The feedback must have been really negative if they decided to do this just a few months after introducing BOB.

After the despicable product that were selling as "business class", it's good that they have come to their senses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54hOS5Oq1TY&t=15s

I guess now it is 100% clear who was forcing Air Serbia to make these unpopular changes, someone from the Middle East *whispers

Anyone know what are these other "upgrades" they are talking about?

Yet another change ... why didn't they do the proper research BEFORE implementing all these unpopular changes ? Shows how clueless Etihad's management is. The sooner they go, the better off the airline will be

So now they have a simmilar product to Croatia Airlines - free snack but with option of buying more food. Not bad.

"Our product propositioning has changed a number of times over the years."

You've been around for just 5 years. That's not something to brag about.

This is a good choice . Trying to move yourself from LCC model is the best way to fight Wizz and Easy on BEG market

It shows they weren't saving much money by not offering food.

That's the problem when you have a finance guy running the airline - no idea about customer service, just bottom line driven

It would be comical if they reintroduced real business class seats :D

+1

I don't think ANY airline saves much money by not offering food. It's not that expensive.

They shouldn't have gotten rid of it. They should have just reduced it to one row.

+1000
this changes in product offerings are costly.
Why not research BEFORE changing them 9 months ago and go through two unnecessary strategy changes?
How incompetent certain managers can be?

I'm not surprised people were peeved.

I just checked and it's true the "White tariff" (lowest one) now shows "Free refreshments" as part of the ticket. Before there was absolutely nothing included in the ticket except 8kg of hand luggage.

+1000

They could have introduced BOB but they should have left the little Air Serbia bag they had on short regional flights with a bottle of water and a small sandwich and a sweet. I'm sure they didn't spend too much money on that.

The Abu Dhabi managers are truly comical.
It is not a mystery why every single airline they laid their hands on is either losing money or already has gone bankrupt.

I like the redesigned website. It's easy to navigate. I just checked the auxiliary service option and boy do they offer a lot of add ons for extra cash. I wonder if people are buying any of them.

On Facebook Montenegro Airlines recently posted that they are one of the few airlines still offering free food to all passengers :D

I think this whole rebranding into an LCC really hasn't worked out for them and I wouldn't be surprised if passengers are abandoning them. For the same price they can fly with full fare airlines out of BEG that offer a better service compared to them.

Some of them are just silly - like Champagne and cake for your anniversary :D

I don't think there are that many business class passengers on intra European flights. It probably wasn't worth it. I'm ok with what they have done with blocking the middle seat and having economy seating. What is bad is that they downgraded the whole soft product to economy levels. Thankfully it seems they have realised it and are returning to the way it was.

While the second flight food was insufficient the first flight Serbian mezze actually looked good and was more than enough for a short flight.

They started with good level of service and then degraded the whole thing just to save 2-3 mil a year on food and drinks. This reduction did save their finances but eroded the brand further. Not sure people will bother trying to fly with them any more to see this improvement.

I don't think the contents of the food is the problem. The whole presentation is just awful. Serving a business class passenger food in a cardboard box on a flight to London is just not on. Btw these "flower" boxes as they call them open up completely so you don't even have the sides. It's literally like you are eating off the table.

I'm sure these passengers paid 500+ euros for their ticket.

The biggest issue of all was that they cut service and kept the prices.

It is good to differentiate by something other than major airport on one end. Perception of free snack's value is much bigger than the actual cost.

"Our product propositioning has changed a number of times over the years"

from boutique to ryanair and then backtrack most of the changes

they obviously have a clear vision

And on top of that you sell it as offering more choice to the customers.

A true legacy airline is a true legacy airline forever.
JU puts airlines like BA, OK & LO to shame. By offering free catering, then the Skytrax ranking will immediately increase.
Bravo JU, Bravo Beg and BRAVO Srbija!

... so they were losing more money in lost passengers than they were saving in doing this idiotic thing ... the "Experts" in Abu Dhabi obviously didn't do their homework thoroughly enough

It's true. They are.

Agree. Too bad they are also practically bankrupt.

