The airports in Niš, Banja Luka, and Tuzla have registered a decline in passenger numbers during the first quarter due to reduced operations by Wizz Air and Ryanair. While this downward trend is mirrored in many smaller regional airports across Europe, it contrasts with the broader pattern in Southeast Europe, since the region has been recovering more rapidly compared to the rest of the continent. All three recently took part in the Routes Europe conference in an attempt to attract new airlines and ease their reliance on the two low cost carriers, however, ongoing supply chain issues have made it more difficult for smaller airports to forge new partnerships.
Niš Constantine the Great Airport handled 74.883 passengers during the first quarter, down 15.8% on the same period last year. The declining figures come as a result of a 12.2% slump in capacity year-on-year. Ryanair reduced its number of flights by 30%, while Wizz Air removed 35% of its Niš operations during Q1. The General Manager of operator Airports of Serbia, Mihajlo Zdravković, said, “We are currently negotiating with airlines for new flights in 2025 when we expect to have a larger number of destinations from Niš Airport. We hope that global supply chain issues will be resolved by then, which is impacting capacity growth at smaller airports. Currently, we have ten year-round routes, and three seasonal destinations”.
Banja Luka Airport welcomed 21.270 travellers through its doors during the first quarter, down 30.7% on 2023. It too was impacted by fewer flights operated by low cost carriers, as Ryanair slashed services by 45% and Wizz Air by 70%. Overall, capacity levels were down 45%. On the other hand, Tuzla Airport has been impacted by the closure of Wizz Air’s base last September. The short-lived flights operated by Lumiwings during January did little to improve the airport’s passenger performance. Furthermore, unlike during the first quarter of 2023, Ryanair is also no longer maintaining flights to the airport. Tuzla Airport’s capacity was down 63% in Q1 2024, with the airport handling just 14.737 travellers. Recently, it has engaged in talks with Turkish carriers in an attempt to secure flights from the country.
All three have done very little to attract any other airlines.
ReplyDeleteRealistically, what can they do? The airport cannot create an interest in a destination where there isn't any.
DeleteThere is plenty they can do if they want to. They can engage with local tourism authority, launch joint promotional campaign, try to secure subsidies for some routes that have the most unserved demand to reduce the risk for the airline
DeleteWhat tourism can Tuzla or Nis possibly attract? Who would go there in place of Sarajevo or Belgrade?
DeleteI don't know about Tuzla but I went to Nis for the first time last year and was very pleasantly surprised. City is clean and nice, there is quite a few things to see like the fortress, the skull tower. They have good hotels, good food, and it is clean. There are even more things to see in the surroundings. Nis actually has a lot of tourists, but all come by car, from Bulgaria and Macedonia.
DeleteTuzla and Banja Luka problems are understandable as they don't have a national airline in BiH. However Nis is different. The struggles of the airport can be blamed on the government and JU also. Why haven't they looked into picking up the capacity that Ryanair and Wizz have let go there. its a small airport they could serve with their ATR's or of they got the E170, E175.
Delete^ Because LCCs and legacy carriers are not the same. What works for an LCC does not necessarily work for a legacy airline. JU can not charge 20 euro tickets because their cost per passenger is much higher than Wizz Air's and Ryanair's (which is has the lowest cost per passenger in the world). Nis is a market where you can't charge large amounts of money for tickets because you won't have passengers.
Deleteyes that makes sense in cases and on routes where the LCC offer flights for 20 euro. but have you seen their prices? from Nis to Stockholm Arlanda is 117 euro on Ryanair. return. that's not so cheap as an LCC should be. and don't forget that Wizz and Ryanair need to fill 180 seats, while JU would only need 72, which to achieve 70% load is only 51. So there is a lot more that JU can do if they worked for it and planned for it.
DeleteSo you want JU to send an ATR from Nis to Stockholm on a flight that would last 3 hours and have its aircraft be busy with this rotation for 8 hours and you think that will be profitable for them?
Deletethe e170 doesn't take 3 hours to Stockholm. and the atr doesn't need to be used that far, enough routes much closer. there is more than 1 option and different solutions for JU to increase operations out of INI, without just denying it can be done and being reductive about it.
DeleteI guess you know demand patterns and yields better then them. They couldn't make Zurich work, the number 1 diaspora city but you expect Stockholm, which has high seasonality even from BEG to work.
