Smaller commercial airports in the former Yugoslavia registered mixed results during the first half of the year, handling 1.251.613 passengers. Jointly, they added an extra 186.874 travellers on last year. Croatia's Zadar, Pula and Rijeka benefited from an increase in operations by low cost airlines, particularly Ryanair and easyJet, while Osijek felt the effects of Wizz Air's suspension of its year-round service from Basel. The Hungarian low cost airline also impacted on Tuzla's lacklustre performance during the first quarter after it suspended several routes over the winter season, however, the airport bounced back during the second quarter and is expected to overturn its overall passengers decline in July.
| Airport | Passengers H1 2019 | Passengers H1 2018 | Change (%) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zadar | 295.316 | 213.940 | ▲ 38.0 | + 63.376 |
| Tuzla | 271.006 | 275.415 |  1.6 | - 4.409 |
| Pula | 242.826 | 207.503 | ▲ 17.0 | + 35.323 |
| Niš | 165.658 | 174.116 | 4.9 | - 8.458 |
| Ohrid | 104.444 | 64.109 | ▲ 62.9 | + 40.335 |
| Banja Luka | 66.035 | 8.835 | ▲ 647.4 | + 57.200 |
| Rijeka | 62.204 | 52.081 | ▲ 19.4 | + 10.123 |
| Osijek | 25.903 | 29.470 | 12.1 | - 3.567 |
| Mostar | 8.489 | 10.061 | 15.6 | - 1.572 |
| Brač | 7.737 | 8.960 | 13.7 | - 1.223 |
| Mali Lošinj | 1.995 | 2.159 | 7.6 | - 164 |
Niš Airport's performance was also impacted by low cost carriers during the first few months of the year, although it returned to growth from May onwards. Its figures are set to grow significantly over the coming months as Air Serbia commences twelve new routes from the city. "Traffic from Niš will continue to develop and there will be more demand and the need for more carriers", the airport said. Meanwhile, Ohrid Airport has registered passenger growth of over 60% this year with the launch of new services by Wizz Air and Eurowings, aided by charter flights from the Netherlands and Poland. It is estimated to handle over 300.000 travellers in 2019. Overall, Ohrid Airport will see the largest growth in traffic in 2019 in its 65-year history.
During the January - June period, Banja Luka added over 66.000 passengers as a result of Ryanair's operations to the city, which continued to grow this year. "The partnership we have with Ryanair is most valuable for Banja Luka at this moment, and we expect to expand this cooperation in the coming period", the airport said. The low cost airline noted it would help deliver over 135.000 customers through Banja Luka in 2019. On the other hand, Mostar Airport's figures continued to decline. Numbers are expected to pick up during the third quarter, with Eurowings upping capacity on its two routes to the city.
So many of them depend on LCCs.
ReplyDeleteThat is the fate of small airports. Before LCCs majority of small airports have only few weekly flights of scheduled traffic and they were mostly used for charters and general aviation.
DeleteWhat happened to Brac this year? It was doing so well in 2018 with many new airlines and flights.
ReplyDeletethis year have no flights to luxemburg wich was great,85% l.facktor, no flights to ljubljana and bern to...
Deleteand whot aboute eurowings and his flights to brac?they need it start last year??
Delete"Brač Airport expects similar figures to those achieved last year. "In 2019, our plan is to maintain similar passenger numbers to last year's - around 31.000 travellers. We will focus the rest of our energy on expanding the runway and terminal. This year we plan to obtain all necessary permits with work to begin in late 2020. The new airport will be in operation in May 2021", General Manager Tonči Peović said."
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2019/03/croatian-airports-to-hit-11-million.html
True, LDSB has lost 3 out of 11 destinations this summer.
DeleteCurrent runway is probably still too short for A320/738 at 1760 metres, but I think up to A319/737-700 can make it even at max. weight, although one needs to consider strong winds for landings at Brac and high temperatures in summer that prolong take off distance.
Reason that no airline operates with 150 seater birds is in my opinion that there must be one to start with it, such as EW or U2, who do own A319s or maybe even Transavia with a 737-700. Most other LCCs don't operate the smaller med sized aircrafts anymore.
But does anyone know if operations with aircraft larger than 120 seats (up to 150 for ex.?) is allowed?
I wonder what affect will Air Serbia's flights have on Nis and how many passengers they could bring.
