Belgrade - Chicago flights restored after 31 years by Air Serbia


Air Serbia has launched services between Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport and Chicago O’Hare International this morning, marking the resumption of scheduled flights between the two cities exactly 31 years to the day they were last operated by its predecessor JAT Yugoslav Airlines.


AS IT HAPPENED

02.00: An event marking the new route launch is being held in downtown Chicago, in the presence of dignitaries and airline officials






17.15: After over ten hours, the aircraft has landed in Chicago and was greeted by a water cannon salute





07.15: Lift off


07.00: Doors closed. Flight time to Chicago 10.05h.

06.50: With its new Chicago service, Air Serbia has introduced new amenity kits in business class




06.45: Passengers are taking their seats



06.35: Aircraft is ready for boarding




06.00: The Serbian Minister for Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, Goran Vesić, noted, “This is the second service between Serbia and the United States. An increasing number of intercontinental flights from out city remind us of the golden age of Yugoslav and Serbian aviation in the 1980s when JAT flew across continents connecting Belgrade with Toronto, Singapore, Chicago, New York, Melbourne and Beijing. Today, for a small country like Serbia, it is important that our airline connects us to the world. This is why in Serbia we look forward to the success of our national airline as it develops to become one of the strongest carriers in the Balkans. Air Serbia transfers passengers from all over the Balkans to the world. We are proud and happy because today not only Serbs are travelling via Belgrade to the world but also Albanians, Macedonians, Croats, Montenegrins and Bulgarians as well. This was the case half a century ago when one could fly from Belgrade to the United States. It took three decades for Belgrade to once again become the place from which one can travel worldwide. Wishing us the best of luck in our new journey.

05.50: The ribbon cutting ceremony is now taking place


05.45: President Vučić said, "There are many of you here who were still not born when there were last flights to Chicago. I would like to thank our US partners for enabling us to secure excellent slots to both Chicago and New York to enable transfer opportunities from the entire region. Belgrade - New York is now Air Serbia's most profitable. We believe the same will be the case with Chicago. These flights will allow good transfer options to Toronto and Canada until nonstop services are launched, as well as to the Midwest and West Coast in the US. We now no longer have to transfer via Munich, Frankfurt and Istanbul,  we can fly from our Belgrade. We dreamed big and we succeeded".

05.40: Ambassador Hill notes, "I want to congratulate everyone at Air Serbia who have made it possible. Air Serbia is becoming a major player in this sector and they are bringing Serbia and the USA closer together. We are now not just linked through basketball but also through this great new route" 

05.35: Air Serbia's CEO, Jiri Marek, is now addressing the press. He will be followed by Serbia's President,  Aleksandar Vučić, and the US Ambassador to Serbia,  Christopher Hill.



05.25: The launch ceremony is about to get underway



05.05: Check in is in full swing



· 05.00: A ceremony marking the launch of the new route is scheduled to take place shortly at gate C11 at Belgrade Airport. The Serbian President, Aleksandar Vucic and the US Ambassador to Serbia, Christopher Hill, will make an address. 

Chicago becomes the carrier’s third long haul destination and second in the United States after New York. The airline will initially maintain two weekly rotations, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, increasing to three weekly from June 12. Further flight details can be found here. The airline’s 257-seat Airbus A330-200 aircraft, registered YU-ARB and named after Nikola Tesla, is operating today’s inaugural service, while its other A330-200, registered YU-ARC and named after Mihajlo Pupin, is scheduled to be deployed between the two cities this Saturday.

Ticket sales on the new route have exceeded the airline’s expectations. The majority of Air Serbia’s flights departing both Chicago and New York over the next month have been sold out. Commenting ahead of the inaugural flight, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said, “This is a big achievement for us. As a small regional carrier, it is not easy to start long haul flights. We did that in 2016 with JFK. It was very difficult to make the decision to start the second long haul route, but we did that last year and now it will become much easier to start the fourth and fifth route in the future. We are extremely happy with Chicago and how it was perceived on the market. Many of our flights out of Chicago are almost sold out up until the end of June, same with JFK which will operate daily for the first time this year. Now we need additional aircraft to grow more”. Air Serbia will sign a codeshare agreement with a carrier from the United States next month.



