On January 27th, I flew with Air Serbia from Larnaca International Airport to Milano Malpensa Airport. I chose this option because it was the cheapest for the dates specified and because I wanted to experience Air Serbia a few years after my last flight.
I paid 106 euros for the whole trip including checked luggage, but the second cheapest option was 150 euros on the Aegean via Athens with just a carry-on. My trip involved taking flight JU887 from Larnaca International Airport to Belgrade at 4:10 local time, arriving at 5:50 local time, operated by Air Serbia’s A319-100 AP. The second flight, JU540, will depart from Belgrade to Milan Malpensa Airport at 07:00 local time and arrive at 08:45, operated by Marathon Airlines and an Embraer E175.
Interestingly, there are 10 weekly flights between Larnaca and Belgrade, of which 8 are operated by Air Serbia and 2 by Wizz Air, making Belgrade the second most popular flight from Larnaca to Europe in winter, after Athens (79 flights per week). It is the fourth most frequently served city. Thessaloniki, Greece (17/18 flights per week), and London, UK (all airports: 20-25 flights per week).
My journey started in Nicosia where I caught the shuttle bus to Larnaca International Airport at 00:30 and arrived at the airport at 01:20. At that time, only Costa Coffee Bar was open in the parking lot in front of the airport. I checked the departure board and was surprised to see that there were about 30 flights scheduled to depart that day and Air Serbia flight JU887 was the first flight of the day at 4:10.
Check-in desks open a little over two hours before departure, and Air Serbia has three desks: one for economy class check-in, one for business class, and one for baggage drop for those who have completed their check-in process online. Ta. While I was waiting in line to leave my luggage for Milan, I heard a lot of Russian and Cypriot voices. Although Air Serbia has improved their mobile app, I have to admit that it’s not all that easy to use when it comes to check-in, and when I finally managed to check-in, there was no option to save my boarding pass within the app. not.
After checking in, it took about 3 minutes to pass through immigration, and about 5 minutes in total to go through security. There was a large duty free shop right after security, which was surprisingly open and selling cheap water for 1.90 euros and typical Cypriot sweets for 3.50 euros. But that wasn’t all. After the duty free shop, there were three stores open in the freshly baked food corner. There was also a tobacco shop. Belgrade Airport does not have these facilities. Bars and restaurants are open and there is plenty of choice.
Our plane departed from Gate 44, which is located on the air bridge. The plane arrived late at 03:50, so we departed 20 minutes late. Overall, we liked Larnaca Airport, it was nice and spacious with lots of seating areas and good food options.
Larnaca to Belgrade
The reason for the delay was not disclosed, but once the boarding process was completed, the captain greeted the passengers and provided information about the flight. Since I was the last to board, I found that his 7 of his 12 seats in business class were filled. Overall, there were few empty seats, and I think the occupancy rate was around 90%. The temperature at my seat was 14 degrees Celsius. There was plenty of leg room, but the seat didn’t fit and the recline didn’t work. Another negative point for me was the cheap material used for the headrest. However, the plane was clean.
A recorded announcement was played during the safety demonstration. The flight attendants were friendly and always smiling. As soon as we reached cruising position, we were served a complimentary meal consisting of a chicken sandwich and a small bottle of water. This surprised me as I wasn’t expecting it, but the sandwich wasn’t bad. A few months ago, I flew with Iberia from Madrid to Munich, the flight time was just over 3 hours, and I wasn’t even offered a glass of water.
I arrived in Belgrade 20 minutes late, but a Cypriot passenger who seemed to be a frequent flyer of Air Serbia told a friend that he wanted to connect to Amsterdam because flights are always 20 minutes late. I heard you talking.
We disembarked through the sky bridge. There was a man at the exit directing connecting passengers where to go, but surprisingly he didn’t ask people to show their boarding passes for the next flight. We hope that this situation changes and that the incident from a few weeks ago, when transferring and arriving passengers were mixed up, does not happen again.
Belgrade to Milan
The gate for the next flight was C10. On the way, I stopped at the transfer desk and asked if my bag would be automatically moved to the next flight. And they assured me that they would. But as we’ll see later, that didn’t happen.
The flight to Milan was delayed by about 20 minutes, so there was nearly an hour between the two flights. Before boarding, about 20 non-EU and non-Serbian passport holders were called for a document check.
The flight attendant welcomed us with a smile, and the captain also greeted us once boarding was complete. I was seated in seat 21A, and there was plenty of leg room. The plane was full, with about 95% occupancy, and a variety of languages were being spoken, including Italian, Russian, Chinese, and Greek (he was also on the previous flight). I heard it. Instructions played. After reaching cruising altitude, the flight attendant offered us a small bottle of water and a Neobritse cookie. It was a nice touch on a 1.5 hour flight.
We arrived at one of my favorite airports 20 minutes late. The airport was very easy to navigate and had great views of the Alps during takeoff and landing. But what seemed like a good experience turned into a bit of a pain.
After passing through passport control, we waited for about 20-25 minutes (not that long for Malpensa Airport), which was an unpleasant experience. My bag did not appear in the carousel. After waiting 20 minutes, my luggage still didn’t show up, and since there was no one else waiting and I was one of the last bags on my flight to go through passport control, I went to lost and found.
There, there were 9 other passengers in line in addition to the passengers on the plane I was on. Eight were Russian and one Italian. I mean, I stood in line for an hour and a half to fill out a complaint form. The office staff told me that this often happens with Air Serbia with connecting flights through Belgrade. I received the package 4 days later.
I really hope Air Serbia improves this aspect of the trip as everything else went smoothly without any issues. In my opinion the luggage experience could have been avoided. I would understand if this were to happen in a scenario where there were only 20 minutes between flights, but when there was an hour between flights this seems a bit unprofessional. Considering that he has at least one flight a day from Belgrade to Malpensa, waiting for his luggage for 4 full days seems too long. I would also like to add that Air Serbia’s Facebook page was helpful and answered my questions quickly.
In conclusion, I am happy that Air Serbia is developing for Cypriots to transfer to Western Europe and that the flight attendants are always smiling and friendly, but it has a long way to go to become a bigger company and they I sincerely hope that it will grow further. Succeed.
