Good morning everyone and welcome to my trip report.
Since I am not a big fan of traveling during holidays, in mid-January I decided to spend an extended weekend in Madrid visiting some friends. From the start I knew I was not going to fly nonstop since Air Serbia has an odd schedule with rather inconvenient times. I mean, leaving on a Wednesday and coming back on a Saturday didn't seem all that appealing.
In the past, Lufthansa would have been my airline of choice. However, ever since they trashed their service and went woke I started avoiding them. I feel that their pricing doesn't match the product they are offering. Basically it's an unreasonably expensive LCC these days.
Since our company has a corporate agreement with AF-KL I decided to check what they were offering. I don't know why but somehow KL is never my top priority when traveling. I've never flown with them but ... don't know. I avoid them for some reason so Air France it was.
I decided to try something new so I booked a business class ticket via Air France's website for a JU-AF combo. I was really excited since Air France is sending the A220 to Madrid, it was going to be a new model for me.
I arrived at the airport roughly two hours before my flight. What I found particularly idiotic is that at that time (05.00) only one coffee shop was open, the small ghetto one downstairs. Anyway, we sat and enjoyed our unreasonably expensive Americano coffees before I headed upstairs to the security control.
I am not exaggerating, there were at least 500 people waiting in line which stretched all the way to the staircase. Business class line was non-existent so I passed in a matter of minutes. At the same time, I suppose to speed things up, they were letting families with children use the priority lane.
I decided to walk around and to see what was new at the airport. Not much has changed since I flew to LCA in late November. Pictured above is where the old stairs to the passport control used to be. Personally I don't know why this area is still like this... one thing I really dislike about BEG is how low the ceilings are. At times you feel like you are in some sort of a bunker.
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| Breadline |
I've flown quite a few times from BEG since the new extension was opened but I have not yet had the chance to fly from that area. I was quite annoyed to see that my CDG flight was boarding from C02 that morning.
Pictured above is YU-APO which would bring me back to Belgrade a few days later.
View from my seat (2A). Next to us was YU-APF which was heading to Amsterdam. On the other hand, our flight to Paris was operated by YU-APM (ex Adria A319). Here was the first fail of the JU-AF cooperation. While booking my flight via AF, I was not allowed to select my seat on the flight that was operated by JU. I could only do it once check-in opened. I had to do it via JU's website and my seat to Madrid was randomly assigned by the system.
We were pushed back on time and headed towards the runway. On the way there we passed the inserted runway.
Once Dan Air A320 took off in the opposite direction, we were cleared for take off. Sorry if the quality isn't the best but my window was quite dirty. Our flight had previously arrived from Moscow so I suppose they didn't have enough time to properly clean it.
On the remote stand you can see JU's ATR, Austrian Airlines' E95, Lufthansa's A320neo and Wizz Air's A321.
Before take off, a younger member of the crew passed around the business class section handing out menus. Shortly after that she came around to take our order including our drink which was brought to us with the meal some 20 minutes after take off.
I ordered the omelette and it didn't taste all that well. What I didn't like is that the presentation wasn't the best. I remember in the past JU didn't serve drinks in plastic cups.
After the meal was finished, the purser came around asking us if we wanted some coffee or tea. Coffee wasn't actually good and it was a nice touch that they brought it on this tray. That said, I am not too crazy when it comes to the colour.
Our flight today had a very good load factor. We were 5 business class passengers: two Serbs, a Turkish lady who connected from IST, an American lady and a French gentleman. Economy class had 122 passengers and it seemed like most of them were O&D.
As you can see, YU-APM still features the Lufthansa style seats that were used by Adria. One thing I disliked is that there was no curtain between the two classes. There was just a small one between the second and third row.
The French gentleman in front of me reclined his seat so I tried doing the same. Unfortunately that was not an option that day. In addition to the malfunctioning seat, the lavatory in front was no longer working. There was an issue with the sink. At least 10 economy class passengers were sent back as they couldn't use the toilet in the front of the plane.
