Air Serbia is looking at retrofitting cabins across its fleet, as well as improving both its onboard soft product and ground service. The carrier will introduce a new hard product on its two incoming Airbus A330-200 wide-body aircraft. As previously reported, this will include aisle access for all business class passengers with a staggered 1-2-1 cabin layout and lie-flat seats, as well as personal in-flight entertainment screens and USB and universal power sockets for all travellers. Speaking to EX-YU Aviation News, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said, “For the upcoming two wide-body aircraft, for the time being, this will be the standard cabins that we will look to develop further in the future. As soon as we have the engineering and design done, which takes six to seven months, YU-ARC [Mihajlo Pupin] will go for a full cabin retrofit and feature the same new cabins. On the other hand, YU-ARB [Nikola Tesla], will undergo the retrofit either next year or the year after. As part of the deal for the incoming A330s, we have secured additional shipsets of the same seats for those retrofits”.
The airline is also looking into options of retrofitting its narrow-body fleet. “We are looking at the retrofit of the cabins and some kind of simplification, standardisation and more ergonomic seats across all fleet types. However, these types of projects usually take a lot of time, you have very limited options from what you can select”, Mr Marek said.
Service-wise the airline aims to make improvements. “We introduced complimentary sandwiches on board and now we are looking at further improving the quality. We still think there is room for improvement with catering and we will continue to put in the effort with our supplier to improve the proposition in that segment. We are also working to make changes with buy-on-board because it hasn’t been refreshed since 2019. That includes improving the quality, selection, introducing pre-order meal options and so on”, the CEO said. He added, “We are looking at introducing duty-free on all flights and we are in the process of evaluating and deciding about onboard streaming options”.
On the ground at its hub in Belgrade, the carrier has been met with delays in implementing its plans. “We have a lot of challenges with the building permissions to realise what we envisaged a long time ago. We are in close coordination with the airport operator to speed up the process. We have three main projects at the airport. One is premium check-in, which we can hopefully start construction soon, a new service desk / ticketing office, and the biggest project - the new premium lounge. Everything is pending on the final green light to start construction. We hope it can commence this year”.
Finally, the carrier is in the process of selecting a technology provider for its new frequent flyer program, which will mark the end of eleven years of reliance on the Etihad Guest scheme. “We want to have an up-to-date program where everything can be done through an app and where you can collect and redeem points. It will be a spend-based system and we would like to include also third parties to create lifestyle product including co-branded cards”, Mr Marek concluded.
How long do retrofits usually take? How long can we expect YU-ARC to be out of service?
ReplyDeleteI think 1-2 months. Probably will do service checks at the same time
DeleteHonestly ARC being retrofitted is more than needed.
DeleteAgree. It is obviously why they decided to retrofit it first ahead of YU-ARB.
DeleteBig thumbs up for more ergonomic on the narrow body fleet. Flew from Paris a few days ago and exited the plane with a neck pain as I cant properly rest my head on those seats. The old seats were bulky for sure, but they head a proper headrest which meant a world to me
ReplyDeleteYou won't find headrests on most European airlines on narrow body planes anymore.
DeleteLight weight seats = less comfort
Delete@09:13
DeleteYet, British Airways has Recaro slim seats but with a headrest (with foldable sides - really nice feature). It is on a narrow body used from BEG.
I said on most European airlines, not all.
DeleteBut most of airlines do have them.
DeleteNot really. None of the Lufthansa group airlines have them, SAS does not have them, ITA has them only on A220s, KLM does not have them, Aegean does not have them etc. Out of the big ones Air France and British Airways has them. Of course I'm not saying Air Serbia should not have them.
DeleteActually Aegean's NEO aircraft do have hearests.
Deletehttps://www.executivetraveller.com/photos/view/size:1200,675/5e4482943e44475387891a8edd799463-aegean-a321neo-business-class-4.png
Anon 13:39
DeleteAegean, Bulgaria Air, Turkish,
Aegean, Bulgaria Air, Turkish, LOT, ITA, KLM, Air France, TAP, Croatia Airlines, Iberia, Luxair and British Airways have included headrests on all or at least on part of seats in their newest cabins.
DeleteHow many planes OU has them? One?
DeleteCheck out. Google is free.
DeleteNo one makes ticket purchase based on those headrest wings.
DeleteYou all want cheap Air Fares, headrests have to gtp save money!
Delete*to
DeleteSo YU-ARC should go out of service around February/March
ReplyDeletemakes sense, so it is ready for 2025 summer peak.
DeleteI think they will wait to service check interval
DeleteAnd I hope they will NOT repaint it to Expo livery
Delete16:14 Of course they won't. Painting liveries ain't free and also they will put it on the 3rd and 4th A330s only, so Pupin is staying.
DeleteThis colorful livery does not look that bad.
ReplyDeleteLooks good from this angle.
DeleteNice! Good luck Air Serbia
ReplyDeleteI hope that they will change the color of the cabins ion A320s. I liked the original blue from 2013 much more.
ReplyDeleteI hope they update the inflight entertainment on A330s too
ReplyDeleteDefinitely. A little upgrade to their entertainment system would be welcome. I mean greater variety of movies and TV shows.
