Belgrade Airport handles over 700.000 passengers in July


Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport welcomed over 700.000 passengers through its doors in July, just 3% shy of its pre-pandemic levels. The airport handled some 712.500 travellers during the month. It represents its second busiest July on record behind 2019. During the month, the number of commercial aircraft movements decreased 2.8% on three years ago. Over the January - July period, Belgrade Airport registered 2.854.000 passengers, which is still down 15% on the pre-pandemic 2019 but up 96% on last year. During the same period, aircraft movements were down 11%. Airport operator VINCI singled out Belgrade as a “notable” performer in its portfolio of 53 airports across twelve countries.

Fuelling Belgrade Airport’s growth this summer is Air Serbia, which introduced a number of new routes and grew frequencies across its network. It accounted for 55% of the airport’s passenger traffic last month. The carrier’s overall capacity on scheduled services during the third quarter is down just 1% on pre-pandemic levels. This does not take into account its vast charter network, which has seen 30% more flights this summer than in 2019. Belgrade Airport currently offers services to more than 100 destinations. During July, Beijing was added to its network, while this coming winter season, another two long haul routes are expected to launch, to Tianjin in China and Havana in Cuba. Hainan Airlines has confirmed it will continue to maintain operations from the Chinese capital throughout the winter as well.

Passenger numbers on a number of select routes out of Belgrade during the first quarter of the year have been made public, showing the likes of Istanbul, Zurich and Podgorica as the busiest. It should be taken into account that strict travel restrictions were still in place in most of Europe during the first quarter, as well as ban on entry from Serbia to some markets. As a result, the majority of routes were still performing below pre-pandemic levels, however, there were some exceptions. Passenger numbers on Istanbul flights, both the main airport and Sabiha Gokcen, saw figures improve 3.5% and 19% respectively. Dubai was the standout performer, as has been the case throughout the pandemic, with 29.641 travellers flying between the two cities during the first quarter, up a notable 74.1% on the pre-pandemic 2019, and an improvement of 71% on last year.

Belgrade performance on select routes, Q1 2022




Comments

  1. Anonymous09:01

    wow well done. That's a great result

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous09:01

    Impressive growth on Dubai route. No wonder Flydubai has gone double daily this summer (and is keeping it this winter),

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:03

      +74% compared to 2019. Really impressive.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:05

      Expo Dubai might be the answer behind these growth numbers.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:07

      Dubai was also ahead of pre-Covid levels in 2021 too. And they added second daily flight after Expo. So obviously there is demand.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:09

      Having personally flown on flydubai on both flights, I can confirm. The flights were completely sold out and even Business was full on both flights. Interesting mix of passengers - lot's of Asians, Australian and Middle Eastern travellers onboard with Serbs mainly connecting to onward destinations (large group went to the Maldives on our particular flight). P2P traffic was roughly 30% from my DXB luggage carousel estimate.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:16

      Their high fares on this route certainly indicate that they are doing well and flights are in demand.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:10

      They need a widebody or more flights

      Delete
    7. We need Emirates on the route.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:02

    now that's a nice number. in 1 month almost as much as LJU has planned for the whole year.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous09:04

    So IST has taken over as the busiest route!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:05

      Well the route numbers are for Q1. It might have changed later on since Switzerland reopened but maybe IST is still ahead considering the numerous new flights that were launched.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:15

      When you combine both airports in IST it is probably still ahead of ZRH.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:46

      IST is the 5th busiest airport in the world right now, busiest in Europe.

      Imagine what is going to happen when it's fully completed in 2026.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous18:55

      And without a ban on Russians !

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:06

    So Air Serbia had 391,875 passengers at BEG in July.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:09

      Yes, that makes sense. They said they had over 400,000 passengers in July in total so the remaining pax are from Nis and Kraljevo.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:56

      Wonder what Wizz Air's passenger share is.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:08

    With the new long haul routes this winter. It will be a strong finale for BEG at the end of the year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:15

      +1

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:16

      In total, there should be around an extra 5 weekly long haul flights. +1 to Tianjin, +1 to Beijing, +2 to Havana, +1 to New York.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:42

      And +2 Chicago next summer :)

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:55

      How many more new routes will there be?

      Delete
    5. JATBEGMEL12:07

      @10,55

      Kazan is starting on 19.09 at 2 pw.

      KRR is back in the system starting 30.10 at 2 pw.

