New hangar for Jat Tehnika

Jat Tehnika has announced the construction of an additional hangar at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport which will be able to handle a Boeing B737 next generation aircraft as well as the Airbus A320. Furthermore, necessary equipment is being purchased in order for the maintenance company to begin work on servicing Airbus jets this summer. During the week, the Serbian government gave its approval for Tehnika to take out a five million euro loan in order to finance its new endeavours. The loan will be repaid within the next five years. Jat Tehnika, which was separated from Jat Airways in 2006, expects to see an increase in business as a result of the new investments.

Tehnika currently has three hangars at its disposal at Belgrade Airport. Two are used for medium sized aircraft and can fit three jets each at one single time while the third hangar is for larger aircraft and can fit two Boeing 747-400s. Besides Jat, the company currently provides maintenance to airlines such as Jet2.com, NordStar Airlines, Astraeus Airlines and Transaero.

Meanwhile, Jat Airways has announced that it has resumed operations at terminal two at Belgrade Airport. The carrier was forced to move to the older terminal one due to expansion wok being carried out at Serbia’s busiest airport. Furthermore, the airline has launched a new frequent flyer program for passengers on March 1.

Jat Tehnika to maintain Airbus jets from 2012

Jat Airways’ technical division, Jat Tehnika, will begin servicing Airbus aircraft next year. The deal between the European aircraft manufacturer and Jat Tehnika was signed on December 5. Airbus will train over 300 employees at the Belgrade based company from February 2012. At the same time, work will begin on the upgrade of “Hanger 2” at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport which will be used for servicing Airbus jets. As a result, Tehnika will be able to carry out line and spot maintenance on Airbus A318, A319, A320 and A321 models. The company already has existing licenses to service ATR42 and 72 models as well as Boeing jets. The maintenance of Airbus aircraft will begin in July 2012.

Jat Tehnika outlines that the deal is significant not only because it will boost business but it will also allow Jat Airways to purchase Airbus jets if it wishes to without additional costs of maintaining the aircraft outside the country. Jat Tehnika currently holds contracts with British low cost airline Jet2.com, Transaero and UTair Aviation while Jat Airways accounts for more than half of its business. Jat Tehnika, which was separated from Jat Airways in 2005, is wholly owned by the Serbian government and employs some 1.000 people.

Meanwhile, Jat Airways’ acting CEO, Vadimir Ognjenović has been promoted to the post of CEO, despite government promises that the management would be professionalised and chosen upon merit rather than party lines. Ognjenović became Jat’s acting CEO in December last year.

Jat Tehnika cancels strike

Jat Tehnika, which is in charge of the maintenance of Jat Airways’ aircraft, has announced that it has cancelled a planned strike which was to begin at 16.30 CET. The news comes after Jat Airways payed part of its owing debt to the company today. Jat Tehnika was separated from Jat Airways in 2005. The company staged a 3 day strike in October 2009 which paralysed the airline and brought on multi million Dinar losses. The strike ended after Jat payed part of its owing debt.

Last week, Jat Airways, said that Jat Tehnika's planned strike is of a different nature. As the B92 network reports, Jat has employed a foreign company to perform an overhaul of 8 Boeing B737-300 engines while Jat Tehnika will only do an overhaul of 2 engines (1 aircraft). Jat Airways says that Jat Tehnika does not have the capacity to perform an overhaul of all its engines and says that Jat Tehnika sends most parts needing repair to Germany and does not perform the job themselves as they lack professional and qualified staff. Jat Tehnika has denied the claims.

Meanwhile, the Serbian national carrier will today reveal the companies which have applied to provide catering services to the airline starting from the 2010 summer season for a period of 365 days.

Jat Tehnika hanger on October 1, 2009

Jat Tehnika has ended its 3 day strike which grounded the entire fleet of Jat Airways and caused a lot of anger amongst passengers. The strike ended after the air technicians’ union representative said that the strike must end today otherwise Jat Tehnika will incur significant financial losses. The union of air mechanics also said that the government of Serbia has promised that part of the 110 million Dinars (or 1.1 million Euros) owed by Jat will be payed off by Monday, October 5. Jat Airways is estimated to have lost 1.5 million Euros during the 3 day strike and will sue Jat Tehnika for the financial losses the airline has suffered.

