#45 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings.
39 reviews
Happy New Year everyone and welcome to my first flight report of 2023!
I have always wanted to visit the Austrian Alps and landing at Innsbruck is something that is on my to-do list for a long time. Sadly there won't be a FR on my inbound trip to Innsbruck however I have attatched a few photos of the approach and landing, as well as some additional planespotting pics in the tourism bonus at the bottom - I highly recommend checking it out as the views were absolutely stunning!
Anyways, I was looking for flights back and found that Air Serbia was selling cheap flights from Salzburg to London via Belgrade. This was perfect since it also allowed me to visit Salzburg for a few days and gives me a chance to try out Air Serbia for the first time.
As the name suggests, Air Serbia is the flag carrier of Serbia. They mainly operate a fleet of Airbus A319/A320s around Europe but they do use the ATR 72 on shorter routes with less demand. The airline is currently replacing their aging fleet of ATR 72-200 and -500s with newer -600s.
Finally, as for price, I paid a total of €79 for both flights including seat reservation. I didn't pay for checked luggage as it is an additional €50 and a carry-on bag is included in the price along with an under-seat bag, which is enough for me.
From 2023, I aim to offset all of my CO2 emission from flights. All emissions are calculated using the ICAO Carbon Emissions Calculator and I will be funding projects approved by The Gold Standard. The CO2 output for this trip is:
LGW-INN: 102kg
SZG-BEG-LHR: 183kg
Total: 285kg.
The only public transport option to get from the city to the airport is by bus. A trolleybus line connects the airport to the main railway station. It costs €2.20 and takes under 30 minutes.
View of the airport from the bus stop.
The main drop-off area.
Entrance to security with a fairly large selection of resaurants and shops on the right.
The check-in area.
Check-in wasn't open yet so I decided to have a quick walk around the airport. This is the arrivals area.
We're in a quiet spell between flights (Salzburg doesn't get that much traffic), so this area is largely empty.
The departure board. We are the second to last departure today.
Check-in opened at around 2.5 hours before departure and took almost no time at all - this one of the advantages of flying on a smaller aircraft in a small airport.
Another advantage of flying out of a small airport is that security took no time at all. I was through in literally a minute with no one ahead of me.
The departure area with the airport's only duty-free shop on the left.
View of the gates. The airport has 10 gates in total and they are all bus gates.
Salzburg doesn't have dedicated Schengen/Non-schengen gates and instead, Non-schengen passengers get their passports stamped at the gate during boarding.
There is only one option for food airside and it's this bar. I was kinda disappointed at the lack of options available and if I had known earlier, I would've gotten something from one of the restaurants in the check-in area.
Flight time today will be around 1 hour 25 minutes and here is our route, according to FlightRadar24:
Boarding started on time and because we're flying on an ATR 72, all large bags have to go into the hold. This means that you'd drop them off before getting onboard and pick it back up on your way out.
First look at our plane.
Some info about our ATR 72-600:
Registration: YU-ALZ
Age: ~10 Years
First delivered to Aer Arann (later Stobart Air) in May 2013, the aircraft flew for Aer Lingus Regional until Stobart Air's demise in 2021. She was then delivered to Air Serbia just over a month ago in late November 2022.
Boarding from the rear with an amazing view of the tail.
View of the seats - these are brand new installed right before delivery.
The legroom - not bad considering we're on a turboprop.
However, there is this annoying bar right under the seat infront, which reduces the amount of space for your feet by quite a bit.
The seat back pocket and tray table.
When I first bought the tickets, the aircraft was displayed as an A319, this was changed following an update to the winter schedule. I couldn't be bothered changing the seats and I'm so glad I didn't because of this amazing engine view - although this is a night flight so we won't be seeing much.
Taxiing out around 20 minutes late due to a minor technical issue.
View of the airport apron.
Takeoff from runway 33! Bye bye Austria!
A right turn immediately after brings us to the North of the city, giving us a lovely view of Salzburg at night.
Last photo before we climb into the clouds and into complete darkness.
There really isn't much to see outside…
… so instead we'll shift our focus inside and have a look at the contents of the seatback pocket.
The safety card:
A plastic sleeve which includes Air Serbia's inflight magazine
An article in the magazine about the very same aircraft we're on.
Air Serbia's route map and fleet:
The airline recently received their 2nd A330 bearing another special livery. I saw one of them in Belgrade and can honestly say it's one of my favourite liveries out there.
An air sickness bag
A menu. While the airline does offer complimentary snacks, you can also buy drinks and food onboard as well.
A decent range of options available. Personally, I found the prices to be very reasonable.
Finally, there's another magazine on Serbian food/culture as well.
As I mentioned, the airline does give out complimentary water and a small snack, which was 2 Oreo-style biscuits. All in all, not bad considering the short flight time.
Finally some light outside as we descend through the clouds.
If you're wondering why these two photos look so different from the rest, I was experimenting with camera settings on my new phone. Sadly, while it's much brighter, the scenery is all blurred.
On final approach for runway 12.
Welcome to Serbia! We landed on time.
Taxiing to the gate.
Parked next to another Air Serbia ATR 72-600.
Walking to passport control. The airport is actually fairly busy this late - mainly because a lot of Air Serbia's flights are timetabled to arrive at similar times.
Sadly it seems that the airport isn't designed to cope with this many passengers as there was a very long queue for passport control - it took around 30 minutes to get through.
The arrivals area.
It appears that the airport is undergoing some major renovation works as a large part of the terminal is closed off. This means having to walk outside to the car park/departures area.
I will now sleep here overnight before my flight to London tomorrow, feel free to check out that FR here.
Thanks for reading! Be sure to check out the bonus below! ;)
A really nice flight with Air Serbia. Cabin is very nice with comfortable seats and decent legroom. Complimentary water and small snack is enough for a shorter flight like this one and they also offer a good BOB menu with good prices. All in all, a very solid product.
Salzburg Airport - Very efficient as there weren't many flights, however I can imagine the airport being very packed during rush hour in the winter peak. It is very convenient if you want to get to the Austrian Alps and serves as an alternative to Innsbruck.
Belgrade Airport - Very modern airport however it can get very busy with the way Air Serbia schedules its flights to arrive at similar times. The airport isn't the easiest to navigate due to all the renovations but it's honestly not too bad. Hopefully efficiency should improve after renovations have finished.
3 Comments
I think a visit to the Austrian Alps is on many people's bucket list. Also on mine! I am sure the first thing I'll do when I get there is run with open arms while singing "The trees are aliiiive...." lol
Amazing!
Prices in Europe seem to be cheaper than in Chile!! No wonder we say that we have first-world prices, but third-word salaries here!
They took the time to decorate the ceiling! So beautiful!
Air Serbia's logo is very elegant.
I've seen those ugly seatback only once before - on a Viva Air cabin in Peru. They look so "industrial".
All airlines should learn from this!
What a beautiful tourism bonus, Lia! Thank you very much.
And thank you for such a detailed, entertaining report. It was as if I had been there!
Happy nova godina, and happy nova putovanja! (I think I learned some Serbian from your report!!)
Yes! I think it's a must-do for anyone coming to Europe. I probably spent at least an hour just standing and taking it all in on my first day. Hope you get to visit someday.
One of the best things about Europe is its cheap and convenient public transport. You really can get anywhere by bus/train.
I completely didn't notice the ceiling! What a great flight-reporter I am... right? But now that you've mentioned it, it's a lovely addition.
It is! It's one of those liveries I never paid any attention to before, but after looking at it more closely, I really like the design.
Thanks again for stopping by and for the lovely comment!
Thanks for sharing!
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