Air Serbia axes Marathon wet-lease pact after Belgrade E195 accident

Air Serbia has ended its co-operation agreement with Greek carrier Marathon Airlines in the wake of a serious accident involving a departing Embraer 195 at Belgrade. The Serbian carrier is not waiting for the findings of an investigation into the 18 February accident, in which the twinjet sustained serious fuselage damage on take-off while operating flight JU324 to Dusseldorf. Air Serbia says it contacted the Serbian civil aviation directorate and the transport accident investigation centre immediately after the occurrence. It adds that it is not disclosing any details of the event while the investigation is in progress. But the carrier states that, “regardless of the results” of the inquiry, it has informed Marathon Airlines about termination of their co-operation pact, and no Air Serbia flights will be operated by the Greek airline’s aircraft from 21 February. “Flights that should have been operated by Marathon Airlines will now be operated by other aircraft in the fleet to maintain traffic continuity,” it adds.<br/>