Nippon Express, and Yamato Transport at Tokyo in October 1991 to overcome a shortage of surface trucking capability, this new all-cargo carrier initiates a daily scheduled roundtrip freight service between Tokyo and Sapporo, on Hokkaido. Flights from Nagoya and Sapporo commence in late November employing a single Boeing 747-221F leased from Japan Air Lines Company, Ltd. (2). The plane has been repainted, given a white livery with billboard “JUST” titles on the forward fuselage and a whale logo on its tailfin.
The domestic flights cease in 1992 with the end of the truck capacity crunch; the airline (now 69.7% owned by JAL) changes course, wetleasing its Jumbojet back to JAL for frequencies between Japan and the U. S. West Coast, including Los Angeles and Anchorage, and Frankfurt, Germany. The aircraft is reintegrated into the fleet of its airline parent during 1995.
JARO INTERNATIONAL, S. A.: 500 Bucuresti Ploesti 14-22, Bucharest, Romania; Phone 40 (1) 212-2273; Fax 40 (1) 212-2274; Code JT; Year Founded 1990. JARO is established at Bucharest on August 1, 1990 to offer international, regional, and domestic passenger and cargo charters. Mirica Dimirescu is appointed president and he recruits a workforce that will come to total 117 and acquires a leased fleet of 2 British Aerospace (BAC) 1-11-528FLs, 1 Boeing 707-321B, and 1 B-707-327C.
Revenue operations commence on August 5, 1991 from Bucharest and Sibiu to Athens, Berlin, Budapest, Istanbul, Izmir, Paphos, Stockholm, Tunis, Verona, and Naples.
Operations continue apace in 1992-1998. One each B-737-200 and B-737-300 are received in March and June of the latter year. Revenue flights are expanded and new stops are made at Dusseldorf, Larnaca, London (STN) and Naples.
Another B-707-320C joins the fleet in 1999. Airline employment totals 150 at the beginning of 2000.
JAT YUGOSLAV AIRLINES (JUGOSLOVENSKI AEROTRANSPORT): JAT Poslouni Center, Ho Shi Minova 1670, Novi Beograd, 11070, Yugoslavia; Phone 38 (11) 13 3535; Fax 38 (11) 13 7756; Http://wwwjat. com; Code JU; Year Founded 1946. Marshall Josip Borz Tito’s government in the fall of 1946 forms a new company under the name Jugoslovenski Aerotransport to take over the Jugoslovensko Ratno Vazduhoplovsto (military air transport division) civil service started in November 1945 and to restart the domestic services provided by Aeroput until May 1941.
Flight operations from grass airfields begin on April 1, 1947 with Junkers Ju-52/3ms, some of which are replaced by Douglas DC-3s during the summer and fall. Many of the aircraft are serviced by former Aeroput personnel who had survived the war.
Simultaneously, the government enters into a fifty-fifty partnership with the Soviet Union to provide international Li-2 service via a new company, Jugoslovenska Soviet Transport Aviaciza (JUSTA). Services to Budapest, Tirana, and Bucharest are inaugurated during the summer.
On November 27, a DC-3 with 3 crew and 19 passengers, crashes while on initial approach to Montenegrin; there are no survivors.
Following the diplomatic break with the Soviet Union in 1948, JUSTA is dissolved and Jugoslovenski Aerotransport suspends service.
En route from Belgrade to Sarajevo on June 4, a DC-3 with 28 passengers is seized by the radio operator and a passenger and diverted to Bari, Italy.
In 1949-1952, international services are restarted on a limited basis while, due to weather and terrain, domestic services are provided only during summer. Fatal accidents are not uncommon and there are skyjackings.
Coming in from Belgrade on September 21, 1950, a DC-3 with four crew and seven passengers, crashes while landing at Zagreb (ten dead).
A DC-3 with three crew and eight passengers, must be written off following an emergency landing at Wittelsbach, West Germany, on June 8, 1951, due to an in-flight fire; there are no fatalities.
A Ju-52/3m with 14 aboard crashes near Zagreb on June 29; again, there are no survivors.
The captain and copilot of a DC-3 just happen to have their wives and two children aboard for a domestic service on October 17; midway through the flight, the two fliers change course and fly to Zurich, where they obtain political asylum. The three other crew members and 22 nonparticipating passengers are returned to Belgrade aboard the Douglas.
Flying between Belgrade and Skopje on October 25, a DC-3 crashes while landing at the latter point (12 dead).
On June 26, 1952, a DC-3 with 32 passengers en route from Zagreb to Pola is seized by three passengers, who order the plane diverted to Foligno, Italy.
During 1953, preliminary (and eventually unsuccessful) discussions occur between Yugoslavia, Greece, and Turkey with the aim of forming an SAS (Scandinavian Airlines System)-type Balkan consortium airline. Orders are placed in the U. S. for three Convair 340s.
By summer 1954, the fleet comprises 5 DC-3s; it is enhanced during the fall by the arrival and placement into service of three Convai CV-340s. Flying below minimum altitude while on final approach to Schwechat Airport at Vienna, Austria, on October 10, 1955, a CV-340 with 4 crew and 25 passengers, crashes onto the slope of the Kahlenberg 25 km. out (7 dead).
Having descended below the cleared 3,000-ft. altitude, a CV-340 with 3 crew and 27 passengers en route from Vienna to Munich, collides with the ground while on approach to the airport at Grub, Germany, on December 22, 1956 (3 dead).
To expand charter and scheduled services, the carrier, in November 1957, takes delivery of the last two DC-6Bs manufactured; they will remain the fleet flagships for six years. During the year, enplanements total 85,941.
Five CV-440 Metropolitans join the fleet during the first half of 1958. The 288th DC-6B built, which is the 704th and final aircraft in the entire DC-6 series and the final DC propellerliner constructed, is delivered from Santa Monica to Belgrade on October 24 via New York and Gander. It enters service as a VIP transport for President Tito at month’s end. A second DC-6B arrives from California on November 17.
President Tito makes a state visit to India on January 14-19, 1959, aboard his new DC-6B, which is flown by a joint JAT/Yugoslav Air Force team.
En route from Cattaro to Belgrade on July 8, a lone gunman seizes a DC-3. After firing a warning shot, the pirate orders its crew to divert to Bari, Italy.
Later in the year, domestic services, now year-round, are increased in frequency as other Eastern European cities are added to the route network.
The fleet is improved through the addition of five CV-440s so that, by 1960, the fleet comprises 3 CV-340s, 5 CV-440s, 4 DC-3s, and 2 DC-6Bs.
Overall bookings total 172,454.
Orders are placed in 1961 for 3 Sud Est SE-210 Caravelles VINs and enplanements in 1962 include 226,681 domestic and 81,490 international.
In 1963, the DC-6Bs are orderly retired as the first two French jetliners are placed into service in January and July, respectively.
Domestic enplanements are 283,600 and international boardings total 111,533.
Airline employment is 1,771 in 1964. Three DC-3s and two CV-340s are retired as the SE-210s launch new routes to Moscow, Warsaw, and Copenhagen.
Enplanements total 461,000 systemwide and revenues are $6.51 million.
The employee population is 1,900 in 1965.
A DC-3 with five crew, is lost near Belgrade on February 20 while on a training flight; there are no survivors.
