However, all this changed dramatically in the summer of 1991
when the sudden dissolution of Yugoslavia was to bring turmoil
to the prosperous airline company.Freefall Years
The disintegration of Yugoslavia was a huge blow for JAT,
and although it continued its operations as a Serbian public
enterprise it lost more than 45% of its domestic passenger
base and access to at least 14 different airports across Slovenia,
Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia.
Moreover, UN sanctions imposed on the newly-formed
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (a federation between
Serbia and Montenegro) meant that JAT had to suspend its
intercontinental f lights in May 1992 and international f lights
a month later. As a result, it had no option but to return all
leased aircraft as well as selling one of its two DC-10s and to
cancel the contract to purchase three new MD-11s.
In the new reality, JAT operated domestic services only and
transported just 287,000 passengers in 1993. Towards the end
of the year the carrier adopted a new visual identity by replacing
the famous JAT ‘egg’ (the ellipse containing acronym JAT) with
a new logo based upon the f lag of the FR Yugoslavia.
The partial suspension of UN sanctions in 1994 allowed
JAT to renew its international f lights on October 6 and it
had managed to re-establish most of its Euro-Mediterranean
routes by 1999. During this time it raised revenue by leasingits surplus 727s and DC-9s to other carriers; however, facing
mounting debts and with only one DC-10 in the f leet, JAT was
unable to effectively restart intercontinental operations.
In 1998 Slobodan Milosevic’s government made a US$23.5
million down payment to Airbus Industries for eight A319-
100 short haul jets to replenish the ageing f leet. The aircraft
were to be delivered to JAT from 2000 to 2005 under a
contract worth almost $339 million. This controversial deal
was reportedly part of Milosevic’s strategy to gain European
support for his operations in Kosovo and to avoid NATO
military intervention, however EU and NATO policy remained
unchanged and Yugoslavia faced a 78-day long NATO
bombardment during 1999.
The Kosovo crisis affected JAT as early as on September 9,
1998, when the company was banned from f lying to European
Union countries as a result of the EU-imposed sanctions against
Yugoslavia. A total suspension of all JAT f lights also took
place from March 24, 1999 (when NATO began bombarding
Yugoslavia) until June 25, when JAT finally re-established
international f lights after the NATO campaign came to an end.The third US-made
jetliner to join JAT
was the Boeing 727.
Nine 727-2H9(Adv)
versions were
acquired between
1974 and 1981 and
three others were
leased. YU-AKB,
seen here landing at
Heathrow on June 7,
1975, was acquired
new in 1974.
A M B A • The
accelerated
development of the
intercontinental
network and the
phased retirement of
the 707 f leet towards
the end of the 1980s
led JAT to lease
additional DC-10s to
boost its wide-body
f leet. Aa total of eight
dif ferent DC-10s
served JAT, including
YU-AMB, seen here
at Melbourne in
Australia.
C C A - The first steps
in establishing
intercontinental
f lights were made
when JAT leased its
f irst Boeing 707-321
in 1970. The airline
operated a total of
ten different 707s
between 1970 and
- YU-AGG is
seen here at Toronto
in June 1979.
C C
88 AIRLINER Classics 2018
UN sanctions forced JAT had to
suspend its international f lights