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It was founded on 17 June 1927 as Aeroput, the name changed on 1 April 1947 to Jugoslovenski Aerotransport (JAT), then to JAT Yugoslav Airlines and finally to Jat Airways in January of 2003.
After World War II Jat resumed its network with DC-3 and JU-52 aircraft. Later DC-6 for long haul and CV-330/440 for short haul routes were bought.
In 1963, the first Caravelle jet aircraft joined the Jat's fleet. In 1969 the first DC-9 (out of 16) and in 1974 the first two Boeing 727-200's arrived (out of 9).
Long-haul routes to America, Australia and Far East were serviced by Boeing 707s, which were introduced in 1970. In 1978 a widebody Douglas DC-10 was purchased to succeed the Boeing 707s on the longer haul routes although the 707s stayed in service into the 1980s on ad-hoc charters and as scheduled-flight replacement aircraft.
In 1985 Jat was the first European airline to purchase Boeing 737-300s. They where famous by its new silver livery.
During those "golden years" the company carried 5 million passengers annually and served 80 destinations on five continents (19 domestic, 45 medium haul and 16 long haul routes). This record still remains unbeaten in Eastern Europe today (with exception of Aeroflot).
But in 1992 Yugoslavia broke up and Jat stopped all international services because UN sanctions. During that time Jat served only domestic lines between Belgrade, PodgoricaPodgorica (formerly Titograd and Ribnica is the capital of Montenegro and the judicial capital of Serbia and Montenegro, located at 42. 47° North, 19. In 2003 it had a population of 139,500. The name literally means "under the Gorica" in Serbian; Gorica (, TivatTivat is a town in southern Montenegro in the bay of Boka Kotorska, population 10,100, Tivat municipality 13,991 (2003). Cities in Serbia and Montenegro., NisNi (, the Roman Naissus see below) is a city in Serbia and Montenegro (formerly Yugoslavia), 43. 9° E, on the river NiSava, 2004 population 174,300, according to the World Gazeteer (see external link). The city covers the area of about 597 square kilometr and PristinaPriStina ( Serbian) or Prishtina/Prishtin ( Albanian) is the capital city of the province called Kosovo and Metohia, located in the south of Serbia at 42°65' N, 21°17' E. The population is 204,500 as of 2003. The city now has a majority of Albanians, foll. Finally in 1994 Jat resumed its international services and aircraft had been repainted in a new livery.
In 1998 Jat ordered 8 Airbus A319s. The original delivery date was in June 2000 but it has been postponed indefinitely. Today, Jat is searching the way to cancel that order and to purchase Boeing 737NG aircraft instead.
The company have plans to restart long haul operations to North America (New York, Toronto, Chicago) in June 2005 with two Boeing 767The Boeing 767 is a commercial passenger airplane manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The Boeing 767, which was introduced in about the same time period as the 757, has a seat-to-aisle ratio in economy class of 3. 5 seats per aisle, making for qu aircraft it plans to lease. They also have plans to replace aircraft for domestic destinations with Embraer 170s.
Scheduled destinations: Domestic: Belgrade, Podgorica, Tivat, Nis; International: AmsterdamMunicipality of Amsterdam St Andrew's crosses are taken to represent these (though the crosses are even older than the motto). A popular tradition links the X's to the three threats to the city: Water, Fire and Pestilence. Alternate meanings: See Amsterda, Athens, Banja Luka, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Cairo, Copenhagen, Damascus, Dubai, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Gothenburg, Istanbul, Larnaka, Ljubljana, London, Malta, Milan, Monastir, Moscow, Munich, Paris, Prague, Rome, Sarajevo, Skopje, Stockholm, Stuttgart, Thessaloniki, Tirana, Trieste, Tripoli, Tunis, Vienna and Zürich.
The fleet: