Jat’s plans and dreams until 2011

Will Jat take over Croatia Airlines’ regional leader crown by 2011?

Jat’s management announced yesterday the airline’s goals within the following 2 years which should see Jat taking over the Macedonian national carrier MAT, commencing services to Split and Dubrovnik and commencing nonstop service from Belgrade to North America. On Friday March 27 new talks will be held in Belgrade between Jat’s management and the CEO of MAT regarding the airline’s takeover. The Serbian carrier is interested in taking over the majority of shares in MAT however this will depend on the verdict of a work group which will suggest whether Jat should require a majority or minority stake in the debt stricken carrier. If Jat manages to receive a majority stake the Serbian carrier hopes that the Macedonian government would take over the rest of the shares. “With the takeover of the Macedonian market which accounts for 600.000 annual passengers we are commencing our plan to start services from Belgrade to North America”, Jat’s management said. The management outlines that this way Jat will once again become the region’s leader. They outline that with the takeover of MAT, Jat will be able to commence services from Priština, located in the controversial self proclaimed independent Serbian province of Kosovo, to Europe and will be able to end the Macedonian and Greek air service dispute.

Key people at Jat also go on to say that from this summer Pula in Croatia will be served 4 times a week while services to Split and Dubrovnik are planned to commence in the summer of 2010. They say services to Zagreb will only be opened when the carrier gains necessary requirements to commence services to North America. The airline’s management expects that passenger numbers will be down by 15% at the end of the year when compared to 2008 due to the financial crisis but that summer charters are seeing a 20% increase in passenger numbers.

As for fleet renewal everything is on track for the carrier to purchase or lease new aircraft in 2010. Nenad Petrović, a long time Jat pilot has been named as the head of a 3 member committee that will lead talks with aircraft manufacturers.