Air Serbia’s latest wide-body fleet addition, an A330-200 registered YU-ARC, will boast cabin interiors utilised by its previous operator South African Airways. The Serbian carrier confirmed that the hard product, which differs from its other A330-200, will be used until the jet goes for its scheduled twelve-year maintenance check in early 2023, after which it plans to achieve product commonality across its wide-body fleet. The airline said there was insufficient time to install its own seats into the cabin now as it plans to put the aircraft into use as soon as possible, following its delivery earlier this week. The jet is currently undergoing technical and administrative procedures, after which it will be deployed on scheduled flights.
Commenting on the matter, the carrier said, “We are eagerly awaiting the moment when our new A330 will take flight. Having in mind the current needs of our network, it is very important for the new aircraft to start regular flights as soon as possible, and that is why it will be flying with the existing cabin and seat layout. Our plan is for “Pupin” [YU-ARC] to get a cabin which will be similar to the one in the current A330-200 “Tesla” [YU-ARB] in terms of quality. This will be done during the regular twelve-year airplane maintenance at the start of next year. We continue to renew our fleet in order to offer even more network flexibility and comfort for our passengers”.
In its South African Airways configuration, the aircraft features 268 seats, which is eighteen more than in Air Serbia's other A330. The latest fleet addition is in a two-class configuration and includes eighteen seats in business and the remaining 250 in economy. Premium travellers will enjoy a 2-2-2 cabin layout, with slightly angled seats when fully reclined, a shoe cupboard, touch-sensitive personal television screen, which can also be navigated via a remote control, seat massage function, a handle at the back of each seat for travellers to get up more easily, a power port and 74-inch pitch. On the other hand, the economy cabin is in a standard 2-4-2 layout with personal TV screens, which are slightly wider than in Air Serbia’s other A330, adjustable headrest and a 31-32-inch pitch.
Business class cabin
Economy class
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Economy is actually better than the one in YU-ARB. As for business, ARB is better but this one has bigger pitch.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly SAA is introducing a new business class on their active A330s and the business class seat is the same as in Air Serbia's YU-ARB plane.
DeleteIt's because of articles like this that EX Yu Aviation is the first site that I open every morning.
DeleteI like the planned new SAA business cabin. It is the same as Air Serbia although I prefer this color pallet.
Deletehttps://cdn.businesstraveller.com/wp-content/uploads/fly-images/867698/SAA-business-class-e1527159051713-916x515.jpg
https://cdn.businesstraveller.com/wp-content/uploads/fly-images/849344/SAA-A330-300-business-class-1-916x515.jpg
Better for SAA to get new planes, get the long flight Dream-liners in..the old Saa plane leases shouldnt be used again,instead leave them back in the desert for parts where it belongs lol
DeleteMessy to have two different products on two planes.
ReplyDeleteIt will only be for a few months by the looks of it. They said that ARC is going for maintenance in early 2023 so that means that by the start of the summer season they will have the same cabins.
Delete+100
DeleteFully agree.
So, the plane will fly for 1 month, and then go for scheduled maintenance?!
DeleteSeems like it. Maybe 2 months.
DeleteHow are they going to substitute it during mentioned maintenance?
ReplyDeleteI don't think it will be necessary to substitute. They can perform entire winter long haul schedule with 1 plane.
DeleteIf they need an extra plane they will just wet lease it like they are doing now with Wamos Aiem
DeleteARB will come back to the fleet by that time.
DeleteThe plane will probably go for maintenance in February when JFK will be down to 3 weekly and Tianjin 1 weekly (+24 hour stop). I think they will manage just with ARB for a few weeks.
DeleteSo I'm guessing no wifi on this plane either?
ReplyDeleteNo unfortunately.
DeleteI think in todays day and age it is a big benefit to have wifi available. Especially since they had it before.
DeleteWwifi is much needed! Shame they got rid of it on the narrow bodies too. It set them apart from many airlines.
DeleteIt is probably expensive to install and the return on investment isn't great. That's why they discontinued wifi in the first place.
DeleteAre you aware why they discontinued it? It was too expensive and no one bought it.
Delete@09,09
DeleteLOT has 74 ac, 15 widebodies - no wifi.
Onboard wifi is quite expensive, not only to install and operate, for many pax to buy the packages, especially in this region where price is practically the most important factor when buying tickets. Very little amounts of pax were using it and I don't think JU even recovered the costs of installing it on the aircraft it did, considering they stopped installing it and discontinued using it. JU doesn't even have the drop down screens in their narrowbody cabins.
Larger airlines are most likely getting better deals to have wifi installed onto their aircraft. JU with 20 ac is not going to get anything better than it did have.
The plane was sitting in Arizona for months. Couldn't they have done a cabin retrofit there?
ReplyDeleteNo, that's not how it works.
DeleteAnd how does it work?
