Trending this decade

The aviation industry in the former Yugoslavia has undergone significant changes over the past ten years. A decade on, we look back at the most read stories on EX-YU Aviation News year by year.

2010: TAV unveils Skopje Airport terminal

In 2010, Turkey’s TAV Holding won a twenty-year concession to operate Macedonia’s two international airports. It marked the first airport concession contract in the former Yugoslavia. In an article published on July 20, TAV unveiled visuals of Skopje Airport’s future passenger terminal. It proved to be the most popular story of the year. In September 2011, within the set deadline, TAV opened Skopje’s new passenger terminal, which has since won several awards.

2012: Butter saves the day at Croatia Airlines

The year 2012 saw a growing dispute between Croatia Airlines’ staff and its management. Some of the most vocal critics were the carrier’s pilots. In an internal e-mail between a Croatia Airlines Dash 8 captain and the company’s maintenance division, the pilot outlined how he was forced to use butter from an on board meal to lubricate the latch of the aircraft’s door in order to close it properly. The contents of the e-mail, which included the line, “We thought of using olive oil but realised it was too expensive and went for the butter instead”, was published on September 2. The bizarre nature of the incident on the ground in Zagreb, ahead of a flight destined for Istanbul, was most popular with readers. Croatia Airlines subsequently launched an investigation into the matter.

2013: Air Serbia ready for takeoff

The year 2013 saw a noticeable shift in readership habits. The relaunch of Jat Airways as Air Serbia and its development would become a popular topic in the years to come. The article published on October 25 featured live updates as a number of special events took place the day before the carrier officially launched operations under its new name. They included the reveal of its new retail store, the unveiling of its livery and first Airbus aircraft, as well as cabin interiors and crew uniforms.

2014: Air Serbia’s summer network

The outline of Air Serbia’s first summer season modifications under its new brand name was most popular with readers in 2014. The March 9 article featured frequency and network additions, among which were eleven new routes, a 60% increase in charter operations and a minimum of one daily flight on all scheduled routes across its network with exception to Brussels. The ambitious summer schedule was rationalised in the years to come.

2015: Air Serbia announces New York flights for June 2016

On the evening of November 9, Air Serbia held a press conference announcing its first long haul service. The article published on the day, which featured live updates from the conference itself, included the reveal of New York as the company’s first long haul destination, which would commence in June 2016 with an Airbus A330-200 aircraft. Despite some scepticism in the months to come, the airline delivered on its promise and launched flights to the United States.

2016: Qatar Airways’ growing EX-YU operations

Qatar Airways’ interview for EX-YU Aviation News on May 25 proved extremely popular with readers and become the most read of the year. In the interview, Qatar Airways revealed it was likely to increase frequencies between Doha and Zagreb from ten weekly to double daily and was considering services to Dubrovnik. It would follow through on both in the years to come. Furthermore, the airline outlined the company’s plans to launch operations to Sarajevo and Skopje.

2017: Emirates announces Zagreb launch

Just days into 2017, the most read article of the year was published. On January 12, several hours before the official announcement from the airline, EX-YU Aviation News ran the story of Emirates’ plan to commence daily services between Dubai and Zagreb, marking the carrier’s first destination in the former Yugoslavia. The excitement surrounding the announcement was visible in the article’s comments section, which, at 315 comments, remains the most discussed of all time.

2018: Ryanair announces Banja Luka service

Ryanair’s announcement on April 23 that it would enter the Bosnian market by launching flights from Charleroi and Memmingen to Banja Luka was the most popular article of the year. Ryanair was presented as a saviour for the struggling Banja Luka Airport and proved to be so, with the airline carrying over 100.000 passengers to and from the city since its first service in late October of that same year.

2019: Adria Airways declares bankruptcy

Adria Airways’ decline throughout 2019 proved to be of most interest, with articles relating to the carrier's woes constantly being a hot topic. The piece published on September 30, announcing that Adria Airways had officially filed for bankruptcy that afternoon, was the most popular with readers and has become the most read article of all time published on EX-YU Aviation News. The development marked an end to Adria Airways' 58 years of operations.