Air Serbia has said that growing its fleet and improving the passenger ground and inflight experience will mark the bulk of its investment in the upcoming period. These will include improvements at Belgrade Airport, its onboard catering, frequent flyer program and changes to its hard product. The carrier’s CEO, Jiri Marek said, “The investment will definitely continue in growing our fleet to provide more destinations, frequencies and more connectivity. That is most of the investment. On the other end, we would like to continue to invest into our product to better serve our customers. We recently announced that we will be opening a new premium lounge at Belgrade Airport, which will be double the size of the current one. Depending on all the permissions, as it is very complex to build something within the terminal, we hope to have it open by the end of the year. We will also have a new premium check-in, which will be for our high-valued customers, that will be completely separated”.
Commenting on the inflight experience, Mr Marek said, “We would like to invest more into the onboard product. We are looking into introducing duty-free shopping, improving the quality of the current catering services, the buy-on-board offer, and looking into potentially retrofitting our cabins in the near future with more ergonomic and lighter-weight seats. We are also finalising our pilot project with Bluebox for onboard content streaming. Following a trial, we are looking into whether it makes sense introducing it or not and whether there is a good return on investment”. The airline also anticipates rolling out its new frequent flyer program by the end of the year, ending its use of the Etihad Guest scheme. The new frequent flyer program will not be based on miles, but rather on the spend. It will include co-branded credit cards allowing the public to collect points in their daily lives, by buying groceries, gas, going to the cinema, as well as other activities, and enabling them to later use these points for flights and vice versa.
Air Serbia is also targeting cabin commonality across its fleet, as many of its aircraft currently feature different cabins from previous operators, including on the ATR72s, Airbus A320-family and the A330-200s. Recently, the airline retrofitted one of its A320 aircraft, formerly operated by Vistara, which boasted a separate and dedicated business class cabin with two-by-two seating and a smaller capacity economy cabin. The jet has now been standardised. The development will see each aircraft have the same number of seats within their respective type - 72 on ATR72s, 144 on A319s and 180 on A320s.
Retrofitting the A330s should be an absolute priority
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteInteresting. The question now is will the arriving A330 have a new cabin which will then be installed on YU-ARB and YU-ARC.
Delete^ yes, that's what they said. It will be like the EY business class seats which are great. 1-2-1 configuration in business.
DeleteI'm hopeful the incoming A330 will have wifi. I've heard quite a few people complain about the lack of wifi that have flown to New York.
DeleteRegarding wifi, it won't
Deletewifi is much needed! Shame they got rid of it on the narrow bodies too. It set them apart from many airlines at the time.
DeleteThey got rid of it because no one was buying it
DeleteNo one bought it because it was one of the most expensive in the skies.
DeleteThey should offer it for free.
Delete@10:14
DeleteHow many carriers flying transatlantic do now offer wifi nowadays?
Can't think of any.
Many of them. European airlines: Norwegian, Turkish, British, Lufthansa
DeleteAlso Air France, KLM. Pretty much anyone flying transatlantic...
DeleteAlmost every. Most of them offer chat services free of charge and if you want to browse or even stream content, they charge additionally. Lufthansa, AF offer wifi on some EU flights too.
DeleteJust came back on Lufti from Vegas, on their a330 wifi was available only for money. Watsup was free of charge.
DeletePity about YU-APO listing the Vistara cabin. It was much more comfortable.
ReplyDeleteBut it made no sense. And it prevented them from sending the plane onto charters.
DeleteThe JU shorthaul business class between 2013-2016 was amazing. Better than TK today. But it didn't make any sense financially.
DeleteThat business class on the narrow body fleet really was something.