DeleteIt works in a following way: 1) You sign LOI, pay some quite big sum(prerequisites to get acces to aircraft and documentation), inspect the aircraft, raise findings-both physical and records findings. Than lessor negotiates with you for the conditions and solves some of them in the facility where aircraft goes for redelivery(ex. Shannon Aerospace, FL Technics, Magnetic, KLM UK,…). For some, you get better conditions in the contract you will sign on delivery or are reimbursed. There, they paint an aircraft. Given that C-Check, and what is worse,12 Y Check is following(which is huge on an any aircraft, and especially on widebodies), I would say minimal maintenance was done at this facility(Shannon Aerospace I guess) for this aircraft(to make it airworthy, bare minimum). In deserts, they are in storage, and almost no maintenance is done(apart from storage tasks, which are not that simple, but anything else is not done). Than, you do ferry flight to place where they make it airworthy again(usually, permit to fly is issued for this flight, as number of tasks are overdue). In this facilities(like Shannon Aerospace, they can do this bigger work packages, but they have to have it agreed with lessor, and they have to have the material available-seats seat track covers,…). This P-145 organizations in the desert like in Marana in Arizona neither have facilities or people or experience to do seat replacement, especially on the widebody where LOPA change is quite a project. So, Air Serbia has to have seats already(production of new ones takes months), they need Part21 organization who will write them an SB for it(which takes some time, a month or more easily, no one in Serbia can do it), and than they need somebody to do it, neither of which is available in Arizona.
DeleteVery interesting. Thanks!
Delete@21.16
DeleteDo you know how long does the 12 year maintenance check take?
Economy looks much better and modern than the current one.
ReplyDeleteThey are the same, except for the screen, which is better at SAA.
DeleteThey should work on their soft product.
ReplyDeleteASL always had a good soft product, more than decent for an airline of its size, considering the markets it serves. It's the smaller details and the implementation of their products which JU has trouble with. Implementation typically is rushed and needs refining at a later stage.
DeleteLong haul business class food plating and presentation could use a bit of sophistication and creativity but overall it's very good.
Delete@15,20
DeleteFood plating and presentation isn't that different from other European carriers. It at least beats EK which serves business class meals on linen lined plastic trays, while meals are preplated by catering, basically the Euro business standard.
With them introducing more and more long haul routes they are going to have to become more competitive so need to offer a good product so people choose them over other airlines, especially on flights towards the east.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteBusiness is nothing special, The one at Air Serbia looks better.
ReplyDeleteEconomy looks better on SAA because it has bigger screens.
So the cabin on YU-ARC will be worse than on YU-ARB. At least it won't be too long.
ReplyDeleteIt's worse in business. In economy the seats are the same with the exception that you have a bigger screen.
DeleteI'm wondering if they will both have completely new cabins once the product is unified or they will have the one that YU-ARB currently has? Is YU-ARB getting new seats now?
ReplyDeleteI mean now while it is under maintenance in Naples.
DeleteI don't think ARB is getting new seats.
DeleteThe best they could have done is install the same economy cabin YU-ARC has into YU-ARB.
DeleteYU-ARB was fitted with their new cabin just last year. It isn't getting refitted/reconfigured. Business class cabin was the biggest thing changed compared to YU-ARA as their pax mostly didn't like the business cabin layout. The new cabin also allows more seating in business.
DeleteYU-ARC is getting the same configuration as YU-ARB.
Najavili su da će avion početkom Decembra leteti na nekim evropskim destinacijama pre nego što poleti za Kinu.
ReplyDeleteThey canceled the planned A330 flight to Istanbul on 30.11.
Delete"Our plan is for “Pupin” [YU-ARC] to get a cabin which will be similar to the one in the current A330-200"
ReplyDeleteSimilar? So it's not going to be the same?
It will be the same.
DeleteThose business seats lack privacy.
ReplyDeleteAnd there is no direct aisle access like most seats have on ARB.
DeleteWhy doesn't Air Serbia select a seat directly from a manufacturer? The one they are using in ARB is from Aeroflot.
ReplyDeleteMoney
DeleteExactly, it is expensive.
DeleteThey are actually working with Airbus on cabin retrofit.
DeleteLet's just hope it doesn't come in the form of some product downgrade.
DeleteOne of the reasons they don't go for a brand new seat is because they are among the cheapest options, in terms of fares on the Europe-US market. They would have to increase the fares otherwise.
DeleteThey are quite expensive in business class and they are definitely not the cheapest option for P2P passengers. Maybe for transfers yes.
DeleteWhere do the extra seats come from in YU-ARC? In business or economy?
ReplyDeleteIn economy. ARB actually has more seats in business than ARC.
DeleteI hope they got a good deal on ARC if it has to go for major maintenance so quickly after delivery.
ReplyDeletePity they are not thinking about premium economy on the A330.
ReplyDeleteWhat for?
