Airports across the former Yugoslavia handled 8.571.957 passengers during the first half of the year, with one exceeding two million travellers and a further two eclipsing one million customers so far. Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport retained its position as the busiest, ranking withing the top eighty on the continent and was followed by Pristina and Zagreb. Ljubljana, Tivat and Mostar are witnessing the slowest recovery with Slovenia’s main gateway at 44.6% of pre-Covid traffic levels, Tivat at 44.9% and Mostar at just 15.4%. Ljubljana is still dealing with the fallout from Adria Airways’ bankruptcy, while Tivat has been hit hard by the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and European geopolitics, losing tourists from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Mostar no longer has any scheduled flights following the withdrawal of Eurowings. It only started seeing more notable charter operations in July.
H1 airport performance
During the month of June, a number of airports in the former Yugoslavia saw their monthly traffic figures close in on pre-Covid traffic levels. During the month, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Albania, Greece and Armenia were the only markets on the continent whose numbers have exceeded those prior to the global health emergency, while Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey were close to reaching parity. Apart from Ukraine, which has lost all traffic due to the ongoing war, and Belarus, which is sanctioned by most of Europe, Slovenia was the worst performing European market, followed by Finland, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic. Belgrade and Split ranked within the continent’s top 100 airports during the month, at 78th and 92nd position respectively, with Dubrovnik, Zagreb and Pristina close by. Zadar overtook Sarajevo, Podgorica, and Ljubljana during June, fuelled by Ryanair’s exceptional growth from the city.
June airport performance
The Director General of Airports Council International Europe, Olivier Jankovec, said, “These numbers speak for themselves. If Covid-19 caused an unprecedented collapse in passenger traffic for Europe’s airports, the rebound we have experienced this spring is equally extraordinary. The fact that volumes across the continent still remained ‑28.3% below pre-pandemic levels for the first half of the year should not eclipse the sheer and unprecedented unleashing of pent-up demand that has occurred since March”. Passenger traffic in the European airport network jumped by 247% during the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2022, resulting in airports across the continent handling an additional 660 million passengers.
Tivat is really struggling. It looks like it will be one of the rare airports with fewer passengers than last year.
ReplyDeleteWell they lost 3 markets that produced 60% of their traffic. No surprise.
DeleteTivat was greatly dependent on the Russian market for tourist traffic. Much more than other airports in the Balkans.
DeleteWith Russian travel abroad cratering the countries and their airports most dependent on Russian tourists will suffer.
Others will manage to fully replace them this year with Europeans, others will not.
Montenegro should focus a lot more on the European tourist market.
DeleteAnd it should offer incentives for year round ferry service to Bari, Italy.
The Italian market is massive and Tivat can be tremendously benefit from it.
It doesn't help that Podgorica gets preferential treatenent by airport operator. Give me a valid reason why Flynas from Saudi Arabia is flying to Podgorica and not Tivat when not a single one of those passengers will step foot in the city of Podgorica.
DeleteThis is true. It has been the case for several years with airlines being offered better conditions in Podgorica rather than Tivat.
DeleteInteresting that the number of Turkish tourists in Serbia exploded. I think it has to do with the destination. People don't want to be ripped off while getting a really bad offer from Montenegro.
DeleteAnonymous 09:33 to be fair beach destinations are more expensive than inland destinations.
DeleteIt is true for all countries. Croatia, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey etc.
Yes but prices in MNE are out of control. Less Serbs are going there as well especially now that Spain became crazy popular.
DeleteWell, 2 beach chairs+umbrella is 12 EUR in one of the best beaches in Palma de Mallorca with CRYSTAL CLEAR WATER and Blue flag. You cannot get that in MNE. You can only get stomach virus...
DeleteIn Cyprus it is even cheaper (7 Euros) since all beaches are owned by the government not to mention that it is cleaner than Montenegro.
DeleteU Solunu dinar somun
DeleteMNE has no good value for money so actually there is no reason to go there…
DeleteOh Ljubljana... :(
ReplyDeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteAnd imagine how big this Bravo could be if Croatia Airlines were a decent airline
DeleteWhat are the figures for Kraljevo?
