Airports across the former Yugoslavia have handled over seventeen million passengers during the first eight months of 2017, with Split, Podgorica and Ljubljana continuing to show significant growth among larger airports in the region. This year will mark the first time at least eight airports will handle over a million travellers as Tivat joins the list this September. Airports of Montenegro, which runs both Tivat and Podgorica, has said it anticipates for the latter to also welcome a million flyers. "We expect to handle a combined total of around two million passengers this year at our two airports. The largest share of travellers passing through Podgorica Airport came from the Serbian, German, Turkish and Italian markets, while the Russian market is still dominant in Tivat", the operator said in a statement.
EX-YU airport results, JAN - AUG 2017
| Airport | PAX | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Belgrade | 3.583.371 | ▲ 8.9 |
| Split | 2.123.209 | ▲ 23.6 |
| Zagreb | 2.035.137 | ▲ 10.6 |
| Dubrovnik | 1.695.464 | ▲ 17.9 |
| Pristina | 1.298.706 | ▲ 13.6 |
| Skopje | 1.223.630 | ▲ 10.6 |
| Ljubljana | 1.117.497 | ▲ 20.6 |
| Tivat | 854.028 | ▲ 16.2 |
| Podgorica | 713.392 | ▲ 21.1 |
| Sarajevo | 668.338 | ▲ 14.1 |
Croatian airports have seen a bumper summer season, with almost all recording strong passenger growth so far in 2017. Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik and Zadar registered their strongest year on record. The President of the Air Transport Association at the Croatian Chamber of Economy, Tonči Peović, estimates that annual growth at the country's nine commercial airports will average 10% this year. "The significant rise in passenger numbers at Croatian airports has been influenced by GDP growth in countries that visitors are coming from, as well as numerous other factors, including safety. Travellers want to go on holiday to places where they feel safe", Mr Peović, who is also the General Manager of Brač Airport, said. He added that lower fares resulting from lower fuel prices have also stimulated travel.
| Airport | PAX | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Pula | 450.930 | ▲ 31.4 |
| Zadar | 443.875 | ▲ 17.4 |
| Tuzla | 353.423 | ▲ 72.7 |
| Niš | 213.215 | ▲ 321.7 |
| Ohrid | 115.435 | ▲ 11.6 |
| Rijeka | 103.096 | ▼ 3.6 |
| Mostar | 30.786 | ▼ 18.3 |
| Osijek | 25.321 | ▲ 20.0 |
| Banja Luka | 14.745 | ▼ 3.9 |
Fraport Slovenia, the operator of Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport, has revised up its passenger growth forecast into the low double-digit percentage range for the year following a string of strong results. "This growth was due to, on the one hand, the arrival of new airlines and, on the other hand, a significant increase in capacity utilisation by Adria Airways", Fraport said. Meanwhile, Tuzla Airport has recorded spectacular growth, handling 353.423 passengers during the first eight months of the year, up 72.7% on 2016. Growth was fuelled by Wizz Air's expansion in the city. It's counterpart in Niš has also seen its numbers soar, growing over 300%. "With the introduciton of new routes by the end of the year, such as Ryanair's service from Stockholm Skavsta, we anticipate handling 330.000 passengers in 2017", Niš Airport said in a statement.
Podgorica is the quiet achiever this year. Not a lot of fuss but really good growth.
ReplyDelete+1 and they have been growing for several years now. On top of that it's natural growth. 2018 looks good as well as with 3 new routes already announced.
DeleteI think it is obvious now that there is no chance Belgrade can reach that target of 5.5 million in 2017. My guess is around 5.3 million, maybe 5.4 which is still a great result.
ReplyDeleteYep looks unrealistic that they will get 5,5 million. Time to tell Vlaisavljevic & Co. to town down their estimates at the start of the year.
DeleteIt's not that unrealistic, last year in the period September-December BEG handled 1.633.851 passengers. If they have zero growth they will handle 5.217.222 passengers.
DeleteSo the airport needs to add some 70.694 passengers per month. Don't forget that this winter there aren't as many cuts at JU, there is Transavia, Atlasjet, Hainan and second Wizz A320.
It's not easy but it's not unrealistic.
