TRIP REPORT
Earlier this week I used one of Air Serbia’s three daily flights to Budapest and came back a few days later. I booked my ticket some five days before my flight at a price of around 120 euros return. Out of the three flights, I selected the afternoon one, both for the outbound and inbound, which was convenient for me.
Although I have a registered account on the Air Serbia website, since it was redesigned a few months ago, it is impossible to log in, with the message that your password is incorrect, but even if you set up a new password it is impossible to log in, and this has been an issue I have heard others have too. I also considered purchasing the ticket with miles, but the miles chart for award tickets has been removed from the website since the redesign. While I don’t mind the appearance of the new look website, some two months later, it is still full of bugs and a lot of information is missing, which makes me wonder what the relevant department is doing. I am sure they have, by now, heard at least the feedback that it is not possible to log into accounts.
I arrived at the airport around two hours ahead of departure and it was very busy, with a lot of people flying for the holidays. I was interested to see what the load and passenger structure would be for the flight.
As this is an ATR-operated flight, we were assigned one of the bus gates - A7A. Boarding began right on time as indicated on the boarding pass and there were some fifty people on this flight. I would say 90% were transfers. There were Chinese, Russians, French, and to my surprise, many of the passengers were from Spain. Later on, on the streets of Budapest I would notice that every other person seemed to be speaking Spanish. Of course, there were also Serbian and Hungarian passengers too.
As all passengers were at the gate on time, we boarded the bus quickly and were taken to the B platform for boarding. There I noticed some new ground handler personnel were getting trained by a senior.
There were two female cabin crew members on the YU-ALX ATR72-600. I was impressed by the cabin. It was clean, the seats were comfortable, and it looked as if the plane was brand new, even though it isn’t. We were given a short welcome message by the captain who said he would inform us in more detail about the flight information upon departure. The pre-recorded safety message was played, and we had a short taxi to the middle of the runway from which we took off on time.
The flight was uneventful. Upon departure the crew distributed a bag of pretzel sticks and water, after which they passed through with the pay-on-board service, although there were no takers. Both crew members were pleasant and courteous.
After a short 40 minutes we began our descent into Budapest and arrived slightly ahead of schedule.
The return flight was much the same, so I won’t go into detail, but I have uploaded some photos below from the inbound journey. Once again, most of the passengers were transfers and there were around 50-60 passengers. On the return flight there were quite a few Hungarian families. While waiting in line at check in, an American family behind me were talking about their connecting flight to Paris, while the people in front of me were Greek.
As you approach Budapest Airport from the highway, there is a big billboard with an image of Belgrade and the Air Serbia logo along with “To Belgrade and beyond”. I saw it too late to have taken a photo. However, at Budapest Airport, which was also very busy at the time, there is an Air Serbia ad advertising its 16 weekly flights.
Overall, my flight with Air Serbia was enjoyable. I’m a fan of this relatively new high-frequency Budapest service. Not only does it cut travel time and long waits at the boarder (especially in summer and around the holidays) but it also gives you an option to do a day trip from Belgrade, by taking the morning flight and returning with the evening one. The tickets are not expensive, considering what I paid by booking a ticket just days in advance. I was also impressed by the state of the ATR72-600 and both my flights were on time, arriving at my destination ahead of schedule on both occasions. My only peeve on this journey was the website experience, which I imagine can be fixed within days.
Share your travel experience by submitting a trip report to exyu@exyuaviation.com
Thank you for a nice trip report.
ReplyDeleteI think we are all still impressed by their ATRs given the state of their old ones just before they were retired. They were literally falling apart.
As always, I still don't understand why they are not opening more cafes and shops at BEG. I wouldn't be surprised if businesses are not rushing because they are asking too much. Tesla Square is closed for renovation so now you basically have four choices:
1. Coffee Cake by A1
2. One rather small baker by C1
3. Bistro by C10
4. Кафетерија cart that moves around the terminal.
It's been a while since the newly expanded terminal was opened and it's time for them to speed up this process. In the check-in area you have only one coffee shop!
Is this sadistic setup at BEG, where all passengers need to walk all the way to the C5 and then go 2 floors down to get to pass control, permanent?
DeleteYou don't walk to C5. You walk to the place A and C gates meet
DeleteNo, the escalator is not above A1, it is just above C5. The corridor cuts the A1-C1 corner, so the line goes appr A2-C3. Anyway, it is way too much walking
DeleteThanks! It is really nice review with interesting information about the sevice, passenger numbers and the web site. Great to hear that experience is improving (except poor web site ux). Nice pictures!
ReplyDeleteDon't see why JU management thinks that only matters number of destinations and that all other things like customer relationships, brand awareness, onboard service, frequent flyer program, website.... aren't important at all
ReplyDeleteDid you even read the report?
DeleteNice to see BUD operation finaly works great.
ReplyDeleteGreat report. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteGeven seats look amazing on ATR
DeleteThank you for the nice review. I've noticed the same problem when logging to the Air Serbia web site, however, for me it happens only when I use the password saved in my Google account. If I type the password I am able to login.
ReplyDeleteInteresting International crowd. Was the aircraft parked on a distance parking position?
ReplyDeleteThe B platform which is used for remote parking is across from the terminal (or what used to be Terminal 1). If you are assigned the "A" bus gates it is not a long drive maybe 3-5 minutes. But if you get assigned the "C" gates it takes around 8-10 minutes.
DeleteThanks. In September I transrerred via BEG and for both legs we must parked on C-gates as it was a long drive.
DeleteWonder how Budapest flights will do after the high-speed rail is complete
ReplyDeleteRead the news? The hungarian part will never be ready due to the inability of the chinese construction company.
DeleteNever?
DeleteProbably read the article in Danas.
Delete2026 the earliest. IF the chinese can build a functioning the train protection system (which they never did in any EU country yet). The tracks will be laid by the end of 2025 but without the protection system the maximum speed can only be 60-100 km/h.
Deleteyou could still do Belgrade-Subotica-Szeged-Budapest route when Novi Sad-Subotica section is complete. Might take a few hours but more convenient than a bus.
Deletesource: nova s
Delete120€ return ticket while with Bus fudeks (Flix bus) is 60€ without tax.
ReplyDeleteObviously there's a market. Fudeks sucks and border wait times can be excruciating.
DeleteI'd give 60+€ to avoid 6 hours on a bus and border waiting nuisance. Good value.
DeleteLol, comparing flixbus to a 40 min flight.... If you are willing to struggle with a bus for 6+ hours (sometimes 10+ when border situation is horrible) go ahead. I'd fly any day over that
Delete+1
DeleteYou continue flixing around and I’ll fly. Let’s time the race.
Deletethe best option to go to Budapest is with your own car. If thats not possible then theres the flight. Shuttle busses are illegal and extremely uncomfortable. The train - one reinstated will take some 6 hours including border waits. Before closure in 201 it took eight hours or a bit more.
DeleteI've taken this flight alone in August and most recently a few days ago after Christmas with my Hungarian wife. It is convenient and certainly affordable. Check in is very fast and courteous at Budapest Airport -- one cannot check in online when flying from Budapest. (I'm curious to see if that will change.) My evening flight in August was delayed about 20 minutes due to a late arriving plane from Bulgaria. However, my flight three days ago was on time. As you said, nice service and an interesting array of international passengers interspersed with groups of Hungarians and Serbs. In August, my flight was 95% full and this time around I'd say it was about 70-75% full. We will definitely fly it again.
ReplyDeleteCan you ask some of the local Budapest spotters to make a photo of the highway ad?
ReplyDelete