Air Serbia has terminated its wet lease agreement with Greek carrier Marathon Airlines following an incident in which a Marathon E195 collided with infrastructure at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport.
Flight JU324 was on its take-off roll to depart the Serbian airport when it overran the runway, hitting equipment and damaging the fuselage and wing of the E195. Although Air Serbia immediately contacted the Civil Aviation Directorate (DCV) of the Republic of Serbia and the Center for Investigation of Accidents in Transport (CNIS), it notes that ‘regardless of the results’ of the ongoing investigation, it is immediately terminating co-operation with its Greek partner.
‘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,’ stated Air Serbia, which will grant a full refund to all customers.
The two airlines have worked together since June 2023, based on a short-term wet-lease business model. Air Serbia added that ‘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 terminates Marathon Airlines wet lease arrangement
