TRIP REPORT | INDEX
Written by Petar Djordjevic
First of all, let me say that I fly Air Serbia quite often (Etihad Silver status, probably gold status this year unless Corona says otherwise). I really enjoy Air Serbia. I moved my business more towards Serbia and one of the reasons why I did that, apart from favorable tax rates, is great connectivity with my main markets and places where my customers are. (Sofia, Bucharest, Athens, Istanbul, Zagreb, Ljubljana, Kiev... soon Tirana etc.).
Apart from being emotionally attached to Air Serbia (I guess it comes from the time when they had the first group of really professional and great staff and among the best service in terms of soft product), I can’t be blind not to notice the decrease in service quality. I do not mean in catering, as one may think, or seats, they are quite decent for current aviation standards, but rather the skills of staff (from check-in to the crew).
The experience onboard is not standardized and depends on the people working on the particular flight. If they are nice and professional, they will give you a warm greeting and you will feel it, if they are not ... you will feel like you are in an Indian bus.
For example, I have heard one Cabin Senior saying to the crew member not to help people with English forms to enter Germany. I was shocked with the Cabin Senior’ attitude. This form is related to corona and Air Serbia only provides it in English language. Needless to say, that most Gastarbeiters (foreign workers) like most Germans don’t care about or are not fluent in English. Not sure if there is anyone who is responsible for these matters, but I would look or ask for the German language form. I worked in positions where I had experience in firing quite a lot of people, mostly because of attitudes like this, and never for a single mistake regardless how big it was.
Contrary to that, I remember couple of Air Serbia employees providing wonderful service such as Ana (extremely polite, with wonderful attitude, very upper-class vocabulary. Looks more like she works at one of the ME3 airlines in Business or First class. I do remember pursers on my OTP flights Tijana and Dejan also for the wonderful service and nice way of treating passengers. I remembered these peoples’ names, which doesn’t happen often, but I surely do when they leave a positive impression.
Overall, I don’t complain (much and often) about Air Serbia, as I would like to see it imporve. As a Serbian taxpayer and a customer, I would really like to see the money going to something that will be profitable and stable, but also something to be proud of in terms of service and people working there. Unfortunately, I can notice that newer employees at Air Serbia do not have what it takes to be an FA. Very disappointing. Maybe it’s hard to find the right people at a time of increased employment. I have some examples on some other flights that I will write about another time.
Flight #1 - I flew from Frankfurt to Athens, with a 2 day stopover in Belgrade, which I used to combine business in Greece and visit my parents, dogs and friends. It is my common practice when I fly. My dogs already got used to the fact that there are treats and toys for them in my luggage.
I continued to Athens on January 26, a flight I will review later.
24JAN Frankfurt to Belgrade, flight JU335 , dep 2025 arr 2220
Seat: 3F
I boarded among the last passengers, because I simply like it that way. The plane looked quite full and even business class was full (which is not always the case).
I noticed that there was obviously problems with too much hand luggage in the cabin. Luckily, I checked it in. I put my handbag next to my seat. I usually use the middle seat for that. Boarding completed. No one on seat 3D. Yes, what a relief!
The crew seemed confused about the amount of bags in the cabin. Not sure why they didn’t put some of it in the cargo compartment. I must say that it was amusing for me to watch them behave like “muve bez glave”. I know it is important not to miss the slot at FRA (as it was before Corona).
All of a sudden, the Cabin Senior (the way Air Serbia calls Chef/Maitre de Cabine) Goran, appeared in a rush and asked if I wouldn’t t mind having one bag next to me. He fastened it to the aisle seat. I was fine with it, since it looked like there was no other choice.
All I could hear at that time was one of the lines from All Nippon Airlines announcement: For smooth evacuation nothing should block the exits or aisles. How contradictory?
I looked at the seat of the passenger next to me, and I saw ironed shirts brought into the cabin. Luckily my business does not require shirts and ties. I prefer not to carry anything with me, even my laptop makes me feel like I’m carrying rocks.
Another flight attendant came and passed the menu. Minutes later she came to pick up the order. I have to point out that I liked it when in the past Air Serbia’s flight attendants introduced themselves to each passenger and handed and explained the menu better. This one was more like: Here you go! Not much or nothing of the Serbian hospitality that always comes with a bit of a small talk. Before, they were even taking coats and jackets and placing them in special areas on coathangers, but it seems Ryanair concept of more seats prevailed that.
The menu is actually quite good for flights that last less than 2 hours. I didn’t feel like eating fish, so I went the American way - Cheeseburger and Fries.
The plane has WIFI and internet connection, which I use sometimes if I don’t feel like sleeping. It is convenient to chat with people from the plane and to help the time pass faster. Let me quote my mother “I read more books, before internet“.
After take-off, I checked the Air Serbia Deli Menu with drinks and snacks available for purchase on board. It looked appealing to me. I like the combination of Plazma and apple juice. Maybe they should offer warm milk and Plazma on the menu.
The meal was served. Writing this trip report, I was wondering... “What was the meal like?! Did I like it?!“. I checked the photos of almost clean plates (lol) so it must have been tasty, or there was too much bread on the plate, so I decided to clean up what was left with it. I see there was still water, but I am sure that I ordered sparkling water. I am sure because I never order still water if I can choose sparkling, but it seems I got still water. Later I got sparkling because I probably stressed it to them.
I didn’t drink alcohol, probably because I had to take rent-a-car after. If this wasn’t the case, I would definitely go with couple of Rakijas and sparkling water, followed with white wine and sparkling water. I am a bit disappointed that they don’t serve Kišno vino anymore. It was one of my favorites and standouts on the menu.
