The airline Air Serbia has brought in short-term wet lease support from Klasjet to Belgrade. The background is that the previous subcontractor Marathon Airlines was terminated after a high-profile incident.

The Greek aviation company was traveling on behalf of Air Serbia with four Embraer jets. In the 2024 summer flight schedule, the collaboration should be expanded to six aircraft. However, it is on Sunday, February 18, 2024 on flight JU234 a serious incident occurred. An Embraer 195 was seriously damaged. It currently appears that the pilots have “shortened” the runway despite clear instructions from the controllers. The length was then not sufficient. Lighting equipment was touched during takeoff. The regional jet was badly damaged, but was able to land back safely. The inmates were lucky because similar incidents in the past have resulted in fatalities.

Air Serbia reacted immediately and started working with Marathon Airlines, which does not have an IOSA safety audit. terminated without notice. This has created bottlenecks in flight operations because the Serbian carrier cannot yet compensate for the loss of the canceled capacity provided by the Greek subcontractor on its own.

This is where Klasjet comes into play: The company, which specializes in ACMI and wet lease services, is stepping in at short notice with a Boeing 737-800. Air Serbia has contracted this company to operate numerous flights. According to a report by Ex-Yu-Aviation.com, this jet will be used to Athens, Bucharest, Frankfurt, Milan-Malpensa, Tivat, Sarajevo, Thessaloniki and Zurich, among others. This is the third Klasjet aircraft operating for Air Serbia, having previously operated two aircraft on behalf of the Serbian airline.

According to reports, Air Serbia is looking for additional wet lease aircraft to compensate for the capacity it has previously purchased from Marathon Airlines. It is expected that there will be further information on this in the coming days.