Air Serbia expects to put its first E195 jets into service in September, the airline’s CEO Jiri Marek told EX-YU Aviation News.
Two leased aircraft are in the pipeline to be added to the fleet and are configured with 118 seats.
According to Marek, Air Serbia could reach a fleet of up to 15 Embraer jets, including the smaller E190 variant with 108 seats.
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“We are also working closer with Embraer on how we can bridge this period. This is an aircraft type which will now be targeted to grow the fleet. The Airbus A320 and the Embraer will now be the aircraft that will be in focus for us,” the CEO said.
The debut of the E195s ended up taking longer than expected due to bureaucratic issues. The two jets have been in Bucharest for weeks.
Termination of contract with Marathon Airways and wet-lease with Bulgaria Air
Adding Embraer jets to its fleet was the solution found by Air Serbia after the termination of the wet-lease contract with Marathon Airways in February.
Air Serbia was flying four E195s from the Greek company, but that month one of them ended up taking off from an area off the runway at Belgrade Airport after hitting obstacles on the ground.
The incident did not injure anyone, but it led the carrier to stop flying the aircraft.
In April, Air Serbia signed a new wet-lease contract with Bulgaria Air, which flies two E190s for the Serbian company.