ReplyDeleteNobody knows. Airport operator has refused to provide them to any media.
DeleteIt is the same operator as for INI, so it is unusual thst it would publish for INI and not for KVO
DeleteThat is weird cause it has the same operator as INI and the statistics for it were provided.
DeleteWell it is what it is. They don't want to. There was even an article about it somewhere. Considering those in charge of running the company, I'm not surprised at all
DeleteAre they obliged to do it?
DeleteAnonymous 11:55
DeleteWhat do they have to hide?
Three-digit monthly passenger numbers with pricy PSO
DeleteThose Mostar numbers are a disaster.
ReplyDeleteMostar's numbers are pathetic.
DeleteNice to see BEG in top 80.
ReplyDeleteI think we can conclude that BEG will definitely stay in the top 100 by the end of the year. Let's see if there will be any other from ex-Yu.
Delete@ Ex-Yu Aviation:
ReplyDeleteDid you try to approach to Airports of Serbia or KVO to take some pax figures?
I wonder if Split will end up ahead of ZAG this year
ReplyDeleteDoubt it. ZAG will have a strong winter thanks to Ryanair.
DeleteI think ZAG so manage to be second busiest in ex-Yu this year. PRN might be fifth behind SPU and DBV.
Delete*will not so
DeleteDBV is dead in winter. So Pristina will stay ahead.
DeleteDamn...BEG is really doing well and I think in July it will increase the difference with the rest.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations
ReplyDeleteThanks for these numbers. Interesting results and good to do a comparison of who is where.
ReplyDeleteNis is getting close to Tuzla
ReplyDeleteIf Wizz keeps cancelling destinations from Tuzla it might even surpass it.
DeleteINI is developing really nicely especially this year with all the charter traffic.
Delete@9.34 I don't think it will happen because Ryanair starts Tuzla in October and will develop quickly.
DeleteForgot Ryanair is coming
DeleteGood recovery by most
ReplyDeleteInteresting that in June BEG and SOF were very close
ReplyDeleteYes numbers were very close. We'll see what happens in July.
DeleteStill, there is a significant difference.
DeleteHow many passengers in total did ex-Yu airports have in H1 2019?
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Banja Luka. Knowing where the airport was just a few years ago, these are excellent results.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteOh dear, poor Mostar
ReplyDeleteAn airport that is a hostage of politics.
DeleteUnfortunately :(
DeleteTheir only hope is for an LCC to come but with unprofessional and corrupt management handpicked by politicians, it won't happen.
DeleteGood results overall.
ReplyDelete8.6 million passengers for 6 months divided over 22 airports is a terrible result if you ask me.
DeleteAnon 10:03 very true.
DeleteATH alone had 8,975,700 pax during the first 6 months of the year.
And ATH carries less than 40% of Greece's air traffic.
You can't compare ATH with Ex-Yu airports , ATH is a big hub and its getting bigger and bigger due to Greece's tourism and A3 expansion.
DeleteLol these comparisons
DeleteHe did not compare BEG or ZAG with Athens.
DeleteHe compared 22 airports in 7 countries with a total population 5 times bigger than Athens has.
Instead of congratulating each other we need to work much harder.
This is why looking at Ex Yu market as a whole makes sense. Despite differences Ex Yu is sharing many common traits and passenger numbers are much smaller compared to ATH, BUD or OTP. Looking at Ex Yu is not a sign of nostalgia, just a reality for this group of small markets with plenty of growth potential.
DeleteAnonymous 15:04
Delete+1
BUD isn't so much ahead.
DeleteATH is.
Of course ATH handles more traffic than than the six ex-YU republics when they have successfully killed all attempts to activate an alternative airport in Athens. Do you know how often there were plans to convert various ex-military airports into an LCC airport that would serve Athens. ATH has successfully killed every single one of them.