I hope you are right but I would say there are not so many cuts. Almost all of JU's destinations are being reduced by one flight per week plus no more AUH from JU. Also no flights to New York for first two weeks of October because of aircraft maintenance.
DeleteThe cuts that were made official this year were there last year but were added later on, as in only through the system. That's why it will be the same in a way.
DeleteI forgot about that, you are right.
DeleteInterestingly enough, KK will be flying five times per week between BEG and IST. That's one flight more than Pegasus.
Deleteregardless if they reach 5,5 i am still pleasantly surprised by this year growth. 9% is great! It will be interesting to see if the next year it would plateau or continue growing like this.
Deleteanyone has the data what are the biggest additions compared to the last year?
Well next year already seems promising, Transavia will be increasing BEG to six weekly in February. (the slowest month of the year)
DeleteBEG's February could come close to 300.000.
Out of those 17 Million Pax - almost 10 come from Croatia alone.
ReplyDeleteNot really since Croatian airports will likely have ten million for the entire year. This January-August results.
DeleteOh sorry my fault. Have misread the article! Nice so until now just 17 Million ! That is huge :)
DeleteSkopje getting awfully close to Pristina.
ReplyDeleteCould they overtake them?
DeleteIt will be tough because Pristina has also been growing by a lot this year.
DeleteTesko :) but PRN is weaker then SKP in winter so who knows
DeleteThey will come close by Nov but PRN will bounce back in Dec as they're stronger in peaks.
DeleteClose but no cigar.
PRN is being strangled by visa regime. Whenever that gets lifted it shall regain 4rth or 3rd position soon after.
DeletePRN is only immigration to Europe. In Skopje you have more business and tourist travelers its larger and more dominant city. Albanians go to Europe for work only.
DeleteSarajevo really should be handling over a million passengers by now.
ReplyDeleteI think Sarajevo has much more potential because it is heavily underserved. They need to do everything they can to get Wizz to open a base there.
DeleteSJJ should at the very least in PRN/SKP/LJU category. Sadly though, it remains stuck.
DeleteIf they made a deal with Wizz Air when they were offered flights it would have been a different story...
DeleteI see Tuzla overtaking both Pula and Zadar this year. If they continue like this they will overtake SJJ one day. lol
ReplyDeleteAgree but Tuzla needs to expand its terminal desperately.
Deleteyou call that a terminal?
DeleteIt would be amazing if 9 out of 10 biggest airports in ex-Yu get over million passengers.
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling BEG will be close to 4.2 million after September.
ReplyDeleteYes I think this September is very strong so far.
Delete+1
DeleteI think September this year had more charters than last year
Zagreb will have an exceptionally strong winter with Monarch, Emirates, new Eurowings flights, extra LOT flights, extended Crotia Airlines flights to Barcelona and Lisbon, and the list goes on.
ReplyDeleteNo doubt especially since last winter wasn't that strong. Good work.
DeleteBut Brussels and ČSA won't be flying during the winter season, so...
DeletePity Brussels Airlines. Another decent carrier destroyed by Lufthansa.
DeleteIt´s quite ok- three daily during winter is ways to much to BRU. In Summer they are back.
DeleteMaybe Wizz Air's LJU-CRL flights had something to do with this winter suspension?
DeleteFrom what I heard it's not cheap to fly from ZAG to BRU and SN's north American network is not really strong enough to compete with BA, AF, KL, LH, OS... for connecting passengers.
In other words, they had to rely mostly on the O&D market which doesn't seem to be that big.
Makes no sense, it's two Star Alliance hubs with feed on both ends. On top of that the number of seats is not that big.
DeleteFirst Emirates then CSA and now SN Brussels. I hope this streak ends soon.
Delete@frishkiSeptember 19, 2017 at 10:03 AM
DeleteExpected, Brussels is short of aircraft, the're retiring RJs and are vet lasing CityJet's Sokhoi SJs.
They are reducing their winter flights to number of EU destinations as a result, also they're in bit of financial bother, we'll see how things for for them in 2018.
They might not last beyond 2020, me thinks, in any case they'll be back in March and hopefully won't be going away next winter. Brussels is in high demand, two daily connections is a must, especially in the morning.
