Air Serbia is to acquire ten of the Airbus A320neos ordered by shareholder Etihad Airways earlier during the Dubai air show for its own fleet renewal.
Etihad, which took a five-year management contract and 49% stake in Air Serbia in August, ordered the 10 A320neos as part of it commitment for up 117 Airbus aircraft on 17 November. Etihad did not announce an engine selection for the A320neos, though its A321s will be fitted with CFM International Leap-1A powerplants.
Following the deal with Etihad, Air Serbia - formerly know at JAT Airways - has just begun transitioning its existing ageing fleet of 10 Boeing 737-300s to leased eight A319s and a pair of A320s.
"This is the next phase in the upgrade of the fleet," explains Air Serbia chief executive Dane Kondic. "The Government has agreed to take 10 A320neos for Air Serbia for delivery in 2018-20 and these will replace the leased A319s and A320s." It will mark the first delivery of a new aircraft to the carrier for 30 years.
Sinisa Mali, adviser for economy and finance in the Serbian government, confirms Air Serbia is buying the aircraft under the deal and will own the A320neos.
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Source: Cirium Dashboard