DeleteLook at the map of Greece and tell me where is the first real airport that is competing with ATH? Athens is home to over 4.5 million people, that's more than any country in ex-YU with the exception of Serbia. For many heading to the Greek islands via ferries, ATH is the point of arrival.
I believe Volos is the closest active civilian airport and before covid they were handling around 50.000 passengers per year.
Sorry, military airports, not ex-military.
DeleteATH is a horribly expensive airport (taxes-wise), no wonder they want to protect their position.
DeleteIndeed and for the money they charge they offer very little in return. I think BEG already has more airbridges than ATH. On top of that they never fully integrated their satellite terminal which is a shame. ATH needs a major overhaul and the construction of a second terminal as it was initially planned next to the western runway.
Delete@NEMJEE don't be jealous that ATH is a major tourist destination and BEG is not , that 3 airlines from USA 2 from Canada the 3 big from middle east are coming by themselves to ATH and
DeleteNon of them are coming to BEG .
DeleteI think they're planning to build one more satellite terminal and expand the main terminal building more although the master plan is one more main mirror terminal on the other side plus 4 more satellite terminals. If ATH completes its expansion plans in some years its gonna be a HUGE airport.
Delete@18.32 I think you need help
DeleteAnon 18.33
DeleteProblem is that they keep on talking about that expansion but nothing was really done about it. We will see what they do now in post-covid era because something has to change (for the better).
I'm not really sure but I read that by September 2023 they're gonna have ready the satellite terminal expansion and the main terminal south expansion.
DeleteLjubljana airport should really wake up
ReplyDeleteDoesn't look like it will under Fraport.
DeleteUnless a new national airline is created or an LCC establishes a base in Ljubljana, numbers will stay under 1 million per year.
DeleteSarajevo is this years success story.
ReplyDeleteIt has certainly flourished under the current management.
DeleteThe only thing that irritates me is the never ending terminal expansion (which is a far cry from being a major project) and the obvious corruption involved with it.
DeleteThere is no corruption involved in the reconstruction of SJJ terminal. The thing is that they started expanding it just before Corona, with their own money that they accumulated. Then Corona hit, they had to stop all the works, and redirect the money to cover the losses for almost two years. They finally recently got a loan from a bank to continue the works, so thats why it was prolonged until the end of the year.
DeleteI wish it were that simple but there is corruption involved with selection of contractor, the value of the construction, the reason they are so slow and of course there is a political connection in all of it.
DeleteThere was an article on one Bosnian investigative website about it but I can't find it now.
DeleteHow do the top exyu airports compare to the rest of the region?
ReplyDeleteI think TIA will have as many passengers as ZAG this year which I think is extremely impressive
DeleteOTP far ahead of all Ex-Yu airports.
DeleteHow many passengers does OTP have?
Delete10:22 As many passengers as ZAG? TIA handled 2.1m in H1. That's almost as many as BEG.
DeleteYes I say as many as ZAG because TIA has a strong winter but in summer their numbers are weaker compared to ex-Yu airports which is already visible in June.
DeleteTIA numbers will be interesting to follow especially since Wizz Air has many cuts there these days.
DeleteIn June, TIA handled 500k which would still put 2nd in the list. TIA is well above ZAG, summer and winter included.
DeleteNemjee There were cuts but there are still many more flights than last summer.
DeleteTIA this year is neck to neck with BEG. Only in June TIA had more than 500.000 pax. Many turists are using now TIA.
DeletePredictions are that TIA this year will get close to 5 million pax.
Yes, we can safely assume that TIA and BEG have very similar traffic figures.
DeleteIn the beginning of the year I predicted TIA to have 3.5 to 3.7 million pax this year but looking at these 6 months, id probably say that TIA will have between 3.8-4.2 millions.
Delete@10:25. 5.4 mil
DeleteWizz Air cuts in TIA.
