Sarajevo, Dubrovnik and Zagreb to become fastest-growing airports in Q4


The airports in Sarajevo, Dubrovnik and Zagreb will be the fastest growing in the former Yugoslavia during the fourth and final quarter of the year (October, November and December). The trio will add the most scheduled capacity on the same period last year. Sarajevo Airport will lead the way, with an additional 181.135 seats. The strong growth comes as most carriers operating to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital will maintain more flights. Notably, Ryanair brings 53.878 additional seats to Sarajevo, while Pegasus Airlines will add an extra 31.276 seats when compared to last year.

Dubrovnik and Zagreb will continue to benefit from Ryanair’s operations into the fourth quarter. Dubrovnik will see its first winter flights maintained by the budget carrier, bringing with it an additional 93.964 seats when compared to last year. In Zagreb, Ryanair is increasing its capacity by 25% on Q4 2023 by adding 77.504 seats onto the market after increasing frequencies on a number of routes over the winter and maintaining flights to several new destinations launched over the summer. Overturning its sluggish performance throughout the year, Banja Luka Airport is set to return to growth. Ryanair is again the main culprit, operating 42 additional flights out of Banja Luka during the fourth quarter by increasing frequencies on several routes, resulting in an additional 15.916 seats by the airline compared to 2023.

Scheduled capacity difference at airports in the former Yugoslavia, Q4 2024 vs Q4 2023


Belgrade will see the biggest decline in available seat capacity with over 140.000 fewer seats. This is being primarily fuelled by Wizz Air and the ongoing engine issues affecting its Airbus A320neo-family fleet. The carrier will have 111 fewer departing flights than in Q4 2023 and wipe out 139.442 seats from the market or around 25% of its capacity on the same period last year. Ljubljana is also expected to see its capacity dip in the fourth quarter, although the larger decline in available seats in November and December will be offset by growth in October. The airport could make up for the dip through charter flights, which are not included in the scheduled capacity figures.

The table above is of an informative nature and is correct as of September 24. Airlines frequently revise capacity levels by deploying larger or smaller aircraft, changing frequencies or adding and suspending routes, which will result in some changes to the figures above as the fourth quarter progresses.



Comments

  1. Anonymous09:02

    Nice to see Sarajevo at the top of the lists after such a long time.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous09:04

    What is the difference in capacity in LJU for November and December compared to 2023?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous09:06

    Bravo Hrvatska!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous09:06

    Bravo Fraport! Nowhere near recovery but now going backwards.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:08

      How dare you with those conspiracies!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:12

      Anon 09:08
      It is a well known ExYu blog fact that Fraport is actively sabotaging LJU because they hate us!
      All the other airports they own they do like them but Slovenia and LJU they just bought oit to sabotage it!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:15

      Who is "us"? You live in Berlin!

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:16

      Ahahahaha

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:34

      Perhaps the management team in LJU isn't good.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:37

      @9:34 how dare you with those conspiracies! Fraport Slovenija has the best management in EX-YU. Genius idea of "charter hub" will put LJU in number 1 spot of added capacity! Other airports should look and learn from LJU.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:07

    More green than red so that is good.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:15

      Ouch for BEG though!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:35

      We all know it is only temporary in BEG.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:09

    Basically top 3 airports all seeing big growth due to Ryanair.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:09

      And bottom 3 all seeing contraction due to Wizz Air.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:10

      Pegasus plays a role too

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:11

      Only in Sarajevo

      Delete
    4. Anonymous17:47

      Lol that comment @09:09. SJJ without Ryanair and Pegasus added around 100k seats. I wouldn´t call that "due to just Ryanair".

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:09

    Good BNX FINALLY going back to growth.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:13

      +100

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:36

      Not sure where the numbers are coming from though? Air Serbia (as usual) announced 3 fights per week and again put it back to 2 -_-

      Delete
    3. Anonymous16:30

      It's not a route that follows some market logic so it can be 2, 5, 15 flights, depending on the amount that the government of RS wants to pay.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous16:37

      Why not just read the article? It says exactly where the growth in Banja Luka is coming from. Does anyone read before they comment?

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:10

    Sorry , but didn't everybody say here in this blog that BEG will grow numbers because of Air Serbia's growth espesially in Q4 of the year ??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:11

      No one knew how big of a difference Wizz Air cuts would be. Removing 25% of your flights is huge for any airport.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:13

      W6 removed 25% of all BEG seats?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:17

      Yes, read the article
      "The carrier will have 111 fewer departing flights than in Q4 2023 and wipe out 139.442 seats from the market or around 25% of its capacity on the same period last year."