As part of BOB, why don't they offer full meals, like they had for free at the beginning and allow passengers to preselect and purchase their hot meal before the flight (when buying their ticket online). I think they would actually get more money that way then by offering some overpriced sandwiches on board.

You can put that down to the "experts" in Abu Dhabi - especially the revenue management people who are totally clueless and incompetent

As clear as the desert sun in Abu Dhabi ..

I agree. And they could play around with the whole Serbian traditional meals thing by offering them for purchase online. They probably would get more sales off that then through selling pringles on the flight.

Exactly. And just add it to the overall ticket price.

Bring back Jat!

Business class was much much better at the time Air Serbia started its operations. It was surely the best business class in Europe. Economy was also quite ok with popular bags where you could get sandwich, bottle of water and a cookie.

Now JU business class is way degradated and it could be much improved but the person who made that video obviously did not fly in LH European business class.
In LH you get drinks in glasses and better presented food (does not mean more tasteful) but at the same time you do not get stewardess only for business class, you do get the seat the same as in economy (middle seat is blocked as in JU) and the variety of drinks is the same as in economy class. I flew in LH business class one month ago.
No hot towel as it was in JU, no menu as it was in JU, no extra leg room and special seats as it was in JU.
Obviously his intention was not to be objective or he did not know what is the service in another, way richer airlines. Anyhow report made by amateur.

What was the traditional Serbian meal they used to previously offer called?

They didn't have a specific name. On the menus in economy they had two meal choices and usually one had a little Air Serbia logo next to it, which indicated it was a Serbian traditional meal.

hahahahahahaha
Good one! :)

When will they introduce the online check-in from the rest of destinations?

Wasn´t it something like traditional Serbian veal gnocchi meze?

The experts in Abu Dhabi 'Know how'.

The few European airlines still offering free catering in economy:

- Aegean
- Tarom
- Bulgaria Air
- Air France/KLM
- TAP
- KLM
- Lufthansa
- Swiss
- Luxair
- Montenegro Airlines

From the whole beginning I was saying that all the BOB product as well as degradation of the service in JU was big mistake. The costs of the food and drinks are not that big to make any extra big moeny, but at the same time it gives the passenger much better impression about the company.

At the time when Wow started flying from Iceland Air introduced even better service than before as they knew that only with good quality they can compete against competition.

Of course Iceland is not Serbia, but surely their way of doing business is not the wrong one.

Good luck with this good business move Air Serbia!

p.s. JU must improve the kidness of the staff. It was extra ordinary few years ago, but they are now on the way o become again Jat Airways! Don't let it happen!

Not only food but the check-in luggage as well

The 3 dots will remain in our aviation hearts forever. This is what aviation was all about and the classic 737s. I miss JAT <3

Remember all the experts that were defending this terrible move on this blog.

+1

That is one of the biggest problems for JU since...forever. Very few business class passengers compared to major European airlines.

AlItalia also has a free catering (including food) on board.

Certainly not Jat Airways!

My friend ordered the cake for her son on one of the recent flights. Stewardesses were really nice with the kid and he was amazed!

Well not really. LH, LX, and A3 all sell "hand baggage only" ticekts.

The website is basically the same. They just made a slight "facelift", that´s all.

LG is one of the few to offer free baggage.

How can 2-3 mil save your finances when you are making record 16 mil profit? :D

Swear that you were not the guy that was commenting few months ago that BoB is modern move to improve the business model and put the company on the global map! xD

- Aeroflot

10kg should be the standard. Even Ryanair offered that.

I meant free lugggage on YM flights. Anon@ 09:53 was bit quicker

it was full meal not meze :)

Easyjet has no weight limits for one piece of hand luggage

Once people realised that there is no difference between them and Wizzair (except for the prices), people started deserting them. So I'm not surprised they returned food. Better late then never. At least they came to their senses.

It's nice.

10kg is not standard for sure, it is very easy to check that.
Most of airlines go for 8kg/23kg combo although there are some differences.
BTW, starting November 1st, Ryanair allows only 1 small bag on board, everything else is subject of charge.