The rest of the flight was more or less uneventful. Crew passed around a few times to ask us if we wanted something else. They also offered newspapers (Vecernje Novosti, Alo and Informer ... lol).
Roughly two hours after we took off, it was time to land. We reached our gate after a 15 minute taxi session.
I walked to the Air France terminal where their recently opened, state of the art lounge can be found. It has two floors with the upper one being quieter and having a very nice view of the action outside.
In my opinion, Air Serbia should have something like this onboard their planes. I doubt it costs that much.
Even though the lounge was amazing, the food selection wasn't the best. Even though Lufthansa has really gone downhill, their lounge always had very decent food, at least that's the impression I got.
I headed early to the gate which was a wise move since boarding started some 45 minutes before take off. While standing in line, I noticed two Spanish passengers holding Air Serbia boarding passes.
Parked next to us was this Air France bird headed to Lyon.
This Air France A220 cabin was amazing to say the least. Business class stretched across the first six rows in a 1-2 seating configuration with a total of 13 passengers. From what I heard, in the back there were just 10 empty seats.
I have to admit that it was really strange how quiet this plane was, I'd say even too quiet. Regardless of this, it was a true pleasure to fly on!
There were no menus and no selection of meals on this flight which was ok as it wasn't that long. Our flight that day lasted a bit over 100 minutes.
Air France doesn't have any IFE but it does have wifi which you can connect to. Once there you text free of charge (WhatsApp, Viber, Instagram messages...) or you can buy your access to the internet.
Once we reached southern France the sky cleared so we could enjoy some spectacular views from above.
We took off from CDG at 13.27 and landed in Madrid at exactly 15.07. It took forever to reach our gate which was ok since MAD is a very busy airport. What I noticed is that most passengers on that flight were Spanish. What was funny is that each time we stopped, all passengers jumped to get their luggage from the overhead bins. The crew had to ask everyone to take their seats since we had not reached our parking position. In total this happened three times.
On the way back, Air France replaced the A220 with an older A319. Despite its age, the plane inside was in a fantastic condition and the seats were very comfortable. Once again the crew was amazing and the purser was very engaging and interracted a lot with the passengers.
On both flights boarding was beyond chaotic due to a large amount of hand luggage. Crew helped with the process but there was only so much they could do. On the way back, we were delayed by 40 minutes due to this issue since several bags had to be taken downstairs.
The MAD-CDG flight had 127 passengers in total out of which 16 were in business class.
Our Air Serbia flight was delayed which meant I had more time to move from one terminal to the other. The A320 arrived with 153 passengers while on the flight back we were just 96 passengers, 2 of us sitting in business class. The other passenger was a Turkish guy continuing his journey to IST.
Overall, I found Air France to have a very good business class product. In my opinion both flights had a great soft and hard product. Crew was definitely their biggest asset. Food was tasty and well presented and you can see that they paid attention to every single detail.
CDG might not be the most beautiful airport around but I found it to be much nicer than, for example, FRA.
Air Serbia on the other hand wasn't as impressive. In my opinion it seems as if they put minimal effort in order to make sure their product stands out. My personal opinion is that what they are offering is just not worth paying for. The food was bland in both directions, the crew was not overly motivated while they were disappointing on the flight back. There was a younger FA who interacted with us for a little bit but then he and the purser spent most of the flight behind the curtain gossiping about their flight schedules and some disagreements they had with their colleagues.
The few times the purser did show up, she was pleasant enough and that was about it.
I'd say Air Serbia should improve their meal presentation and the selection of newspapers. I think it's better not to have any rather than to offer trash like Informer. Their crew is hit or miss and this is something they should really work on.
In the comment section here I read that they are currently fighting for better pay. Even though I support their cause, paying customers in both business or economy should not be the ones to experience their exhaustion or lack of motivation.
