Trip taken: September 2021
Scheduled Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
Flying from Frankfurt to Belgrade with JU335 was the logical return flight after getting to Germany with JU334. This roundtrip with Air Serbia is well timed to return to Belgrade in the evening, leaving passengers like myself the entire day in Frankfurt. Contrary to the arrival flight, Air Serbia allowed the bearers of Serbian passports to complete the online check-in procedure - it is now important to hold a passport of the destination to be able to check-in via the website. I was automatically assigned an aisle seat, in the forward part of the cabin.
Leaving the downtown very early for what used to be one of the busiest European airports proved to be an unnecessary decision. Terminal 2, used mainly for non-EU flights, was literally deserted.
Arriving two hours before the scheduled departure, I found the check-in counter still closed.
Being the first in line to perform check-in, I expected a smooth and quick process. However, it took almost 15 minutes for the ground staff to realize their printer was not working so they could not issue me a boarding pass. Instead, they suggested using the electronic version I received after the online check-in. The staff also said it is not possible to be assigned a window seat without extra charge.
After being the only passenger at passport control, I proceeded to the departure gates hall, only to find most of the shops closed.
Even the coffee shops were not open, late afternoon local time.
My electronic boarding ticket caused the system at the gate to go red and the information on the screen was that it was not valid. It was then a pleasant surprise to find out the ground staff managed to print out my boarding pass and hand it to me at the gate.
Covid measures at the waiting hall before gate E5
Everyone boarded through the priority lane.
Boarding of this half-full flight was completed ten minutes ahead of scheduled departure. However, the plane spent another 45 minutes attached to the airport building. The flight attendant notified the passengers that the delay is caused by the ground staff not appearing on time to confirm the departure of the flight to Belgrade, so the departure was delayed for an entire hour.
Sign of wear and tear on Air Serbia's aircraft.
After patiently waiting for almost an hour, we began to taxi. Lights were turned off in the cabin, so it was possible to catch some of the airport’s and city’s lights.
Free offering on Air Serbia’s Airbus A319.
After being served a tiny bottle of water and small pack of chips, I asked the flight attendant if they had any hand sanitizer on board. Though you might expect something like this in the Covid era, the answer was a plain no. Then I asked if they could offer any wet wipes, previously not offered in Economy Class despite being grounded for an extra hour in Frankfurt. I was soon handed two.
We made up some time en route, as JU 335 arrived at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport at 22.50, instead of the planned 22.15. The process on the ground was extremely fast - passport control was easy and quick, and the luggage was already delivered at the time I reached the baggage hall. Afterwards, every passenger was instructed by the customs officers to put their large bags through the scanner, which slowed down the procedure a bit.
Share your travel experience by submitting a trip report to exyu@exyuaviation.com
Nice trip report, FRA ground staff can be rather inefficient and confused, even the ones working for LH.
ReplyDeleteDo you remember the registration of the plane?
The state of the plane looks bad
ReplyDeleteRotten to the bones.
DeleteProbably former Adria aircraft...
Well quality of service and overall passenger experience are responsibilities of the chief commercial officer and we all know who that is... unfortunately.
DeleteUmm no, actually that isn't at all the job of the Chief Commercial Officer.
DeleteIn Air Serbia it falls under his department, customer experience that is. I guess this is part of his strategic planning. So sad but why should he care when he almost exclusively flies in business class.
DeleteAint nothin surprised....their ranking on Trustpilot went down to 1.5 already....
Deletehttps://www.trustpilot.com/review/airserbia.com
Beats Wizzair. Their rating on trustpilot is only 1.3.
DeleteYes but Wizz doesn't pretend to be anything other than it is.
DeleteYou mean Wizz does not pretend to respect trade unions and does not pretend to care about environment as it plans to double overall CO2 emissions by 2030?
DeleteI think this chips as catering is really devastating. I know that most European companies in economy class are not more generous, but they have, for example, branded chocolates, biscuits, branded wet wipes ... which is not so special but it leaves some impression. But 5g chips that you can buy at any kiosk, not to mention how unhealthy it is.
ReplyDeleteOn Luftahansa you get absolutely nothing. Just a small bottle of water.
DeleteThe chips is actually branded
DeleteIt is seriously disgusting. It lithers the cabin and then 150 people have to got to wash their hands?
DeleteI think someone was cheap and stupid enough to think that the chips will actually increase on-board sales by 'заголицати желудац' and make people to buy more stuff that goes with it (sandwich etc.) while giving you pretty much nothing.
DeleteDisgusting in any sense of the word.
The Toto on regional flights is way better and actually delicious.
DeleteSuperior to what you get with Lufthansa and Wizz. You can buy better quality branded food and beverage on Air Serbia if you have an issue with regular offer.
DeleteWe are just saying better some small chocolate than chips.
DeleteIt might be better if they offer pretzels instead of crisps. They are cheap as well. No oily hands, etc.
DeleteOf course.
DeleteOno kad ne znaju vise kako da iskale mrznju prema Er Srbiji pa napadaju cips a cips je bas prisutan svuda. Neke firme su od cipsa napravile reklamu za svoju firmu kao recimo Jetblue za svoj besplatni Terra Blue Chips. Ako jednom uspete da se oslobodite Wizza i krenete da letite biznis klasom primeticete da je cips u besplatnoj ponudi velikih svetskih kompanija koje imaju snack station. I naravno kad Wizz trazi 3 evra za 40 grama cipsa onda vam to ne smeta, cak vam ni ruke ne budu masne LOL.
DeleteWell they did have "ribice" but it wasn't recieved well either. The issue with chips is its XXS size, it doesn't tell "this is your snack" but "this is cost-cut". Just cut it completelly and give people one rakija and mineral water, or juice for kids. If you want to eat, buy it. That's more fair in my opinion.
DeleteYou can't offer chocolate across the board to everyone because some people are diabetic. Chips are a safer bet.
DeleteAko je čips XXS onda su cokoladice XXXXS. Ovo za rakiju je biser sa dna kace.
DeleteChips?
ReplyDeleteWhat a shame and then we have to pay debts.
Piece of Burek or Pita instead?
...or just a piece of chocolate.
DeleteBurek? Predlažem da uviješ pečeno pile u novine, poneseš glavicu crnog luka i uživaš u tvom idealnom gastronomskom iskustvu, a sve za dž.
DeleteWell the ticket is not for free od dz.
DeleteWe are not talking about LCC, but National Airline.
Even with burek is kind a cheap service, but with Ethno signature.
Offering chips is just not having respect for anyone.
At all.
DeleteOffering chips is not having respect for anyone? Here is airline known for great service, Singapore Airlines, offering free chips:
Deletehttps://globetrekka.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/img_5407.jpg