Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport is projected to handle over a million passengers within a single month for the first time this August. The airport noted Wizz Air Abu Dhabi’s abrupt decision to discontinue services to the Serbian capital could be a factor preventing it from reaching the milestone, as the route had been contributing a steady stream of passengers. In August alone the carrier had 10.516 seats on the market. Overall, Belgrade Airport’s seat capacity on scheduled services is projected to grow 9% year-on-year next month enabling it to handle over a million travellers. In 2024, August was the airport’s busiest month, during which it registered 933.327 travellers through its doors. The airport’s first-half-year results are expected late next week.
This summer season, most carriers have grown their capacity at Belgrade Airport when compared to 2024, with exception of those airlines no longer serving the city, which include British Airways, airBaltic and Luxair. The fastest growing airline is Wizz Air, which has added over 200.000 seats on the market this summer. It is followed by Air Serbia, Lufthansa, KLM and AJet. Other carriers with over an additional 10.000 seats this summer include the likes of Turkish Airlines, Sun d’Or, Nouvelair, as well as China Southern, although the latter only commenced operations in September 2024.
Meanwhile, the airport is pressing ahead with its expansion project, with current efforts largely focused on enhancing commercial offerings. Several new shops and food and beverage outlets have been added, most of which are fully completed and awaiting permits to commence operations. A newly opened corridor now connects the area behind the duty free shop to the C wing of the terminal, allowing passengers to bypass the central plaza. This new passage features two additional retail spaces, including a children’s store and a candy shop. As part of the broader development plan, the airport also intends to standardise flooring and ceiling designs across the entire terminal to create a more cohesive visual identity. On the ground floor, work is continuing with the opening of new coffee shops and retail units in the arrivals area. Furthermore, ten new automated self check-in machines have been installed for Air Serbia passengers, which are expected to be put into use from the peak of the summer travel period. They will be accompanied by four automated baggage check-in desks.
Finally. What could the result be at the end of the year?
ReplyDeleteProbably just under 9 million passengers.
DeleteWinter season will be key. Depends what carriers do and how much capacity they put on the market. It wouldn't be crazy to have more than 10% growth in capacity since Wizz Air has a lot more capacity.
DeleteHopefully next year they will be able to reach it in July too
ReplyDelete7% growth in August to rech 1 million seems more than realistic.
ReplyDeleteMaking a corrdior to C gates is actually smart
ReplyDeletethe airport is looking better and better.
DeleteYes, surprisingly smart and logical for VINCI 😃
DeleteCome on, if airport was to look nice, it would have to be burned down to the ground and constructed all from the beginning...I'm talking about new terminal, the old one is fine...
DeleteBravo Beograde, najlepsi grade!
ReplyDeleteBravo Beograde, ali za ovo drugo hajde da ne preterujemo ahahah
DeleteLepota je u očima posmatrača, Begrad je za mene najlepši grad. BEG aerodrom, neću da komentarišem...
DeleteFianlly they are returning self check in. But what about other airlines?
ReplyDeleteNice
ReplyDeleteWhere is all the Lufthansa growth coming from? Bigger planes?
ReplyDeleteThey are using more A321s and they added another daily flight
DeletePlus no more regional jets from MUC, it's all A319/320/321.
DeleteI personally love the morning flight to MUC. It's a much better option for transferring flights than FRA is.
DeleteSince BEG-MUC arrives at 07.30, you can catch earlier flights to the West than the same option via FRA.
Congrats
ReplyDeleteHow many new routes from BEG so far this year?
ReplyDelete10 new routes actually
DeleteAir Serbia:
Shanghai
Mykonos
Alghero
Florence
Tbilisi
Geneva
Wizz Air
Friedrichshafen
Alicante
Nouvelair
Djerba
Sky Express
Rhodes
Impressive
DeleteAnd it will increase to 11 with easyjet starting Paris CDG.
DeleteBut there will always be people who will say that BEG and Vinci are falling apart and have failed. But no! Tirana is on top, man, even though it barely functions with its muddy parking lots.
DeleteI believe we will also see Air Serbia resume TLV by the end of the year.
