Jat / Airbus talks

Jat wants ATR instead of Airbus

The French Minister of State for foreign trade Anne-Marie Idrac has arrived in Belgrade for talks with Serbia’s Ministry for Infrastructure with the aim of resolving Jat’s 12 year old order for 8 Airbus A319s. Idrac, in contrast to statements made by East European Airbus vice president Andreas Kramer, said that Jat Airways can purchase regional aircraft from France in exchange for the 8 Airbuses. “The agreement in 1998 is still in force but is not active due to many reasons. One of the reasons I’m in Belgrade is in order for discussion to begin with the aim of resolving this issue”, Idrac was quoted by the Beta news agency. Idrac added that if Jat were to purchase smaller regional jets it would have to sign a new agreement, although she did not specify with whom.

Serbia’s Minister for Infrastructure, Milutin Mrkonjić, said that Serbia was interested in finalising the dispute between Jat and Airbus. He said that he hopes Airbus will be a new partner in Jat’s fleet renewal process.

Jat is keen on modifying the Airbus order to ATR aircraft. Its previous attempts to do so have been rejected by Airbus. Jat has a mixture of Boeing and ATR aircraft in its fleet. It has never had any Airbus aircraft in its ownership.