EX-YU airports to see mixed start to 2025, Air Serbia largest airline


Three capital city airports in the former Yugoslavia will see their capacity levels reduced during the first month of 2025, which may result in a decline in passenger numbers. Air Serbia will return to the top spot as the region’s largest carrier during January after being pipped by Wizz Air in December.

Belgrade Airport has the most available seats on scheduled flights in January, standing at 763.641. The figure represents a decrease of 5.2% on 2024. Wizz Air is the main culprit for the decline, reducing its capacity by 24.1% year-on-year and wiping out 39.645 seats off the market. Air Serbia will continue to maintain its position as the largest carrier, holding 48.4% of all available scheduled capacity at the airport. Zagreb follows as the second largest with 411.151 available seats on scheduled flights during the month. It represents an increase of 11.1% on the previous year. Croatia Airlines will retain its position as the largest carrier at the airport, with 43.1% of available capacity. It is followed by Ryanair with 27.3% of all available seats.

Skopje Airport will again be impacted by Wizz Air’s frequency cuts during the month, boasting 261.502 seats in January, down 14.6%. Wizz Air, which will reduce capacity by 27.6%, or 55.546 seats, will hold a 55.7% share, while Pegasus Airlines comes second with a 12.8% share. Pristina Airport will have 245.645 available seats, however, it has numerous flights sold exclusively through tour operators which are considered as charters. Therefore, these are not included in the overall scheduled seat capacity. If only seats on scheduled flights are taken into account, the airport sees an increase of 5.7% in capacity on the previous year. Wizz Air has the largest volume of scheduled seats, holding an 19.6% share, ahead of easyJet with 18.2%.

Sarajevo Airport has 161.594 scheduled seats on the market in January, representing an increase of 37.8% on 2024. Pegasus Airlines, which has increased its capacity by 28.8% year-on-year, is the largest carrier with 18.5% of capacity, followed by Turkish Airlines with 13.3%. Podgorica Airport has 130.988 seats on scheduled flights in January, an increase of just 11.1% on 2023. Turkish Airlines is the largest with 24% of total capacity, ahead of Air Montenegro, which has managed to position itself as the second largest with 19.7%. Finally, Ljubljana Airport has 106.752 seats available this January, which is down 3.5% on the previous year. Turkish Airlines will be its largest carrier with a 20.9% capacity share, ahead of Lufthansa with 17.6% of scheduled capacity.

Largest carriers by scheduled seat capacity in the former Yugoslavia, January 2025




Comments

  1. Anonymous09:02

    I think BEG and LJU should grow in January since the capacity decrease is not very big.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:13

      Now we have to wait and see how often increase their capacity. Wizz tends to send the A321 from time to time which helps.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:08

      Yes, I think it is highly like it will be in plus for those two airports. For Skopje I don't think it's achievable in January.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous17:25

      The January stats are always tricky with post-holiday slowdowns

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:02

    Good Zagreb is growing :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous09:03

    Great news for Franjo Tudman airport after a fantastic 2024!
    Looking forward to new traffic records every month of 2025!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:05

      It should be a great year for all major users airl of the airport.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:11

      Exciting times ahead.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:12

      Now let's see how demand performs since overall EU economy is not in the best state.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:16

      European airports are braking records. Especially those in the south of Europe.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:20

      Yes but those in central and northern Europe are not.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:43

      @09:20 and yet those central and northern European airports are growing too!
      Maybe you meant to say about Russian airports which are indeed stagnating?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:44

      Actually Russian market has less of a decline than German market, which is impressive considering their airlines can no longer fly to Europe.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous09:46

      If you believe Russian statistics I have a bridge on the Sava to sell to you!

      Delete
    9. Anonymous09:54

      Not Russian statistics. Statistics by Airport Council International with headquarters in Brussels.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous10:03

      Which gets its statistics from Russia.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous10:06

      Countries below pre covid - Belarus, Slovenia, Sweden, Germany, Slovakia, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Latvia, Russia, Iceland, Lithuania, Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous10:39

      I have nothing smart to say, so I will say... Interesting!

      Delete
    13. Anonymous10:44

      Owners of Porsche also insist on closing factories and laying off thousands of workers. All those workers who flew on charters for holidays from Germany

      Delete
    14. Anonymous14:31

      oh Boy, oh Boy

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:10

    ❤️🇭🇷

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:29

      Bravo OU!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:39

      ^ OU numbers are still below 2019 though

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:44

      ^ OU numbers are moving to the right direction though. Just like ZAG.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:45

      So? They are improving

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:45

      But they are still below numbers 5 years ago. That's 5 years ago. Almost every airline is well ahead of its 2019 numbers. But, ok I guess that is impressive to you.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:47

      "So? They are improving"

      It has been 5 years. Their load factor is the lowest in Europe for a legacy airline, hovering at 60%. But I think part of the reason they don't see a need to improve is because people like you cheer them on.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:42