They use real plates, real cutlery and real glass, so I was surprised to see paper coffee cups. It wouldn’t cost much more to add a glass coffee cup. The salad may look plain on the photos, but it was pretty fresh. I remember that I was surprised that celery root can taste so good. From that flight on, I have it a few times a month at home. Years ago, Air Serbia had something with cheese pie and ajvar. That one was perfection! I am always looking for it on the menu, but I didn’t have any luck this time around.
Compared to my favorite Air France, not so bad overall. And it certainly is better than Lufthansa. Similar to Air Europa. A bit below KLM standards. Air France has better wine, food can be really tasteless sometimes, but wine, sweets and cheese, never failed my expectations. They do have a cute way of pushing passengers to take some sweets home. “Take it for your family! Take more!” (is it expiring soon or what?!)
I asked for another and another and another sparkling water (on intercontinental flights, I usually put in the reservation a special request to be supplied with 3 bottles of cold sparkling water – it has something to do with Germany, sparkling water and energy drinks).
I opened Air Serbia’s magazine. It looked pleasing. Highest ratings article, well not for this flight, otherwise I could agree. I am glad that they interviewed my ex fellow citizen of Wiesbaden and Belgrade, Biljana Vilimon.
The part with the timetable, reminds me of the 80s and 90s and I liked it. I remember my father telling me things like: there weren’t flights twice a day like we have it today. You had to look up the timetable book and then call and reserve. Unfortunately, we will have to wait until flights resume at full capacity. Nowadays, I fly and see empty terminals. It makes me sad and I get teary-eyed.
It may sound funny, because I do fly a lot, but each and every time I look at the fleet section of the in-flight magazines and study it, it’s like I have never flown before.
I like to see many different brands on those Air Serbia “boxes“ on board. I’m not sure how are they called. Probably just “a box”. I get a pretty nostalgic feeling when I see Jat Airways sign/logos even on Airbuses these days.
After so much of sparkling water, it was time to pay a visit to the restroom. I had to jump over someone’s bag, but it wasn’t that hard. The toilet was clean and decent looking. However, some toiletries are short on stuff, and as I did cost cutting many times, I know how budgeting works, but guys please look at the liquid soap bottle and its supplies. Also face lotion “Made in China”, well not for this face. Made in Serbia would definitely make me try it.
I had to jump back to my seat. No problem. At least some physical activity after all that sitting. Probably not completely in accordance with rules and by the book, but ... luckily, we did not have a fire like on Aeroflot’s Sukhoi when the people died simply because passengers were selfish enough to fight for their bags and blocked the timely evacuation.
I probably slept till the landing woke me up. I could see the wonderful Belgrade Airport with a lot of Air Serbia planes.
Overall, I really enjoyed the flight. The food was good. Crew (I had contact with Chef de Cabine and another lady) was a bit chaotic, not particularly interested in providing good service, as they weren’t particularly interested in procedures, and probably just thinking about getting back home and sleep. If it wasn’t for this bag next to me, I would probably forget that I was on this flight. I am sure Air Serbia can and must do better. Not all passengers are flying Wizz Air, nor do they like that kind of approach and service they get there. It is obvious you can’t beat their prices, but at least try to beat their soft service with nicer, more pleasant and motivated people. (I will have to write a review of my Dortmund - Belgrade flight. That was the only option to fly from Germany right after the opening of the airport. That flight was like from a horror film!!)
I will write a review of BEG-ATH flight, also in Business with the visit to the Air Serbia lounge.
I hope that this review is not too long. I also noticed that people here like photos, so I included almost all of them.
Share your travel experience by submitting a trip report to exyu@exyuaviation.com
Excellent and very detailed trip report. I really enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteBlocking your exit with a bag like that instead of sending it in the cargo hold is beyond stupid!
In a normal ie: not state owned airline the persons responsible for this would be in BIG trouble.
Probably a member of the crew or some VIP idiot did not want to wait to collect their bag but just take it with him/her as they walked out of the plane.
Welcome to the Balkans...
Or maybe the cargo compartment door was already closed and the ramp moved? Or should they open it again just for one bag?
DeleteYes, ABSOLUTELY they should open it for just one bag!
DeleteIt is a safety issue. Nothing ambiguous about it.
And a bag of that size should not have been allowed in the cabin to begin with . It is way over the size limits for carry on.
Ahhh of course, here is Dejan, the doom and gloom prophet when it comes to JU bashing.
DeleteWell Dejan if that bag was allowed into the plane then we need to punish FRA ground handlers and not JU. Am I right or am I right?
Delete@Anon 09:48 of course they should put that bag in the baggage hold of the aircraft!
DeleteI am surprised people following an aviation blog would even suggest that it shouldn't.
Nice to see the usual cheerleader trying to find excuses for absolutely anything wrong JU staff do.
DeleteSo funny!
So why are you only bashing JU and not the ground handling at FRA that was supposed to send the bag straight into the luggage hold?
DeleteAnonymous 09:58 of course you are wrong!
DeleteWhat comes or does not come inside the aircraft is the responsibility of the crew. Plane and simple.
That is why they stand at the door when you walk in. Not just to say hello.
So stop trying to make excuses for an inexcusable situation.
I think it depends on how interested or motivated ground handling guys are. I flew on JU from VIE to BEG on a day when OS' afternoon flight got cancelled so several passengers were rebooked onto our flight.
DeleteFlight was fully booked without a single seat. While we were sitting in the gate the agent was calling out the names of passengers who didn't have luggage to check what they were taking into the plane with them. Most had hand luggage which she then labelled to be placed into the cargo hold. Boarding went smoothly and there were no problems with overhead bins.