All of Jat Airways’ flights will resume today. Jat Tehnika was separated from Jat Airways in 2005 after technicians led a month long strike. Jat Tehnika is the only aircraft engineering company in Serbia. Jat Airways said it was a mistake to separate the two companies and will appeal to the government for the formation of a new technical division for Jat, much to the anger of Jat Tehnika which would loose its biggest customers which represnets 95% of its business.

Meanwhile, Jat Airways has launched a scathing attack against the low cost Wizz Air which offered ‘assistance’ to Jat Airways’ passengers over the last 3 days. Jat says that Wizz Air is in a run for cash and is not helping Jat’s passengers in any way since travelers would have to pay extra to fly Wizz Ar from airports outside of Serbia.

This is the fourth day in a row that a news item on this blog has been related to Jat, understandably because of the situation which has taken place in the past 72 hours. Tomorrow, visit the blog for Croatia Airlines’ 2009/10 timetable changes and modifications.

End of strike near?

UPDATED at 21.00

Despite the cancelation of all of Jat Airways’ flights tonight, there is still hope that the strike will end in the late evening hours. The government is still, at this moment, talking to both Jat Tehnika and Jat Airways about a possible end to the dispute. Jat Airways says that Jat Tehnika will inccure the biggest loss from this industrial action. The airline says that Jat Tehnika will be obliged to pay up all losses that Jat has incurred due to the strike and said that if Jat Tehnika has no aircraft to service from Jat Airways, the company will go bankrupt.

Jat Tehnika has continued its strike grounding Jat’s entire fleet and leaving thousands of passengers angry and without flights. Jat Airways has done all it can to secure seats on other airlines for the grounded passengers and has also offered hotel accommodation to those passengers that have been delayed by more than 24 hours. Jat’s CEO Srđan Radovanović claims that in the past 48 hours the airline has lost 500.000 Euros and has labelled the behaviour of the technician’s trade union as selfish. Still, a breakthrough is expected to occur on Thursday evening when the government will discuss the current dispute between the two companies. It is speculated that flights could begin on Friday morning and that the airline would normalise its schedule during the weekend. The Serbian government has said that the dispute will be solved by the end of the week. Yesterday the only Jat flights that took off from Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport were those to Moscow, Hurghada and Sharm-el-Sheikh.

Meanwhile, a delegation from Airbus, with impeccable timing, decided to drop in for a chat with Jat’s CEO. It is believed that alarm bells have gone off at Airbus after Boeing’s recent visit to Serbia. Heading the Airbus delegation is Gregory Desois, Airbus’s sale manager for Eastern Europe and Monique Brepson, EADS vice president. These high ranking officials have come to discuss the airline’s 1998 order for 8 aircraft. The order, which cannot be cancelled, is extremely damaging for Jat. At the time the order was made Jat could not order aircraft from the United Sates (namely from Boeing) due to sanctions. Thus, Airbus decided to significantly inflate its price knowing that Jat had no choice. Jat is hoping it can exchange the order for 8 ATR72-600 aircraft. The two Airbus representatives told Jat’s CEO that they know all about striking technicians, pointing towards their own recent troubles with aircraft engineers in Toulouse.

Updates regarding the strike throughout the day.

Jat Tehnika not happy

UPDATED at 19.10

Jat Tehnika has extended its strike action and Jat’s flights have been cancelled until further notice. Jat’s only flight which will depart today is to Moscow. The flight has been made possible as it will be operated by Aviogenex’s Boeing B737-200 which is not serviced by Jat Tehnika. Talks are currently being held between Jat Airways, Jat Tehnika and the Serbian ministry for infrastructure.

Speaking on national television Jat Airways’ CEO said that the professionalism on behalf of Jat Tehnika’s technicians has been appalling this year. He said that the 1.100 employed in Tehnika are nowhere to be seen whenever Jat’s aircraft are are in the hangers. He also goes on to say that 2 aircraft could not depart for over a month when they received a new cabin interior because Jat Tehnika did not want to paint the airline’s livery on the aircraft. Talks between Jat Airways and Jat Tehnika resume at 19.00 (7pm). Radovanović said that Jat would be more than happy to form its own technical division although this would see the end of Jat Tehnika which only has 2 other customers, according to Radovanović.