The worst part of all this was that Air France could not issue my boarding pass for CDG-BEG in Madrid. They told me to contact the ground crew once I am in Paris. I did that and they directed me to the exit after which I was supposed to go to the JU check-in and get the boarding pass there. I managed to avoid all that by showing everyone my reservation which got me to the terminal. I had to wait for the JU gate to open before I could get my boarding pass. Ground staff started calling out several names to contact them. I suppose they also needed their boarding passes to be issued.
I am actually curious to know if my case was a one off or if this is a regular occurrence when connecting from AF onto JU. What really annoyed me was that I couldn't choose my seat and no one had any clue what I should do. Air Serbia and Air France seem to have a good relationship and if this is the norm, then they should really work on fixing it.
I know this might sound odd but I personally enjoyed my JU economy class flights much more than the two in business class. I suppose it has to do with one having greater expectations when flying in a premium class. Hopefully JU will improve their premium product now that they are growing, becoming more relevant and actually making money.
Anyway, thank you for reading my report, hope you enjoyed it!
Share your travel experience by submitting a trip report to exyu@exyuaviation.com
Nice tripreport, I feel like Air Serbia only needs to invest a little more into their business class for it to be a lot better.
ReplyDeleteWhat were the seats like in YU-APO, were they the old Vistara seats or did Air Serbia replace them after the planes delivery?
Not a little more, but quite a lot. This is simply economy class being seated at the very front. The meal presentation also leaves room for huge improvement. You know very well how demanding business travellers are because they pay more and will expect more. Quite simple.
Delete+1
DeleteEnlarge the picture of breakfast and you will see how burned the vegetables are.
Nice report btw
Well for a start they could improve food presentation (they shouldn't serve such dry food and should not burn it) and use glass cups and i'm sure that would improve the product by a lot and I don't think that that would be a large investment. The hard product is another story but this should be fine for a start.
DeleteThank you. Indeed, the product is very basic so all they need to do is come up with a new concept for it, to brand it in some way.
DeleteYU-APO had the Vistara seats which are ok if you are not planning on sleeping. If you want to sleep then it's a problem since they are too wide and flat so you end up sliding from one side to the other. They are also far from the wall of the plane so you can't lean on it.
The poor Turkish guy wanted to sleep and he kept on changing positions the whole flight.
I think the cabin looks nicer with the Air Serbia seats.
Indeed. +1
DeleteS5-AAR :(((((
ReplyDeleteNice report, thanks
Regards from Slovenia
What a report. Bravo Nemjee. In what condition was YU-APO, seats and other?
ReplyDeleteYU-APO seats were in a really good condition and they were comfortable enough that is if you were not planning on sleeping.
DeleteAren't they going to change APO cabin soon?
DeleteYes, I think they will do it once it goes for regular maintenance. Looking at the current situation I don't think they can afford to have another plane out of service.
DeleteIts so sad seeing that MAD is still just 2pw
ReplyDeleteI agree, hopefully they add another flight especially since I heard they are doing well on this route.
DeleteIf nothing else, at least we have flights throughout the year. But it would be nice if they increased at least 1 per week.
DeleteThis summer:
Delete2x MAD
2x VLC
2x AGP
3x PMI
9x BCN.
How many flights did they have to PMI in 2022? Wasn't it two?
DeleteYes, 2 per week.
DeleteI agree with you about Lufthansa group going woke, there is no way I would fly with them again! KLM Air France offer a much better product and Air Serbia is a very decent Airline nowadays in terms of service !
ReplyDeleteAgree +1!
DeleteI still think Lufthansa will eventually improve their onboard product. They can't go on like this. It will hurt them much more in the long run.
DeleteIndeed, JU overall product is not bad, it's just that it's not good either. I would describe it as mediocre at best.
How would you describe an airline that has "gone woke"?
DeleteAn Airline that doesn't call passengers ladies or Gentlemen are woke such as what Lufthansa is doing nowadays. I am not going to be forced into accepting someone can be non binary. The last people I would expect expect to do this is Lufthansa.
