Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport welcomed over two million travellers during the first half of the year and is on track to seeing close to a full recovery in 2022. It handled 542.000 passengers this June, representing a decrease of 10% on the pre-pandemic 2019. The number of aircraft movements was down just 4% on the same month three years ago. During the first half of the year, the airport welcomed 2.142.300 customers through its doors, standing at 89.9% of pre-pandemic figures. A total of 27.703 commercial flights were recorded over the January - June period, which is at 88% of 2019 levels.
The recovery is being primarily fuelled by Air Serbia, which introduced a number of new routes from the Serbian capital this summer, as well as an increase in traffic by foreign carriers. Among them, Turkish Airlines added the most capacity compared to the pre-pandemic 2019, with 76% growth, while Wizz Air’s capacity increased 42%, with the budget airline also now having a third aircraft based in the city. “This season, passengers can travel to more than 100 destinations, considering that almost all routes that were operational prior to the pandemic have now been restored, while sixteen new destinations have been added and numerous charter flights are available to the most popular summer holiday hotspots”, the airport said.
July has also started off on a strong note, however, staffing shortages across a number of airports in Western Europe, which have led to passenger caps and flight cancellations, could have an impact on figures. Lufthansa and Eurowings have both reduced their operations to the Serbian capital, while Air Serbia has had to decrease its London Heathrow service and limit passenger numbers on flights from Amsterdam. On the other hand, this month saw the launch of Hainan Airlines’ service from Beijing. “The ongoing modernisation, reconstruction and expansion of Belgrade Airport is aimed at stimulating traffic growth, bring added value, and improve the passenger experience and comfort. We have a strong ambition to become a new hub in Eastern Europe”, the airport’s General Manager, Francois Berisot, said.
Hopefully cancellations by foreign airlines won't have too much of an impact in July.
ReplyDeleteThere aren't too many. Lufthansa is the one that cancelled the most flights.
DeleteKeep in mind that LH cancelled flights that it planned to operate but it never started. So I don't think that there is such a huge difference compared to summer 2019.
DeleteHow many daily flights did LH have in 2019 summer to BEG?
DeleteI believe it was 5 daily, 3 from MUC and 2 from FRA.
DeleteI am still surprised they never went beyond double daily from Frankfurt. It has been like that for decades now.
Thanks. So how many flights do they have this July?
DeleteThree to four daily.
DeleteThanks, so it is a decrease compared to what they had 3 yrs ago.
DeleteBear in mind, 3 years ago KVO was not operating at all and INI was not at the level it is at now. Many BEG passengers diverted to these two airports now that they have another option. Plus, both airports are owned by the government, so the fees all go back to the State.
DeleteI noticed that MUC flights are on the A321 these days.
DeleteWhen I started flying to Belgrade ten years ago, Munich flights were done with Embraer e-190s, so theres been some development...
DeleteMUC-BEG has developed really nicely up until covid. The summer before it went up to 21 weekly with most flights being operated by A320. Even in a post-covid world LH kept on flying between the two cities and now it has a similar number of frequencies as their FRA route.
DeleteI guess it has to do with a strong O&D demand, no JU as a direct competitor and a cozy relationship MUC has with LH.
Can they reach 5 million by the end of the year?
ReplyDeleteThe overall trend will continue and I assume they will be around 15% below 2019.
DeleteThey should surpass 5 million
DeleteThis is a very good result, especially considering that Serbian citizens could not travel to most countries in Europe for the first quarter and to major markets like Germany and France until last mount.
ReplyDeleteAnd also the amount of flights to Russia flights there were in 2019 which are no longer operative.
DeleteI don't know if it's just me but fares are generally extremely high this summer season. Probably a combination of rising fuel prices and people wanting to travel abroad like crazy.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if there weren't as many capacity restrictions (mostly staffing issues) if BEG would actually perform even better in June.
Good luck finding a ticket to LCA for less than €180 one way without luggage. Wizz Air is either sold out or they have 44.000 RSD one way fares available. If JU can boost LCA to 10 weekly then they could have easily operated 3 weekly. Hopefully next year.