JAT US newspaper ad for Chicago flights

JAT Yugoslav Airlines launched regular charter flights from Belgrade to Chicago on April 10, 1980. They were upgraded to scheduled operations on November 4 that same year and were maintained by DC-10 aircraft. Over the following twelve years, services to Chicago ran four times per week with the routing Belgrade - Zagreb - New York - Chicago, as well as Belgrade - New York - Chicago. In its final years, nonstop flights were introduced from Belgrade. As Yugoslavia began to disintegrate, the United States imposed an embargo on air services from the country on May 21, 1992. As a result, the final flight between Belgrade and Chicago was operated on Sunday, May 17, 1992. JAT’s successor, Jat Airways, planned to restore operations to the Windy City in both 2004 and 2006 but was unable to do so as Serbia and Montenegro were relegated to Category 2 in the US Federal Aviation Administration’s safety oversight rating. In 2011, US charter carrier Swift Air announced plans to launch operations from Chicago’s Rockford Airport to Belgrade via Zagreb on behalf of the Air Plus tour operator. On June 18, a total of 221 passengers boarded the Boeing 767-200ER aircraft, however, the flight was cancelled fifteen minutes prior to the scheduled departure time after the FAA failed to issue approval for the service.
JAT summer 1991 Chicago schedule


Belgrade and Chicago became sister cities in 2005. Hundreds of thousands of people living in the Chicago area have Serbian roots or are of Serbian origin. In 2007, Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport and Chicago’s O’Hare became sister airports. Although there are more point-to-point passengers currently scheduled to fly on the new service between the two cities, Air Serbia is also targeting connecting traffic. At this point, the airline has seen notable transfer demand on the route to and from Skopje, Podgorica and Tivat.



Comments

  1. Anonymous05:09

    Chicago ORD becomes busiest airport by both passengers and operations of all the airports served by Air Serbia. Route Belgrade Chicago is the longest current route operated by Air Serbia.

    Congratulations Air Serbia, hope for a success on this route!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous08:08

      Thank God without the EU flag in US.

      Delete
  2. Boris05:31

    Very good overview article.
    Congrats on a successful flight season to Chicago!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous05:42

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_p168_4XVWo&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.b92.net%2F&source_ve_path=MjM4NTE&feature=emb_title

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous05:55

    Bravo Air Serbia 🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous06:03

    Great news and article. aInteresting that check in is on the Terminal 1 and not on the new part. Also, on this old JAT add, what does it mean non stop and direct flight?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Google says: "Non-stop flights behave exactly as they sound; you'll fly straight from one airport to another, with no stops along the way. Direct flights, on the other hand, aren't quite as convenient. While the flight number doesn't change, the term “direct” means the plane may make one or more stops along its route."

      Delete
    2. Anonymous06:29

      Thanks 👍 That probably means then via Ljubljana or Zagreb or maybe city in USA

      Delete
    3. 👍 I believe one of the routings back then were Chicago-Cleveland-Ljubljana-Belgrade or Chicago-New York-Zagreb-Belgrade but I am not 100% sure.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:21

      Didn't know that JAT had office in Chicago, NY, Washington, Detroit, LA and even Cleveland Huge

      Delete
    5. JAT was the only european airline to operate Cleveland at 1985-1990. Not even British Airways did. Also, with 6 MD-11 on order (along with 3 DC-10 's planned to stay in fleet and continue operations for a fleet of total 9 long-haul units), JAT in 1990 opened office in Washington, Miami, Houston, San Francisco and Vancouver, and all 5 cities were to join its scheduled network. Also, concerning the offices : not only that JAT had all those offices, but they were on the most convenient high value locations - in New York, for example, office was on the 5th Avenue, in Rockefeller Center, ground level, next to the offices of American Airlines, Air France and Lufthansa. And big congrats for Chicago to Air Serbia. As someone who contributed a bit to growth of JAT, Air Serbia 's predecessor, as its devoted employee for 6 years, I am more than happy to see JU sign at ORD again!!! 😃

      Delete
    6. Anonymous12:27

      JAT was huge and had lots of reach, if JAT was around today there could be at least 20 long haul routes to serve the region. (my guess based on previous served long haul routes)

      Delete
    7. If Yugoslavia opted for necessary reforms and transformation, if it remained as a single market, if it did not have war, if it got huge financial support offered and joined EU together with Austria, Sweden and Finland back in 1995, with starting positions, history and tradition, skilled professionals, development strategy it had, competent management able to execute those plans, and overall growth of civil aviation, JAT today would have been much much bigger than 20 regional long haul routes, and primarily Austrian Airlines and Turkish Airlines significantly smaller