What free snacks? I just came off 6 hour Air Canada Rouge flight to HNL and there was not a single peanut or pretzel for free! If you are hungry, buy food on board! If AC doesn"t need to improve service on a 6 hour flight why would Air Serbia have to do it on much shorther flights?

Ground control to Anon09:36 : stop embarrassing us. We repeat, stop embarrassing us. Over and out.

Let's not forget that JU offered emphasized one of their advantages is flying from BEG to main airports unlike W6 and they were correct.
If we see now arrival of U2 together with Vinci and setting up their base in BEG JU will have no more that advantage taking in consideration U2 flies also to main airports.
Therefore they must do something as competition will not sleep.

EasyJet allows 1 piece of cabin luggage per passenger, no limit in weight, limit in dimensions.
AirSerbia allows 2 pieces - 1 is so called personal bag, 1 is hand luggage with weight & dimension limit.
AirBaltic for example allows 2 items but with total weight of 8kg (and dimension restriction)

Everything of course related to cheapest fares.

Except in Italy! They were banned to offer just that by national authorities.

Vinci attracting EZ and FR to open a base in BEG will be very bad news for JU.

Sure U2 has limits in dimensions - you cannot bring check in luggage in the cabin, but it is according to IATA standards and not smaller like with other LCC. Actually I believe U2 is the only one that does not limit the weight of hand luggage and it is extremely helpful.

From the other side it is not officially annnounced, but nobody will make you the problem if you bring in U2 cabin allso small personal bag that you keep with you or under the seat.

Vas koji putujete sa Wizzom? I nema tu ljudi iz Abu Dabija vec geniji iz Alitalije. Dok oni nude najbolju ponudu svojim putnicima u ekonomskoj klasi.

JU should have long ago gone after transit passengers just as Aegean did.

Ne znaju gde biju.

Well, EasyJet has a separate name & price for fare with second item. It's called Flexi.
I've just did a random check for some flight from Belgrade and difference between cheapest & Flexi fare are from 30eur up to 100eur depending of the date if you prepaid!. If you are asked to pay this fee at check in its even higher.
So, definitely not something you want to play with when booking flight.

On the other hand, I can tell you that AirSerbia is not strictly enforcing weight limits. I've been overweight with hand luggage multiple times, and I don't really remember when the personal bag was checked for weight.

-Finnair
-Austrian Airlines
-Icelandair
-LOT

My guess is that it was they have reintroduced.

I would like to see what this snack looks like.

Why shouldn't Air Serbia improve its on board offer just because a leisure airline like Air Canada Rouge doesn't? Also you tweak your service based on the competition. At the end of the day most European carriers still offer a free snack, especially those flying from BEG.

It is correct that it is not officially by easyjet that you can bring one small personal bag with you.
Anyhow, I am U2 FF and I have never ever had problems with personal bag. Even if someone would ask you about it you can always put it in the hand luggage (provided it is really small personal bag and not second piece of hand luggage) as the weight is not limited.

The personal of JU has a right to check the weight of your hand luggage and to charge you if it more than 8 kg and you cannot avoid it except removing some of your things from the luggage.

It's just a bag of savory cookies. Also they no longer give you the small bottle of water but you get a cup of water.

In Serbian on their website under economy white fare they advertise it as "Grickalice" :D literally nibbles as the article says :D

Swiss offers nothing on European charters.

At the same time they offer sandwiches and drinks on regular European flights.

Should not be compared

A3 is based in ATH which is a very big city and also full of tourism
It is unfair to ask of JU to do something that airlines based in bigger markets than BEG weren't able to do.

I suppose that it depends on the check-in systems of said airports/handling agents as well, not just JU.

Well to be honest Serbia is not a rich market and there simply isn't a need for a true business class.

That said, I have flown multiple times with Turkish this year and their business class from BEG was full each and every time. All three times I was flying on the aircraft with the economy seat business class seat and the curtain was in row 13! Mostly Chinese.

Ја баш мислим да сам овом одлуком показују да се здрав разум враћа у фирму. Испраљају грешке које је починио Етихад и њихов пулен, Дане Кондић.