Delete€117 return to Stockholm is ridiculously cheap.
Delete@10:23 Your comment is absurd because Air Serbia literally does sell 20 euro tickets to Niš. The INI-BEG flight next week on 22 May is 17 euros!!!
DeleteZagreb is next... They've allowed them selves in a monopsony situation. They'll have to pay the rachet.
DeleteCommon to them is also that they have a politically appointed management and not professionals.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteIndeed!
DeleteThe main problem.
DeleteI still can't believe how Tuzla managed to get scammed by Lumiwings. They applied AlpAvia livery before coming to Tuzla while claiming they want to fly to Tuzla for years to come. Incredible stroy
ReplyDeleteThat's simply incredible. And the airport paid them to fly in the quietest months of the year when Lumiwings would have had no contract with anyone else. What a foreseeable fiasco that was
DeleteBut Lumiwings had basically no passengers on any flights. It's not like they were packed.
DeleteIt was a perfect deal for Lumniwings, and at the end of the day, they had every right to cancel the flights, as they run out of the subsidy money. Not to mention that that 737 was simply too big for it. For that 3 millions, they should've leased E175 and operated flights themselves
DeleteLumiwings scammed Tuzla and Marathon scammed Air Serbia :) how credible are the Greek airlines?
DeleteAnd now Marathon is getting scammed in Africa, so karma got served :D
DeleteAegean and Sky Express are pretty well credible.
DeleteBut if you pay peanuts you buy monkies.
lol Tuzla Airport has been talking about Turkey flights for the last ten years. And absolutely nothing happens each and every time.
ReplyDeleteEvery year the same story.
DeleteWell they had Antalya charters every summer, just not a regular line
DeletePity that Swiss failed in Nis. They provided fantastic connectivity to the rest of the world.
ReplyDelete...which ought to be done by Air Serbia, flying two daily ATR flights.
DeleteAir Serbia tried flying to Zurich during the holidays and failed. There was not enough demand. Germania also failed a few years ago. If 3 airlines could not make it work, that tells you something.
DeleteMarek said a few weeks ago that they will only start new routes from INI if there is demand but in the short term there are no plans for new routes.
Delete^ Great...
DeleteIt will be interesting to see what happens in Nis. With the new terminal they are bound to increase fees. The only reason Wizz and Ryan came in the first place was because of the 3 euro taxes.
ReplyDeleteNot necessarily.
Delete1) Since there is more capacity, they can decrease fees, thus increase demand and be net-positive in the end.
2) New building can make airport be more attractive for passengers.
3) More efficient, so smaller bills and repair costs.
4) More retail income.
This is reasons why it CAN be cheaper, but I don’t know for sure.
"2) New building can make airport be more attractive for passengers"
DeleteHas there ever been a traveler, in the history of aviation who chose which place to visit for holidays based on how new the airport terminal building is?
For someone living in Niš or someone who regularly visits it, it can tip the balance between rare INI flight and 3h drive to BEG.
DeleteYou can barely fly anywhere from INI and you think someone will choose it because of the terminal building?
DeleteNot every town needs an airport...
ReplyDeleteWell at least these airports tried and are still working on getting flights. Maribor attempted 15 years ago and never again.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it's good to know when to give up.
DeleteWhat about easyjet and Transavia or some smaller regional European airlines lie skyalps. I think these airports still have potential.
ReplyDeleteDon’t think EasyJet has any love for this region. In Belgrade they have become such a minor player happy with a few routes and no signs of looking to grow.
DeleteeasyJet flies to Ljubljana, Pula, Rijeka, Zadar, Split, Dubrovnik, Tivat, Pristina, Belgrade, Skopje, Thessaloniki, Tirana, Sofia, Varna, Burgas, Budapest and FIFTEEN airports in Greece so the comment that they don't like the region is absurd.
DeleteGreat they fly too, you missed the point they aren’t looking at bases in the region or expanding here.
DeleteeasyJet only has bases in 7 countries and you expect them to open one in Serbia where they have a grand total of 1 route or in Croatia where they have 0 flights in the winter? Or Slovenia with 1 route or Bosnia with 0 flights?
DeleteThe previous city appointed management (before state took over the airport in Nis) was extremely proactive. They brought Wizz, Ryanair and even Swiss. Pity they are no longer in charge of the airport.