DeleteBetter yet, get Starlink at least on widebody fleet if the price is right. I used Starlink recently and it was fantastic. Streaming HD content worked well.
DeleteGood move JU.
ReplyDeletePity they are not thinking about premium economy on the A330.
ReplyDeleteWhy?
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.
DeleteAgree with comment above. It would not work from Balkans.
DeleteWell, since JU is trying to become primarily long haul transfer airline, most of the passengers will not be from Balkans. But anyway, that multiple class cabins should be introduced when JU order new planes in fleet
DeleteAnd passengers from other Balkan countries are not transfer passengers? Sorry to tell you but 90% of transfer passengers on the New York flights are continuing to Tirana, Podgorica, Tivat, Sofia, Bucharest and Skopje.
DeleteYes, that's the situation now. But JU is trying to change that with more short and long haul expansion
DeleteIf priced right and value was there, I may be willing to pay an extra 150 to 200 usd to be in premium economy vs economy. Everyone is a little different on this. I once paid 110 usd to go from economy to extra leg room economy on United Airlines and it was a marginal gain in comfort.
Delete150-200 USD is nothing. From Western Europe most long-haul routes have Premium Economy priced at 2x Economy.
DeleteLooking forward to another wide body to be added to the fleet
ReplyDeleteI’m most looking forward to the new frequent flyer program and the fact it’ll be spend-based. Also, issuing co-branded credit cards (where one should probably be able to collect miles by spending on that particular card) is an excellent idea and is aligned to what other companies offer worldwide. However, I really do hope they’ll partner with a bank with a large customer base in Serbia (e.g., Banca Intesa, otp bank, etc.) rather than choosing a government-owned bank. Additionally, I hope they’ll create a new, more reliable mobile app that will be integrated with the frequent flyer program.
ReplyDelete+1
DeletePity that Air Serbia credit cards could be issued only in Serbia.
DeletePeople from abroad won't have the opportunity to earn the miles on that way.
It's the same with all credit card frequent flyer programs.
DeleteI'm worried about the FFP. Their previous technological improvements, like the website, in my opinion are worse then it was before.
DeleteI don't think there are state-owned banks in Serbia any more. Maybe only Postanska but it's really retro...
DeleteCredit cards are on the mobile phones today, you don't need plastic card...
DeleteWhat about short haul fleet? They should introduce seats similar to Aegean, Bulgaria Air or Croatia Airlines.
ReplyDeleteThe airline is also looking into options of retrofitting its narrow-body fleet. “We are looking at the retrofit of the cabins and some kind of simplification, standardisation and more ergonomic seats across all fleet types. However, these types of projects usually take a lot of time, you have very limited options from what you can select”, Mr Marek said.
DeleteOMG. Non-Airserbia lounge looks like a bus station waiting room in some small city. Horrible….
ReplyDelete`What are you talking about?
DeleteAbout “The business lounge” ….😂
DeleteApart from the fact that it is completely unrelated to this article, the business lounge used to be much larger but was recently reduced in size so they can expand the commercial area. The lounge will move to the current Air Serbia lounge when the Air Serbia lounge moves to the new location.
DeleteAir Serbia could really shake things up and be a different airline in 2-3 years time with all the things they have planned.
ReplyDelete"2-3 years" sorry but I have to laugh. Although I hope for the same
DeleteI can accept all, but, boarding music, it's like a funeral
ReplyDeleteIt's very vintage in my oppinion.
DeleteTo me it sounds like Bolji zivot intro theme and I like it for nostalgic reasons. Very '80ish which is totally on brand.
DeleteWhy is 1980s music from a TV a good thing? That show was depressing around how corrupt everything was.
DeleteFinally thinking about improving the experience.
ReplyDeleteThey are so focused on profitability that they don't want to spend on anything, or want to make maximum savings. Sometimes you have to spend in order to attract passenger and grow your business.
ReplyDelete+1000
DeleteAnon 10:12 Are you saying that cabin refresh is at no cost for Air Serbia as they don't want to spend anything? Did you at least try to google the price for A330 cabin cost?
DeleteSeats are not going to be new. They are taking oil etihad seats and just puting new covers.
DeleteThere is several ex ethad a330 aircraft interiors. So oil seats with new covers and with otdatef ife. Cost of new interior is simply too high to invest in old aircrafts. This is why third a330 have same nuber of seats like etihad (262) and bravo and charley will also have 262 after retrofit of "new" seats
None of that is free, esp work to refresh and install them. So they are spending to attract more passengers.
DeleteDidn't they use to have pre order meals?
ReplyDeleteThey did. They got a rid of a lot of stuff they used to have which is a bit of a shame. Apart from wifi, they used to have Elevate play, the streaming service on planes which was good and had a lot of shows. In business class they used to give out ipads on all flights longer than an hour with a lot of shows and movies on them.
DeleteI would really like to see statistics for those pre-order meals on intra European flights. Is that really a thing and what's the profile of people who today orders the food for tomorrow's flight...
DeleteWith 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. So I'm glad they have ordered seats and that they will be the same across the A330s.
