TRIP REPORT: Air Serbia, Belgrade - Frankfurt on E195

TRIP REPORT

Written by A.L.

Airline: Air Serbia

Aircraft: Embraer 195LR

Registration: YU-ATB

Age: 16 Years (Oct 2008)

Flight Number: JU352

Route: Belgrade, Serbia (BEG) - Frankfurt, Germany (FRA)

Flight Time: 1h 39m

Flight Date: March 26, 2025

Cost: 20.082,00 RSD/~€170

I had the opportunity to fly on an Air Serbia Embraer 195LR for the first time. I often fly with Air Serbia, so it was interesting for me to try out a new type of aircraft in Air Serbia colours on this flight from Belgrade to Frankfurt. Due to business obligations, I had to suddenly fly to Frankfurt and booked this flight about 48 hours in advance at the Air Serbia shop in the Galerija shopping center in Belgrade. The economy class fare with luggage cost me 20,082 RSD (170 EUR), which I consider a very favourable fare for such a short-term booking.

A rainy and cloudy Wednesday for the day of travel in Belgrade raised suspicions that the flight would be delayed, but I still arrived at Nikola Tesla Airport 2 hours before the flight. I checked in online via the app, which worked really quickly, but I still waited almost 15 minutes at the Air Serbia baggage drop off counter to drop off my luggage. It is really necessary to install self-baggage drop off counters at Belgrade Airport as soon as possible. At the time of my arrival at Terminal 2, it wasn't very crowded, while later during the afternoon rush there were quite a few passengers.

After dropping off my luggage, I headed straight for the escalators leading to border and customs control. As a citizen of the Republic of Serbia, after checking my boarding pass, I headed to the automatic passport control and passed through in a few seconds. Behind the passport control, a police officer stamped my passport with a departure stamp. There was not a lot of traffic at the security check, even though only three lanes were operating, but since passengers did not read the clear instructions on the signs, many suitcases had to be checked for various liquids that were not properly packed.

After passing the duty-free zone, I headed towards the C-side gates via Tesla Square. I stopped there for a while at the Hleb i kifle store and then continued to the bistro at gate C10, waiting for the gate announcement for my flight to Frankfurt. Although the Air Serbia check-in app worked great the day before, I was disappointed that I didn't receive notifications about my flight status and gate. Air Serbia should follow the example of companies like Lufthansa and ensure that passengers are informed in real time. Knowing Belgrade Airport, I assumed that my departure gate would be somewhere near the bistro. I waited for the announcement on the monitors and saw that my gate for this flight was C9.

Shortly after that I headed to the gate where after about 10 minutes of waiting the plane was ready for boarding. Air Serbia flies to Frankfurt in the morning and afternoon on Wednesdays. The morning flight was operated by an Airbus A319 and this afternoon’s flight was operated by an Embraer 195 in Air Serbia livery that had just arrived. While I was waiting to board the plane, I heard comments from some passengers who had paid 9 or 13 euros to choose their seat. I didn't choose my seat but was assigned the window seat 20A. Boarding started at 17:15 but was already completed at 17:33, two minutes before the scheduled departure. I was very happy to board this E195 because, in my opinion, the Air Serbia livery turned out the most beautiful compared to other types of aircraft in the airline's fleet. I hope Air Serbia will have more of these planes in their fleet in the future. Personally, this is my favourite plane in their fleet and it would be nice to see a dozen of these birds. This is the ideal aircraft for Euro-Mediterranean destinations and more comfortable than both turboprops and the A320 family.

Upon boarding, we were greeted by friendly cabin crew. In this case, they were three young women who were very friendly and professional. The load factor was around 75% and about a half were Serbian passengers, while the rest were foreigners. My seat was very comfortable, and I had plenty of legroom. In addition to the extremely comfortable seat, I also like the table, which is quite large. In the pocket in front of me were the Air Serbia inflight magazine Elevate and the standard on-board menu for purchasing products. I liked the signs and lights on the plane.

Pushback started very quickly after the plane doors were closed and it was very interesting to observe the line of Air Serbia planes departing from Belgrade in the afternoon wave. The cabin crew gave a safety demonstration, but the announcements of the young purser were so incoherent and fast that it was hard to listen to the mumbling. The captain of the plane did not introduce himself but very quickly brought the plane from position C9 to runway 12L. After a rapid climb, the plane turned left over Novi Beograd and headed north. Passing through the clouds, I finally saw the sun that day, and since we were flying northwest, we had the sight of an orange sunset for almost the entire flight.

Before reaching cruising altitude, we went through turbulence, so the mandatory seatbelt sign was on for almost half an hour after takeoff, and therefore the on-board service started quite late. The toilets were also locked for almost a third of the flight. The cabin crew then quickly distributed the standard plasma biscuits and a bottle of water, after which the captain of the plane gave a very nice route report in the manner of a radio announcer with a very pleasant and deep voice, which was really refreshing after the purser.

The plane is in very good condition despite being 16 years old. The toilets were clean and decently stocked with everything you need. For such a short continental flight, Air Serbia's product is quite satisfactory, although I would like to see a real business class again and an even better cabin product. I found it very interesting to read the March issue of Elevate magazine, which I must commend for its interesting stories about Spanish cities served by Air Serbia, as well as the story for March 8th about women working at Air Serbia.

During the flight, which was pleasant despite the turbulence, several passengers bought something from the cabin crew. After an hour of flying, our descent into Frankfurt began. The cabin crew dimmed the lights so much that I could see light strips on the floor during landing. The approach to Frankfurt Airport was made southwest, and over the city of Mainz and the Rhine River, the captain landed confidently and softly on runway 07C, with heavy breaking at the end, about 15 minutes ahead of schedule. As expected, we were assigned an external position in front of Terminal 2 for the Embraer aircraft. After parking at the position, we waited for about 10 minutes to disembark onto the buses, where German police waited for us, checking our passports.

Since we were close to the terminal, the bus ride itself took maybe 5 minutes and after that, passport control was very quick, and my suitcase was almost waiting for me on the conveyor belt. All in all, a pleasant flight with Air Serbia and I rate it, with minor shortcomings, as one of the better services in Europe.

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