Belgrade Airport sees January rebound as expansion advances


Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport saw its passenger numbers bounce back during the first month of the year, handling almost two and a half times more travellers than in January 2021, however, figures were still down 31% on the pre-pandemic 2019. The airport welcomed just over 239.000 passengers last month. Commercial aircraft movements reached 87% of pre-pandemic levels and were up 89% on last year. The figures were achieved despite a number of countries reintroducing travel bans and entry restrictions for Serbian nationals last month due to surging coronavirus cases. The airport, which handled 3.286.295 passengers in 2021, previously estimated it would welcome five million travellers this year, while pre-pandemic passenger numbers would be achieved in 2023.

Seat capacity for the coming summer season indicates Belgrade Airport is approaching pre-pandemic levels. At this point, data shows the airport will offer more capacity this year to several markets compared to the pre-Covid 2019. These include Germany, Turkey, France, Sweden, the Netherlands, Austria, the United Arab Emirates and Spain. This summer season will see Air Serbia significantly expand its route network while foreign carriers will also be adding flights. They include Aegean Airlines, Eurowings and Wizz Air, which will be introducing new routes, while others, such as Turkish Airlines, KLM, LOT Polish Airlines and Flydubai, will increase frequencies on existing services. Furthermore, Luxair, AnadoluJet, Eurowings, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi and KLM are set to operate their first full summer in Belgrade.

The traffic recovery is taking place against the backdrop of a comprehensive expansion of the airport’s infrastructure. “The most important work includes the expansion of the existing terminal, the inserted runway, additional aircraft parking, new de-icing platforms and car parks”, the airport said, adding that with the opening of the first phase of the newly expanded C pier, which is expected in the coming months, it will boast eight new gates with boarding bridges and five new bus gates. The airport is also in the process of finalising work on central security screening, which will eliminate individual security checks at each gate. New screening equipment manufactured by Spain’s Detektin has arrived and is being installed for deployment in April. It will be used at the new cetralised security check. Furthermore, the construction of a third floor, which currently spans across the extended C pier as well as part of the A pier, is now progressing above the original C pier building. Work on the expansion of the airport’s ground floor is also in full swing. Upon its completion, it will boast 100 check-in desks, new restaurants, bars and shops.



Comments

  1. Anonymous09:02

    Good result all things considered

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous09:03

    And some were saying it wouldn't reach 150,000
    https://www.exyuaviation.com/2022/02/zagreb-airport-sees-january-recovery.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:06

      It was their wishful thinking!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:07

      So it handled more than 150,000 passengers in January. Bravo Belgrade!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:03

      I said it would reach 350.000.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous19:03

      Good news is that BEG outperformed SKG in January.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:04

    Nice. I expect traffic to pick up much more as Europe starts lifting all restrictions. Big boost will be Switzerland ending all Covid measures today. It no longer even requires you to be vaccinated to enter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:04

      Swiss will probably add more flights.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:05

      Greece was the first to remove PCR requirement before entering the country. Then France did the same for the vaccinated, then Switzerland and now Austria is removing all restrictions from March 5th. Hopefully all these markets recover soon.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:07

      Yes, but Greece still requires you to be vaccinated, while Switzerland no longer has that requirement. Norway this week also lifted absolutely all Covid measures and you can also enter unvaccinated under same rules as before Covid.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:08

      Nice! Do you have a link to send me for Switzerland as I would like to send it to some friends and I can't find anything online.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:10

      Here you go: https://www.bag.admin.ch/bag/en/home/das-bag/aktuell/medienmitteilungen.msg-id-87216.html

      "Changes to entry rules
      Health-related measures for persons entering the country are to be lifted. It will no longer be necessary to provide proof of vaccination, recovery or a negative test or complete an entry form."

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:15

      Swiss

      Week starting 21.02: 12 flights
      Week starting 28.02: 14 flights
      Week starting 07.03: 14 flights

      I was looking at fares and for ZRH-BEG they are quite high for the next 10 days. I guess they are going to be upgrading quite a few A220 flights to A320. Hopefully JU responds soon as well otherwise LX will take away quite a few passengers especially since they have a very good schedule to/frm BEG.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:16

      UK will also be lifting all requirements soon.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous09:16

      Except visas :D

      Delete
    9. Anonymous09:18

      @9.15 I think they will very soon add more flights. The ending of Covid measures were just announced yesterday without any prior indication so people will now rush to book tickets.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous09:23

      Indeed though Swiss immediately boosted BEG after Switzerland lifted PCR test for entry. Maybe they knew the government was going to lift all restrictions so they prepared themselves. Of course, LX has an advantage because it has a more efficient and economic plane on the route.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous09:32

      Let's also see if the ending of all restrictions in Norway has an impact on the number of flights between Oslo and Belgrade.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous09:32

      Germany may lift many requirements on 20.3.

      Does anyone know if lifting travelling limitations also includes cancelling of all quarantine rules?