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:18

      There will be some adjustment for JU in the next week or so. Shanghai will be scheduled and 2-3 routes extended over winter and maybe one or two routes added.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:29

      It is strange that W6 despite having big issues with NEO engines not only it did not cut capacity on other bases but increased it.
      Why such a big reduction in BEG?

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:32

      W6 needs to be punished. Rising taxes for 25% should be the first measure

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:34

      @9.29 because what you wrote is simply not true. They have cut at a lot of bases.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous09:35

      @09:32
      You need to take a chill pill.
      And then realize that if W6 is singled out by the Government to be punitive taxed the airline will get awarder more money by European courts for being the victim of unfair market practices.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous09:37

      @09:34
      They have cut a lot of bases but few had a 25% reduction in capacity.
      And many has actually an increase!
      25% cut is huge, especially when you consider that W6 had only a reduction of its fleet due to Pratt in the single digits!

      Delete
    10. @anon 09:10. todays post doesn't change that BEG will grow and have more passengers than 2023. from January to august BEG has an 8% growth in passenger numbers.

      Delete
    11. In Q4 Wizz Air bases are affected across the board. Sofia -13.4%, Larnaca -12.0%, Skopje -21%, Vilnius -27.5%, Varna -24.7%, Kutaisi -11.7%, Catania -11.6%, Naples -21.9%, Venice -31.6%, Katowice -12.8%, Wroclaw -41.1%, Craiova -31.5%, Iasi -12.3%, Sibiu -1.8%,

      Delete
    12. Anonymous09:52

      Thank you very much admin!

      And we keep reading from so call analiticar that only BEG has cuts. Pathetic!

      Delete
    13. Anonymous09:54

      And they are also closing Debrecen base on 27 October.

      Delete
    14. Anonymous10:02

      Admin what about their TIA base?

      Delete
    15. Anonymous10:32

      What about it?

      Delete
    16. Anonymous11:35

      My guess is that BEG is highly competitive (thanks to JU mostly), so profit margins for W6 are smaller. Thus they prioritise BEG lower and make bigger cuts.

      Delete
    17. Anonymous12:08

      @9:35

      And you need a reality pill. Company can not have the same discount for 500.000 passengers and for 250.000 passengers per year. There have to be classess of prices at the airport. When you have a passenger growth, it’s normal to have better price, but you have passenger decline, it’s also normal to have higher price per passenger. If you just sit and watch, they will do whatever they want. If you act protective, they will find the way to keep their business stabile

      Delete
    18. Anonymous14:00

      Admin, do you know what is in common to all of this airports? Ryanair...or if not Ryanair, then another LCC, what Belgrade does NOT have. Sofia has a number of Ryanair flights, Vilnius, Catania, Nalpes, Venice, Katowice, Wroclaw...should I continue?

      Delete
    19. Anonymous14:11

      Typical. He is shown the proof Wizz is the reason for temporary capacity dip, but keeps pushing his agenda regardless. Finding facts are not his goal. Since Air Serbia has demonstrated ability to compete with Wizz on majority of routes, he keeps pushing for Ryanair in Belgrade in hopes that would hurt Air Serbia. That's his only goal.

      Delete
    20. Anonymous15:20

      Who is he?

      Delete
    21. Anonymous15:23

      Well Ryan is better LCC than Wizz, I believe almost everyone would prefer them over W6 in Belgrade, that's not so strange. If JU can fight Wizz (and they proved more than once they can), I don't see why it would be different with Ryan... None of them can have transfers and without transfers no LCC airline will fill its (huge) plane on many destinations from and to Belgrade. Heck we do't have many legacy airlines flying that kind of plane to Belgrade. Ryan shouldn't be afraid of, they open new markets, something Wizz never ever has done in Belgrade.

      Delete
    22. Anonymous15:35

      +3

      Delete
    23. Anonymous16:53

      Almost everyone would prefer FR over W6 in Belgrade? Did you server any evidence for that nonsense? Wizz never opened a market from Belgrade? Never???

      Two more examples your agenda is not based on facts. Just a confirmation what Anon 14:11 comment explains - your disregard for facts and exposes your real goal.