DeleteExactly, it was just a diversion so that people don't notice all the destruction of their service, employee conditions, loyalty program...but hey that's how it is when you know your government will never let you fail.
DeleteI live in Austria and I remember in 2021 when Austrian Airlines decided to drop the legendary Guten Morgen Meine Damen und Herren it was the same period when your average cabin crew could barely afford to live in Vienna and when they were all on short term work contracts. Longhaul fleet was getting old and loss was larger and larger. Like Lufthansa it was here also a diversion from the real situatio.
DeleteMakes you wonder how strictly this is enforced. On my last 4 flights with OS, on two they used ladies and gentlemen. Personally I love it as I associate it with the golden era of the aviation industry. I'm happy this trend didn't really catch on.
DeleteMy favorite is Turkish Airlines which also greets children. :D
I flew Lufthansa business FRA-LIS in November and the onboard service was wonderful. Couple of meal choices, both very tasty and the purser was extremely friendly. When they served coffee, the (porcelain) cup was very cute, unusual shape with embossed logo, so I asked her if it’s possible to buy them somewhere. She came back a minute later and gave me one, wrapped in paper. Then she noticed I travelled accompanied and brought another one! But the ground staff pre boarding was a different story… Nervous, rude, indifferent. We came on a United flight from Houston and they couldn’t issue the LH boarding pass there, so we approached the counter, just to be sent (more like shoved) to the side while they processed other (economy) passengers at random, and there were many as it was some kind of general chaos. While chitchatting among themselves and on the phone. After a minute or so we got back in line anyway, and they had already forgotten they told us to wait so we got the passes right away. It was just a random thing, there was no reason for sending us to wait. Probably irked by our “entitled business class demeanor”.
DeleteInteresting about the service, it could be that they already started rolling out the improved product. It would make sense since things are looking up for them. Shortly before covid their quality crashed.
DeleteThanks for this enjoyable and detailed report Nemjee, like always! But gosh people please grow up. We're here discussing all the time about how airlines can make the experience onboard more pleasant for all passengers, and with just kicking out archaic wording from their textsheets airlines are exactly trying to do so! Really don't get it how somebody can feel provoked when being greeted differently than before over PA, the most impersonal and random greeting anyhow
DeleteBecause it's part of the genderless woke trend that is not popular. Very simple. There is a reason why other airlines did not do the same.
DeleteJust like you think it's ok for you not to care about it, the same way it's ok for others to care.
Just a tip never take a omelet on a plane, at a gas station, fast food place etc places where they are not freshly prepared. It's only tasty when you eat it 1 minute after it's cooked.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. I just chose it because the other two options didn't seem all that appealing.
DeleteExcellent trip report Nemjee, as always. I flew AF in economy on BEG-CDG-TLS-CDG legs and CDG-BEG on JU. On the return flight I got boarding passes for both AF and JU legs in TLS, so I just changed terminals by a shuttle bus and went straight to the gate for my return to BEG. This was in October, maybe things have changed since then.
ReplyDeleteHere's a short video from the CDG's ramp.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nVuesVS9Bc&ab_channel=MaliBa%C4%87o
I can also say only nice things about the AF crew. From a very engaging purser on the BEG-CDG flight, who was apologetic over a 2-hour delay (caused by fog in CDG) and very helpful in helping us navigate the terminal to connect to another flight. He was very friendly and talkative!
On my return flight from TLS to CDG I got approached by a Serbian crew member who grew up in Paris. She was excited to see Serbs on board her flight that day and approached us to have a very sweet and welcoming conversation with me and my colleagues. Honestly, my experience on these flights made AF absolutely stand out, well ahead of the competition.
On the other side, their catering was very basic although I have to say that I absolutely got spoiled by TK's economy class.
Interesting, thank you. Did you book your flights via Air France's website or...?
DeleteWhat did you get in economy class? From what I could see, to/from MAD they got a cookie, sandwich and a drink. I suppose your flight to TLS had minimal service since it's a short flight.