Dejan, that's actually not true. The crew is not the one who monitors what goes into the aircraft, that's the job of the gate agent. That's standard practice all over the world. For example in BEG those guys before security control also check for the size of your hand luggage. Several times they forced me to put it into that box to see if dimensions fit. They have the same procedure in many airports around the world.
DeleteAnonymous 10:02
DeleteI am bashing the crew who put the bag into the seat thus blocking the safe exit of the passenger for two very simple reasons:
1) This was a JU flight and a JU employee who decided to strap that bag in the cabin in such a way instead of putting it in the hold area. No handler or FRA employee decided that.
2) Because I am not a JU cheerleader spending my day finding excuses about anything they do and accusing anyone who is not doing the same as haters.
So as a respected and well meaning citizen of Serbia, why don't you write a complaint to JU? It would be much better than to spread intolerance on this respected blog.
DeleteNemjee when a passenger comes into the cabin with a bag of this size it is ABSOLUTELY the responsibility of the crew to send it to the cargo hold.
DeleteThat is the standard practice all over the world. Maybe in some Sub Saharan African airlines they would allow it if the owner of the suitcase is some important idiot but not anywhere else.
Dejan
Delete+1
@Anonymous 10:11
DeleteLOL, after "hate" you also added "intolerance" to the standard vocabulary of accusing any criticism of JU?
Is there really a single aviation safety rule you would actually mind JU braking? Or you excuse absolutely anything?
No one said that the crew did a good job, they probably didn't but this is primarily the fault of the gate agents who missed it and who didn't bother to arrange for hand luggage to be moved to the cargo hold. So here there are several different actors who need to be held responsible. I think people have an issue with your somewhat excessively emotional comments because you are solely putting the blame on JU while disregarding others who missed it.
DeleteIf they were to follow proper procedures then the bag should have been moved to the cargo hold.
Of course here is Dejan, a guy who NEVER EVER had anything positive to say about JU. I am sorry but you discredited yourself long time ago.
DeleteNemjee 10:19
DeleteFrom the moment that oversized bag entered the cabin it is the responsibility of the cabin crew.
It was the crew who took the decision not to send it to the cargo compartment and it was the crew who decided to put it in front of an isle seat and blocked the passenger writing the trip report.
There really is not anything ambiguous about that.
Excuse me but where did I defend the crew? All I said is that in addition to the crew the blame should also fall on the gate agents who didn't do their part of the job. That's why I gave my experience from Vienna where the whole process went smoothly exactly because different people did their part. It's a chain reaction which obviously failed here. That's all.
DeleteThe gate agents by far have the smallest share of responsibility.
DeleteNon of them took the decision to not only keep a bag of that size in the cabin but also block a passengers exit from his seat.
Ok Dejane, you are right. No one is to blame here but JU, they are a sub-Saharan kind of airline and a massive drain on our budget and a toy of the ruling government.
DeleteI guess this should be a satisfactory comment based on things you wrote on here in the past.
p.s. maybe you should read the procedure handbook to see what kind of responsibility gate agents have.
Have a wonderful day.
@Nemjee 10:42- You finally managed to say something realistic about JU! Where are your pink glasses?
DeleteYou need to deal with the fact Nemjee that strapping such a big bag in the cabin and blocking the exit of a passenger was the sole responsibility of the cabin crew.
DeleteUseless handlers allow oversized or too many bags in the cabin all the time.
Cabin crews send those bags to the cargo hold all the time.
You should first read up on what the responsibilities of the cabin crew are to ensure a safe and secure cabin.
But based on things you wrote on here in the past you will just continue excusing anything they do! Even things having to do with flight safety. You know, the thing that makes for a truly good airline, not metal cutlery and IFE.
Have a great Sunday.
As an active crew member, all I can say is that it's the responisiblity of the PURSER (not pursuer, as it was written in the article) that all the passengers and their bags are placed in the overhead compartments, before they close the door of the aircraft.
DeleteThe bag passed many points where it could have been sent to the cargo compartment, but simply it wasn't. As you can see, it has the "priority" sticker on top of it, so I'm sure that the ground handlers are instructed to let those bags onboard.
M&m I guess it was a self important individual who could not wait 15 minutes max in BEG to pick his luggage from the belt...
DeleteM&m thank you for finally saying the truth that there are several checks before plane and that many missed it.
DeleteThe ball stops with the cabin crew. Nobody else.
DeleteThat was a great lapse of judgement but I guess the bag belonging to some VIP played its role in that.
What were the gate agents doing? Drinking coffee and gossiping about their bosses probably.
DeleteCan people here just try once to have a normal coverstation about JU with arguments and not just start calling other people to be haters if they are seeing JU in the most positive unrealistic way?
DeleteGuys why don't we start a petition for JU to investigate this case? f the crew really missed it then she must be fired, this is a safety hazard you would expect to find in Congo or Zimbabwe.
DeleteThank you for this trip report, this is why I stopped flying on JU long time ago. I just no longer feel safe anymore.
DeleteI dont think anybody should be fired for just a bag on a seat in business class cabin. You cannot just destroy somebodys life because of some stupid reason. This is a safety hazard, but it would be not ok just to fire somebody because of this.
DeletePeople who are resposibile should not do this anymore and everything will be fine. JU should make a regulation where to put bags of this size while not to violate passangers saftey on board.
Anonymous 11:41
DeleteI do not believe anybody called for the purser or the flying attendant to lose their job.
Some retraining is definitely needed though.
