The 2021 summer season has begun today, bringing with it hope that airlines and airports will see an increase in traffic, while the desire for travel will grow as the rollout of coronavirus Covid-19 vaccines gains pace and so-called digital passports are introduced. A year after the start of the global pandemic, just two national carriers in the former Yugoslavia have been left standing, while a number of start-ups hope to fill the void. This summer is also set to see two low cost airlines open bases in two cities in the former Yugoslavia - Sarajevo and Zadar.
The following are some of the highlights of the summer season for each market. The tables below indicate the busiest carriers for each market based on the number of planned flight operations (return service included). The data is correct as of March 28, however, figures change on an almost daily basis due to the constant addition and removal of planned flights. The data only includes scheduled services and does not take into account summer charters.
The 2021 summer season runs until October 30.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
In just over a month and a half, Wizz Air will open a base at Sarajevo Airport and launch nine new routes. As part of Wizz’s expansion, the budget carrier will increase its operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina by 50%. The airline will have over 250.000 seats on sale from Sarajevo in 2021, which is more than the total number of travellers the airport handled for the whole of last year. In addition, FlyBosnia is soon set to take delivery of its first aircraft and restore operations from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital. Despite Wizz Air’s big expansion, Turkish Airlines, along with its AndoluJet brand, will offer the most flights and capacity out of the country.
Croatia
Croatia’s costal airports expect a solid summer this year with a number of new routes planned to launch over the coming months. Leisure travel is expected to perform strongly in Europe this year. Dubrovnik Airport’s General Manager, Frano Luetić, said, “Announcements for the season are excellent. The number of planned flights are very big". Zadar Airport, which will become a seasonal summer base for Ryanair’s subsidiary Lauda Europe, noted, “We expect an improvement over the results from last year”. Croatia's new charter carrier ETF Airways will soon take delivery of its first aircraft and launch a number of services from the coast. This summer, Croatia Airlines will offer the most flights and capacity out of the country.
Kosovo
Diaspora travel continues to perform strongly for Pristina Airport, dampening the effects of the ongoing crisis. Tour operator MyWings has struck a deal with charter airline Air Mediterranean to run a number of new routes out of Pristina this summer. These include Memmingen, Friedrichshafen, Bremen, Salzburg, Verona, Lyon, Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, Copenhagen and Maastricht. Overall, Eurowings will offer the most scheduled flights out of Kosovo during the summer, based on existing schedules.
Macedonia
Wizz Air will continue to be the dominant carrier on the Macedonian market this summer, albeit with a significantly reduced volume of flights compared to the pre-Covid period. AnadoluJet will launch a new service to Skopje, helping Turkish Airlines solidify its position as the biggest legacy carrier on the market.
Montenegro
Montenegro will see the launch of its new national carrier during the summer under the guidance of Lufthansa Systems. The 2021 summer season will mark the first in thirteen years without Montenegro Airlines. This summer also sees the arrival of several new carriers onto the Montenegrin market, including Luxair (from April 1) and Chair Airlines (from May 13). Air Serbia becomes the largest operator out of Montenegro with Montenegro Airlines out of the picture.
Serbia
The coming weeks and months will see the launch of a number of new routes from Belgrade. This includes Wizz Air’s new service to Hamburg, which begins today, as well as its subsequent Sandefjord service on April 25. Several carriers will enter or renter the Serbian market this summer, including SkyUp Airlines (March 30), Eurowings (May 2), KLM (May 13), Luxair (June 3) and AnadoluJet (July 3). Ryanair will also commence a new service from Vienna to Niš. Air Serbia will offer the most flights from the country, accounting for 52.2% of all operations.
Slovenia
Ljubljana Airport is expected to see a gradual recovery with a number of airlines restoring flights to the Slovenian capital over the coming months. This summer could also see LOT Polish Airlines play a greater role on the Slovenian market with a mini base in Ljubljana, while Ryanair has also secured rights to operate flights to the city. Based on current schedules, Lufthansa will continue to maintain its position as the country’s busiest airline.