      Delete
    8. Anonymous13:53

      well could still have a YugoSlavic airline despite being different countries (including bulgaria today) allow for consolidation and shared benefit on long haul routes and to improve regional flights. montengro and croatia drawing in the profit during summer and serbia, bulgaria, in the winter season.
      like a joint venture between all the nations or an independent company that just serves the Yugo nations. would be massive and successful (assuming the ceo is czech or polish or something hahaha)

      Delete
    9. We can always dream, not forbidden ☺ And you really made me laugh with czech or polish ceo☺

      Delete
    10. Anonymous14:28

      Only problem with a Slavic airline would be similar issues they had in the exYu each village wanted their own non stop flights even though not viable and then wouldnt want to transfer via a city because of what ever and would then rather fly with LH, TK, BA instead even though larger detour but out of inat because they couldnt get their own way

      Delete
    11. Anonymous15:09

      Inat? That's nonsense. Some of the highest transfer demand for Air Serbia flights to New York is from Albania and North Macedonia. People would rather fly with JU than LH, TK and BA if the price is right and connection is convenient.

      Delete
    12. Boris17:07

      @pozdrav
      I never realized that JAT was in that kind a of expansion in the late eighties. You must have worked around that time in JAT.

      Delete
    13. Boris17:16

      Anonymous13:53
      It is possible but conciseness has to be raised and it is going in that direction. It is the process but it is unstoppable. What is happening in terms of changing of debt based financial system, removal of Fiat currency, removal of reserve currency and etc is pointing that necessary preconditions on material level.

      Delete
    14. @Boris

      Hi! Worked in JAT 1986-1991. And still proud of it.

      Concerning expansion : the biggest expansion had been planned for long-haul. In two phases. The first one was to include, in addition to above mentioned North American destinations, Seoul (everything was set for the flights to start as continuation of Beijing, which was to become nonstop), Caracas ( everything set to start, pool flight, or today's code share) with VIASA), Mumbai (as a stop for already existing Calcutta, split from Beijing), Manila (as continuation of Bangkok, for significant number of Philippine pilgrims to Medjugorje primarily), and Colombo, as a single stopover on Australia flights, instead existing Dubai and Singapore. The second phase was to see Nairobi-Johannesburg, Lagos-Accra , Rio-Buenos Aires and Tokyo, where request had been submitted for the flights and not cleared by Japanese government for 13 years. This phase was to see increase in frequencies, so requests had been submitted for the 3rd weekly Australia, the 4th weekly Toronto (requested separation from Montreal as well) and the 3rd Bangkok.

      In euro Mediterranean part, new destinations had been planned as well (Geneve, Lisbon, Oslo, Luxemburg...) but even more important was considering the move of introducing into the fleet the second wide-body type, precisely B767, whose serious -200 was to gradually replace B727 on shorter, European and Middle East and North Africa routes, and put even more emphasis on summer charter traffic from the Adriatic airports, and series -300, which was to take over "lighter" long-haul routes, as Detroit, Cleveland, Montreal, Lagos-Accra, Calcutta.

      Also euro Mediterranean part was to see completion of DC-9 to B737-300 replacement

      Domestic flights were to see more nonstop flights between secondary cities, and additional ATR of the bigger series were to be introduced, and frequencies added to main routes, to BEG and ZAG.

      The "wind in the back" was definitely economic reform within the country by ex p.m. Ante Markovic. But the main contributions for such development go to managerial team of that time, the best JAT ever had, not only highly skilled and professional, but totally committed to company's growth and success.

      Unfortunately, we all know what happened later

      Delete
    15. Boris18:53

      @Pozdrav
      Thanks for detailed overview of JAT from that period. It’s very interesting.
      I vaguely remember my dad telling me of his trip to States on Energy conference. I believe it was in Detroit and i think it was beginning of 80’s and it was organized for Naftagas and INA chemical engineers. I am not sure how they have flown but I remember he brought me one of these travel kits from JAT flight. I was a kid at that time so that was like getting a Christmas present 😊

      Delete
    16. @Boris
      You are welcome 😃
      Your Dad probably flew JAT. If not all the way to DTW, at least to JFK. JAT flew to Detroit as well. As you seem interested, here follow the list of JAT long-haul services, summer 1989 :

