Six airports across the former Yugoslavia are still struggling to reach their pre-pandemic volume of scheduled flights and capacity. Ljubljana, Tivat, Tuzla, Pula, Ohrid and Rijeka, will be well below in both metrics during the busy second and third quarters of the year when compared to the same period in 2019. Ljubljana Airport is the largest among them, still struggling to compensate for the loss of Slovenia’s national carrier Adria Airways. During Q2, scheduled capacity is down 33.3%, while the number of operated flights has decreased 44.1%. The situation remains unchanged in Q3, with capacity and flights down 34.9% and 43% respectively.
Tivat continues to seek a replacement for the loss of three large source markets - Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. During the second quarter, available capacity has declined 12.6%, while the number of operated flights is down 18.3%. In Q3 capacity will be 15% below 2019 levels, while the number of flights will decrease 19.1%. Compared to five years ago, airlines including Aeroflot, Pobeda, Azur Air, NordStar, Ural Airlines, S7 Airlines, and Brussels Airlines no longer serve Tivat, while Air Montenegro has significantly fewer flights and seats than the country’s former national carrier, which declared bankruptcy in December 2020.
Tuzla Airport’s capacity and flights have been wiped out by Wizz Air’s base closure last September. Both are down 80% in the second and third quarters. This summer, Pula sees its capacity decline 32.4%, while flights are down 30.1% during Q2, while figures marginally improve in Q3, when both will be down 27%. Pula Airport’s General Manager, Nina Vojnić Žagar, said recently, “Although the majority of airports undertake measures and activities to increase their number of routes and overall traffic, the airport’s mission is not to develop the market and bring passengers to the region it is located in. The decision made by tourist organisations, airlines, or individual travellers to fly to a certain airport depends on the political situation, the degree of democracy, cultural events such as concerts and sporting events, accommodation and its quality, economic development, climate etc. All of these are not dependent on the airport. For this reason, the airport cannot be solely responsible for the development of the route network and frequencies”.
In Ohrid, the number of available seats during the second quarter is down 19.6%, while flights are 30.4% below pre-Covid levels. Both metrics will be down around 23% in Q3. Wizz Air is the main culprit for the decline, however, Ohrid is no longer served by Turkey’s Onur Air, which has since gone bankrupt. At Rijeka Airport, capacity has decreased 22.9% in Q2 2024 compared to five years ago, while the number of scheduled flights is down 16.2%. The situation will somewhat improve during Q3, with both down just 7.6%. Unlike five years ago, the airport is no longer served by Air Baltic and Volotea.
The statement by Pula Airport CEO is WILD
ReplyDeleteReally shocking
DeleteI am embarrassed on her behalf. Next week I am flying to Trieste to get to Pula because I can't get good flights to PUY
DeleteCheck the degree of democracy first haha I am still laughing.
DeleteI would not call it shocking because she is partially right, but the reality remains that she is making excuses for a problem she doesn't know how to fix.
DeleteWhat is partially right, if I may ask?
DeleteWhy? Is there demand or isn't there? What's next? Why not also subsidize accommodation? Why not give hotels and private rentiers subsidies to attract some guests??? Let's subsidize the whole vertical ; arrival, accommodation, food, prostitution, alcohol, local transport, departure, gifts for the extended family???
DeleteShe speaks the truth. They can't create demand out of thin air.
DeleteIstria’s strategy is to fucus on markets that are accesible by car. All of the marketing efforts by tourist boards and towns follow this. Russians were an exception.
DeleteI agree that PUY should seek additional connections in UK/Ireland and Scandinavia. That requires going an extra mile, which the airport leadership is clearly incapable of… unfortunately.
I agree that these are excuses, excuses, excuses... But at the same time, she is right. The city should do probably more to create a demand. At the same time if you look at the line-up of artists that will come to Pula this year, it does not look bad (Dua Lipa, Andrea Bocelli...). The Arena could however be used for more events.
DeleteThe fact that Croatia, especially Istria is considered by many a car destination does not help. Perhaps they should have some campaign in Scandinavia and/or UK, ideally in cooperation with some airline. They could team up with Croatia Airlines to have one plane dedicated to this, flying twice a week to Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm etc.
And with Schengen it is now even easier to drive to Croatia.
