing a new frequent flyer program.^[13]

Privatization attempts

The government of Serbia has made two unsuccessful attempts to privatize Jat Airways, in 2008 and 2011.^[14]

On 16 January 2008, the government of Serbia announced they would sell a 51% stake in the airline.^[15] The starting price for the airline's 51% share was 51 million euros, decreased from the earlier announced 150 million in order to increase interest.^[16] The tender was canceled after no company had submitted an offer following the deadline.

In 2011, the Serbian government announced that they would create a successor to Jat Airways with a strategic partner. The new airline would assume all of Jat’s healthy assets, codeshare agreements, aircraft and airport slots.^[17] Baltic Aviation Systems was the only company to purchase the tender documentation but decided not to pursue the partnership further.^[18] The tender was again canceled due to a lack of interested buyers.

Strategic partnership with Etihad Airways

In March 2013, Serbia's Minister of Finance Mlađan Dinkić traveled to Abu Dhabi to propose that Etihad Airways take a stake in Jat in order to renew their fleet.^[19][20] In April it was confirmed that Etihad added Belgrade to their summer timetable as a part of the initiative to become a co-owner of Jat alongside the Serbian government.^[21] A purchase of a 49% stake in Jat by Etihad is widely suggested by observing media, which is dependent on whether a MoU is signed with the government of Serbia, possibly in May 2013.^[22][23] On 17 June 2013, a MoU was signed with Etihad and the Serbian government on exploring the possibility of an equity investment in Jat Airways.^[24]

On 1 August 2013, the Serbian Government and Etihad Airways formalised an agreement which will see a reorganisation and rebranding of the airline's operations to Air Serbia, an entity in which the Serbian Government will have a 51% stake and Etihad Airways will own 49%.^[25] Etihad Airways was also granted management rights over the carrier for an initial five year period.^[25]

Serbia at this moment has only one airline carrier, Jat Airways shareholding, a company that has its own statute, Board of Directors and management bodies. Air Serbia is part of a strategic partnership agreement between the Etihad Airways and Jat Airways and they all work on making that company in the foundation to fulfill regulatory requirements, and that as soon as possible be registered with the Business Registers Agency (APR). When that happens, Jat Airways will change their name to Air Serbia and everything else will remain as usual, will remain a joint stock company, the commercial entity registered in the APR, with all the rights and obligations of Jat Airways. At this moment, Jat Airways working at full power and fulfills the obligations of passenger transportation in regular and charter transportation of a business plan for the 2013 year.^[26]

Liveries

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 Jugoslovenski Aerotransport. Shortly afterwards the airline changed their livery, when the word on the tail section with a red shaped egg on the tail in which JAT was written in white. The rest of the tail was blue, with Yugoslav Airlines written on the fuselage in red. There were variations of this livery during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. The biggest change in this period was when the first Boeing 737-300 aircraft arrived with a silver body.

JAT Yugoslav Airlines

With the reintroduction of international flights in 1994 after two years of economic sanctions, JAT introduced a new livery and corporate image. A "euro-white" livery was adopted and the centre-piece was a new tail logo which contained a stylized Yugoslav flag with the white colour being represented by a pair of white wings, the larger wing symbolizing Serbia and the smaller Montenegro. For the first time, the word JAT was written on the aircraft in small blue letters. The words Jugoslovenski Aerotransport were painted on the starboard side and Yugoslav Airlines on the port side and these were written in silver italic script. In 1996, the livery was slightly modified, with JAT being painted in billboard size at the front with a small Yugoslav flag in the "A" in JAT. During this time, as a result of the extensive leasing of aircraft by JAT, most aircraft lost the tail logo completely. The livery was updated again in 2001 with the flag in the billboard titles disappearing, and the words Yugoslav Airlines and Jugoslovenski Aerotransport being painted in blue using the same font as the main logo. Not all of the aircraft received this update as the livery was updated again with the introduction of the new name "Jat Airways".

Jat Airways

On 20 March 2003, the airline changed their name to Jat Airways.^[27] A national competition was held to design the new logo and livery. The winning design had three dots on the tail: blue, red and blue. The fuselage of the aircraft had a large Jat Airways title, 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.

Jat started painting their 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 their dot livery. By August 2007 all aircraft had been painted. The livery is slightly different from 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 fuselage.^{[citation needed]}

Destinations

Codeshare agreements

Jat Airways has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:^[28]

Adria Airways (Star Alliance) Aeroflot (SkyTeam) Air Berlin (Oneworld)[29] Air France (SkyTeam)[30]

Alitalia (SkyTeam) Austrian Airlines (Star Alliance) B&H Airlines Etihad Airways

KLM (SkyTeam) LOT Polish Airlines (Star Alliance) TAROM (SkyTeam)

Services

Jat Catering

Jat Catering is a subsidiary of Jat Airways, providing in-flight meals for Jat Airways. Jat Catering offices and kitchens are situated in the industrial area of Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. Jat Catering offers special meals for vegetarians, vegans and toddlers.