My company booked the flights for me via an external agency. The booking was through Air France, they codeshare with Air Serbia on the BEG flights.
DeleteThe BEG - CDG flight had a small sandwich (two bites) with ham and cheese + the drinks.
The CDG - TLS sector had a cookie (madeleine) and a drink. They were very efficient on this flight given the fact that it was an A321. The same catering was in return to CDG, although on an A319.
Nice, thank you!
DeleteNemjee, there is something odd about how Air Serbia shares information about tickets with other airlines. For example, before my trip to Sydney for which I had tickets with Air Serbia and Etihad, Air Serbia did not have any record of those tickets existing in their system. I randomly checked online my ticket and found out trip details don't exist. Meanwhile, I had received my email confirmation of all the flights. Then I had to call them and the lady told me on the phone that she can find those booking details but they were not matching with what she has in the system. She said if I hadn't checked and called, I would surely have an issue boarding my flight. Then, as I was coming back at Sydney airport Etihad crew spent 45 minutes trying to resolve why I have two tickets for the same flight. It was a random double booking. An entire B777 was waiting for me to board the flight. LOL
ReplyDeleteDid you book your flight through an agency or via JU or EY website?
DeleteHaha how did it feel when you entered the plane and everyone was looking at you as the reason for the delay. :D
И овог пута одлично написано. Браво, Nemjee!
ReplyDeleteХвала!
DeleteNemjee, надамо се ускоро да ћете нас обрадовати извештајем о линији BEG-INI.
DeleteШто да не! :)
DeleteJU business class service and presentation doesn't justify the price (I am not writing about long haul flights). Cabin crew not motivated to do their jobs regardless of class you fly in.
ReplyDeleteTako je,JU treba da unapredi svoju biznis klasu i servira vam jedan obrok kao AF a ne da Vam da mogućnost izbora. Onda će pretpostavljam biti OK.
ReplyDeleteОвде није проблем да ли се нуди избор или не. Ради се о томе шта се добије када се достави изабрано јело. Што се мене тиче, нека укину јеловнике и нека свима служе исто али да са тиме знатно побољшају квалитет хране и услуге. Стандардизацијом то могу постићи. Питање је да ли постоји довољно воље и жеље да се позабаве овим питањем.
DeleteBaš me zanima kakva to kajgana treba da bude da bi zadovoljila Vaše apetite? Mislim da ste malo prestrogi prema ErSrbiji. Što se tiče čaša slažem se da bi u biznis klasi trebale biti od stakla.Ako se setimo da su pre par godina služili obrok u kutiji moramo konstatovati da su itekako unapredili uslugu.
DeleteКајгана је потпуно небитна. Верујем да у Ер Србији постоји неко ко се бави нивоом и квалитетом услуге. Уколико прате и виде да храна која се нуди не задовољава стандарде бизнис класе, онда је време да направе нови концепт послужења. Нека замене кајгану са нечим другим.
DeleteМислим да је јако битно да им услуга у бизнис класи буде на нивоу посебно јер немају нормалан програм лојалности нити конкурентан корпоративни програм. Дакле послуга и искуство током лета им преостаје као последња шанса да привуку и задрже пословне људе.
Слажем се да су унапредили послужење у поређењу са папирним кутијама али исто тако можемо упоредити садањши стандард послужења са оним из 2013. године.
Napisali ste da kajgana nije ukusna pa sam shvatio da je to vaša glavna zamerka što se tiče obroka, Sledećeg puta uzmite pitu sa piletinom,možda vam se dopadne. Ujusi su različiti.
DeleteDa, pita sa piletinom je odlicna. Kajgana svakako nije sjajan izbor za biznis klasu i ne treba je imati uopste na meniju.
DeleteZasto ne nude kornfleks kao neki na jutarnjim letovima?
DeleteMakar ja nisam primetio.
