Air Serbia

If you see a white Airbus with a red-and-blue double-headed eagle on the tail in Frankfurt, Munich or Vienna, you have Air Serbia in front of your lens. The airline from Belgrade is one of Europe’s most exciting smaller network airlines: it carries on a tradition almost a hundred years old, is currently rotating its short-haul fleet and mixes Airbus, ATR and Embraer in one network. Here you learn how to attribute Air Serbia, which types you can expect and what is behind the YU registration.

Air Serbia at a glance

Air Serbia is Serbia’s national airline, headquartered in Belgrade. Its only real hub is Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport, from which it serves destinations across Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East and North America. Smaller programs also start in Niš in the south of the country and at Morava Airport near Kraljevo.

The business model is that of a classic network airline: passengers from the Western Balkans connect in Belgrade, travelers from Western Europe use Belgrade as a gateway to Southeast Europe. Add to that direct connections to the diaspora – in Germany, Austria and Switzerland many people with roots in Serbia live, which makes the routes to the German-speaking region important.

Air Serbia does not belong to an alliance. Instead of Star Alliance, oneworld or SkyTeam, the airline relies on individual codeshare agreements, including with Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways, Etihad, Aegean, Finnair, ITA Airways, TAROM and airBaltic.

Codes and callsign

• IATA code JU: appears in the flight number, on the departure board and on the ticket. Air Serbia took the code over from JAT – a detail that shows the continuity with the old state airline.
• ICAO code ASL: appears in the air traffic control flight plan and on flight trackers.
• Callsign AIR SERBIA: this is how the crew identifies itself on the radio.

At Air Serbia, a look at the ICAO code is especially worthwhile in summer. In recent years the airline has repeatedly chartered aircraft with crew from other companies (wet lease) to absorb peaks – for 2025, for example, the lease of four Airbus jets was reported. If a JU flight is on the schedule but the tracker shows a foreign ICAO code, it is very likely a leased aircraft flying.

From Aeroput via JAT to Air Serbia

The history of Air Serbia begins long before the current name. In 1927 Aeroput was founded in Belgrade, the first airline of the kingdom at the time and later its flag carrier. After World War II it became the Yugoslav state airline JAT – Jugoslovenski Aerotransport, about which you can learn more on the page for JAT Yugoslav Airlines.

In the following decades JAT grew into one of Southeast Europe’s better-known airlines, at first with propeller aircraft, from the 1960s and 1970s with jets. In its best years JAT carried more than five million passengers annually. The 1990s brought the deep cut: with the breakup of Yugoslavia and the United Nations sanctions, international traffic was stopped or severely restricted. Only in 1994 and then again from 2000 did international traffic return.

JAT became Jat Airways, and after Montenegro’s independence in 2006 the airline was Serbia’s flag carrier. Montenegro had long had a company of its own in Montenegro Airlines, which has since also become history.

The restart with Etihad

2013 brought the big upheaval. In August the Serbian government and Etihad Airways agreed on a strategic partnership: Etihad took 49 percent and, for five years, the management rights, while the state kept 51 percent. In October 2013 Jat Airways became Air Serbia, and on October 26, 2013 the airline began operations under its new name – with a new livery, a new product and the Etihad frequent flyer program. Air Serbia was part of Etihad’s equity strategy, which at the time also included Air Berlin and Darwin Airline / Etihad Regional. You can read more on the background in the article on the business model of the Gulf airlines.

Unlike at Air Berlin, the stake in Air Serbia survived. From 2020, however, the Serbian state bought back the shares step by step: in December 2020 it rose to 82 percent, in 2022 to just under 84 percent, and since November 2023 Air Serbia has again been fully owned by the Republic of Serbia.

Year	Event
1927	Founding of Aeroput in Belgrade
after 1945	Conversion into the Yugoslav state airline JAT
1990s	Sanctions, international traffic temporarily stopped
2006	After Montenegro’s independence, flag carrier of Serbia (Jat Airways)
2013	Etihad enters with 49 percent, renamed Air Serbia
2016	First nonstop flight Belgrade–New York with the A330-200
2023	Chicago is added; state takes over all shares

The fleet: Airbus, ATR and Embraer

Air Serbia does not operate a uniform fleet but a mix for very different routes. In total there are about 30 aircraft (as of 2025/2026), and the numbers fluctuate through new arrivals, retirements and leased aircraft. The overview shows the types and their roles:

Type	Role	Seats (approx.)	Spotter note
Airbus A319-100	Europe routes	144	Oldest part of the short-haul fleet, being retired step by step
Airbus A320-200	Europe and leisure routes	180	Numbers growing, some with Sharklets
Airbus A330-200	Long-haul North America	about 260	Small fleet of four examples, e.g. YU-ARD and YU-ARE
ATR 72-600	Short-haul, Western Balkans	70–72	Largest sub-fleet of the fleet
Embraer 195	Europe routes, replacement for the A319	118	Newest type in the fleet, numbers growing

The Airbus A319 was long the backbone on Europe routes. Air Serbia is replacing it step by step with additional Embraer 195s and Airbus A320s. The E195 fleet has been growing since 2025; more examples joined at the end of 2025 and in early 2026. For spotters that means: the A319 in Air Serbia colors is becoming rarer, the E195 more common. The manufacturers of the jets are Airbus and Embraer.