No "negative streak" @anon 8:14 PM - Qatar just few days ago extended double daily throught W17/18, so +4pw compared to last winter. ČSA's pax capacity from last year was barely 1.000 pax/per month, so not much of a loss. OU is "compensating" LHR with LIS, BCN and CPH increased capacity, while Monarch 5pw, Emirates 5pw, LOT 2pw and Eurowings 3pw are all extra capacity. If loads stay the same, ZAG could maintain 10-12% growth throghout the winter...and if they improve, +15% is possible.
DeleteNext year: Air Transat +38% in capacity, Iberia, +40% in capacity, Aegan 3pw to ATH...and the spring 2018 is still far- so nothing cataclysmic happening. BRU is unfortunately not "heavily" used route and OU will take a portion on pax...Brusseles Airlines withdrawing in winter is probably about 3.000 pax/per month at most - most of these are transfers, which will be absorbed through other hubs.
By the way, Eurowings has cancelled the launch of Skopje - Munich.
ReplyDeleteКакви дилетанти мајко моја. :)))
Is that confirmed? Maybe they haven't loaded the flights in the system?
DeleteThe flights have been in the system for months. If they have removed them then its cancelled.
DeleteSuch a shame, maybe bookings were weak? Or maybe Austrian Airlines didn't like Eurowings stealing its connecting passengers?
DeletePoor bookings!
Deleteweak bookings or chaos with the Air Berlin crews (they might have allocated them for other more "important" destinations)
DeleteI'd say it's the second part of 9:43's statement. They're a mess right now.
DeleteMontenegro is amazing! Such a small country - 2 airports in the top ten.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it be more sensible for such a small country to have one single airport?
DeleteAnon 9:39 Not at all, 2 airports work perfectly for Montenegro.
DeleteThey really need to expand TIV. That tiny place is a mess in summer. One cafe and that's it. *Nothing* after security. I mean, even Tivat's new bus station is bigger than the airport.
Deletethey should sort out the Taxi Mafia at TIV
DeleteMaybe the cost of running a single airport are smaller than those for two and seasonality would be less of an issue (TIV).
DeleteI enjoy these articles where we can compare the numbers for all airports. Split stands out for me and more capacity is definitely needed. Good job.
ReplyDeleteMe 2!
DeleteBut I would also appreciate seeing the numbers for the smaller airports, not just large and medium sized one.
Also Mali Losinj and Portoroz have some traffic, especially also Brac.
Not sure about Kraljevo and Uzice.
In general the Ex-Yu statistic should always include 22 (or with KVO, UZC 24) airports.
Kraljevo and Uzice have no traffic except maybe general aviation from time to time and I doubt it's possible to find these statistics. Portoroz and Mali Losinj have negligible numbers and there are probably no updated traffic figures. Considering many airports in ex-Yu don't make their numbers public or don't update their numbers eg Podgorica, Tivat, Osijek, Rijeka it's good we have most of the data.
DeleteI think the croatian statistical office publishes all airport data monthly
DeleteThey publish it monthly for two months ago so it would not be up to date.
DeleteFor me the most impressive result is SPU, they have finally made it to the second spot. Could they still be number one after September?
ReplyDeleteIt will be difficult but the difference between SPU and ZAG will never be smaller. It's really impressive. That new terminal can't come soon enough.
DeleteThey will, they will have aroung 450.000 Pax in September!
DeleteWow, amazing to see Split at #2
DeleteSPU will hit 3 Million next year!
DeleteI think SPU should start limiting airlines when it comes to the capacity of aircraft. Forbid all turboprops and aircraft with less than 144 seats.
DeleteMost importantly they should a) build a parallel taxiway from the apron to the two ends of the runway and b) improvise one of these temporary buildings ("tents") for the next 2 years till new terminal is ready.
DeleteYes, Split will likely be No.1 until October. Great job!!
DeleteMostar and Banja Luka seem to have fewer and fewer passengers each year.
ReplyDeleteWhat the hell is going on with Mostar? Italians no longer coming to Medjugorje?
DeleteLet's just say that the Vatican is not so enthusiastic about the so called miracles.
