Fourteen EX-YU airports register record numbers


Podgorica has become the fastest growing capital city airport in the former Yugoslavia, edging past the previous title holder Skopje. It comes following a record third quarter for the Montenegrin airport which saw significant passenger growth that can be largely attributed to low cost carriers. Over the past two months, Wizz Air launched operations to Podgorica, while Ryanair introduced new flights to the city. As a result, the Montenegrin capital overtook its traditionally busier counterpart in Sarajevo last month and has now widened its lead from 3.906 passengers in August to 17.569 in September. During the first three quarters of 2016, Podgorica Airport handled 693.642 travellers, up 15.8%, and recorded 4.672 aircraft movements, an improvement of 9.2% on the same period last year.

EX-YU airport results, JAN - SEP 2016

AirportPAXChange (%)
Belgrade3.810.517 1.1
Zagreb2.127.658 6.7
Split2.058.833 16.8
Dubrovnik1.743.972 15.8
Pristina1.349.880 10.9
Skopje1.258.967 15.3
Ljubljana1.078.333 5.0
Tivat899.287 9.8
Podgorica693.642 15.8
Sarajevo676.073 8.7

Apart from Podgorica, a further thirteen airports in the former Yugoslavia recorded their busiest three quarters on record, including Belgrade, Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik, Pristina, Skopje, Tivat, Sarajevo, Zadar, Tuzla, Ohrid, Niš and Brač. Belgrade Airport continues to maintain its position as the busiest in the former Yugoslavia. With its four-millionth passenger handled during October, the airport's General Manager, Saša Vlaisavljević, reiterated yesterday that the fifth-millionth traveller will be welcomed this year. Croatia's three busiest airports continued to post record numbers, with Split handling over two million passengers for the first time since opening its doors.

AirportPAXChange (%)
Zadar470.185 9.2
Pula412.510 21.8
Tuzla231.972 19.9
Rijeka134.411 3.2
Ohrid123.326 34.6
Niš65.216 262.3
Mostar47.910 27.6
Osijek25.711 3.6
Banja Luka17.247 5.1
Brač11.814 37.3
Maribor7.761 66.0
Mali Lošinj6.067 50.2

Among smaller airports in the former Yugoslavia, Tuzla continued to see its passenger numbers grow over the nine month period, despite a drop in figures during the third quarter. The airport estimates handling between 305.000 and 308.000 passengers this year. Wizz Air will add flights from Tuzla to London Luton and Billund at the end of the week before basing a second aircraft and opening a handful of new routes from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s third largest city in March 2017. Meanwhile, Niš continues to reap the benefits of being served by both Wizz Air and Ryanair. The airport has announced that a third carrier will commence operations, with details to be revealed soon, while Ryanair will hold a media briefing in the city this Thursday, although it is unclear whether this may involve the announcement of new routes.

2016 annual estimates made by airports

AirportEstimate
Belgrade5.000.000
Split2.500.000
Pristina1.800.000
Tivat1.000.000
Zadar500.000
Tuzla305.000
Rijeka140.000
Niš100.000

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:02

    As I expected, the difference between Podgorica and Sarajevo is getting bigger. It will keep getting bigger. Turkish will cut frequencies to SJJ this winter, Air Arabia will suspend flights, Swiss will end flights and Qatar has moved its flights till next year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:08

      Let's not forget Maribor, the record holder for doing absolutely nothing in the last (how many?) years. All the best to all hard working across ex yu airports.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:16

      The funny thing is Sarajevo also has record numbers. It's just a very competitive year. Unless there is some massive fog again growth in December at Sarajevo should be huge because last year the airport was closed for a very long time.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:19

      Maribor vs Banja Luka, dead heat.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:24

      Well BNX is ahead as at least they have JU.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:38

      In Maribor it is "nula koma Jozef".

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:02

    "Ryanair will hold a media briefing in the city this Thursday, although it is unclear whether this may involve the announcement of new routes."

    I really hope they do but it might be too early for new routes. Which cities are left to launch?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:09

      Maybe Barcelona. They might be holding a press conference because of the start of Bratislava and Milan or there might be something more :)

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:12

      They always announced something new when they held conferences in Nis. Maybe BVA? CRL? Scandinavia?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:12

      Waiting for someone to say Malta :D

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:13

      it's perfect timing for next summer time table. there are a few, like Paris, Stockholm, a few more in Germany (like FKB, HAM), seasonal flights to Greek islands, Italy and Spain

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:18

      Fingers crossed

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:23

      Maybe they will also announce an increase in frequencies to some destinations like BTS or SXF? Maybe they will announce the opening of a base next summer. <3

      We need them also in BEG, JU is clueless and W6 has become extremely expensive.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:46

      I really hope we hear more new routes from INI on Thursday :)

      Delete
    8. Haha @ Malta... I don't understand the fascination with Malta and Spain... i think some people are wishing for something to be ablebto take that 'once in a lifetime' chance to go there... while there may be a diaspora there, it's not big enough to justify regular services IMHO.

