EX-YU airport race 2020


Airports across the former Yugoslavia were heavily affected by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 which saw all but Zagreb close their doors for commercial passenger traffic for several months. Jointly, the airports handled 7.5 million passengers, shedding 21.9 million travellers on the year before. Individually, Slovenia was the most affected market, with an average decline of 83.3%. Furthermore, it was the second most impacted market in Europe behind Georgia. Croatia was the fourth most affected aviation market in Europe, following Slovakia, while Montenegro was close behind as the fifth most impacted European market. On the other hand, the Kosovo market was the most resilient in Europe, seeing the smallest rate of decline compared to the year before.

AirportPassengers 2020Passengers 2019Change (%)Difference
Belgrade1.903.3376.162.159 69.1- 4.258.822
Pristina1.102.0912.373.698 53.6- 1.271.607
Zagreb924.8233.435.531 73.1- 2.510.708
Skopje710.7112.360.400 69.9- 1.649.689
Split674.3663.301.930 79.6- 2.627.564
Podgorica343.1871.297.365 73.5- 954.178
Dubrovnik330.1472.896.227 88.6- 2.566.080
Ljubljana288.2351.721.355 83.3- 1.433.120
Sarajevo249.6421.143.680 78.2- 894.038
Tuzla228.425592.384 61.4- 363.959

Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport maintained its position as the busiest in the former Yugoslavia, however, it lost over 4.2 million passengers. Overall, Belgrade Airport was the 87th busiest on the continent, up from 89th in 2019. It was behind the likes of Charleroi, Eindhoven and Bologna, but ahead of Larnaca, Minsk and Malta. Driving the lower passenger decline at Pristina Airport when compared to others in Europe was the diaspora. “Our traffic mainly relies on the diaspora, which lives and works abroad, meaning most of them hold citizenship and/or residency permits of the countries they are living in”, Pristina Airport’s Chief Operations Officer, Gokmen Aritay, told EX-YU Aviation News. On the other hand, Tivat Airport was one of the most affected in the former Yugoslavia, with its two main markets - Russia and Serbia - closed for arrivals into the country for a protracted period of time.

AirportPassengers 2020Passengers 2019Change (%)Difference
Tivat189.8151.367.282 86.1- 1.177.467
Niš154.233422.255 63.5- 268.022
Zadar120.747801.347 84.9- 680.600
Pula83.502777.568 89.3- 694.066
Ohrid72.125317.218 77.3- 245.093
Banja Luka43.775149.966 70.8- 106.191
Rijeka27.680200.841 86.2- 173.161
Osijek6.62646.378 85.7- 39.752
Brač4.26125.342 83.2- 21.081
Mali Lošinj3.2146.495 60.5- 3.281
Mostar1.37432.866 95.8- 31.492

Europe’s airports lost 1.72 billion passengers in 2020 compared to the previous year, a decrease of 70.4%. Europe’s airports were back to their traffic levels from 1995. EU airports (-73%) were significantly more impacted than those in the non-EU bloc (-61.9%). This is mainly due to the size and relative resilience of domestic markets primarily in Russia but also Turkey, combined with less stringent lockdowns and travel restrictions compared to the EU market. The distinct performance between the EU and non-EU market became apparent in the second half of the year. While both EU and non-EU airports saw passenger traffic coming to an almost stand still in Q2 (respectively -97.3% and -93.3%), losses in Q4 stood at -83.8% at EU airports compared to -63.9% at non-EU airports.


Comments

  1. Anonymous09:06

    The numbers are dire

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous09:15

    Poor Mostar

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:24

      That airport needs to seriously do something if it is ever to have decent traffic.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous00:15

      It had the perfect chance to attract Wizz Air. Now with them opening a base in Sarajevo those chances have dwindled.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous01:05

      Mostar is a small city with not a large catchment area.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous08:13

      Same with OSI, that is why both airports struggle all the time.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:16

    So Slovenia second last in Europe. Must be from the restrictions like people write here, which obviously only exist in Slovenia.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:18

      It's no surprise. Numbers in LJU were declining months before anyone even knew about corona.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:19

      The market started to recover and then covid happened.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:23

      Started to recover? February numbers were down 24%, January down 27%

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:29

      Ljubljana's numbers started to fall in August 2019.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous00:51

      When Adria crisis started.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:17

    :(

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous09:24

    Ironic that BEG actually improved its European rank.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:30

      Because other airports did equally as bad.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:31

      Helps when you have a national carrier and an LCC based there.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:37

      Competition is always good. I am also happy that JU enjoys minimal protectionism.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:57

      Serbia is about to sign a memorandum with Greece but I don't know when the market will open. Aegean moving BEG to early March could be an indicator of that.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:01

      It already signed the memorandum...