ReplyDeleteStrong growth, but I also feel it may results in FR or W6 cutting some routes from there.
DeleteWhy would FR or W6 cut some routes when JU doesn't compete with them? If anything it will impact some numbers in SKP, SOF and BEG where routes are offered from there as well.
DeleteThey are competing with them. Air Serbia fly to airports 0,5 to 2 hours driving from Wizz Air and Ryanair routes that they fly from INI, and for LCC that is same catchment area.
Delete1: Few examples: TIV, LJU, BUD - Wizz and Ryan are not serving them or nothing close to them from INI.
Delete2: W6 and FR could have applied for the tender but didn't
3: W6 und FR made their living competing by flying to nearby airports. For example, Wizz competes with Lufthansa BEG-MUC by flying BEG-MEM. How is it okay when Wizz does it to others, but not okay when someone else does it to them?
W6 and FR could NOT apply to the tender.
DeleteWhat do you mean Wizz does not fly to BUD? They are based there, so of course they could fly to INI.
DeleteWizz qualified for the tender.
DeleteYeah, wonder why they didn't bid on that route.
DeleteSo it is safe to assume that BNX will overtake RJK this year.
ReplyDeleteYes but I don't think we will see any new Ryanair routes to BNX this year despite some announcements from the airport.
DeleteIt's ok, let them improve their performance and consolidate their operations before growing. BNX can still have a 10% to 20% growth next year especially if JU keeps on adding charters flights like this year.
DeleteNot so sure about BNX will overtake RJK. We have figures here for RJK for first 6 months only and RJK is the most seasonal airport of all in ex-yu, with numbers of flights and passengers drastically increasing during July and August, even September, when the traffic is 3 or 4 times larger compared to first half of the year. Not saying absolutely impossible, but considering RJK seasonality, very difficult BNX can make it
DeleteWell let's see how it all plays out in the end. BNX is having solid growth in all months of the year unlike RJK, that's their advantage.
DeleteExactly. BNX is on about 50.000 per 5 months which is 120.000 per year, or let's say 140.000 per year because of better LF in peak months..On the other hand, predictions for RJK for this year stand at 180.000. That's my maths. But you are right, let's wait and see :)
DeleteAny projection on when Zadar could hit a million passengers per year?
ReplyDeleteWell with Jet2 having already announced flight to both London and Manchester, we can assume more to follow. I would say in 2021?
DeleteWhat about MBX and POW? Not even in the list? Pax numbers?
ReplyDeleteNeither of them have commercial flights.
DeleteMaribor had 2,000 passengers for the whole of last year (and that's when they actually had some flights). I assume they had less than 500 passengers during the first half of the year.
DeleteYes, but POW hasn't had commercial flights for a couple of years, yet they still had more passengers than some of the airports on the list last year.
DeleteMaribor would fit perfectly into FR... don't know how that went wrong
DeleteIf the terrain was better and the runway long enough, I'm sure Portoroz would have had flights for many years.
Delete@9.37 are you sure?
DeleteMaribor - Graz Airport: 60 km
Graz has no LCC
DeleteGraz has a limited Easyjet and Eurowings (only seasonal) ops.
DeleteTuzla could again have soft winter since Wizz is suspending Vienna.
ReplyDeleteBut Billund has been upgraded to year round. So it will substitute the loss of Vienna.
DeleteI think this is pretty much it for Tuzla and it's not a bad performance. The airport will still reduce its losses and the city will be better connected with Europe, even better than Sarajevo actually.
DeleteBut what happened with Tuzla's announcements how Wizz will base a third plane there when they extend the agreement which is supposed to expire in November?
DeleteMy guess is that Wizz doesn't have enough planes for Tuzla now so they will be flexible. I mean look at the delays in SKP and OHD, all because of plane shortage. Also I think TZL-VIE was operate by a plane from Vienna if I am not wrong so Tuzla won't get any compesation through a new route or more frequencies.
DeleteIt is beyond strange that VIE TZL will be given up. There is incredibly much ethnic traffic.
DeleteBut I guess w6 can earn more money elsewhere. That diaspora is low yielding and will take own car or bus if flight costs more than 30 euros, they anyway are/were used to that over all the last years/decades.
Its no good depending on Lcc's. Ryanair's days are slowly coming to an end, and it will come even sooner if the Boeing 737 max doesn't get flying again soon
ReplyDeleteYeah but what do these airports have as options? Not much, they have to rely on them as no one else wants to fly there.