      Not trying to defend OU but the truth is, post 2019 there was a significant expansion of Ryanair in Zagreb. OU cannot compete with them, most carriers in EU cannot.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous10:45

      OU knew this was coming and they did nothing to prepare

      Delete
    9. Anonymous11:07

      And you think they care about anyone's opinion 🤣

      Delete
    10. Anonymous00:38

      They don't because they have endless financing from state.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:11

    Skopje can't catch a break

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:20

      That's what happens when you do not diversify the airlines serving your airport.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:21

      They did try but it's not easy.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:40

      How exactly did they try?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:45

      Same story as BEG.
      They put all their eggs on JU and W6 basket and now are stagnating.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:45

      The difference being SKP put all its eggs into 1 airline.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:08

      Hey, the "all eggs in 1 basket" commentator is back. We missed you

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:10

      Is he wrong?

      Delete
    8. Nemjee10:26

      How many baskets do you think an airport like Belgrade can have? The market can't handle more than two based carriers. That said other airlines, especially LH Group carriers have a decent presence ensuring there good enough connectivity.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous12:45

      And whats wrong with puting all eggs in one basket? You think Macedonians have the money to pay 200 euros for LH or OS? If it wasnt for Wizz Air then SKP would have never had such big and great numbers. Not to mention that Wizz Air is planning to have 500 aircrafts by 2030 so i think SKP did a great job that got Wizz back in 2011.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous12:57

      Wizz is expensive from SKP so paying €200 is not an issue

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:12

    Good for JU.

    A friend flew on ZRH-BEG LX A321 last evening and it was full to the last seat.

    I noticed OS is sending their A320 and LH their A321.

    Is LH Group capacity up this December and January?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous00:37

      I'm guessing in run up to holidays LX will be sending A321 often.

      Delete
  7. Nemjee09:23

    JU being #1 is great for them but an embarrassment for the region. JU has 95% of its seats in BEG while FR & W6 cover the whole ex-YU region.
    In a way this also shows how strong the market is in Belgrade.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:27

      +1

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:49

      Nothing embarrasing in not wanting to spend huge amounts of taxpayers money on bad service of national carrier.

      Delete
    3. Nemjee10:14

      What has a national carrier got to do with this? This shows how demand from the region is weak and that there is still a lot of work to be done.
      Also if done right then the national carrier doesn't have to cost you anything. Serbia is a good example of that.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:09

      Pretending Air Serbia doesn't cost anything is hilarious. Is OU also considered as "right" done carrier because I wouldn't be surprised you are considering it

      Delete
    5. Observer11:19

      Yeah, sure, Nemjee. It's because JU is doing it right that Etihad withdrew. But you're right in one thing, it costs nothing, as is JU shares cost nothing. They're worthless.

      Delete
    6. Nemjee12:59

      Etihad withdrew because they needed the money, they were on the verge of bankruptcy. Air Serbia is their only investment that survived. Паметном довољно as they would say. ;)

      Delete
    7. Anonymous13:35

      How so they didn't get money from investing in JU? Maybe if it was successful investment they wouldn't withdraw.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous20:35

      Etihad ended their Etihad Airways Partner initiative. Air Serbia was more successful airline investment than their investment in other alliance airlines like Air Berlin, Darwin and Alitalia.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:27

    Wizz used to be the largest last winter every month. But they have fallen with all these cuts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:31

      2025 won't be good for them. They plan to have at least 40 planes grounded.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:32

      At it will be worse than this year because aircraft deliveries will likely be delayed.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:32

      * and

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:33

      Wizz gets Airbuses so they should not be too delayed.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:33

      Crazy. But at least they are no longer wet leasing planes and they said they won't wet lease them in 2025.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:54

    JU lost using small planes on props and mersedec E190 :D . Wizz will overtake them with less flight

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:55

      The table literally shows capacity. Capacity means number of offered seats. So it has nothing to do with the number of flights.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:56

      "JU lost using small planes on props and mersedec E190 :D . Wizz will overtake them with less flight"

      The letter D stands for Diesel, I guess? ;-)

      Delete
  10. Anonymous10:07

    Pegasus is the silend achiever in the region. 50% more capacity than LH and OS

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous00:36

      Yes, noticed that too. Impressive!

      Delete
  11. Anonymous10:09

    Actually when you look at the table, this is really poor capacity levels for so many countries combined.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nemjee10:16

      Exactly, this is nothing to nr proud of. There is so much work to be done. Even Belgrade which is #1 in the region can't break into Europe's top 50.
      I think last month it was the only airport from the region to be in top 100.

      Delete
    2. Nemjee10:16

      Exactly, this is nothing to nr proud of. There is so much work to be done. Even Belgrade which is #1 in the region can't break into Europe's top 50.
      I think last month it was the only airport from the region to be in top 100.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:50

      Be realistic, Belgrade cannot fight with European hubs, or with tourists destination across Europe as it not one. Secondly, economically January is one of the worst month in Serbia after all holidays and Slava, so people do not travel, only in fist half when diaspora is coming/ going back but even that is finished by 10.01

      Delete
    4. Nemjee13:00

      Belgrade can't do this, Belgrade can't do that. Serbia is this, Serbia is that...