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:03

      Nope, that was media desinformation. They were merely negotiating about terms and conditions. They still did not sign it which is why we don't know when their borders will be opened. Today it was reported that Spain will allow people who were vaccinated. That's good news for BEG-BCN.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous00:20

      Oh I see, didn't realize.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:28

    First quarter of this year will be equally as bad

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous00:51

      But second quarter will be much better :D

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:28

    TGD overtook LJU...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:30

      I'm surprised Podgorica managed those numbers. They did better than I expected.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:31

      And SJJ will probaby overtake LJU this year

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:32

      Or Nis ahead of Zadar!

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:34

      Just shows how bad this management is

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:09

      They are sooo bad. They didnt stoped the spread of virus in China therefore they are bad.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous00:51

      What they should have done is been better prepared for Adria's collapse. The writing was on the wall for years.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:32

    Not surprised

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous09:34

    Considering the situation, some have held up quite well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:35

      Because January, February, and for the most part March performed really well.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:35

    It's useless to compare 2020 with 2019 unfortunately :(

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous09:36

    All airports All over the world have been hit by steep passenger decline. And things won't be getting back to 2019 levels for 3-5 years at best.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous09:37

    Tuzla was very close to overtaking Sarajevo.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous00:52

      Yes, but I think it was their only chance. Things will change a lot at SJJ this year.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous01:09

      If Wizz does what it said its would do it.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:37

    The more problematic thing is that revenue and profits have declined heavily. While governments are helping out their airlines, many have forgotten their airports.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:46

      Well LJU received aid and so have airports in Bosnia.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:44

    The PRN figures are extremely impressive. This trend is likely to increase this year....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous00:53

      Probably. I assume because of elections and the increase in arrivals, February will be relatively good at PRN.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:50

    Belgrade has managed to weather the storm and avoid total collapse.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:50

      Hopefully Ural launches all those flights.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous00:53

      Fingers crossed.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:51

    Things will get better.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous09:51

    When could we see 2019 figures again?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:55

      It will take a long time for things to fully recover.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:56

      With Corona infections ongoing and unemployment on the rise I expect deteriorating results coming our way.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:02

      No one knows

      Delete
  18. Anonymous09:57

    Well at least we all know there will be growth in March, April and May when compared to last year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:24

      but what about Jan and feb

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:03

      Do more of what Sarajevo did, especially smaller airports. Osijek got the same idea.
      https://www.exyuaviation.com/2021/02/osijek-airport-issues-public-call-to.html

      Delete
    3. Anonymous00:53

      Agree with last commentators. LCCs are the only way out of this crisis for many airports.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous01:12

      True for smaller airports. For BEG & ZAG they will rely on their national airlines for growth.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous08:16

      BEG also has Wizz Air on which to rely for growth. After all, they kept flying from BEG right after the lockdown.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous10:03

    Wow, Bosnia has 3x more passengers than Slovenia last year, who wouldve thought :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous10:05

    2020 was a very sad year for aviation in ex-Yu.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:13

      It was a very sad year for aviation for every country of the planet.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:29

      This is the biggest crisis for the aviation industry since WW2.

      Delete
  21. Anonymous10:14

    Numbers are in line with global trends.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous10:14

    Did they count passengers from reparation flights?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:26

      I believe repatriation passengers are counted for each airport. They are passengers after all.

      Delete
  23. Anonymous10:14

    This is tragic, more has to be done to reverse this negative trend.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous10:22

    Does anyone know or has any information whether WB residents would be able to travel to EU countries this year? Anyone has any news no mater how good or bad it is?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Welika Britanija residents? :) :) :)

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:30

      @Rijeka - LOL! I am dying over here. Hahaha
      I need explanations... :D

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:00

      West Balkans i assume

      Delete
  25. Anonymous10:27

    Boy how the rankings have changed in just a year. Crazy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:31

      They are not standard and I doubt they will be this way at the end of this year.

      Delete
  26. Anonymous10:49

    TIA overtook Zagreb by and large by having 1.3 million pax.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:30

      Its interesting, especially ZAG is in EU and had much more freedom to operate flights.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:33

      Not to mention the crucial difference according to national airlines fans: ZAG has national airline!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:07

      TIA has a national airline as well. They were actually the only airline allowed to operate several daily "repatriation" flights from March to June.