DeleteThe only flights Mostar currently has is to Italy and the only reason they are operating is because the EU is subsidising these flights. Those subsidies end soon and after that Mostar will be empty if it doesn't amke a deal with some company.
DeleteIn other words, they consider it a sham.
DeleteAccording to what source do they consider it a sham? If anything the opposite is true but as long as what is going on there continues, Rome will not give its official approval because it will give Medjugorje too much potential power. They will wait for everyone involved to die than they will officially recognise it and confirm the apparitions.
DeleteJust for the record, I have been there a couple of times and I'm not convinced.
In the Vatican they are very sceptical. C'mon, the Virgin Mary speaking every secondth of month...
Delete@AnonymousSeptember 19, 2017 at 9:39 AM
DeleteIt's a scam, massive scam/sham totally fake. Most people by now who are true Catholics don't believe for a second in Medjugorje nonsense.
Not long ago, a local woman bought Virgin Mary statue off Ebay and as statue glowed in dark, due to the fact pain used was rich in sulphur/sulfur, it was sold as glowing virgin on Ebay, and you can still buy it, but in Hercegovina, most thought it was a miracle and woman made a shrine out of her house, charging people 20 kuna/5KM to see it. She made little profit you could say.
Miracles do happen, for conman all the time. I won't mention what I think of Herzegovina Croats or what most Croats think of them, lets just say not blog about these sorts of stuff.
Q400, according to the Pope himself.
Deletehttps://www.reuters.com/article/us-pope-medjugorje/pope-says-doubts-medjugorje-apparitions-are-authentic-idUSKCN18A0E8
Good results overall. Nice work from Tuzla and Nis.
ReplyDeleteLJU is a bit of a disappointment. Ok, they've grown quite a bit now, but tgey should be ahead of SKP and PRN.
ReplyDeleteThe thing is, they have grown this year but it's just catching up to 2015 because last year was a disaster. I am not very impressed with Fraport. After 2 years the only new airline they brought is Transavia. They rely way too much on Adria. I understand they are close to other airport but there are ways to overcome that. They should just look at Bratislava.
DeleteIf they did what Bratislava is doing, Adria would be out of business within months.
DeleteAnd Fraport would receive only half of the revenue it collects now, despite serving the same no. of passengers.
DeleteI don't believe Fraport is enthusiastic in developing LJU. By purchasing LJU, Fraport ensured that majority of the traffic from Ljubljana will flow through Frankfurt, thanks to star alliance partners LH and JP.
It would be surprising to see LJU network flourish under these conditions.
Bravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteBravo Srbija!
ReplyDeleteBravo Slovenija!
ReplyDeleteBravo EX-YU!
ReplyDeleteINI 321.7% WOW!
ReplyDeleteIt is impressive, especially considering that they had passengers this time last year, so it's not like the base number was 0.
DeleteSince we are talking about ex-Yu airports, which of these need flights between each other. I think Belgrade-Pristina and I am also sure Sarajevo-Podgorica could work.
ReplyDeletePodgorica-Zagreb and Pristina-Zagreb. Both of these operated for years but Croatia Airlines cancelled them recently.
Deleteneed flights and could work are two different categories:
Deleteneed flights: SJJ-SKP (its a nightmare to travel between these two cities)
could work seasonally: BEG-ZAD.LJU-SPU, SKP-SPU/PUY/TIV(only lowcost here)
Bravo Bosna i Hercegovina!
ReplyDeleteWell so and so :D Two of them are doing well (although I think Sarajevo is still behind its potential) and two others - Banja Luka/Mostar are really struggling.
DeleteNiš... the airport no one believed in... so proud of my home base :D
ReplyDelete+1000000 plus the director seems competent. Bright future, slowly heading towards 1 million.
DeleteWe did mate, we did. That's why there are currently flights there. It just took a while.
DeleteThe director pulled his weight through and through and never lost faith. Kudos.
Who would have thought over a year ago that INI would be seeing these numbers.
DeleteI remember back than when people were telling that Serbia has only one airport... Now, I have a good feeling about other airports like KVO too, plus, I can except Istanbul and few new destinations from INI.
DeleteINI is becoming a solid player in ex-YU's B category of airports.