DeleteThe problem is that most of these airports depend only on a single LCC which isn't good. They should do more to have at least 2 LCCs with several routes.
Delete"Ryanair's days are slowly coming to an end" --> where did you get this from?
DeleteThey now operate with a record fleet size of 418 planes and have 135+75 orders for even larger 737s with then 197 seats.
There was just news that their profit in Q2/2019 was 21% weaker compared to last year, but they still managed a nice profit of +243 million EUR.
Nis ce definitivno imati naj jaci rast u drugoj polovini godine. Ne mogu da docekam rezultate. Dobar posao za Konstantina i AS.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteУз све то Ниш објављује своје резултате јако брзо што значи да нећемо дуго чекати! Пријатељ је летео Ниш-Болоња и каже да их је било око 70 путника. Ја сам искрено очекивао много мање имајући у виду да је то ипак Италија и да су јако кратко продавали карте пре почетка летова.
Bice to dobra prica.Neki letovi vec sada dostizu cenu od 200e sto znaci da su avioni prilicno puni.
DeleteМогуће да ће доћи до прекомбиновања следеће године а верујем да ће Тиват сигурно добити барем још један лет. Летови су од самог почетка пуни. Можда ЈУ одлучи да коначно крене са чартерима из Ниша.
DeleteHER and AYT could work as charters from INI, once a week or once every ten days.
DeleteOnda ce im trebati jos jedan avion :)
DeleteНеће морати уколико чартере обављају са авионом из Београда, исти принцип као са Бањалуком.
DeleteSvakako ce im trebati jos jedan avion, flota im je trenutno jako nategnuta, u vecerasnjem talasu letova u Beogradu ce ostati 1 ATR i 1 B737, svi ostali su na letovima, i tako je svaki dan. Za svako sledece povecanje ce morati da se poveca flota.
DeleteNece im trebati jos jedan avion ako izbace glupi BUD i mozda jos jednu destinaciju.
DeleteBUD should be dropped in favour of two daily flights to BEG. One early morning from INI to arrive in time for first wave of departure from BEG.
DeleteSecond flight late at night, say 21:00, back to INI to collect INI bound pax from various flights throughout the day that arrive in BEG.
Hopefully in the future there could be an afternoon flight, circa 14:00 BEG-INI, and return.
Stop this obsession with BUD.
DeleteBudapest is becoming an extremely important airport in the region.
Yes, this is the true 4 continents hub - flights to South Korea soon, China, Canada, US.
Most importantly Caucausus and Balkan absolute coverage.
Spain extreme coverage, UK too.
Yes intergalactic hub.
DeleteWho is obsessing?
DeleteEVERY time there is a post about INI, someone says that BUD is not performing well.
DeleteI mean, why? This is one of Europe's most visited cities and not to mention the number of students living there , nightlife, business, culture and culinary capital.
The airport in BUD is big, has 2 runways and has room for growth.
So INI needs BUD, the same was as BUD needs INI. Simple.
Hey man I agree with most of what you are saying. Budapest is a beautiful city worth visiting, especially in 'our' region. But if it is not performing well then it should be canned. Not saying to do that right away. Give the route a few months to try to mature, and if not, then it's finito for BUD.
DeleteSo I wouldn't not say that INI needs BUD. Niš can survive without an air link to Budapest. Besides, you can make the same argument for Warsaw, Moskva, Istanbul etc.
Budapest along with LJU are the worst performing routes out of INI. So much for that. They should have gone with 5 weekly to TIV in stead.
DeleteAre the LFs less than 50%?
DeleteCharlie I would be cautious with trusting any anonymous here with load factors. The person who writes every single time about Budapest and Ljubljana then goes on to argue how Air Serbia should have flown across Ukraine. So be careful. I doubt he has any data.
DeleteI am also a little skeptical of trusting anonymous posts here.
DeleteBut I was thinking Nemjee might know as he usually seems to have reliable info.
Charlie, I don't know exact numbers for the two but my guess is that it is below 50% since they are the worst performing. Best are INI and GOT.
DeleteThat said, I think LJU has a long-term chance due to a large number of Serbs from the south living and working there. Also, driving from Slovenia to Nis isn't that convenient especially now when road tolls became more expensive by 12%.
OSI is a disaster. I wonder if the airport has any future with so many other airports around. All airlines cut flights there.