      Delete
    9. Nemjee07:46

      BEG has a seasonal flight to BCN and Spanair was quite successful when they used to fly it before visas were abolished. The market seems to be there but neither Air Serbia or Vueling can serve it properly.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:05

    Congrats Podgorica. Who would have thought their growth would be bigger than Skopje this year :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous09:06

    Hopefully BEG can make it to 5 million. It will be a tight race but if they had 4.2 million at the end of October it is very possible.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:08

      It is possible but they need stronger growth in November and December. November is the slowest month for the airport with exception to February. Last year they had just 299.000.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:16

      i don't think it's possible. they must have at least 20-25% growth for the remaining three months in order to achieve 5 mil

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:14

      Not to mention that JFK is being reduced and WAW suspended. Very few other destinations will see increases. Ok, 4.7 or 4.8 isn't bad.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:20

      Not true actually. JFK being reduced has no impact on last winter as there were no flights to JFK last winter whatsoever. So on top of new JFK flights, Hamburg and Larnaca were not served last winter which are served this winter. Also this winter there are additional frequencies to Milan, Berlin, Tel Aviv and Tirana.

      As for Warsaw, last winter LOT was not operating to Belgrade while this year it is.

      Also, last winter there were no Isair and Arkia flights.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:40

      JFK reduction was mentioned as reduced forecast for growth.

      Also the additional flights to TLV were suspended so it's teh same as last year.

      Also LO will operate the E70 while JU operated its A319

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:45

      The additional flight to TLV is still in the system...

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:06

      The one Fridays will not happen, inside info. The issue is that almost all a/c will be going for a c check.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous13:37

      Someone mentioned Air Serbia would make announcement with one or two surprises close to the end of the month, around third birthday. When is that announcement going to happen?

      Delete
    9. Anonymous13:48

      It was speculation by someone here because tomorrow is Air Serbia's third anniversary but no announcements are planned.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous14:27

      There won't be even a party or anything... no one feels like partying anyway, most employees are demoralized from all the mobing.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous14:29

      If you are unhappy with your job you leave. There are thousands of others willing to take it.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous14:31

      Not really, there aren't that many anymore since pretty much anyone knows what working for JU is like. Why do you think Dutina left?

      Delete
    13. Anonymous14:47

      Where did she go?

      Delete
    14. Anonymous15:37

      Otišla je tamo gde su otišli i svi ostali, na neko bolje mesto. Samo se zapitajmo zašto nemamo u firmi komercijalnog direktora već preko dve godine.

      Delete
    15. Anonymous15:51

      Btw, BEG will see double digit growth this month.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:12

    JAN-SEP 2017

    1. BEG
    2. SPU
    3. ZAG

    :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:24

      Very possible

      Delete
    2. Anonymous20:46

      At the end of the year diferance will be 0,5 million passengers.

      Even if SPU will have next year 16% more pax and ZAG 6% it will still be to far away. It should go like that for 3 years to make SPU better than ZAG.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:22

    with Tivat we will have another ex-Yu airport with 1mil+ passangers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:44

      Yes looks like we will have 8 airports over 1 million passengers by the end of the year which is a first I think.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:34

    In total they handled 16,3 million passengers. That's almost one million more than last year!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:52

      And of that 6.9 million by Croatian airports.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:11

      Serbia with its 5.225.613 isn't too far behind, especially as winter months approach.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:15

      Good result for both countries.

      Delete
    4. Serbia? How 5.225.613 passengers? Please forget Priština. Adding Priština Airport doesn't make sense anymore.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous14:26

      Unknown, it sure does and until we see Kosovo in the UN the number 5.225.613 makes absolute sense.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous16:05

      And Nis is not serbia?

      Delete
    7. So after your opinion also with Taiwan, not member of UN, which is got its own civil aviation, must be added to P.R. China civil aviation figures?

      Delete
    8. Anonymous19:08

      Well their biggest airline is called China Airlines so..

