Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Air Serbia today celebrated the opening of its new Premium Lounge at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. Located in the transit area between gates A5 and A6, the new Premium Lounge is the first dedicated airline owned and operated lounge in Serbia. It will be open 24 hours a day for Air Serbia / Etihad Airways business class passengers, as well as Platinum, Gold and Silver members of the Air Serbia - Etihad Guest frequent flyer program. The lounge will also be open to Air Serbia’s codeshare partners whose passengers travel in business class on Air Serbia-operated flights. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to open the lounge, followed by a tour of the new facility and a cocktail reception in the presence of Siniša Mali, Chairman of Air Serbia’s Supervisory Board and the Mayor of Belgrade, as well as Dane Kondić, Air Serbia's CEO. The event was also attended by senior government officials, members of Air Serbia’s executive management team, as well as representatives from the travel trade sector and media.
Speaking at the opening, Mr Kondić said, “The opening of our new Premium Lounge reinforces our commitment to the highest standards of customer service both on the ground and in the air, and demonstrates our ongoing efforts to provide the best travel experience to premium travellers. Guests travelling from and transiting through Belgrade will begin their journey with a superior lounge experience in a stylish and well-equipped environment, where they can relax and re-charge”.
With a contemporary style inspired by Air Serbia’s branding and image, the new lounge will allow passengers to relax, re-energise, dine, work or be entertained, before they board their flight. Set over an area of 398 square metres with seating for eighty guests, the lounge boasts a wide array of facilities. This includes complimentary Wi-Fi connectivity, multi-zone electrical and USB power outlets, a dining area with self-service buffet, bathrooms with shower facilities, multi-faith prayer areas and a selection of domestic and international newspapers and periodicals.
Air Serbia today celebrated the opening of its new Premium Lounge at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. Located in the transit area between gates A5 and A6, the new Premium Lounge is the first dedicated airline owned and operated lounge in Serbia. It will be open 24 hours a day for Air Serbia / Etihad Airways business class passengers, as well as Platinum, Gold and Silver members of the Air Serbia - Etihad Guest frequent flyer program. The lounge will also be open to Air Serbia’s codeshare partners whose passengers travel in business class on Air Serbia-operated flights. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to open the lounge, followed by a tour of the new facility and a cocktail reception in the presence of Siniša Mali, Chairman of Air Serbia’s Supervisory Board and the Mayor of Belgrade, as well as Dane Kondić, Air Serbia's CEO. The event was also attended by senior government officials, members of Air Serbia’s executive management team, as well as representatives from the travel trade sector and media.
Speaking at the opening, Mr Kondić said, “The opening of our new Premium Lounge reinforces our commitment to the highest standards of customer service both on the ground and in the air, and demonstrates our ongoing efforts to provide the best travel experience to premium travellers. Guests travelling from and transiting through Belgrade will begin their journey with a superior lounge experience in a stylish and well-equipped environment, where they can relax and re-charge”.
With a contemporary style inspired by Air Serbia’s branding and image, the new lounge will allow passengers to relax, re-energise, dine, work or be entertained, before they board their flight. Set over an area of 398 square metres with seating for eighty guests, the lounge boasts a wide array of facilities. This includes complimentary Wi-Fi connectivity, multi-zone electrical and USB power outlets, a dining area with self-service buffet, bathrooms with shower facilities, multi-faith prayer areas and a selection of domestic and international newspapers and periodicals.
Congratulations from Novi Sad...... Step by step...
ReplyDeleteNe bih da ispadnem zakeralo, ali nedostaju fotografije dve ključne stvari - hrane (mada, današnji spread je verovatno bolji nego što će biti uobičajen, tako da se to oprašta) i kupatila sa tuševima. Baš me zanima jesu li napravili tuš prostorije, koje imaju tuš, lavabo, WC i klupu za presvlačenje ili je ipak neka običnija varijanta.
ReplyDeleteHrana je na slici broj 4.
DeleteHrana je predaleko da bismo je lepo videli :) Close-up hrane je ključ :)
DeleteAli to je JU promo fotografija sa Twittera, možda će neko od pozvanih postaviti svoju.
here is food
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCXcvzT0VqQ
Looks great, congratulations!
ReplyDeleteSo to the person who asked the question around whether or not JU's lounge would be better than the airport's ..... What do you say ?
ReplyDeleteHonestly seating looks bad it is not good for napping and sitting nervously while waiting for flight more than a half hour.
DeleteNow that you have a choice, you can continue to use the airport's existing cutting edge business lounge and seek as much comfort as you desire.
DeleteTry having a shower while at the old lounge! Good luck with that!
DeleteAirport lunges are not for free use dear friends. And a shower is not something common at airports in Europe. More common at bus and train stations in Germany and Poland.
