The nonstop flight of almost 237 miles aboard an Avions de Transport Régional ATR 72-500 airplane between Belgrade and Tirana was my first time as a passenger with Air Serbia in the economy class cabin — and this flight was the only one which I have taken at this time that was operated by the airline.
My First Time As a Passenger With Air Serbia — and The Verdict Is…
After being in the Air Serbia Premium Lounge at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport, we headed towards the gate…
…which at the time was undergoing major construction and renovations.
The site resembled a place where young boys would play with their toys in the dirt.
A bus transported all of the passengers from the terminal at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport to the Avions de Transport Régional ATR 72-500 airplane, which was retired in January of 2023 not long after my experience; and it was the last ATR 72-500 airplane to be operated by Air Serbia. A fleet of eight ATR 72-600 airplanes still remain in operation.
Passengers boarded from the rear of the airplane, which is customary on the Avions de Transport Régional ATR 72 series of airplanes. I witnessed one passenger being bumped hard in the aisle by the a stocky female member of the flight crew, who never acknowledged what had happened or apologized.
Air Serbia is the official flag carrier of Serbia and uses Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport as its hub and base for operations of flights to greater than 100 destinations in at least 33 countries with its current fleet of 30 airplanes. The airline was founded on Friday, June 17, 1927. Air Serbia participates in the Etihad Guest membership program.
The seats were quite cushioned and reasonably comfortable with a decent amount of leg room. The advertisement on the cover of the headrest for a probiotic is Bosnian and translates into English as “May your journey be a pleasure! Have a safe journey”.
A closer inspection clearly indicated that this Avions de Transport Régional ATR 72-500 airplane had seen better days.
Each passenger received a bottle of water and a packet of two Noblice Cremoso crunchy sandwich biscuits with a creamy filling.
I enjoyed these cookies. I would not have minded partaking in a couple more of these cookies.
The views along the way were scenic and interesting — such as this view over the Accursed Mountains.
A bus awaited us to take us to the terminal at Tirana International Airport after the airplane safely landed.
Final Boarding Call
I realized that when this article pertaining to the current Air Serbia Worldwide Promotion — with which you can save money on airfares to all destinations that are served by Air Serbia on almost all fares in both the economy class cabin and in the business class cabin for travel from Monday, February 8, 2026 through Thursday, December 31, 2026 — was published yesterday, Wednesday, February 4, 2026, I never wrote about my personal experience with the airline; so here is the article.
The main reason why I booked this flight is because I wanted to rent a vehicle for a road trip around Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Romania, and Croatia — but I could not visit all of those countries with a single rental due to cross border restrictions…
…so I rented a car and visited one set of countries; was a passenger on the flight that was featured in this article; and then continued the road trip with another rental car and visited the rest of the Balkan region of countries.
The flight was not eventful, which is a good thing — but it also was not outstanding, either. Perhaps the experience is significantly different today with longer flights aboard larger airplanes…
All photographs ©2022 by Brian Cohen.
