TRIP REPORT: Air Serbia/Air Connect, Belgrade - Vienna

TRIP REPORT

Written by Veljko Marinković

Two weeks ago, I travelled via Air Serbia from Belgrade to Vienna and back. Since the Covid outbreak, this was my first flight on the ATR, and I was eager to experience the new 600 series. I bought the ticket using the Air Serbia mobile app for the first time. According to what I've seen, the cost of the ticket was about 10% less expensive on the mobile app than it was on the website (with a web profile), but the cost of the seat and checked baggage was cheaper on the web - a minor but noticeable difference. The mobile app made check-in fairly simple, but I had to use the website to do it for the return trip because, for some reason, the app failed to recognize the flight information and returned an error.

Since I received a message from Air Serbia informing me that I should arrive at the airport earlier owing to construction at the Nikola Tesla Airport in Belgrade, I arrived there about 2.5 hours earlier. Although there was already a traffic jam in front of the airport, things were considerably better within the check-in area. Given that the majority of the flights that day were scheduled between 6 and 7 a.m. The new area with the check-in counters looks fairly well and was not overcrowded. I have seen information indicating that check-in is at the old area of Terminal 2 between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.

Unfortunately, on the upper floor, where passport and security control are located, things were significantly different. The passenger line practically reached the stairs and was in a very small area that was panelled off. As it continued, it split up into multiple lines or so-called snakes. Fortunately, the trip's departure day was a Tuesday, so it wasn't too busy; however, I'm not sure how it will be in the summer. It took 35 minutes in total to pass both passport and security control. The construction of the new duty-free shop is behind the security control, thus it's possible that after the work is finished, this zone will be further expanded. Since I was warned by the security staff that taking photos is prohibited, I managed to take one photo, and I did not take any pictures of the airport facilities furthermore.

Boarding was done through bus gate C10b, which is located on the ground floor of the new terminal. There were 54 passengers on board, which represents a load factor of 75%. ATR 72-600, YU-ALY, an eight-year-old aircraft with 72 black leather seats, operated the flight. There is a noticeable difference in the appearance of the cabin compared to the previous versions of the ATR in the JU fleet, especially in terms of noise. However, I would stand by my previous report that the YU-ALV was one of the most comfortable aircraft I've flown with in terms of seat comfort. Given that the flight was only a little over an hour long, the seat peach was acceptable. Due to the 15-minute delay in our departure, we were 15 minutes late arriving in Vienna. Baby water and Nobilica cookies were served during the flight, and the crew was professional. Elevate Deli & Bar products were available, however, I didn't see any passengers place any orders.

Two days later, the Romanian Air Connect ATR, which Air Serbia has been leasing since March, was scheduled to fly the return JU605 flight. When I checked-in in the morning, the aircraft had already flown to Prague and was due to fly to Vienna in the evening. However, when I was getting ready to leave for the airport, I saw that the plane was flying as JU152 to Budapest, with a delay of 4 hours (it took off at 5 p.m. from Belgrade). I assumed some equipment changes given that Air Serbia did not send a message informing passengers of the delay and that the flight appeared to be on time on Vienna Airport's website. At the time of my arrival, the airport was mostly empty, in particular, the part of Terminal 1, section D, where only flights to Belgrade and Tel Aviv were planned for the evening hours. As a result, security and passport control were completed more quickly than I had anticipated, in a few minutes.

It became clear that the flight would be delayed as boarding time approached, but neither the check-in agents nor any information had shown up. The information board announced a new time, 10:40 p.m., at 9 p.m. when we were supposed to be in the air. This was false data because the plane left Belgrade at 9:20 p.m., thus it couldn't depart from Vienna at that time. There were about 15 transfer passengers on the flight, most of them going to Larnaca and Russia, so it was evident that they were worried about making it on time. Particularly among travellers heading to Kazan, given that the following flight wasn't for three days. I must point out that the majority of the airport's shops and restaurants closed at 9:00 p.m.

After a 2-hour and 45-minute delay, we finally took off, 30 minutes before midnight. I can say that the 8-year-old Air Connect ATR 72-600 (YR-ACB), which was operated on this flight, was in perfect condition. I want to emphasise the legroom, which was more than excellent. The aircraft seemed to have 2 seats fewer than Air Serbia’s aircraft on my inbound flight, as far as I could tell. I don’t know the exact load factor on this flight, but I would say it was between 70 to 80% full. It was interesting to listen to the crew (both male) address the passengers in English, Romanian, and notably Serbian and German. The crew was also quite friendly. Their dedication was especially apparent when a woman with two kids had to be split up due to a 2-2 ATR layout. The captain did not address passengers over the PA during the whole flight, and we did not get any info about the reasons for the delay. The rest of the flight was uneventful and included the usual service.

Forty minutes after midnight, with the moderate turbulence caused on by strong winds, we touched down at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. Halfway down the runway, the ATR came to a stop, turned around, and backtracked toward the closest runway exit, which was just across from the A1 gate. A procedure that I had the chance to witness for the first time at the airport in Belgrade. We parked at a position behind gate A4. The purser asked passengers to remain seated from rows one to ten, due to the aircraft balance, but of course, everyone jumped immediately. Then we were driven by bus to gate A4's entrance. Passport control was deserted, so I swiftly got throughout.

The journey did not finish there, though. It was completely impossible to find a taxi that was available. As a result, a queue of passengers (I would suppose also from an earlier flight) formed at the improvised taxi stand in the parking lot next to the arrivals, exposed to the Košava wind gusts without any shelter. And so on for almost an hour.

And for the end, a little bit a spotting from the Vienna Airport visitor terrace: Korean Air, Queen of the Sky Boeing 747F, Turkish Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Georgian Airways Boeing 737-700, China Airlines Airbus A350, and Air Serbia ATR 72-600 YU-ALY.

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