      Delete
    5. Anonymous14:29

      nemjee13:00
      We need to accept the reality Serbia is not in the EU, is small market, Serbians are not rich. But anyway AirSerbia managed decent success, is there place for improvement for BEG and AirSerbia absolutely yes

      Delete
    6. Anonymous15:24

      >accept the reality Serbia is not in the EU, is small market, Serbians are not rich.

      Wrong assumptions lead to wrong conclusions. None of this matters much. Case of Tirana was already used couple of times to destroy same arguments so no point in discussing this again.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous16:16

      You compare Belgrade with Tirana, Albania ( with long coastline ) which is promoted everywhere as secret diamond of Adriatic see, super cheap and economical tourist destination. Plus you do not take into account that for Albanian European( much bigger than Serbian) diaspora it is not easy to go by car what is for Serbians super easy

      Delete
    8. Anonymous16:28

      Your three arguments have been destroyed. Are you capable of realizing that?

      Delete
    9. Anonymous17:55

      anonymous16:28 Chill. Everyone has right for his/her opinion. If you do not agree with someone don’t comment or provide arguments against someone view. There is no need for words destroy etc especially in this time of year.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous18:12

      Counter arguments have been provided. Sensible people would have accepted it. Some continue to ignore facts and live in their own asylums.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous20:57

      Thank god we are not a 'tourist destination'. Regards from belgrade

      Delete
  12. Anonymous10:47

    These are good number we cannot complain so much lets be honest market is not big, no destination in ex-yu is touristic one in January, during December that is Zagreb that promotes Advent really strongly in Italy.
    For BEG, I hope that prices for thickets will not be so high so we have higher occupancy of cabins.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:51

      Serbia has one of the highest growths in the rise of tourism. It also helps that the city is becoming a congress center destination.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:00

      Yes Serbia has grown in tourist but that doesn’t meant that they are coming in January. When people asks me when they should visit Serbia, I am saying them or later spring or early autumn. I would never suggest them to come in grey January. It is 8% grow from 2022. Russia, Turkey and B&B first three spots. https://eupravozato.mondo.rs/ekonomija/turizam/a1694/Iz-kojih-zemalja-nam-dolazi-najvise-turista-i-sta-oni-ne-vole-u-Srbiji.html

      Delete
    3. Anonymous22:40

      January/February are the cheapest months for accommodation in Belgrade. So many tourists come to use advantage of this opportunity

      Delete
  13. Anonymous11:01

    If decrease of 5% continues for remaining months in 2025, Belgrade will have less than 8 million passengers next year. It might eve have less passengers than in 2023 when it had about 7.95 million.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:03

      I know you are hopeful, but this site already published an article that the airport's capacity growth resumes in February. Better luck next time.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:11

      What really matters is summer schedule. If Wizz and Air Serbia increase capactity by 10% or more during summer, it will wipe off decreases during other months. Wizz is unlikely to grow in Belgrade, so it is all on Air Serbia. Will they have more than 10% summer capacity growth?

      Delete
    3. Maybe they will have growth higher than 10%, lets us..If they finally decide to utilize all those wide bodies they rented..Also they densified certain routes in summer comparing to summer 2024, but after a less then a month they cut many routes put on schedule and on sale..Why did they do such a thing, I don,'t have a clue..So lets see, by april I hope they will finally make up their mind and fix the schedule

      Delete
  14. Anonymous13:51

    Bravo!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous16:32

    Is there any news concerning FR's expansion in DBV? Weren't they supposed to base an extra aircraft next summer? When could we expect a final consensus on this.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous17:20

    The growth in Zagreb and Sarajevo is impressive, especially compared to other airports in the region. It seems LCCs are really paying off.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous17:21

    Turkish Airlines continues to dominate in multiple airports

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous00:36

      It's number one at TGD and LJU.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous17:21

    Finally Air Montenegro is number 2 at Podgorica! Hopefully one day it gets to no. 1

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous00:34

      It's still crazy that an airline with just a single route is ahead of the national airline.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous17:25

    Pristina’s numbers are probably underestimated since charters aren’t included. Those flights are a big draw for diaspora travelers during the winter holidays.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous00:34

      Well the article says they are underestimated but it does give us a figure for scheduled services.

      Delete
  20. Anonymous22:01

    Those Wizz capacity cuts are massive

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous23:25

      Indeed.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous00:39

      When will Wizz start growing again?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous00:39

      Or at least stop shedding capacity?

      Delete
  21. Anonymous23:27

    I'm surprised how strong Chair is considering that only fly to PRN and SKP.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous00:33

      Yes, I noticed a few months this year they were in top 10.

      Delete

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