DeleteTrieste is great alternative to Pula, so many good connection flights.
DeleteConsidering how many European airports are still below preCovid, this isn't too bad.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteMore than I expected in ex-Yu actually.
DeleteSE Europe is one of the fastest growing regions by airport traffic in Europe, so we're doing pretty well.
DeleteTrue. I just read recently that over 50% of European airports are still behind 2019 passenger numbers.
DeleteIt's mostly because business traffic never recovered. Airports which had more VFR traffic are doing better in comparison
Delete^ It depends on market to market. For example Germany is way down mostly because LCCs significantly reduced capacity on domestic flights and just never restored it. But international traffic has reached pre Covid levels. Not sure what's going on in Sweden though. Its numbers are really struggling.
DeleteDidn't Sweden introduce all sort of environmental taxes or something?
DeleteWhat happened with the flights from Istanbul to Ohrid, there were rumors that Turkish will fly seasonally this summer
ReplyDeleteThere weren't rumors. Macedonian media took the airport CEOs comments out of context. He said that there is demand and that he hoped Turkish or another airline would start flights. Macedonian media then wrote that he said Turkish will launch flights.
DeleteOHD is still undiscovered by the wider public. It could be a top tourist destination if people knew about it.
DeleteIt might be better that it is not completely discovered and destroyed by tourists.
DeleteOhrid also lost Brussels Airlines with flights from Brussels, Corendon with flights from Netherlands, Eurowings with flights from Dusseldorf and Stuttgart and Arkia with flights from Tel Aviv. Even if Wizz didnt cut the routes that they terminated, OHD would have still not reached the pre-pandemic levels it had in 2019 as all of the carriers mentioned above are now gone. They made the record numbers for the airport during the summer 2019 together with TUI which remains to operate to OHD and ofc Wizz Air.
Delete10:26 Corendon fly from Amsterdam still to OHR and this summer , couple days ago Dutch tourists arrive at OHR. But yes no Dusseldorf and Tel aviv also no Stuttgart and Brussels. Thats what I am saying TAV did not do anything ro recover OHR ans its their fault , no on else.
DeleteIts not OHR but OHD.
DeleteInteresting how Skopje is so far above pre Covid numbers but Ohrid not.
ReplyDeleteOhrid traffic has been affected by TIA's meteoric rise.
DeleteYes true, I forgot about that. That is likely one of the main reasons.
DeleteNot only that , menagement of TAV did not do anyting to upragde,any investement in OHR , how you will bring and attract tourists with old terminal,no shuttle and much more. Dont blaim anyone , TAV is responsible for the bas results of OHR!!
DeleteBad*
DeleteAnd then people write "Bravo Fraport"... they should have thought to find an airline to base aircraft in LJU.
ReplyDeleteThe main argument is transfer vs point to point :D
Delete"Transfer" explains part of the figures, but it's used mainly as an excuse. Even taking this into account, the result is extremely bad, especially compared to the airports in category 1-5 mio pax, which almost all has very good results. The problems with recovery are mostly in big hubs (reliance on legacy carriers) and secondary small airports (where every route represents a big share of traffic and they usually depend only on one low-cost carrier).
DeleteLoss of being a transfer hub is definitely painful, but it's no excuse for Fraport to not be attracting any LCCs. Only LCC routes are Amsterdam, Orly, Gatwick as well as subsidised Skopje and Copenhagen
DeleteAnd those last two are thanks to the activities of the government, not the airport operator.
DeleteIf there were demand enough to justify such a move - someone, led by an economic logic, would have done so... That's called the market. Obviously there isn't any whatsoever economic logic there.
DeleteWell Wizz and Ryanair both held talks with LJU on many occasions in the last 2 years. So there is interest.
DeleteI's funny how people blame LJU's reduced traffic on Fraport instead of Slovenian market dynamics but are unable to offer an explanation why the other 20+ Fraport run airports are thriving.
DeleteHold on, this article is about the capacity difference. You cant expect the same number of flights now as in 2019 when Adria was flying. Hoever less seats and less flights doesnt mean that the airport is really behind 2019 with the real pax numbers. Maybe Adria offerd better capacity back then but their planes were half empty.
