Belgrade has overtaken Skopje after six years to become Zagreb’s busiest capital city route from the republics which once formed the former Yugoslavia. The pair were followed by Sarajevo and Podgorica, the latter being maintained on a seasonal summer basis. Air Serbia, as the sole operator on the Belgrade - Zagreb service, handled 62.224 passengers between the two capitals in 2023. It performed a total of 1.316 flights (both directions included) and registered an average cabin load factor for the entire year of 70%. Figures on the route have overtaken their pre-Covid levels, with the carrier welcoming 48.822 passengers in 2019. This coming summer season, Air Serbia will operate fifteen weekly flights between the two cities, increasing to sixteen weekly from May 5. Both are up on last-year’s fourteen weekly service.
Roundtrip passenger performance on Zagreb flights, 2023
Croatia Airlines, as the only operator on the Zagreb - Skopje service, welcomed 59.724 passengers on board its aircraft. The airline maintained a total of 966 flights between the two cities, registering an average cabin load factor of 61% during the twelve-month period. The carrier’s figures on the route were below its pre-Covid levels. In 2019, it handled 74.590 travellers. During last year, Croatia Airlines also inaugurated a seasonal service between Split and Skopje, which ran from May until October. Croatia Airline plans to slightly increase operations between the two capitals this summer with nine weekly rotations, whereas last year frequencies varied between eight and nine weekly, depending on the month.
Croatia Airlines handled 52.128 passengers between Zagreb and Sarajevo. It faces no competition between the two cities. During 2023 it performed a total of 1.356 flights. Its average cabin load factor over the twelve months stood at 50%. The route is some way off from recovering its pre-Covid passenger figures. In 2019, the Croatian carrier handled 65.639 travellers between the two capitals. This summer, Croatia Airlines plans to operate thirteen weekly flights on the route, up from the eleven to thirteen weekly services operated last year, depending on the month. The only other capital from the former Yugoslavia served out of Zagreb is Podgorica, however, the route, operated by Ryanair, was turned into a seasonal service last October. Last year, the budget airline handled 26.835 passengers between the two cities, with an average cabin load factor of 89.1%.
Sarajevo with most flights and least passengers….
ReplyDeleteTGD has less
DeleteBut it has much fewer flights.
DeleteTGD was twice weekly, SJJ is twice daily!
DeleteWhen you see the ticket price of 140e round trip, it makes you wonder, who even flies with them from SJJ. Even LH Group offeres some cheap flights to much greater distances
DeleteLocal ethnic transport. Like Banja Luka Beograd.
DeleteWhy would anyone fly via a limited airport such a zagreb for a higher ticket price and worse service compared to VIE, FRA or IST
DeleteMakes sense with smaller plane on shorter route. But 40% LF is something for sure.
DeleteThe power of LCC :)
ReplyDelete“Last year, the budget airline handled 26.835 passengers between the two cities, with an average cabin load factor of 89.1%.”
And even with that LF the route can’t be profitable for them year round.
DeleteWell when they use A320s on the route.
DeleteBut it was seasonal route.
DeleteWell it became seasonal at the end of October. It operated January-October.
DeleteExactly. And the November is third slowest month in a year.
DeleteJust remember that Ryanair was selling tickets on this route for 10 euros last year and flights were operated by Airbus A320s. So even with 90% load factor they probably lost money.
DeleteWhen will you understand that LCC doesnt make money from the ticket?
Deletehow do LCCs make money? From coffee and chips?
DeleteYes, among other sources of revenue. It is not my fault you do not understand their model. Educate yourself online.
Delete@13.12 educate yourself how to comunicate with others online
DeleteI am the one who wrote @10:59 comment. Yes, LCC make money from onboard sale, extra add-ons such as luggage from 10,20,32kg, priority boarding, bus to and from the airport, if you rent a car from their website or book a hotel, if you purchase a seat and so on. The more add ons are purchased by passengers, the cheaper the initial ticket will be. Ofc that they make money from the ticket itself sometimes when they know that they are the only airline who can bring you from point A to point B for example during the holidays or on specific date when someting is happening that day in the city.
DeleteImagine the load factor when the A220 takes over the Sarajevo route…
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteWell, in JAT`s times, when DC9 took over Belgrade-Sarajevo route from CV440, passenger numbers doubled.
DeleteYou can't possibly compare jump from CV to DC with jump from Dash to A220
DeleteJudging by Croatia Airlines load factor, passengers will have ultimate comfort with one passenger in each row.
DeleteI think Skopje has been impacted by Lufthansa starting flights as well.
ReplyDeleteYes, now we know who has been impacted the most
DeleteAnd wizz starting LJU
DeleteOU should really start finding a new partner or atleast get out of this deal they have with lufthansa.. they completly run them over.