Bravo Nebojsa! Fully agree ! Jat Airways was shame for Serbia. As much as JAT Jugoslovenski Aerotransport was simbol and pride for entire former Yugoslavia.

Swiss even gives you a chocolate before landing.

In most cases you will have issues putting laptop backpack, woman's handbag, or similar stuff in luggage with allowed dimension in order to "smuggle" it. And it is inconvenience. My laptop backpack itself has size of allowed luggage in EasyJet.
So, please don't promote this as standard behavior, because it will cost some people's money when the face rules enforcement.

The thing that you get away with this is same as thing that I successfully get away with several extra KG for hand/personal luggage.

Jedino bi me zanimalo ako uvedu besplatan jagnjeci ansambl (jagnjeca čorba, jagnjeca sarma i peceni but) na letovima od 2+h. Ovako dokle god Wizz nudi one predobre kvalitetne mađarske snack pepperoni kobasicice za 3€ imace bolju hranu u avionu od 90% evropskih kompanija bile one legacy ili llc.

When I flew with Malév, they used to offer either soletti or pretzels and a small cup of café or Čaj.

Althought I still think the BoB prices are amazing:

https://www.airserbia.com/Data/Files/asl_bob_katalogatrdo_80_min.pdf

The flights to New York have a very good menu:

https://www.airserbia.com/en/elevate-deli-and-bar-buy-on-board#link2

Exactly. You will have issues if it is too big. Then do not try.

I do not promote anything. If you have normal size personal bag none will tell you anything. Full stop.

It is not full stop because policy is different. If someone is charged 100eur for second bag are you willing to do refund?

https://www.easyjet.com/en/help/baggage/cabin-bag-and-hold-luggage

"Ono što je važno, kao i kod drugih avio kompanija, obratite pažnju da ne prekoračite dozvoljenu težinu! Ako se to i desi, biće vam dodatno naplaćeno."

http://atlas-servis.com/air-serbia-nova-pravila-za-rucni-prtljag-od-15-decembra/

Will you be willing?

Of course not, but I didn't say "You can get away with it. Full stop". You did.

Great news, also the design of the renewed website looks marvelous.

I explained how the situation can be overcome and how on JU flights it can't be done.

If you are willing to pay to U2 100 eur just go ahead.

Have a nice day.

Same thing can be done on JU in reverse way - take stuff from your hand luggage and put them in personal bag or in your pockets. This is same as your solution. And equally "clever".

You just promoted feature that is not included in fare, you did it by mistake, and there is no reason not to just admit it. Humans make mistakes, other humans will forgive :)

There are still Jat ATRs and B737s around, so... :)

LOT offers you nothing.

No, @An.13.15, those are NOT Jat ATR's and 737's, they arrived during JAT era, not Jat Airways, so you just confirmed what I said: Both JAT and now Air Serbia acquiring new aircraft, widening destination map, trying to offer better product, only Jat Airways failed to do any of these, so...

Za jagnjecu sarmu se slazem a corbicu licno vise volim telecu a butic moze i od prasence :) :) :)

Based on my experience I informed that taking small personal bag with you in U2 cabin is not a problem even saying how this situation can be hypothetically overcome.

After that we saw your words twisting and talking about laptop backpacks which were never mentioned by me except saying that big personal items cannot be taken with you on board as second hand luggage.

Sorry to disappoint you, but it seems you intentionally missed to understand the point.

If you have big wish to pay 100 eur to U2 just go ahead, nobody will stop you. I think U2 simply loves that kind of passengers :)

Swiss has wonderful service. I was given a proper lunch including salmon salad on my recent ATH - ZRH flight.

JU has a great prosciutto sandwich. Hope they keep it. And also their orasnica cake, yum!

A za nas vegetarijance curetina sa mlincima? :)

Jat was famous for two things: ugly livery and triangular flights.

From the top of my head they operated:

1. BEG-LCA-TLV
2. BEG-MLA-TIP
3. BEG-AMS-BRU
4. BEG-CPH-ARN
5. BEG-something-GOT
6. BEG-BEY/LCA-DXB/AUH

And then there were those endless combinations like joining SJJ and BNX or TIV and TGD.