Jat’s technical division, Jat Tehnika, has gone on strike. Jat Tehnika said the strike will last until 15.00 (3pm). As a result all of Jat’s flights until 15.00 have been cancelled. Jat’s technicians will go on strike because Jat Airawys owes its technical division millions of Euros. Jat blames Jat Tehnika for poor maintenance which caused a string of safety incidents this summer. Jat’s CEO, Srđan Radovanović says that he is upset with Jat Tehnika’s decision to go ahead with the strike and calls on passengers for understanding.

Yesterday evening, flights to Monastir, Skopje, Abu Dhabi and Larnaca were cancelled because they did not receive safety clearances from Jat Tehnika. Jat Airways was paralysed when 3 years ago trade unions from Jat Tehnika went on a month long strike. Many flights were cancelled with Jat forced to hire Tunisian technicians to somewhat normalise its schedule. The airline lost numerous amounts of passengers and suffered a huge financial hit. Jat’s management hopes that the government will resolve the problem. The Serbian government owns both Jat Airways and Jat Tehnika. Jat Tehnika was separated from Jat when the strike occurred a few years ago. Radovanović said that the separation was a bad move. Flights should be normalised today after 15.00 although the strike could be extended.

Updates will continue throughout the evening.

Oh oh

Jat Airways is in damage control after a Serbian newspaper published a front page passenger photo in which loose bolts are seen on the wing of one of its Boeing B737-300s mid flight. The photo was taken last week on a flight from Kos to Belgrade. The photo was published on Friday in Serbia’s most read newspaper “Blic” and made it onto national television by the evening. The Serbian carrier reacted immediately saying that the photo is authentic and that it deeply apologises to passengers although their safety was never at risk. Jat has launched a full scale investigation saying that all those mechanics found at fault for this problem will be suspended or will loose their job.

Jat officials, who held a press conference by Friday afternoon, said that the bolts which were coming out of the wings’ sheathing did not endanger the aircraft or the security of the flight. However, they did admit that that the fleet needs to be renewed, as the planes’ maintenance is quite costly because of their age. The aircraft in question, registered YU-AON, was serviced immediately upon landing in Belgrade and has been in flying ever since.

The article drew a large scale response from the Serbian public which have a largely unfavourable opinion of their national carrier. Although the article lacks much aviation knowledge or substance most have found interesting the statement the passenger which took the photo gave, saying that he did not want to alert the cabin crew because he wanted to get to Belgrade quickly.

Jat Airways said in a statement to the newspaper on Saturday that it is unacceptable what had happened saying that all aircraft will be checked within the next 24 hours. The airline blames Jat Tehnika which didn’t report the bolt problem to Jat itself. “Unfortunately we had to find out what happened in a newspaper. That is unacceptable”, the statement reads. Jat Tehnika is no longer a part of Jat Airways as the Serbian government decided to split the two companies in 2008.

Promising takeoff in 2010

Jat Airways’ outgoing CEO, Saša Vlaisavljević, has given an interview to a Serbian newspaper daily providing readers with an insight into the current situation at the airline, a more optimistic 2010 and his future affiliation with the Serbian national carrier.

Q: Jat is interested in taking over shares in MAT Macedonian Airlines. Are there any plans for similar cooperation with other regional carriers?
Vlaisavljević: Our goal is to have strong and successful cooperation with all carriers in the region. In the second half of the year we will organise a large summit in Belgrade where representatives from all carriers in the region will be invited. It will give us an opportunity to improve relations and our business results.

Q: You are leaving the airline to become the city manager of Belgrade at a time when Jat is successfully managing to get itself out of the crisis caused by the failed privatisation and the economic situation. Why?
Vlaisavljević: The work undertaken by this management has now been successfully completed. Its main aim was for the airline to survive and this has been done. The next phase was to manage to revitalize the airline which will be done as we have secured a large loan from the Serbian government. I will be leaving the airline as soon as Jat signs a new agreement with its independent technical maintenance division Jat Tehnika as costs for maintaining the aircraft with Jat Tehnika is currently extremely costly.

Q: What will happen after this?
Vlaisavljević: After this is done a new management is expected, a new fleet will begin to arrive from 2010 and the carrier will be revived in many sectors. Therefore passengers can expect big changes within the next year.

Who will be Jat’s new CEO?
Serbian media have discovered that Jat’s next CEO will be named by Saša Vlaisavljević. The new CEO will most probably be one of Vlaisavljević’s closest aides. However, Vlaisavljević will remain on the company’s board of directors which will receive a great deal authority. Vlaisavljević will be Belgrade’s new city manager but will provide a few hours each week to actively engage in Jat. Vlaisavljević’s reign at Jat has mixed feelings amongst employees with many criticising the way the cost cutting measures have been carried out.

