Air Serbia has taken delivery of its second wide-body Airbus A330-200 aircraft. Named Mihajlo Pupin and sporting a special livery in honour of the physicist, the jet departed Marana in the Arizona desert for New York JFK on Saturday. It will continue its journey to Belgrade this afternoon and is due to arrive in the Serbian capital late at night. The aircraft, registered YU-ARC, is eleven years old and formerly operated on behalf of South African Airways. It has been stored since May 2020. The jet was initially set for delivery in late October and was to be deployed on scheduled flights in early November, however, due to technical reasons its arrival was pushed back.
It is unclear if the aircraft will sport Air Serbia’s long haul hard product or that of its former South African operator. Originally, the carrier’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said it would feature the latter due to the jet’s short entry into service and would be fitted with Air Serbia’s own seats later on. However, this was before the aircraft’s delivery was delayed. Currently, seat maps on Air Serbia’s upcoming New York and Tianjin flights, as well as its future Chicago service, show the same cabin configuration in both business and economy class to that of its A330-200 registered YU-ARB. During the summer, following talks with plane manufacturer Airbus over a fleet-wide cabin retrofit, Mr Marek said, “My vision for Air Serbia’s fleet in terms of the cabin product is not to reduce pitch but to increase the number of seats in a horizontal line. With Airbus’ assistance, we will see whether it is possible to add additional seats in the A330, both in economy and in business class”.
Air Serbia is currently wet-leasing an A330-200 from Spanish carrier Wamos Air for its New York service, as its YU-ARB registered jet is currently undergoing scheduled maintenance in Naples. The wet-lease was initially scheduled to run until yesterday but has since been extended until the end of the month. Air Serbia’s own equipment will be deployed on the New York service again from December 1. The carrier has also scheduled its own A330 on one of its Istanbul flights on November 30. Equipment changes remain possible. Air Serbia has said its A330s will be used on its long haul flights to Belgrade, Tianjin and Chicago, as well as on popular European routes.
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Congratulations Air Serbia
ReplyDeleteI wonder what they will do with 2 A330s this winter. They don't really need it.
ReplyDeleteIt might have been cheaper to lease it now then wait until summer 2023 when leasing rates will be even more expensive.
DeleteMaybe it'll fly to Moscow.
DeleteThey can send it to Zurich around Christmas time. It will be filled to the last seat.
DeleteThey sent the A330 this year to BCN and IST as well.
DeleteLet us know, when ARB or ARC is coming to ZRH. Would like to take photos on the ramp
DeleteThey have more than enough time to install JU seats. Unless maybe YU-ARB is getting some new cabin in Naples too, although I doubt it.
ReplyDeleteAny idea who is doing their maintenance in Naples?
DeleteAtitech is doing the maintenance. Atitech is a former branch of Alitalia Maintenance back in the good ol' days
DeleteCan't wait to see it in BEG.
ReplyDeleteThis is all nice but JU needs to step up with regards to customer service if they want to be a key player regional airline. I was reading recent reviews left by fellow passengers recently and they are alarming as to customer service being non existent in case of lost luggage, missed connections etc. If this doesn't get corrected it will ruin their ambitious expansion plans. I hope management read those reviews and takes some action ASAP.
ReplyDeleteThe hundreds of thousands of people who get their lost luggage or get accommodated are rarely going to write a review.
DeleteThe point is that there are no answers at all to calls nor e mails ... really NOT professional and not acceptable! Indeed very frustrating for those that need assistance.
DeleteI guess the point is when Air Serbia is getting a new widebody plane you had to find something negative to post :)
DeleteAs an example, I sent 4 e-mails to customer service with a query related to using the BEG JU business lounge. No answers at all after 3 reminders. Unfortunately, JU lost revenue as the outcome.
DeleteYou could have simply gone to the lounge when you were at the airport and asked.
