Most EX-YU capital airports see strong London performance

The majority of the former Yugoslavia’s capital city airports saw solid growth on flights to and from London during the first half of the year when compared to the same period in 2023. British Airways fuelled an increase in passenger numbers in Belgrade and Ljubljana, while Ryanair was responsible for the strong growth in Sarajevo.

London passenger performance H1 2024

Based on data provided by the UK Civil Aviation Authority, Belgrade overtook Zagreb to have the most traffic out of the EX-YU capitals to and from London, with 123.511 passengers handled. In addition to British Airways’ entry onto the market, Wizz Air managed to grow its passenger figures by 17%, while Air Serbia also added more flights on the London route. The British flag carrier is due to end its operations to Belgrade in September, although Nikola Tesla Airport hopes the airline will return next summer. On the other hand, easyJet has secured slots to launch flights between London and Belgrade this coming winter, however, it may choose to utilise the allocated times for another route.

Zagreb Airport saw 120.867 passengers on its London flights, an improvement of 10.5% on last year. The figures continue to be fuelled by Ryanair, which handled 66.732 travellers on its Stansted service, compared to the combined total of 52.135 travellers welcomed by Croatia Airlines and British Airways on their respective Heathrow flights. Overall, Ryanair increased its passenger figures on the Zagreb - London route by 18.2% in H1 2024 compared to last year. At the same time, the Heathrow service managed a 1.7% improvement.

Ljubljana Airport benefited from British Airways, which upgraded its seasonal operations between the two capitals to year-round. Figures on the London service increased 11.7% with an additional 7.815 passengers handled on H1 2023. British Airways and easyJet were able to make up for Wizz Air, which discontinued its Luton - Ljubljana service in February. easyJet grew its passenger numbers 16.7%. British Airways will downgrade its Ljubljana route back to summer seasonal starting this winter.

In Pristina, 50.993 travellers flew with Wizz Air to and from Luton, down 20%. Wizz Air, as the only carrier on the London route, cut capacity by 19.3% between the two cities, Podgorica overtook Skopje, registering an 8.5% increase in passenger numbers. Despite serving the Montenegrin capital from London Gatwick seasonally, Wizz Air managed to outperform Ryanair, which operates year-round between Stansted and Podgorica, during the months when they both ran flights (March - June).

Sarajevo Airport also overtook Skopje, handling 31.384 passengers during the first half of the year, with its strong growth generated by Ryanair, which launched operations from London Stansted to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital in April. It trounced Wizz Air performance-wise, handling 12.751 travellers between April and June, compared to its low cost rival’s 8.915 passengers. Finally, Wizz Air saw its figures decline 1.5% on the Luton - Skopje service. Capacity on the route remained mostly unchanged, declining 0.9% in H1 2024.