DeleteAF imo is one the few really decent European carriers. Love their inflight safety videos. I flew with their 772-ER reg. F-GSPL from CDG-SCL and will not forget the experience. Sole issue is that their safety record is not as impeccable as the Anglo-Saxons. BA, QF, NZ and not to speak about Hawaiian, Southwest, easyJet and Ryanair. AF A220 looks really cool.
ReplyDeleteDid you fly with them before or after they refurbished their planes?
DeleteI think it's a shame that CDG isn't better positioned (like VIE, MUC or even FRA) so they are usually not the most direct option unless you are flying to the Americas or to north-western Europe.
I flew CDG-HAV on both the refurbished and the older 777-300ER and everything was truly marvelous. The IFE in the refurbished cabin was just next level
DeleteNice, thanks for the feedback!
DeleteTo imitate someone we all appreciate on this website, "Jiiiiriiiiiii. Read, watch and improve".
ReplyDeleteThe thing is the two can't be compared. On the same route, the other airline gives passengers a mini pack of biscuits - in business class.
DeleteYes and don't forget that OU only flies to the West so all of their flights are 45 minute shorter than JU's.
DeleteHow does a 45 minute shorter flight justify abysmal business class product on which you are served cookies in a bag?
DeleteLess time to arrange decent service
DeleteOf course because 3 years ago there was enough time but they put boosters on the engines in the meantime and now the flights are quicker. Please stop making excuses. The meals are arranged by catering, the crew just has to bring it out. Btw on the 45 minute longer flight to London they also serve you a packet of biscuits.
DeleteWell, back in the early 80s, I use to fly YQG to YYZ on a regular basis for work. On AC's DC9, the flight was approx 50 minutes. I remember that I use to take th 7am flight. We would actually get a breakfast with sausages and eggs and toast woth coffee or juice. The return flight, we wiuld get either a warm meal. Usually chicken ir beef with veggies and a drink. Thus was in economy class. It was served on dishes and trays . To add this was in economy class. Just goes to show you how times have changed
DeleteGreat trip report as always :)
ReplyDeleteIt's disappointing to see how much JU has offloaded onto the airport, including catering. The catering before used to be really good. They seem to hastily make decisions without thinking things through, while making adjustments along the way. Those plastic glasses remind me of the boxes they used to serve for a short period before reverting back to trays. JU's biggest weakness is the smaller details that they have never gotten right since rebranding. Great ideas, terrible implementation. It's one of the rarities that has remained consistent since rebranding, unfortunately.
The newspaper selection, unfortunately, perfectly represents the media situation in Serbia - trash at best. Staff were given instructions to immediately dispose of publications such as NIN, Vreme, Nedeljnik and 'similar publications' if left by a passenger. PR did a terrible job in covering up the email that went public regarding this, however it isn't the first blunder from the PR team.
JU seriously need to think about having something of a product development team as obviously there isn't one, or at least an effective one. As you commented, they're not bad, not great either. I don't think that much would be needed to make the experience alot better.
As for the crew, I hope JU do something to improve the work culture in the company. They've got some ambitious plans coming up, not only this year, but in the next few years, and wet leases can't be the driving force to it. Unfortunately, the passengers always suffer in the battle between the crew and the company, especially when strikes hit (LH for example). JU have some fantastic people working for them, its disappointing to see how morale has fallen so low.
Wow I didn't know about that with the memo regarding newspapers. Did someone report it? Like some newspaper? Really disgusting move by the airline.
DeleteThank you for your comment and input.
DeleteI really hope they start paying attention to the overall passenger experience when flying with them. Fixing their business class product is really not that hard. If they can't fix it in-house then they can always outsource it to some consulting company.
Introduce a new concept, add some perks, ditch the trashy literature and maybe add pillows and blankets in case one of the passengers asks for it.
They need the extra revenue from business class passengers. BEG is becoming increasingly competitive in terms of legacies all of which are working hard on building customer loyalty among the high yielding frequent fliers.
