Three EX-YU airports among top 100 busiest on the continent


Belgrade, Zagreb and Pristina were among the top 100 busiest airports in Europe during the January - May period, while Nikola Tesla Airport positioned itself within the top eighty. With a total of 467.615 passengers in May, Belgrade Airport ranked 80th ahead of the likes of Tirana, Vilnius and Luxembourg, but behind Larnaca, Sofia and Riga. Both Zagreb and Pristina were just outside of the top 100, ranking 112th and 113th respectively. Split was close behind, ranking 116th, then Skopje 132nd, Sarajevo 142nd, Podgorica 146th, and Ljubljana settling on 165th on the continent, making it the least busiest operational capital city airport in Europe during the month.

May performance by EX-YU capital cities


January - May performance by EX-YU capital cities


During the January - May period, Belgrade, Pristina and Zagreb were among Europe’s 100 busiest airports, ranking 78th, 96th and 99th respectively. Skopje was 121st, just behind Minsk but ahead of Chania, Montpellier and Salzburg. Split settled at 134th, in between Ajaccio and Bremen, while Sarajevo came 142nd in Europe, just behind Kaunas but ahead of Kos, Timisoara and Dubrovnik, which came 145th. Out of all the European markets, only three in Europe have surpassed their 2019 pre-pandemic passenger performance during the first five months of the year - Albania, with the largest growth in Europe exceeding 44%, followed by Kosovo with 25% growth and Bosnia and Herzegovina with an increase of 19.5%. With exception to Ukraine, which is in the midst of war, as well as Belarus, which is unable to handle any traffic from most European countries due to international sanctions, Slovenia saw the slowest recovery on the continent.
Passenger performance change January - May 2022 vs 2019

Over the five-month period, Istanbul was Europe’s busiest airport with over 24 million passengers, which is still 18% below the pre-pandemic 2019. It is followed by London Heathrow, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam and Madrid. According to Airports Council International Europe (ACI), the chief amongst downside risks for airports remains the pandemic, and the possible emergence of a new variant. Thanks to coordination at an EU level, approaches have become more risk-based leading to the easing of travel restriction within Europe and in an increasing number of external markets. But ACI warned that despite the experience of successive waves of Covid-19, there remains no agreed playbook amongst European states, let alone globally, for what would happen should a new variant emerge.



Comments

  1. Anonymous09:02

    "and Ljubljana settling on 165th on the continent, making it the least busiest operational capital city airport in Europe during the month."

    wow just wow

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:07

      160th airport in Europe :(

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:15

      We'll see by the end of 2022 if LJU will even be in top 200.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:26

      Very likely since many summer airport with huge traffic will move ahead.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:02

    Nice to see BEG in top 80.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous09:03

    I wonder if Sarajevo will eventually catch up to Skopje. It is getting closer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:12

      Depends what Skopje does. Wizz is expected to introduce new flights next year.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:15

      ^ Let's hope for something new finally. None of the recent new additions by other airlines worked out.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:15

      easyjet is performing well on their new SKP route.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:27

      Hope they add some more routes.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous17:11

      Russia itself is a huge market with 140 million people + connection with central Asia, middle East ect are not affected.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:04

    I'm still astonished at how well Russian market is performing all things considered.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:25

      I think economically as well most are surprised at how well they are doing.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:02

      Strong domestic market I guess

      Delete
    3. Anonymous17:13

      Strong Ruble helps the Russians going to Dubai, Maldives and the east. Most Gulf carriers are full (or only biz class available) until mid-September on its flights to Moscow and St. Petersburg. From Singapore it's cheaper to fly to America than to Moscow.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:04

    Will PRN be second this year or ZAG?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:04

      Or maybe SPU?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:12

      it seems Pristina will be the ahead of Zagreb for a second year in a row.

      Delete
    3. Observer13:39

      PRN has been ahead of ZAG for the last two years. This could be the third year in a row.

      All of that without a national airline or Public Service Obligation (PSO) flights.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:07

    I'm sorry but when I read which airports are in the same league as ex-Yu capitals - Kaunas, Bremen... sad

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:09

      Reality my dear

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:37

      Shows how insignificant the ex-Yu market is.