Deletehttps://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRKTYgOKdv7MOZ3lCOx3maee524fhvPexUR0YNWKS9yODFD5Mx6ORz2BY73T1r4W8x45y1aHGAFsWb8MX9fX2QMKIII7WrWeLQG92Bi-AvTfwUDRYAGNGMvVUS6kO6jpPj3tSU1AqkcvVmuNl745aWS87v_0YAs--0c-G5VrjABKMPPgjVZMO2bc-bYQ/s800/Air-Serbia-Business-Class-Airbus-A319-PSTravel.jpg
It's a tragedy that business class across Europe as a whole has degraded greatly, mostly due to heavy competition from ULCCs, whereas it has remained great in the US and Asia as a whole
DeleteIt's not tragedy. If there were many people wanting that kind of service you think the airlines wouldn't offer it? They don't kill business because they want it but beacuse people don't get justification for high prices at European flights. And Europeans doing business online for quite some time now, so we fly less for business purposes. Europe is small, in 2-3 hours you're at its different ends. European airlines still offer fairly nice business on long haul.
DeleteThen don't call it Business Class. Call it something else like Economy Plus. It is not a Business Class.
Delete^ that's what LATAM does. Business class on intra South America flights is called Premium Economy and it is basically the same as Euro business (except LATAM has better food)
DeleteI live flyi g with LATAM! They are amazing company! So glad that someone mentioned it 😍
DeleteA lot of readers here defend this ridiculous euro-business class as not being profitablr. Then how come that all Asian airlines offer a propper business class seats ans service on their narrow-bodied planes?
DeleteBecause it's a completely different market with different passenger requirements and different cost structures.
DeleteI'm worried about the FFP. Their previous technological improvements, like the website, in my opinion are worse then it was before.
ReplyDeleteMe too.
DeleteI do not understand the part about money spending for new FFP. Will it take into account only purchasing in Serbia or what?
At selected outlets, I guess we'll see NIS, Galerija, Tehnomanija etc. You get the point(s).
Delete@Anon 09:07
DeleteBeing spend-based means that miles/points will be awarded based on the cost of the ticket, rather than distance. Most European FFPs have switched to the same principle. More €€€ spent with the airline = more miles/points.
Thank you all.
DeleteI suppose the miles / points from abroad can be collected only by purchasing the tickets as there is no NIS, Tehnomanija, Galerija in Germany, Austria, France...
They may include some international partners like Hyatt, Sixt etc. but don't think that will be too appealing for the people abroad...
DeleteIt might end up being similar to flyingblue program which awards miles based on ticket price and multiplied based on your status. Will be interested in how the FFP turns out.
DeleteWhy would they want to pay money to AF/KLM. Having your own program means the money stays with the company. I don't know what will happen with the Etihad Guest Serbian members, perhaps Etihad needs to transfer them across back to JU?
DeleteNo, Serbian members with Etihad Guest will stay with Etihad Guest. Air Serbia will likely offer a status match for all Etihad Guest members but also other program members.
DeleteFor Serbian members of Etihad guest, having miles will be useless given that they don't fly to Belgrade anymore. If redemptions with Air Serbia stop, many miles will expire. I guess people should just use them up before the new program starts.
DeleteI'm sure that miles will be transferred into the new FFP for whoever wishes to do. It's pretty standard in these cases.
DeleteFinally thinking about improving the experience.
ReplyDeleteNice to see they want to improve their product.
ReplyDeleteAirSerbia is working and improving. Sometimes it takes time or right moment to come, but it always comes.
DeleteIt is not improving. It is restoring what they actually had when they launched. That was an impressive and competitive product.
DeleteIt was not competative at all. It was a completely flawed strategy that lost them so much money that they had to cul half of their network in 2017 to survive.
DeleteChanging seats on planes did not fix this. Their route changes to drop unprofitable routes is what helped. Or are you saying the Recaro slimline seats saved Air Serbia in 2017?
DeleteIt most certainly cut down on costs, which is why every other airline in Europe did the same. So they can be competitive with costs Why? Because your cost per passenger gets reduced that way. Some people here are really devoid of any aviation knowledge.
