The new wide-body Airbus A330-200 aircraft in Air Serbia’s fleet, registered as YU-ARC, arrived at the Belgrade Airport. Air Serbia’s second long-haul aircraft bears the image of Mihajlo Pupin (1854-1935), with which the national airline wants to honour the famous scientist of Serbian descent, inventor, professor of physics at Columbia University in New York, one of the founders of NASA and winner of a Pulitzer Prize for an autobiography. After necessary technical and administrative steps, the Airbus A330 with the image of Pupin will start operating long-haul flights.
“Enhancing our fleet is one of the strategically most important goals in our company’s development plan. In order to develop our network further, it is necessary to have an adequate fleet and the necessary capacity. We are eagerly awaiting the moment when our new Airbus A330 will take flight. Having in mind the current needs of our network, it is very important for the new aircraft to start regular flights as soon as possible, and that is why it will be flying with the existing cabin and seat layout. Our plan is for Pupin to get a cabin which will be similar to the one in current A330-200 “Tesla” in terms of quality. This will be done during the regular 12-year airplane maintenance at the start of next year. We continue to renew our fleet in order to offer even more network flexibility and comfort for our passengers,” said Jiri Marek, CEO of Air Serbia.
The new Air Serbia aircraft got its unique livery in Marana, Arizona, United States. The painting process, during which 20 different colours and 400 litres of paint were used, took 18 days of constant work in two shifts, with teams of approximately 10 people per shift. The latest addition to the national airline’s fleet will have an 18-seat configuration in business class, and 250 seats in economy class. The plane was manufactured in 2011, it has Rolls-Royce engines, and an engine thrust of 71100 N, wingspan of 60 m, and close to 59m in length. It can fly at a maximum altitude of 41,450 feet. Before arriving to Air Serbia, it was used by South African airline South Africans Airways (SAA).
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