Tickets have generally gone crazy everywhere. Mostly airlines wanting to profit from pent up demand.
DeleteIST too. i bought a flight for august and lowest was 360 euros the whole week. i couldnt find tk 330 flights in the system.
DeleteIST is sold out on many days or there are barely any seats left. Time for TK to increase capacity.
DeleteI don't think they are doing enough to prepare for the upcoming surge in travel demand between Serbia and Turkey (ID card). Mind you, BEG-IST is booming despite BEG-ESB, INI-IST and KVO-IST being launched.
DeleteIt's a shame they are blocking Pegasus from adding more flights.
I think the bilateral is the problem. It makes swift adjustments difficult.
DeleteAnother issue is that neither Air Serbia or Turkish Airlines have available aircraft.
DeleteWell, JU could always add night flights. Crew availability might be an issue though.
DeleteAlways Nemjee and his LCA
DeleteDo you live there?
Doesn't seem to be an issue for TK to send bigger capacity to Sarajevo
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2022/07/turkish-airlines-deploys-wide-body-jet.html
But from what I understood it's a single rotation in Sarajevo?
DeleteYes, it's a one off
DeleteTalking of expensive tickets out of BEG, today our company booked BEG-CDG-BEG on AF for 77.986 Dinars. Seems like the A320 is already full out of Belgrade.
DeleteI still do not understand that JU can keep year round flights from BEG to CDG and AF can't.
DeleteI arrived yesterday with JU371 YU-APA from ZRH, maybe some 4 seats were left empty. We were on time at BEG. Walking to the passport control thru the new building, a lot of laminat is already damaged....
ReplyDeleteCongrats BEG!
ReplyDeleteMuch better than I expected. My prediction was 400,000 in June.
ReplyDeleteYou thought that there would be only 400,000 passengers with so many new routes launched?
DeleteThis is impressive
ReplyDelete"This season, passengers can travel to more than 100 destinations"
True, I think this is the first time there have been so many frequencies available.
DeleteAt one point Pristina was close to Belgrade, however, with almost 100% more passengers in June, Belgrade is now 800k+ ahead
ReplyDeleteI think the difference will reach over a million in July or August.
DeleteZAG, PRN, SKP, SJJ... were all close to BEG only while massive restrictions were in place. Once those were removed natural order was restored.
DeleteWhat is the percentage comparing to June 2019?
DeleteI wonder what was JU's passenger share in June.
ReplyDeleteSo, figures are once again quite similar to previous years. Jan-Jun:
ReplyDeleteBEG: 2,136,000
SKG: 2,418,454
SOF: 2,637,882
SKG traditionally will be quite busy in July and August. It had quite a number of additions this summer. However, SOF is expected to have a busy winter with Ryanair increasing various frequencies such as daily VIE or 9 weekly BGY and more flights to BHX and DUB.
I think the difference will almost be the same with a difference amongst each of 300,000-500,000 maybe by year end.
Predictions: 5-6 million max for all 3.
I think we should wait and see in the end what airlines end up offering from all these airports. BEG is supposed to have a great winter with JU increases and China flights.
DeleteIt's interesting that these 3 airports have similar numbers more or less. I'm wondering what impact the long haul expansion China/USA will have in the next months on BEG.
DeleteLook, Hainan flights to Beijing (once per week with maximum 130 pax per direction) can generate maximum 640 pax per month (260 pax per floght). So not much. Please dont think that one or two additional long haul will suddenly put BEG on par with Vienna. It is JUST one flight per week.
DeleteUntil we see 6-8 long haul rotarions PER DAY notjing magical will happen. Preferably 20 long haul rotations (20 arrivals+20 departures) will finally make a dent. 20 turn arounds is around 10.000 pax.
Hope we see more new airlines.
ReplyDeleteFingers crossed for Iberia.
DeleteFlynas !
DeleteAmazing to see that operations are at 96%
ReplyDeleteHow many passengers were in BEG in June 2019?
DeleteMate, take your math!
DeleteI am not sure 96% is correct percentage as on some other portals it was announced that 88,6% is percentage comparing to June 2019.