ReplyDeleteAll great but how to improve operations in order to depart BEG base on time or at least more or less on time. Yesterday JU134 YU-APB left for Moscow with a 7+ hours delay! Other PM flights around 17hrs also all quite late (CDG, ZRH, TIV, ARL, etc). Regardless of the cabin looks these prolongued delays are not acceptable.
ReplyDeleteATC issues are a major problem this year. Swiss just reported that their punctuality so far this year was just 64%
DeleteATC ok for a delay up to 20-30-60 min but 7 hours+ .... alo bre
DeleteI was not referring to the Moscow flight.
DeleteMoscow was bombed few days ago; who knows what`s goging on in that airspace.
DeleteI was at the airport yesterday morning (BEG) and this delay was already showing on the board. New time of departure 11PM so it was pre scheduled so to say.
DeleteAnd it left after midnight so even pre scheduled 23:00 didn't work. Anon@12:33 the morning JU flight yesterday left on time more or less and Sheremetievo airport didn't have any traffic interruptions during the night between Saturday and Sunday.
DeleteThe location of the new lounge is great considering JU flights are all using C gates. Plus it will have nice views of tarmac and runway!
ReplyDeleteAnd it is bigger than the current one.
DeleteWhy are permits at BEG so problematic? I've heard that for the stores too.
ReplyDeleteThey`ve screwed something with papers big time.
DeleteI'm not surprised.
DeleteIf we only had some aviation blogs to report on that...
DeleteActually, it was written here in the BEG construction update articles that stores are slow to open because of issues with gaining construction pernits.
DeleteIts not the construction permits, the problem is that Vinci was screwing around when doing the extension of the airport. They were not following building codes in Serbia and not cant get the Usage permit (Upotrebna dozvola). To be able to get a construction permit for building within an object, i.e stores and business lounge, you need that building has to have all proper permits, which it does not have.
DeleteBut that's huge mistake by Serbian authorities to allow Vinci to build out of Serbian building codes
DeleteBEG terminal extension (aka processor) building opened almost 1.5 years ago. At that time it was known Air Serbia wanted to build separate biz class checkin area. It takes forever to get approvals at BEG.
ReplyDeleteBut hey let's stop INI's growth for Vinci so BEG can make...this.
DeleteWho stopped INI growth? Wizz is the correct answer
DeleteWill they do the cabin retrofits in Belgrade or it has to be done elsewhere?
ReplyDeleteI highly doubt it. I think it will be done elsewhere
DeleteThey don't have the capacity to perform this in Belgrade, all they have are a few line mechanics all the rest is done through outsourcing.
DeleteIf we forbid future tense, 90% of Air Serbia news would disappear. I am so sick and tired of this manner, please report once JU HAS FINISHED some work.
ReplyDeleteThey have done and accomplished a lot in the last few years with their third A330 is about to arrive. I think it is good that we read about what they plan in the future and that the CEO is willing to update us on their plans. Better than having no information whatsoever.
DeleteThen do not read JU news. Some of us like future tense
Delete+1. All the time, looking into this, looking into that...
DeleteAnon 12:41 So sad to hear you are sick and tired. Hope ypu will get better. Sorry that's future tense.
DeleteAir Serbia
Cont... has finished prep for 3rd A330 and has announced second destination in China, flying there this month. Air Serbia has finished setting new passenger record of 3M two weeks before last year. Are you getting better?
DeleteI am also sick and tired of person posting comments without checking facts first. Simple click on Air Serbia tag on this site will return all articles about Air Serbia. Many of them will show you what Air Serbia ALREADY completed, like getting ATR fleet up to 10 aircraft etc.
DeleteExcited about the new lounge but probably won't open until next summer season considering how difficult it is to get anything done and VINCI's Belgrade Airport.
ReplyDeleteIt's important to have it for EXPO so hopefully SS27
DeleteAny news about arrival date of the Expo bird?
ReplyDeleteIt was written last week, first or second week of September
DeleteJU-ARC is disguisting!
ReplyDeleteIdk, I actually really like it.
DeleteI like it too
Delete+1
DeleteJU-ARC business class is like a stable. People can't even recline seats not to mention to make it flat bed. Guy next to me slept on the floor.
DeleteFirst you should learn that the plane is registered YU-ARC not JU-ARC.
DeleteCharging USB ports in narrow body fleet would be a major addition to service
ReplyDeleteIt is
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoPFO3tiBW4&ab_channel=AVIA%C3%87%C3%83OTV
ReplyDeleteGodspeed, Air Serbia! Expecting it at BEG in few days!
DeleteNo Zoro mask :-(
DeleteHave they retained the original brown colour of all the seats?
ReplyDeleteSeems like there were 8-10 negative comments about Air Serbia. All shot down by fact based responses.
ReplyDeleteWhy is the Austrian registration still on the plane with the Austrian flag?
ReplyDeleteBecause it can only be changed in Belgrade.
DeleteAre you sure? I remember planes being delivered all the time from US with YU registrations. Also YU-APA and other A319s on arrival had a YU registration.
DeleteFrankly for catering, just make sure you have the orasnice on board!
ReplyDeleteYes! The best orasnice in Serbia! And they are always out of stock!
Delete