Flying dots to disappear?
Jat’s much criticised “Flying Dots” livery could soon disappear. The carrier has asked young designers to create a new visual identity for the carrier at the upcoming Belgrade Design Week. The winning designers will receive free tickets from Jat to a destination of their choice however it is not expected that the carrier will apply the new look soon. The winning livery design could be applied in 2010 when new aircraft arrive.

New cabin crew
Jat has called on males and females aged 18 to 25 to apply to become cabin crew at Jat Airways. The new cabin crew will go through a 3 week training course culminating with a swimming test. The new cabin crew must also be fluent in Serbian and English and have basic knowledge of a third language. A total of 25 new cabin crew will be accepted. Meanwhile 4 cabin crew members have been promoted to purser positions after a 10 week training course. From late April a further 10 cabin crew member will commence a 10 week training course to become members of the senior cabin crew.

Jat Catering to improve
The independent company providing catering aboard Jat Airways flights, Jat Catering, has named its new CEO. Aleksandar Bogdanović, who has worked in Jat since 1983, has announced improvement in the catering offer at Serbia’s national carrier within the next few months with the launch of the new catering campaign “National company, national service”.

Weeks after the failed privatisation of the region’s largest maintenance company, Jat Tehnika from Serbia, fingers are being pointed towards those who are to blame and accusations are increasing. The air mechanics union is unhappy with the management of Jat Tehnika blaming it for late wages, the failed privatisation and agreements that have costed the company millions.

Earlier this year it was almost certain that Jat Tehnika, which became independent from Jat Airways after strikes in 2005 which costed the airline millions, would become privatised with four companies interested in the purchase. However selling public companies during the world’s largest economic crisis since the depression turned out to be bad idea. Ironically workers at Jat Tehnika have said its former enemy Jat Airways is the most cooperative by paying for all services and therefore will not be affected by the current mutiny inside the maintenance company. Workers are requesting for the current CEO and his advisors to voluntarily resign as they are being blamed for falsifying documentation to the Serbian Privatisation Agency. Another more surprising element is that the company is currently operating with a loss despite having a profit last year (USD 35.5 million) and statements from the Jat Tehnika CEO that the company will also have a profit this year. On the official website of the air mechanics union a statement has been published saying: “Dear colleagues, we have had tougher situations than the one we have currently been pushed in by unreliable people in our company. Some actions have led to disbelief and some to laughter however it has also led to fear for those that live thanks to Jat Tehnika”.

Jat Tehnika currently performs maintenance services at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport for Jat Airways and another 7 airlines, most of which are from Europe.

Only weeks after the failed privatisation of Serbia’s national carrier Jat Airways, its maintenance company, Jat Tehnika, has also failed to be privatised. The tender for the purchase of documentation for the privatisation of Jat Tehnika began on June 16. Despite the tender documentation being purchased by two Israeli companies – El Al and the Bedek Aviation Group as well as Malev Hungarian Airlines and a fourth company which has remained unnamed, none sent in an offer for the company’s purchase. Offers had to be sent in by October 27, 2008 and this was already an extension on a previous deadline. Jat Tehnika gained its independence from Jat Airways in 2005 after major strikes which paralysed the national carrier. It is 100% owned by the Serbian government. However unlike its old partner, Jat Tehnika is operating with a profit which is expected to reach 45 million Euros by the end of the year. The company’s value had been placed between 100 and 200 million Euros.

Yesterday the Jat Tehnika union responded with an ad in the Serbian national newspaper “Politika” blaming the government for the privatisation’s failure. The Serbian Privatisation Agency will officially announce the privatisations failure within the next few days. Only yesterday did it officially announce that the privatisation of Jat Airways had failed.

Jat Airways Union representatives say that no company has bought the tender documentation for the sale of the national carrier. The Privatisation Agency and the Ministry of Economy officials would neither confirm nor deny these claims. The deadline to buy the tender documentation expired on Friday, September 26 at midnight. The ministry did however say that "technically, it is possible that an offer sent by mail on Friday afternoon could still arrive", as was the case with B&H Air. Aeroflot, Air Berlin, Iceland Air and Air India were all mentioned earlier in the summer as the possible buyers.