      Delete
    9. Anonymous20:48

      Croatia will have 8,5 million pax at the end of the year.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:36

    Are there still airports in ex-yu which have not surpassed their pre breakup numbers?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:51

      There are still a few. I think Pula still hasn't overtaken its pre-1990 record.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:54

      How many passengers did Sarajevo handle during the 84 Olympics?

      Delete
    3. Sarajevo 1984
      284.000

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:48

      Thanks. Wow I would have thought there would have been much more. But it depends what was the standard number of passengers at SJJ at the time in 1983 for example.

      Delete
    5. As someone who was around for bot Sarajevo Olympics in 1984 and Vancouver recently I can say that from the standpoint of visitors those are two totally different things. World has changed big time in last 30 years.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:40

    Croatia doing a great job, the airports, I mean, not the carrier ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:25

      I'm just hoping that the carrier's problems won't affect the airports. OU's DBV-FCO suspension this winter will definitely impact on DBV.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:30

      I doubt it because DBV-FRA is being introduced in place of FCO.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:56

    Maribor I-IX = 7.761 (-66%)
    Portoroz I-IX = 20.536 (+2%)
    Source: vecer.si / skyscrapercity.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:01

      Where is the traffic coming from at Portoroz? I know they had a few flights between Belgrade and Zurich this summer but it can't have contributed that much. Does Portoroz have summer charters?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:13

      Lots of GA movements.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:15

      Thanks. Were there ever schedule passenger flights at Portoroz?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:18

      Nope, just charters and general aviation. :)

      Delete
    5. Anonymous13:14

      Didn't JAT operate BEG-POW on a sceduled basis with their ATR72? With load restrictions?

      Haplek

      Delete
    6. Nemjee14:24

      They did and the loads were abysmal. Around 10 passengers per flight.

      Delete
  11. Bosnian airports year end 2016:

    SARAJEVO
    October: 72.000
    November: 50.000
    December: 45.000
    TOTAL 2016: 843.079 +9,07%
    --------------------------------------------------
    TUZLA
    October: 26.000
    November: 23.000
    December: 25.000
    TOTAL 2016: 305.972 +18,10%
    -------------------------------------------------
    MOSTQR
    October: 5.000
    November: 500
    December: 1.200
    TOTAL 2016: 54.610 -27,20%
    -------------------------------------------------
    BANJA LUKA
    October: 1.700
    November: 1.100
    December: 1.200
    TOTAL 2016: 21.242 -6,83%
    -------------------------------------------------

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:32

      Why has there been such a decline in Mostar? Fewer charters this year?

      Delete
    2. Typo MOSTAR

      Delete
    3. Yes, fewer charters to Italy, BH Airlines had good amount of charter flights from/to Mostar as it did fro Banja Luka (regular flights to ZRH and charters to TIV).Mostar needs Ryanair ASAP, flights could be sold for Dalmatian coast since Split airport is mess during summer months, but again, in Bosnia everything is politics and local politicians are blocking any development of regular flights from Mostar in favor of airports in Croatia. Very, very sad reality of this country!

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:47

      Mostar is perfect for Ryanair (considering Wizz is in Tuzla it would make a good balance). But I get what you are saying about politics. Hopefully something changes.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:06

      "local politicians are blocking any development of regular flights from Mostar in favor of airports in Croatia". U svakoj normalnoj drzavi lokalni politicari bi sve cinili da razvijaju svoju drzavu i da je dobro izgrade sto se tice infrastrukture. Tu su ceste, avioindustrija, pruge, more i tako dalje. Zamisli eto, ja budem u Svedskoj vec 23 godina, kad bi svedski lokalni i drzavni politicari blokirali svaki napredak Svedske sto se tice infrastrukture u pocast Danske ili Norveske. Kad bi politicari u Malmö ili u Karlstad (blizo Norveske) blokirali razvoj regija zbog Danske i Norveske.
      Ovdje bi politicari odma platili glavom i rekli bi im gradani par stvari, a dole narod je kao paraliziran i samo proguta sve sto politicari urade i kazu.
      A ponasanje bosanski politicara, u ovom slucaju hrvatski, pa to je bolest mentalna.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous13:14

      Jedina mentalna bolest je religija koja još bosnu drži pod okupacijom a 24% bošnjakistan može svoje zračne luke razvijati kako se njima prohtije, kao da je ikoga i briga

      Delete
    7. Anonymous13:27

      Zračna luka Mostar - sav promet ide preko Splita i Dubrovnika
      Međugorje - manje prijavljenih noćenja od Gornje Maoče
      A bezbroj sportaša iz Hercegovine koji dižu medalje a za BIH ne žele ni čuti...