Delete+1
DeleteNouvelair Djerba is not a new route, it has been flying for couple years now.
DeleteOther than Tbilisi, other new Air Serbia destinations don't seem like significant source of transfer passengers to feed long-haul network. Air Serbia would need to add more destinations to feed transatlantic long-haul growth.
DeleteSome of the leisure destinations get quite afew transfers.
DeleteGreat, if Mykonos and Florence would add passengers via Belgrade to Miami and Toronto, then go for more of it.
DeleteThey will from US if price is OK. A lot of traveler from Miami and Toronto are actually former Europeans with little bit different habits than born Americans.
DeleteBy the end of the year, Miami, Tel Aviv, Cairo and Abu Dhabi by AS, possible and Beijing, or will be in january like Shanghai.
DeleteFlorence is not a new route as well.
DeleteWhat I would like to see here are some comparations with others...You guys think that there is no progress anywhere but on BEG airport..This is quite slow increase during this year so far..
If Air Serbia gets slots they want at IBZ, party animals might get one more 1-stop option to fly Ibiza-Miami hahaaaha
Delete@Tresnja yes, everything is the worst at BEG. We learned that from your expert oppionions. Florence is a new route as it has not been served in 2 years. You are right, 9 new routes in a single year is VERY VERY BAD. Based on your expert oppinion, it might be the worse in the world. Actually, I would also remove Friedrichshafen. It was served 6 years ago by Wizz Air. So let Treshnja remove it too. If they launch Toronto one day, do not under any circumstance count it as a new route. The all mighty Tresnja will disaporvve as it was served in 2005.
DeleteFlorence is not a new route, off course...It's been less than 2 years that was canceled..I flew to Florence august 2023, and its been reopened this spring...So it was only 1 summer missing..
DeleteOf course, it is a new route.. You flying with it 2 years ago makes no difference.
DeleteJU can't grow that fast, it's risky. Better slow but effective. If it grows every year like in 2022 and 2023 BEG would have over 10 million, but better late than never.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean JU can't grow that fast? How is it related to the airport handling a million passengers in August?
DeleteI say that Air Serbia is the main reason Belgrade is growing, it is the only airline that really thinks about BEG. We all know the problems in the airline industry right now - lack of planes, crew, JU is going in the right direction, I'm not saying they can't do it but they just can't grow that fast. Wizz is an example of failed growth, we saw them in Abu Dhabi, Greece.
DeleteJU is the only airline based in BEG, so logically it will contribute the most to its growth. But it is not true that other airline are not growing
Delete" This summer season, most carriers have grown their capacity at Belgrade Airport when compared to 2024,"
Wizz Air is also based in BEG.
DeleteLove their BEG base!
DeleteLove it!
ReplyDeleteWater dispenser wow. I was not expecting this even I wrote in one of my last trip reports about it. It is great feature. Also nice that that terminal is getting shape with new shops, and going for visual identity.
ReplyDeleteIt is pity that 3 airlines do not fly anymore to BEG, maybe biggest pity is AirBaltic and connections to northern Europe
Where is water dispenser located?
DeleteThey are installing them in several places. I saw one at the new C wing.
DeleteWater dispensers should be *everywhere* in the airport. Next to each gate!
DeleteWhy should it be next to every gate and at which airport is it next to every gate? You have legs and can walk. It should be in several places in the terminal.
DeleteThe "you have legs" argument applies equally well to the entire trip, to be honest. Why even bother flying? As the 16:26 commenter notes, the airport would do well do increase comfort and convenience for passengers, although the scarcity of water dispensers is a global phenomenon in order to stimulate the sales of bottled beverages (and unnecessary plastic waste, which is apparently always a secondary consideration). So a few dispensers in the entire airport is probably the best we can hope for.
DeleteHope we see more new airlines.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteWhat is the number 1 foreign airline at BEG in terms of passenger numbers?
ReplyDeleteWizz
DeleteWizz Air, obviously.
DeleteWizz Air. After that either Turkish or Lufthansa.
DeleteIs Wizz considered "foreign" in Belgrade? They have base at BEG for quite some time, I would count them as locals.
