Five months after terminating services from Belgrade to Banja Luka, Jat Airways will commence flights to the city during the 2010 summer season. The airline plans to reinstate 3 weekly flights from March 28. The service is to be operated by the ATR72. The line was put on hiatus in October and officially suspended in December 2009. The airline is in the process of acquiring flight permits which would allow it to operate flights from Banja Luka to several European destinations, although whether it will receive such rights remains to be seen.
Jat’s off-again on-again flights from Belgrade to Banja Luka failed to attract passengers in the past 2 years. Speaking to a Belgrade newspaper, a spokesperson from Jat said that in 2008 the airline carried 2.678 passengers on 170 flights to Banja Luka. The average cabin occupancy index on these flights amounted to 26%, meaning that there were approximately 17 passengers on each flight. Results for 2009 were even less impressive. “In October we transported a total of 45 passengers", a Jat spokesperson said. The CEO of Banja Luka Airport said that the airline did not terminate flights due to low interest but rather due to the fact that it did not have any available aircraft.Last year, Jat Airways’ CEO, Srdjan Radovanović stated that the airline would carry 50.000 passengers from Banja Luka in 2010.
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| Jat Airways |
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