TRIP REPORT
I flew from Belgrade to Podgorica last weekend on a flight operated by Air Serbia's newly arrived A330-200. I booked the ticket one week before the flight and as economy was sold out I purchased business.
After it took a bit longer than expected to navigate my way from the city to the airport because of the Belgrade marathon and the various road closures that accompanied it, I checked in quickly. The airport was very busy, reminding me of the prepandemic era, but the business class check in desks were free and the process took less than a minute. With business class you get the fast track lane at passport control and lounge access. After passing through passport control I went to the lounge since I was hungry having not eaten anything since the day before and I wasn't expecting anything more than a drink on board.
Upon entering the lounge, the receptionist informs you at what time you should leave to make way for your gate and she even came through the lounge when it was time for certain people to make way for their flight. The lounge was busy too. Due to covid there is no longer a buffet, but you get a restaurant style menu and the staff was attentive and quick to take my order, which were the ćevapi. The food was nice.
I made way to gate C6 and our plane was waiting for us. As the security check is done at the gate, there is a dedicated lane for business class passengers. It was busy at the gate and I already knew economy was full. Two airbridges were used for boarding, one for business class passengers and the other for economy. Boarding started around half an hour before departure.
The A330 cabin product is rather good. The seats are leather and comfortable, the screen is a good size and there is a lot of personal storage space as part of the seat, as well place to put your belongings. The cabin was in very good shape. There was also a USB and power port which came in handy for charging my phone. The seat controls allow for a full flat bed and there is also a massage option.
Before departure I heard the dispatcher tell the purser there were 16 passengers in business and 236 in economy plus two infants. Most of the passengers in the cabin seemed to be foreigners as they spoke English with the crew. A couple sitting across me spoke Russian. The crew came through the cabin to welcome passengers, they took everyone's drink ordered and asked whether they would like some snacks upon departure. They were all friendly and there seemed to be a lot of crew on this flight. There were "See Serbia" and "Serbia Creates" videos playing on the screens. The crew also made an announcement for people to wear their masks properly and they would go on to make this announcement another 3 times during the flight. I also saw crew asking some passengers to wear their masks properly and not on their chin, so they were enforcing the masks rules very strictly.
Before takeoff we were greeted by the pilot and told the flight would take just 35 minutes. A safety demonstration was done (manually) and we pushed back for a long taxi to the runway during which an Aeroflot A330-300 landed from Moscow.
As soon as we departed the entertainment system was activated although I just turned on the moving map. The crew sprung into action and soon after brought everyone's drink and snack. The snack consisted of several sandwiches and some different types of cheeses. The scenery was quite beautiful, from green fields to snowy mountain peaks. I believe we cruised for around 5 minutes before we started our descent. The pilot came over the PA again to give the latest arrival information and we had a nice view of central Podgorica as we were descending. We went out over the sea before rotating and lining up for landing. The crew was quick to clear all the trays and we had a smooth touchdown.
We disembarked via the stairs and walked to the terminal, passed passport control quicky and since I had no luggage was out of the terminal in minutes. Overall, a nice and enjoyable experience with Air Serbia.
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Excellent trip report.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading it and felt like I was on that flight.
Great trip report! I was the guy sitting in front of you lol, you might've noticed me with the excessive filming 👀
ReplyDeleteReally detail and good photo covered trip report. I thought is the purpose of sending A330 to TGD for this particular flight was because of carrying cargo, vaccines, but since it was economy sold, maybe demand was really good.
ReplyDeleteGood report!
ReplyDeleteCorrection: You went over the lake, not the sea :)
Loved it !
ReplyDeleteBut i would really prefer Air Serbia increasing frequencies instead of capacity .
Three times daily to Podgorica is not enough .
Please make it four or five times daily !
But this one special flight is still excellent publicity for the company .
Tx for the great report and the good photos. Glad to see that JU really has a good product
ReplyDeleteI love detailed trip reports with lots of pictures. New Air Serbia A330 looks good. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThe "JELOVNIK" (what a way to say menu that is) in the lounge says "MEET BALLS". Seriously, are spell checkers not available for free on every device nowadays?
ReplyDeleteThank you for this excellent report. I was sitting at 4A just behind you and I realize we were several people doing this flight on purpose, just for the chance of flying Air Serbia sole A330 without having to go to NY, which isn't easy during the pandemic. As you mention, everything was perfect on board : the nice cabin crews, the catering, the cabin, etc. Having a short connection from the incoming JU flight from CDG (the A319 we can see on one of your pics, parked next the A330) which arrived late at BEG, I couldn't enjoy the lounge as you did. Another good experience it seems. Thanks for sharing. Luc (France)
ReplyDelete