The national airline Air Montenegro has once again taken on a short-term wet lease of an Embraer E190 aircraft from the Ukrainian company "Windrose Airlines".
The aircraft with the registration number UR-EMA flew into Tivat from the airport in the Polish city of Bidogošć on February 11, and four days later was included in the regular Air Montenegro traffic on the routes from Tivat to Belgrade and Istanbul.
Air Montenegro management confirmed to “Vijesti” that they have signed a new contract with “Windrose Airlines” on leasing an aircraft under the so-called ACMI model (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance, Insurance). This so-called “wet lease” arrangement implies that the aircraft owner provides the aircraft, its crew, maintenance and pays for the aircraft’s insurance, while the lessee pays the agreed lease fee and bears all operating costs of the aircraft. This aircraft is 13 years old, has a capacity of 104 passengers, and Air Montenegro has leased it twice in previous years.
Air Montenegro carried 24.245 passengers in January, which is a 29 percent better result than in the same month last year, and operated 26 percent more flights than in January 2024.
"The duration of the new lease agreement is for the period from February 11, 2025 to October 31 of this year, during which the E190 (UR-EMA) aircraft is expected to achieve 1.600 flight hours. The lease of the aircraft ensured that Air Montenegro would not be in a situation where it would operate with only one aircraft at any time during 2025, and the departure of our Embraer E195 (4O-AOB) for regular structural work from February 20 to March 20 was compensated in this way," the company explained.
They assessed that the Ukrainian "Windrose Airlines" is "a good, now traditional partner with whom they have implemented safe and precise traffic for the past two years."
"Although Air Montenegro strives to have aircraft in its fleet owned or leased through a "dry lease" arrangement, it is not simple and straightforward to completely eliminate "wet lease" after a number of years in which 50% of the fleet and around 60% of seat capacity were leased in this way," explained the company, whose CEO is Vukadin Stojanović.
He previously announced that Air Montenegro, which owns two aircraft, will soon expand its fleet by taking on a long-term operational lease (dry lease) of another Embraer E195 aircraft.
According to unofficial information, the deal is in its final stages, and another E195 should join the Air Montenegro fleet in the next few months, most likely from Denmark. This aircraft will be taken under a commercial arrangement with its owner in the same way that the former national carrier Montenegro Airlines used its first two E195 aircraft (4O-AOA and 4O-AOB) under a dry lease from the American company GECAS for years, which the Government purchased from GECAS a few years ago and are now owned by Air Montenegro.
"We are currently carrying out two parallel procedures regarding the "dry lease" of the aircraft with which we will expand the fleet. The first is the verification of the specific aircraft and its documentation, in order to more easily access the "airworthiness review" process and the introduction of the aircraft into the Montenegrin aircraft register and the AOC certificate of Air Montenegro. The second procedure is the coordination of the lease agreement. Although we are sure that this aircraft will be part of our fleet, since the contract has not yet been signed, we will refrain from disclosing more details at this time. What we can say is that it is an Embraer E195 aircraft, which is in compliance with the European Aviation Safety Agency EASA and has an active ARC (airworthiness review certificate) according to EASA," the company said.
According to their plans, this aircraft should be put into service by June 1, however, as they pointed out, "all actions are being taken to ensure that the aircraft starts operating earlier." Since it will be leased for several years, this aircraft will be branded in Air Montenegro's colors and markings, and it will be serviced by the company's flight and cabin crew, as well as mechanics.
E2 aircraft in Air Montenegro's plans
The national airline said they are also considering the need to promptly modernize and improve their fleet in the long term. The focus of attention is on the latest so-called E2 generation of E-series regional jets from Brazilian manufacturer Embraer, as the first-generation E-jets that have flown and are still flying in the fleets of Montenegro Airlines and Air Montenegro have performed exceptionally well since 2008, when the first of them was introduced into operational use.
"It is also considering the E-jet E2 aircraft, or the second generation of Embraer's E-jet aircraft, however, due to the availability of aircraft and slots, it is not realistic to expect this type of aircraft in the Air Montenegro fleet before 2027/2028. In addition to fuel savings, there are other reasons why it is considering introducing the E2 into the fleet. The acquisition of a second-generation Embraer aircraft would formally mean entering the process of renewing the national carrier's fleet, which is the largest strategic issue and the future direction of the company's development, so it must be discussed in detail with the owner - the Government of Montenegro," the company said.
A few years ago, there was a presentation of the E195-E2 aircraft at Podgorica airport, in which the then Montenegro Airlines was interested.
This aircraft is slightly larger than the first-generation E195 models, which have 116 passenger seats, because the newer aircraft has a capacity of 132 to 146 passengers, has a larger and redesigned passenger cabin, state-of-the-art avionics, and consumes less fuel and is about 25 percent more economically efficient in operation than the first-generation E195.
The E195-E2 has a range of 4.800 kilometers, and is designed to be the main competitor to the current most modern regional passenger jet, the Airbus A-220, which is currently being introduced into its fleet by the Croatian national airline Croatia Airlines and of which the E195-E2 is, according to data from the Brazilian factory, about 10 percent cheaper to operate.
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