      3 weekly Belgrade-Zagreb-New York JFK
      1 weekly Belgrade-Dubrovnik-New York JFK
      1 weekly Belgrade-Ljubljana-NewYork JFK
      2 weekly Belgrade-New York JFK

      1 weekly Belgrade-Ljubljana-Cleveland-Detroit
      1 weekly Belgrade-Zagreb-Cleveland-Detroit

      1 weekly Belgrade-Dubrovnik-Chicago
      2 weekly Belgrade - Zagreb - Chicago
      2 weekly Belgrade - Chicago - Los Angeles

      3 weekly Belgrade -Zagreb-Montreal-Toronto

      1 weekly Belgrade-Dubai-Bangkok
      1 weekly Belgrade-Dubai - Calcutta - Beijing

      1 weekly Belgrade-Dubai-Kuala Lumpur - Singapore
      2 weekly Belgrade - Dubai-Singapore-Melbourne-Sydney

      Delete
    17. Slav.Man20:35

      @anon 14:28 that's why I said only successful with a czech or Polish ceo. or let him be chinese or american if theyre an outsider to Yugo then they will focus on business and making money instead of the village politics we have. just look at Air serbia, once they hire non-serb to run the company everything moved forward. also it is over 30 years since JAT served the country and everyone argued. Today if there was a well planned airline we do have the passenger numbers to fill long haul, or at least maintain 70% on an A330 to Zagreb, Belgrade and Sofia. I had a look last night and through all Yugo airports at the peak (2019) there were 36,800,000 passengers and that's with all the mess our airlines and airports have. if it was well run those passenger numbers could be doubled. But even with 50% share it would mean 18 million passengers every year. So potential exist for definite 18 million or hypothetical 36 million passengers but best we can do is with air Serbia exited over a puny amount of 3 million passengers

      @pozdrav thats an amazing story thanks for sharing

      Delete
    18. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    19. @Slav.Man
      You are welcome 😃. Glad you liked it.
      And you are absolutely right about Balkan potentials. That's why I am so disappointed with Croatia Airlines. And Balkan airlines overall. The only one trying, and to some extent succeeding to do something is Air Serbia, but it is still far away from potential of our market(s). You are right that BAS, Balkan Airlines System might be solution to get back passengers and cargo taken over by Turkish, Austrian, Lufthansa and LCC. But it's not happening, not because of villages and inat, but because of fat money selected individuals would lose that way, Ljubljana and Zagreb, to Sofia and Tirana

      Delete
    20. Charlie07:08

      Poz, thanks for the info on JAT long haul and plannedroutes. Great potential for sure. Today it could have been bigger than OS, LOT, and Turkish.

      Delete
    21. Anonymous09:07

      So Lagos after all...

      Delete
    22. I can understand a joke, no hard feelings. 😃But you need to understand Yugoslavia as the leader of non-aligned countries movement had excellent political, and more important, economic relations with African countries. Yugoslav companies were engaged in performing huge infrastructural projects in many countries, Nigeria included. African students attended Yugoslav Universities. Passenger and cargo flows were significant. Zambia Airways flew regularly from Lusaka and Nairobi to BEG, and yes, JAT had plans to start Lagos. Of course, today, it's out of question

      Delete
    23. @Charlie
      You are welcome 😃

      Delete
    24. Anonymous19:13

      Wow pozdrav iz rijeke, didn't know this episode of yours in JAT. Great! Best regards from Beg!

      Delete
  6. JUBEGYYZ06:18

    Fanstastic news for both Air Serbia and Belgrade Airport. Going back to being intercontinental hub of the region before being interrupted. This Belgrade departure board from 1991 has flights to New York and JU520 to Chicago. Next up, JU560 to Toronto:

    https://i.postimg.cc/7Zz3Dpfz/TT91-01-JPG.jpg

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for sharing this photo. Great memories of the sound of updating flap FID at BEG.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous06:57

      Chichago :)

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:47

      Ahahaha love the spelling.

