Air Serbia’s first A330 exits fleet

Air Serbia’s first wide-body aircraft since its rebranding in 2013, the Airbus A330-200 registered YU-ARA, has operated its last commercial flight for the airline, landing at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport at 05.00 CEST this morning from New York. The jet, which has been on lease for the past five years, has now been returned to its owner, departing for Abu Dhabi this afternoon. The 254-seat aircraft will be replaced by another A330-200, registered YU-ARB, which arrived in Belgrade over the weekend. The jet will operate its first commercial flight for the airline from the Serbian capital to New York this Thursday. Air Serbia will officially present the jet and its new on board product on Thursday morning. EX-YU Aviation News will bring you coverage of the event from 9.00 CEST.

YU-ARA operated its first commercial flight for Air Serbia from Belgrade to Podgorica on June 10, 2016, followed by Banja Luka and Zagreb. It then commenced operations to New York, performing 819 round trips, carrying a total of 319.712 passengers on the route. The aircraft played a central role in Serbia’s response to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and 2021, carrying tonnes of medical supplies and equipment, over two million Covid-19 vaccines and operating numerous repatriation flights, including the airline’s longest ever nonstop service, from Belgrade to Los Angeles. The aircraft ran over thirty flights to points across China (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Tianjin and Shenzhen), as well as a repatriation service to Washington, cargo only operations to Seoul, Bahrein, Yekaterinburg and Banja Luka, and delivered medical equipment and aid to Rome, Minsk and Yerevan.

Over its five-year run for Air Serbia, the A330-200 has also been used on flights to Moscow and was deployed on a leisure service to Palermo just before the pandemic hit. The jet also jumped in to replace Air Seychelles, when the latter’s service between the island and Paris was disrupted. On its scheduled flights to New York, the aircraft was once forced to land in Toronto due to poor weather conditions in the Big Apple and make a medical emergency in Shannon in Ireland. Over the past five years, the jet has been serviced in Rome, Abu Dhabi and Istanbul.