DeleteYes I know many people are. Adding 6 or 12 extra seats after spending money on Recaro did not reduce costs. It increased costs because they threw out 3 year old leather seats. It added potential revenue assuming a 100% load factor. Costs were removed by getting rid of catering, cushions, ground staff, Etihad consulting fees, engineering, new fleet capex and unprofitable routes which most have back come back now. But those short term fixes hurt when you need a new fleet of A320neos now which were cancelled to stay “profitable”.
DeleteAgain, you don't know what cost per passenger is and how it works. You can put quotation marks around profitable as much as you want but at the end of the day they are actually profitable now and they were not during their boutique era. I actually wonder if you ever flew with their business class since you are such a passionate advocate of something every airline in Europe except for Aeroflot and Turkish Airlines (and even Turkish Airlines has eurobusiness on many planes) got rid of. I guess you are the only genius and everyone else were dumb and stupid.
DeleteSo profitable that they cannot afford new planes and have to get second rate ACMO operators for a third of their operations.
DeleteAnd I don’t fly “Euro” Business aka as economy with middle seat blocked.
DeleteYou can see the amount of profitability achieved. It is respectable but definitely not high enough to go out and buy new planes. Sure they could take out loans like another regional airline did and dig yourself in a hole. And even that regional airline in the end is not buying the planes. But you are right. If they had dedicated business class cabin like no other airline in Europe, they would be able to buy new planes.
DeleteI agree they had too many excessive costs and they had to go. But they should have kept the old business seating as it would attract a premium price for the seat. Perhaps only 4 if 8 was too much. But ground handling and some engineering they should have kept.
DeleteSome routes sell 12 business seats, some none at all. Many routes sell around 8 seats in business. So why reduce revenue by lowering capacity in a cabin which has demand? Had JU had the demand for a fixed business class they would of kept it. But the fact that JU followed the trend of all other EU carriers in the Euro business model for business class says more than enough that adequate demand to pay that extra premium isn't there.
DeleteTK on the other hand has different dynamics to their business where their narrow bodies isn't fixed exclusively on the Euro-Med market. Alot of their narrow bodies operate on the Middle East, Central Asia and African markets where competition with ULCC's is practically non existent and yields alot higher.
And that's why Turkish has the competitive advantage over all other legacy European carriers and is shaping up to be one of the best airlines in the world. It has a great hard product which compensates for its geographic disadvantage. Anyway, I am not going to convince you because you just think the 1990s Scandi trend of less is more is going to convince the discerning business traveller.
DeleteIt's not about Scandi trends, it's the reality of the market in Europe. Euro carriers have to compete with large and aggressive ULCC's along with legacy carriers, TK and SU dont have to at no where near the extent Euro carriers do. TK isn't going to be the carrier of choice between Spain and Germany for example, but LH and IB will have to compete not only amongst themselves but a wide range of ULCC's that offer bare basic fares as cheap as 10€. And this example is multiplied in hundreds if not thousands of combinations across Europe. This is why that concept failed disastrously at JU. The seat and inflight food isn't what necessarily drives demand for business class.
Delete15:52 Geographic disadvantage?? It's possibly the best location on the globe for a worldwide hub.
DeleteYes, Istanbul is very convenient for Western European travellers flying over the transatlantic. They needed to compete with the ME3 as global connectors and you know that the ME3 don't offer SAS Scandinavian Airlines 1990s introduced "Euro" Business. In fact, the best location for a hub based on the closest physical location to major population centres is somewhere in Kazakhstan!
Delete“ The seat and inflight food isn't what necessarily drives demand for business class.” That is EXACTLY what drives the demand. Plus luggage allowance, plus extra miles, plus business lounge, plus dedicated check in and fast track. I’d be the first one to either buy or bid for an upgrade in order to have all the perks of flying business class including the comfy seat and tasty warm meal.
DeleteSelling duty free sounds like a waste. They should focus on their buy on board. On my last flight (operated by Bulgaria Air wet lease) they did not accept card payments only cash!!