      Delete
    3. Ex-yu market is not insignificant. If you compared results by markets overall, not particular cities, you would see much better results, if the whole of ex-yu considered single market. It would be in upper part, maybe even the first third of european results. However it is slowed down and pushed back by corrupted politicians who don't care about growing flag carriers and their capitals becoming real hubs (JU and BEG the only exception, to some extent), restricting LCC'S in diferrent ways, hardly working on making its own population more and more miserable and poor, and contribute as major factor in lack of strategy and cooperation within the region in the field of civil aviation

      Delete
    4. Anonymous17:27

      All non-EU countries of Ex-Yu are among the poorest countries in Europe. logical that this affects air traffic. And croatia has also fallen far behind in comparison to countries such as the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:09

    Congratulations

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:12

      Bravo Fraport LOL!!

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:09

    Looking forward to seeing the June results.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:31

      Me too. I'm wondering how BEG did. In May they did very well but there was also that basketball tournament that added a lot of passengers, so we will see.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:11

    So I think we can conclude that BEG will definitely stay in the top 100 by the end of the year. Let's see if there will be any other from ex-Yu.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:28

      Hopefully PRN and ZAG will make it in the top 100 by the end of the year.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:31

      Doubt it

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:32

      Before Covid, Belgrade and Zagreb (sometimes even Split) were always in the top 100. Pristina entered last year. We will see what happens by the end of the year.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:43

      Before Covid, BEG was the single airport from ex-yu ranked in top 100, for decades...

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:12

    I'm glad EX-YU is listening to clowns at Fraport and didn't compare LJU with any airport.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:27

      Looking at this list, I think it is obvious why Fraport doesn't want Ljubljana compared to anyone.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:58

      They have a point. You cannot compare low cost traffic Airport with non low cost traffic Airports.
      No sense at all.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:14

      Is LJU the only airport in Europe that has non low cost traffic? Didn't know that.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:22

      @9.58: your comment makes no sense. Especially since LJU also has LLC flights.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:02

      Apparently Slovenia really was the only country affected by covid

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:12

    I don't understand how come any US airlines don't fly to Europe's busiest airport for 3 years, IST.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:14

      I doubt they can compete against TK. TK has so many flights to US it's crazy.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:24

      This is true. I am surprised that TK flies double daily to most cities in the US and they are constantly expanding. They recently started Seattle. Also they offer really cheap connecting fares. On my recent (packed) TK flight from Chicago, many people were continuing on to Thailand.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:34

      They can't compete with either service or price, same goes for all the ME3 airlines and their hubs.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:14

    3 airports over a million passengers by May. Not bad.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:25

      In June BEG for sure reached 2 million.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:14

    Wow Frankfurt not in the top 5 busiest in Europe!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:24

      I think it was just after Madrid.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:36

    Good results for most

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:04

      When you think about it, it's sad actually. 1 in 100 in May and 3 in 100 barely in 5 months. Should be more.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:40

    Will an ex-Yu airport ever reach top 50?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:46

      Unlikely

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:53

      BEG has a chance if reach planned capacity. We'll wait for that still.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:40

    Ljubljana's results are just embarrassing. Capital city, EU airport... should be doing much better.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:46

      No national airline, turned down offers from six airlines. What else to expect?

      Delete
  17. Anonymous09:41

    Thank you for the results

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous09:43

    What happened in Finland for them to be recovering so slowly?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:45

      The war in Ukraine and Finnair having to cancel a lot of flights because of closure of Russian airspace is not helping.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:54

      During Covid they also had very restrictive entry measures. So it's just one thing after the other really.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:49

      Yes true, I forgot Finnair has had to cancel a lot of flights to Asia and it is having an impact on the rest of their network.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous09:53

    PRN has achieved incredible results.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous09:54

    Like ACI said, the more problematic thing is if new variants appear and how governments will react. There needs to be a unifies approach.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous09:57

    TIA overtook so many ex-Yu airports

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous10:02

    Sarajevo used to be in 175th place, and now it is in 142nd place. If it continues to expand, it could enter the TOP 100 in a couple of years

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:08

      The management has made some excellent decisions in the last year or so. I just wish they would finally finish the new terminal. It has been years and the project itself is very small.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:03

      Amazing for Bosnia and Herzegovina aviation, especially considering there are another 3 airports in the country (2 of which are successfully functioning).