      Delete
    4. Prepelica13:52

      @eight Oh that sound of flaps + the sound of baggage wheels rolling over that textured linoleum in the terminal halls.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous06:22

    Omg they mentioned Toronto :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous07:29

      Nope.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous07:29

      Don't be an idiot.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous07:33

      It was mentioned, check the recording. But today is Chicago's day.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous06:37

    9 ml evra su profitabilni u Q1 a na računu imaju 177 ml. Fantastičan rezultat.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous07:04

      Fantastic result

      Delete
    2. Anonymous07:52

      No wonder when tickets to Moscow in economy standard cost about 1300e return.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:03

      I za IST,CDG,ZRH,LHR karte budu oko 1000e kada je let gotovo popunjen. S obzirom da su letovi za Moskvu uvek rasprodati logično je da je tolika cena karata.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:19

      Videcemo sta ce ostati od profita, kad budu morali da plate sva ova kasnjenja, hotele, naknadne letove... u poslednjih mesec dana

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:22

      @ anonymous09:19
      Postoji nešto što se zove osiguranje 😜

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:10

      A je'l to znaš šta to znači?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous14:09

      Wow. That is really great result for airline or that size.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous06:57

    Awesome coverage Ex Yu Aviation! Thank you for pics and updates. Have a safe flight.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous06:58

    Lovebthe amenity kits!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous07:04

      That was supposed to say * love the. Looks good. Also business cabin looks nice.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous07:10

    Flying in 2A today! Very excited to experience this flight. Been watching updates on EX-YU for years now on this route and I can’t believe it’s finally here! Thank you to your continued support to this facet of aviation news and information.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous07:15

    "We now no longer have to transfer via Munich, Frankfurt and Istanbul" - 😍

    Lovely phrase.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:27

      I would prefer to transfer through Vienna and fly on Austrian personally!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:28

      My eyes got glassy at that point of reading. And then i looked at LJU schedule …

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:45

      Nobody is stopping you. Go via Austria and use their horrible service and food. More room for us on a direct flight. They keep saying connection from Canada, wondering if the new codeshare agreement with an American company will able them to do that ?

      Delete
  13. Anonymous07:16

    These should become profitable faster than JFK.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous07:18

    Air Serbia Belgrade-Chicago flight JU506 is number 1 worldwide tracked flight on fr24!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous07:30

      Really?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous08:13

      at the departure it was second, now its not anymore on the list

      Delete
    3. I think it was the only flight to be tracked on a CNC machine today at least.

      It's almost over lake Huron now, so a bit longer and we're back.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous07:31

    Flight time is near 11 hours.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous08:02

    President with interest in Russia launched flights to USA;))

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:14

      sorry, what?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:55

      Replace Russia with, to be in media attention constantly, ...

      Delete
  17. Anonymous08:14

    BEG long-haul flights:

    16.05 PEK HA A333
    17.05 ORD JU A332
    18.05 JFK JU A332
    18.05 TSN JU A332

    Things are looking up for good old Belgrade. More to come I am sure of that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous08:15

      *HU
      Sorry

      Delete
    2. Anonymous08:25

      Excellent!!!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous08:29

      Air Serbia should start introducing A330-300.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:30

      Marek clearly confirmed A333 won't be introduced.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:37

      Strange.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous08:24

    Kinda random that a president is coming to the airport at 5AM to launch a new route, weird flex, but OK

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous08:28

      The US ambassador was also there.

      Delete
    2. Nemjee08:51

      It's not odd, it's an important step for the country. Think about it like this. You have a certain Mile who wants to go and visit some family in Chicago.
      In the past he would buy his ticket with LH Group so his Serbian funds would be wired to their accounts in Germany.

      Starting from today, Mile can fly nonstop onboard a Serbian carrier. When he purchases his ticket with JU, his money stays in Serbia since that is where JU's accounts are located. They are no longer exported to foreign bank accounts.

      With JU getting a lot more transfers, they are increasingly accumulating foreign capital in Serbia. That is why Air Serbia is such an important project for the whole country.

      Delete
    3. Nemjee09:08

      According to the Serbian constitution the president mostly deals with ceremonial things and this was an important ceremony to mark the resumption of direct flights to a city where thousands of Serbs live. BEG-ORD made their homeland far more accessible than it was in the past.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:32

      Serbian president inaugurates a new non stop flight to Chicago, operated by national carrier, slovenian president celebrates a new round-about in Duplek.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:53

      Well, the president of Serbia has a ceremonial role only, as per the constitution of Serbia. So, he should be participating more in this kind of ceremonies, and be less active in his unconstitutional roles :)

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:01

      He is also the president of the ruling party, hence his ceremonial and executive roles are bound to overlap sometime. Thanks to the current government, we have had a renaissance in the Serbian aviation industry sector, so nothing wrong with him taking some credits for it. We will all benefit from this in the end.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous13:58