Oh and the short-lived BEG-ATH-TIP.

Ugly livery???
Oh, come on Nem. The style was original and very easily recognised from far away. The red and blue symbolising Serbia.

Why no mobile app yet? The era of paper is over

Three dots were very ugly.

I would say that Jat was famous also by

- "punctuality"
- quite old F/A
- staff smoking in the cabin
- old fleet
- seats that were falling apart
- very unprofessional ground staff with their mind still in '80s

Jat was an airline that survived circumstances that would have brought down any airline.

Small personal bag in airline vocabulary is usually euphemism for laptop backpack, handbag etc. It's not a purse for make-up. So before you get somebody into delusion with your explanations educate yourself and be more precise.
Only person "twisting" and "full-stopping" here is you.

I don't see how can food play any role on European short-haul flights?

As a business passenger, first and foremost, I need convenient schedule, at least twice a day to key regional destination (normal airports) and free proper hand-luggage, reasonable pricing, not dirt cheap for short notice travels but also not outrageously expensive. Free WiFi would be a bonus.

As a leisure passenger, I still need convenient schedule, decent luggage allowance and reasonable pricing to main airports. Food comes nowhere near to what I care about.

I arrived to Ljubljana last night from Belgrade... by car. Air Serbia JU190/191 has been quoted as ~70.000 RSD for the return ticket on ATR from Belgrade to Ljubljana (morning flights) + cca 100 EUR for taxi (return Brnik-Ljubljana). In my opinion, weekly commute should not cost 800 EUR by plane when the distance can be covered in 4,5 hours by car.

Just my 2 cents.

Rgds, Eight

100€ for a return taxi from LJU to the city centre? Who would pay that? I am from Ljubljana and I never paid more than 30€ one way! Those bastards at the airport try to charge more, but there are other EFFICIENT options to get to the city (3 or 4 different shuttles). If this is not an option, you can always get a “proper” taxi in advance from one of the companies (Laguna, Metro itd) - before u board in BEG u order it (app) and when u get there, taxi will be thrre for u! Paying 100€ return is A SCAM!

People are always hungry in this region :)))
BTW, I have used BEG-LJUB flight many times, never paid that amount. Probably last minute, last seats pricing?

Not true, stop spreading lies just because you hate them.

They offer drinks and a chocolate bar on short flights!

That was JAT in the 1990s. Jat was a different story, it was a corrupt government run business whose idea of a successful business move was to sell tickets on the streets and in post offices... as proposed by one of its CEOs.

JU fares for trips that last less than three days are considered as 'business fares' and are way more expensive. For example, I go to VIE several times per year and JU is around 48.000 to 56.000 for a single day trip (Austrian is around €600 to €800 lol).
If you stay at least four days then the price drops to around €120 or so... on both airlines.

It depends on the airline I guess. I just booked Aegean for a weekend trip to Cyprus and it was €176 for a return flight. I guess they need all the revenue they can get during winter time.

I see nothing wrong with that.

WOW! What a catering.

I used LO both short and medium-haul and no, the only thing you get on many flights is a glass of water. Nothing more. So stop spreading BS.

That was a few years ago, soft drinks and a chocolate are offered now on short-haul flights.

Nemjee was that ticket BEG-ATH-LCA-ATH-BEG or just ATH-LCA-ATH?
If it is the former it looks like a very good price to me.

In a way I miss good old Jat. Overall it was a good value for money.

How much was JU?

@17:45 - LOL. Big difference.

you cannot call the OU-gricke really a snack!

now bring OHD back (but not after midnight as the Abu Dhabi genius thought)

Yes, it was BEG-ATH-LCA and back. Connecting time going there is 1 hour 10 minutes, coming back 3 hours.
I didn't check JU as at that time they only fly on Fridays so it wouldn't be convenient especially since I would arrive to LCA at 03.20 on Saturday while with Aegean I am there on Friday at 20.10.

I am really curious to see the load on BEG-ATH as it's an A320.

Anon at 11:29 not just leisure airline like Rouge but also mainline Air Canada gives you no food or snacks at all. Flew Montreal Vancouver for about 5h30 and not a bite was offered for free. New normal.