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:07

      Actually in 2019 Sarajevo was the least busy capital city airport in Europe (similar to Ljubljana today). Shows just how much work SJJ has done.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:21

      And how little LJU has done.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous15:29

      Just shows how good management can turn things around. But according to a Fraport fanboy here management has nothing to do with improving air connectivity.

      Delete
  23. Anonymous10:02

    As SKP is losing more airlines such as QR, Nordwind and SJJ having new lines, the difference between both airports is now less than 150,000 meaning that there is a high chance for SJJ to overtake SKP. Their Israir Tel Aviv initially scheduled route was cancelled again most likely due to the lack of demand.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:08

      Seems like Macedonian market has been stagnating lately.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:20

      Their recovery has been quite good and in line with most other ex-Yu airports.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:41

      We need more new routes and greater variety of airlines.

      Delete
  24. Anonymous11:08

    Anyone care to make end of year predictions?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:40

      In my opinion BEG will be around 5.2 million this year. Not sure about the rest.

      Delete
  25. Anonymous11:48

    if Adria didn't go bankrupt Ljubljana would be around 110 for sure.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:37

      But there are still some that think we are better off without it.

      Delete
  26. Anonymous12:18

    Can Belgrade overtake Sofia and Solun?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:30

      JAN - MAY

      BEG:1,600,479
      SOF:2,077,729
      SKG:1,785,971

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:39

      Doesn't look likely

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:06

      Didn't BEG overtake Sofia before Covid? Or I mixed it up

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:48

      @ 13:06 - Nope

      2019

      SOF: 7,107,096
      SKG: 6,897,057
      BEG: 6,159,000

      Delete
    5. Anonymous14:53

      Thanks

      Delete
    6. Anonymous17:13

      Why embarassing ? Tirana is far, it's the only real airport in the country, Albanian diaspora is huge... Nothing surprising about Tirana's large numbers.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous18:30

      TIA is a mix of gasto but also leisure. There is a decent number of Polish destinations in summer and now Middle Eastern ones as well.

      Delete
  27. Anonymous12:39

    TIA predicts for this year 4.9 million pax.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:40

      Impressive. They will be very close to BEG.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:19

      embarrassing if TIA overtakes Belgrade

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:53

      Isn't it more embarrassing that the capital city of one of Europe's poorest countries has more traffic than Zagreb and Ljubljana combined which are EU and NATO capitals?

      Delete
    4. That's what I am constantly saying, Croatia had all preconditions to have at least triple bigger flag carrier and at least double numbers in ZAG as its hub, but doesn't have it because of lack of strategy and crime and corruption, but then Bravo Hrvatska and similar profiles spit on me

      Delete
    5. Zasto bi bilo sramota da Aerodrom Tirane stigne ili prestigne Aerodrom Nikola Tesla Beograd? Aerodromi
      ne postizu uspehe po zeljama i navijanjima blogera.
      Vec privlacenjem putnika, turista, poslovnih ljudi.
      Sposonosti svih ljudi u sluzbama obsluzivanja putnika,turista... Otvorenost zemlje i odnosi sa imucnim drzavama, dodatno pomaze...
      Ipak Beograd ce i dalje biti lider na Balkanu. Ne racunajuci Atinu i Bukurest.
      🛫🌐✈

      Delete
    6. Anonymous15:19

      Rodney Well said!

      Delete
    7. Anonymous16:49

      TIA may in a couple of years be no. 1 in the Balkans, simply due to tourist arrivals, given also it is the only airport in the country. Keeping proportions, this would follow success of the likes of Palma, Alicante, Ibiza or Heraklion. Tourist arrivals to Albania are booming and if this is well handled the boom may continue for the years to come. Not talking of 10+ millions, but 8 millions is definitely possible, in particular that there is no legacy that would entrench itself against lcc or dynamic foreign carriers.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous17:53

      Tirana isn't the only airport in Albania - Kukes in the north now has commercial flights, Wizz has 4 routes from there.