ReplyDeleteWhat’s the problem with that. There’s no internet in flight, don’t you know?
DeleteYou are asking what is is the problem with paying in cash in the 21st century and only one currency is accepted and they never have change?
DeleteThey generally accept cards. Might be that their machine was not working on that flight. Or they don't have it because it's a wet lease?
DeleteNot sure if it's standard practice or not for Air Serbia, but card payments should absolutely be offered on all flights, especially considering they often attract passengers from Eurozone
Delete@09:16. All credit and debit card facilities on planes are designed to work offline. Don't you know?
DeleteBut how to charge credit card without internet connection??
DeleteIt stores the data and then when the plane lands it offloads the data and the payment gets processed.
DeleteFor s time now their card payments are not working because the machines broke down and they never bothered to fix them.
DeleteIt is a shame to ask for cash payments in the 21st century, I wonder what is the revenue lost due to this policy.
That is pretty stupid of them then.
Delete10:12 That’s not possible with debit cards. If you don’t have enough money on the account, you can not purchase anything. That’s basics
DeleteThe question was about credit cards.
DeleteThey work just like credit cards. No “live” interaction needed until landing.
DeleteCard payments will be back soon. Apparently they've introduced new payment machines, which also have the capability to accept mobile payments such as apple pay and google pay which previously wasn't possible, and are awaiting necessary approvals to do so.
Delete12:16 you don’t know if card is credit or debit, when I want to pay with it
DeleteExactly. It is processed through the same networks. The only difference is the amount of money available and whether you borrow (ie credit cards) or use your own money (ie debit cards). The operator would never know or care.
DeleteWizz Air accepts credit and debit card payments, i thought it was someting every airline does.
DeleteDefinitely don't remember when they had working card readers.
DeleteAlso Duty Free sales will need to end as soon as Serbia enters the EU. So not a long term revenue driver.
DeleteSerbia is not joining the EU.
DeleteWhy not have the same seats in economy on the A330 and A319s?
ReplyDeleteSitting in slimline seats with little padding on a 10 hour flight isn't very comfortable. I really hope they don't get that idea.
DeleteVery few airlines use slimline seats on long haul flights because they are uncomfortable for sitting in for prolonged periods of time.
DeleteI recently flew with the new ATR and wow what a difference compared to their -200s and -500s. Seats are almost the same as on the A319/A320 but it is all much more comfortable than what they had
ReplyDeleteNot only are the cabins better but the plane itself is so much more comfortable. There is more space for carry on baggage. Them finally introducing slimline seats in the ATR gives you more space. And the plane is quieter than the other versions.
DeleteIt is the engines dude. They rotate slower.
DeleteLight weight seats = less comfort
ReplyDeleteLess expenses = cheaper tickets for us.
DeleteThey 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.
ReplyDeleteIt was back in the day when Air Serbia was trying to position itself as the best airline in Europe with a lot of expensive perks and then realized there was no market for that. They also used to have pillows on each seat in economy (regardless of duration). Then people started stealing the pillows en masse and they got rid of it.
Delete^ It was the wrong Etihad strategy from the very beginning that cost them a lot of money and negatively impacted on their reputation and image later on when got rid of all of those extras
DeleteThey also used to offer a choice of two hot meals in economy with printed menus on all flights longer than 1.30 minutes :) This was better than Turkish Airlines.
DeleteAnd in addition to all of that, their prices during the first few years were dirt cheap. No wonder it didn't work out.
Delete"Then people started stealing the pillows en masse"
Delete😂😂 it's true
The Etihad strategy was not wrong, it just was not suited to the domestic Serbian market. It was suitable in attracting transfer passengers who expect such perks.
DeleteIf it wasn't suitable for the market, it was wrong.
DeleteDifferent markets. North Americans and Asians do not want the JU low cost experience.