And JU regulations are pretty clear on where luggage should be safely stowed. They were just ignored in this case.
JU and JAT safety records are something we are all proud off, incidents like that should never happen to our airline.
Just my2cents
And what if there was an emergency evacuation and Petar tripped over it blocking the aisle? How many lives would be then at risk just because one crew member couldn't be bothered to send the bag to cargo hold. This is the issue here. People who work such jobs should not be there.
DeleteHopefully JU launches an investigation as otherwise it would be irresponsible from their side.
Last Anon +1000000000000
DeleteIt's not just that, there is so much more to this story and what could happen if there was a problem.
I am not trying to make any excuse for the crew Anon 11:55.
DeleteI fully agree that they placed the person writing the trip report in danger.
I just think that a warning and retraining should be enough instead of losing their job at a time like this.
Just my2cents
Guys yes the purser made a mistake but is that a reason to start bashing a whole airline? People still fly on SIA even though their crew were the first to flee the plane after that crash landing some years ago. One incident doesn't mean the whole airline is like that. People be more considerate when writing on here. People have real emotions and thousands of people wake up every morning to go and keep JU operational.
DeleteI flew on LH FRA-BEG last year and the crew hit a seat with her cart so a bottle of water fell on a passenger who was sick, making her completely wet. They got into an argument and the woman insisted she apologize to her which she refused to do saying it wasn't her fault but that the passenger had his foot in the aisle. An argument broke out and the purser had to intervene to take her away.
DeleteDoes it mean all LH crew are bitchy like her? No. Does it mean this is the norm? No. So why are we behaving like this towards JU?
Yup this bag was a big mistake.
DeleteThis Balkan mentality shown here is killing me. Come on guys! First reason why cabin crew flies with the pax is to "keep the safety of the people on board". This bag is safety treath. Fact that someone pointed it out does NOT have any connection with his love/hate towards any company. Bag which is not stored properly by cabin crew is NOT ACCEPTABLE! And shouldn't ever ever be. Opening cargo door once again costs much less than someone's. life. 10mins delay either. But pilots won't understand it unfortunately.
DeleteVery disappointing about the bag being being dumped in your seat row, that's third world carrier stuff right there, and an immediate fail on a safety audit.
ReplyDeleteI flew on their ATR a while back and had a bag thrown into the seat next to me too. Clearly Air Serbia has a problem they're not addressing.
+1
DeleteNice trip report. Don't forget something, there is a major change that took place some years ago. Air Serbia reduced the number of crew on all A319s from 4 to 3. That is why they are not as cheery as they were in the past, there is the same amount of work with less staff.
ReplyDeleteHow many airlines in Europe or anywhere else in the world have 4 cabin crew members for a 140seat aircraft?
DeleteProbably Middle Eastern ones or TK and Aeroflot. That's besides the point, they reduced the crew number and that's why they are a bit more tired and not cheery and happy.
DeleteThat is lack of professionalism.
DeleteYes, I remember they were pointing passengers to their seats and checking boarding pass at the same time. So it did not look like checking, more like helping. They were helping passengers with cabin baggage, now I do not see that etc etc. Once I got a survey by AirFrance (and I worked a lot in customer experience) I noticed that Air France has standardized service requirements for every step of the trip, especially on board. From every crew member on board. I mean, if someone of those French ladies, has in her CV to speak German, they assign her to my cabin area on long haul flights, so that they speak German to me... because I have a gold status at Flying Blue.
DeletePart of the welcome announcement before safety video is to say: Cabin crew on this flight speaks EN, FR, ES etc etc... A lot of small details make the service perfect. I do not see that JU is thinking anymore in that direction.
Just a small side comment, check-in and gate are no longer handled by Air Serbia since ASGS was shut down. They were taken over by BEG and their employees are some of the worst in the industry. They are rude, sloppy looking and generally uninterested in the job they are doing. Let's hope Vinci does something about it because it has to change if they want to turn BEG into a remotely relevant player.
ReplyDeleteThat said, cool trip report.
That was a FRA-BEG flight so no BEG airport employees handled that.
DeleteWell you spoke about a general decrease in customer satisfaction so that obviously included people at BEG. It is important to note that BEG now handles JU flights.
DeleteI did not spoke about anything like that my friend.
DeleteYou sure?
Delete' I can’t be blind not to notice the decrease in service quality. I do not mean in catering, as one may think, or seats, they are quite decent for current aviation standards, but rather the skills of stagg (from check-in to the crew).'
@Anonymous 11:29
DeleteWell Nemjee has rose (or maybe blue) tinted glasses on all things ASL so it is logical for him to see everything rosy.
Anon 11.42 how come you write that every time he writes something? Are you also one to attacks him when he mentions Larnaka?
DeleteWell I'd rather be wearing whatever glasses and to see things in a more positive light than to be perpetually obsessed with writing negative comments. I guess for you any kind of positive feedback on JU is equal to being a cheerleader. If you have such intolerance towards anything remotely positive related to JU then I think you have other issues that need to be addressed.
DeleteHere we don’t have a lack of too positive comments. We have a lack of professionalism and realistic expectations.
DeleteAnon 12.05
DeleteHe never defended crew member and he didn't say she was professional
Anon 12:12
DeleteI was thinking about comment section on this blog in general. We have a lack of realistic and profesional conversation and coments here.
Of course because this is a very emotional topic for many. JU seems to be a very divisive subject on the blog.