DeleteA bit dissapointed with the seating, armchairs are of outdated design and do not seem to be of finest quality. The "VIP section" chairs are great, they should have been used throughout... That said, I don't think C lounge is a place to sleep at generally. They might consider pods or sleeping rooms outside of lounge floor, but are there such long connections at BEG to warrant this in the first place?
DeleteRestaurant-type seating looks decent enough, almost like an a-la-carte type of place.
Does Air Serbia - Etihad guest program allow transfer from another FF program or purchase of required miles to get to at least Silver level? Or do I have to fly (in
DeleteEconomy) to qualify?
^^^
DeleteI say it looks good and im sure the experience will only get better as operations expand.
Lets see how the passengers find it and their reviews.
"Does Air Serbia - Etihad guest program allow transfer from another FF program or purchase of required miles to get to at least Silver level? Or do I have to fly (in
DeleteEconomy) to qualify?"
Etihad doesn't normally do status-matching, although it doesn't hurt to try if you're Gold or equivalent in your other FFP. Otherwise, butt-in-seat is the only way to reach status.
Hvala. They have "Buy miles" link on Etihad site but it doesn't say how much is it.
Delete"Buy miles" never works with Tier Miles (ones that earn you status), it is for Guest Miles only ("free" flights, upgrades, etc.)
DeleteBasically, either fly 25,000 tier miles (which are real miles, not 0.25 for cheap economy) or have 20 segments (10 return trips) with any Etihad Partner airline in any 365 days.
If you're flying for status only, the cheapest trips are to BNX; however, time-wise, two trips to far East will get you there as well, and you can get PVG, NRT, HKG or PEK on promotions for 400-450 EUR. So this might even be cheaper, plus you get to see the world :)
Also, if you're Gold elsewhere, Alitalia is running a great status match promotion right now; this will get you access to JU lounge. However, if you have silver, rules are still not really clear, because AZ Silver generally does not get you lounge access, while EY Silver does. I believe they will make it equal for everyone in due time, but until then...
DeleteI think, though, that OP has some miles in some account, but no status, they would otherwise know about tier miles. Just an educated guess.
BEG-AUH-PEK round trip is only 12100 miles and booking classes for low fares will accrue less than 100% so that would require a lot more travel.
DeleteThere might be a way for me to use miles from another FFP to buy tickets that will earn tier miles on Etihad Guest without ever placing my butt on Air Serbia or Etihad plane, but might come with a penalty. I have to figure out if new lounge is worth all of this. Thanks guys for all your help!
No! This is exactly what I was saying. You will get full 12,100 Tier Miles, but only 25% or 50% of Guest Miles. Tier Miles count toward status, so with two return trips to PEK you would be 800 Tier Miles short of Silver.
DeleteWith this new lounge, who will continue to use the old airport lounge and what will happen to it ?
ReplyDeleteC pax and status pax of all airlines, except JU, EY and AZ. Lot ok TK pax use it on a regular basis, for example. Also, it will remain a contract lounge for MC Gold / Platinum, Priority Pass, etc.
Deleteyes, that makes sense .... thank you for your clarification. This new lounge seems so much better than the current airport lounge - that should give JU a definite advantage with premium passengers ...
DeleteJust my 2 cents here. I have over 35 years of global air travel experience mainly US and EUR airports/planes and direct SRB roots. Air Serbia is clearly a marked improvement over JAT and this lounge is a clear plus to BEG. Lounge seems in line with current BEG size and general image. It would not be appropriate to compare this to the big LH/BA stuff at LON/FRA. We can all offer numerous comments and remarks. Good job!
ReplyDeleteSure. It's a good step forward.
DeleteI hate the fact that it was impossible to build a lounge with a view. ANY view, not necessarily apron view. There are no windows at all. Not JU's fault, there simply isn't any other space available, but I do wonder 1) was it possible to add floor and put lounge there - they were planning the same thing over the C corridor, so why not A as well to make it uniform and 2) why didn't they plan for lounge space in the new building after C6?
This is all BEG, though. Airport management is terrible...
Great advance to AIR SERBIA. As fleet and destinations raising, include intercontinental flights, much more to coming. AIR SERBIA is all redy prime example to most competitors how to be susses to customers. On the ground and in the a like. Well done Serbian carrier!. ✈😊🌏Rodney & Globthroters✈. Kraljevo✈Sydney😊🌏❇
ReplyDeleteJU just checked off another important box in their development: a dedicated lounge.
ReplyDeleteLots of progress happening recently. What BEG is really missing is an airport hotel, at least a smaller one.
..... and a lack of good management
DeleteAre there an windows in the lounge or is it in an internal space of the terminal?
ReplyDeleteInternal space in the terminal so no windows unfortunately.
DeleteWrong, it has windows all along the wall looking out to gates A4 and A5
DeleteCurtains are used for privacy as shown on 5th picture
DeleteI think Etihad Guest is only FF program that allow Silver card holders free access to the lounge. Can't wait for next wednesday to try it.
ReplyDelete