Bookings are up to 524,170.
Two additional Caravelles are received in 1966, but cannot keep boardings from dropping to 450,697. During the year, the last DC built, the DC-6B acquired in November 1958, is passed to the government.
As domestic service and Dalmatian coast charters increase in 1967, the number of DC-3s is increased to nine. One more Caravelle VIN is also received. Passenger traffic is 543,000, a 17% increase.
A sixth Caravelle VIN is delivered early in 1968. Airline employment climbs to 2,282 and 5 DC-9s are ordered.
A DC-3 is lost at St. Floriaan, Austria, on January 8; there are no other details.
Passenger boardings accelerate 23.8% to 667,334 and freight traffic skyrockets 101%. Income is $19.8 million.
A CV-440 is destroyed as the result of a bad landing at Titograd on February 4, 1969; there are no fatalities.
Two DC-9-32s are leased for a year from their manufacturer on April 15. To sweeten the deal, McDonnell Douglas agrees to purchase $40,000 worth of canned hams and various small machine tools. A Boeing 707-320B is delivered during the summer.
Enplanements zoom to 718,724.
The workforce totals 3,085 in 1970.
Three armed Arabs are seized at Munich on February 18 on suspicion that they intend to hijack a JAT plane, refueling while en route from Paris to Belgrade, as it flies to the Yugoslav capital. A search reveals a leaflet identifying them as members of a commando group and proclaiming that the plane will bear the name “Palestine.”
The leased DC-9-32s are returned in March. When the transaction is revealed, the media plays up the “hams for planes” aspect of the charter. Interestingly enough, the airplane builder will sell additional planes to the carrier in the years ahead—and purchase more ham. With the delivery of the 5 owned DC-9-32s, the fleet now totals 22 aircraft, including 2 DC-3s, 8 CV-440s, 6 SE-210s, and 1 B-707-320B.
Cargo is up 21% and passenger boardings pass the one million-mark for the first time, up 35% to 1,105,730.
Three more B-707-320Bs and two Caravelle VIRs are acquired in 1971 as bookings jump to 1,558,050. The employee population is 4,155 in the twenty-fifth anniversary year of 1972.
On January 26, Flight 364 is en route from Stockholm to Zagreb via Copenhagen. Premier Dsemal Bijedic is thought to be among the 5 crew and 23 passengers on board the DC-9-32 when it is blown up over Krussne Hory Mountain by Croatian extremists from the Ustasji group, who have planted a bomb in the forward baggage compartment. Breaking up on the way down, the fuselage crashes into the ground near Hermsdorf, in NW Czechoslovakia; all but one aboard are killed. Alone in the tail assembly, 22-year-old stewardess Vesna Vulovic survives the fall to earth from 33,000 ft.; severely injured, she tumbles out when the segment, which has fluttered down like a leaf providing life-saving deceleration, strikes the earth.
Four CV-440s are retired as two more DC-9-32s and an SE-210 Caravelle III are added, the latter on lease to replace the lost Douglas. Routes are extended Dubrovnik-Pula and London, Tivat-Vienna, and Belgrade-Tirana.
Five passengers aboard the B-707-321B on a New York to Shannon flight are injured on August 12 when the pilot aborts the flight after encountering mechanical problems during his takeoff from New York (JFK). A $32-million order is placed for 6 additional DC-9s, bringing the total on order to 13.
Passenger bookings grow 15% to 1,833,000.
Two Caravelle VINs and four CV-440s are retired in 1973. Service is inaugurated to Dusseldorf, Lyon, and Manchester.
An SE-210 Caravelle III is damaged beyond repair during its landing at Belgrade on February 15; there are no fatalities.
Coming in from Skopje on September 11 with 6 crew and 35 passengers, a Caravelle VIN crashes into the Maganick Mountains while preparing to land at Titograd Airport; there are no survivors. Orders are placed for two Boeing 727-2H9s late in the year as the last of the CV-440 Metropolitans are withdrawn.
The two Boeings and a pair of DC-9-32s are delivered in 1974 as the last two DC-3s are retired. On April 15, a B-707-351C is purchased from the American carrier Northwest Airlines.
A DC-9-32 with 6 crew and 44 passengers lands 2,570-m. short of the runway at Beograd, Yugoslavia, on November 23; the plane is safely evacuated before it catches fire and is destroyed.
Enplanements total 2,158,650.
The workforce is 5,146 in 1975. Dragaslav Radisavljevic becomes director general and three additional B-727-2H9s are delivered. As a partial reward to Zambia for its purchase of Jugoslav-built Soko Galeb and Jastreb military aircraft, President Tito donates JAT’s DC-6Bs to the Zambian Air Force.
Routes are opened from Belgrade to Sydney via Karachi and Singapore, to Malta via Ljubljana, and to Baghdad via Athens.
Passenger boardings rise 19% to 2,664,701. Freight climbs a handsome 35% to 13.6 million FTKs.
A total of 120 employees are added in 1976. Belgrade and Zagreb Boeing 707-320B transatlantic service to New York is initiated while two B-747-100s are ordered for 1978 delivery.
Bookings dip 0.6% to 2,646,840, but freight grows by 9% to 21.41 million FTKs.
The Jumbojet order is cancelled in 1977 and replaced by one for two DC-10-30s. The 30th anniversary of JAT is celebrated throughout the year, along with the 50th birthday of commercial flight in Yugoslavia. Flights begin from Belgrade to Damascus.
Enplanements accelerate to 2,943,800.
The workforce grows to 5,600 in 1978. The first DC-10-30 is delivered on December 8 and is christened City of Belgrade. A total of 16 domestic and 37 cities are now served by Director General Dragoslav Radisavljevic’s carrier.
Passenger boardings move upward 18% to 3,590,000 and freight soars 25.2%.
A second DC-10-30 arrives in 1979 and is placed in service on the New York route. Flights begin to Karachi and Beijing and the remaining Caravelles are all retired. During the year, the company begins an annual Gallery Above the Atlantic art auction on one of its May transatlantic flights; works by the nation’s leading contemporary artists are sold to raise money for cultural institutions.
Boardings climb 9.6% to 3,910,000.
Airline employment in 1980 is initially increased by 15.1% to 5,965. Passenger traffic falls 19.2% to 3,161,000 as the effects of the world recession and rising fuel costs are felt. Revenues drop to $293 million.
En route from Dubrovnik to Belgrade on a September 26, 1981 domestic flight, a B-727-2H9A with 101 aboard is hijacked by 3 Croatians. After Israel refuses the aircraft permission to land, the passengers stage a mock fire alarm that requires the pilot to land at Cyprus, where the pirates are captured and all others escape. The perpetrators will be tried and given prison terms ranging in length of time from 3i/! to 8i‘2 years.
Passenger traffic figures for the year are 5.1 million passengers carried. The number of workers is increased by 2.6% in 1982 to 6,136. New frequencies are inaugurated to Algiers, Beirut, and Kuwait.
Customer bookings decline to 3.45 million.
JAT Avio Taxi is formed as a subsidiary in 1983 to provide domestic services from Belgrade with a fleet of three Cessna 402Bs. Orders are placed for seven B-737-300s to replace the parent’s aging fleet of DC-9s as two B-727-2H9As are leased, long-term, to Air Afrique, S. A.