DeleteLearn to read what I wrote. 96% aircraft operations.
DeleteThe number of aircraft movements was down just 4% on the same month three years ago.
@ Anonymous09:29
DeleteHave you bothered to actually read the article?
Yes, and there is no information about percentage comparing to June 2019
Delete@9.31 you obviously haven't
DeleteHere you go so you can read it again:
Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport welcomed over two million travellers during the first half of the year and is on track to seeing close to a full recovery in 2022. It handled 542.000 passengers this June, representing a decrease of 10% on the pre-pandemic 2019. The number of aircraft movements was down just 4% on the same month three years ago. During the first half of the year, the airport welcomed 2.136.000 customers through its doors, standing at 82% of pre-pandemic figures. A total of 27.703 commercial flights were recorded over the January - June period, which is at 88% of 2019 levels.
Of course there is but you have to read: "The number of aircraft movements was down just 4% on the same month three years ago."
DeleteOops, sorry.
DeleteI need to take a coffee, still sleeping
No portals wrote 88.6%. It was one portal which got the wrong number. and considering how many things they get wrong, it's no surprise. These numbers are public btw. You can find them on the Vinci website.
Deletehttps://ibb.co/dbkGH4p
With long haul expansion happening I think numbers will keep improving.
ReplyDeleteAnyone know what was the busiest route?
ReplyDeleteZRH?
DeleteI actually think it might be IST. I noticed many of the LX flights are operated by Helvetic's Embraer which is quite a downgrade compared to A320/321 we used to get before summer. I suppose LX is also struggling with capacity.
DeleteI have to admit I didn't expect such a quick recovery. Yes, I doubt passenger numbers will be the same as in 2019 but I didn't expect that it would be even close.
ReplyDeleteHow many passengers did BEG have last year?
ReplyDelete3,134,106
DeleteCongratulations. Good result.
ReplyDeleteDoes Wizz Air have any plans to expand further in BEG?
ReplyDeleteIt took them something like 8 years to base a third plane in Belgrade so somehow I doubt there will be a fourth one anytime soon.
DeleteOther than Lisbon I don't see what other route they can launch.
DeleteGood point haha @anon 10.12.
DeleteConsidering BEG and VINCI seem to be firmly in bed with Air Serbia, I don't think we will see a Wizz Air expansion anytime soon.
DeleteWhat are you talking about @10.21. Wizz Air based a third plane under VINCI's management of BEG and introduced a lot of new routes. It
DeleteIt would be good to see if another LCC increased flights or launched new routes to BEG.
DeleteEurowings has. They launched new flights. Exception is now when some are suspended because of capacity issues,
DeleteeasyJet please.
DeleteRyanair launching new routes from BEG would lead to huge growth.
DeleteBEG should offer FR to launch LIS and OPO flights. Such a long sector needs someone with low costs. I think they could make this market work.
DeleteThe issue is, once you FR one or two routes there is no stopping them.
DeleteFR is not going to come unless it is given money. As they have been given in ZAG and as they are asking for in Slovenia.
DeleteWe will see more from Wizz Air. BEG introduced a new incentive policy from March.
DeleteWell Ryanair will keep on adding flights if they get the terms they want. If you just offer them for LIS and OPO then they will stick to that. Naturally this might result in them aiming for other routes which are currently not served from BEG (especially to seaside destinations).
DeleteRayan is not in good terms with Portugal govt and stated earlier they're currently not considering BEG.
DeleteFR is not considering BEG because they are not willing to give them what they want. If BEG agreed to their terms then they would immediately launch flights from wherever.
DeleteExactly Nemjee.
DeleteTherefore I do not understand so called experts saying that bringing FR to ZAG was big success.
The easiest thing is to decrease your airport taxes and FR will automatically come to airport like BEG no matter if you invite them or not.
Exactly, that is why I said that BEG can use certain markets which are struggling from Belgrade. Portugal seems to be one of them. If all others have failed then why not bring in FR and offer them what they are asking just for those two destinations. I believe there is a market but it has to be someone like W6 or FR.