      Very proud of him and his gouvermant,. They are the ones to make this airline where it is today . JU was Vucic's top priority and they succeeded in their mission .Beside JU, project, he was also the one to get all 3 Serbian airports operating and getting renowned and modernized.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous14:46

      Weird flex? Angela Merkel christened Lufthansa A380 "Deutschland", went to UAE to negotiate end of Air Berlin, opened ILA airshow, organized rescue funding for Lufthansa, used every photo opportunity in front of Lufthansa planes... look it all up on the internet:

      https://www.bernerzeitung.ch/die-gerammte-weltmeister-boeing-242787561886

      Delete
    9. Anonymous17:10

      Vucic is clearly an aviation geek.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous08:25

    First flight on my birthday ... :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:01

      Happy Birthday

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:45

      Hrvoje đe si!

      Delete
  20. Anonymous09:17

    New amenity kit looks really superb

    ReplyDelete
  21. Congratulations BEG and YU.
    Good luck.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous10:04

    I’m sure this will be a success and profitable, helping to subsidise the short haul. Even more so people flying back from the US will choose this service when coming to see family due to the risk you take with a transfer flight across Europe with many of us experiencing the chaos, so if you can fly direct why not. Sure this wont be the last flight to the US, who knows maybe LA next!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:05

      Miami.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:08

      Toronto, please.
      (even though it is in Canada).

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:11

      Lagos first.

      Delete
  23. notLufthansa10:08

    That’s nothing….OU just started ops to Mostar! Beat that Bravo Srbija guy! Ha!
    Taunt for Pozdrav (tm), hihi

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous10:10

    @Admin

    I’d just like for you and everybody to know in June 2011 I was @ Rockford airport scheduled to be on the inaugural flight. Nobody** boarded the plane.. we sat for hours after scheduled departure time at the gate with only information that the flight is delayed and that was it until they announced about 3 hours later that the flight was canceled, I’ve written a detail account years back about this.

    However, yay for air Serbia and Serbia / the region!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:21

      I want to know more

      Delete
    2. It was supposed to be flight to Sarajevo, if I am not mistaken, by some weird US airline that never before operated any flights to Europe and was selling tickets without any permissions obtained to commence the flights

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:45

      Thanks. Wonder how can it can go to the point where you're sending passengers to the airport for a flight while you don't even have permission to fly. Even in the US

      Delete
    4. Anonymous17:19

      I still remember, it was Belgrade via Zagreb. I think they were using a 767 and were shut down last second. It was scheduled to depart from Chicago Rockford International. The airport apparently was not approved to to operate international RPT services or something. From what I remember, everyone was refunded??

      Damn, can't believe that was 12 years ago now.

      Delete
    5. Are you sure it was BEG via ZAG? I remember some Eastern airlines or something announcing Chicago/Rockford to SJJ and not starting. Which company was suppose to operate it? Can you provide few more details? And I apologize to @11.21 if giving false information, only this Eastern with Sarajevo rang my bell when asked

      Delete
    6. Anonymous22:06

      Original commentator here again, so many stories, naša posla 🤣

      In June 2011 Swiftair was supposed to launch Rockford-ZAG-BEG, we purchased tickets normally, arrived @ the airport, check-in went smoothly and we’re waiting to board. The plane WAS there however no crew were seen..

      After hours of sitting and hearing announcements of delays, management came to announce it was canceled.

      Guys, please find out first. NOT everyone was refunded.. us on the FIRST flight out got a hotel for a couple of nights, and eventually put on flights to ZAG or BEG for no additional charge. People who purchased tickets ahead of time had to pay additional money to be put on other flights - I know from my friends and family. It was chaotic and they did mention they did not get FAA clearance, I also spoke with a REP who worked on getting the flights started, Serbian I believe, who was so sad and said it was out of their hands and that they were promised to be approved for departure.