DeleteLet me comment on this. The Cabin Senior, he was probably in a big rush to catch the departure slot. At FRA, before corona, it used to be a huge issue. However, I believe, it is his responsibility to keep the cabin safe and up to the standards. As my friends from Lufthansa told me, this with the bag, was a serious valiation of the safety standards, at least at LH. More over, I believe, there is a lot to improve in so called "soft skills". Sorry, I used to run the best rated customer service in the country and I really do pay a lot of attention to that. I noticed decrease in customer friendliness, service orientation, language used (yes, there was a young FA telling me: Ovde imaš sve što možeš da uzmeš... uzmete... if I find photos I will make a review, brate.) etc ... probably less focus in customer experience training or no training.
Delete@Petar Dordevic
DeleteAgree 100%
Petar, I am sorry to read all this, I can imagine how uncomfortable the whole experience must have been because of the bag sitting there. No passenger in this day of age should feel harassed like that. Please switch to LH as at least there they respect safety procedures.
DeleteAhaha... how blind you people are. The bag is just one part. It would be a problem in case of an emergency. In my view the other part of the story is equally worrying. Cabin crew attitude and everything else there is not something some airline should be proud of. I would fire anyone with such attitude go and fly other airline.
DeleteI agree with you last Anon but the thing is that JU seems to only promote that kind of person. That's why they get such nasty reviews online. Such a shame. We need Dane back to fix this problem.
DeleteAnonymous16:31
DeleteExactly my point!
A trip report from which we found out that the person doesn’t like anything that isn’t up to their imaginary standards and not much about the flight or the plane itself. They don’t even remember how the food was. All I read from this is how the person “travels a lot”, pays lower taxes in Serbia than in Germany, lives in Wiesbaden or wherever and idealizes Serbia and Air Serbia like many Gastarbeiters, but can’t wait to bash it for not being of German standard (or French, in case of his favorite airline - which also makes you wonder of the person’s preferences, or even the amount of flying they’ve done with different companies).
ReplyDeleteBtw: Yes, a bag strapped onto a seat is a safety issue, but so is the person’s handbag in the disabled middle seat. Also, someone carries an ironed shirt in business class? How dare them! Let’s look down on them.
He also didn't share with us that JU's business class fare is much lower than LH's on this segment. ;)
DeleteSMFH!
DeleteI wonder if he actually bought the full business class fare or used the last minute upgrade for like €150.
DeletePeople fly for peanuts and want caviar and champagne.
DeleteI believe the travel is the experience which is both personal and factual. Once when you bring it to the emotional level, you can charge more than Wizzair. I believe that this guy meant that. It is good to know what kind of profile is this guy. Not someone taking flight once a year and looking for best fare +/- 3 days. Airlines should care more about passengers like that. In company where I work we try to take care of them good.
DeleteAnonymous 11:44
Delete+1000
15000 din apgrejd je skuplje od Wizzair i Ryanair. Au. Ahaha
DeleteReply to People fly for Peanuts comment
Delete...I believe there was nothing bad about catering in this review, more about the personnel on board, soft skills, safety. giving views and suggestions is good. If I was someone at Air Serbia or any other airline, I would read this carefully. Such honest customer feedbacks do not come often and free of charge.
Majorka but you are not, maybe there is a reason for that? Hmmmm
DeleteМајорка, наравно да је скупље када те две фирме немају ништа налик бизнис класи, ЈУ има. Не знам о чему причаш. Да ли си икада летео бизнис класом?
DeleteDid you just assume my gender???
DeleteLetela!
Anon 12:26
DeleteThere are european companies with business class?
Yes there are Anon 14.15
DeleteThat was sarcasm Anon 14:55.
Delete@ shomi Well, the person in this review pays for the serivce and has some expectations. Next time, this person will fly via CDG and enjoy "imaginary standard" of Air France. It did happen not only 1x that I was rather connecting within Europe, to avoid some options.
DeleteI enjoyed reading your report and I honestly hope some of the Air Serbia executives are also visiting this portal. As JAT child (my mom was a purser) who flew with Jat/Yugoslav Airlines/Air Serbia hundreds of times I can totally testify to the huge variation in the level of service. It seems that didn't change for the last 30 years. Sometimes you will experience wonderful, top-of-the-class services but sometimes you will have at least one, sometimes more jerks (nadrkanih) flight attendants. Also, I have some similar habits like checking the fleet in the inflight magazines, or getting that blast-from-the-past feeling when reading timetables. Also, I think that having the options to get hot milk together with plazma onboard will be truly awesome :D.
ReplyDeleteThanks. Plazma does not taste same in the air, as it tastes on the ground :)
DeleteTried it with apple juice. I will bring my own milk next time. Haha
Uh šta učini jedna torba,kolko komentara? Da su putnika sa torbom vratli onda bi svi koji kritikuju posadu osuli paljbu zašto je putnik vraćen,možda bi i let kasnio pa bi bilo zašto su pravili problem oko jedne torbe zarad kašnjenja leta i sl. Kako se ljudi ne umore nije mi jasno?
ReplyDeleteŠto se posade tiče,AS bi morala da poradi na tom pitanju,kao i u životu,skroz drugačiji utisak imate kad razgovarate sa nasmejanom u odnosu na bezvoljnu osobu. Dobar izveštaj,rado ću pročitati i ostale koje pripremate.
Upravo. Jedini put kad sam bio baš "pissed off" na AirSerbia je bilo kad je njihov avion iz FRA za BEG poleteo bez i jednog prtljaga. Prtljag je dostavljen dva dana kasnije. Svima. Celom avionu. Ali to nije nešto što je pravilo, a verujem da je to više do aerodroma i da je menadžment to dobro propratio. FRA je aerodrom koji mora da se zatvori u 23h, a radnici kad im je završena smena idu kući, bez obzira da li je posao završen ili ne (Welcome to Germany). Verovanto je bilo: ili letimo sutra ujutru ili idemo večeras bez prtljaga. To nisam stavio u review. Iako sam provero 2h na aerodromu da prijavim prtljag itd.