ReplyDeleteI was hoping that Wizz was the answer to OSI's problems but that doesn't seem to have worked either :/
DeleteLF was around 80% which wasn't bad but not great either. There is just no demand for OSI flights.
DeleteZadar is doing great thanks to Ryanair. Ironic they close their base in ZAD and then grow traffic so much there.
ReplyDeleteThey really don't need a seasonal base there when all routes can be served with aircraft from other bases. Zadar is also benefiting from Split overcapacity. Overall a really good result.
DeleteWill ZAD overtake PUY again this year? PUY overtook them in 2018.
DeleteBNX has the potential from its catchment area to grow a lot.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think is the potential population of their catchment area?
DeleteAnd what geographic area are you talking about?
Ниш ће у овој години имати више путника него прошле године. Међутим најпроблематичнија јесте зграда за долазак и одлазак путника. Искрено, незаслужује да се назива терминал. Тешко је схватити спорост одобрења финансирања и градње терминала за минимум један милион путника годишње. Очигледно да политичари су недовољно ефикасни да бирократију и њене људе који одлучују о градњи и финансирању Нишког Аеродрома. Терминала на првом месту. Угледајте се на Терминал Аеродрома Морава Краљево. Само Нишки терминал мора бити за половину већи од Краљевачког Терминала на Морави. ✈🔆✈🔅✈☺✈🌐✈
ReplyDeleteСа поздравом Радован. ✈🌍✈🌏✈🌎✈
Краљево.
Forget Mostar. BiH should be more than happy with 3 airports. So many countries in the region, bigger in size have barely 2 international airports.
ReplyDeleteShame on everybody that gets their relatively big salaries for stopping development of Mostar airport instead of promoting it.
DeleteDespite the low level of traffic at Mostar, it amazes me that this country has 4 functioning airports and that all have international flights.
DeleteYes four functional airports where all have mediocre performance.
DeleteI just read in the Bosnian news portals that Mostar will be announcing new Ryanair routes very soon :)
DeleteMostar airport's performance matches the one of its main customer.
DeleteWhat main customer? Pilgrams? Diaspora?
DeleteRijeka has been a positive surprise this summer and last, finally, after many years of disappointments.
ReplyDeleteAgree it's a bit better this year but still far far far less from its potential. RJK numbers should be at least as the ones of ZAD, PUY or TRS, with at least one year-round scheduled doubly daily connection to a major hub, non-existent at the moment, much more flights to SPU/DBV and ex-yu capitals, more LCC's in season and connections to Russia, Ukraine, Spain, France, Poland, Norway, Italy - big markets with minimum or no coverage at all
DeleteDoes it make sense for a flight from RJK-ZAG for connecting pax? Or are the two cities too close for an air link? I think it is only about 1 1/4-1/2 hour drive to ZAG from Rijeka.
DeleteIf OU had triple stronger network with double stronger frequencies and if ZAG were real OU hub, it would have made sense, despite the proximity. With this volume of traffic no. When I wrote about the need to have scheduled service to a major hub, by no means I meant ZAG
DeleteThanks for the good explanation.
DeleteLooking forward to seeing my family in Hreljin in a few weeks.
Pula Airport is one of the best small airports in ex-Yu. I think they will easily achieve 750,000 passengers this year.
ReplyDeleteCroatian coast is growing and growing each year.
DeleteAgree with 9.41 It's the only widebody regional airport in ex-yu.
DeleteI think 1 million can be achieved by 2021.
DeleteMy estimate for PUY
Delete2019 - 750,000
2020 - 862,000
2021 - 992,000
We will see how the airport develops under a new CEO. Svemir Radmilo is leaving.
DeleteReally, Svemir?
DeleteHahahaa
Still a lot of room for improvement during winter months for all airports.
ReplyDeleteFor most much room for improvement in the summer too!
DeleteAny news about AS loads in INI?
ReplyDeleteThree of Bosnia´s biggest tourist spots in the proximity of Mostar airport, Mostar, Neum and Medjugorje, and this is the worst airport in the country traffic-wise?
ReplyDeleteWe can tank HDZ BiH politics, where they would rather see passengers in Split and Dubrovnik, than in Mostar.
DeleteNemaju zapadna i istocna zajedno 300000 stanovnika kakve je koristi to malo turizma?
DeleteNobody flies for Neum. Its mostly Bosnians driving from north, and nobodys going to start a Tuzla - Mostar route, for them to take a bus or something and continue to Neum...