Enplanements total 3.3 million in 1984 and a net profit of $17.7 million is reported.
Airline employment in 1985 is 7,315, a boost of 12.6%. Miljenko Zrelec becomes president. Two DC-9-32s are sold as the first four of seven B-737-3H9s enters service in July and a route is opened to Kuala Lumpur. To overcome a shortage of available Douglas wide-body pilots and flight engineers, Air Afrique, S. A. contracts for JAT crews, while at the same time leasing one of its DC-10s to the Yugoslavs.
Cargo dips 4.8% to 85.97 million FTKs, but passenger boardings are up 6.5% to 3,531,000. Revenues advance 2.9% to $364.6 million, and expenses are up 13.9% to $330 million; these figures conspire to produce profits of $34.2 million (operating) and $15.5 million (net).
The payroll is increased by 2.8% in 1986 to 7,522. Former Federal Administration for International Scientific and Technical Cooperation Director Miljenko Zrelec succeeds the retiring Director General Milan Redojcic in February.
Two DC-9s are sold and the fifth and sixth B-737-3H9s are acquired. Two DC-10-30s, including the Air Afrique, S. A. charter, join the two already available to handle summer tourist traffic. Orders are placed for a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 and two more B-737-300s.
Customer bookings jump 9.4% to 3,862,000 while freight rebounds by 19.1% to 97.4 million FTKs. The profits are $55.7 million (operating) and $25.1 million (net).
The employee population grows by 8.7% in 1987 to 8,069 and the 7th B-737-3H9 is received in January. The B-727-2H9A contract is terminated by Air Afrique, S. A. in March and in May, while the carrier studies acquisition of a new regional aircraft, two Avions de Transport Regional ATR42-200s are leased for short-haul routes.
A DC-9-32 is leased to Air Djibouti for a year during the fall.
Passenger boardings increase 17.3% to 4,531,000 and revenues rise 27.7% to $539.8 million. Costs are kept down and as a result, profits of $60.3 million (operating) and $16.9 million (net) are earned.
Airline employment is up again in 1988 by 8.1% to 8,988. The fleet now includes 9 DC-9-32s, 8 B-727-2H9As, 7 B-737-3H9s, 5 DC-10-30s, and 3 ATR42-200s. In May, a regional sales office is opened at Washington, D. C.
The eighth and ninth B-737-3H9s arrive later in the year.
An An-12V freighter with seven crew, crashes while on initial approach to Yerevan on December 12; there are no survivors.
Customer bookings decline a slight 0.9% to 4,491,000, but cargo swells 13.1% to 730.24 million FTKs.
The payroll is cut 12.5% in 1989 to 1,400 as traffic plummets. Passenger boardings decline 16.5% to 3,750,000 and freight is off a huge 46.8% to 66 million FTKs.
In 1990, the fleet comprises 1 Aerospatiale/Aeritalia ATR72, 8 Boeing 727-2H9As, 9 B-737-3H9s, 9 Douglas DC-9-32s, 4 DC-10-30s (3 leased), and 3 Piper PA-31T Cheyenne IIs. Orders are outstanding for 2 ATR72-200s an 4 McDonnell Douglas MD-11s. One DC-9-32 is leased to Air Djibouti and a total of 19 domestic and 61 foreign destinations are served.
Foreign destinations include routes to and from Belgrade, Mostar, Nis Ohrid, Pristina, Sarajevo, Skopje, Titograd, and Tivat. Major overseas markets include Amman, Amsterdam, Athens, Bangkok, Barcelona, Beirut, Berlin, Bucharest, Budapest, Brussels, Cairo, Chicago, Copenhagen, Damascus, Dubai, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Glasgow, Goteborg, Hamburg, Hanover, Istanbul, Larnaka, London, Madrid, Melbourne, Milan, Montreal, Moscow, Munich, New York, Paris, Prague, Rome, Singapore, Sofia, Stockholm, Stuttgart, Sydney, Tel Aviv, Thessaloniki, Tehran, Toronto, Tripoli, Tunis, Trieste, Venice, Vienna, Warsaw, and Zurich.
During the year’s first half, customer bookings are up 2.6% to 1,726,490; cargo, however, declines 1.4% to 65.21 million FTKs.
At year’s end, JAT is the 14th largest airline in Europe and 34th in the world, with 90 weekly departures to 32 European cities. Operating revenues reach $410 million and a $40- million net profit is posted.
The Yugoslav civil war has a devastating impact on the carrier and airline is cut 21.6% in 1991 to 7,411. Although the two ATR72s are delivered, one DC-10-30 lease lapses. Still, the carrier is able to initiate six new markets: Tehran, Larnaca, Maastricht, Beirut, Trieste, and Tel Aviv. The secession crisis disrupts air service in Yugoslavia after late June.
Flights to the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana are suspended on June 27, two days before the airport is attacked. The airport at Zagreb, capital of Croatia, is closed by fighting on July 2, the first of many times it will be shut down in the years ahead. On July 4, the company suspends services to the two breakaway republics, although flights to other parts of the nation are continued.
As a result of the conflict, the year’s passenger boardings plunge 51.8% to 1,846,296 while cargo drops more, falling 54.2% to 57.67 million FTKs. The net loss is $90 million.
Following the breakup of the federal government of Yugoslavia in 1992, the new state of Serbia, while attempting to retain the previous national identity in company with the republic of Montenegro, obtains 51% majority ownership of the airline while selling off the remaining 49% interest to public and private interests. Nearly all of the airline’s assets, valued at some $960 million, are held by Belgrade, with the nation’s five other former republics owning only the infrastructure and equipment at their airports.
In late April, the UN, as a result of the fighting in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, places sanctions, under Security Council Resolution 757, on trade and air traffic with Yugoslavia. The international embargo invalidates all of JAT’s bilateral air agreements.
In early May, the U. S. seizes all JAT assets in the U. S. and orders the company’s offices closed. The last flight by the Yugoslav carrier from New York to Belgrade occurs on May 18; on May 20, Washington revokes JAT’s landing authority. After these rights are lost, the company attempts to reroute its U. S. and Canadian passengers through Montreal and Toronto, only to find those avenues closed. One by one gateways in Europe also shut down and the airline, on May 30, must suspend all international services.
Now it flies only two domestic routes from Belgrade: to Tirstand and to Podgorica (formerly Titograd). The Air Djibouti lease is concluded; however, two B-737-3H9s are chartered to Bosphorus Airways, S. A.
Enplanements for the year (mostly in the first quarter) total 4 million and 43,000 tons of cargo are transported.
Director General Zika Petrovic oversees a workforce of 6,100 employees in 1993. Workers report for duty on a rotational basis, with only 40% working at any one time. Only domestic flights on two routes continue during the year. Income for many employees is so insufficient as to require them to take second jobs or worse, to sell smuggled goods on the black market.
The company’s pilots take turns flying the services, thereby logging the minimum number of flying hours required to maintain licensure. Fortunate to have a two-year stockpile of spare parts, company mechanics are able to draw on this hoard in order to keep five airliners operational.
Several efforts are made to find work for company pilots overseas, but all are rejected. The ploy, begun in January with an offer to Indian Airlines Corporation to provide flyers during that carrier’s strike, is roundly rejected by all concerned as a violation of UN sanctions against Yugoslavia.