ReplyDeleteReally sad for Tuzla. Is there any hope for the airport now?
ReplyDeleteWith current management, absolutely nothing.
DeleteThe CEO of Banja Luka Airport is literally a former government minister that has absolutely no relation to aviation whatsoever. What did you expect???
ReplyDeleteThat's nuts. What was she the minister for?
DeleteEducation and culture. lol
DeleteSad
ReplyDeleteWould the situation be the same if Wizz Air wasn't facing the engine issues?
ReplyDeleteYes. No engine issues impacting Ryanair but they cut flights at all three.
DeleteBut Ryanair has a Boeing problem, with deliveries of new planes impacted, so different problem but same result of cutting capacity.
DeleteRyanair is missing dozens of planes this year from Boeing delays
DeleteSo who are they building the new terminal for in Nis?
ReplyDeleteMaybe it has a positive impact and attracts new airlines.
DeleteI don't thin infrastructure was the main problem in lack of new airlines.
Delete* think
DeleteIt is nice to have new infrastructure. But it comes with costs. We will see how sustainable it will be in the future. It may come with raising taxes that could have negative impact. Let’s see.
DeleteOhrid will soon join that list
ReplyDeleteWhy?
DeleteWizz problems.
DeleteIt was good while it lasted
ReplyDeleteHow many passengers could Banja Luka have this year?
ReplyDeleteThey announced 500 thousand, but at the moment it is not realistic. Some 400 thousand I would say.
Delete400 is too much. I would love it if Bosnia could do 2.5 million passengers, Sarajevo will do it's part but can TZL, BNX and OMO get to 700-800k together? Doubt
Deleteit's called consolidation
ReplyDeleteBH needs an airline but not owned by the state, just privately. Nobody can say that there is no potential.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that would work out...
DeleteI can definetely say that there is no potential for a Bosnian airline!
DeleteMaybe JU can think about launching routes from INI via BNX?
ReplyDeleteWhy would they do that?
DeleteJU should base one E jet in Nis for hefty subsidies and everyone will be happy
ReplyDeleteThey barely have enough planes for BEG ops and you expect them to base a plane in Nis?
DeleteThey will base ATR and a319 next year, when new routes are announced
Delete@13:57
DeleteSource for it? Let me guess, it is trust me bro. 😆
Trust me, further 8-12 routes are in preparation by Air Serbia
DeleteNis shifted overreliance on FR and W6 to overreliance on JU.
ReplyDeleteNis is soon gonna starve for flights and JU will take a monopoly there. I think that was the plan from the very beginning with these PSO flights.
DeleteI think the plan is far more devious. They will open the new Terminal and add more destinations and airlines in the next 5 years. When everyone gets used to this nice airport and many flights - THEN when no one expects it they will shut whole aiport down and put razor wire arpund the airport. What an evil plan they have!
DeleteWhat's wrong with INI relying on JU? It's a small market. Look at SKG and how focused they are on making sure Aegean is growing there and not LCCs (despite them having a considerable presence there).
DeleteAegean just announced SKG-AMS for this winter.
maybe there just isn't enough demand from the three
ReplyDeleteThere seem to have been enough demand up until now.
DeleteAnd yet people are still in love with LCCs. Sure, lets bring Ryanair to Ljubljana. Push all legacies out of it and than wait 7 months for Ryanair to decide and just leave. LJU would be once again left with nothing.
ReplyDeletePeople will learn that relying on LCCs is a last thing an airport or a country should do. If they bring anything extra, great, but apart from that, don't put to much of an effort to it.
True because if Ryanair launches 5 routes then every single airline will leave and if Ryanair leaves then nobody will return and LJU will be happy if it will have 10k passengers a year.
Delete"@Anonymous11:18
DeleteAnd yet people are still in love with LCCs"
I am not sure if you're aware almost all airports in ex-yu are served by lcc's, there might be few exceptions here and there, but if you look at largest airlines by share of flights and seats on offer, you'll find in the top 5 are at least 2 LCCs.
It’s not one or another but healthy balance between them. What is the balance really depends on the market and is not easy to manage/achieve.
DeleteOk, so now Ljubljana has neither Ryanair nor any proper legacy airline presence. Excellent!
DeleteYou cannot seriously compare Ljubljana to Tuzla.