Delete1044,do tell us, what are the details of this alleged deal?
DeleteOU is destroying itself. LH probably doesn't care about them but they will not oppose their self-destruction for the benefit of Lufthansa Group.
DeleteThe deal is that Lifthansa takes greater share on the moeby earned per coupon on all codeshare sectors then Croatia Airlines does while Croatia Airlines keeps funneling most of its passengers through Munich and Frankfurt, feeding LH's European network.
DeleteLet's see if the introduction of ZAG-ARN/BER affects the numbers for MUC, VIE and FRA.
DeleteYes, years and years of losses and shrinking network.
Deletethats not a proof
DeleteI don't think that LH would even notice if OU would stop to exist.
Delete39% load factor is abysmal. Imagine it on 120 seater instead of 74 one....
ReplyDeleteHow many flights did they have to Skopje before Covid if they are unable to reach thos numbers from a few years ago? Or did they use to use bigger planes before
ReplyDeletei think in Q1 they were well bellow pre-pandemic in nr of flights
DeleteI think around 10-12 a week. Similar to JU at that time but in 2019 we also had Adria with 14 weekly flights to LJU. If then they managed to have record numbers with JP as their competitor, now with JP they should have had more pax than then.
DeleteWtf happened with their Sarajevo performance?!?! I think the number of flights was the same as pre Covid.
ReplyDeleteBecause Croatia Airlines culled its operations from Zagreb, offering fewer transfer options.
DeleteTrue that could have been a reason.
DeleteLH now flies to Sarajevo from Frankfurt rather than Munich like in 2019. Maybe that also had an impact in attracting more transfers?
DeleteCould be
DeleteLufthansa effect, hoovered up a lot of passengers during 2023 summer, when they introduced A320/A321 on a late arrival and which would take most of the transfer passengers the following moring. [S.K.]
DeleteThe result of OU is shocking. It is clear without a stronger European network for transfers, their regional routes will be unprofitable, as there is no demand for enough P2P routes to fill those planes.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteIs the Skopje route mostly used by transfers or point to point passengers?
ReplyDeleteMix of both but I would say predominately transfers.
DeleteAny idea which destinations people mostly transfer onto from this route?
DeleteThe route is transfer heavy
DeleteI believe the transfers are to Paris, Amsterdam and London
Deleteits a good mix from local pax and transfers from my experience. The morning flight out of SKP is transfer heavy
DeleteInteresting numbers
ReplyDeleteLove these stat articles
Delete39% load factor? Ooooof..
ReplyDeleteI am wondering if the cost of these local flights which are price sensitive are too high. Looking at the load factor of Ryanair, despite the low numbers being high compared to the others.
ReplyDeleteI agree. The fares to all these local destinations are larger than most other destinations to western Europe.
DeleteNot surprising FR is increasing ZAG-TGD to three weekly this summer.
ReplyDeleteAdmin, do you know how is the Skopje - Sarajevo route performing?
ReplyDeleteI think its down to OU offering less transfer options from ZAG than before.
ReplyDeleteThese numbers perfectly show the state of Croatia Airlines.
ReplyDeleteLOL
DeleteHow does BEG fare compared to other regional destinations such as ZAG-VIE?
ReplyDeleteYou really can't compare the two considering two airlines fly ZAG-VIE and only one operated ZAG-BEG.
DeleteTruth be told OU/OS operate as one due to OU being somewhat the slave of the LHG.
DeleteIn a way it would be interesting to compare these two markets as both BEG and VIE are close enough so people travel by land. Both air links need transfers in order to survive.
There were 134.640 passengers on the Zagreb - Vienna service in 2023, with an average load factor of 65.3%
DeleteSo much about being A slave.
Delete^ that means Vienna is one of the busiest routes from ZAG.
DeleteWell, if a transfer heavy route such as ZAG-VIE accumulated 134.640 passengers then it goes to prove that OU is a slave.
DeletePeople who need to fly to OTP, PRG, LIS etc. will have to switch planes at one of the hubs VIE included. OU is focusing on Star Alliance hubs instead of its own.
JU used to struggle in ZAG but stayed committed to the route and now they are doing well. 70% lf on an annual basis on a turboprop is rather good, especially since the route depends on a lot of transfers. No wonder they are growing frequencies.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, I see a lot of ads for Zagreb in Belgrade. Just now there are a lot of billboards advertising some light festival.
Don't forget that there are days when ZAG flights depart or return to BEG with minimal connectivity. I am certain those flights are lowering their overall LF.