DeleteJuly:
Tirana – Barcelona 22 > 18
Tirana – Bari 23 > 31
Tirana – Berlin 17 > 14
Tirana – Billund 9 > 5
Tirana – Bologna 43 > 26
Tirana – Cologne 13 > 9
Tirana – Dortmund 22 > 18
Tirana – Eindhoven 13 > 15
Tirana – Malmo 9 > 7
Tirana – Memmingen 22 > 20
Tirana – Milan Bergamo 62 > 54
Tirana – Paris Beauvais 13 > 11
Tirana – Perugia 8 > 4
Tirana – Rome Fiumcino 43 > 32
Tirana – Sandefjord 9 > 7
Tirana – Stockholm Skavsta 9 > 7
Tirana – Turin 22 > 18
Tirana – Venice Treviso 39 > 27
Tirana – Verona 31 > 27
August:
Tirana – Barcelona 22 > 18
Tirana – Bari 22 > 31
Tirana – Bologna 44 > 27
Tirana – Cologne 14 > 9
Tirana – Dortmund 22 > 18
Tirana – Eindhoven 13 > 17
Tirana – Milan Bergamo 62 > 53
Tirana – Milan Malpensa 62 > 57
Tirana – Rome Fiumcino 45 > 36
Tirana – Turin 22 > 18
Tirana – Venice Treviso 40 > 27
Tirana – Verona 31 > 27
At the end of 2022: ZAG&PRN 3M, TIA 4M, BEG 5M?
DeleteVery likely. I think TIA can reach 4.5
DeleteAny idea what is happening with BEG - INI route? Is anyone using it? Only transfers or does anyone actually fly this P2P? Any numbers for the route?
ReplyDeleteZadar is doing very well. Thanks Ryanair.
ReplyDeleteJedan, ali vredan! ;)
ReplyDeleteBanjaluka is truly a surprise with passenger demand. All Wizz flights, except Dortmund are on A321 and it is always packed.
ReplyDeleteBanja Luka, two words.
DeleteIt can be written as one or two words.
DeleteAnother thing worth noting is that BEG is actively working on the C gate expansion, I believe these will be C15-C18 gates. Was there yesterday and overall things are looking good. They even started putting the facade on the main entrance hall.
ReplyDeleteFor those interested, JU to LCA yesterday departed with 113 and returned with 125 passengers.
Good to hear. Yes I believe it was written here that they would start the C expansion as soon as they finish initial C expansion.
DeleteGood loads for LCA especially in the middle of the week
Kako je bila popunjena biznis klasa?
DeleteAnon 11.12
DeleteНе знам, нисам ја летео. Само ово знам. Додуше овако како сам приметио буде између 2 и 4 путника у бизнису. Такође рекли су ми људи који раде на аеродрому доле да већ неко време има све више путника који преко Београда лете за Њујорк.
Anon 10.41
Not only that but this flight was added some three weeks ago. Had they added it earlier it would have been even better.
p.s. a family friend flew yesterday on Wizz to LCA and she said that there was not a single empty seat on the flight.
flew
ReplyDeleteFlew from Lju few days ago to LHR on BA and yes the flight was full. But seeing the timetable with barely any flights and completley empty new airport was extremly depressing...
ReplyDeletei wonder if lju airport operators or a slovenian government ever take a look at this stats and feel ashamed....beeing the worst in europe? i would question myself a bit if i was them
ReplyDeleteYou expect politicians to feel shame? lol
DeleteNo, they do not even know LJU is the worst. They know its bad, but not how bad.
DeletePrishtina has explosive numbers. They had huge numbers under COVID also, due to loyal diaspora tourism. It's a well managed airport under Turkish-French concession and it's going to expand even more when Kosovars get visa liberalisation. The city is so much smaller than other Balkan capitals, and there's no access to the coast, but it still has busiest airport after Belgrade.
ReplyDeleteWhen? Visa free travel to Schengen a big if.
DeleteBeograde Bravo. Jedina metropola u ex-YU,mada ne kazem da su ostali manje vredni sto nisu metropole.
ReplyDeleteBelgrade still has some way to go before it becomes a proper metropolis. And I say this as a native Belgrader with affection for the place.
DeleteWhere did you find Osijek passenger numbers
ReplyDelete