      Delete
    24. Slav.Man20:49

      Ryanair is far worse than wizz.
      Ryan air has even worse charges and pushing restrictions and ofcourse their last minute aircraft changes. So even if you pay for a seat it will be easier to rob a bank than getting a refund you deserve from ryanair

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:14

    Everyone wants to visit beautiful Dalmatia!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous09:28

    Rijeka still can't wake up. Entire year has been in minus.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous09:29

    Fantastic news for Sarajevo and well deserved.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:52

      Yes, finally the airport and city living up to its potential.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:58

      great indeed!
      Anyone knows did authorities solve the problem during foggy weather? What Cat is installed at airport?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous21:25

      Still nothing, only some study is being worked on, same as always unfortunately, hopefully when they finish the runway expansion, but even that is blocked due to that stupid dispute with RS authorities due to their stupid policy.
      I'm hoping for the best still.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:29

    TAV u Makedoniji rastura. Svaka čast.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous09:34

    How about PRN? We all know that huge capacity comes from charters and that is not listed as its never known ahead. I expect PRN growth numbers to be closer to Dubrovnik.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:37

      Or maybe the charter flights are down and scheduled flights up

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:54

      Yes, scheduled flights are up 97k seat, says the article. I quickly looked at July announced capacity vs nr. of passengers achieved (not the same as we don't know Load rate) and it was 35% more passenger than announced capacity. I am aware that july is most busy month and Reiseburos may have contracted more charters, but december is also a busy month. All in all not much is changed in PRN, highest taxes in the region. A lot of passengers travelling to SKP and TIA. I had over 10 flights in last two years: 6 from SKP, 2 from TIA and 2 from PRN. I know this is anectodal evidence, but I know a lot of people travelling through SKP and TIA. For a family of four, total cost difference is anywhere between 400 and 800 euros. So travelling to SKP and TIA for that amount it makes a lot of sense at least for me and my family.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:11

      @09:54

      +97k reflects growth only in scheduled flights. Around 40% capacity in PRN remains unaccounted for as it's charters.

      So real capacity growth could be up anywhere between 97k to 150k. Nothing extraordinary as it means only 15% capacity growth..

      Real news is Sarajevo. And Dubrovnik, (given its rather a seasonal Airport and this is Q4 we talking about).

      Delete
    4. Anonymous17:42

      In this case I totally agree!

      Delete
  14. Lets see how OU responds to the increased competition from FR

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:48

      They haven't responded in 3 years. What makes you think they will respond now?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:49

      OU has highly respected management so for sure they will add a lot of new routes.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:52

      Sure, that must be the reason why they still haven't reached pre-Covid passenger numbers or network size after 5 years.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:04

      They added 3 routes this year. Bravo OU!

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:37

      All are gone in winter.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:47

    Sarajevo finally starting to show its potential, well done! :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous10:11

    It's not good to see that BEG capacity shrink is not entirely driven by W6.

    Yes, major part of it (-142) is driven by W6 (-139), but that means that other airlines' capacity is also going in the same direction (-3), albeit at a much less dramatic rate.

    I expected JU and others could partially compensate W6 decrease, but unfortunately not.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:34

      Not?

      In August there was 50.000 less seats offered by W6, but BEG still had growth. Minimal, but growth.

      How on Earth then JU and others did not compensate it?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:10

      Mate, this article is about future - Q4 capacity is 142k down, whereas W6 decrease is -139, meaning others are also decreasing their capacity by 3k.

      Therefore, Q4 BEG capacity trend is decrease overall, not only W6.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:24

      3k is nothing for BEG, less than statistical error so there is no need even to talk about it, mate.

      We still do not know what kind of new frequencies or possible destinations JU will introduce.

      "The table above is of an informative nature and is correct as of September 24. Airlines frequently revise capacity levels by deploying larger or smaller aircraft, changing frequencies or adding and suspending routes, which will result in some changes to the figures above as the fourth quarter progresses.".

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:38

      It is true that 3k decrease is nothing, but the fact that other airlines didn't increase seats to replace W6 is notable.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:40

      ^^^
      Why we should not talk about airlines in BEG decreasing capacity YoY when almost all other airports in Europe have great increases compared with the same period in 2023?
      Are we only allowed to talk about positive things?

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:41

      Maybe it's not huge, but it's something we're seeing for the first time, so the change of trend.

      In the past couple of months, W6 was cutting frequencies, but other airlines' actions were going in the opposite direction - what we see now is that others as well are decreasing.

      So, even if you removed W6 completely from the table in the article, BEG would be in red - you want to say this is expected and normal?

