Etihad Airways is seeking to lease a number of former Jet Airways slots at London Heathrow to Air Serbia this summer.
A bulletin on the website of UK slot co-ordinator ACL, dated 26 April, states that Etihad is seeking permission to lease 14 weekly slots to the Serbian flag carrier – in which it owns a 49% stake – for additional services to Belgrade.
Air Serbia, which already operates from Heathrow, will initially add a new three-weekly afternoon service to Belgrade from 13 May, before increasing the frequency to a daily from 20 May, raising the total number of flights by seven to 16.
The slot swap is being sought for a period running until the end of the summer season on 26 October. The newly leased slots will be operated under new flight numbers JU388/JU389.
Etihad itself will add an additional 14 weekly flights between Abu Dhabi and Heathrow, starting 27 May.
The slots being leased to Air Serbia were previously used by the now-grounded Indian carrier Jet. In April, an update to the ACL website stated that 42 Heathrow slots leased by Jet from Etihad were being permanently returned to the Gulf carrier, which is a shareholder in Jet.
Cirium schedules data shows that Air Serbia and Wizz Air operate between London and Serbia. Wizz flies to Belgrade from Luton.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