DeleteOh really Anon 9:46?? Activities of the government ?? I would have laughed if the statement hadn't been so tragicomic. If it wasn't for the airport's long-standing pressure on the government to do at least something, since they have already managed to sucessfully destroy Adria, they would have done nothing, because they do not have a clue what to do and what aviation is all about .. So sad but true at least for the vast majority of people there,
DeleteAnon 11:06 It seems you don't have a clue what is going on. Long-standing pressure of the airport on the government? Not at all. It was just the opposite. It was the government who is advertising Slovenia as a destination and talking to the airliners who might be interested.
DeleteKdaj vam bo postalo jasno, da je Slovenija z izgubo nacionalnega prevoznika izgubila tudi kolikor toliko pomemben položaj na področju letalskih povezav v regiji? Že 5 let pričakujete rešitev od svobodnega trga in tujih prevoznikov brez rezultatov.
DeleteOhrid has struggled since Covid a lot. I don't know what's going on and why hasn't traffic receovered.
ReplyDeleteAnd it is still struggling ,no new airlines no new routes , with Wizz cuts it gets completely 0 progress , also TAV was speaking they will build new terminal and nothing from that. No bus shuttle from airport to the city , they need to work alot to bring OHR on good way.
DeleteConsidering Air Baltic is now flying everywhere I'm surprised they haven't restored Rijeka.
ReplyDeleteWhat the hell is going on in Rijeka. In 2023 they had less passengers than in 2022, which is crazy considering Covid.
ReplyDeleteDid RJK have a lot of traffic from Russia and Ukraine before the war?
DeleteNo, nothing
DeleteDidn't ECA fly to Rijeka? Their collapse probably had some impact on numbers too.
DeleteECA collapsed years ago. They did fly to Rijeka but ECA could handle 10 passengers per flight. I really don't think that had such an impact.
DeleteECA has nothing to do with current situation.
DeleteI believe I read somewhere that Rijeka is no longer included in the udruzenje oglasavanje. Basically no subsidies for airlines anymore.
DeleteThere's little demand for air travel to Rijeka when you have Pula next door, which is a holiday destination.
ReplyDeleteNext door Pula also can't reach pre-pandemic volumes.
DeleteIsn't Rijeka a holiday destination too?
DeleteAll these airports, except maybe Tuzla, have a lot of untapped potential.
ReplyDeleteWhy not Tuzla?
DeleteWhat is there to do in Tuzla? It served as an alternative for Sarajevo when it was expensive for airlines to fly there and the management didn't want LCCs. Now the situation has changed.
DeletePula airport ceo is a genius LOL And she still holds that position. Politicki kadar.
DeletePula's infrastructure needs an upgrade.
ReplyDeleteRijeka too.
DeleteOhrid as well.
DeleteYeah??? And who is going to pay for that? If an upgrade is needed let the airport finance it.
DeleteYes, Macedonia and Croatia will let airports to finance the upgrades while the state of Portugal will spend nine billion for new airport in Lisbon. Airports are critical infrastructure, like a highway or railway and the state will always be financing it or it will not exist.
DeleteYou seriously comparing LIS with OHD or Pula? They are going to build new airport there not becasue the current one is old but because it is becoming smaller and smaller. Why would OHD need a new terminal? For the one daily flight of Wizz?
DeletePula airport ceo is a genius LOL And she still holds that position. Politicki kadar.
ReplyDeleteThe only good side of these airport concessions in the region is that they got rid of politically appointed management.
DeleteSaying that the airport's job isn't to bring and attract passengers is crazy.
ReplyDeleteWhy?
DeleteYou have a completely distorted view of the air traffic system, infused of course by socialism. Read J.S. Mill, D. Ricardo, A. Smith. There you will learn about free markets and how they function.
DeleteExcept aviation is not a free market, it's heavily regulated even in the country of Mill's and Smith's origin with many non-regulated barriers of entry (slots, etc).
DeleteIn v majhnih državah tudi vedno subvencionirano, ker je del infrastrukture.
DeleteAnd last year Pula was dreaming of TATL flights lol
ReplyDeletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2023/04/pula-airport-eyes-transatlantic-flights.html
Not surprised after reading the CEOs statement today.
DeleteI hope Tivat can find alternative markets.