      Bolest mentalna :)

      Delete
    8. Anonymous19:00

      Nije mjesto ovdje za politiku, a to sto ne vole BiH, to je zbog politicara koji su njih a i njihove roditelje punili sa svojom robom i nazalost nova generacija se uci od roditelja ono sto su roditelji naucili takoder. Ali nemoj da kvarimo diskusiju.

      Da, ma pusti 24% ovo ili ono, jedna je drzava Bosna i Hercegovina. Ali da, bosnjaci su svoje aerodrome (Sarajevo i Tuzla) izgradili i zajedno cine absolutni broj putnika u BiH. Mostar nema redovni letova, samo carter letova dok bude Medugorje nesto sto zanima turiste a Banja Luka koja pokriva cijelu Bosansku Krajinu, mnoge protjerane bosnjake i hrvate i cak sve do Zagreba ima samo let za Beograd tri puta sedmicno.
      Znaci drugi grad u BiH nije sposoban nesto izgraditi sto se tice kompanija i letova. Bas nista nisu pocinili da dovedu barem Ryanair ili WizzAir, kad su imali ponudu od madara rekli su "oni zele samo uzeti a malo dadnu nama" dok Air Serbia moze dobiti koliko god para hoce samo da leti pola praznog propelera.
      Recice neko, da je Beograd Frankfurt (tri puta sedmicno JFK), ali bolje da su kontaktirali BMI Regional koji ima saradnju sa Lufthansa i da su oni uveli 1 ili 2 leta dnevno za Frankfurt sa mogucnost za dobre transfer veze. Ali dok vidis direktora "Aerodromi Republike Srpske" (centar korupcije) vidis da nema svi konja u stali.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous19:10

      Kroz 23% BiH ("Bosnjakistan") proslo je 2015 godine 1 031 978 putnika. Nije lose, rekao bi da je bolje nego u manjem entitetu koji je eto 49% drzave BiH.
      Dzaba ti ako je 98% prostor, ako nisi sposoban privuci i dovesti neku ili nekoliko kompanija.
      Tuzla ce imati oko 14 destinacija uskoro i Sarajevo jednu desetak ima a eto Mostar samo carter i da ponovim Banja Luka jedino Beograd. Ipak bi mozda susjedi unutar drzave trebali malo nauciti od komsija. :-)

      Delete
    10. 24% Bosnjakistan izdominirao separatistanski ostatak BiH. Mene bi sramota bilo da sam iz ostalih 56% :)

      Delete
  12. Anonymous11:43

    Podgorica is the quiet achiever this year. Not a lot of fuss but really good growth.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous12:23

    Hypothetically, how many passengers do you think Yugoslavia would be handling today had it stayed in one piece? (P.S this is not intended to be political, just interested in your projections)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:31

      Too big differences SFRY just could not stay alive!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:14

      A fair question, anon. 12.23. Anon. 15.31: EU is even more different, but they stick together.
      Probably at least 50% more passengers, maybe two or three times the number. The standard would be much better in all former republics, business travel probably several times higher, tourism much higher, especially in Croatia.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous21:26

      EU is not a country nor a communist federation. Its a union without borders. Its still very very different.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous22:18

      Of course it is. But EU also has many critics and skeptics. Luckily, nobody is prepared to go to war there. I guess the assumption of the question was what would happen with airline traffic if there was a peaceful transition from socialism and if Yugoslavia survived or peacefully dissolved and former republics remained in friendly relations.
      It would have entered EU in 2004 the latest, if not before.
      Croatia reached, for example, only few years ago the tourist numbers from the late 1980s. That are 20-25 lost years, with huge traffic permanently lost. Now imagine additional growth if it joined EU 2004 or before. It had to build the national airline from the scratch. And Croatia fared much better than most other republics. The permanent loss of potential traffic in Serbia, Macedonia, and especially Bosnia is huge.

      Delete
    5. If Yugoslavia was still one country and there was no war nor sanctions, Yugoslavia would most likely be the most developed East European country after transitioning the economy. More developed than the Czech Republic or Poland or the Baltics.