DeleteLow cost carriers exist in North America and Asia. Air Serbia does not offer low cost, they fly A330 to those continents with lie-flat business seats and IFE and meals for all passengers.
DeleteI am talking about its European product not the product on the 2 A330s. Its all economy seating with a 29 inch pitch. That is a LCC standard product. A bottle of water and a cookie does not make it premium.
DeleteSame with "premium" Lufthansa LOL
DeleteAnon 15:38 Air Serbia narrowbody Airbus fleet has 31-33 inch seat pitch, not 29. Check seatguru and other resources.
DeleteSeat pitch is 29" on A319 and 29-30" on A320. SeatGuru is a crap source (plenty of incorrect and/or outdated information across all airlines), use Aerolopa instead.
DeleteChecked three airlines I flew recently with, and Aerolopa was wrong on 2 out of three.
DeleteIt is very simple. If they have 144 seats on the A319 then the legroom is 29”. Same with Wizz on their A320s where they have 180 seats. The A319 has a max seat capacity of 150 seats when the toilets from the back are removed and put where the back galley is.
Delete"and looking into potentially retrofitting our cabins in the near future with more ergonomic and lighter-weight seats" and then you get GetJet-Wizz Air seats
ReplyDeleteI guess you have not seen the Spirit Airlines metal chair seats!
DeleteEven Spirit has big front seats 😃 interestingly LCCs in US are currently doing it tough because there is momentarily huge demand for premium travel from US consumers.
DeleteNot sure what Spirt has to do with Air Serbia and their wet partner
DeletePeople were complaining of bad seating with JU. Spirit is worse because their seats are made of metal and don’t recline. See https://milestomemories.com/spirit-airlines-exposed-metal-slimline-seats/
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. Flew recently Hainan BEG-PEK-BEG but also flew JU BEG-TSN-BEG. It's like comparing night and day. Hainan was miles ahead.
ReplyDelete+100
DeleteExplains why they have dropped it to 1 weekly from 2 weekly.
DeleteIFE on A330s definitely needs improvement. More content - movies, TV shows, music
ReplyDeleteToo much talk about FF program, for couple of years now. This sounds like multipartner loyalty program, and it's always complex and complicated in the long run. Anyone remembers any program of that kind that was successful in Serbia? Superkartica started big but it went south at some point. You need dozen of people working on it, Superkartica is enterprise for itself.. JU shouldn't do it, they have their own business to take care of.
ReplyDeleteFFPs are often the most profitable part of an airline's business. In the US airlines make more money from FFPs and credit cards than they do from flying.
DeleteFor the market of that size and value it makes sense as good tool in the battle with competition. The thing is we're not the US.
DeleteGood move JU.
ReplyDeleteWhat about E195s? July is almost here
ReplyDeleteFirst one enters the fleet on 15 July.
DeleteAre JU pilots trained on it yet? Or will they hire the Marathon pilots?
DeleteJU pilots have been trained. Crew too.
DeleteJU becomes more and more a regional player but not just ex YU region but wider region including Turkey, Greece, Albania, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. There is quite some good competition such as AZ OS TK A3. It should therefore upgrade its product to a Boutique Carrier level, adjust the schedule to connect flights from these markets to EUR and Longhaul. Introduce menus and wines from these countries, so not just ex YU people feel home on board JU, but also people from those countries. For example they could launch an Italian month for meals and wines, or a Greek, an Austrian etc
ReplyDeleteAlso the inflight magazine should focus more on the region and not just Serbia.
They tried doing what you suggest at the very beginning. It was a disaster.
DeleteJU needs to be nimble and compete on its main strength, which is its lower cost base vs. most other European airlines. Be good enough (but not more) and offer the lowest price for the transfer market. That's it.
This should be mainly done in Business Class and still hve affordable prices in C and Y. With the salary level, they hve an advantage over OS, AZ to be skuper competitive
DeleteNo, JU (and Serbian economy) has to move from lower cost base as competitive advantage to the value creation. That's the only way to the notable better living standard which we need.
