TRIP REPORT: Air Serbia, Belgrade - New York in business

TRIP REPORT

This flight took place around a month ago from Belgrade to New York on Air Serbia’s A330-200 registered YU-ARB. It was my first time flying this plane, although I have flown the route before with the previous A330 operated by the airline, registered YU-ARA.

I arrived at Belgrade Airport around 3 hours early, factoring in the traffic congestion that is present in front of the terminal because of all the construction going on and the traffic being regulated differently than usual. I headed to the check-In desks and noticed that Air Serbia has “pimped” its business class check-in desks. They are now red, compared to the rest which are blue, there is a divider between the business and economy check-in desks, and they even put in a sofa. The process was quick. I checked in my bag, got my boarding pass and was instructed that I could use the Air Serbia Premium Lounge.

The centralised security screening was quick. There is a dedicated lane for business class passengers although this loses its purposes when you pass security as there is no dedicated lane for passport control for premium passengers, and the airport was rather busy. Although there was a line in front of passport control, it did move relatively quickly.

Once you get your passport stamped, you go into the duty-free shop and funnily enough I noticed this Air Serbia branded jersey on sale.

I headed to the lounge. The area around the lounge is now a big construction site and it is rather dark in that part of the airport as the windows are blocked off. So, I noticed that Air Serbia put a huge, illuminated sign to direct people to the lounge. The lounge was quite busy. This is because it is now being used by several airlines. Even the agent at the front desk was helping with clearing plates.

The buffet is now back after Covid but they have also seemingly removed the a-la-carte dining menu which was previously available. The lounge is still good with good facilities, including showers. I had a drink and a sandwich and went to the gate.

Boarding began around 40 minutes before scheduled departure time. The plane was full to the very last seat, which was not surprising considering it was September and most of the US diaspora that spent their summer in Serbia and the wider Balkans starts going back home. Two air bridges were connected to the plane, so business class passengers had a dedicated entry.

All seats occupied in the cabin

I chose a window seat, which is closer to the actual window. The seats alternate, with the ones closer to the window having more privacy than the ones closer to the aisle. The crew greeted each passenger upon entry and later at their seat. Interestingly all crew were wearing face masks even though it is not a requirement for passengers.

There was a bottle of water, menu, blanket, pillow and headphones at the seat. This was a middle of the day flight and crew came by relatively quickly to introduce themselves and offer a welcome beverage of champagne, water or orange juice. Once that was done, the crew came by to ask for the meal order and noted that you could eat at any time you desired.

The menu was as follows. I chose the Serbian salad for starter and stuffed zucchini for the main, and also decided to have my meal upon take off. I had some fruit and coffee prior to landing.

We were delayed on departure by 45 minutes. The pilot apologised and informed us this was due to a late connecting flight that was bringing passengers. In any case the time was made up for en route and we arrived just 5 minutes behind schedule I appreciated that the pilot gave us detailed information of our flight path and details.

After departure the crew first served drinks, mixed nuts and handed a disinfectant wipe. It was followed by the meal, which was good. All of the meals are served on individual plates (there is no tray) and are brought out by the crew. Olive oil mixed with balsamic vinegar is also served along with the meal.

Lavatory was in good shape and there were a few amenities like a facial mist, hand cream and antibacterial gel. However, Air Serbia no longer offers an amenity kit or PJs with slippers as was the case before. I asked about it and the crew simply told me they no longer had any.

The entertainment system is OK. Nothing special but there is a mix of Serbian and US movies and television shows. These were some of the options on offer on my flight.

A huge minus in my opinion is that the plane has no Wi-Fi. I know the airline has removed Wi-Fi from all planes, but I think they should at least consider it for their wide-body. It’s a real shame.

The seats are comfortable, well-padded and have a lie-flat option.

Overall, crew was nice although I can’t say they went above and beyond. I also noticed some things like them not having any ice to go with drinks because they ran out halfway through the flight and little details like that.

I would say their catering was above European carrier standards for a transatlantic flight. On the other hand, they should do more to improve IFE, try to introduce Wi-Fi, stock their flights better and bring back amenity kits and PJs.

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