      Considering how competitive BEG was against airports such as VIE, ATH, IST during the 1980s, plus the aspirations that JAT had during the late 80s, I think BEG could hypothetically easily carry around 15-20 million annually today. ZAG around 5-6 million and the remaining republic capitals would all have 2-3 million. DBV and SPU would be major tourist destinations and I think each would be approaching 8-9 million.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous20:32

    Interesting read:

    Najnovije analize rađene na niškom aerodromu "Konstantin Veliki" pokazuju da od ukupnog broja putnika koji je do sada leteo skoro 80% čine putnici iz Srbije. Zanimljiv je podatak da je nekih 7% putnika iz Makedonije i Bugarske, a oko 15% čine strani turisti. Ove podatke prezentovao je direktor aerodroma Vladica Đurđanović na skupu posvećenom otvaranju aerodroma "Ponikve" kod Užica.

    Najveći broj putnika iz Srbije čine stanovnici Niša i Južne Srbije 22,36%, zatim slede Istočna Srbija 16,1%, Kosovo i Metohija 14,9%, Centralna Srbija 12,9%, a zanimiljivo je reći da ,iako svega 5,9%, čine i stanovnici Zapadne Srbije, Beograda i Vojvodine.

    Ovako jeftine letove iz Niša ne koriste samo građani Srbije, već deo njih u manjem broju dolazi iz Makedonije i Bugarske. Zanimljivo je reći da oko 15% putnike iz Niša čine stranci odnosno najveći broj njih dolazi ovde radi turizma(80,4%) pre svega, dok je svega 20% stranaca koristi postojeće letove iz Niša radi posla u ovom delu Srbije.

    Kada je reč o strukturi srpskih putnika, skoro pa udedljivo najveći broj putnika sa Kosova i Metohije njih 14,9% od ukupnog broja putnika letove iz Niša koristi 89,7% radi povezivanja sa dijasporom, a oko 10,3% to čini radi poslovnih obaveza. Jake veze sa dijasporom povezujući se preko Niša ostvaruju i putnici iz Istočnog i Centralnog dela Srbije sa skoro 79,1% odnosno 70% udela, dok je svega po 11,5% to turizam i 9,4% posao odnosno 18,8% turizam 9,7% posao.

    Aerodrom "Konstantin Veliki", stanovnici Niša i ovog dela Srbije koriste nešto više od 57,3% letove radi povezivanja sa dijasporom, a skoro 28,8% koristi radi obilaska neke destinacije odnosno 13,9 %poslovnih obaveza.

    Iako svega 5,9% od ukupnog broja putnika koji koriste povoljne letove, putnici iz Beograda i Vojvodine koriste 37,7% letove kako bi se povezali sa dijasporom odnosno turističke posete odnosno 27,5% poslovne obaveze.Zapadna Srbija sa istim udelom u ukupnom broju putnika, letove iz Niša pre sve koristi radi povezivanja sa dijasporom 68,4%, turistički to je 5,2%, dok poslovno to iznosi 26,4%.

    Veoma zanimljivi su podaci o putnicima iz Makedonije i Bugarske ,iako oni čine svega 7% od ukupnog broja putnika iz Niša. Putnici iz Makedonije više od 92,2% njih ostvaruju veze sa dijasporom, a skoro 7,8% putuju zbog posla. Za razliku od Makedonaca, Bugari iako ih ima u malom broju na letovima iz Niša, njih više od 73,7% putuje radi posla u inostranstvu, dok je 26,3% njih turistički posećuje Evropu.

    https://flyfromnis.blogspot.rs/2016/10/cela-srbija-leti-iz-nisa-skoro-80-od-ukupnog-broja-putnika-cine-stanovnici-nase-zemlje.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous21:54

      Interesting that Macedonians are using it. Iwonder which routes we are talking about.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous22:27

      How long is a bus ride between Nis and Sofia, Skopje or Pristina?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous23:16

      Nis - Sofia is only 2-3 hours by car (depending on the border), but almost 5 hours by bus because it stops in Pirot and Dimitrovgrad and spends more time at the border. To make things worse, there are only 2 buses per day.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous00:08

      it's quite surprising that Bulgarians use Niš.......considering the low prices in SOF and the multiple frequencies and LCC there

      Delete
  15. Anonymous22:23

    OT ASL-MGX code-share and large cooperation ? Tomorrow is W16-4 days.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous22:34

    Nadam se da ce BEG preci naredne godine 5,2 Mil pax sa novim linijama i novim Aviokompanijama.
    INN-NS

    ReplyDelete
  17. Would Zadar hit the 500k this year?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:02

      It has few days ago.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous19:15

    Great results for ExYu A/D.Montenegro is very interesting:nearly 1.6M pax (both a/d-results from SEP16)..cca 3pax per capita(Only China & India have similar statistics)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Palma de Majorca airport last year 24 million passengers more than all ex yu all together.
    It is only small island in Med.

    ReplyDelete

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