Delete14:05 Can you explain how LJU doesn’t have any proper legacy airline? Not having so called national airline doesn’t mean no legacy. LJU actually have a very nice mix of legacy airlines, more than 10 currently flying to LJU.
DeleteOn the day the comment was written, Ljubljana had flights from Air Serbia, Lufthansa Group, Turkish Airlines, LOT, Aegean and Finnair. Ryanair would not have many to chase away
DeleteNis can capitalize on the growth of air travel to Serbia - as it is government owned and thus the profits will stay in Serbia as opposed to Vinci in Belgrade airport. It has the capacity as a secondary hub - soon the high speed train will make it an even more attractive alternative airport. There is a limit according to the contract with Vinci of 1 or 1.5 million passengers for airports other than Belgrade, Nis fits the bill. KVO does not given the small runway size
ReplyDeleteIf the goal was the profit to stay in Serbia... I think the idea is completely opposite.
Delete@1535 - The Serbian government needs to do the math of how much more money it makes per seat to fly to INI, instead of money going to Vinci per seat. It can use that formula to figure out how much to pay incentives to fly to INI per seat and remain profitable. Given that JU is still partially State owned, adding them into the mix is a double bonus (or triple if you include the economic benefit to Nis).
DeleteI think INI subsidies are not there so that people don't fly from BEG but rather for people to not do so from SKP or SOF. The more people use INI the better for the national economy.
DeleteJust look at JU's HHN flights. When they launched them they could barely get 40 passengers per flight. Now the route has matured and is performing quite well.
That's one major difference between JU and LCCs. Air Serbia can wait for a market to mature and it will stick around if it starts underperforming. LCCs on the other hand will walk away without giving it a second thought.
Nemjee excellent analysis, I never saw it that way but it makes sense. If Serbia was part of the Schengen zone I'm sure there would be a lot more passengers coming from SOF and SKP. But even without it, there are still passengers - just like people coming from Bujanovac and Vranje to SKP for other flights.
DeleteNo surprise. At all three airport these two LCCs had 80-100% capacity share.
ReplyDeleteBe very carful with Ryanair. They just announced the closure of their Bordeaux base from this winter. 40 routes gone.
ReplyDeleteRyanair blackmailed the airport but didn't get what it wanted. “We are disappointed that Bordeaux airport has not accepted the extension of our low-cost base from November 2024. Due to increasing costs, we have no other financial alternative than to close our Bordeaux base in November and relocate these planes and these jobs to less expensive bases located elsewhere in the vast network of Ryanair group airports in across Europe."
DeleteWow that's huge
Delete'...we have no other financial alternative than to close our Bordeaux base...'
DeleteAs I am sure the airport had no other financial alternative than to risk losing Ryanair. Only goes to show that the airport no longer saw FR as a desired customer. Like I wrote the other day, Ryanair wants to be profitable while offering low fares. In that equation someone has to lose, usually it's the airport.
Exactly right. People want to make drama out of anything.
DeleteIf the airport is losing, it can chase Ryanair away. And everyone is happy. No one is forcing airports to give discounts to Ryanair.
DeleteNo one is forcing them to do so except Ryanair. They are the only ones who absolutely demand massive discounts regardless of how it will affect their business partner.
DeleteWell, Ryanair stated the other day that bookings are softer for this summer so fares won't grow as much as they expected. Instead of 15% as initially anticipated it will be around 5%.
ReplyDeleteThe overall state of the European economy is to blame for this. One of the first markets to be affected by an economic downturn is the gasto one. Will be interesting to see what the upcoming winter season will look like if something doesn't change in Europe.
Så klart att Niŝ och Skopje kan inte växa ordentlig när båda har gigant Priŝtina i närheten. I sista tiden är det massa med bilar från North Makedonien som rullar på Kosovas vägar, eller egentligen motorvägen som går till Prn flygplats. Även bilar från Sandžak och Vranje och Niŝ syns oftare som går mot samma mål.
ReplyDeleteSo clearly Niŝ and Skopje cannot grow properly when both have giant Priŝtina nearby. Recently, there are a lot of cars from North Macedonia that roll on Kosova's roads, or actually the highway that goes to Prn airport. Also cars from Sandžak and Vranje and Niŝ are seen more often going towards the same goal.
ReplyDeleteI seriously doubt that there are line ups of cars from Nis to go to PRN. From Mitrovica we don't even cross the river to go to the South part of the town.
Delete