Aviation news international- Air Serbia is preparing for its first Embraer E195 aircraft to enter revenue service between Belgrade and Milan in the coming weeks. The aircraft will join an E190 that the airline reportedly took delivery of last month.
The E195 is the first of four aircraft that the flag carrier of Serbia plans to add to its fleet, as of estimates from June. According to the airline’s CEO, the move is to bridge the gap between its smaller turboprop planes and larger Airbus aircraft.
Operating many routes
EX-YU Aviation News reported on Saturday that the E195, registered as N361AZ, is scheduled to enter service on July 28th. The plane will fly between Belgrade and Milan and then between Naples and Hamburg, but considering the airline is still at the beginning stages with the aircraft, the existing flight schedule is subject to change.
In the future, the aircraft will reportedly serve several routes, with select flights to Athens, Bologna, Bucharest, Brussels, Cologne, Frankfurt, Gothenburg, Hamburg, Lyon, Marseille, Naples, Nuremberg, Prague, Rome, Skopje, Stuttgart, and Tirana. However, given the existing scheduling, it appears that N361AZ will be deployed primarily on service to Hamburg, Naples, and Prague.
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Wet lease strategy
When the aircraft enters service, it will be operated by Greece-based Marathon Airlines on behalf of Air Serbia. According to EX-YU Aviation News, the flag carrier took delivery of an E190 last month, which is also wet-leased from Marathon. In a statement, the airline said it is honored to work alongside Air Serbia.
“We are honoured to be chosen to partner with Air Serbia in operating our E190 and E195 to connect destinations and create unforgettable travel experiences for their passengers.”
The E195 and E190 have slight differences, but the most noticeable is the additional seats that the E195 accommodates. In Air Serbia’s configuration, the E190 seats 100 passengers, while the E195 can fit 118 onboard. The airline plans to convert the wet leases into dry leases so that it can bridge the gap between its regional turboprop fleet of 72-seat ATR72s and its narrowbody Airbus fleet, which can accommodate between 142 and 180 passengers, according to EX-YU Aviation News.
Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said the Embraer aircraft being wet-leased is part of a lower-risk strategy, allowing the airline to observe how the plane or segments perform before diving into the complexities of adding the aircraft to its fleet, which would require additional licenses, training, and engineering.
More E195s to come?
According to EX-YU Aviation News, N361AZ is a thirteen-year-old E195 that formerly flew for Brazil-based Azul Airlines. The jet is expected to wear Air Serbia’s full livery despite the E190 featuring a white fuselage and billboard titles.
Last month, it was estimated that the carrier would take delivery of an additional E195 this month and two more in August, but now, sources indicate that Marathon is currently sourcing a second E195, which is likely to arrive in September.
Marek said the goal is for Air Serbia to continue its growth and provide more travel options to its passengers from Serbia and the region. Additionally, the CEO aims for the airline to become a leading carrier with profitable growth, allowing it to be financially self-sufficient.
Source: EX-YU Aviation News (1,2)
