EX-YU airports handle 14.9 million passengers

Airports across the former Yugoslavia welcomed 14.931.223 passengers during the first seven months of the year, with almost all registering growth when compared to the same period in 2017. Skopje saw the greatest percentile increase among the region's larger airports, while Belgrade added the most new passengers overall.

Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport maintained its position as the busiest in the former Yugoslavia, adding 192.106 travellers on last year, ahead of Split which grew by 186.634 passengers and Zagreb by 163.468. Belgrade Airport anticipates welcoming between 5.8 and six million travellers in 2018. On the other hand, Niš Airport, in the country's south-east, registered growth of 12%, despite witnessing its first monthly decline in figures in years this July, although this has been put down to adverse weather conditions and a strike at Ryanair, which affected several flights at the airport.

EX-YU airport results, JAN - JUL 2018

Airport	PAX	Change (%)
Belgrade	3.134.106	▲ 6.5
Zagreb	1.850.821	▲ 9.7
Split	1.716.134	▲ 12.2
Dubrovnik	1.377.143	▲ 9.8
Skopje	1.215.167	▲ 20.8
Pristina	1.198.094	▲ 13.4
Ljubljana	1.030.106	▲ 9.1
Tivat	656.857	▲ 8.4
Podgorica	643.143	▲ 14.0
Sarajevo	589.522	▲ 12.5

All of Croatia's commercial airports saw their numbers grow so far this year. The country's three busiest handled over 4.9 million travellers during the January - July period. Split Airport expects to welcome its record third-millionth passenger by the end of the year. It will edge ahead of its counterpart in Zagreb in August to become the country's busiest and is likely to maintain the top spot until the fourth quarter. However, General Manager, Lukša Novak, has said that Split has no ambition to surpass Zagreb Airport's traffic. "We want to be an effective regional airport. We need to work to stimulate traffic in the winter months", Mr Novak noted. Meanwhile, Rijeka Airport saw its numbers soar by 36%. "The fantastic figures are the result of numerous activities, efforts and financial resources made by Rijeka Airport to introduce new routes. Of course, this fantastic result was made possible by the introduction of Eurowings' year-round service from Cologne", Rijeka Airport said in a statement.

Airport	PAX	Change (%)
Pula	383.935	▲ 23.1
Tuzla	342.807	▲ 18.1
Zadar	327.810	▲ 2.4
Niš	205.985	▲ 12.0
Ohrid	100.039	▲ 19.7
Rijeka	92.951	▲ 36.2
Osijek	37.936	▲ 97.9
Brač	15.463	▲ 53.3
Mostar	13.234	▼ 39.6
Banja Luka	11.944	▼ 1.5
Mali Lošinj	3.768	▲ 5.1

Skopje Airport handled a record 1.215.167 passengers during the January - July period, up 20.8% on 2017. In July alone, its figures grew 17.8%. Istanbul remains the most popular destination from the airport with a passenger share of 10.9%, followed by Zurich at 8.2% and then Basel, Vienna and Malmo which accounted for 5% of all travellers during the seven month period. Wizz Air handled over 60% of all passengers travelling to and from the country. Skopje continues to maintain a slim lead over its traditional near-by competitor Pristina, which has also seen strong growth and record figures this year.

The only two commercial airports in the former Yugoslavia to see their figures decline so far this year were Mostar and Banja Luka. Mostar Airport has been hit by the loss of its busiest customer Mistral Air, which used to operate a number of scheduled charter flights from Italy, carrying Christian pilgrims visiting the Medjugorje sight. The flights, which were subsidised by the European Union, were terminated once the funding ended. In a statement, Mostar Airport said it "must find its path" adding that with Pope Francis recently naming a Polish archbishop as his apostolic visitor to Medjugorje for an indefinite period, the Polish market should open up. "The Italian market has also changed and we hope to see a return of those visitors", General Manager, Marin Raspudić, said. On the other hand, Banja Luka Airport is set to see overall growth by the end of the year and ended its eight month passenger slide in June.