TRIP REPORT: Air France/Vueling, Belgrade - Barcelona

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Written by Aleksa Španjević

Belgrade - Paris Charles de Gaulle: AF1661, A320, 17.04.2019
Paris - Barcelona: AF1448, A320
Barcelona - Belgrade: VY1286, A320, 23.04.2019


This was my first time flying from Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport so I was really looking forward to it.

We departed from Terminal 1 which is the oldest part of airport. The airport is clean and tidy. There are parts of Terminal 1 that were refurbished and modernised.


Also, there is a playground for kids which is a nice addition and I think it means a lot to parents who have small children. Passport control was fast and soon we headed to gate C4. Our first part of the trip was the Belgrade - Paris leg with Air France. AF started their operations to Belgrade not long before our day of departure. I thought the load factor would be really low but there were 140 - 150 passengers on AF1661. Our flight was operated with an 18-year-old A320.



Some fine views of Air Serbia aircraft

It was a sunny day so we were able to enjoy beautiful views outside.



Service on our flight was really good. Food was packed in cute bags, as seen in the photo. We got a sandwich, one tasty cake, piece of apple and a tomato juice. On top of that, we were served drinks. I would be thankful if someone who reads this tells me the name of this cake. It was phenomenal :)


extensive network of Air France-KLM

Anyway, we started our decent and landing was nice and smooth. We were disembarked at terminal 2E. Our layover was 3 hours so we were in no rush. Charles de Gaulle Airport is really modern, spacious and easy to navigate.

There are a lot of helpful staff at the airport who helped with transfers. It was my first time transferring at an airport so I was a bit nervous about it but I found it was so so easy especially at Charles de Gaulle. Paris Airport is huge and it has some amazing architecture.


My only complaint is the food selection at Terminal 2F. There is a rather poor selection of restaurants and one Starbucks. Wi-Fi is not the best either but ok for an airport. Our boarding was on time and I was looking forward flying with JOON knowing they will shut down soon.

Our airplane was the one on the left

JOON uses the AF code and not its own. It is interesting that Air Serbia codeshares on this flight among other airlines. Service on this flight is nothing special, one sandwich and drink. Safety card and magazine is the same as the one on the Air France flight. We landed in Barcelona a bit ahead of scheduke which was great because we had to take metro L9 before it closed at midnight. For transportation from the airport and for transportation in general, I recommend taking a Hola card that offers unlimited rides on the metro, bus, tram and regional trains. The metro was very convenient for us because our hotel was along the L9 line that connects the airport with the city.

RETURN FLIGHT

The return flight was operated by Vueling and it was a direct flight. We tried to check in online at home but we were unable to do that because it was required "to fill API form at airport". We headed to the airport a few days before our return flight to see what was the problem. We found the Vueling information desk and they did that API that thing for us. After that they told us to come to the airport earlier and check in there. It is really an unnecessary hassle but we had no choice. Fortunately, the check in staff was really quick and we waited only for 2 minutes. After completing all the formalities, we took seats near a glass wall that overlooks the runway and the old Terminal 2 that is used by low cost airlines.


Is there anything better for an aviation geek than watching landings and take-offs while checking Flightradar24? Barcelona is connected with major airports in North America, South America, Asia and not to mention Europe.

Our flight VY 1286 was not on time due to some technical problem. After a 30-minute delay we finally took off.


Our airplane

Vueling has true LCC "service" on its flight. Nothing is really worth mentioning on this flight except beautiful sunset views.



Overall, this trip to Barcelona was phenomenal. Barcelona as a city is magical and I am glad that we are having more and more options to fly to Spain and other cool destinations in Europe.


Share your travel experience by submitting a trip report to exyu@exyuaviation.com


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