Good luck to everyone. Hopefully the season will get much better as it progresses.
ReplyDeleteSeems like it. From June 19 INI is getting AYT flights for the first time in many years.
DeleteGreat news!!
DeleteINI-AYT is long overdue. I wonder if Anadolu is a response to this?
DeleteBelgrade seems to be improving, on Friday there were 38 flights, today there are 31. Things are definitely looking up.
ReplyDeleteDisaster for LJU
ReplyDeleteWhy? It's not ideal but at least LOT should start a few flights.
DeleteI noticed TK is almost always sending A321 to Belgrade. I am sure they will profit from arrival of Israeli tourists.
ReplyDeleteAnyone know the load on BEG-HAM today?
ReplyDeleteBased on the number of offered flights from Bosnia, it seems to me Wizz is reducing its operations from Tuzla significantly.
ReplyDeleteBecause most ops. will eventually be moved to SJJ.
DeleteShame that they are scavenging their own operations in stead of growing. What routes are being moved to SJJ from TZL?
DeleteI didn't say they have been moved I said that eventually they probably will. Most Tuzla staff is being moved to Sarajevo.
DeleteMakes sense.
DeleteDisaster for Tuzla, hope someone like easyJet comes now.
DeleteTZL je sama sebi kriva,sto Wizz air ode u SJJ.
DeleteNISU U STANJU NI JEDAN PROJEKAT O RAZVOJU ZAVRSIT GODINAM...
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Delete@09:50 - What are all those concerns about TZL? The airport managed to handle more than half a million of passengers in 2019 which is even larger than INI.
DeleteDon't see any disaster here.
How about the fact that they failed to install proper lights which forced planes to land in BEG the moment there was fog.
DeleteAs for INI, they at least managed to have diversity and not to rely on a single airline. Tuzla failed and is paying the price now.
Not really. Besides Bosnia has 4 airports and Serbia has 2, so this is also another story.
DeleteHahaha yes, OMO is a powerful Bosnian airport that puts others to shame.
DeleteHope To Montenegro gets off to a successful start!
ReplyDeleteIt won't, they are late and there won't be much of a season this year. June is already dead.
DeleteAt least it will be better than last year.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I think it will be another very dull summer in Europe. The real recovery this summer will happen in the US. Airlines have recalled all dismissed staff, the number of people passing through airports on a daily basis is the highest since the pandemic started and generally there is a sense of optimism.
ReplyDelete+1000
DeleteThe situation is quite tragic worldwide. Definitely another lost year in aviation. You can very easily see how much delays all the airlines are making and postponing their schedules every month. This year might be even worse than the last one.
I don't think we should hope for an overall recovery but rather selective, one market at a time. Look at Serbia, first it was Russia that started recovering then Dubai followed by MNE, then Turkey and now we have Israel.
DeleteYeah, a couple of countries and what about flights to EU? What about the seasonal charters? What about the cancelled W6 base but yeah, Israeli flights will save the day...
Delete"Cancelled W6 base"?? Wizz Air still very much has a base in Belgrade. Stop spreading false news or your hopes.
DeleteSeasonal charters are operating this year as well. They operated 300 charters last year so I don't see why they won't operate this year.
DeleteBuddy you might want to read the text again. Wizz is not closing the base they are expanding their presence with the launch of HAM today!!!!!!!!!!!
DeleteI guess that's why JU boosted JFK ahead of schedule, that route must be performing really well for them.
DeleteIt will be a difficult year for everyone. We will see if there will be more than 1,9 million passengers this year taking into consideration that last year the first quarter was all positive before Covid hit. Time will tell.
DeleteWell this year BEG won't be closed like last year when there was almost no traffic for two months. Also JU seems to be doing really well with transfers so here's to hope.