The company realizes a total of just $1.7 million in operating revenues or 0.4% of 1990’s income.
The sanctions continue through the first three quarters of 1994. On October 5, the UN embargo is lifted and in celebration the company introduces a new corporate image with “Yugoslav Airlines” titles now a part of its aircraft color scheme.
The company does not have sufficient fuel on hand to begin sustained operations. To get its international services restarted, it is necessary to employ the DC-10-30 City of Belgrade as a tanker, continuously flying it back and forth over the short distance from Belgrade to Thessaloniki and Timisoara to fill its tanks. With the UN fuel embargo still in place, the company is charged upwards of $200 per ton of kerosene.
The first limited international schedule, from Belgrade to Athens and Moscow, is started by the wide-body on October 6.
The number of frequencies grow throughout 1995 and of these, the most important is a return to London (LHR). Following the first service, a team of London-based mechanics is asked to inspect the company’s aircraft; finding it to be in order, the airline is given an important bill of health, which assists it in seeking permission to fly elsewhere or to align with additional European operators. The cost of a required $7-million D check for the City of Belgrade in Italy is paid for by donations from state-owned companies as well as the Belgrade government.
In November, the UN withdraws all of its previous sanctions against Yugoslavia. Efforts are made to have the U. S. sanctions removed so that flights to New York (JFK) might resume. Plans are made to resume operations to Canada and Australia, although JAT continues to owe the governments involved for landing and service fees C$450,000 and A$1.5 million, respectively. The U. S. is owned $800,000.
By year’s end, a total of 563,300 passengers have been transported and 710,000 FTKs operated.
On February 15, 1996, President Clinton lifts the sanctions placed upon the carrier by the U. S. four years earlier; two days later, airline officials announce that they will resume services to New York and add new services to Chicago.
By May, JAT is operating to all 32 of its 1990 destinations, although with fewer frequencies. During the month, it also initiates a process of renewing transport communications with former Yugoslav republics by introducing a return flight between Belgrade and Skopje.
Employing the carrier’s lone owned DC-10-30 repainted in its striking new livery, JAT launches frequencies in July from Belgrade to New York (JFK) and Chicago (ORD).
In September, a commission of aviation experts sent to Belgrade by the U. S. FAA acknowledges that the airline meets all international safety standards. In October, a DC-9-32 is chartered to Tuninter, S. A.
Enplanements for the year total 838,990.
Airline employment stands at 6,000 in 1997. Two more DC-9-32s are leased out, both to Macedonian Airlines. Destinations visited include Amman, Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Brussels, Bucharest, Copenhagen, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Kiev, Larnaca, London, Moscow, Paris, Rome, Stockholm, Stuttgart, Tel Aviv, Vienna, and Zurich.
When Carlos Westendorp, the chief international representative in Bosnia-Herzegovina, reopens the airport at Banja Luka on November 17, it is the only one in the Serbian-controlled area of Bosnia. JAT, which is scheduled to have been the first airline to resume scheduled civilian flights into the airport, must cancel its participation just hours before the reopening for technical reasons. A few days later, JAT begins daily roundtrips in and out of the airport.
DC-10-30 service over a single weekly route to Beijing is restarted on December 18.
Passenger boardings accelerate 16.6% to 1,005,983 while cargo skyrockets 100.7% to 4.74 million FTKs.
Airline employment at the beginning of 1998 stands at 5,707. Offices are maintained in 42 foreign cities and in 11 Yugoslav communities. Flights are conducted to 44 destinations in Europe, the Mediterranean, and China.
Flights to Bosnia resume during the spring. At this point, the airline again becomes the subject of international politics. In an effort to pressure an end to repressive Serb actions in the province of Kosovo, the European Union imposes a ban on support of JAT and upon JAT flights into EU member states. The U. K., citing a 1959 agreement requiring 12 months notice, initially refuses to join in the sanctions.
As the situation on the ground in Kosovo worsens during the summer, pressure for a larger ban on JAT activities builds. On September 7, 15 member states of the European Union impose an embargo on all JAT flights into Europe. Britain, citing the need to grant Yugoslavia notice under the bilateral air agreement existing between the two countries, is slow to join and beginning on September 11 is roundly criticized by EU Commission President Jacques Santer and by the foreign ministries of other European states, lead by Germany.
During the third week of September, the U. K. reluctantly waives the 1959 agreement requirements and joins in sanctions against the Yugoslav flag carrier. In addition, the nation now joins France in seeking a worldwide ban against the operations of Yugoslav airlines. Most European airports, including those in the former Eastern bloc, are now closed to JAT, although the BBC will report that both Austrian Airlines, A. G. and Deutsche Lufthansa, A. G. are paying the regime in Belgrade in hard currency for the right to take over JAT’s trade on certain routes.
Enplanements for the year are down 6.5% to 940,000, but cargo traffic accelerates 112.7% to 5.34 million FTKs. Airline employment is now reduced by 11.9% to 5,640.
When the Bosnian Serb airline Air Srpska is established on January 22, 1999, it receives assistance from JAT as well as the Airports of Republic Srpska. The new entrant leases from JAT one each B-737-2H9A and ATR72 and inaugurates scheduled services on January 29 to Tivat, Zurich, and St. Gallen.
During the first quarter, the carrier leases a pair of DC-9-32s to the Nigerian company Bellview Airlines, Ltd. Upon their arrival in Africa, the two inaugurate Lagos Express services. Meanwhile, JAT continues to offer local and non-EU charters on an ad hoc basis.
On March 24, in anticipation of NATO air strikes against Serbian military targets in a campaign against Belgrade for an independent Kosovo, Europe’s major airlines and several regionals halt all scheduled service into Belgrade as Yugoslavia’s airspace is closed. Spokesman, in making the announcement, indicate that the situation will be evaluated further; however, Operation Allied Force, the bombing attack on targets in Serbia and Kosovo, begins that evening.
Service to Belgrade remains halted on March 25-May 25 and into June for the duration of the NATO bombing campaign. During this period, seven JAT airliners, including the DC-10-30, are allowed to find shelter at Kiev, Odessa, and Simferopol. At a news conference on May 3, Ukraine Foreign Minister Boris Tarasyuk had indicated that the Ukraine would continue to provide sanctuary for the aircraft and that the state aviation administration Ukraviatsiya would negotiate with JAT officials concerning their possible short-term lease.
Company officials inform the media on June 12 that the carrier plans to resume both domestic and international services as soon as it is allowed to again begin flying. Initial destinations to be served should include Tivat, Banja Luka, Larnaca, Tunis, Prague, Moscow, and Zurich.
JAT remains grounded under the national state of emergency until June 25, at which point it is allowed to resume limited charter work and domestic and regional scheduled service. The first service is flown from Belgrade to Moscow exactly three months and a day after the company had suspended operations. On July 5, Yugoslavia’s ambassador to Russia, Borislav Milosevic, will candidly inform a news conference that the reason for the first international flight being made to Moscow was political, to show the significance of relations between the Union Republic of Yugoslavia and Russia.
Flights to Larnaca resume on June 29, with those to Prague and Tunis beginning on July 1 and 8, respectively.
On August 30, weekly roundtrips are inaugurated between Belgrade and Tripoli.