DeleteI don't mean to be rude but I second that. Neum is like non existent on a European map of beach/holiday destinations, in sharp contrast to any other town and area along the coast. There is also a totally different standard in HR if you compare it.
DeletePeople do come to OMO for religious reasons, so does a small but increasing number of nature/activity tourists. Plus some diaspora.
Go Zadar, go! It is with no doubt that ZAD has potential for at least 1 mill pax.
ReplyDeleteLet‘s see if PUY or ZAD will have more PAX at the end of the year.
DeleteWaiting for Kraljevo to join the list now :D
ReplyDeleteHope so :)
DeleteGreat pic
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteGood results overall. Nice work from Zadar and Ohrid.
ReplyDeleteOsijek really needs to find some solution.
ReplyDeleteAny plans to bring another airline to Tuzla? It is not good to be do dependent on one.
ReplyDeleteThey say every year how they plan to...
DeleteBravo EX-YU!
ReplyDeleteBNX 692.6% WOW!
ReplyDeleteNot really surprising when the base number was so low.
DeleteStill a nice change for Banja Luka. Hope we see Ryanair grow even more.
DeleteUnfortunately Ryanair does not fly from Switzerland -
DeleteBanja Luka - Zurich or Banja Luka - Basel would be the jackpot !!!
Good to see not just Skopje but Ohrid doing well too :)
ReplyDeleteThis year they will almost double the passenger numbers.
DeleteThe Wizz flights are having a positive impact.
DeleteSubsidized flights though. So it's not generic growth. Same case we will see in Nis.
Deletelol
DeleteSo much for Osijek's plant to increase passenger numbers by 11% this year.
ReplyDelete*plans
DeleteAny news regarding Mali Losinj runway expansion project?
DeleteWith 900m rwy, that's all they can do to have 3 short seasonal routes with a tiny Let plane. (unless of course ECA would still be around). They need 2000m.
Apparently expansion could begin this year. But I wouldn't hold my breath
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2019/05/mali-losinj-airport-with-big-ambitions.html
We can only hope the project goes ahead next year as announced!
DeleteWhen is that Ryanair going to be in Mostar like they've been saying for 3 years now. Somebody tell them they will have at least one very loyal customer :) Flying into Dubrovnik or Sarajevo is tiring.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2019/05/ryanair-mostar-flights-done-deal.html
DeleteOhrid's full potential is only being realised now.
ReplyDeleteAnt plans to expand the airport in OHD?
DeleteResults will be much better in Q3
ReplyDeleteBanja luka had 14,190 passengers in June. H1 total is just above 66k !
ReplyDeleteBanja Luka has the most potential for additional flights .
ReplyDeleteWizz Air for example could just replicate their Tuzla network.
I guess even Swiss would work out same it did in Nis .
I think the island airports have largest potential regarding growth in percent. But they need to finally expand airports/runways first
DeleteSo basically, Niš will no longer be considered a small airport after the arrival of ASL.
ReplyDeleteIt will begin to directly compete with the bigger boys from the capital and the Croatian coast.
By 2025, INI will definitely achieve 1 million passengers.
Hey hey hey hold your horses. I have absolutely nothing against INI, on the contrary, I even signed online petition few years ago for LCC 's to come, but somehow I doubt INI can continue growth in double digits as both the airport and the market have limits and limitations. And, no offence, please, I am almost sure that INI can't make it ex-yu first league, the same as RJK or OSI, or TZL, or any other ex-yu airport except BEG, ZAG, SPU, DBV, LJU, PRN and SKP
DeleteINI will have 12 new destinations...that's big! If the current number traffic is 350,000 it will be easy to achieve 1 million.
DeleteBesides, the new INI-SOF highway is currently under construction and will be ready by 2021, which means more passenger flow and growth.
W6 will most likely add more routes such as LTN, BCN, GVA, BVA.
We might see Pobeda too launching services to VKO.
I also wouldn't put INI in the first league just yet. They gotta pay their dues first. I would include TGD though.
DeleteWell this year they will climb to the top of the second table. I mean if Tuzla can have 500.000 passengers then so can INI.
DeleteFirst of all everyone should congratulate Banja Luka!
ReplyDeleteTremendous growth and definitely a big step forward
From a clinically dead airport we now have a small airport that has a beautiful perspective and significance for the whole region