New engines and food

Meals galore! Jat Airways judges future catering

It has been a week of tenders at Serbia’s national carrier Jat Airways. On Thursday, the airline revealed that 4 international companies have placed a bid to perform an engine overhaul of 2 Boeing B737-300 aircraft which have been grounded since the beginning of the 2009/2010 winter season. Among the four bidders are Lufthansa Technik from Germany, Badek from Israel, Snecma from France and Nex from Norway. The Serbian tender regulatory commission will choose the winner within the next 8 days and the overhaul of the engines must be completed by June 1. In a statement issued to the press, the airline said, “The addition of aircraft to our fleet will improve scheduling to the numerous destinations Jat Airways operates to”. The airline carried out its winter schedule with only 9 aircraft, despite the airline having a total of 16 in its fleet.

On Monday, Jat Airways revealed that Jat Catering and Airport Catering Nikola Tesla have applied to provide meals to the airline for the next year. Jat Catering, which has provided food to the airline since its formation in the mid 1960s, went on strike on January 14, 2010. The strike came to a sudden halt in early March and a new CEO of the company was appointed. Jat Catering was separated from Jat Airways in 2005. Jat Catering is a firm favourite in the race. It has also vowed to bring back hot meals on the majority of the airline’s flights. The catering company drastically decreased its food offering after cost cutting measures were introduced by Jat Airways in 2008. Jat Catering only offers warm meals on services to Dubai. Jat Catering CEO, Bora Kovačević said to the Studio B network, “We would like to bring back our popular cakes and our triangular sandwiches on board”. Other companies also applied to supply food to Jat but were disqualified by the Serbian tender regulatory commission due to the absence of licenses which would allow them to provide airline meals. Jat has the next 27 days to pick the winner although the airline announced it would do so before the start of the 2010 summer season. The winner will immediately commence with the production of meals once it is chosen.