The ATR 72-600 flies mainly short routes to neighboring countries and within the region. It reaches Central Europe less often – if you see it in Germany, it is more the exception. You can find more on the manufacturer at ATR.

On long-haul Air Serbia uses the Airbus A330-200. The first nonstop flight to New York in 2016 was flown by an A330 leased from Jet Airways. Today the long-haul fleet comprises four A330-200s, two of which are christened “Nikola Tesla” and “Mihajlo Pupin.” How to tell the A330 from its four-engine relative is shown in the guide A330 or A340?.

A319, A320 or E195? How to tell them apart

At German airports Air Serbia usually lands as one of three types. Because they all fly in the same livery, only a look at the details helps you.

The overwing exits are the quickest feature between the A319 and A320. How to tell the whole family apart is shown in the guide Telling the A318, A319, A320 and A321 apart. For the Embraer family there is a separate overview of the E-Jets, and if an ATR does come in front of your lens, the article on turboprops helps.

How to recognize Air Serbia

Since the restart in 2013 the fleet has worn a livery designed by the designer Tamara Maksimović. It uses Serbia’s national colors red, blue and white and picks up motifs from medieval Serbian art. On the tail sits a stylized double-headed eagle, derived from the Serbian coat of arms. The fuselage is white, with “Air Serbia” in large letters.

A nice detail for collectors: some aircraft carry the names of well-known personalities from Serbia. Under the motto “Living Legends,” aircraft were named after the tennis player Novak Đoković or the basketball player Vlade Divac, for example, and among the A330s YU-ARB is called “Nikola Tesla” – fitting the namesake of the Belgrade airport – and YU-ARC “Mihajlo Pupin.” Special liveries are added: since 2024 A330s have worn a livery for the EXPO 2027 world exhibition in Belgrade.

How such liveries are built and why tail and titles bring so much recognition is explained in the article on livery design.

The YU registration

The country prefix YU dates from the time of Yugoslavia. Serbia took it over, which is why Air Serbia aircraft today carry registrations like YU-ARD. For spotters that is a nice piece of living history: the designator recalls JAT, even though the country it once stood for no longer exists. How registrations are built in general you can read in the guide Understanding aircraft registrations.

Spotting Air Serbia in Germany, Austria and Switzerland

The German-speaking region is one of the airline’s most important markets. Air Serbia connects Belgrade with Frankfurt, Munich, Düsseldorf and Berlin, among others, plus Vienna and Zurich. Some routes run only seasonally, and frequencies change with the schedule.

In everyday operation Air Serbia is not a mass phenomenon at these airports – usually it is one to a few rotations a day. That is exactly what makes the sighting appealing: if you wait specifically for the arrival, with a bit of luck you get an E195 or an aircraft with a name. The spotter guides to Frankfurt, Munich, Düsseldorf, Vienna and Zurich help with planning.

If you want to experience the airline at home, go to Belgrade. There you see the whole fleet including the ATR and A330 – plus visitors from the region such as Wizz Air or Croatia Airlines. You can find more on the airport on the page for Belgrade Airport.

Common mix-ups

• Thinking JU is a new designator – the IATA code comes from JAT and was taken over.
• Thinking Air Serbia is a Star Alliance member – the airline belongs to no alliance and works only with codeshare partners.
• Confusing the A319 and A320 – count the overwing exits: one on the A319, two on the A320.
• Taking the E195 for an Airbus – four seats per row, taller landing gear and a pointed nose give away the Embraer.
• Equating a JU flight number with the operating airline – in summer leased aircraft with a foreign ICAO code sometimes fly.
• Thinking YU- means Yugoslavia – the prefix is now Serbia’s country designator.

Conclusion

Air Serbia is more than a small Balkan airline: it carries on the history of Aeroput and JAT, has a decade of Etihad partnership behind it and is currently restructuring its fleet. For spotters in Germany, Austria and Switzerland it is a rewarding sighting, because it doesn’t come constantly and because a different type can be behind every flight. If you note registration and type cleanly, you document the farewell of the A319 and the rise of the E195 along the way.