Serbian Government to take over debt of Jat Airways

The government will take over the entire debt of the Serbian air carrier Jat Airways, which stood around EUR 170 million in February, Serbian Minister of Transport Milutin Mrkonjic stated on Friday, adding that the airline will get a new management.
He underlined that the debt has to be taken over in order to solve the Jat Airways issue, adding that it appears that the government is on the right way to realize successfully everything that has been planned. Mrkonjic noted that Jat will lease six planes, which will amount to one million and a half on average.Mrkonjic said that the task of the new Jat management will be to break even by the end of the year, adding that the government is ready to start the talks with potential strategic partners of the Serbian air carrier.

Serbian Minister of Transport Milutin Mrkonjic launched talks with representatives of the French plane producer Airbus concerning the procurement of four planes by means of leasing for the Serbian airline.Mrkonjic agreed on the activities in relation to the procurement, and the start of talks with representatives of Airbus took place as part of preparation meetings preceding the visit of Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic to France.
Milutin Popovic, minister's assistant, told Tanjug earlier that airline's plans include leasing four Airbus aircraft 319 and 320 and two smaller ATR models.
As announced earlier, Minister of Finance and Economy Mladjan Dinkic is planned to head a Serbian delegation in Abu Dhabi, where the talks will be held with United Arab Emirates' airline Etihad about partnership with Jat.

Source: tanjug.rs