Fleet replacement programme also starts at last

Published: 7/13/2000

Balkan Airlines will resume its flights to New York in 2001, according to Baruh Chakarov, the new head of the company. The flight to New York will be included in the company's winter timetable and marks the return of direct flights after the failure of the proposed NY code-sharing with Uzbekistan Airlines earlier this year. This was part of the airline's strategy of reducing its involvement in long haul routes, as it feels it is neither competitive or has the aircraft to undertake such flights. Currently Balkan is offering flights to New York with LOT from Warsaw. The airline's fleet replacement programme, although to slow in starting in some commentators' eyes, starts with the arrival of the first of two ATRs in early August to replace An-26s on regional routes and flights to Athens and Istanbul. Chakarov recently replaced David Gray, the ex-British Airways executive who was in the job for less than a year. Gray, who remains a director and consultant, was under considerable pressure during his tenure from both the airline's workforce and the government in disputes about whether the terms of the sale of the airline to the Zeevi Group were being met.

Article ID: 1931