      Delete
    9. @ Rodney
      Sramota je mozda zato sto je za vrijeme SFRJ, o kojoj znamo Vas stav, BEG imao 100 polazaka dnevno a TIA jedan do dva

      Delete
    10. Anonymous22:24

      Za rijeku ako je iz rijeke . Da hub u zagrebu ? Jel to zato sta je aerodrom rijeka nakon one nesrece aviogenexa dosao na crnu list sigurnosnu aerodromsku i zbog cega se nikad nije oporavio, pa se onda bolje prikoniti zagrebu . Isto kao i u sport , prodati se kriminalcu za par kupica . Pa jel vama jasno da je ta politika izgradnje nakakvog huba u najnezanimljivijem gradu u europi i dovela OU u orgomni gubitak . Cinjenica je da nakon izgradnje tog vaseg huba u mjestu koje i nije bilo grad do sredine 19 stog stoljeca OU je izgubila trziste na jadranskoj obali i prepustili su je strancima . Pa covjece vas grad ima vecu povijest nego ta umjetno politicki napuhana tvorevina koju su izmislili macek/tito/tudman sve redom zagorci . Je li vama jasno da izmedu tih uhljeba koje stalno prozivate i vas nema nikakve razlike . Politika izgradnje huba vam je ista osim sta su oni dovoljno pametni pa rade za svoj dzep , a vi dragi gospodine ne razumijete nista , nazalost . Da hub u zagrebu . Odbijete transferne i tranzitne putnike kroz zagreb pa cete doci do pravog broja putnika koje generira grad zagreb u maksimalno centraliziranoj drzavi . Strasan hub koji placa ryanu da mu leti .

      Delete
  28. Anonymous15:49

    Congrats TIA! Just 2,000 PAX less than BEG. Most probabaly it will surpass Belgrade in a year or two but if its southern airport in Vlora opens within 4 years its figures would probably fall under BEG

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vlad16:01

      It's unrealistic to expect TIA to overtake BEG with the current expansion rate of JU. That said, Albania really seems to be growing as a summer hotspot, so both airports have a lot to look forward to.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous16:15

      Man, some individuals are really forcing this "rivarly" for no reason. BEG has a proper flag carrier that handles a considerable amount of transfer pax plus huge outbound charter demand in the summer. That enough will keep BEG ahead. Not to mention TIA has serious issues with capacity. As an Albanian I'm happy to see aviaton and airports in our region continue to grow and develop. I don't care who's on top of the list.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous16:53

      I do not think it really matters whether it is BEG or TIA that has more pax. Still although BEG has its chances, my bet is on TIA and booming tourist arrivals. When arrivals to Albania become more upscale, there will be more arrivals by air and less by car. From this perspective a growth of couple of millions should not be a problem.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous17:03

      Well let's see. They're predicting +8 million in 2025, but with economical situation you never know.

      Delete
  29. Anonymous17:04

    This way Sarajevo will skip Skopje in a few years and become 5th busiest airport in the ExYu which is still hard to believe. This just proves how quickly things change in aviation. Also, Bosnia overall will, probably, be the 3rd busiest country in the ExYu area which is somehow natural considering three airports are functional and the country has a huge diaspora and 3rd largest population.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous19:01

      Don't wanna sound too direct but SKP has always been mainly a gasto airport designed as a PRN and Albanian replacement or serving its Australian diaspora via Doha or Dubai.
      SJJ and BiH is more touristic and diversified. In summer SJJ is basically booming given its size and still the untapped potential it has following the terminal expansion is likely to be higher. One has to see the airlines flying to SKP and the ones to SJJ. The idea is more than clear.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous23:38

      You clearly haven't been in Macedonia. I know Bosnia is visited by a lot of middle eastern tourist.And I know that tourism is growing in Bosnia. In Macedonia tourism is also growing. It grew by 56% between 2015-2019. The wizzair flights played a important role this. A lot of foreigners who visited Macedonia would probably not have visited without Wizzair. Macedonia has a diaspora over 600k in west europe so it doesn't need to serve Kosovan diaspora. Finanly it's not an competition and what ts actually your point.

      Delete

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