Vinci attracting EZ and FR to open a base in BEG will be very bad news for JU.

What does this comment has to do with today's topic? That's like saying W6 and FR opening base in ZAG would be very bad news for OU.

Proslo je 5 godina od kraja jata i drzava je potvrdila da ce i dalje, znaci barem sledecih 5 godina, podrzavati Er Srbiju. Da li ce se posle 10 godina bilo ko vracati na temu jata?

Thanks for the info Nemjee, the price is good.
Have a good time.

Niti su oni imali za cilj da se transformisu u LCC niti ih putnici napustaju niti postoji konkurencija "full fare airlines with better service" na ubedljivoj vecini linija Er Srbije. Dakle komentar bez ikakvog znanja i zdravog razuma, jedino objasnjenje je cist hejt protiv Er Srbije.

@ anonymous 09,57am

JU has taken to extremes with its service, all in short periods, from full service legacy or "boutique" to hybrid low cost carrier and no service.

I think removing the initial service was a good idea, but they went too far with the whole hybrid carrier no service approach, which I'm sure many 'experts' agree.

It goes to show the lack of thought gone into planning and executing ideas, something I've been commenting on for years. I'm struggling to grasp at the logic. Remove catering to cut costs, because catering is somehow more expensive then refitting 10 newly fitted aircraft because of a shift in strategy? Ground aircraft for weeks on end to install wifi, only to later disable it. Invest in creating the Elevate Play app to enhance the onboard experience, yet abandon it later for god knows what reason. Market out as one of Europe's better carriers with an exceptional service, only to later slap them with a meal in a paper box in a modified economy class seat.

@ anonymous 09,09am

regardless of background, one has to be really stupid to find the endless list of JU's changes as smart moves.

Couldn't agree more. I don't even think their most frequent fliers know what to expect with JU any more, sadly enough.

Kao BIVSI REDOVNI putnik Er Srbije, moram da kažem da je sramota što nacionalnu aviokompaniju, koja treba da bude ponos svih nas, vode ljudi koji su apsolutni amateri u ovom poslu. Neka se vladajuća garnitura zapita kuda ih vode ljudi koji su došli preko veze i ako ih već tako dovodi na pozicije, neka bar dovede malo sposobnije i iskusnije. Možda misle da se ta nesposobnost ne primeti, ali mi putnici i te kako vidimo jasno koliko ne znaju šta rade. Ispadaju smešni, nažalost.

Why wouldn't people return to Jat? It was ridiculous how they closed the company and wasted money on this new project.

The snack which i received on CTN flying from Fra to Dbv , back in July was a yogurt and biscotti plus a drink. The yogurt and biscotti were both in a box.

Thank you for that information, I didn't know it.

Business class was way better than this even in JAT days back in 2007, so this is quite scandalous.
Btw, flew to Paris the other day and got a very small bag of "ribice" and a glass of water. So that's the snack.

No, they haven't reintroduced the bag. Flew them yesterday.

I have nothing against BOB product m, flying with just hand bagage, online check in but not for the overprised ticket. They are just not competitive when it comes to price and that's not sustainable. Even Lufthansa is cheeper on numerous routes. I've also had problems with online check in due to their website problems on two flights so I was forced to pay extra at the airport. When I complained I just got "sorry for the inconvinience". I was basically robbed by ASL twice. That's why I'll keep avoiding them whenever pissible. Terrible airline...

@ Nebojsa Popovic You do need to look at the price aspect as well. I worked for a client that paid business class for my travel between BEH and LHR. Air Serbia, even with the new business class product, was always much more expensive than Lufthansa. I just did a random check on BEG-FRA-BEG in late November and LH is 25% less expensive in business.

That would be like longing for the return of Aeroput brand. No sane person would want that.

Even Lufthansa is cheeper on numerous routes.

LOL, there is only ONE route where JU and LH compete, and LH is more expensive on that route almost always.
You were charged at the airport because online checkin failed? Not true, I kept screenshot when it happened to me and didnt have to pay anything at the airport. Great airline, its your comment thats terrible.