Igor Salinger/BELGRADE
JAT Yugoslav Airlines is to go ahead with its planned order for Airbus aircraft, but may revise the mix of models in the deal.
The airline has a three-year-old order for eight A319s, but deliveries have slipped as the financially embattled airline renegotiated the order. JAT's chief executive and general manager Mihajlo Vujinovic says that deal will now go ahead, with deliveries starting next March. He adds that due to a change in circumstances since the deal was signed, JAT may revise the order to take other Airbus models.
Meanwhile, JAT will start flying to the USA and Canada in June after a nine-year hiatus, pending government approval. The airline plans to operate three services a week from Belgrade to New York and two a week to Toronto using its sole McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30, as well as leased long-haul aircraft.
The airline has also revamped its short-haul network with the termination of flights at the end of March between Belgrade and Bergamo, which have been replaced with a new Belgrade-Milan Malpensa service. New regional services to Sofia, Skopje and Sarajevo are also to be introduced, but timing or frequencies have not been announced.
Source: Flight International