DeleteLisbon Belgrade is a given for Wizz A321 for next season. No one with even basic understanding of the market would suggest Air Serbia, TAP or Ryan launch that route instead. It's obvious.
DeleteOf course, they are the most likely candidate. However we were discussing about a hypothetical scenario and what would be the best scenario for BEG and the market it serves.
DeleteIf Wizz does bring back BEG-LIS, then I just hope they are going to revise their schedule. Don't think anyone wants to be arriving at 02.45 in Belgrade.
The incentive scheme was always titled towards one airline. Discounts based on total volume of passengers are non-market and in the UE they are forbidden. Until all obligations that were put upon Vinci in the concession agreement to keep that in place expire, I do not see many airlines coming or expanding and the potential of the airport will not be fully utilised. What is standard are discounts for opening new routes, increasing frequencies, increasing number of passengers etc. as these are non-discriminatory.
DeleteBut BEG is not lacking foreign carriers and several of them have even boosted their presence since covid calmed down. I mean the current situation is not realistic as many airlines are struggling with crew, staff and capacity. I guess summer 2023 will be more indicative of the real situation on the Belgrade market when it comes to foreign carriers.
Deletep.s. look at Eurowings which added STR and DUS from BEG only to decimate their flights due to their own internal problems. For this we can't really blame JU or BEG.
My points are two:
Delete1) incentive scheme at BEG whose solutions are vastly inherited from a pre-concession time and these solutions have been stabilised by the concession agreement, is non-market and titled towards one airline; discounts based solely on volume are prohibited in the UE;
2) this incentive scheme does not serve well to use the full potential of the airport, but I am not saying there are no foreign airlines or that no foreign airlines will come or expand.
I understand we disagree on 2).
In general I am not disagreeing with you, all I am saying is that maybe we should wait for covid to fully pass before we see what Vinci will do.
DeleteRemember when concessionaire took over ZAG how they gave an ultimatum to OU? Maybe Vinci first wanted to see if JU will do something before looking at alternatives. Since JU is ine expansion mode maybe they are waiting to see how far they will go.
That said, naturally as a passenger from BEG, I would love to see more competition as it would drive down the fares.
It was not up to Vinci to decide. From what I understand in the concession agreement they agreed to keep this element of the incentive scheme for some time after they take charge. They just took into account the cost involved in this when deciding to sign the agreement.
DeleteWhen they are fully free to decide about the incentives, my guess is they will want to apply standard discounts aimed at growing the number of passengers and destinations. So discounts for increasing flights, opening new destinations, increasing number of passengers etc.
Interesting, do we know how long they have to keep this scheme?
DeleteI think I knew that, but I forgot by now. Maybe there is somebodyelse here that may confirm or deny. In general, making 80% discount on landing etc. fees and 40% discount on direct passenger fee, in reality for one airline, irrespective of what it does, makes little sense. Such discount could instead apply to new routes, new frequencies, or to excess of the number of passengers flying with a given airline compared to previous year or the like. The fact that it is the way it is makes makes my recollections more probable.
DeleteIt is therefore laughable, when I read here people saying that FR is not coming because it is expecting incentives (and of course they are).
Stories about Air Serbia discounts at Belgrade pale in comparison to facts about brutal and probalby illegal tactics some other airlines deploy in the region. Skopje airport "tenders" crafted for one specific airline, Tuzla airport scandal involving two lowcosters and strories about other airports being forced to drop fees or face complete withdrawal by the airline. Somehow LCCs never faced racketeering charges.
DeleteDenying FR strong presence in ZAG even with the hurdles is in 1 word pathetic. Yes, they had their staff and airport personnel issue in Europe but ZAG now is a much cheaper destination within the EU compared to just 2 years ago. Ryanair are not allowed in Belgrade because this will be the end of Air Serbia. They know very well that they are so agressive, that they will offer 10€ flights to a German village in off season or some leisure cool destination. Overall, BEG still generally remains a more expensive destination from EU.
Deletewhile ZAG is now connected to important LCC destinations such as Stansted, Charleroi, Bratislava (a very good Vienna alternative) and so on.