DeleteYes because there will always be someone cheaper.
DeleteIt is Air Serbia, not Balkan.
ReplyDeleteHave they started offering pork again? I hated how EY forbade them from offering pork on all their planes. No ham sandwiches just chicken or turkey, no smoked pork. It was smoked beef.
ReplyDeleteOf course they offer pork sandwiches.
DeleteThat’s good because they were a halal airline before that.
DeleteThey weren't a halal airline before. Airlines prefer making things more simple by tailoring their meals to a larger audience rather than unnecessarily increasing demand for special meals. A number of routes have a customer base that don't eat pork.
DeleteMost European airlines serve pork except for Turkish. Therefore, not sure why JU would have stopped in 2013 except for Etihad’s influence but then restarted after they sold their stock. None of the ME3 serve pork.
DeleteWhat a surprise that muslim airlines don't serve pork.
DeleteJU had and has a decent amount of transfer passengers who a likely to be muslim or jewish compared to other EU carriers. Again, it's simplifying things to not overcomplicate catering and increasing expenses. That same catering, menu cards etc were interchangeable with Abu Dhabi and Frankfurt, London and Tel Aviv. Making 100 meals and 5.000 meals isn't the same cost.
Just like all airlines. Where there is a larger demand for a certain special meal, airlines tend to make it part of the menu option. For example, India have alot of vegetarians so airlines operating to India will have the AVML as part of the menu. EK were offering an AVML option as a regular meal option on their flights to the US due to pax demand for the SPML. Again, it's simplifying operations. JU's catering to China is also different than that to the US due to the passenger structure on the route.
DeleteAS flight from jfk to beg today offered beef, chicken, or a pasta (vegetarian) option. No pork, but I can see it being an option if other choices available...but most airline food blows anyway
DeleteLet me just say that Air Serbia’s Sky AU Pair service is completely useless. On my last ORD-BEG flight the Sky AU Pair with the red apron did absolutely nothing when it came to the loads of little kids onboard along with the UM in the seat in front of me.
ReplyDeleteLanded at Beg yesterday from nyc...used bathroom in long hallway on way to passport control and the bathrooms don't flush in mens and women's...what's going on here....
ReplyDeleteHow is that related to "Air Serbia earmarks fleet and product as upcoming investments"?
Deletenot all related to airline..just frustrated and hope someone reads this comment as the staff of airport didn't seem to care
DeleteYou can write them a complaint https://beg.aero/lat/radovi/formular_za_prigovore
DeleteThey (surprisingly) respond promptly. When I complained they even responded over the weekend.
I didn't know...thanks for sharing! I will send my comments to then!
DeleteWhat's going on here is someone who checks if they flush in BOTH mens and womens. In my opinion, there was nothing else negative to say about this Air Serbia article so it's another attempt to recycle unverifiable claim about BEG bathrooms. Thats my opinion.
Deletewife and I both changed clothes after long flight and used bathroom. surprised to see they are not flushing in mens. I waited for my wife to come out and she was like did your toilets flush?mine didn't. Sink worked fine..had plenty of water to wash hands, just toilet would'nt flush. submitted complaint to Beg airport
DeleteAnd what about the missing miles? We had two one way flights CDG BEG on April 4 and the miles are still missing after 6! email requests. We even called JU and they literally said that they can’t do anything about it- that we need to keep on sending the emails to airserbiaclaims@etihadguest.com.
ReplyDeleteYou can easily get around that by sending an email to Etihad instead.
DeleteEtihad Guest is run by Etihad not JU. Perhaps EY does not care anymore.
DeleteWe did! We wrote to Etihad guest as well. No miles. And by the way Air Serbia call centre employee told us that we should write to Air Serbia regarding the missing miles as « it is much faster than Etihad ». Miles=money so this unprofessional behaviour is simply a robbery.
Delete