DeleteTake their Saturday flight which departs from BEG with so many transfer possibilities while on the way back there are limited connections available (only evening flights to Russia). So the return flight relies on O&D passengers to fill seats. I can't imagine this time of the week being very popular among travelers.
ZAG mostly relies on transfers and what was very interesting is that many fly via BEG to western Europe. Funnily enough, a few weeks ago there were even a few passengers going to FRA via BEG. lol
Why is that lol? JU has very competitive prices out of Zagreb to its entire network. Prices from London to Zagreb with JU are cheaper than direct flights with either Croatia Airlines or British Airways. JU is dumping and Zagreb passengers are loving it. I hope it lasts!
DeleteJU is not dumping fares in ZAG anymore, that was back in 2014. I am loling because there are 5 daily flights from ZAG to FRA and still some went via BEG. I guess LH/OU were crazy expensive.
DeleteJU is price conscious right now and they are not going to operate any route at a loss. I guess for many Croats JU is simply a convenient option when traveling.
LCCs badly needed on all intra-ex-yu routes
ReplyDeleteLCCs don't have appropriate aircraft for these routes to offer high frequency service.
Deletefew weekly is enough. hope the success of LJU-SKP encourages Wizz to think further
DeleteLJU-OTP and LJU-TIA maybe? Not Ex-yu but relatively closeby
Delete@12.40 uhm what if i wrote SKP-LJU instead of LJU-SKP? ;)
Deletethe success of this route is primarily because of the macedonian diaspora (plus students) in Slovenia and their visitors so I would be very cautious about future Wizz routes.
I had MK-HR flights in mind when i wrote it, must say. Regarding your routes: the first one is not realistic the second one maybe as summer seasonal.
I think BEG-LJU and BEG-SOF could work like a charm, both of them. Unfortunately I don't see either happening any time soon.
DeleteWonder how ZAG-TGD by Ryanair compared to SKP-LJU by Wizz Air
ReplyDeleteSKP-LJU has more pax then ZAG-TGD. Maybe not now but there are more seats on sale as the flights to LJU are operating three times per week year-round.
Deletenot now?
DeleteYeah cause SKP-LJU is a new route while ZAG-TGD is in operation for at least one year i think, thats why more pax are currently handled on the TGD route.
Deletetickets are crazy expensive
ReplyDeleteOU is lacking strategy on every corner including in their sales on regional ops. These results show. In 2023 they were nowhere near even close to reaching pre Covid traffic levels on these routes.
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit surprised. I would have expected Sarajevo to be first.
ReplyDeletelol why
DeleteSJJ was lagging behind during JP's "era" as well
DeleteAny info how many passengers there were on Split-Skopje last year?
ReplyDeleteThat's a really good load factor on Ryanair!
ReplyDeleteWith 10 EUR tkts no surprise. Also no surprise they turned route into seasonal.
DeleteAgain. LCC dont make money from the ticket itself.
Deletelol surely not when its 10€ but otherwise a bizzare claim
DeleteRyanair has tickets for 10 euros across its network. What is the problem with that?
Delete@ex-yuaviation, Any info about SPU-SKP performance?
ReplyDeleteI remember when Air Serbia announced BEG-ZAG route in Nov 2014, just weeks before starting operations. Some "analysts" were furious, predicting service would fail anyway as "no one from Zagreb wants to fly to Belgrade".
ReplyDeleteNow the route is topping this short list with solid LF and frequency that will go higher than double daily. Thank you for being so wrong!
Imagine the numbers of OU in SJJ when JU adds more flights there…
ReplyDeleteAnalitičara baš pogodila ova vest, Laki je malo nervozan. Podnevni letovi za ZAG su često skuplji od preostala dva što znači da Hrvati rado biraju BEG za presedanje ka Zapadnoj Evropi u odnosu na FRA i MUC.
ReplyDeleteЗашто не би? Тај лет има савршене и брзе везе у оба смера. Изгледа да им је тај лет био пун погодак! Надам се да ће ускоро повећати летове на 21.
DeleteАТР је душу дао за ту врсту линије.
Today he wrote that this is unverified information without a source and that the planes for Skopje and Sarajevo were full for two days. That person lies so much in public and begins to believe his own lies, it has already turned into a disease.
DeleteEveryone makes a mistake. But when you send a correction and he never publishes it, then it's not an honest mistake but deliberate effort of conceited individual to hide his ignorance and lack of aviation knowledge. I have saved screenshots of those corrections he didn't publish.
DeleteIt is enough to go to Google review and see what users think about his portal. There is no possibility of censorship there. The saddest thing is that he insults other serious portals, copies news from other portals without mentioning them, publishes fake news... I would ignore him but his writing misleads people and I think some companies should sue him.
Delete