DeleteAs the author of this report, let me first express my special thanks to everyone who took time to read it and more to write a comment. Very appreciated. My apologies for a lot of typos in the text. I would like to comment on few questions that were brought up in this discussion.
ReplyDeleteThe ticket was originally in Economy class FRABEGATH one way 220 EUR, I believe, covered by my client. The upgrades for FRABEG and BEGATH were about 150 EUR for both, paid by me. Quite cheap. So total 370 EUR. BTW Lufthansa has offers for return flights in Business for the same price. My intention was not to be one of my favorite Serbian word "hejter". I am sorry if this is how the text is percieved. I did say the meal was nice, but I gave a lot of suggestions as someone with a lot of experience in customer experience and someone who travels with different carriers and gets the experience. I would do this free of charge for Air Serbia anytime, as I said at the start I like Air Serbia. I really do. However, my colleagues are always saying that I find some situations like this all the time. I just say they are not interested in observing the situation around them.
Regarding "the bag". The owner of the bag was not some "VIP", I would call them regular guys, a couple. Overall, I am satisfied with Air Serbia, however, I can notice a huge drop in what I called "soft skills" of the FA there. On my last flight FRABEGSOF, the male Cabin Senior had an earring, and he acted like that lifestyle. No idea how such unprofessional and person with no motivation got FA job in the first place, not to mention "upgrade" to Cabin Senior. I am sorry if the review sounded to negative. I did mention some wonderful people there in AirSerbia. I did mention the nice meal service. I did mention how I like their magazine "Elevate". I just wanted to give my honest feedback, so that Air Serbia could improve and be better and hopefully survive for the years to come.
Someone mentioned that if you make it emotional, you can charge more than Wizzair. That was I believe, the whole point of my text. I do not want to have a choice between Cold Bi***es of Lufthansa and worn out smiling robots of Wizzair. I wrote the review in a hope that someone at JU will work on this.
DeleteWearing an earring and having tattoos is now being more and more accepted amongst airlines. This is not 1960 anymore. Time to move on and stop backward thinking.
DeleteAnon 16:25, in big companies you can not have such thing on body. FAs must have a good make up, hair must be in the ,,airline hair style". I do not say this is not thing in JU, but FAs must look very similar, only face is the diference. In good old Jat that was the thing, all FAs good-looking and not short, but always with BIG smile.
Delete@Jatovac: You know there are people who you are able to pay to fulfill your fantasies if your wife/girlfriend(s)/husband/boyfriend(s) - not sure what you prefer - are unable to satisfy you? The cabin crew is there for your safety and not to be an eye-catcher for you - I am saying for you since I'm pretty sure most people do not mind or in fact have any opinion of earrings/tattoos. It's 2020 and we need to say goodbye to micro fascisms asap - those include these ridiculous opinions how certain professions such as the cabin crew should look or my favorite - men who can't enter public institutions in shorts during blazing heat.
DeleteWell, I still believe that legacy carriers or "national airlines" should distinguish themselves from Wizzair/Ryanair and others in the customer experience. Probably my view is very much impacted by the fact that I fly Air France more than any other airline and to/around Asia where service in general is taken more serious than in Europe.
DeleteMicro fascisms are indeed most prevalent in Asia where an individual is not allowed to be an individual, but has to conform to what the government/society says. And I know most of you will think of China, but I immediately think of Singapore and consider it one of the most terrifying countries to live in. Nice and shiny on the outside, dead rotten on the inside. If you tried to apply that level of "service" (as you call it) in your Germany you would have ver.di and other unions burn down the Bundestag. I hope the 2020s are the decade we manage to get rid of oppressive societal tendencies even if we lose out on "service".
DeleteI always think of the stories the smiling slave crews of Asian prestige carriers could tell. Compared to them Middle Eastern carriers are pivots of human and employee rights heh.
Delete@ Anon 18:29, no, I havo no problems like that. I am 63 years old and I am happily maried and have even grand-children. I just said that in golden times of our aviation it was like that. FA had to be good-looking, not to be short because she needed to close those boxes for hand luggage and had to be ,,stronger" so they can open the masive doors. In LH, AF, UA, DL and other serious airlines tatoos must be under uniform and they can not have earing during flight. There are strict procedures about FA's looking and wearing uniform. At one time during flight she must wear one thing but at the other time other thing. Wish you all the best
DeleteThere is nothing fascist if a cabin crew ask you if you want one more beer, if she brings some small snacks with the beer even if you did not ask. Nothing fascist if they put a sticker on your seat saying there was a meal service and they didn't want to wake you up, but if I would still like to eat I can call them. There is nothing fascist if they say hello to their passengers, introduce themselves ... there is a big proud in Asia to do a job in the best way possible and not imagining to deserve to be the CEO of the world... The service people in Germany hate their clients. They will be soon replaced with robots and AI. Who wants to watch a dead body paid better than a doctor serving you.
DeleteAs for Verdi, they will not save those bi@#$s from cuts there at LH now.
Based on this report and from what we see, it's time for JU to seriously begin investing in the product and pay more attention to the business travellers that need to dig from their pockets and expect a positive experience. Business class looks okay but still, there is a huge room for improvement when you compare it with Air Baltic or even LOT. That said, the SkyTrax rating is now 5/10 when it used to be more than 6.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.airlinequality.com/airline-reviews/air-serbia/
Management should also focus on their personnel as we see most comments are related with CS and personal touch:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Airline_Review-d8729096-Reviews-Air-Serbia
Rating has gone down to 3.