      Delete
  25. Nenad10:11

    https://youtu.be/bCqQK_Cz0qE - Dobro predviđanje :)

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous10:48

    Congrats to Air Serbia!!!! Super proud of you and and can not wait for what is to come. Srecno!!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Ovaj Prvi let je za najveci broj ljudi bezgranicna je radost.
    Za mene licno i vise od toga.
    Prvi let Za Cikago posle trideset jedne godine!
    I ovde u Sidneju sam uz licni poklon satova za posadu DC10 na celu sa kapetanom Pasicem i po buket ruza za svakog clana kabine. Ovo pisem ne kao hvalu. Vec kao svedocenje ljubavi prema komercijalnom vazduhoplovstvu.
    Dugo sam stajao na platformi tarmac-a Sidnejskog Medjunarodnog Terminala i mahao prema posadi Desetke.
    Rulajuci prema pisti za uzletanje.Posada mi je uzvracala.
    Na zalost jos se ne nadam povratku Er Srbije u gradove ispod Juznog Krsta. Nadam se da cu doziveti bar Jedan Carter let Er Srbije iz Beograda na Western Sydney Airport.
    I have dream. And will! 😀♥️✈😀🛫♥️😀✈
    Srecno Er Srbijo u USA!✈🌐🛫 Ziveo Cikago!
    Rodney Marinkovic and Aviation Enthusiast Associate Group. ✈
    West Ryde Sydney Australia




    ReplyDelete
  28. JU520 BEGLAX12:42

    JU did also operate flight 520 BEG ORD LAX twice per week

    ReplyDelete
  29. Anonymous13:08

    Ovo su odlicne vesti i to se jos najavljivalo od prvog profita na liniji za JFK. I bitno je nagovestiti da je YU bila mozda i u najlosijem polozaju posle stvaranja novih drzava ali je od stvaranja 2013 ASL napravila veliki uspeh sto je za svaku pohvalu. I bice naravno jos zanimljivih destinacija u Severnoj Americi sa jos zanimljivim Avionima.
    INN-NS

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous13:52

    So proud of this! Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous14:09

    Nobody has mentioned how many passengers are on this first flight ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:17

      I wonder why ...

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:57

      Someone wrote on another blog:

      BEG-ORD 20/142
      ORD-BEG 19/227

      Delete
    3. Ако знате да је капацитет А332 257 путника од тога 21 место у бизнис класи, онда сами израчунајте ЛФ на првом пару летова.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous16:26

      Then BEG-ORD is far from sold out as they advertised...only 63% LF! Not really great!

      Delete
    5. Anonymous16:59

      They are saying ORD-BEG is sold out, not the other way around.

      Delete
    6. Како то селективно објављујете ЛФ? Како не написасте да је ЛФ ORD-BEG око 92%?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous19:08

      Flight today had 3 set lefti in econolmy , so everything we see on here and some number of 140 is complete misleading info .

      Delete
    8. Anonymous08:45

      If you had access to the system you would have written the actual number displayed on the screen. Since you haven't stop making things up. BEG-ORD was expected to be weaker since most sales are in the US.

      Delete
  32. Anonymous14:31

    Yaaaay

    ReplyDelete
  33. Charlie15:32

    This flight to ORD seems really early in the morning departure time from BEG. Most flights from Europe to North America leave from noon to maybe 16:00. Just wondering if anyone knows the logic behind the departure time. What time is it scheduled to arrive in Chicago, and then arrive in BEG the next day?
    How will this flight work for connecting flights from the region to BEG when it leaves so early?

    Good luck and congrats to Air Serbia on this huge achievement.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nemjee16:07

      This JU departure is ok because they has an entire wave of arrivals from 05.15 to 06.00. Connections fit perfectly.

      TK has some US flights that depart in the morning: SFO at 08.25, IAD at 08.15 LAX at 08.15 and so on. I guess both BEG and IST are further east so they are timed a bit differently.
      OS' ORD flight is around 10.00 so when you factor in an hour flying time from BEG, the difference is not so large.

      JU506 arrives at 10.50 meaning you can catch onward connections to pretty much anywhere. A later departure would have restricted connectivity onto AA.

      JU507 returns to BEG at 05.30 so you can catch a connection to ZAG, BLQ, FCO, PRG, TGD, BRI, LJU and VIE.
      I excluded other western destinations which make little sense.

      Given how well sales went I really hope they add a fourth and a fifth flight next summer.

      Delete
    2. Nemjee16:08

      *they have

      lol

      Delete
    3. Anonymous16:42

      Thanks for the explanation Nemjee. Didn't realize that the regional connections were so well timed. Should be able to pick up a lot of passengers from the ex-yugo zone. Seems that for next summer JU should go 5 weekly.
      Also, given the apparent success of ORD (I know, to early to tell, but based on advanced sales) I think YYZ would be just as successful.