      If yes, what made you think BEG will have lower capacity in Q4 24 than in Q4 23?

      Delete
    7. If Wizz Air was to be removed completely, the difference in capacity would be -0.1%, while flights would be up 1%.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous11:46

      I am saying that we still do not know what will be the final result and it has been stated here.

      3k is nothing so it can be easily changed at the end that we have only W6 cuts and nothing more.

      It is highly possible that final BEG results will be better than expected as it was the case in August.

      So all I am sayin' is...be patient.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous11:47

      Thank you admin!

      It clearly shows that there are no cuts from other companies except W6. We might even see some growth from them.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous13:28

      Where can I buy Pink glasses where -0.1% is a small growth?

      No, sorry guys, but BEG is stagnating in Q4 and this is not related to W6, unlike prior periods.

      Delete
    11. Foreign carriers currently have 5.2% capacity growth year-on-year in Q4 if Wizz Air is excluded.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous14:05

      So JU has a capacity reduction in Q4.
      Why is that?

      Delete
    13. Anonymous15:03

      Great post admin!
      Some people keep hitting the wall and FAIL..

      Delete
    14. Anonymous15:19

      Exactly! Some people simply can't accept they were wrong.

      Admin, please stop ruining his black picture...not.

      Delete
    15. Anonymous15:35

      haha priceless

      Delete
    16. Anonymous15:36

      So, JU has capacity decrease in Q4? Or Embraer flights are not calculated? How come, I don't get it?

      Delete
    17. Anonymous16:08

      Wow, then JU has considerable decline.

      So, it’s not W6 only that’s driving BEG capacity decrease, it’s JU fault as well.

      That’s not in line what we’ve been told here lately.

      Delete
    18. Anonymous16:12

      Considerable not, decline yes. And yes, it looks a bit concealed.

      Delete
    19. Anonymous16:13

      Thanks Admin for busting JU fanboys’ myth about growth where we can see that in fact it’s declining.

      Delete
    20. Anonymous16:17

      JU has not finalized its winter schedule. So I would hold off before unscrewing the champagne and celebrating.

      Delete
    21. Anonymous16:23

      If JU hadn't finalized its schedule, then the entire article doesn't make sense. No one is celebrating or hating, just stating what is known at the moment and obvious but hidden with many comments calling out the haters.

      Delete
    22. Anonymous16:24

      "The table above is of an informative nature and is correct as of September 24. Airlines frequently revise capacity levels by deploying larger or smaller aircraft, changing frequencies or adding and suspending routes, which will result in some changes to the figures above as the fourth quarter progresses."

      I would say you seem rather excited.

      Delete
    23. Anonymous16:25

      So, your point is that we shouldn't be commenting this article?

      Delete
    24. Anonymous16:28

      Nobody was talking about JU, but about BEG.

      Your statement:
      "Therefore, Q4 BEG capacity trend is decrease overall, not only W6."

      Proved wrong by admin.

      Your statement:
      "It is true that 3k decrease is nothing, but the fact that other airlines didn't increase seats to replace W6 is notable."

      Proved wrong. Other airlines increase BEG for 5.2%.

      Now after being totally destroyed by arguments about BEG, you are moving to JU although airlines are not subject of this article, but airports. Obviously no more place to hide.

      Truly pathetic.

      Delete
    25. Anonymous16:31

      @16.25 No, the point is to tame your excitement. The JU decrease is currently minor and will change most likely when they load their schedule.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous10:27

    Admin. It would be good to see what the capacity was in Q4 2023 and what it is like in Q4 2024 for all airports

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous10:52

    Congratulations SJJ, DBV, ZAG

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous10:53

    I'm very happy to see Tivat back to growth.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous10:53

    Macedonia from record growth in q1 to decline for rest of the year...

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous11:24

    Bravo!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous12:03

    This happens when BEG relies only on 2 airlines for major of its connectivity. Hopefully they will try to attract some other airlines if nothing only during summer period. I would love to see easyJet from LC in Belgrade, or TAP that has amazing connectivity to South America.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:10

      +1
      BEG having year round service from only 21-22 airlines is something that needs to be fixed.
      I understand that less competition is good for JU but not for BEG or the country for that matter.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:12

      I really do not understand that JU flies to 5 cities in Spain and Iberia does not fly any single route to BEG.
      Also, JU flies to 4 destinations in Scandinavia and SAS flies to single route to BEG.
      JU flies to 8 destinations in Italy and ITA holds no single route to BEG.
      Really strange.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:24

