TRIP REPORT: Air Serbia, Belgrade - Tianjin

TRIP REPORT

I began my journey from Dublin to Belgrade, flying Air France to Paris and then continuing to Belgrade. I made a stopover in Belgrade and spent some time in the city. On December 30, 2022 I headed to the airport for my flight to Tianjin. As we approached the airport around 10AM the road was getting extremely busy and in front of the airport terminal there was a big traffic jam. So, in the end I decided to get out of the car some 100 metres from the terminal as we would have spent probably an hour in order to get to the drop off area.

I headed to the business class check-in desk but then I noticed that Tianjin had a whole row of dedicated check-in desks. After security and passport check I headed to the busy Air Serbia lounge. I found it a nice touch that at the lounge you can buy a limited edition Air Serbia A330-200 model plane with the Nikola Tesla livery (the plane that would be operating to Tianjin that day). It costs 34 euros, and it is a nice memory to have.

Afterwards, I headed to gate C10 where boarding would take place. It was nice to see that right at the gate next to us was Air Serbia’s second A330-200.

Around 55 minutes before departure, boarding for flight JU702 began. Even though there were two air bridges, only one was being used. The flight was full, so it took some time for everyone to board. Upon boarding, a welcome drink was offered by the crew (orange juice, water and champagne), and the crew also introduced themselves. There was a menu, blanket, pillow, headphones and bottle of water at the seat. Around 20 minutes behind schedule, we took off with some great views of downtown Belgrade on the left side of the plane.

After take off, the crew took the meal and drink orders. Passengers were then served their beverage choice and some mixed nuts. Afterwards the meal was serviced. The menu included the following.

I chose the sweet and sour pork with fried rice. The crew set up the table with cloth and then individually put everything on the table, from the entre to the bread, butter, oil, drink and main meal. Afterwards for dessert I had the chocolate cake which was very sweet and tasty. I asked the cabin crew if they had something special from Serbia on the meny so they recommended a brandy for me and it tasted very good.

The in-flight entertainment had several movies and TV shows. Unfortunately, the languages available were only English and Serbian.

After that it was time to sleep, and the cabin crew dimmed the lights. The seat turns into a lie-flat bed, and it is comfortable especially because the footwall is wide, and you don’t have your legs cramped. The pillow is big, and the blanket is comfortable. The seat also has USB and power port so you can charge devices. Unfortunately, there were no amenity kits.

I woke up some hour and a half before landing and I ordered some cookies, fruit and coffee. The cookies were delicious and sweet and were Serbian inspired. I didn’t originally plan to but then I ordered the club sandwich with chicken, cheese and tomato. I find it interesting that with all the meals, Air Serbia also provided chopsticks which isn’t so common on European airlines flying to China.