If Wizz Air didn't kill Jat Airways then Ryanair isn't going to kill Air Serbia.
DeleteFurthermore, Ryanair didn't destroy Tarom, Bulgaria Air, LOT, airBaltic... so they are not as lethal as some make them to be. Even Croatia Airlines is still around.... at least they are for now.
If Belgrade becoming cheap to reach results in the city being overrun by Western tourists who are going to come here only to get drunk then I say we better remain 'expensive.'
I am still waiting to see ZAG's financial performance now that they have Ryanair. What's the point if the city is cheap to reach if the airport that serves that market isn't making money?
Ryanair are not allowed in ___ because this will be the end of ____. I've heard that story too many times.
DeleteTimes of 10€ LCC tickets are long gone.
DeleteNeighbour 22:19 you should worry about your own airline being destroyed by FR. Only one of three largest EU LCCs recently started ZAG and OU is already moving out to SPU.
DeleteOn the other hand BEG had two of those three LCCs for many years and Air Serbia just keeps adding destinations and growing. Sad attempt of throwing shade at Air Serbia from a well known source.
Well said.
DeleteThe day will come when not only Wizz, but Easy, and Ryan and othe LCC will each have 2-3 planes based at BEG.
DeleteYou wish, neighbour, you wish. In reality it is more likely Air Serbia will have 30-35 planes based at BEG.
DeleteGood result overall
ReplyDeleteLet's hope they work on developing flights to the Middle East next.
ReplyDeleteThey have flights to Tehran, Doha, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv which is quite respectable. We would have had flights to Riyadh too had Flynas not had issues with capacity but I think we will get them next year.
DeleteI like that here in this blog everybody assumes that every long haul flight to New York or China and later to Chicago will have 100% load factor ! Impressive !
DeleteThere is still room for more. Especially Kuwait which is the most sought after route from the Gulf.
DeletePlus Oman.
Delete@ 11.13
DeleteI like how you are here on every single Serbian topic, always with some nasty comment. Like I told you in the past, your punctuation and spacing is your signature. Keep spreading the hate.
There is also Ankara which is in the Middle East.
DeleteI know Egypt isn't in the Middle East but rather MENA but their president is in Belgrade for three days. Hopefully they discuss a more relaxed air service agreement.
Bingo! JU vraća Kairo od Marta sledeće godine!
DeleteŠta nije jasno?????
DeleteПа није јасно ништа. Одакле та информација, ко је то рекао, да ли се зна још нешто везано за најаву авио-саобраћаја, да ли ће и Египат добити нешто...
DeleteПоприлично штуро написан коментар.
Upravo Vučić najavio na konferenciji za štampu sa Egipatskim predsednikom. Rekao je da će možda biti i ranije.
DeleteVery good news, hopefully they arrange it so that connections to ORD and JFK can be offered. Overally a very positive development for Air Serbia, BEG and CAI. Now let's hope the other side got something in return.
DeleteNadam se da će vratiti i Tel Aviv sledeće godine.
DeleteDont worry, in next few days JU is announcing 9 new routes. Some quite "exotic"
DeleteNe mogu da dočekam. Za neke već znamo Čikago,Tiranin,Kairo,verovatno će vratiti Tel Aviv i Aman,koje li su ostale?
DeleteAmman ljudi, saćekajte.
DeleteHaha, vraca se glavni grad Jordana na listu destinacija :)
Delete2023 should see BEG back to normal growth with figures surpassing 7 million.
ReplyDeleteMe thinks yous too optimistic
DeleteVINCi has done what it said it would do. Once the biggest part of the construction projects are completed, which will be during the first half of next year we will see more new airlines and routes. They are working with JU on the development of the long haul network, they are working on getting EK to fly to BEG instead of FZ and also attracting more long haul airlines from parts of the world Air Serbia is not interested in.
ReplyDeleteGood thing you said they should do all that.
DeleteWhat are those parts of the world Air Serbia is not interested in? More importantly, will airlines from those parts be willing to fly to Belgrade?
DeleteAustralia for example: Air Serbia is not and should not be interested but same is true for Qantas. Same for airlines from Latin America, Africa (except for Mediterranean) and Far East except China. What's left?