      If we had IB flights to MAD and AZ flights to FCO we could have way better connectivity with north and south America. With SK to CPH we could get good prices for flights to US.
      Not to mention better competition for flights to western Europe.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:51

      What a bunch a nonsense repeated on a regular basis. Agenda: manufacturing the idea of Belgrade being in a desperate need of competiton on existing routes operated by Air Serbia. Debunked every time.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous15:42

      But we had AZ flights to FCO and JU had better performance in Rome back then. They're cutting 4 flights this winter, with no legacy competition. Competition is good thing, it makes companies think and work better and it gives options to consumers. Please debunk better.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous17:30

      FCO in 2023 still didn't recover to 2019 levels unlike BEG. BEG-FCO market is just 0.4% below 2019, so that market is doing better now than FCO airport overall. JU is adding more FCO frequencies next summer. Oh and a little explanation for those who can think on their own: Air Serbia added a bunch of new destinations in Italy since 2019, a main reason why passengers have no need to transfer with ITA at FCO when they can go directly to Naples, Bari, Palermo etc. Overall JU strategy led to better performance and more frequencies to Italy than before.

      As for cutting flights this winter, that's what any reasonable airline would to. Air Canada sending daily 77W to Rome (add ITA and Transat) but no flights at all during mid-winter in late January for example. Why don't you talk to those airlines and explain your theories? You have been debunked once again, as always.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous18:13

      Anonymous17:30 My comment is that companies as ITA Airways and Tap could bring better connectivity to Belgrade with N and S America, plus probably code share between Air Serbia and ITA will finish once Lufthansa get it stake there. And my comment is not against AirSerbia but rather BEG connectivity with rest of Europe and world

      Delete
    8. Anonymous18:17

      Belgrade's connectivity with Europe currently counts 110 destinations.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous18:41

      Current North America connectivity from Belgrade is far superior with Air Serbia nonstop flights to JFK and ORD (plus code share with JetBlue and interline with American), and one stop connections with LH, KL, LO, TK and others. Not much ITA and TAP can offer those other can't, except for some South America destinations where demand from BEG is much lower.

      Delete
  23. Anonymous14:06

    For those who are listing other airports with Wizz Air cuts, do you know what is in common to all of this airports? Ryanair...or if not Ryanair, then another LCC, what Belgrade does NOT have. Sofia has a number of Ryanair flights, Vilnius, Catania, Nalpes, Venice, Katowice, Wroclaw...should I continue?

    Actually only Skopje and Craiova don't have any LCC alternative that could compense Wizz. Same like Tuzla didn't have. That pattern happened in Belgrade case.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:08

      You are seriously comparing Tuzla and Belgrade? Seek help.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:17

      Wizz Air did not close its base in Belgrade. It temporarily reduced operations due to engine issues. Wizz Air’s CCO has said they will return to growth at Belgrade base in summer 2025.
      https://www.exyuaviation.com/2024/04/wizz-air-to-return-to-growth-in-2025.html

      Belgrade Airport has a record number of passengers this year. So your point of Belgrade being the same as Tuzla really is funny.

      The airports you listed are all located in countries significantly larger than Serbia. You are comparing Poland or Italy with Serbia, one of which is the mot visited countries on earth.

      All the airports mentioned are in the European Union, which does have an impact on daily travel. My suggestion is not to worry too much at what is happening at BEG. Despite your worries 2024 will still be its busiest year and in 2024 BEG is connected to more cities with nonstop flights than ever before, Considering you are so worried about BEG, that should truly make you happy.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous15:08

      xaxa some people should apply to be clowns .. what bunch of nonsense..
      ANALiticara na sve strane.

      Delete
  24. Gotta love Brač. Absolutely 0 change.

    The rest question is: was it 0 scheduled seats in total last year, and 0 seats again?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The *real question...

      Damn you "autocorrect."

      Delete
  25. Anonymous15:37

    Dear @EX Yu- please help, for ZAG is it +113k or 77.5k for Q4? Text says 77.5k while in the table it says +113k. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The article states that Ryanair itself is bringing in 77.504 extra seats to Zagreb but overall capacity growth among all airlines is 113.135, as indicated in the table.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous16:55

      oh, ok - thanks for your help Ex Yu

      Delete
  26. Anonymous16:51

    Anyone knows what's happening with Niš, it goes down without many comments?

    ReplyDelete