DeleteOr written to them on social media, but that's doesn't excuse JU. For instance, I've been waiting for 3 months now for a reply from JU for an EU261 compensation request. Mind you, they aren't worse than anyone out there - I had to wait for 5 months for LH to reply to the same request, while A3 lost my bag three months ago and has yet to contact me or respond to my queries. The thing is, JU has the scale and positioning to set themselves apart by being better, but they're going for the same customer care mediocrity as all other European airlines. Missed opportunity.
DeleteSend them a message on socal media. I had a problem with my booking. I sent them messages last night 12.51am (GMT), guess what.. i got an answer from AS at 8.50 aam (GMT). I understand they they don't answer on the phone, but have you ever worked in Customer Service...
DeleteI find they are very quick to respond on Twitter. Usually within 24 hours.
DeleteI've found JU to be quite responsive. I've had to make a few calls to the call centre this year (app doesn't work properly when booking tickets, even less for online check in). Call centre was quick to answer (less than 5 mins), staff were polite and helpful.
DeleteThis is utter nonsense. Air Serbia has very good customer service, I'd say that this is their competitive advantage over any European rival.
DeleteThe only thing I suggested to them is to add the flexibility to book online different tickets for a group (at the moment, if family is traveling, you can't book online only two passengers with luggage)
"This is utter nonsense. Air Serbia has very good customer service, I'd say that this is their competitive advantage over any European rival."
DeletePeople quote you direct first-hand examples, and you go on to call it nonsense and dismiss it completely? Wow.
been here since 2013. 100% correlation between positive news articles on air serbia and a random post about lost bag/missed connection/unresponsive customer service. one hundred percent. not 50%, not 80%. how smart do you have to be to figure out real nature of those comments?
Delete@at Vlad
DeleteAnd I speak from personal experience of flying with Air Serbia. Air Serbia flies millions of people, couple of people airing their dissatisfaction is not the entire picture. Let me know what kind of service you get elsewhere.
I fly Air Serbia 10+ times per year, which is around 15% of my total flying, so I'm well-aware of how they are positioned vs. their competition. I said in my comment above that JU is no worse than most other European airlines in handling complaints. I just said they aren't better either, which is a shame considering their size and potential. It's OK to recognise room for improvement even as a fan.
DeleteIt seems that the plane will arrive in BEG at around midnight.
ReplyDeleteYes, 00:07
DeleteYes, listed now on flightradar
Deletehttps://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/yu-arc
So I'm guessing they won't do any mid air photo taking above Serbia for promotional purposes like they did with the other two A330s?
DeleteNo
DeleteYU-ARB air to air photos and videos were not shown to public with couple of exceptions.
DeleteWhat was the technical issue for its delay?
ReplyDeleteWhen an aircraft sits in storage, there are nearly always unexpected problems which get noticed during the checks before going back into service.
DeleteHere is a nice pic of it arriving at JFK :)
ReplyDeletehttps://www.jetphotos.com/photo/10773062
Beautiful :)
DeleteLooks good!
DeletePity they don't put in premium economy
ReplyDeleteWhat for?
DeleteSo they could offer another class of service and attract some additional passengers.
DeleteI'm not so sure Air Serbia's passengers, mostly from ex-Yu countries and Balkans would care much about premium economy. More likely it would stay empty while you would reduce economy class capacity.
DeleteJust my opinion and got confirmed this summer as I flew premium economy for the first and definitely the last time (only flew it because my employer paid)
DeleteThe stupidest thing carriers have thought of in a long time. Seats only slightly more comfortable than economy and food more or less the same as economy and yet double the price of economy...
And in the process they jacked up the prices in business because premium economy is close to what business used to cost.
DeleteThat only goes for trash Premium Eco products like the one on LH group. LO for example offers a much better product, with a dedicated cabin, Business class catering and beverage selection, plus meals served on china and not plastic.
DeleteTrue, my flight was with OS- but still have my doubts about this whole concept of "premium economy"
DeleteCongrats & pls enter an alliance,
ReplyDeleteThe idea of putting 9 abreast in economy is quite concerning. This would be a significant downgrade and I think it would lead to lots of negative feedback. I hope they don’t go for it but Marek seems fairly adamant.