On board

The aircraft of Jat Airways are fitted out in a two-class configuration. In the Boeing aircraft, Jat has a business-class section and an economy-class section. On ATR 72 aircraft, the airline offers a one class all economy configuration with the business class section, which used to be located in the back removed in mid-2008. 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 the flight.

• Jat Business Class

Includes copy of Jat Airways Review Magazine, large black leather seats with limited reclining capabilities, and stowaway tray tables. From August 2012 the business class seats will be progressively replaced by economy class grey leather seats. However, the middle seat will be left unoccupied for greater leg space and comfort.

• Jat Economy Class

Includes copy of Jat Airways Review magazine, dark blue leather seats with limited reclining capabilities, and stowaway tray tables. From August 2012, the airline began refurbishing its Boeing 737-300 economy class section by replacing the seats with grey leather seating.

Frequent Flyer

"Extra Flight Club" is the name of the Jat Airways frequent-flyer program. The program works whereby passengers register each time they fly with Jat, gaining bonus points in return. After the appropriate number of points is collected, passengers are issued a free ticket.

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 time to Greek, Turkish, Egyptian, Tunisian, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French and Bulgarian holiday resorts.

Freight

Jat Airways offers cargo services on all destinations in its network with special cargo only flights to Podgorica and Tivat in Montenegro, in addition to passenger flights as well.

Jat Tehnika

Legally a separate company from Jat Airways, Jat Tehnika provides services and maintenance for Jat's fleet and other airline companies, such as Sky Express, Jet2.com, Astraeus Airlines, UT Air and Transaero Airlines.

Fleet

As the time of re-branding and before ceasing operations under the old brand in October 2013, the Jat Airways fleet consisted of the following aircraft:^[31]

Jat Airways Fleet

Aircraft	In Fleet	Orders	Passengers			Notes
			J	Y	Total
ATR 72-202	3	0	0	66	66
ATR 72-500[32][33][34][35][36][37]	2	0	0	70	70
Boeing 737-300	10	0	8	126	134	Two units are stored for spare parts.[38]
Boeing 737-300	2	0	12	110	122	Leased from Bulgaria Air[39]
Total	17	0

Historical fleet

Over the years, Jat Airways (JAT Yugoslav Airlines) has operated the following aircraft types:

JAT Yugoslav Airlines and Jat Airways historical fleet since 1947

Aircraft	Introduced	Retired	Notes
ATR 42-300	1987	1990
ATR 72-201	1991	2011
Boeing 707-300C	1971	1988
Boeing 707-321	1970s	1980s
Boeing 707-340C	1970s	1980s
Boeing 707-351C	1970s	1980s
Boeing 727-200	1970	2005
Boeing 737-300	1985	—
Boeing 737-400	2003	2010	Leased from Air One and US Airways
Convair CV-340	1950s	1960s
Convair CV-440 Metropolitan	1950s	1960s
Douglas C-47 Skytrain	1947	1950s
Douglas DC-3	1947	1950s
Douglas DC-6B	1958	1975	Personal transport of Josip Broz Tito[40]
Ilyushin Il-14M	1950s	1960s
Junkers Ju 52	1947	1950s
Lockheed L-1011-500 TriStar	1989	1989	Leased from Royal Jordanian
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32	1969	2005
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30	1978	2005
Rombac 1-11-561RC	1990	1990	Leased from TAROM
Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle VI-N	1963	1976

Accidents and incidents

Fatal

Date	Aircraft type	Fatalities	Description
26 January 1972	McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 YU-AHT	27	Flight JU 367, McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 was destroyed in flight by Émigré Croat terrorists (Ustaše) 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.[41]
11 September 1973	Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle VI-N YU-AHD	41	Flight JU 769 is JAT's most recent accident with loss of life. The aircraft struck the Babin Zub peak on Maganik mountain near Podgorica, at 6,300 feet while descending from 9,000 to 6,000 feet in IMC conditions on flight from Skopje to Titograd (today known as Podgorica), killing all 41 passengers and crew members on board. Allegedly, the flight was instructed to start descent, although the aircraft was not visible on radar (which were allegedly not working well at the time) nor could the control tower staff on Podgorica Airport make visual contact with the aircraft. At the time of the flight, there weren't any qualified staff at the control tower in Podgorica.[42]

Non-fatal

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 Surčin 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.[42]
4 October 2009	Boeing 737-300 YU-ANV[43]	None	The aircraft overran Istanbul's Atatürk Airport runway while landing en route from Belgrade by 50 metres. All 125 passengers and six crew were safely evacuated.[44]
21 December 2009	Boeing 737-300	None	The aircraft suffered a mid-air engine failure when according to witnesses a piece of fuselage detached and flew into the engine causing sparkles, flames and subsequent shut down of the engine. Due to unstable weather conditions in Istanbul the plane diverted and made a safe emergency landing in Sofia.[45]

See also

• Aeroput
• Air Yugoslavia
• Transport in Serbia

References

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jat Airways.

• Jat Airways (English)

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