TRIP REPORT: Air Serbia, Belgrade - Chicago
TRIP REPORT
I had the opportunity to fly on Air Serbia’s inaugural flight between Belgrade and Chicago this Wednesday. I had not flown long haul with Air Serbia since 2018, although I did have the chance to fly on their A330-200s on short-haul flights, once to Barcelona and once to Zurich. I booked my ticket to Chicago in March, and, at the time, business class was showing as sold out (in both directions). This was the case until Tuesday evening, the night before the flight, when one seat opened up.
Flight JU506 on Wednesday has a scheduled departure time of 06:50 AM so I arrived at the airport at around 4:30 and headed to the Air Serbia ticketing desk, where I inquired if it would be possible to pay the fare difference to upgrade to business class (since the one available seat was still open that morning). The lady working at the ticketing desk was extremely kind, she checked, called someone to see if it is possible and it was. It took just a few minutes and I headed to check-in which was done at Terminal 1. The entire row of check-in desks was dedicated to the Chicago flight. Air Serbia has slightly tweaked the design of its boarding passes. It is no longer albino white as they have added some colour.
Since it was morning time and just before Air Serbia’s wave of departures, passport control was busy, but with business class you can use the fast track lane, which is now functioning in its full capacity unlike before, as you get both a dedicated lane for passport control and centralised security check, so it took less than a few minutes.
I headed to the gate. The launch ceremony was taking place at gate C12/13 while the flight boarded at C11. Two boarding bridges were used, with one dedicated to business class and the other for economy passengers.
We were greeted by the smiling crew. I managed to get seat 6G, which on the YU-ARB A330-200 is a middle aisle seat. Considering there was just one seat available, I didn’t really have much to choose from. At each seat there was a bottle of water, headphones, blanket, pillow, menu and new amenity kits. The amenity kits, which have not been available for some time, contain an eye mask, socks, dental kit, hand cream and lip balm. I like their design and the contents is good too.
The menu wasn’t really extensive and nowhere near to what it used to be a few years ago. I would consider three meal choices to be the norm in business class on a 10 hour flight, while only two were offered. Just for reference, short haul business class on Air Serbia has three meal choices. Also, I noticed there was no more dine-anytime options. The menu clearly states the second meal is served prior to landing and there are no more snacks which used to be available in the past. Even more disappointing that for the second meal you get no choice at all – there is just one on offer. To me, it seems this is more to do with the catering provider, since the menu on the return flight (which is listed) is significantly more extensive with three meal choices and a selection for the second meal too. So, it is obvious that catering in Chicago is at a much higher level than the one in Belgrade and this seems to be an issue with all airlines taking on catering in Belgrade.
The meal and beverage choices were taken prior to departure. Also, before take off we were served a welcome drink – one could choose between water, juices and champagne.
We had a short taxi to the runway and were on our way to Chicago. Shortly after, the crew came by with drinks and a bowl of mixed cashews and almonds.
Considering I woke up at 3.30 and had little sleep, I fell asleep quickly after the meal. The seat itself is comfortable and lie-flat. All the seat controls were responsive, there is a massage feature too, USB and power plug. There is also quite a lot of storage space on the side for shoes, chargers etc. Upon request, you can also get Air Serbia PJ’s and slippers. I have read that this wasn’t available for some time so it is nice to see it is back.
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| Blanket |
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| PJs |
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| Seat when fully flat |
I had a good 6 hours of quality sleep and I really have to say that the seat was comfortable since I didn’t wake up once or feel tired afterwards. In terms of the entertainment system, it isn’t extensive but there are Hollywood movies, Serbian movies, as well as TV shows by genre. I didn’t watch anything but the touch screen was really responsive. You can also control the TV through the remote. There is no Wi-Fi on board.
Around 2 hours prior to landing, the crew asked passengers if they would like the second meal. As I said there is no selection, and the meal wasn’t very tasty and the presentation also left a lot to be desired.
The loo was clean with some basic amenities.
We started our descent around 40 minutes prior to arrival and the crew started to prepare the cabin for landing.
We touched down at O’Hare Airport ahead of schedule and the passengers applauded and rightly so considering the occasion. We didn’t taxi for too long and as we turned to park at the gate, we were greeted by a water cannon salute.
Overall, the flight was good. I don’t remember ever sleeping for so long on a flight, so it says a lot about the seat and its comfort. I like the new amenity kits, the quality blanket and the return of PJs. The big downside is the catering, which, ironically used to be one of Air Serbia’s strong points. But then again, this doesn’t seem so much of an airline issue as a provider issue and unfortunately there is a single catering provider in Belgrade. Hopefully this will be sorted in the future.
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