DeleteWell they are not registered in Serbia nor have a Serbian AOC.
DeleteGood news all things considered.
ReplyDeleteBravo BEG!
ReplyDeleteGood to have expansions, but never liked the huge ones. Anyway BEG today has definitely changed as an airport so it will be interesting to see what happens.
ReplyDeleteAwaiting permits to start operations.
ReplyDeleteMillion passenger per month would have been achieved last year had Wizz Air not culled their network.
ReplyDeleteWizz Abu Dhabi had quite a lot of capacity,
ReplyDeleteWith three airlines operating 8 weekly widebody services to China, one would expect to see Asian food outlet at the airport, not the Mexican one.
ReplyDeleteSo your suggestion is that the airport operator should have rejected the restaurant's lease because they serve Mexican food?
DeleteWell Chinese travel to experience new cultures. If they want Chinese food then they can wait some two hours to be served onboard. Hehe
DeleteNo, there should be both Mexican and Asian
DeleteBEG doesn't need Michelin-star Asian fusion restaurant, just decent comfort food outlet with mix of Chinese food, add some Bánh mì Vietnamese, sushi from Japan, Thai, Korea etc. Asian food has been popular everywhere for decades. With Air Serbia adding more flights to China and having long-term plans to fly to Korea and Japan, Asian food outlet makes sense.
DeleteThey can buy noodles in two Korean shops just across AS outlet in downtown.
DeleteDoes anyone know what is BEGs capacity of passengers per year now, after all work done? Maybe Admin knows?
ReplyDeleteCurrent capacity is 15 million per year
DeleteI am more interested to know what their updated capacity will be once the extra three airbridges and bus gates are added. Maybe 17-18 million.
DeleteWow! I didn't know they already reached 15 million passengers capacity. So it's time for JU to order 10 E195 and grow!
Delete15 million will be by 2044 according concession plan, which is bad and obsolete projection.
DeleteI checked FZ's website for DXB-BEG from July 20th and I am surprised flights are not sold out given what happened with Wizz Air's AUH flights.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if they did it on purpose but tickets are selling for roughly €285 one way (or less). Maybe it's their version of stepping in without officially stepping in.
Getting a last minute one way ticket from Dubai to Belgrade for €285 is a great deal. I highly doubt their flights are not full this time of the year.
Dubai tickets in general have crashed following the Iran war. Hotel prices too. Although it is low season in the UAE now.
DeleteAs for Wizz, most people flying with them don't even know their flights are cancelled. They only inform people with flights a week away. So people flying with them in August for example are clueless their flights are not operating unless they are aviation enthusiasts and read it here.
FZ does not really have the need to add more flights. There have 2 daily and if I'm not mistakend their annual LF last year was around 73%. So there is enough capacity to cater for any surge in passenger numbers.
DeleteNo one in their right mind will fly to Dubai or UAE in general in July during the scorching heat unless absolutely necessary. Check the price for flights from October onwards and you’ll be very unpleasantly surprised.
DeleteA lot of people are increasingly travelling to UAE in summer due to low cost of hotels and resorts.
Delete"As part of the broader development plan, the airport also intends to standardise flooring and ceiling designs across the entire terminal to create a more cohesive visual identity."
ReplyDeleteAnd some people were having a meltdown over this. Finally their concerns will be met.
Won’t be easy, departures in the old c and a wing is very dark, I wish they are able to address that.
DeleteFor me as a traveler, the biggest issue with BEG is Menzies, and their lack of staff. Not sure if thats the case with other people too, but in the last two months I had my luggage lost on three occasions. Once not delivered in SVO and CDG. Last week I flew from CDG to INI and we had about 40 people on board and in Niš ONLY 5 pieces of luggage arrived, out of 50+ checked by passengers. I got one out of three pieces. The explanation given by lost and found people in Niš is that I shouldnt worry, because the luggage never arrives to INI either way.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately this luggage matter isn't exclusive to BEG and JU. Delta failed to deliver my luggage to its final destination despite JU bringing it ahead of schedule to CDG. They approved my compensation and said it would be paid in 30 working days if not earlier. It's been over two months and nothing happened. Once 30 working days passed they stopped replying to my emails.