      Delete
    4. JATBEGMEL17:09

      There are a tonne of flights departing Europe before noon for North America, especially from LHR. LHR-JFK have 8 flights departing before noon for example.

      JU's ORD timetable is split into 3 of their departure banks:

      Wednesday:
      JU506 BEG ORD 0650 1050

      Saturday:
      JU506 BEG ORD 1720 2120

      Starting 12th June, Monday:
      JU506 BEG ORD 12:50 1650

      JU's JFK flights for example aren't just getting transfer pax from the region. Surprisingly VIE made the top 10 list and the new midday flights will probably pull in more transfers considering it improves connectivity. SVO sees alot of transfers to JFK. Italy transfers will be interesting to see this year with the massive expansion this summer into that market, as well as BUD. JU held around 4% of the ZAG-JFK market with not so optimal connections and fierce Star Alliance dominance which is interesting to note.

      I agree with @nemjee and I too see extra frequencies on the BEG-ORD route next year.

      Delete
  34. Anonymous16:54

    It is about to land in ORD ...another 10 min flying time. 09hrs45min and it made it from Beg to Ord.

    ReplyDelete
  35. It landed a minute ago. Great job AirSerbia!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:19

      How many passengers? LOL

      Delete
    2. It is the first flight. It is not peak season yet. Every service needs some time to mature. Combined LF of 80 % for return flight on the first flight is actually very good result. Especially if we take into account it will boost LF on transfer traffic flights. Plus numbers in Premium, which improve yields are OK. Ah, yes, and to answer the question how many passengers : well, in any case much much more than on OU first Q400 OMO to ZAG

      Delete
    3. Изнад Вашег поста имате две информације о ЛФ у којој се једној каже да је ЛФ 20/142, а у другом посту пише да је у економској класи било слободно само три места. Да ли сте задовољни тим подацима? Или нам, ако имате, кажите Ваша сазнања. Овако изгледа неозбиљно.

      Delete
  36. Anonymous18:20

    Congrats AirSERBIA 👏🏼
    If AirSERBIA continue like that, they can be :
    - On the ranking of the best Airline in Europe and Eastern one
    - Join an Alliance (One World for preference)
    - Lunch more routes in US (Miami, Boston, Los Angeles) and on the world (Lagos, Hong Kong, Sydney, Bangkok)
    - More passengers from each Ex-Yu countries (Croatia, BiH, Slovenia, etc)

    Bravo 🥳

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:43

      Marek ruled out West Coast US routes just a few days ago. Focus will be East Coast.

      Delete
  37. Much of luck Air Serbia! 🇷🇸🛫🇺🇸🛫🌐✈

    ReplyDelete
  38. Anonymous18:31

    I was watching the plane flying over Grand Rapids. So proud. Bravo Air Serbia.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Anonymous21:15

    Flying ORD-BEG this saturday, can't wait!!!

    ReplyDelete
  40. Anonymous22:19

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcUd1PRJzd0&ab_channel=BelgradeAviator

    ReplyDelete
  41. Anonymous06:33

    And it got greeted in Serbian on arrival. Very nice.
    https://youtu.be/sE5wNvIEYsg

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:07

      Very very nice!!!! So proud

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:42

      As a second generation born Serbian-American, one of the coolest things I got to do in my career is welcome Air Serbia to Chicago and got to clear them to land. Thanks to whoever put this video together it's very cool.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous18:19

      Thank you that was awesome! Pilot liked it too: Hvala, bolje vas našli.

      Delete
  42. Intresting estimate on the website of City of Chicago regarding AirSerbia:

    The Belgrade to Chicago route on Air Serbia is estimated to create $55 million in economic activity for the Chicago region over the next year.

    I believe that is a bit too much.
    https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/doa/provdrs/dbata/news/2023/may/05172023.html


    ReplyDelete
  43. You can see pictures of AirSerbia at ORD (Chicago) in the article: Air Serbia Debuts Chicago-Belgrade Nonstop Flights
    https://airwaysmag.com/air-serbia-chicago-belgrade-flights/

    ReplyDelete
  44. Anonymous09:25

    EX-YU this coverage was phenomenal. Hands down the best on the web!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:21

      Professional and unbiased. Hope we'll get trip report from the reporter.

      Delete
  45. Air Serbia INAUGURAL FLIGHT from Belgrade - Chicago Landing
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxmmsuz8x-M

    ReplyDelete

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