ReplyDeleteAgree. They should avoid this
DeletePlenty of airlines do 3-3-3 on their A330s. In the JU line of business, Y fills the coffers and price is king, so it makes sense for them to go in this direction.
DeleteI agree Vlad,, makes sense and would not really change much when comes to legroom which is great. Extra revenue is always a bonus and those ifhts are packed during the high season .
Delete@Vlad
DeleteWhich airlines have 9 abreast in their A330ceos?
@Vlad I really disagree. Airlines that do this are mostly LCC/holiday airlines. Whilst the JU line of business does include lots of price sensitive ‘gasto’ traffic, I think it is too small and unknown an airline to afford the level of negative feedback that will be received. We have to remember that for the most part, the competition will be significantly more comfortable to fly with than JU if they opted for this. Even EI which is a TATL ‘value’ carrier do not have 9 across in their A330s. Instead, they charge for luggage and alcoholic drinks. Maybe JU should explore these revenue generating streams first instead.
Delete@aleksandar:
DeleteFrom what I can remember, Air Transat, Cebu Pacific and AirAsia X. There are more for sure, although I admit these are mostly in the low-cost/charter market.
Yes it would not affect pitch and legroom, but it would affect seat width. You have to think of passengers that are bigger and that would have trouble sitting in narrower seats in a 3-3-3 configuration for 9-11 hours.
DeleteOne thing that many passengers on JU’s A330 have complimented was how wide and comfortable the seats were compared to their competitors. It would be a shame to downgrade on that. As someone said, they are a small carrier and negative reviews highly impact them.
DeleteMaybe somene saw in statistics that certain procentage of passengers were children (gasto population)? And that they would have oportunity to visit homeland more often if the price is lower. And on the other hand Air Serbia is starting to flying to China. Customer from that part of the work would not have that much problem from 3-3-3 configuration. Maybe someone in Air Serbia is doing his homework properly. With fuel prices in 2023.... who knows
DeleteI get that, but many Balkan people, specifically men, are bigger, that is all. I understand you and your points :)
DeleteJU has been the shining star of ex YU aviation the past year. Congratulations
ReplyDeleteDoes the plane get the new registration in Belgrade or before it arrives?
ReplyDeleteIt already has the new registration. You can see it in the video.
DeleteAh I see now. Thanks
DeleteI really hope they install wifi on this plane. It is needed on a long flight
ReplyDeleteMe too. It is a big downside to YU-ARB for not having wifi.
DeleteAlso would be good if they refreshed their IFE system and added more choices.
DeleteDefinitely. A little upgrade to their entertainment system would be welcome. I mean greater variety of movies and TV shows.
DeleteHave a feeling they will be adding some Chinese content for sure.
DeleteOnboard wifi is expensive to have for an airline that has to be mindful of their expenditures. Not all European airlines have wifi onboard, LOT for example. When JU had wifi onboard, it was way overpriced and not many people were using it.
DeleteBetter to invest in more content for their IFE.
Agreed. People can go without Wi-Fi, but their IFE desperately needs a refresh. They can’t expect passengers to sit there for 11 hours with nothing to do…
DeleteIn the days of DC-10 passengers had pneumatic headphones and one movie projection, two on longer routes. You could not choose a movie and sometimes could not see the movie it if the guy in front was tall or if couple of window shades were up.
DeleteAnyway, Air Serbia will certainly add more content now that TSN and ORD are being added.
I'm hoping they will send it around the region before it starts flying to JFK/TSN.
ReplyDeleteWhat for?
DeleteIt would be a waste of money. The reason they did that with YU-ARA was for crew familiarization.
DeleteIt is good for promotion.
Delete@10,24
DeleteIt's a fantastic way to burn money with little marketing effect.
Advertising on billboards is more effective and alot cheaper.
I do think that the cities of Tianjin and Chicago will have billboards up with pictures and/or videos, similar to what happened in Times Square, New York, for promotional purposes.
Deletelooks great in that livery. Congratulations Air Serbia.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to another wide body to be added to the fleet
ReplyDeleteLove it!