DeleteI am generally curious to see how Ryanair's Stockholm flights will perform.
i commend your comment Nemjee, especially the part about INI being in the B category of airports, and lets please stick to this
DeleteOf course INI is in the B category but that doesn't mean it can't eventually move into the top A category. ;)
DeleteWe should be realistic about both where the airport is today but also about where it can end up.
there was an article recently here about the prospects of INI in the next few years- its still B category.
Deletei also read that Germania will cancel flights from INI
No one said that it will move into category A next year. Aviation developments take years to complete. Nis has been experiencing steady growth which will eventually slow down. What matters is that it stays there.
DeleteYes, Germania was crushed by Swiss. They started flights much earlier with a more suitable aircraft. Germania is leaving while Swiss is increasing its own flights which shows that they remain confident in the market and its potential.
I am sure SKP had its own projections and forecasts and then Wizz Air came and everything changed for them. Same thing can happen to INI as well, especially if the Serbian economy keeps on consolidating.
Romania and Bulgaria are doing very well. The main airports have impressive growth.
ReplyDeleteI think VIE must have similar number of pax as our airports combined. Anyone knows any details about totals?
ReplyDeleteBanja Luka's numbers are pathetic.
ReplyDeleteBut phantom Montefly will start flights in December. LOL :D
DeleteGood to see not just Skopje but Ohrid doing well too :)
ReplyDeleteRe: Ohrid. 11.6% is nothing in that traffic range. It's really just organic, nothing special. Add to that the potential Ohrid has as a destination, and my conclusion would be - they really need to make a better effort.
DeleteOverall Croatian airports performing the best in ex-yu.
ReplyDeleteTrue but the number rely way too much on tourism which makes growth atbCtoatian airports very vulnerable. It would be good to see economic related growth, in other words more business and Croatian based travel play more of a roll in this growth.
DeleteWhat other option do airports such as DBV, SPU or PUY have? Only airport that can have serious traffic without tourism is ZAG
DeleteSplit being the second busiest in ex-Yu is a massive accomplishment!
ReplyDelete+1!!
DeleteWhy Mostar has so few pax. Location is good. Is it the airport modern?
ReplyDeleteIt could work with a few flights here and there. Maybe the airport is refusing to cooperate the same way BNX refuses to.
DeleteVIE has around 20 million passengers per year. They were overtaken by Athens last year.
ReplyDeleteYep. So far VIE had 16,25 Mio pax Jan-Aug 2017
ReplyDeleteAirports such as MXP, VIE, CPH, ATH... handle close to the number of all ex-YU airports combined.
ReplyDeleteYes but VIE and CPH are airports that basicaly handle something liike 90% of air traffic for their countries.
ReplyDeleteI think the Ex-Yu airports did really well so far.
Yes but both airports do have competitions. Vienna from Bratislava and Copenhagen from Malmo.
ReplyDeleteWell actually, CPH handled far more passengers than entire ex-yu combined (21m vs 29m in 2016).
ReplyDeleteWhich is sad, knowing that ex-yu is 4 times more people with huge diaspora, and a tourist destination as well.
Yeah but CPH is some to SAS' main hub in addition to also have Ryanair, Norwegian and easyJet based there.
ReplyDelete@anon 1:12
ReplyDeleteWell, not really for VIE - comparison of calendar year 2016 results:
VIE 23,35 Mio (=78%)
BTS 1,76 Mio
SZG 1,74 Mio
INN 1,01 Mio
GRZ 0,98 Mio
LNZ 0,44 Mio
BRQ 0,42 Mio
KLU 0,23 Mio
total 29,93 Mio Austria (=100%) incl. bits around Vienna in Brno and Bratislava
@2:25 PM
ReplyDeleteNot any longer, SAS is going away from using CPH as major scandinavian hub. Actually they have more direct destinations from ARN than CPH today.
And neither U2 or FR have a base on CPH. U2 never tried making one, and FR tried doing it their way - but got ass smashed by the unions :)
Ryanair just announced it will base a plane in Burgas, Bulgaria, the 10 routes will definitely boost the figures there
ReplyDeleteIf they don't start cutting them due to crew shortages.
ReplyDeleteBravo BRAC��
ReplyDelete