Air Serbia launches as Europe's newest airline brand

Air Serbia, the newest name in European aviation, was scheduled to make its inaugural flight from Belgrade to Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

Serbia's new national carrier sprouts out of the demise of that nation's old state carrier, the loss-making JAT Airways. Air Serbia becomes the successor for that now-defunct carrier, assuming the assets and operations of JAT in a transition highlighted by Saturday's inaugural flight.
"Welcome to a new dawn," Air Serbia's chief manager, Dane Kondic -- an Austrialian of Serbian origin – said to The Associated Press.

Kondic previewed that "new dawn" in a ceremony at Belgrade's airport, where he and deputy prime minister Aleksandar Vucic unveiled company's first Airbus A319 jet – emblazoned in Serbia's national red, white and blue colors and double-headed eagle logo.

Air Serbia will take five more A319s this year as well as another four in 2014, Kondic says to AP. The carrier hopes to double its flight network in six months as it adds new destinations.

Air Serbia's liftoff comes after fast-growing Middle East carrier Etihad Airways acquired a 49% stake in then-ailing JAT in August.

Etihad will manage the rebranded Air Serbia – launched out of the ashes of JAT with that carrier's leftover assets – during the next five years. With that, Air Serbia becomes the latest in Etihad's growing list of strategic partners. Aer Lingus, Air Berlin and Virgin Australia are among the others that Etihad has invested in as it faces fierce competition from Gulf rivals Emirates of Dubai and Doha-based and Qatar Airways.

JAT Airways was once a major European airline, but its 66-year existence is near its end as Air Serbia assumes its operations. JAT had been crippled by international sanctions imposed on Serbia during the wars of the 1990s, when most of its fleet was grounded and it survived thanks to government subsidies.

Vucic, the Serbian deputy prime minister, said his government expects Air Serbia to become the leading airline in the region and a profitable company within a year.

Source: Usa Today