DeleteFor this type of market and the markets Air Serbia serves, it really isn't necessary.
DeletePragusa.one will cover that segment 😃
DeleteTK removed premium economy, QR stated it will never have the cabin.
Deletehttps://simpleflying.com/turkish-airlines-premium-economy-removal/
I don't think we will see JU even considering premium economy anytime soon.
Premium Economy is beneficial primarily in markets that see a lot of business-related long-haul travel, because most corporate policies don't allow J, but allow Y+ bookings on such trips. Serbia is not such a market, so having more Y seats beats the costs of introducing a Y+ product.
DeleteLooking forward to another wide body to be added to the fleet
ReplyDeleteThey have it in their plans so brace yourself.
ReplyDeleteThey still haven't added the new A330 seat map on their long haul flights.
ReplyDeleteWill it have same entertainment system as YU-ARB?
ReplyDeleteYes
DeleteActually this one gets them closer to A330-300 capacity.
ReplyDeleteSo it's South African Airways from inside and Air Serbia from outside. Anyway, I think they should leave the wider screens in the economy class and the 2-4-2 seat configuration (not sure if this one already exists on the "Tesla" A330).
ReplyDeleteIn any case, the twelve-year maintenance is near so I don't think this will affect much the service.
Yes, Air Serbia's configuration is also 2-4-2 in economy.
Delete"Aljkavo" as they would say in Serbian
ReplyDeleteIts really not a big deal.
DeleteI think people will live for a month or two with these SAA seats which are not much different than JU's.
ReplyDeleteEven the best airlines in the world like Qatar Airways have different cabins and configurations on same aircraft types. Difference is this will be the case at Air Serbia for some 60 days.
ReplyDeleteJU doesn't really care much about their hard product which is a shame.
ReplyDeleteHow about we wait and see? Most were complaining just 3 months ago how they are not expanding long haul operations.
DeleteThis is more than okay for the next 2 months. Come February Air Serbia will have two A330 with completed maintenance, almost identical cabin and ready to fly to three long haul destinations. Well done, no reason for complaints.
DeleteI really hope they will uniform the A330 fleet and have the same hard product in both ASAP.
ReplyDeleteFor how long will YU-ARB he under maintenance?
ReplyDelete*be
DeleteIt should arrive back in Belgrade at the end of the month.
DeleteIt is fine more or less. The biggest downgrade is being felt by passengers flying with JU to New York this month with Wamos Air. Especially since JU opted for the plane with the old Wamos Air cabins instead of the new ones, like Air New Zealand chose for their Auckland-Perth flights where they are currently using the Wamos Air A330.
ReplyDeleteThey should really really start taking care of the online reviews. Tripadvisor and TrustPilot to begin with. The rating is going down.
ReplyDeleteIf had any knowledge of the industry, you would already know NPS (net promoter score) and tripadvisor-type of reviews have almost no impact on purchase decision making in aviation. Price is the key. That's why Wizz and Ryan capture more customers despite low NPS and reviews. Unlike OU, JU is going after increasing market share, number of destinations and passengers. Adria might have had perfect reviews but they are out of business.
DeleteLooking at trip advisor, their overall score I think isn't too bad.
DeleteQuite a number of comments are more about the outstation ground staff rather than JU itself.
Delayed refunds also was one of the common complaints. To be fair, similar comments are seen with practically every other carrier. TP in fact was recently fined $1.1 million by the US DOT for delaying refunds of $126.5 million to customers. Blue Air went bankrupt once Romanian authorities blocked their accounts for unpaid refunds amounting roughly 13 million EUR.
The biggest issue that they should work on is their on time performance. Ambitious schedules pushing their fleet to the limits, which from time to time backfires on them. Compensations are costly and thats something they need to minimise.
Horrendous !
ReplyDeleteNot a big deal. Welcome to the fleet YU-ARC.
ReplyDeleteTbh, when they do the cabin retrofit, keep the economy seats. Just change the seat covers to JU ones.
ReplyDeleteThose colours are giving serious Etihad vibes
ReplyDeleteThought of the same. Very similar color scheme inside.
DeleteKind of interesring that in 6 years of long haul flying Air Serbia hasn't procured its own seats from a manufacture. Instead they have used:
ReplyDeleteYU-ARA - Jet Airways
YU-ARB - Aeroflot
YU-ARC - South African Airways
Simple. You want new seat, you buy brand new plane.
DeleteWhy are the engine cowlings diffrent painted on ARB & ARC compared to the A319/320 fleet and ARA?
ReplyDeleteHow do you mean? They look the same to me.
DeleteIf you are talking about the engine colour, I also don't see much difference.
DeleteThe red color should go to the top end of the thrust reverser cowling
DeleteDoes YU-ARC have single 3.5mm headphone adapter for in-flight entertainment system or old-style two-prong audio adapter like on YU-ARB?
ReplyDelete