I flew with Air Serbia last week from Belgrade to Rome. In anticipation of their new frequent flyer program, I decided to use some of my leftover Etihad Guest miles and booked the flight in business class as I likely won't have much use for these points afterwards. I initially wanted to book economy but there were no award seats left.

Around five days before my flight I received an email notification that the flight had been brought forward, from 6.50AM to 6.20AM.

Belgrade taxis have become ridiculously expensive with the morning fare from the very centre of the city to the airport costing 30 euros. I say expensive considering the distance from the airport is not that significant and many major European capitals have cheaper airport cab fares even though the airport is further away, the closest example being Budapest.

It was a busy morning at Belgrade Airport as it was one of those days when Air Serbia has a big morning wave of departures. I used the premium check in facility.

I used the egate machine to pass through passport control and then went over to the business lane for the security check and everything went smoothly and quickly.

The Air Serbia lounge, which opens at 5AM was not busy. There was a big selection of food, both hot and cold and of course the bar.

Boarding started around half an hour before departure and was conducted in zones, starting with business class and status members. The cabin is really showing signs of wear and tear. The seats look warn out and tired.

I was seated in the first row. The crew were lovely comprising of a younger lady and gentleman. Both were very nice. The male cabin crew member was working in the cabin. After taking my seat he handed out the menus and shortly after took the meal and drink order.

If I remember correctly, I heard the ground staff tell the cabin crew there were 127 passengers onboard. Doors were closed and we pushed back right on time.

It was a grey and rainy morning in Belgrade coming off a week of sustained rain. We were parked at the very last C gate and had a longish taxi to the runway, with all aircraft using the inserted runway as a taxiway this morning.

As we took off you can just make out the new part of the terminal under construction.

Shortly after departure the crew served breakfast and came out with a breadbasket too. I chose the pancakes and they were good. Considering this is an hour and a half flight, I think the meal selection and the meal overall were very good. The crew were proactive in asking if we wanted any additional drinks. After the meal service, we were asked again if we wanted any extra drinks and were also given an orasnica (walnut) cookie.

The crew member then also offered us the Plazma cookies which are served in economy.

We landed in Rome half an hour ahead of schedule. We parked at a bus gate. When the doors were opened the Italian ground handler told the crew no buses were available as "they didn't expect us to arrive early". We waited 20 minutes for the bus to arrive. During that time the lady crew member made an announcement over the PA to inform us what was happening and apologised for the delay.

When we finally got to the terminal, we spent another hour in line at passport control. The line was slow moving, not because of the amount of people, but because of the police officers who were doing everything but their jobs. When I got to the passport booth, the lady took my passport but then, without looking or opening my passport, took out her phone, and started telling her colleague (these are booths shared by two officers) about a funny video she saw. She then proceeded to search for the video on her phone, found it, held it up to him and they both watched and then laughed together all the while holding my passport and doing nothing. Only after socialising, did she scan the passport talking with her colleague the entire time. Then, just as she was about to stamp my passport, she got into another round of chatting with her colleague and for the next five minutes just talked to him completely unfazed at the people in line (I am not exaggerating the timing here). Only after finishing her animated conversation did she stamp my passport. I really wanted to say something to her but thought it was wiser not to. I had a very similar experience in Milan a few months ago. A slow moving line as police at passport control were chatting, drinking coffee and doing everything but their jobs.

Either way it did not seem to matter much as by the time I got to the baggage carousel, it seemed as if the bags had only just started to come out. This was all well over an hour and a half after the plane had landed.

Overall, Air Serbia cabins need a refresh, it would give a much nicer impression. I'm sorry I didn't catch the names of the two crew members as they were very nice and deserve to be commended and the catering was good too. To be honest, while I know people generally don't care about food, I feel this is what makes Air Serbia stand out on these shorter flights in business class compared to the competition and I hope they don't remove or downsize it in some future cost cutting measure. The flight was ahead of schedule so I can't complain. Rome Airport is a different story.