Airline employment totals 5,640 at the beginning of 2000. The fleet’s largest components are groups of 9 B-737-3H9s, 8 B-727-2H9As, and 9 DC-9-32s. Restrictions on the airline’s scheduled international service are suspended in late February (for six-monthly renewable periods) and the carrier is able to resume domestic services on March 1. The renewal of traffic into Serbia will allow the Milosevic regime to earn valuable income from landing fees and other charges to foreign airlines and passengers.
On April 6, service is resumed from Belgrade to Amsterdam, Brussels, and Prague; flights to Malmoe are started on April 7. CEO Zivorad Petrovic is assassinated on April 25 while walking his dog outside of his Belgrade home. Petrovic is the fourth colleague of President Milosevic to be murdered in 2000.
At the end of June, a B-727-2H9A is leased to the new Enugu, Nigeria-based start-up carrier Sosoliso Airlines, Ltd.
Following the concession of electoral defeat on October 6, President Slobodan Milosevic’s son Marko, together with his wife and son, flee to Moscow the next day aboard JAT’s regularly scheduled service from Belgrade. The Beta news agency reports that the young man has an extensive business empire stretching out of the family hometown of Pozarevac. Also on October 7, authorities of the new Yugoslav government attempt to keep JAT’s regularly scheduled DC-10-30 service from departing Belgrade for Beijing. They claim that the former president is attempting to ship an unspecified amount of the state’s gold out of the country and that its supports have already prevented some ?15 million in national treasure from leaving the country.
Neither the claims nor the airline actions can be independently confirmed. However, the remaining international restrictions against the carrier are lifted within days after the removal of the Milosevic government.
A B-727-2H9A is wet-leased to Nigeria Airways, Ltd. on November 13. Limited cooperation agreements are signed with Air Bosna, S. A. and Air Srpska, S. A. on November 27. The arrangement is initially aimed at the implementation of joint cost-cutting measures, but envisions the opening up of abandoned routes within Yugoslavia and the Balkans. At the end of the month, JAT Director General Mihajlo Vuji-novic issues an invitation for representatives from airlines throughout the Balkans to meet at Belgrade to discuss widening their mutual cooperation.
Hosted by JAT Yugoslav CEO Vujinovic, a “meeting of the scheduled airlines of Southeast Europe” is held at Belgrade in mid-December to consider possible joint cooperation. Attending are representatives of MALEV Hungarian Airlines, Croatia Airlines, Air Bosna, S. A., Air Srpska, S. A., Monenegro Airlines, Macedonian Airlines, and Adria Airways (Adria Aviopromet) (2). Due to an unplanned management change, TAROM Romanian Air Transport (Transporturile Aerienne Romane, S. A,) is unable to participate, but expresses interest in joint activities.
Of the eight airlines participating in the conclave, six express interest in joint commercial operations, four in joint technical and maintenance activities, and five in joint training exercises. To study and discuss matters further, three working committees are established: commercial, chaired by a representative from Adria Airways (Adria Aviopromet) (2), technical, chaired by a MALEV representative, and training, chaired by a representative from JAT.
At the end of December, orders are placed for eight Airbus A319s and a second B-727-2H9A is leased to Sosoliso Airlines, Ltd.
JATAYU AIR (JATAYU GELANG SEJAHTERA): Jl. Slamet Riyadi Raya No. 4, Matraman, Jakarta, 13150, Indonesia; Phone (021) 85904657; Fax (021) 85904656; Http://www. jatayu-air. com; Year Founded 1998. Jatayu Air is established at Jakarta in 1998 to offer public charter flights to many of the nation’s islands. H. Nasiran Wangi is president/commissioner, with Capt. Alexander Lumowa as managing director. Revenue flights begin with a single Fokker F.28 Fellowship.
JAY HAWK AIR: 1842 Merrill Field Dr., Anchorage, Alaska 99501, United States; Phone 907 276-4404; Fax 907 276-0883; Year Founded 1983. Jay Hawk is established at Anchorage in 1983 to offer lightplane air taxi, charter, and freight services to the surrounding area. In 2000, President Tim Karlovich operates a fleet that includes 3 Cessna 206 Stationaires and 1 Piper PA-31-310 Navajo.
JAYLINE, LTD.: United Kingdom (1990-1994). Established at Cardiff in 1990, Jayline does not inaugurate service until January 25, 1993. At that point, Managing Director Jan Schonburg’s single Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante begins scheduled revenue flights from the Welsh capital to Manchester. Operations continue into 1994.
JAYROW HELICOPTERS (PTY.), LTD.: Hangar 59, Bundoora Parade, Moorabbin Airport, Mentone, Victoria, 3194, Australia; Phone 61 3 587-1833; Fax 61 3 580-1236; Year Founded 1965. Jay-row is established at Mentone in 1965 to provide helicopter work services, including passenger and cargo charter, energy support, medevac, and other rotary-wing activities. By 2000, General Manager Lindsay Rose oversees the work of 21 full-time pilots and a large fleet that includes 5 Aerospatiale AS-350B A-Stars, 2 Bell 206L LongRangers, and 22 Bell 206B JetRangers.
JEFFERSON AIR SERVICE: United States (1928). Established at Minneapolis in mid-1928, Jefferson is equipped with the single Ford Tri-Motor, 4-AT-25. Scheduled passenger services are inaugurated to Rochester, but, without traffic, do not last out the year.
JEN AIR: United States (1970-1983). Joseph Flever founds JA at Barrow, Alaska, in 1970 to provide scheduled passenger, cargo, and mail services to the bush communities of Alkasook, Point Lay, Wainwright, Nuiqsut, Barter Islands, and Point Hope. Operations are undertaken with a fleet that comes to comprise 1 Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain, 1 Cessna 207, 1 Cessna 185, and 1 Cessna 210.
Unable to weather the recession of the early 1980s, the carrier folds in 1983.
JERDON AIR COMMUTER SERVICE: United States (19801982). Organized at Ardmore, Oklahoma, in 1980, Donald Ratliff’s JACS inaugurates scheduled third-level passenger flights to Sherman and Oklahoma City, plus Dallas (DFW). Operations continue apace during the remainder of the year and in 1981 with two Piper PA-31-310 Navajos; however, the carrier is unable to survive the recession and stops flying in December 1982.
JERSEY AIRLINES, LTD.: United Kingdom (1948-1963). Welshman Maldwyn Thomas forms JA at Jersey Airport in the spring of 1948. Employing leased aircraft, the company undertakes several successful day trips to France during the summer. With business profitable, Thomas seeks to register his company as an airline. With the Channel Islands
Airways, Ltd. merger partner Jersey Airways, Ltd. holding a similar name, it is decided to keep Jersey Airlines, Ltd. as marketing title for Airlines (Jersey), Ltd., which is registered on December 31.
A de Havilland DH 89A is leased from International Airways, Ltd. and is employed to launch initial revenue service on March 9, 1949, a Jersey-St. Brieuc passenger charter. This Dragon Rapide is returned on April 18, but replaced by two other rented units. The company’s first owned DH 89A is delivered on May 3; the three Dragon Rapides spend the summer flying vacationers and other tourists to France.
Enplanements for the year total 5,500.
Two more Dragon Rapides are purchased in February 1950 to replace the two returned to International Airways, Ltd. However, another is leased in May, followed by a fourth owned aircraft in August. The charter business is expanded during the summer, at the end of which, the rented DH 89A is returned.