      Delete
    13. Anonymous09:33

      I don't know about Germany but in other countries that have lifted requirements, all measures were dropped including quarantine and vaccine mandates. I think most European countries will follow the same pattern.

      Delete
    14. LX's disadvantage is fact that almost every flight is delayed from Belgrade.

      Delete
    15. Anonymous09:47

      Seems like DY is gearing up for a fight. End of March they are planning on boosting BEG from 1 to 3 weekly flights and then from May they are adding a 4th flight.

      JU stays as two weekly and Wizz plans to resume flights from 10.04.

      I think Wizz can't resume many flights earlier. They just have a call for crew in Belgrade meaning they don't have enough staff to respond to growing demand. Bad planning as usual.

      Delete
    16. Anonymous10:01

      Is LX really delayed? I follow BEG on FR24 and haven't noticed they had many delays?

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:04

    I think February will not be that good but March should explode. I see that airlines are already ramping up their presence in Belgrade especially Lufthansa Group. Also on the 27th Air France is returning to Belgrade which is good.

    All things considered, seems like Wizz Air is struggling with all competition. Only goes to show how difficult their life is when they have to compete with others under the same conditions.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:05

      Based on what did you draw your conclusion about Wizz Air?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:09

      Based on the fact that they once again delayed the resumption of most of their flights which were suspended? HHN, BLL and BCN were all supposed to be resumed in February and now only BCN is operating. HHN was even moved to April.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:12

      They seem to be struggling in many markets at the moment.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:47

      I don't think February will necessarily be that bad. It will certainly be better than last year. There was also quite a big surge in travel this week because of public holidays and school holiday.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:42

      I'm hopeful there will be a few more routes from Wizz considering they have a third plane in BEG now.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:45

      Yes but they revised their schedule so now BSL-INI is operated by a BEG based plane in stead of the one from SKP as was the case in the past.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous02:46

      Air France returns in May.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:12

    So AirCairo has been blocked officially?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:13

      No, it has not been blocked.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous02:47

      They still haven't scheduled the new flights.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:13

    I'm excited for the opening of the extended pier and also finally centralized security. It will be more efficient than at the gate.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:15

      +1

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:16

      Plus with new facilities they can focus on fixing older parts of the terminal, especially A6 to A10

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:21

    Is 5 million passengers realistic for this year?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:23

      No one can say anything with certainty anymore but if these trends continue and the world continues ending Covid restrictions, it will probably be above 5 million.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:22

    There will be more new airlines coming to Belgrade this summer. Talks in progress.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:31

      Fingers crossed

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:35

      Maybe Brussels, Iberia, TAP... Didn't CEO of BEG say that they negotite with SN?

      I do not think British or SAS would return to Belgrade soon.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:03

      I think that TAP is much more likely, JU seems to be struggling with BRU flights for years, they even stopped flying there in Feb, especially since SN network is rather limited compared to KL or LH, so they will have no transfers to go after.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:35

      Plus SN isn't doing that well financially, I doubt they need an adventure like BEG where the market is small and they have JU to compete with.

      Personally I would love to see SK from CPH or AY from HEL when China opens up or maybe even LY's return.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:23

    Anyone know if JU is planning any increases in March?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nemjee09:30

      I know they are increasing LCA from 2 to 3 weekly and then from the 28th 4th weekly is being added.
      From 12.03 the night flight on Fridays is being brought back which is good for transfers.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:31

      The routes that were suspended in February - Thessaloniki, Sofia and Brussels are being restored.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:35

      I wonder when FRA with JU will have again daily flights.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:56

      Hopefully soon and let's hope HHN flights don't affect them much.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:52

      LJU is also boosted in March

      Delete
    6. anon@11:52 boosted! quite a statement.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous08:12

      Well they plan like 8 weekly which isn't that bad.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:40

    Anyone know when the new ATR is entering service? It's been almost three weeks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:41

      March. By that time more will arrive.

      Delete
    2. "March. By that time more will arrive."
      Koliko pametnjakovića i sveznalica ovde... Odleteo danas za Tiranu kao JU212

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:42

    Any idea how Anadolujet is performing on their new route to BEG?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:43

      I don't know but it seems flights from Turkey are generally performing well. TK again sent A330 to BEG yesterday. Third week in a row it is sending a widebody on BEG route.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:47

      Nice. I notice they usually send the A330 on Wednesdays.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:48

      I don't think ESB does that well since last Sunday they canceled the flight. However looking at their fares from March and April situation seems to be better.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:50

      A flight can be cancelled for a huge range of reasons.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:54

      Yes but in February we all know what it means.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous12:16

      @9.47
      And also we will now have Aeroflot with A330 each weekend.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous12:46

      Also I think from March they are going to send the A330 on Thursdays and Saturdays. Of course, it's silly that they have to do this because of Russian restrictions. I am sure they would have double daily by now.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:44

    42 commercial departures today. Not bad for pandemic February.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous09:46

    Congratulations. Good result.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Definitivno Aerodrom Beograd postaje aerodrom dvadeset prvog veka za Srbiju. Veliki je minus ovog aerodroma ako ne izgradi terasu za posetioce i entuziaste aerodroma i avijacije. Kako moze Aerodrom Nikola Tesla Beograd se porediti sa znacajnijim aerodroma bez terase za onlookers...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:16

      Čika Rade bi da ima vidikovac. Niste jedini, to je sigurno. Al' da je baš velki minus? Pa možda i jeste.