The Ministry of Economy said in June that the starting price for Jat would be EUR 150 million for 100% of its shares. However, by July 31, when the tender was at last called, the minimal price for a 51 percent stake was set at EUR 51 million. This price was determined on the basis of the data submitted by the company itself, with no independent auditing. The union now blames the world economic crisis and the state's irresponsible behaviour for the drop in the value of Jat Airways. It states that the airline should have be put on sale as planned late last year and early last year when there were strong contenders for the purchase.

The Ministry of Economy promised that if the tender was unsuccessful it would give Jat a financial injection to purchase new aircraft and would wait at least a year until putting the airline on sale again. Meanwhile it is expected that in a few weeks a new CEO will be named by the government ending Vlaisavljević’s one year as head of Serbia’s national airline, having had many critics. Meanwhile the sale for Jat Tehnika looks much better with 4 companies buying tender documentation. Three of these are known the the public while the fourth, still unknown, is now widely speculated to be Boeing following the meeting between the company and Serbia’s heads of state in New York a few days ago.

Three companies have bought tender documentation for the privatisation of Jat Tehnika, the largest aviation maintenance company in the EX-YU based in Belgrade. The interest for the purchase of the maintenance company, which was made independent from Jat Airways in 2005, has been more than encouraging. The tender commenced on June 16 and closed on Friday August 29. Two Israeli companies are in the run – El Al and Israel Aerospace Industries (Bedek Aviation) while the third compay comes from the neighbourhood, more precisely from Hungary – Malev. A fourth company has also purchased the tender documentation however its name has not been published although some it is rumoured to be either Lufthansa Technik from Germany or ST Engineering from Singapore.

Jat Tehnika is 100% owned by the Government of the Republic of Serbia. Tehnika has hangers at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport with a capacity to service 100 aircraft per year. In 2007 it had a profit of 22 million Euros while it is expected it will have a profit of 45 million by the end of this year with Jat Tehnika servicing jets from ČSA, Transaero, Jet2.com, Jat Airways and many others. The company employs 1.000 people while the company’s purchase price is estimated at 100 to 200 million Euros. The four companies have until September 26 to send in their offers.

Two companies from Israel and one from Hungary have purchased tender documentation for Jat Tehnika in Serbia as said by Dragan Bogdanović, president of the aviation mechanics’ union. He did not want to give any details about the companies, not even their names so as not “to affect” the tender procedures, but expressed satisfaction that “they are all reputable companies”. Earlier, domestic media reported that SIT of Singapore, Lufthansa of Germany and companies from Russia, Germany, Israel and Austria were interested in Jat Tehnika. Last week the mechanics union threatened with a strike as it believed that the Serbian Privatisation Agency had already agreed to sell the company to SIT Engineering which was no longer acceptable to Jat Tehnika as they demanded a cut in jobs. However problems were settled only 24 hours later when the Serbian Privatisation Agency promised Jat Tehnika it would not be sold for less than the set price. The strike has been indefinitely called off.

The best fly Jat As the slogan of the Serbian national airline, Jat Airways, says “The best fly with Jat” On August 19 (2 days ago) this was confirmed when the Serbian silver medal Olympian, Milorad Čavić returned from Beijing via Vienna on flight JU313 (as pictured above). Čavić won the medal in Beijing being beaten in the 100m butterfly style by Michael Phelps by only 100 millisecond . Since Čavić is the first Serbian Olympian (as the country competed under the name only in 1912) he was flown on Jat’s evening ATR72 operated flight with the crew applauding the Olympian as he entered the aircraft with the rest of the passengers. The pilot of the flight presented a gift from the airline to the Olympian, the book “Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint Exupéry (a French aviator). In front of a screaming crowd of 50.000 people Čavić was welcomed in front of Belgrade’s city hall which is a city old tradition as any major international succusses by a Serb is celebrated in front of the building (in the last few years these included Serbian tennis players, Serbian women’s volleyball team and Marija Šerifović – winner of the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest).

UPDATE: Protest cancelled
Earlier today the pilot and cabin crew unions of Jat Airways announced they were to protest on Friday August 22 in front of the Jat Airways headquarters in Belgrade. The union was unhappy with the current situation in the airline and wanted a pay rise. It was expected for talks to be held between the airline's management and the unions on Friday. No strike action was announced.