Two more Dragon Rapides are purchased in 1951 and three-times-daily-on-Saturday scheduled services are introduced Jersey and Guernsey-Southampton.
Jersey-Exeter and Plymouth scheduled DH 89A service is inaugurated on April 7, 1952 and during the summer, additional charter destinations from Jersey are first flown: Manchester, London (LGW), Paris (LBG), Coventry, Dinard, Lessay, St. Malo, and Lannion. Airline employment is now 53 and orders are placed for 2 new DH 114s.
The first Heron 1B is delivered on May 1, 1953; christened Duchess of Jersey, it becomes the first of its type to enter service with a British airline when it commences scheduled operations over the Jersey-London (LGW) route on May 9.
While the Heron remains on this route, the Dragon Rapides, as the result of British European Airways Corporation (BEA) associate agreements signed in the spring, are given the additional scheduled routes. Included are Exeter-Paris via Jersey, Manchester-La Baule via Coventry, Bournemouth, Jersey, Dinnard, and Rennes, London (LGW)-Brest via Jersey and St. Brieuc, and Jersey-Exeter via Manchester, Coventry, and Weston-super-Mare.
Bookings for the year climb to 41,000.
In April and July 1954, respectively, two more Heron 1Bs, the Duchess of Guernsey and the Duchess of Alderney, join the fleet.
Passenger boardings figures for the year advance to 60,000 and the workforce is increased to 135.
A Heron 1B nonstop proving flight is undertaken Manchester-Dinard on January 30, 1955 and results in the start of a scheduled service over this route in June. Meanwhile, in March, the Paris terminus is transferred to Orley and on May 11 Heron flights are initiated Jersey-Bilbao. Two more Heron 1Bs, the Duchess of Paris and the Duchess of Sark, are delivered in June and August, while four Dragon Rapides are sold.
Passenger traffic for the year jumps to 76,000.
British European Airways Corporation (BEA) obtains a 25% interest in February 1956 and a new operating arrangement between the state carrier and the independent comes into effect on March 31. On April 22, the latter takes over the corporation’s scheduled services to and from Alderney as well as those from Guernsey to Southampton, Dinard, and Alderney, dropping its own Jersey-Southampton route. British European Airways Corporation (BEA) provides JA with two Heron 2s, the Duchess of Brittany and the Duchess of Normandy, in May and in early summer a new scheduled Jersey-Nantes frequency is advertised.
By year’s end, a record 132,480 bookings have been recorded and the staff is increased to 250.
In January 1957, a Bristol 170 Mk. 31E Freighter is purchased from Aer Lingus Irish Airlines, Ltd. and employed, beginning in the summer, to provide “Baronet Class” vehicle ferry service Jersey-Dinard. Three Dragon Rapides are sold during the spring, but otherwise, business operations remain the same as in 1956.
On April 1, 1958, company officials and pilots witness a demonstration of a Handley Page Herald powered by Rolls Royce Dart engines. The carrier’s first Heron 1B, Duchess of Jersey, is destroyed as the result of a landing accident on Guernsey on August 15. When financially troubled Cambrian Airways, Ltd. suspends flight activities at the end of the summer season, JA takes over its daily scheduled Jersey-Manchester via Bristol and Cardiff route under charter. Simultaneously, the unprofitable Dinard vehicle ferry service is dropped.
Reorganized, Cambrian Airways, Ltd. reclaims its Jersey-Cardiff route on March 21, 1959. At about this same time, a fleet of Douglas DC-3s is purchased from Transair International, Ltd. These join the Bristol Freighter, now outfitted with passenger seats, on the heavy traffic routes from Jersey to England; however, the Bristol is sold in July. When British European Airways Corporation (BEA) withdraws its Southampton-Jersey route, the company resumes it after a three-year absence. Jersey to Nice direct flights begin in September.
In April and May 1960, three more DC-3s are delivered and in the spring the Exeter route is extended on to Dublin. At this point, the company is reorganized, becoming a subsidiary of a new holding company, Jersey Airlines Development Corporation. In September, a ?1.5-million order is placed for four Dart Heralds.
In March and April 1961, the Heron 2s are sold, being replaced in June by a pair of DC-3s. With a delay in production holding back delivery time, Handley Page leases the HPR-7 Dart Herald 100 prototype to JA, delivering it on April 17. After several demonstration and proving flights, it is placed in service Jersey-Hurn on May 16. On June 18, the carrier, the first in the world to fly the Dart Herald commercially, uses the prototype to reopen Jersey and Guernsey-Southampton service over the route reclaimed from British European Airways Corporation (BEA) in 1960.
In need of additional capacity, JA begins flying a Vickers Viscount 754 chartered from Middle East Airlines, S. A.L. (1) on July 1. It will serve a one-month lease while a second leased Dart Herald 100 is delivered and worked up and it enters service on July 28 on the Jersey-London (LGW) route. The Heralds and Herons maintain both scheduled and summer services, the former opening weekly direct Jersey-Amsterdam flights. Lost in the fanfare of the return of the Herald 100 to Bristol in October is the sale that month of the company’s last Dragon Rapide. The second Herald is returned to its builder in December.
The first production model Dart Herald 201 is delivered on January 5, 1962, with three more acquired during the second quarter. Air Holdings, Ltd. purchases the carrier on May 20, allowing it to continue operating under its previous identity. On June 2, Jersey-Glasgow (Renfrew) scheduled service is inaugurated. Other new scheduled routes initiated during the summer include Jersey to Belfast via Exeter and Exeter to Cork. During the winter, the carrier’s Heralds begin inclusive-tour flights, the first by this aircraft type, for Lord Brothers travel agents to the Mediterranean.
British United (Channel Islands) Airways, Ltd. is formed on November 1 and on August 1, 1963, JA, following receipt of two additional Herald 201s in May and June, is totally absorbed into that new entity.
JERSEY AIRWAYS, LTD.: United Kingdom (1933-1945). Capitalized at ?120,000, Jersey is formed on December 9, 1933 by W. L. Thur-good, owner of the People’s Omnibus Company. The first aircraft, a DH 84 christened The St. Aubin's Bay, is received on December 15. However, it is a Dragon leased from Brian Lewis, Ltd. that opens daily Portsmouth-Jersey service on December 18, the carrier’s own craft arriving on the island later in the day. (The beach at St. Aubin’s Bay, near St. Helier, serves as the airfield.)
Passenger bookings reach 643.
Daily Jersey-London (Heston) DH 84 service is launched on January 28, 1934. The Jersey-Portsmouth route is extended to Southampton on March 18. On June 4, twice-weekly Jersey-Paris Dragon frequency is undertaken; the route will be withdrawn on September 27 due to a Colorado Beetle scare. On December 1, Whitehall Securities takes an interest in the airline, assigning its shareholding to the financial firm’s new nonflying holding company Channel Island Airways, Ltd.
The year’s enplanements swell to 19,221.
JA starts twice-weekly DH 84 service to Rennes on January 8, 1935. A new DH 86, christened The Giffard Bay, is placed in service London (Heston)-Jersey-London (Heston) on February 7, followed shortly by a second service. Financial difficulties become significant and the Southampton extension from Portsmouth is withdrawn on February 28 and the Rennes frequencies are halted on March 29.
