Trip Report
Recently I flew with Air Serbia between Belgrade and Athens. On the day I was flying there were 4 flights to Athens - one by Aegean and three by Air Serbia. The flight I was on was operated by a wet-leased airBaltic A220-300 aircraft. Around a week before the flight, I was offered to bid for an upgrade or purchase one outright for 150 euros. Although it is a short flight, I decided to purchase the upgrade. This gave me the chance to check-in at the dedicated area at the airport and use the fast track lane through passport control and security.
Recently I flew with Air Serbia between Belgrade and Athens. On the day I was flying there were 4 flights to Athens - one by Aegean and three by Air Serbia. The flight I was on was operated by a wet-leased airBaltic A220-300 aircraft. Around a week before the flight, I was offered to bid for an upgrade or purchase one outright for 150 euros. Although it is a short flight, I decided to purchase the upgrade. This gave me the chance to check-in at the dedicated area at the airport and use the fast track lane through passport control and security.
I also checked out the lounge, which was decent, with good meal and drink options.
We boarded our flight on time, but the pilot informed us that because of air traffic control congestion, we would have to wait between 20-30 minutes. This is common on this route in summer.
The new A220-300 looked great with a 2-3 configuration. I also liked the overhead screens which were displaying messages in English and Serbian. One member of the cabin crew was Serbian while the rest, including the purser, were Latvian.
For a long time, I thought it would be just me and another passenger in the front row on the opposite side in the cabin but then another 6 passengers boarder, who were all part of the same group, so the cabin filled up almost completely. These were transfer passengers and I could not make out whether they came from Sarajevo or Banja Luka but they were definitely from Bosnia and Herzegovina (and very loud too :D). They all seemed to be friends.
The service on board followed the same flow as on Air Serbia. The purser was the only crew member working in business. He handed out menus to each passenger before take off and took our meal and drink orders. There were three options on the menu, and I opted for the spring rolls. Most of the passengers that came together as a group decided not to eat so I didn’t see what the other options looked like.
Most of the passenger announcements were automated and made in English and Serbian, although the Serbian speaking crew member did come over the PA a couple of times I liked the overhead screens on the A220, which displayed the flight information on this flight.
Most notably, the A220 had Starlink internet, which was quick, free and worked perfectly throughout the flight. I wish Air Serbia would consider this for its own fleet too.
Shortly after take off the meal was served, which tasted better than it looked. For a short flight it was more than fine. The purser also came out with a breadbasket which had several different types of bread. He also passed through the cabin multiple times to replenish drinks.
We landed in Athens with a bit of a delay and thankfully pulled up in front of the gate just minutes before an Emirates B777 from New York. As we were off the plane quickly, this allowed the first passengers off to beat what would be a massive queue at passport control. When I arrived, there was no one there, and I passed through quickly but I have recently had several experiences of disembarking just after the Emirates flight from New York and there is usually an endless and slow queue with a surprising number of Orthodox Jewish passengers flying that service.
All in all, it was a good quick flight. Flying on a newer plane makes a noticeable difference. Considering airBaltic is getting rid of a large part of its fleet to stay afloat, I wonder if Air Serbia will be tempted to take some of those aircraft.
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Nice trip report with interesting details. How many Elevate points did you get for this flight and are they all counting towards the next tier?
ReplyDeleteBravo Air Serbia 🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question at the end of trip report, Air Serbia should decide between Embraer and A220 as there is no room for both in the fleet. A220 requires another set of pilots trained for it.
ReplyDeleteI think that LH group will decide the future of airBaltic fleet
DeleteThey already have. SN Brussels is completely removing it while Lufthansa and Swiss will reduce the overall number. Only Austrian Airlines seems to be keeping them as planned.
DeleteNot a good period for BT, that's for sure.
AirBaltic will also not have as many aircraft to lease out as this summer as it is cutting its A220-300 fleet by one-third, reducing the number of aircraft from 54 down to 36 by the end of 2026.
DeleteThe guy in the flower shirt (photo of the Lounge dining area) has to be an American tourist.
ReplyDeleteSomeone should inform airBaltic that they made a mistake. Welcome in Serbian is written добро дошли, it's two words.
ReplyDeleteIt's written together only when it's an adjective.
Overall good trip report. Hopefully JU gets more A220s now that Lufthansa Group is reducing their numbers in the fleet.
Whoever has Instagram has noticed ATH has become a superstar for all the wrong reasons. Now they have a line for the security and passport control line. People are saying that waiting times are as long as 3 hours!
ReplyDeleteReal airport expansion is long overdue.
Yes it has become a terrible experience. The airport is way too small for the amount of traffic it has. The checkin desks are also so close to the entrance that it is impossible to move inside.
DeleteAnd it's a relatively new ajrport...
DeleteNot so new at this point, it's almost 25 years old. They had enough time to expand it.
DeleteLove Air Baltic and their A220-300 ❤️
ReplyDeleteПо правопису српског језика, једино исправно је „Добро дошли (на лет)!". Дакле, искључиво раздвојено.
ReplyDeleteAirBaltic is getting rid of 14 of their aircraft in October...could be a good way of AirSerbia to do a quick switch and take them together with the crew?
ReplyDelete