Air Serbia will wet-lease a 149-seat Boeing 737-700 aircraft from Greek carrier Lumiwings over the summer. The jet is expected to enter service on behalf of the Serbian airline tomorrow. It will be primarily deployed on charter flights, as well as a select number of scheduled services on certain days out of Belgrade, including Berlin, Brussels, Milan, Tirana and Zurich. The development comes as Air Serbia ramps up both its scheduled and charter network, and ahead of its major summer expansion in June which will see the introduction of twelve new routes. Last summer, Air Serbia also wet-leased a B737-700, albeit from Smartwings for a period of four months.
Lumiwings is a private airline based in Italy but registered in Greece. It was founded in 2015. Under the wet-lease arrangement, Lumiwngs will provide its own crew, maintenance support and insurance for the aircraft while operating on behalf of Air Serbia. The jet in question, registered SX-LWC, is nineteen years old. It has been part of Lumiwings’ two-member fleet since last May. It was delivered new to Transavia in 2003 and operated on behalf of the low cost carrier until its transfer to the Greek airline. Similar to last year, the jet will be primarily used on leisure flights from Belgrade to Antalya and Hurghada. Air Serbia plans to run over 1.000 charters this summer.
Air Serbia’s plans to wet-lease a Boeing 737 aircraft were first reported last month. Over the past week, the airline has taken delivery of an Airbus A319 and its second ATR72-600 turboprop. Another three ATRs will join the fleet this year, with the third set to arrive next month. The -600 series will progressively replace the older versions of the turboprops currently in use by Air Serbia. One was retired earlier this year, while the second was taken out of service this month. The Serbian airline is considering the lease of additional jet-engine aircraft this summer as well, depending on market conditions.