Later today the pilot and cabin crew unions announced there would be no protest as the management of Jat Airways has agreed to increase wages of both pilots and cabin crew. Possible strike diverted!

Management of Jat Airways’ independent engineering branch, Jat Tehnika, has said its union could go on strike as it believes the Serbian government has already agreed to sell the company to the Singaporean ST Engineering despite an ongoing tender. ST was favoured from the beginning by Jat Tehnika management however problems began a few days ago when the management of the Singaporean based company, which already has its European hub in Poland, announced that if it purchased Tehnika it would cut jobs and workers would have to work “twice as hard” in order for its profitable run to continue. Angry, the mechanics announced they would strike which would paralyse the national airline. Franticly the Serbian government immediately held talks with the director of the union. Emerging from the talks, the union director seemed pleased for the time being. He announced that the Serbian Privatisation Agency and Jat Tehnika would now work together in order to resolve the issue and that the strike action is for now postponed until further notice.

Jat technicians went on strike last in 2005 causing mass disruption to Jat Airways scheduling. The airline was so badly affected it had losses by the end of the year due to the industrial action, had to lease Airbus aircraft operated by foreign pilots, hired technicians from Tunisia and the end result led to a complete change in Jat Airways management. The industrial action was ended when Jat Tehnika was recognised as a separate company owned by the government – not as a part of the Serbian national carrier. Since there had not been problems as both went into profit by 2007. Had Jat Tehnika stayed with Jat Airways the current total price in the airlines privatisation would stand at 400 million Euros. Jat Tehnika is based at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. It is the largest aircraft maintenance company in the EX-Yugoslav region.

Jat Tehnika, the largest EX-YU engendering company based in Belgrade, Serbia is continuing its expansion by signing a deal to commence servicing aircraft from the Danish based Icelandic Sterling Airlines. Tehnika will service the Boeing 737-700NG fleet of the Icelandic airline with the first aircraft recently arriving (as seen on the photo above). From September 2008 to March 2009 aircraft will continually start arriving at Belgrade’s airport for technical checks. 12 international airlines are now being served by Jat Tehnika. These include: British Airways, Jet2.com, CSA Czech Airlines, Palmair, S7 Airlines, Jat Airwyas and Transaero.

The new deal may boost interest for the purchase of the company as it is currently in the processes of privatisation which should be complete by the end of October this year. Approximate seven world-wide companies are interested in becoming the majority owners of Jat Tehnika.

The Serbian privatisation agency today announced that Jat Tehnika (the largest EX-YU technical base located in Belgrade) is now on sale. 70% of the company is being sold while the other 30% will stay in the Serbian government’s ownership. The Serbian privatisation agency specifies that only companies dealing with aviation engineering for at least the past 5 years may send in an offer. All interested parties must until September 26, 2008 hand in their offers. It has been announced that so far 15 companies are interested in purchasing Tehnika one of which is the world famous Singapore based ST Engineering as well as companies from Israel, the United States and Austria. The public call advertising the deadline for offer submissions today appeared in Serbia’s daily Politika as well as the global Financial Times.

Jat Airways deadline in September

Meanwhile the Serbian privatisation agency will call companies to submit their offers for Jat Airways on July 15 with the final deadline for submission of offers being in September. The Serbian finance minister said that whoever buys the airline must follow the terms of the agreement which specify Jat will remain Serbia’s national airline, the flagship will not change and that the government has its own appointed members to the Jat Airways board.

The submission of offers for Serbia’s national carrier Jat Airways’ technical branch Jat Tehnika will be open on Monday, June 16. Currently the most interested company for the purchase of Jat’s technical base is the Singaporean company “Singapore Technologies Aerospace” which is one of the largest third-party, independent aviation repair and overhaul companies in the world. It is looking at setting up a new base in Europe and geographically Jat Tehnika’s hangers at Belgrade’s airport would be ideal.

Jat Tehnika is the largest technical base in the former Yugoslavia. It broke off from Jat Airways unofficially in 2005 after its technicians staged a two month strike paralysing Serbia’s national airline however only a few days ago the company was officially recognised as an independent company by the Serbian government. Tehnika made a profit of 18.7 million Euros last year and is currently servicing aircraft from Jat Airways, CSA Czech Airlines. Jet2.com, Palmair, S7 airlines and Transaero.