ReplyDeleteWe might see this plane sent to Moscow too since the insurer of YU-ARB doesn't allow it there.
ReplyDeleteThat insurer is a bitc*.
Delete+1
DeleteCrew rest?
ReplyDeleteNice. Good luck Air Serbia.
ReplyDeleteI'm flying tonight to Sofia and I really hope to catch a glimpse of it when it lands! Can't wait! :)
ReplyDeleteLet us know if you see it! :) Also can you please let us know rough LF of the flight and makeup of pax? Thanks! Srecan put! :)
DeleteWill do :) thanks
DeleteFlew ZRH-BEG on Saturday with Swiss, LF was for sure around 90-95%
DeleteGreat news! Well done!
ReplyDeleteHoćemo treći i pokretanje Toronta,Vašingtona i Šangaja.
ReplyDeleteBiće :)
Deletewe agree
DeleteAnd Lagos please :joy:
Delete@11:31
DeleteNemojmo preterivati🙂
Very interested to see will this plane have the same cabin as ARB
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion it would look really bad for them to have two different products when they have just 2 wide bodies.
Delete@10,53
DeleteNot really. Bad marketing would be hyping up a product only to frequently swap the aircraft that doesn't have it, like QR and their Q suites. Or LH getting a 5 star rating by Skytrax for a non existant business class product which LH hyped up. Or EK which would showcase their amazing A380's while a decent number of their aircraft had an outdated cabin, especially on their A330's and A340's, not to mention that the product in business and first even today is different between the B777 and A380.
JU pax are more hyped about the new routes rather than the cabin layout/configuration.
I do think eventually, in a short matter both aircraft will have the same cabins, if they don’t now.
DeleteThey definitely got more than the norm :D
ReplyDeleteTechnical and US customs check
ReplyDeleteHopefully the third one will be welcomed soon too.
ReplyDeleteNext summer.
DeleteWhen I look back, they had amazing luck operating just 1 A330 all these years. Rarely had they had any operational issue with the plane.
ReplyDeleteTrue that.
DeleteHow many wide bodies did JAT have at the peak ?
ReplyDelete5 DC10s
Delete9 rows is not a good idea. One of the reasons I fly AS from NYC is because of the extra legroom. Balkan men are tall. We need all the legroom we can get. Please don't lower your standards to those of US airlines. I am tired of buying seats in the emergency rows.
ReplyDeleteHow could an extra seat in a row change the legroom size?
DeleteIt doesn't and AS is Alaskan.
DeleteBeing tall also makes you typically a bit larger/wider overall. Reducing seat width is not insignificant
Delete+1
DeleteAn extra seat lowers the available width for my feet. And as far as the second comment; don't be a wise guy - everyone here know I was referring to Air Serbia when I wrote AS.
Deleteanon@18:15 thats not what a legroom per definition is. If you use an abbrevation, at least use it correctly.
DeleteAgreed, would not affect legroom and pitch much, but definitely impacts the seat width. Balkan men need more width, and everyone in general prefers less seats.
DeleteMogli bi da u prvom delu kabine ostave postojeću konfiguraciju a u drugom delu 9 u nizu i da ta sedišta budu jeftinija.
ReplyDeleteYU-ARC is in line for take off in JFK.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteWhat about the fourth ATR 72-600 that was already supposed to arrive?
ReplyDeleteThe 4th ATR76-600 (ex EI-FAS) is in Mochengladbach with the JU livery. It will be registered YU-ALZ.
DeleteYU-ARC is flying over Grenland at the moment. It should land in BEG around 1 in the morning
ReplyDeleteSo proud and happy. Two big birds so far. Lets hope we get a few more. Srecno Air Srbija!!!
ReplyDeleteGuys are you aware that China is sold out from BEG for December and January!?
ReplyDeleteWE WANT MORE CHINA FLIGHTS!
Please add wifi. Your old NY to Belgrade plane had it. 8-9 hour flights are grueling enough as it is.
ReplyDelete