@16,58
DeleteYeah, there were a couple of platforms and outlets where it was reported.
https://www.raskrikavanje.rs/mobile/page.php?id=Cutanje-Er-Srbije-o-zabrani-nedeljnika-podgreva-sumnje-o-cenzuri---342
@17,21
JU have the things they need to polish up the product. They don't have to source out consulting companies to assist. They also have a number of employees that previously worked for the Middle Eastern carriers, who are quite familiar with the finer, smaller service details, which could be implemented at JU. After all, JU did take on alot of the EY service standards when they rebranded. My guess is that someone from the management isn't interested in either listening to the suggestions or implementing better service standards.
Didn't know anything about this situation with the newspapers. Thank you for sharing it with us.
DeleteJATBEGMEL & Nemjee: if you owned an airline, would you offer a newspaper that routinely talks trash about your airline?
DeleteI guess you would have to be brave to do something like that. I mean, allowing your critics to have a voice is not for everyone.
Delete@Anon 22:28 +10000!
DeleteHas nothing to do with bravery, just common sense and business decision Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos wouldn't hesitate a second to make. You don't want your passengers to look at the front page of a paper obsessed with forcing a constant negative narrative about the airline. It was not a voice of neutral critic, it was just nonsense trash. Were you not familiar with M. Brkic's magnum opus, for example?
DeleteI guess they should remove Blic as well, along with B92.
Deletehttps://www.blic.rs/vesti/tema-dana/sa-jatovog-aviona-otpadali-srafovi/nq0wk29
https://www.b92.net/putovanja/komentari.php?nav_id=379680
JU isn't constantly being trashed in media. Media banned by JU do talk positive of the airline as well.
https://www.danas.rs/vesti/ekonomija/er-srbija-leti-do-novih-destinacija-u-nemackoj-francuskoj-i-svedskoj/
Since the claim is that other media "constantly" trash the airline, how many articles have been made about JU (past 12 months, 2 years, 5 years even), how many were positive and how many were negative?
However, criticism should be given where due. JU isn't perfect and faultless and should not be viewed as such. JU should be better with its PR, however considering that they've allowed this to stain their reputation for 5 years...
https://nova.rs/vesti/drustvo/autisticni-decak-izbacen-je-sa-leta-er-srbije-posle-pet-godina-njegova-porodica-je-docekala-pravdu/
...it isn't a good look, regardless of who is right or wrong. Better airlines would of found this as an opportunity to learn and move on, using the opportunity to say that we want to be inclusive to all passengers, however they chose the opposite and is drawing unnecessary and unwanted attention. If this is what you meant by "trash" it was definitely for a valid reason. If you find Informer to be the better representation of our country than I don't think we have anything further to talk about. JU is building up to be more than just a small regional carrier and needs to reflect that.
Let's also not forget that JU isn't a private entity but the flag carrier of our nation. Bezos and Musk comparisons is totally irrelevant. Serbia is not the mafia to silence people, nor North Korea or Turkmenistan to be telling people what to do, what to read, what to think and if this is what you are insinuating, it's quite offensive. We are after all a country that is open, tolerant and accepting, even having an openly proud lesbian as prime minister that is also a mum.
So why did they stop offering Politka? They are neutral and have barely written about JU. To me it seems like a political decision to offer these newspapers.
DeleteOffering Informer and Alo is just ...
JU is not the pet project of the ruling party. It existed long before them and will exist after them. Looks like you are not clear on the difference between bona fide criticism and a mission to frame the airline in a negative light as a weapon in a political battle.
DeleteFather of that autistic child has a strong political motive as an oposition political activist. FYI, rest of the world also has to cope with incidents related to autistic kids:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11608827/Black-boy-12-autism-cuffed-CONCUSSED-police-officers-police-outreach-program.html
https://bc.ctvnews.ca/this-is-too-much-b-c-mom-records-police-handcuffing-12-year-old-in-hospital-1.6250130
From what I know Mr Antic is focused on defending Serbian national integrity as defined by the country's constitution. He is not the same kind of opposition as Mr Brkic who wrote factually wrong fluff pieces against JU. The comparison here is not the same.
