The national airline “Air Montenegro” will once again pay the mandatory insurance for the “Embraer E195” aircraft with registration number 4O-AOC, which has been grounded for nearly five years. Queries regarding this aircraft, acquired for $44 million, were redirected from the Ministry of Transport to the State Property Administration, which briefly informed “Vijesti” that it did not partake in its purchase.

This aircraft, affectionately known as Charlie, has been inactive since December 2020 following the bankruptcy of the former national airline “Montenegro Airlines,” where it was part of the fleet. It remains exposed on the apron of Podgorica airport, deteriorating and lacking proper storage as per aviation industry standards for long-term storage (temporary withdrawal from service).

The condition of the plane is rapidly worsening, with no signs that the state of Montenegro, which officially owns the aircraft, will take action to halt its depreciation and degradation anytime soon.

Unconfirmed reports to “Vijesti” state that an insurance policy for Charlie has been secured for 2025 at the expense of Air Montenegro. The other two aircraft from the former “Montenegro Airlines” were purchased by the new state-owned airline with capital provided by the Government, making them its property, but not Charlie.

Charlie was acquired by Montenegro Airlines in 2010 through a loan from the Brazilian bank BNDS. The former national airline had paid a total of $38 million in installments before its bankruptcy. The remaining funds were settled by the Montenegrin government at the beginning of last year, clarifying that failing to do so would require returning the aircraft to the Brazilians in operational condition, effectively forfeiting all payments made.

Unfortunately, since Charlie was not adequately stored when it landed in Podgorica in December 2020, its condition has declined significantly.

In the summer of 2021, discussions of “Air Montenegro” paying the final loan installment to BNDS instead of the Government arose. At that time, the Technical Service of the new national airline estimated that approximately eight million dollars would be needed to restore Charlie to flying condition. Given almost four more years of neglect, this potential investment has likely increased considerably.

Government authorities and relevant ministries – Transport, responsible for air traffic, and Spatial Planning, Urbanism, and State Property – which should oversee Charlie as state property, have yet to provide detailed updates regarding the status and future of this aircraft, which has already incurred total expenditures of $44 million.

After the BNDS Bank submitted the final documentation to the Government in early April last year, officially transferring ownership of the aircraft, no actions have been taken by state administration to protect Charlie from further degradation, assess its condition and worth, or estimate the required investments to restore it, nor to determine the potential profitability of such restoration.

The Ministry of Transport (MoT) announced last year that multiple options were under consideration and an assessment was necessary for each.

“One possible option we are evaluating involves issuing a public call for consultants to assess the current condition of the aircraft, its market value, and the necessary investments to restore it to operational status. The main challenge remains the scarcity of qualified organizations with the appropriate certifications to conduct the requested analyses,” the Ministry conveyed to Vijesti in August of last year.

Since then, however, no tenders have been announced for evaluators, nor has the Air Montenegro Technical Service been permitted to inspect Charlie, even within its official capacity for maintaining the E195 aircraft, to provide a cost estimate for bringing it back to flight-ready status, if deemed feasible at all.

Upon sending inquiries regarding Charlie to “Vijesti,” the Ministry of Transport informally directed them to the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism, and State Property, which includes the State Property Administration, the entity responsible for overseeing this aircraft.

However, this Administration did not respond to any of “Vijesti’s” questions about their actions regarding the completion of the technical condition assessment, the completion of financial investment evaluations needed to restore the aircraft to operational status… or, if incomplete, the reasons for such delays and the failure to decide the aircraft’s fate while it continues to lose value daily.

“The State Property Administration did not participate in the procurement or purchase of the Charlie aircraft,” came the Administration’s response, along with a detailed chronology of communications among the Ministry of Transport, the State Property Administration, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism, and State Property regarding this year’s insurance arrangements for the aircraft.

Since the Ministry of Finance explicitly refused to allocate funds from the current budget reserve to cover Charlie’s insurance for 2025, this cost was again covered (as it has been in previous years) by the national airline, which is neither its owner nor will be in the foreseeable future, due to the inaction and irresponsible attitudes of the authorities towards this state asset.

Was the newest of the three E-195s in “Montenegro Airlines”

“Charlie” was the newest of the three E-195 aircraft that the former national airline “Montenegro Airlines” operated before its bankruptcy. This aircraft was delivered from the Brazilian Embraer factory in São José dos Campos on July 16, 2010, to the former Montenegrin national company, financed by a long-term loan from the Brazilian national bank BNDS.

This particular plane made its final flight for Montenegro Airlines on December 26, 2020, when “Charlie” was moved from Tivat Airport, its base, to Podgorica Airport. The management of the former airline announced that day the suspension of all flights, as it could no longer sustain operations without state aid. Although the plane was fully operational and airworthy at the time, it was never properly prepared for long-term storage in Podgorica. “Charlie” has been left exposed to the elements for nearly five years near the hangar of “Montenegro Airlines,” and in the interim, various parts of the aircraft have been removed under unclear circumstances, further damaging this E-195.

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