DeleteIn Japan, o% is lost lagguage
Delete@anon 10.37
DeleteI'm curious was it A319 or ATR on BEG-INI leg? Load factor wise. Thank you.
It's a shame all these stores are ready to go but can't open because of permit delays. I saw the other day the WH Smith store fully ready inside but closed.
ReplyDeleteI have noted in few posts to be patient until all is done at the airport so we can then judge the final product. They were very slow with commercial openings hence bad mark for that. But I think that ones all the shops, bars, lounges are open and they tweak a bit on flooring other minor things, that we might have a final product that looks decent. It won't have ' Vauuu' effect but it will be 50% better vs. old one. Good enough for me.
ReplyDeleteWell, if you aim low than yes one can say that it is satisfactory. If you raise the bar and compare to some decent airports then Belgrade is not even close.
DeleteThe airport was never supposed to be an architectural masterpiece and I don't know exactly what @anon 12.26 is expecting. It is certainly better than many EU airports including that fact that you pass passport control and security within 10 minutes during rush hour while at EU airports you wait hours on end both on arrival and departure. In Frankfurt there are rats running around the terminal and lounges while at other EU airports including Amsterdam and Milan workers are getting ingested in aircraft engines.
Delete@12:31 no, the airport is not " certainly better than many EU airports" unless you compare it to airports like Tuzla, Granada, Rijeka etc...Belgrade is the capital of one european country, and it is a huge shame how cheap and ugly one airport of european capital looks like..Find me an airport of european capital that is worse that BEG? But with at least similar level of countries development, don't give me an example of Kishinjev...Although I've never been there, so it may be even better than BEG..Visited all capitals in Europe and their airports, apart of Sarajevo and Skopje, and all of the are better than BEG...Even when considering entire world and capitals, have seen only few uglier than BEG- Bogota and Quito
DeleteHere comes the oppinionated Tresnja who I'm sure has visited all the airports in the wolrd to give us his expert oppinion that BEG is the ugliest airport in the world.
DeleteTrešnja, have you been at Lisbon?! Go, check and then comment Belgrade.
DeleteYes, I've been to Lisbon many time, last time February this year...Its not in good shape, that's for sure, its quite old and worn out..I've heard they are planning to build much bigger airport to be completed by 2034, since this one is basicly in the middle of the city and cannit be expanded any more..
DeleteBut still you cannot compare it to BEG, yes arrival area is quite ugly, but departure halls are nice....only those corridors towards security check are very narrow..Anyways, BEG terminal as beeing new, and LIS how many years old?? Still much nicer than BEG
The allmighty Tresnja has spokenl He has visited every airport on planet earth and knows BEG is the ugliest.
DeleteThere is no uglier place than Terminal 1 in FRA.
DeleteTrresnja will tell you FRA is stunning. Especially with all the rats running through the terminal, so much more beautiful than BEG. You tell them Tresnja, our record holder for number of airports visited world wide.
Delete@15:17...Yes, you 're right, one of the ugliests and brand new, which is even worse..And yes, you're right again, I did visit huge amount of airports throughout the world..I hope you're gonna find something more interesting to do in your life, but to follow every comment of mine...
DeleteBut it is stunning compared to BEG,Tresnja. Yes I am sure you have visited every airport in the world, as you stated you can count on one finger the ones uglier than BEG. You haven't posted a single comment here where you are not complaining or moaning about something so it is hard to miss.
DeleteThat's not true, when something is done right, I give it a positive one..Especially for Air Serbia proactivity...Regarding BEG airport, it vey hard to find things that are done right since it was given to Vinci
DeleteGood to see Kafeterija opening in several places on ground floor. On the ground floor also WH Smith and Air Serbia ticketing office are ready to open. But they need permits and until that happens nothing can start. Once these all open it will look much nicer becuase it is open plan and it won't look like a boxed in maze.
ReplyDeleteWhat angers me most is that Wizz still hasnt upgraded capacity on all of its flights as announced here on this blog earlier.
ReplyDeleteHalf of their flights are still with A320 instead of A321..