      Delete
    2. Neka bude kako biti mora. Ponovo svedocim da sam doletao do 176 aerodroma na svim kontinentima. U zadnjih 52 godine. Aerodrom Morava Kraljevo, kada uzletim sa njega bice mi
      177. Zbog svedocenja utisaka sa aerodroma sam
      Pomenuo "vidikovac" na Tesli. Ipak meni ostaje
      minus, jer nisam objektivan...
      Vama postovani Anon 15:16 i buducem Srpskom
      Habu, postovanje i svaki napredak.😀🛫🌐🇷🇸✈
      Rodney 🛫

      Delete
    3. Anonymous00:18

      Hvala Čika Rade.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:51

    Looking at Norwegian's website I noticed they are picking a fight on ARN-BEG as well. From May until the end of the summer season they are going to be flying twice a week!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:18

      What you mean picking a flight?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:26

      Fighting for their share of the market. They were always the weakest on Stockholm-Belgrade.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous18:41

      True, thanks.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous10:00

    How did Sofia and Tirana perform in January? Would be interesting to compare.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:16

      I don't know about January but in 2o21 in TIA, JU had an average LF of 48% which was the lowest of all airlines operating there. This January definitely hasn't been much better considering how many flights they cancelled.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous10:04

    So are these new additions by foreigners this summer?

    1. FZ goes double daily from DXB
    2. TK adds third daily from IST
    3. Air Cairo to launch CAI and SSH
    4. Aegean, scheduled flights from RHO and HER and more capacity
    5. Red Wings ROV flights
    6. KLM 14 weekly
    7. DY boosts OSL and ARN
    8. Wizz adds FCO, BCN, HHN, Vaxjo, NCE and FCO
    9. EW launches DUS

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:25

      TK going from 14 to 21 flights is a nice boost.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:36

      It's also good for JU because they have a codeshare so they can offer connections on flights that can't make it onto their own flight.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:11

      I like the variety of airlines.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous10:24

    Would be fantastic if they could handle similar numbers to 2019 this year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:25

      Impossible this year.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:11

      I think BEG will be close but not a pre pandemic levels this year (passenger wise I mean).

      Delete
    3. Anonymous01:38

      Let's wait and see.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous10:24

    Nice pic! :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous10:25

    Nice to see the airport returning to life.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous11:11

    As soon as covid is over BEG will see a big increase in traffic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:12

      Every airport will.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:22

      BEG will see proportionately more than ex-yugo airports because of transfers.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous11:11

    Nice to see UAE market above 2019 levels even though we had Etihad flying back then.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:04

      EXPO... Last night, two charters from DXB, gates D4&D5: at 21.30 and 20.00 respectively.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous01:37

      It's not about expo. Flydubai is flying 10 weekly and will go double daily after Expo ends. It has to do with the fact that Dubai became extremely popular with Serbs in 2020 when we could travel no where in Europe but the UAE opened its doors.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous08:13

      I think people from eastern Europe generally like Dubai. Just look at how many flights there are. Also the route is within the range of narrowbodies so fares have melted away. Wizz entering the market has also helped in reducing prices.

      Delete
  23. Anonymous11:12

    Seems like things are looking up for BEG.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous11:14

    So my guess is Air Serbia had around 120,000 passengers in January (from/to Belgrade).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:16

      Sounds about right.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous01:36

      Yes, they probably had around 50% share.

      Delete
  25. Anonymous11:15

    Anyone know what was the busiest route?

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous11:37

    Aegean needs to go daily, their Middle East network will attract many transit passengers from BEG and Serbia in general.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous01:35

      Have they ever operated daily flights to BEG?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous02:00

      Oh yes.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous08:16

      Nope, Aegean has never had daily flights to BEG. Best they had was 6 weekly.

      Delete
  27. Anonymous12:12

    Great results for BEG

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous15:06

    Anyone have any idea how INI- BEG is performing?

    ReplyDelete
  29. Anonymous16:57

    They need more flights to the Middle East, especially Kuwait and Riyadh in SA.
    I hope Belgrade is next for Flynas and Jazeera Airways.
    These two airlines already have a presence in the region and Belgrade would fit in perfectly.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous08:18

    I see that from tonight JU is resuming night flights to Moscow, flight departs at 23.40. I wonder if this means that they can't compete for locals so they are going after transfers?

    ReplyDelete

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