      CAI and OHD will also return, dates haven't been announced.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous14:43

      Now we can see that tickets can be purchased for KZN only until end of October.

      Delete
    7. Nemjee16:06

      My guess is that Russia only gave them a permit for the summer season. I am sure they'll apply for winter flights as well. Makes no sense to operate a route for a month and a half.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:09

    Nice work

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous09:09

    Was Belgrade ahead of Split in July?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:10

      Yes. Split had 641982 passengers.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:16

      Thank you

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:23

    If there were no cancellations by foreign airlines because of staff shortages, numbers would probably exceed pre-Covid

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:58

      Yes, Lufthansa cancelled quite a few flights, Air Serbia had to cancel 2 weekly flights to LHR and cap passenger numbers from Amsterdam.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:24

    Or it's just perhaps that the Covid related restrictions have eased...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:57

      ? don't understand your point.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:24

    Much better than I expected

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:29

      I have to admit I didn't expect such a quick recovery.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:30

      I'm guessing in 2023 BEG will be operating above pre Covid levels.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:25

    With long haul expansion happening I think numbers will keep improving.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:28

      Not just long haul but short haul too,

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:29

    Congratulations. Good result.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous09:31

    And let's not forget that more destinations are expected to be announced by Air Serbia soon...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:40

      Any idea when will it be announced?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:55

      Kazan is already on sale if I see right.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:57

      Anon 09:31 When?

      Delete
    4. JATBEGMEL12:11

      @10,57

      Russian routes don't get the large announcements like all other routes. They are loading more flights into the system.

      As mentioned above, KZN is starting on 19.09. This was loaded on Tuesday this week. KRR is back in the system starting on 30.10, as well 2 pw.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:18

      That with Krasnodar does not depend on Air Serbia. For now, there are no announcements when that route could be restored. The airport is closed and it is not known when it will be open for traffic.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:32

    DXB ahead of AMS and CDG. Wow.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:33

      Most people from Serbia could not enter the Netherlands and France during the first quarter.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:35

    Pegasus seems to be doing really well on their flights to Belgrade.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:38

      How do they have so many extra passengers when frequencies are the same.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:47

      Pegasus is sending A321 neo's which can carry more than 220 passengers.

      Just imagine what would happen if they were granted daily flights from Istanbul SAW.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:50

      If they were not limited by the Serbia-Turkey bilateral I'm pretty sure they would be flying daily (at least).

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:41

      Definitely

      Delete
    5. Nemjee16:07

      I think they would have more than daily since the market is massive and they need more flights so as to offer more convenient connections. Don't forget that the new IST is quite far away so for many SAW became a more appealing choice when traveling.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous09:44

    Those are good numbers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:55

      Seems like things are looking up for BEG.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous09:44

    What could be the numbers be for August?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:45

      Sorry that was meant to say what could be the numbers for August

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:48

      Around 750,000.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous09:45

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

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:47

      Won't happen this year.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:49

      Let's wait and see.

      Delete
  20. Anonymous09:52

    Interesting to see that the passenger difference between BEG and ZAG is now close to 2019 levels despite Ryanair in ZAG.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:53

      January-July difference is over 1.2 million.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:29

      Belgrade had more than double the passenger Zagreb had in July, 2.16 times more to be exact. Ryanair didn't help much.

      Delete
    3. JU520 BEGLAX10:29

      ZAG and BEG are two different pairs of shoes. Belgrade is a quite larger city than Zagreb. But if you want to compare both nations all airports, than the situation is in favor of Croatia.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:52

      But if you want to compare Serbia and Croatia you should not forget that Croatia has a long Adriatic coast that is magnet for tourists which fly there.

      Taking in consideration Serbia does not have coast at all the current result BEG+INI+KVO is more than great. Just have a look which results have ZAG+OSI even after FR opened the base in ZAG. Very dissapointing I would say.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:57

      Of course, seasonal coastal tourism swells in Croatia and country will always have more passengers. However that doesn't stop fair comparison of two capital city airports. Belgrade is bigger but Zagreb has higher standard, it is in EU and has strong tourist appeal. With Ryanair arrival it was expected passenger numbers would shrink the gap to BEG but for every passenger ZAG had in July BEG 2.1 passengers and that gap is not closing.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:28

      Higher standard?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:32

      Standard of living, GDP per capita, higher wages

      Delete
    8. Anonymous12:48

      Difference between Belgrade in Zagreb in living standard is around 30%.
      Not so dramatic at all.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous15:04

