Air Serbia is ending its cooperation with Greek carrier Marathon Airlunes, from which it has been wet-leasing Embraer aircraft, following the serious aircraft incident which took place on Sunday, February 18. The agreement will be terminated tomorrow. “No Air Serbia flight will be operated by the said Greek company’s aircraft. Flights that should have been operated by Marathon Airlines will now be operated by other aircraft in the fleet to maintain traffic continuity”, Air Serbia said. Marathon Airlines is a carrier based in Greece, operating fully in compliance with European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) standards, and is a member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Air Serbia has been cooperating with Marathon Airlines since June 2023 based on the short-term wet-lease business model.
Commenting on the incident which took place, the Serbian carrier noted, “In reference to flight JU324 between Belgrade and Dusseldorf, operating on Sunday evening, February 18, 2024, when the Embraer E195 of partner Greek airline, Marathon Airlines, was damaged, Air Serbia immediately contacted the competent government authorities – the Civil Aviation Directorate (DCV) of the Republic of Serbia and the Center for Investigation of Accidents in Transport (CINS)”. It added, “Passenger and crew safety is of the utmost priority for Air Serbia and the Serbian national airline is fully cooperating with the aforementioned authorities. Greek aviation authorities will conduct their own investigation”
The airline apologised to passengers affected by the incident. “Air Serbia would like to apologise again to all passengers of flight JU324 of February 18 2024 for any inconvenience they experienced. Even though the flight was operated by partner airline Marathon Airlines, the fact that the plane safely landed and that no passengers or crew members were injured, as a responsible company, Air Serbia would like to point out that it is fully aware of the passengers’ feelings during the flight and deeply regrets the discomfort they faced. By regulations, all passengers onboard flight JU324 of February 18 2024 are entitled to standard compensation and to any other compensation for costs incurred due to the flight being delayed by one day”. It added, “Air Serbia has not and will not make any announcements regarding the details of flight JU324 from February 18 while the investigation is in progress. However, the Serbian national airline would like to emphasise once again that it understands the inconvenience the passengers experienced on that occasion. Accordingly, Air Serbia has decided to take all the measures within its control mentioned above immediately. It will consider taking further steps in the coming period so that the recent event does not affect the trust of its passengers earned by the Serbian airline over several decades”.
