Serbia and Turkey will create a joint airline

The Turkish Airlines is ready to sign a contract with the largest airline of Serbia JAT Airways by March 2011. The contract will enable Turkish Airlines to create one of the largest airlines in the Balkans - Balkan Airways.

About the possibility of acquisition of JAT Airways the largest airline in Turkey Serbian minister Suleiman Ugljanin announced on Monday at a press conference in Belgrade after his visit in Turkey, reports Reuters.

Currently, Turkey has a 49% stake in the shares of another airline in the former Yugoslavia - BH Airlines in Bosnia. The package was purchased by a Turkish airline in 2008.

At the same time, representatives of the "Turkish Airlines" note that the final decision on the transaction is still under discussion.

Sale of JAT Airways is planned by the Serbian government from November 2010. Then Serbian government asked one of the leading consulting companies in the world - Deloitte - to determine the financial condition of the air carrier, find the potential partner and present airline under a new brand before the end of 2011.

In 2009 JAT Airways was unprofitable. Company losses were amounted to 16.5 million euros. Subsequently JAT Airways received a loan from the government for 51 million euros for the renewal of the fleet and preparing JAT Airways for selling. To reduce losses in 2010 JAT Airways has been forced to sell the building, which housed the headquarters of the company.

To date, the company’s fleet has 15 planes.

It is worth noting that Turkish Airlines has also been one of the potential buyers for another Eastern European company - Polish Lot. But the Turkish airline decided to concentrate their efforts in the Balkan area.