      There is no such a word in English as "standard" when it comes to quality of living.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous17:21

      Nemoj da pricas?

      https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/standard%20of%20living
      https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/standard-of-living.asp

      Delete
  21. Anonymous09:54

    some exciting times ahead for BEG

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous09:54

    Keep up the good work.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous10:07

    Congratulations to BEG, they are a truly great airport with a diverse offer. They have legacy, charter and low cost flights depending on what passengers need.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous10:08

    Since that there are 30% more charters than in 2019 it means that this number of passengers are generated dominantly with charter flights, and not through organic growth of traffic

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:12

      There is organic growth in charter traffic. More people are travelling and spending money to go on holiday. And how are passenger numbers being generated dominantly by charter flights? Do you know what is the share of charter flights in BEG?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:15

      Not necessarily at all. If the charter share was for example 10% of all passengers, then a 30% increase is just 13% of the total

      Delete
    3. Anonymous22:00

      Charters were 25% of all trafic.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous23:36

      And where exactly did you pull that false number out.

      Delete
  25. Anonymous10:29

    New wing looks great on the photo.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:40

      Agree. Looks modern

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:40

      Can't wait for the entire project to be completed.

      Delete
  26. Anonymous10:51

    So with charters JU has more capacity than in 2019. Nice.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous10:51

    Good result overall

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous11:08

    How do these July numbers compare to other nearby airports like Sofia, Bucharest and Thessaloniki?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:39

      I only know is that Thessaloniki for the jan - jul period is about 300.000 passengers ahead of Belgrade . Belgrade : 2.854.000 , Thessaloniki : 3.143.000 .

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:46

      Sofia - 3.239.000

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:50

      I think SOF also had a strong July similar to BEG. It is expected to have a busy winter as well

      Delete
    4. Nemjee16:14

      In July SOF had 601.434 passengers so BEG overtook them by quite a bit. In July 2019 Sofia airport handled 633.738 passengers,

      SOF usually has a strong winter as it serves nearby ski resorts.

      I read elsewhere that this winter Ryanair will be cutting Sofia quite a bit.

      CRL from 4 to 3
      CGN from 7 to 2
      BUD from 3 to 2
      BRI from 5 to 3
      NAP from 4 to 3
      BHX from 4 to 2
      BER from 5 to 3
      MLA from 3 to 2
      Treviso from 3 to 2

      Delete
    5. Anonymous16:42

      Wow very interesting that BEG was ahead of SOF and by quite a bit

      Delete
    6. Anonymous16:42

      ZAG will also be cut.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous18:09

      Yes, but Wizzair are basing a 7th aircraft in SOF this winter and will also include Riyadh from next spring.

      Delete
    8. Nemjee18:43

      Well, it's Wizz Air so let's see what sticks in the end and what they keep. Personally I am curious to see what foreign carriers will do in Belgrade this winter and to what extent they maintain their presence.

      I still think it's a true shame AF doesn't fly year-round anymore. In my opinion the most ideal outcome would be 3 to 4 weekly flights on the A220.

      Delete
  29. Anonymous14:27

    97% of pre-pandemic traffic is not enough for you? What is then LJU with 50%? Amazing?

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous15:07

    Does anyone knows what’s going on with Morava airport statistics? Admin?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I will publish the results tomorrow.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous16:51

      Great, thx Admin 👍

      Delete
    3. Pored pitanja postavljenog Admin-u, u vezi statisticke objave o broju putnika, ice veoma znacajno pitanje kada ce poceti gradnja nove piste sa kargo centrom.
      Bez nje nema letenja mlaznih putnickih aviona. Nema ni kargo saobracaja. Nema ni samoodrzivosti...
      Da li ce se resiti famozna dedovina i ^djedovina"...
      Gde je cena vrednosti zemljista i otpor Obrvskih porodica zestok. Mozda Administrator moze imati saznane po tom pitanju. I nadam se podeliti sa posetiocima ExYuAviation. 🛫🌐🛫

      Delete
    4. U gornjem tekstu mislio sam na Aerodrom Morava Kraljevo. 🛫

      Delete
  31. Anonymous15:12

    If you read the previous comments, you will understand the essence. Sofia was always ahead of Belgrade. That's why I said what I said. Of course these are good numbers.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Nemjee16:16

    Istanbul numbers are even more impressive if you take into consideration TK had double daily instead of triple daily in Q1. Also, worth noting that JU boosted IST to daily late in the quarter.

