Air Serbia will take delivery of a Jet Airways Airbus A330-200 aircraft this May, which is currently operated by Etihad Airways. The carrier’s CEO, Dane Kondić, and the Chairman of the Air Serbia Supervisory Board, SIniša Mali, toured the jet in Abu Dhabi recently (pictured below). The aircraft will have the capacity to seat 256 passengers and will feature eighteen seats in business class, while the remaining 238 will be in economy. “The aircraft will arrive in Belgrade in May with each seat featuring a personal video screen, in-seat telephone and Internet access”, Mr Mali said. He added, “Air Serbia currently has twenty aircraft in its fleet. Following several years of consolidation, Air Serbia, a company which was on the brink of bankruptcy, has become a profitable business. Profits have increased from 2.7 million euros in 2014 to some four million in 2015, with further growth expected this year”. The carrier has not officially released its 2015 financial results.
The A330-200 will enter service in June and will operate five flights per week to New York’s JFK Airport. Etihad Airways’ A330-200s feature 262 seats, with 22 in business class. On the other hand, Jet Airways offers 254 seats on its A330-200s, of which eighteen are in its premier cabin. While Etihad offers a 1-2-1 configuration in business and 2-4-2 in economy class, its Indian counterpart offers a 1-1-1 configuration in its premier cabin and 2-4-2 in economy. Etihad currently operates the A330 in question with Jet Airways’ interior and configuration. The aircraft is eight years old and was delivered new to the Indian carrier in December 2007. “Our A330 will have 256 seats, including eighteen in business class”, Mr Mali confirmed.
Air Serbia’s CEO previously said the airline will “probably have the best product flying transatlantic from Europe”. “We are fortunate that we have a one aircraft operation as opposed to a forty or fifty fleet aircraft operation. Our positioning is very much such that we are a boutique offering in Europe and as a boutique offering we can bespoke what we have and that will give us an enormous competitive advantage. However, people have been pleasantly surprised with our offering today, which by and large is the very best business class offerings in Europe, that is exactly what people can expect with our long haul offering”, Mr Kondić said.
Source; Balkans