Lastly, management should also focus on the latest app, which also has a rating of 3.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.airserbia.mobileapp&hl=en
Inspite of all improvements, there is still a very long way to run to achieve Air Baltic levels.
To be fair, lately alot of the negative reviews stem from cancelled flights due to the Covid situation. This is something all airlines are recieving.
DeleteInvesting into product is useless when its poorly implemented. Just a recent example, they finally developed an app yet its only available for Android devices, and in its initial phase. And yet this isnt the only example where they havnt put alot of thought prior to executing their plans. Alot of money was invested and yet, almost 7 years later they are still working on the basics.
Dear Anonymous16:35,
DeleteI agree with you! I hope that Air Serbia will work more on the abovementioned issues. There are airlines which are way worse than JU (e.g. Croatia Airlines, Montenegro Airlines, Tarom, W6, FR, Easyjet, Vueling, Alitalia, Condor, SunExpress, Pegasus to name few I remember and I recently flew) but it does not mean they should stop improving.
Worse than JU in terms of service or price? Alitalia has quite good new lounge, while Croatia Airlines has really interesting snacks on longer flights in economy and their business is quite solid for an European carrier.
DeleteCasa Alitalia is amazing, especially long haul or non Schengen flights, but FA and service aboard. I flew Alitalia a lot to Rome. Improved much under Etihad. Let's hope they will stay alive. Croatia, I do not know, but I did not have nice experience with them. I will try to fly them soon to check.
DeleteYou are right. Their on board service is not so good overall, but their newest lounge is on the top. Despite financial problems in Alitalia and no money for almost nothing, Italians will always have great design and food!
DeleteOMG I love their prosecco Villa Sandi. I only hate that they do not have self-service. I feel ashamed going back million times for more... As for the food let me quote one Italian engineer who worked years in Germany: "Any Italian ugliest small restaurant has better food than fancy German!" Damn he is right!
DeleteActually, "Priority" label on luggage make this even more intriguing :) This tag is put on all JU business class passengers checked in luggage. The point is that they should handled it separately and to get it before others from baggage carousel. It doesn't mean, like some thinks, that this is VIP person or something. I cant remember that I had it on my cabin luggage (when traveling in business class) although it might be possible to happen under some conditions.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to that, I must say that I witnessed multiple times when JU crew is "juggling" cabin luggage in order to get it arranged by the rules - ie. putting small pieces under the seats to make room for suitcases etc. They were quite thorough with this so this case is quite surprising. And yes, this is an issue - safety & business class experience.
It's such a pity their in-flight magazine isn't in Cyrillic.
ReplyDeleteReview of this Trip Review: score 3 out of 10 (3/10)
ReplyDeleteSuccessful trip reviews follow the established structure and focus on the narrative relevant to the actual trip. Not this time. Petar Djordjevic obviously didn’t bother to compare his musings with how more experienced and better travelled reviewers presented their trip reviews.
Arrogance and cockiness is used as a filler to replace key info missing from the report. There are no pictures and text about experiences at departing and arriving airports. No respectable reviewer of business class trip would fail to provide info about departing business lounge, terminal info/number and arrival airport experience regardless of how well known airports are. No info was provided in the text about the airplane type, registration and seating configuration on that particular flight. Video reports accompanying main text and photos are becoming common but not for this reviewer. Best of them make report come alive with less known facts about airport/airline history and operations.
Instead of missing info and structured reporting about the flight taken we are exposed to subjective views of the airline and to long rant unrelated to actual flight. Seven irrelevant photos of inflight magazine and photo of empty plates show lack of experience and restraint. Photo of country of origin label on the face lotion bottle paints the reviewer as someone who has an axe to grind and who is unable to sort out relevant info for a successful trip report.
Unacceptable placement of passenger bag in the aisle seat was the only noteworthy takeaway from this report. Review score is 3 out of 10.
Dear Anonymous18:18,
DeleteThank you for the review of my trip report. It is always nice to get some view from the others. I was not aware there is a standard for the trip report. I was not even thinking of making it, but when I saw the bag next to me, I was like OMG let me make some photos. 6 months later, a friend reminded me of that flight and I decided to write about it.
I completely agree that you were exposed to the subjective view and I believe this is how it should be. I am not a certification body or an academic writing a paper of my flight. I am a passenger and I believe that my personal view and experience on that flight is more important than whatever technical detail. I agree that maybe some more details are missing. Regarding the inflight magazine and other "nonrelevant photos", I thought that people like to see those kind of details. Maybe I am wrong, but I will for sure be choosey next time. "Arrogance and cockiness" - well, to be honest, you are probably right, but it seems to be the part of my nature. I can not to much about it, nor I want to do.
Wow, I think this was the first time we've read a review of a review. Instead of you asking questions of things that interested you, like terminal number, aircraft type, registration, you choose to make a note of this lack of 'very important missing information'. We all know the plane was either a A319 or A320. I don't think there is an 'established structure' to writing a trip review. Usually each writing has their own style, they notice things that to the reader may or may not be interesting. But usually personal impressions are at least amusing.
DeleteSo my review of your review of Petar Đorđević's review is 1.75 out of 10.
Let's see what kind of review I get, if any.
Cheers!
As someone who flew I lot more airlines across all continents and for decades longer than the laughable Etihad Silver author I feel sorry for his lack of self awareness and inability to learn and grow. Just a young fool, to put it very mildly.