Whitehall Securities takes majority shareholding in the carrier and the two, on April 4, found United Airways, Ltd., which is initially capitalized at ?50,000. On April 30, the company’s two DH 86s accompany United’s DH 89A in formation as it begins twice-daily London (Heston)-Blackpool service.
A total of 31,229 passengers are transported on the year in the company’s fleet of 2 DH 86s and 8 DH 84s.
JA opens twice-weekly Jersey-Plymouth DH 84/DH 89A summer service on April 3, 1936. The previous Southampton-Jersey service is upgraded on April 5 by the addition of an on-demand stop at Alderney.
Passenger traffic climbs to 32,411.
On April 12, 1937, newspapers become cargo for the first time on the company’s Southampton-Jersey route. Jersey-Brighton and Jersey-Exeter flights begin on May 31, the latter replacing the Plymouth route of the previous year. On June 1, mail is initially flown on the Jersey-Southampton route.
As of February 28, 1938, an on-demand stop is made at Portsmouth; the destination becomes regular on May 28. On August 9, a pooled service with Air France is launched between Jersey and Dinard, with each company flying the route twice weekly. In accordance with the Air Navigation Order of September 16, the new Air Transport Licensing Board (ATLB) issues the company route certification on October 21 to Jersey from Southampton and London (Heston).
Boardings advance to 33,875.
On May 27, 1939, both JA and Guernsey Airways, Ltd. open DH 86 services from Guernsey to Exeter and Brighton. The prototype of the de Havilland DH 95 Flamingo is accepted for testing on July 3. On July 31, founder W. L. Thurgood sells his interest to Whitehall Securities’ nonflying holding company Channel Island Airways, Ltd., which now becomes half owner along with Great Western Railway (25%) and Southern Railway (25%).
Services are suspended on June 30, at which point 6,553 passengers have been flown since May. By September, the DH 95 has transported 1,373 passengers over 25,915 miles. On September 3, war is declared on Germany and all civil flying ceases. Working in close association with Guernsey Airways, Ltd. as the result of increased railroad investment, limited interisland services are resumed on October 24 as well as flights from Shoreham to Jersey and Guernsey.
As with Guernsey Airways, Ltd., the company is not required to become a member of the British wartime internal route and service coordinating body, Associated Airways Joint Committee, formed on May 5, 1940. The seriousness of the war situation forces the suspension of all Channel Islands operations; Company aircraft are transferred to Exeter on June 15 and, flying from there, assist Guernsey in the evacuation of 319 people from the islands to Britain.
In March 1943, the Great Western Railway and Southern Railway take majority shareholding in Channel Islands Airways, naming K. W. C. Grand chairman; the holding company now controls both Jersey Airways, Ltd. and Guersey Airways, Ltd.
Officials of the two carriers fly to the islands on May 26, 1945 aboard a de Havilland DH 89A leased from Railway Air Services, Ltd. to plan the resumption of services. Another Dragon Rapide is received on loan from RAS and on June 21 are employed to resume London (Croydon)-Jersey and Guernsey service. The two RAS machines are replaced by purchased units delivered on July 7 and 12, respectively. JA and Guernsey Airways, Ltd. begin early morning cargo and newspaper services from London (Croydon) to their namesake islands on July 16, following this two days later with the reintroduction of local weekday interisland services. On September 1, the two airlines are merged by their railroad owners into a single carrier, which is given the name of the holding company, Channel Islands Airways, Ltd.
JERSEY EUROPEAN AIRWAYS, LTD.: United Kingdom (19792000). Express Air Services, Ltd. is formed at Bournemouth-Hurn Airport in 1978 to offer passenger and cargo charter flights, contract cargo operations, and aircraft leasing. The initial fleet comprises 2 Handley Page HPR 7 Dart Heralds.
The third-level carrier Jersey European Airways, Ltd. is formed on November 1, 1979, to take over the assets and activities, as well as the routes, of bankrupt Jersey-based Intra Airways, Ltd. Simultaneously, Intra is merged with Express Air Services, Ltd.
The new company, wholly owned by St. Aubins Finance Company Holdings, Ltd., appoints J. D. Habin chairman, with C. G. Rabbitts as general manager. A workforce of 70 is recruited and a fleet is assembled comprising 3 de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters and 2 Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirantes.
Destinations visited in 1980 from Guernsey and Jersey include London (STN), Shoreham, Dinard, St. Brieuc, Paris (CDG), Brussels, and Lille.
On October 14, the company joins the Royal Mail program known as “Spokes from Speke,” flying a Twin Otter each night from Southend to the sorting hub at Liverpool and back to Southend for distribution.
The fleet is altered late in the year to include 3 Britten-Norman BN-2 Islanders in place of 2 of the 3 Twin Otters. Enplanements for the first complete year total 35,000.
By 1981, passenger boardings are 65,000. In March 1982, service is started Liverpool-Dublin and Liverpool-Waterford and Cork.
Enplanements drop to 61,000 on the year in the wake of poor summer traffic and increasing financial difficulties.
The $3-million-plus debt-ridden carrier is purchased in November 1983 by Blackburn-based C. Walker and Sons, Ltd. (later Walker Steel Group). Activities of Walker’s small commuter, Spacegrand Aviation, Ltd., begun by Jack Walker in 1978 as a corporate air taxi with a Piper PA-23 Aztec, are coordinated with JEAL in 1984 and Peter Glenister is appointed managing director by the Walker Aviation Group. Exeter is chosen as the coordinated airlines’ main base, as well as headquarters for the leasing and engineering departments of Walker Aviation Group. Following a CAA grant of scheduled routes, Spacegrand begins to provide scheduled services from Belfast to Exeter while JEAL flies to Exeter from Jersey.
Post Office overnight airmail service is launched from Exeter in 1985. Productivity and route rationalization campaigns are continued. The subsidiaries Guide Leasing, Skybreak Tours, and JEAL Engineering are formed. In August, a deal is signed with the French carrier UTA French Airlines, S. A. to facilitate transfers and ticketing through the Charles De Gaulle International Airport at Paris.
Enplanements total 150,000.
The employee population in 1986 is 140. The fleet is altered as a Shorts 360 is delivered. In addition to the Shorts 360 and Twin Otters, Managing Director Glenister’s fleet now also possesses 4 Bandeirantes and 3 Shorts 330s.
Spacegrand and JEAL are finally amalgamated within the Walker Aviation Group and the Jersey-Exeter-Belfast networks of the two former independents are integrated on the route map. The JEAL name survives and a new aircraft livery is adopted to provide a uniform appearance over the whole network.
Also during the spring, the carrier withdraws it application for routes out of the new London City STOLport after its five DHC-6 Twin Otters are proclaimed unacceptable for service at the then-unfinished facility. Meanwhile, Exeter-Dublin services are inaugurated.
Teesside joins the route network in 1987. A new sales office is opened at States Airport, St. Peter, Jersey.
Enplanements are 98,000 and revenues total ?5.5 million.
Three Twin Otters are replaced in 1988 by three more Shorts 360s. Enplanements total 115,000.
Services are started to Bournemouth in 1989 and the fleet is strengthened by the purchase of two Fokker F.27-500s from Australian-based Eastwest Airlines (Pty.), Ltd. and the lease of three British Aerospace (HS) 748s. F.27 service is now begun to Jersey and Guernsey from Southampton and a massive advertising campaign is undertaken.
