Air Serbia Ends Agreement with Marathon Airlines Following Incident

Air Serbia has decided to terminate its wet-lease agreement with Marathon Airlines following an incident on February 18 involving an E195 aircraft that necessitated a return to Belgrade after colliding with ground infrastructure during take-off. In light of the situation, Air Serbia announced that, effective from February 21, 2024, no flights under its banner will be operated by Marathon Airlines. The airline is taking measures to ensure traffic continuity by reallocating flights initially assigned to Marathon Airlines to other aircraft within its fleet.

The incident involved Flight JU324 en route from Belgrade to Düsseldorf, operated by Marathon Airlines’ Embraer E195, registered as OY-GDC. The aircraft sustained significant damage to its gear, fuselage, and wing after striking ground infrastructure during a late take-off rotation. Despite the damage, the aircraft managed to circle over Belgrade for approximately an hour before safely landing back at the airport, fortunately without any passenger injuries.

Following the incident, Marathon Airlines’ other aircraft leased to Air Serbia, including one E175, one E190, and another E195, were returned to Athens. Air Serbia had initiated this partnership in June 2023 to incorporate regional jets into its fleet through an ACMI contract, as it does not operate any regional jets in-house. Its current fleet comprises ATR72-600s, A319-100s, A320-200s, A330-200s, and wet-leased B737-800s from KlasJet.

Air Serbia has expressed its commitment to fully cooperate with the ongoing safety investigation and extended its apologies to affected passengers. The airline’s swift response to the incident underscores its dedication to maintaining the highest safety standards and operational integrity. As of now, Air Serbia has not disclosed any plans to engage with an alternative regional jet operator to replace Marathon Airlines.

The incident has led to the withdrawal of Marathon Airlines’ services for Air Serbia, impacting the Greek carrier’s operations as well. Neither airline has commented further on the potential long-term effects of this termination on their respective operations.