      Delete
  27. statistika11:23

    january trends seem to be even more crazier

    fun facts: in January SKP = ZAG+LJU+SPU+DBV

    the problem with network airlines is their very low LF in contrast to p2p airlines

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:30

      It is obvious that airports that rely more on diaspora have been less affected than those relying on home based passengers on tourists.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:38

      a passenger is a passenger

      Delete
  28. Anonymous11:31

    DBV looks beautiful on the pic. I hope traffic pics up there this year.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Anonymous11:37

    On Wiki I see Belgrade as 83rd in Europe.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_busiest_airports_in_Europe

    Heathrow lost its strike as being the busiest airport in terms of passenger numbers (I don't know how many years in a row) to Istanbul IST.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:39

      Wiki list is not correct nor is it fully updated.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:40

      And on top of that the passenger numbers they put for BEG is incorrect.

      Delete
    3. And Anonymous 11:40 can you please tell me where can I find the correct answer?!

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:49

      You have the correct number in this article.

      Delete
    5. So 1.904.025 from Wikipedia and 1.903.337 from Ex yu aviation, wow big difference!

      Delete
    6. Anonymous20:39

      It's interesting to see that MSQ has had more passengers compared to BEG. Belarus is a non-EU country and faced the same restrictions.
      Anapa, RU seems to have seen a huge increase thanks to its domestic traffic most likely.

      Delete
    7. The figures compiled for this article are based on data provided by ACI Europe (Airports Council International), which circulated end-of-year results for all European airports late last week. The full list is only sent to the press, so unfortunately it is not made public.

      Therefore, all the figures and ranking are based from that official document, which, when comparing to airports which have publicly announced their results match.

      @ Anonymous 20:39, based on that list, Minsk is actually one position behind Belgrade with 1.901.086 passengers.

      Delete
  30. Anonymous11:45

    This will be a long and difficult recovery.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:01

      You can count on that. There are no signs of recovery yet.

      Delete
  31. Anonymous13:04

    "shedding 21.9 million travellers on the year before"

    WOW

    ReplyDelete
  32. Anonymous16:19

    This isn't some kind of "race", unless one is under the age of 12 years old. Each airport has their own unique dynamics and Covid is, for each, a collective race to the bottom. Hopefully 2021 will outperform 2020.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Anonymous16:45

    It will take at least 3-4 years to full recovery. Growth is not expected before 2023-2024. More airlines will go under. Flag carriers will more aggressively fight for lowcost passengers. Further consolidation of surviving airlines is possible closer to the end of the crisis. More government help will be needed for this and next year. Lowcosters will deplete cash reserves. Weird things ahead.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Anonymous17:30

    Airport tax per passenger is 18euro
    Belgrade airport profit only from passenger tax is 1.903.337 x 10euro = 19033370(19 million euro profit for 2020 year)
    Airport passenger tax for Split airport is 21 euro per passenger.
    21euro tax x 674.366passengers = 14161686euro profit(14 million euro profit for airport operator)
    All airports are profitable in Serbia and Croatia

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. These figures you quote are not profit, but revenue.

      Delete
  35. As soon as Corona is brought under control, later on this year or perhaps early next year things will begin to rebound fast. There is a lot of pent up demand for leisure and diaspora travel. Diaspora throughout Europe that in the past came 'home' once or even 2-3 times per year has not been able to do so in the last year or so, with some exceptions. Diaspora/immigrants in the Americas who would come back to the old country once every year or two will come back for a visit as some as it is possible without all the tests and quarantine and other hassles. Same for leisure travel all over the world.

    Air travel will rebound relatively fast and reach 70-80% of 2019 levels within a year of the recovery. Airlines and Airports that can quickly adapt to new conditions, new routes, stream lined process etc. will benefit sooner and the most. Small airport will take longer to recover.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:27

      There was a chance of that happening if the pandemic ended this winter. While people r e a l l y wanted to travel this summer, that pent up demand will fall flat as the pandemic drags on and basically a lot of travells will be like "meh, I don't feel like bothering with flights and whole that security theatre" and they just won't be traveling as much as before. The momentum for recovery has been lost.

      Delete
    2. I hear you but it all depends on/if how fast Corona is brought under control.

      And I hate the 'security theatre' too, as you so eloquently put it. ;-)

      Delete
  36. Anonymous18:56

    Priština defended herself quite well.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Anonymous22:21

    Any updates on Sarajevo airport construction progress? Last news item on that topic was last year. Last news flash on Belgrade airport construction was 7 January and for Ljubljana on 19 January. Did pandemic slow down the construction progress at all three airports?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous22:28

      No. It's only slowed in Sarajevo.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous01:13

      BEG expansion is going strong.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous08:17

      BEG published some pics on their website you can see some updates there.

      www.beg.aero

      Delete
  38. Anonymous00:14

    You've got to start somewhere. Thing will get better.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous01:14

      Where do you start?

      Delete

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