Air Serbia improves guest experience with upgraded sales, check-in and boarding system

Air Serbia, the national airline of the Republic of Serbia, has successfully moved to the Sabre sales, check-in and boarding system this weekend, enabling the airline to introduce a wealth of new travel options.

The first flight operated under the new system was JU174, which departed Belgrade for Podgorica at 8.15 pm on Saturday 22 April and was smoothly handled at Nikola Tesla Airport.

The new system has substantially improved the Air Serbia guest experience with the addition of new services that allow guests to personalize their journey while booking their ticket or later, through airserbia.com. They include:

• Preferred seat selection: Guests can now reserve their preferred seat before their flight. The economy class cabins of all Air Serbia aircraft have been organised into three zones: seats with extra legroom, seats in the priority zone, which offer more privacy and allow guests to be one of the first passengers to disembark, and standard seats, including seats by the aisle or window. The zones are clearly marked with specific headrest covers.

• Additional baggage: With the Sabre upgrade, guests can now purchase additional luggage before their flight through airserbia.com. This includes extra standard pieces of luggage (with dimensions up to 158cm and weighing up to 23kg), XL piece of baggage (with dimensions up to 203cm and weighing up to 32 kg), and other baggage.

• Mobile boarding passes: The online check-in experience has been enhanced with the introduction of mobile boarding passes which can be sent to a designated email address. This means guests can use their smartphone or tablet to show their electronic boarding pass when going through airport security or to the departure gate, without the need for a print-out, making the airport experience faster and more convenient.

• Premium Lounge passes: Guests can relax in style when departing or transiting through Belgrade by purchasing a pass to the Air Serbia Premium Lounge, which offers restaurant-quality à la carte dining and buffet meal options, comfortable seating, luxurious showers, fast Wi-Fi and more. There are single-entry passes for a stay of three or six hours, starting from €40, or an annual membership which gives unlimited and guaranteed access for a period of 12 months.

Dane Kondić, Chief Executive Officer of Air Serbia, said: “The upgrade to Sabre was a tremendously complex operation which took more than a year to plan and involved hundreds of staff who worked to install, configure and test the new software this weekend.

“Our team was ably assisted by experts from Etihad Airways and Sabre, who worked round-the-clock to make sure the software, was implemented on time and with minimum disruption to our guests.

“Moving to Sabre has equipped Air Serbia with a cutting-edge platform that will allow us to better meet the needs of modern air travellers, who are increasingly looking for ways to tailor their journeys according to their requirements.

“Air Serbia now offers guests a range of new digital services, including the ability to use mobile boarding passes after checking in online, choose their preferred seat and buy a Premium Lounge pass, increasing choice and convenience.

“Next month we will celebrate the 90th anniversary since the national airline of Serbia was established, back in 1927, and as this project demonstrates, we are committed to securing our long-term future.”

In addition to these travel options, guests can also take advantage of Elevate Play, a free service for streaming films, TV shows and music onboard flights operated by Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft. To use the service, guests have to download the Elevate Play app for their Android or Apple mobile devices.