DeleteSo are you implying that the best they can do is to offer Informer and Alo? Have you actually read them? Have you noticed the obvious, high level of primitivism which is present in both publications? I would like to know why they are no longer offering Politika? Why can't they offer some high quality local magazines? From what I know National Geographic has a Serbian version of their magazine.
So if they ever introduce IFE, what can we expect, Jovana Jeremic to be aired on all flights?
Do you know enough about Mr Antic? Just read the the link from nova and it will be clear many of his statements involve claims such as 'ugrožavamo projekat režima SNS'. It is crass to abuse your own kid's unfortunate episode and airline's clearly unprofessional response for political propaganda. If he kept politics out of it more people would have empathy for him and what his child had to endure. Now it feels his priority is political vendetta.
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DeleteTake a look at how real business class was in JU IN 2016:
ReplyDeletehttps://morepremium.com/review-air-serbia-business-class-frankfurt-belgrade/
Thank you for the link. Makes me wonder why they can't just bring back that level of service. All the amenities are probably somewhere in their warehouse. Also, I completely forgot they used to offer a pre-departure drink. Here we got a wet tissue but it was all white without any branding, looked kinda cheap. In my opinion, they should hand out these wet wipes in economy class as well especially on flights where they are serving chips or Gricko.
DeleteAgree +1
DeleteKo večeras leti za Cirih uživaće u biznis klasi YU-ARB.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately that is because several A319s and two Romanian planes are out of service. Romanian A319 went for C check and A320 is broken down.
DeleteAli na sreću putnika.
DeleteOba A320 su aktivna, jedan je odleteo za CDG drugi za BCN.
DeleteRumunski A320, Dan Air, ne JU A320.
DeleteYU-ASA started flying yesterday. Now all ATR are young.
DeleteNot all of them, YU-ALU is still in service and will probably stay until the new lease of 2x ATR
DeleteTrade Air A320 is flying to NUE this morning. They are having huge problems with fleet.
DeleteGreat report Nemjee.
ReplyDeleteThank you Charlie!
DeleteNemjee, thank you for another great trip report! Honesty, I hope Air Serbia will improve its business class service before I use it.
ReplyDeleteWish you many more interesting flights :)
Thank you. :)
DeleteI fully agree with your statement about Lufthsnsa. I used to fly a lot with them until they downgraded service on intra-European flights in economy to become expensive LCC.
ReplyDeleteIndeed!
DeleteWe all have different expectations about what constitutes a trully great air travel experience. Chaotic boarding is a firm no-no for me, but you don't seem to fault AF for it. For me, I don't expect business class catering experience to match any 5-star restaurant, so as long as food is fairly reasonable and it doesn't end up in food poisoning, I am fine. You seem to have much higher expectations. I expect FA's to be efficient and helpful. Friendly is nice but optional. Chatty service is often faux, as you know if you watched White Lotus. You posted 3 photos of the lounge staircase but those things would not attract a single photo for me. Regardless, thank you for detailed report and many photos.
ReplyDeleteThanks for very nice trip report. One of the best, most complete so far with incredible details. One of them, in the coffee photo a detail of the Cypriot passport can be seen. Nice!
DeleteI stopped reading when the OP mentioned they did not like the color of the food tray. Ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteYet that didn't stop you from writing a completely ridiculous and useless comment. Hm.
DeleteBasically you spit on JU and elevate AF, I won’t go into details, but amazing that you knew exactly the number of passengers per cabin, and each nationality of the business classe passengers. Sorry but it’s very hard to believe in you report. Not reliable at all. I flew both airlines several times, and worked for EK, and honestly I find JU very similar to AF, no big defense except for the airport, but that has nothing to do with the airline. Thank you
ReplyDelete