One era of Serbian airline ends

Jat Airways becomes history. As of January 1, 2014, Serbian airline will be called Air Serbia and the Serbian country will not be the only owner. New airline will be managed by UAE-based Etihad which owns 49% stake of the new airline company.

This way, an 86-year old Jat history ends.

It all begun in June 17, 1927 when the predecessor of Jat, the air traffic association, Aeroput was set up. This is the date which also refers to beginnings of the civil air traffic in our country. Twenty years later, April 1, 1946, planes took off on the first after war routes of the company which was named Jugoslovenski Aerotransport.

Expansion

Pilots and mechanics of Aeroput joined the Jat crew. After passing the wind of war, they came to Jugoslovenski aerotransport after it was set up or soon after that.

Jugoslovenski Aerotransport started with two planes, C-47 transformed into DC-3 and two Younker planes JU-52. During the year, the fleet increased for one JU-52, four DC-3 planes and one non-adapted C-47 which was planned for goods transport. Regular traffic at domestic routes Belgrade-Zagreb-Ljubljanaand Zagreb-Sarajevo and at the international route and Belgrade-Prague-Warsaw was maintained.

In 1963, Jat got three Caravelle planes, the first Douglas DC-9 joined six years later and seven years later Jat welcomed the first Boeing 707. Introduction of jet planes, big capacity planes and far more comfortable and better than the generation of kernel planes, was the starting point for routes network expansion, new markets conquer and real air traffic expansion. With the introduction of Big Boing, B-707, the first charter flights with features of regular traffic were introduced, being connected with the North America.

Prime time

In the late eighties, airplanes of Jugoslovenski aerotransport traveled on more than 300 routes, two thirds of which were international. In the record years, 1987/88/89, Jat connected Yugoslavia with 61 world destination on five continents, transporting 5 million passengers per year and 46 thousand of goods. Jat was highly ranked at the list of the biggest airlines IATA and AEA,among 31 in the world and 10 in Europe.

In early nineties, the most difficult period in the after war history in ex Yugoslavia started so war, country separation and sanctions did not leave the national airline without consequences. Still, soon after tragic events, Jat came back to the market and tried to keep up with the world. In 1994 already, it reintroduced destinations. Year in year out, the result were better and in 2006, Jat Airways transported 1.207.712 passengers, 3556 tons of good sand 689 tons of post. This was the first time after 1991 that it finished business year successfully with net profit of EUR 3, 8 mil.

Problems

Privatization of Jat was mentioned in 2007 for the first time and as interested buyers, Russian, Island, Germans were mentioned but none of them submitted application in the first tender procedure released in June 2008.

Owners of Marbo, Andrej Jovanovic and Bojan Milovanovic were once interested in Jat. After that, representatives of the Government of Serbia negotiated with the Turkish airline Turkish Airlines and with Azerbaijani Azal. Later, Latvian company,Baltic Aviation Systems, whose owner Vladimir Antonov was soon arrested due to financial misdealing, applied.

It has also been negotiated that local businessmen set up new Serbian airline and Kostic, Miskovic, Bogicevic, Grujic, etc. were mentioned as new owners.

Finally, early this year, there were claims that the Jat issue will finally be solved by late 2013 and negotiations with Etihad started.

After three capital estimations, four competitions for the selection of the strategic partner and an attempt to give Serbian businessmen to manage Jat, this summer it finally got its strategic partner.

In the upcoming years, we will see whether and to what extent optimism and claims that mutual company of Jat and Etihad, will provide a new energy to Serbian air traffic and be fruitful.