Belgrade-based Air Serbia
has announced that it has taken delivery of its third widebody aircraft, an Airbus A330-200. Announced via its social media platforms on Sunday, the carrier revealed that its new plane also features a special livery. It sports the “special visual identity of EXPO 2027” which includes a unique paint-scheme across the fuselage and tailfin primarily per the photos released by the company. The aircraft is set to debut on services to Chicago O’Hare International Airport
(ORD) next week.

A new lease on life

The plane, registered YU-ARD, was welcomed at the carrier’s Belgrade hub by Serbia’s Minister of Finance, Siniša Mali as well as the Minister of Economy Adrijana Mesarović and Air Serbia CEO, Jiří Marek It is a used plane on dry-lease. It was previously with Air Belgium according to ch-aviation data.

The Belgian carrier removed it from service in late August 2024, at which point the plane was listed as inactive. It was initially delivered new to Etihad Airways back in 2014 though, making the airframe nearly 11 years old. It operates with a pair of Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines.

Air Serbia says the new plane will allow it to “further strengthen the fleet and the long-haul operations of the Serbian national carrier.” It continues:

“In anticipation of the upcoming Specialized EXPO 2027, to take place in Belgrade from 15 May to 15 August 2027, Air Serbia’s aircraft is a symbol of our contribution to promoting an event of high importance for Serbia and the region.”

The seating configuration of the plane looks as follows for a total of 262 seats.

  • 240 seats in economy
  • 22 seats in business class

In both classes, as is typical in the industry, every seat features in-seat video, in-seat power, and USB ports.

First to Chicago

The aircraft’s inaugural flight is slated for next week according to EX-YU Aviation. The first destination is tentatively scheduled to be Chicago with a regular flight on Saturday October 12. This would be under Air Serbia flight number JU506. The Saturday service runs in the evening following the schedule below.

Route

Departure

Arrival

BEG-ORD

17:20

21:00

ORD-BEG

23:15

15:55

The return flight is on October 13.

air serbia first flight to china

Photo: Air Serbia

The announcement of the new aircraft’s delivery comes as the airline celebrates carrying its 30 millionth passengers since its 2013 rebranding under the name Air Serbia. On October 3, it revealed that the passenger boarded a flight from BEG to Athens (ATH) and was offered a free round-trip ticket to any destination in the carrier’s network.

While the passenger’s destination choice is unknown, four options clearly stand out in terms of value. Air Serbia offers long-haul flights from Belgrade, including to New York (JFK) and ORD in the United States and Shanghai (PVG) and Tianjin (TSN).

An Air Serbia Airbus A330 flying

Photo: Wenjie Zheng | Shutterstock

The decals

Flying at a maximum altitude of 41,450 feet, the new plane features eye-catching colors. Air Serbia says that the livery was created in Lisbon and uses 270 special decals.

With this information in mind. consulting Flightradar24 data under the aircraft’s previous registration (OE-LAC) shows that the plane likely got the colors at the start of September. It flew from storage at Bergem op Zoom (WOE) airport to Lisbon (LIS) on August 30, returning to the Netherlands on September 2. The plane was shipped to Belgrade on October 4. The airline concluded:

“From Chicago and New York in the west to Tianjin and Guangzhou in the east, the aircraft of the national airline will represent Serbia and EXPO 2027 worldwide.”

EXPO 2027 Belgrade

This is the first of two planes that will sport the new livery. It says that it plans to take delivery of yet another Airbus A330 by the end of this year, paving the way for further long-haul growth. It will also feature EXPO 2027 colors.

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