WE TRAVERSED THE ATLANTIC T he Embraer E-195 aircraft registered as YU-ATA, which departed from San Jose and travelled to Serbia via New York, Canada’s Goose Bay and Iceland’s Keflavik, landed in Belgrade on 10 th December 2025 and was officially added to the Air Serbia fleet at the end of the year. It completed its first commercial flights in early January 2026 – with the new aircraft beginning its operations, in a symbolic way, at the start of the new year, as it marked the further strengthening of the Serbian national airline’s fleet and operational capacities. This is all explained to us by captain Damir Maršić, who flew the new plane to Serbia, together with first officer Aleksandar Krstić. According to Maršić, Air Serbia’s Embraer fleet already included two aircraft, while a fourth Embraer is expected to arrive soon. In this short interview with Damir, who is a technical pilot specialising in Embraer aircraft, we discover more details about this type of aircraft in the Air Serbia fleet. Where does this new plane come from? “The plane registered as YU-ATA was manufactured in 2015, so it is precisely ten years old. Prior to its arrival in our fleet, it flew for Brazilian national airline Azul Brazilian Airlines, which is one of the world’s largest Embraer fleet operators. We flew the plane all the way from Costa Rica.” DAMIR MARŠIĆ, TECHNICAL PILOT, E-95
What can you tell us about that journey? “The flight began with our departure from the airport in San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, and from there we headed to New York. Following a short break in this exceptional city, we continued our journey to Canada, where we made a technical stop in Goose Bay to refuel and prepare the plane in fine detail for the transatlantic flight. The next stage took us to Iceland, where we rested and made our final preparations for the last segment of the journey to Belgrade.” The entire crossing took three days? “Yes, with a total flight time of 17 hours and 45 minutes, while the distance covered totalled around 12,000 kilometres. Despite many interesting moments over the course of this journey, I would definitely single out the flight over the Atlantic Ocean, which took about four hours. Flying such a route is extremely rare for this type of aircraft. Specifically, the vast majority of planes in this family travel to Europe from South America, most commonly via the island of Tenerife, while transatlantic flights via the
northern route, including Greenland and Iceland, are much rarer and are far more demanding when it comes to planning and implementation. This crossing once again showed that we have in our ranks highly professional, dedicated and experienced people, who are ready to respond to even the most complex operational challenges.” What are the advantages of the Embraer E195? “The Embraer E195 is an extremely economical and efficient aircraft that’s characterised by low fuel consumption, quiet engines and a high level of comfort for passengers. It is particularly suitable for companies like Air Serbia, as it can serve all destinations currently covered by Airbus A319 and ATR72 aircraft, thus enabling optimal fleet planning based on each individual flight’s passenger numbers and economic profitability. Thanks to its performance, the E-195 represents the ideal connection between regional and “mainline” segments, rendering the fleet more flexible and competitive.” And when it comes to the crew and performance? “The standard crew comprises two pilots and three cabin crew members. This plane has an average take-off speed of around 140 knots (approximately 260 km/h), while its average speed for landing is slightly lower, at around 135 knots (250 km/h), depending on aircraft weight and runway conditions. The plane flies at a speed of around 830 km/h at cruise altitude, meaning it is as fast as larger narrow-body passenger planes. All three of our Embraer aircraft have a configuration of 118 seats, including six in business class and 112 in economy class, and the plan is to use them on routes operated using planes from our ATR and Airbus fleets. This regional type of aircraft, which is currently used by many airlines around the world, has a maximum cruise altitude of 12.5 thousand metres.”
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