Passenger bookings jump to 263,000.
David McCullough becomes managing director in 1990 and he inherits a workforce of 150. McCullough now removes all of the Shorts 330s and Twin Otters, replacing them with four more Australian F.27-500s.
Following Iraq’s August 2 invasion of Kuwait, it becomes necessary to increase fares 13%-15% just to cover increased fuel bills.
In October, a new appearance is presented, complete with new uniforms for personnel. All aircraft are painted in the company’s new corporate livery, largely applied under the eager eyes of Chairman Jack Walker, who has retired from the chairmanship of his steel conglomerate to devote his energies to the airline.
Passenger boardings skyrocket 75% to 460,000 and revenues reach ?26 million ($49.4 million).
Company employment is increased by 33.3% in 1991 to 200 as 1 F.27-500 and 1 Shorts 360 are withdrawn. Birmingham European Airways, Ltd. founder Trefor Jones is appointed Group managing director in January. Destinations now visited include Belfast, Birmingham, Blackpool, Bournemouth, Bristol, Dinard, Exeter, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Leeds/Bradford, London (LGW), Manchester, Paris, Southampton, and Teeside. Two two-year Post Office night mail contracts are received for routes from Glasgow to East Midlands and Edinburgh to Manchester and the last two remaining chartered BAe 748s operate them.
Customer bookings ascend 24% to 605,385.
The workforce is boosted by 90% in 1992 to 380. During the year, Air Europe Express, Ltd. and Dan Air/Dan Air Services, Ltd. withdraw from their respective routes from London (LGW) to the Channel Islands and to Belfast. JEAL quickly acquires the rights and begins Shorts 360-300 flights to Gurnsey within three days. The company also starts to significantly strengthen its fleet by ordering two British Aerospace BAe 146-200s and a 146-300.
In October, the “Spokes from Speke” program is changed into Royal Mail Skynet.
Passenger boardings fall 2.1% to 580,818.
In 1993, new Managing Director Barry Perrott oversees a workforce of 380 and a fleet that includes 4 each Fokker F.27-500s, F.27-500Fs, 5 Shorts 360s, and 1 Bandeirante. The first BAe 146-200 arrives in March and begins flying from London (LGW) to Belfast; two more follow in April. A fourth BAe 146-200 is delivered in late May and in June inaugurates jet service from Belfast to Birmingham.
Scheduled departures total 30,651 this year, customer bookings rise 13.8% to 776,610, and the year’s net loss is $5.92 million.
For the second straight year, in 1994, JEAL is awarded the “Best U. K. Regional Airline” trophy at the Northern Ireland Travel and Tourism awards ceremony. Business-class services are also introduced. Although the number of scheduled departures drops to 25,473, passenger boardings increase by 29% to 847,462. Consequently, a net gain of $2.88 million is reported.
There is no change in the workforce in 1995. The jet fleet is, however, increased by three additional BAe 146-200s. A new corporate business image is projected and new uniforms are introduced designed to fit in with JEAL’s new corporate business image.
The company enters into a code-sharing, blocked-seat agreement with Air U. K., Ltd. and during the summer employs its BAes in support of its new partner over a route from Belfast to Amsterdam. When it is determined that the joint service will have no long-term benefit, it is suspended and the partnership is ended.
Enplanements, through October, total 982,529 and operating income reaches $115.4 million. There are profits: $1.6 million (operating) and $4.7 million (net).
Airline employment is increased by 20.5% in 1996 to 458 and the owned fleet now includes 3 Shorts 360-300s, 1 F.27-500F, and 6
F.27-500s, 2 of which are leased to Channel Express Air Services, Ltd. Also operated, under charter, are 1 BAe 146-100, 3 146-200s, and 2 146-300s.
In March, London (LGW) to Guernsey service is upgraded when the F.27s previously employed are replaced with BAe 146s. The number of daily flights to Birmingham via Jersey is now doubled. During October, the company becomes the first U. K.-based carrier to become an Air France franchise partner. Two more BAe 146-100s, painted in “Air France Express” colors, are delivered and are employed to operate thrice-daily “Air France Express” roundtrip routes from Toulouse to London (LHR). It also takes over the Air France service from Lyon to London (LHR), which is upgraded to thrice daily at the end of the year with a fourth BAe 146, a Dash-300, which like the others, has been leased from BAe Asset Management: Jets.
Customer bookings this year reach 1,267,476 and a ?2.5-million pretax profit is recorded.
The employee population increases 72.7% in 1997 to 791. Markets visited from Belfast and Jersey include Birmingham, Blackpool, Bristol, Derry, Exeter, Glasgow, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Leeds/Bradford, London (LGW and STN), Manchester, and Paris.
In March, the carrier increases frequencies on its core routes from London (LGW) to Belfast (City Airport) and from London (STN) to Belfast International Airport. At the same time, new BAe 146-100 “Air France Express” routes are inaugurated from Birmingham to Glasgow and to Paris (CDG).
Passenger boardings soar 33.7% to 1,694,074 while cargo skyrockets 157.4% to 1.07 million FTKs.
The fleet at the beginning of 1998 includes 3 each BAe 146-100s and Shorts 360s, 7 BAe 146-200s, 5 Fokker F.27s, and 2 BAe 146-300s.
Weekly service is inaugurated on May 2 between London (CTN) and Jersey. As of May 18, all of JEAL’s services from the Channel Islands to Birmingham and Glasgow are operated with BAe 146s, which have replaced F.27s.
Arrangements are made to take over five former Thai Airways International, Ltd. (THAI) BAe 146-300s that had previously been designated for delivery to Debonair Airways, Ltd. All are on hand by the end of June, bringing the number of BAe 146s in the JEAL fleet to 17.
Employing the new aircraft, JEAL inaugurates thrice-daily roundtrips from London (CTN) to both Jersey and Guernsey on June 29.
Flights continue apace during the remainder of the year.
Customer bookings jump 17.3% to 2.06 million and revenues reach ?135 million.
On February 13, 1999, KLM U. K., Ltd., apparently without much warning to tour operators, withdraws service to Guernsey from Amsterdam, Southampton, and London (LGW). Upwards of 3,000 vacationers and others are to be left without transport after March 28 and despite its new marketing campaign, the carrier gives itself a black eye with travel agents.
JEAL, the other scheduled carrier into Guernsey, meets with Transport Board officials on February 17 and agrees to do what it can to provide additional lift, particularly over the Easter holidays. Managing Director Ian Taylor agrees to purchase new aircraft after the Transport Board assures him that he will have no competition on the route from Southampton to Guernsey for at least a year.
In March, JEAL adds three new “Air France Express” services from Glasgow and Edinburgh to Paris (CDG). Those from Glasgow are operated with BAe 146-300s while that from Edinburgh is flown with a wet-leased Air France B-737-228A.
On March 15, a ?150-million ($250-million) order is confirmed with Bombardier Aerospace of Canada for 15 new DHC-8 turboprops and Canadair CRJ-200 Regional Jets, delivery of which will begin in October and continue through early 2001. It is anticipated that the upgrade will result in over 200 new jobs at the company’s Exeter base.
World History