There are parts of Europe JU is not interested in, not to mention the whole world. Baltic and UK, to name a few. For long haul, India comes first to my mind.
DeleteMaybe there's a reason why they're not that interested.
DeleteProbably because they have no interest.
DeleteCould be
DeleteQuestion was for Anon at 11:15 who mentioned long haul
DeleteThe answer is quite clear.
DeleteBEG departures:
ReplyDeleteToday: 87
Tomorrow:103
Not bad
No surprise. COVID has ended. Expect increases y/y going forward
ReplyDeleteKUKU Covid has not ended, Mr Con is in the news today again spreading panic once again. I bet in the fall they will be re-introducing travel restrictions.
DeleteOh lord. I forgot about Kon, not again.
DeleteTraveled through BEG last week. Security control was fast even though the line was about 100 people at 5:00 in the morning. You don't have to take your laptop out of your bag, friendly staff. Passport control also fast, altogether about 15-20 minutes. Duty Free shop has a few 'made in Serbia' tables with some nice souvenirs.
ReplyDeleteOutside is still a mess for arriving and departing passengers, but that is to be expected during expansion reconstruction.
Overall better experience than at FRA and RKV.
Considering many airports in Europe are in chaos BEG is not doing too bad.
DeleteJust used BUD LCC airport quite recently and what a change since its last upgrade. I think that BEG also definitely needs a LCC exclusive terminal for airlines like Wizzair and eventually Ryanair if the GoS let them and stop protecting ASL that much.
DeleteBEG should designate terminal 1 for low cost, charter, and other specific flights.
DeleteOf course. Build another 200 million LCC terminal so you can save 10 eur on your next flight.
DeleteAs soon as Ryan, Easy and Wizz move their HQs to Belgrade and open thousands of jobs.
Are you not aware that terminal 1 already exists at BEG?
DeleteLOL! Are you aware Terminal 1 is NOT a terminal? Where is Terminal 1 baggage claim, passport control (both in and out), security check, gates...? Only check-in gates, and Wizz is already using them. Saying "BEG also definitely needs a LCC exclusive terminal" means hundred million or two for a new TERMINAL.
DeleteTerminal 1 can easily be updated for all of what you say. And not for hundred million or two, but for very little as all of this once existed there.
DeleteWow, that's crazy. Do you know what concession means?
DeleteWhy in the world would Vinci not want to retrofit terminal 1 if they could make money on it?
DeleteThere's imaginary fairytale world where T1 can be easily turned into LCC terminal as you dream about it and there's a real world where options for T1 were considered and detailed plans were finalized and committed to years ago. Keep dreaming and come back when you wake up.
DeleteBasically what people call Terminal 1 is just a small, box shaped construction from 1962. Right behind it one can find a part of Terminal 2 with gates A6-A10. Turning T1 into an LCC part would also require taking away parts of T2 and re-purposing it. This won't happen as reconstruction of this area has already begun.
DeleteOnly airport in our region that has a completely separate terminal for LCCs is Sofia. BUD shut down their old Terminal 1, Bucharest moved everything to OTP by closing BBU, LCC and legacy operations were also merged in ATH... so why should BEG create unnecessary complications if LCCs have no problem sharing infrastructure with legacies?
Yes Nemjee, Sofia T1 LCC terminal is built like in the 1930s and you can imagine that it is in a horror state similar to many other LCC terminals in Europe.
DeleteBEG needs a proper LCC terminal with no air-bridges similar to the one in BUD or SOF and this will persuade Ryanair to finally launch new flights from there.
Nije sam u glavi
DeleteI would like to see more flight to Arabian countries like Maroc, Egypt, UAE and Saudi Arabia .
ReplyDeleteAir Arabia does not only fly from Abu Dhabi and Sharjah but also from Egypt and Maroc .
Marrakech but also Alexandria come to my mind .
Alexandria is such a wonderfull place and just south of Greece !
Wait wait my friend :) JU is announcing in next few days 9 new routes, some will feed your appetite :)
DeleteWait and see my friend.
Delete