DeleteExpect LY to announce BEG any day now. Today they removed connecting flights from the system (TLV-BEG) for April so I expect them to load nonstop flights. Seems like they will go 5 times per week.
DeleteWhere did you see TLV-BEG bookable on LY website because I didn't find it. All the flights are via VIE or MUC as usual as those are the usual hubs.
DeleteWhy don't you read what is written Anon 15.28 before writing? Connecting flights on most days have been removed yesterday/today as they will most likely load nonstop flights on those days. LY was extremely successful last year. It only makes sense for them to come rushing back once tourists started coming back to Serbia.
DeleteIsrael flights are just temporary because of the current restrictions, once lifted they are probably going to return to nearby, traditionally busy neighbouring capitals. Quite similar scenario with JFK flights. Airlines are finding temporary nests to feed such as Maldives, Zanzibar, etc.
DeleteIsraeli tourists have been coming to Serbia for years now.
DeleteAnd so have they been doing in all of Eastern Europe for many years. TLV is basically connected to all its capitals and secondary cities from the Baltics to Greece. Nothing new really. Plus W6 is quite active in TLV and regularly deploying their 239-seater A321.
DeleteHahaha you really can't stand Serbia doing well? Seems like you forgot what we had in October last year.
DeleteHow many flights did LY have back in October? Was it six?
DeleteCertainly less that Israir and Arkia that have been flying to BEG for years.
DeleteSo sorry if it hurts your feelings.
But not El Al, because it has been flying for decades to the neighbouring capitals. Sorry it was not considered during that period and thanks to the pandemic it is now an option.
DeleteAnd will remain so.
DeleteI notice Croatia Airlines is barely operating flights to Vienna from today. 1 flight every 10 days or so. Seriously?!?
ReplyDeleteThat route was used by transfers. OS mostly cut their network and the little demand there is in ZAG is moved to FRA.
DeleteAt least Austrian restarted flights today.
DeleteI noticed that there are three ZAG-FRA flights in the morning, all in 90 minutes. Doesn't seem very efficient.
DeleteDunno about FRA but it's good to see Windrose this afternoon. Bee Airline is a new Ukrainian airline that obtained license recently and expected to begin operations in Europe. It is time for ZAG to look into Ukraine as a serious destination. Huge country with huge potential.
DeleteGermany sliding into a deep recession and with a brutal third wave coming, many ex-YU airports should have prepared better by looking at new markets. Germany is bracing itself for a huge covid wave which will cause deep economic impact. This will no doubt cause many airports over here to lose a solid share of their business. After all, look at LH cutting so many flights to ex-YU, that process has already begun.
ReplyDeleteSeems like Britain might not be a great source of tourists either, at least not this year.
Delete'Then the bad news rolled in, with Mike Tildesley, a scientist on a UK government advisory body saying that holidays abroad are “extremely unlikely” for most Britons this summer due to the risk of importing new variants of Covid-19.'
https://cyprus-mail.com/2021/03/28/tourism-optimism-fading-rapidly/
BA delayed ZAG by three months and OU is reducing LHR to just one weekly.
DeleteBritons should be banned from continental Europe so we can have a nice summer - this spring from hell is the fault of their Kent variant.
DeleteI hate the Kent variant!
DeleteIf it was for the Mangoes the Kent variant would be the best .
DeleteThis article exactly 1 year ago must have sounded like an obituary
ReplyDeleteIt did haha
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2020/03/bleak-start-to-2020-summer-season.html
Yikes forgot all the airports were closed back then.
DeleteDark times.
DeleteTwo new airline bases in the region in these sort of circumstances is great actually.
ReplyDeleteWizz Air and Turkish seem to be in the top three in almost all markets.
ReplyDeleteInformation from the check-in counter:
ReplyDeleteHAM - BEG 140 passengers.
Not too bad.
Not bad at all considering the circumstances.
DeleteDue to Easter I guess.
DeleteAnyone know from which airline is the crew in the pic based on the uniform?
ReplyDeleteAir France
Delete