DeleteAt least he speaks out the truth of the EY group plastic reality :) and being honest.
DeleteEtihad has brought nothing nice to this continent :)
I really dont know why do you hate this review? You have all informations you need to know how is to fly on JU business.
DeleteEtihad significantly improved Air Serbia service levels right after the rebranding compared to the old airline. That's the fact but not the topic. As someone with much more mileage, higler status and experience I find his condesending attitide pathetic.
Delete@Anonymous21:00
DeleteWell if we are mentioning all, don't forget Gold Flying Blue
21:13 excuse me? Etihad helped the new Air Serbia grow but let me remind you how it went a painful transition from a true boutique to a hybrid LCC.
DeleteThe current JU today could've been in much better shape (or at least the business product) going solo and knowing the European continent just like Wizzair.
EY is just a group of expats who have no idea about Europe and were given nice jobs in the Middle East to run an airline.
JU was the most successful project of EY but maybe because of Serbia's geo location and JAT partial inheritance.
The JAT model itself was extremely successful and given that it was allowed to grow more, then it would've probably been the largest airline in the region and still flying to more than 3 continents.
Adding AF Gold in hopes that would make you more experienced and with higher status is just another example of how self obsessed and detached from reality you are. People fly for decades at a much higer rate than you have yet you still think Gold Flying Blue makes you some hotshot above the rest when in fact you are much closer to the bottom.
DeleteIgnorance when it comes to criticism of despicable empty plates photo is yet another example of how vain and egoistical you are. No one wants to see your leftovers and dirty plates! Justification for 7 photos of Elevate is that people can see those details??? Elevate has been online for years, they want to see airport photos you completely missed!
Ignoring how professional influencers do their reviews is another show of how self indulgent and ignorant you are. Bad report from a stuck-up person. By the way, where are your trip reports from Mongolia, Australia, Hawaii, Caribbean, Bali, Fiji or Bora Bora if you are as well travelled as you claim? FRA-BEG is not much to brag about.
@Anonymous02:04
DeleteI am not a professional reviewer. Never wanted to be. Probably I will never be. I flew in last 5 years between 60 to 90 flights a year. 2/3 are for work. Nothing to be proud of. I mentioned those statuses just for the sake of reference to the number of flights (Silver Air Serbia means 15-20 flights a year minimum with JU). Anyway, I could do other destinations, no problem. I usually do not take photos when I fly. I have checked my phone and I have 2 business class on JU, 1-5 on ATR, even 8 minutes video with the view on the Danube and Belgrade on my way from OTP to BEG, Orly to Fort de France, Pointe-à-Pitre to Orly in Business. Maybe if I have time I can write those. However, I believe for this forum EXYU flights and airlines are the prime focus. It is funny, how some people do not comment on the review itself, airline, service but instead worked on my psycho profile. I just do hope those are not some FA of JU angry about the review. That would be very disappointing.
I do not like the tone of the reviewer. I felt uncomfortable reading it.
ReplyDeleteHAhahaha! This has got to be one of my all time favourite comments!
DeleteAh, snowflake <3
DeleteNo thanks, I always fly on LH from Germany. There is a reason why they got 5 stars!
ReplyDeleteI you really think Lufthansa got 5 stars because of their service, you probably never flown on plane.
Delete@Anonymous21:41
Delete+111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
It seems we have same opinions about some things... (AZ lounge)
DeleteNegative reviews are nothing but accepting the critique. JU obviously needs to seriously review its product and heavily invest in its crew, which are the backbone of this establishment.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, one of the best and detailed reports recently. It seems that Air Serbia is an airline that looks into client profiling and judging people based on their clothing, which is very sad indeed. Business class passengers are no longer required to wear a dress code to fly because you simply don't know, nor should you care how they got the money for the ticket from.
ReplyDeleteIt gives me the impression that Air Serbia will still profile their clients and provide them plastic cups on business, which is disturbing to know.
Hopefully, this report is read by anyone from their upper management because this shows a lot about the very existing of the airline and the people behind it.
The client in the case paid for an upgrade and is expected to receive a superior product, but all what he received is a shabby product not allowing him to enjoy this upgrade. The bag experience is just saddening. Let's hope for better times.
Nice text!
ReplyDeleteVery detailed. It makes me want to fly with Air Serbia, specially for the burger.
Posle ovako dugog ukazivanja ovog putnika, da li Er Srbija ce promeniti pojedince i nacin koji je redovno prisutan na letovima Er Srbije. Za samo nekoliko godina Air Serbia proslavlja sto godina od osnivanja komercijalne avijacije.
ReplyDeleteMnogo volim Er Srbiju. To nije dovoljno. Dok se ne promeni i pristupi profesionalno. Svaki clan posade, na svakom letu.
Ljubav za Er Srbiju nije dovoljna. Er Srbijo. Ne dozvolite da pojedinci unistavaju profesiju, ulozen novac i nase ime,
AIR SERBIA! Ljudi ce vas voleti i vise sa vama leteti.
Vama odan, Rodney Marinkovic and Aviation Enthusiast Associate Group. Kings Park, Sydney Australia.
✈♥️🛫🇭🇲🛫🇷🇸🛫♥️✈
I ja ih volim i želim sve najbolje.
DeleteTreba je voleti i sa Er Srbijom leteti.
ReplyDeleteZa ostalo ko ima usi cuo je. Ako ima volju ispravice anomalije ljudske...
Rodney Marikovic AME
Sydney Australia
Thank you very much for the wonderful report. I am waiting impatiently for the next one.
ReplyDelete