    I wouldn't be surprised if Q2 numbers are close to 100.000.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Anonymous18:01

    Frankfurt was always ahead of Sofia. So what, both are outside of Ex Yu. Belgrade is doing really well with busiest month of all Ex Yu airports since 1 Jan 2020.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Anonymous18:07

    Why didn't Wizzair include BEG in their latest Riyadh expansion? Even TIA was included!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:13

      TIA will have flights from Dammam not Riyadh.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:28

      Saudi Arabia is a market all its competitors take big advantage from, just not Belgrade ...
      ZZzzzZZZzzzz ..

      Delete
    3. Anonymous19:33

      No airport in the Ex Yu was included. Not even PRN or SJJ.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous19:34

      There is no open skies agreement between Serbia and Saudi Arabia. An EU registered airline can't fly between two non EU markets unless they have an agreement in place which Serbia does not have with Saudi Arabia.

      Delete
  35. Anonymous23:28

    On a lot of days Turkish Airlines flies just double daily to Belgrade (like today) .
    Whats going on ?
    Also Wizz cancelling Belgrade-Abu Dhabi flights (second time in a row ) ..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous23:33

      TIA-AUH has also been cancelled 2-3 times in a row now, they're screwing up so many people. It seems like huge operational issues, 2 of their planes haven't left the ground in AUH since weeks.

      Delete
  36. Anonymous00:23

    Not too bad for Belgrade. Jat Tehnika can now do maintenance for A330. Menzies Aviation is setting up shop at Belgrade airport, good news for their existing customers Air Transat and Air Canada. Would be fun to see C- registered A330 next year at this airport!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous07:28

      Menzies? To do what?
      Ground handling?!

      Delete
    2. Nemjee07:37

      From what I've seen online Menzies plans on offering ground handling services. Many airlines are not happy with the way BEG handles ground operations (can't blame them) so they are making it easier for competition to step in.

      I hope JU ditches BEG and makes a switch to them, it could only help in improving their passengers' experience while at the airport.

      Delete
    3. Dolazak Menzisa na Aerodrom Beograd je prva stvar razvoja efikasnosti jednog od vaznog servisa na aerodromu. Jes da "zla godina natera orla da se pili u kleki", ali bez "kleke ni pozeljnih orlica nema."
      Taff luck. Bez konkurencije je monopol. A njegov tata veliki Sloser je vec 42 godine u Dedinjskoj smonici.
      Rodney Marinkovic and Aviation Enthusiast Associate Group. 😀✈🌐🛫🌍✈🌏🛫

      Delete
  37. Anonymous18:16

    I thought Moscow would be full, but i see its for 1st Quarter and war started in the middle of it. I hear a lot of Russians in city center. I think Q2 and Q3 Moscow will be way ahead.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Ipak ocigledno nema odgovora o pocetku gradnje Nove piste sa pratecim objektima. Jedino nova Vlada Srbije koja se sada formira, ce morati da se izjasni. Hoce li budjet Srbije izdrzavati dve kompanije na krajevima piste. Prvo Vazduhoplovnu vojnu bazu koja je prirodno neizostavna.
    Drugu, Aerodrom Morava Kraljevo, u koju je veliki novac ulozen, placeni letovi Er Srbije za tri godine. Polozena velika nada u buduce investicije i osposobljavanje Morave za mogucu samoodrzivost sa kargo saobracajem.
    Do sada o daljoj gradnji svi mutavi.
    Ljudi koji su kompetentni za ova pitanja ne izjasnjavaju se javnosti za realnu buducnost ove Trece vazdusne luke zemlje Srbije. Za sada oko ovog pitanja se zaobilazi kao macke oko vruce popare. Nova Vlado Srbije. Mir je na prvom mestu, a sledece je dovrsenje Aerodroma Morava Kraljevo. Rekoh, Dusu spasih. Ostalo je na agendi Nove Vlade.
    Rodney Marinkovic and Aviation Enthusiast Associate Group. ✈🌐🛫🇷🇸✈🇦🇺 Kraljevo i Sydney. 😀✈

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

EX-YU Aviation News does not tolerate insults, excessive swearing, racist, homophobic or any other chauvinist remarks or provocative posts with the intention of creating further arguments. A full list of comment guidelines can be found here. Thank you for your cooperation.