ReplyDeleteThey should have done more to find alternatives. It has been 2 years.
DeleteWhy no flights to Italy during summer months, there are plenty of unexplored alternatives on the market...
DeleteThey are doing fantastic job attracting passangers from CIS countries like Kazakhstan, Armenia, Georgia they just need a bit time.
DeleteBut thats with Russians flying with Kazakh,Uzbek and Azerbaijani airlines to Europe.
DeleteNo change in pax just a rerouting of pax flows.
Croatia Airlines could and should have done much more with RJK.
ReplyDeleteThey used to fly Rijeka-Heathrow once upon a time before they sold their Heathrow slots.
DeleteTAV was saying that they will build new terminal in OHR with capacity of 600k people. They didnt do anytning , as a operators of both airports they barelly not do any single thing in OHR , they are eyes are only at SKP , and they should starr work there too , I think this is even worse then the Covid.
ReplyDeleteI really dont understand why LOT is experimenting with airports like Radom , why just simply dont launch WAW.
ReplyDeleteI think there is a good chance for Rijeka to become a seasonal base for some LCC at least. The number of German on Kvarner is large.
ReplyDeleteIs there much point with Zagreb nearby having a Ryanair base?
DeleteWell Zadar has developed strongly, despite the proximity to Split
DeleteRJK is Wizz material
ReplyDeleteWith current management RJK is doomed material: https://www.jutarnji.hr/vijesti/hrvatska/na-kvarneru-snimljene-sramotne-scene-cijene-narasle-s-15-na-360-eura-pa-se-sada-dogada-ovo-15457286
DeleteWizz is not anyone's material at the moment considering their troubles.
DeletePula will have better results in May since a few aircraft got diverted from Zagreb this morning due to fog :D
ReplyDeleteYes, 3 diverted flights will really make a big difference.
DeleteI don't see a brighter near-term future for any of these.
ReplyDeleteEspecially Tuzla.
DeleteIs there anyone that could be interested in flying to Tuzla?
DeleteI can only see some Turkish LCC as a possibility of launching flights from IST/SAW. Other than that I highly doubt it.
DeleteSad indeed
DeleteThe joys of having a politically appointed management.
ReplyDeleteOhrid does not have politically appointment management. It is run by TAV. Same in Ljubljana, it is run by Fraport.
DeleteI was referring to the two Croatian airports and Tuzla.
DeleteANON 10:26
ReplyDeleteOhrid also lost Brussels Airlines with flights from Brussels, Corendon with flights from Netherlands, Eurowings with flights from Dusseldorf and Stuttgart and Arkia with flights from Tel Aviv. Even if Wizz didnt cut the routes that they terminated, OHD would have still not reached the pre-pandemic levels it had in 2019 as all of the carriers mentioned above are now gone. They made the record numbers for the airport during the summer 2019 together with TUI which remains to operate to OHD and ofc Wizz Air.
Nordica also served some year ago Tallin, once a week but still.There were also rumours about Air Baltic for summer charters but nothing obviously materialised.
TIA impact is additional thing as LTN, MXP and some other routes were transfered there and many passengers transfered traveling there, avoiding even SKP since the roads are terrible, and you have some 2/3 pw destinations which are (double) daily and cheaper from TIA, you can't make weekend trvel from SKP - FRI to SUN for example.
And the top of it TAV seems to be not interested in OHD development.They announced pre vcovid that the terminal and facilities will be upgraded, postponed because of C19 and then again in february 2023 reannounced.Nothing untill now.
Regarding RJK and PUY from UK these are holiday flights. TUI still strong to PUY..Jet2 has announced it will return to PUY for 2025 probably from STN and poss MAN or BHX. This year, easyjet starting LGW -PUY In June and ending in September. 2023 was early April and late Oct. this year only LTN - PUY starts May and ends Oct.
ReplyDeleteThis is due to value of slots at LGW (LHR also.. see BA has reducex to x1 p week LHR to PUY)..UK is in bad economic way post Brexit. Holidays to 5 star all inclusive hotels in Turkey cost less than a 4 star on BB in Croatia.. eating out if not all inc and excursions 50 p cent cheaper in Turkey than Croatia. So more flights to Turkey. Rijeka..disaster..pity re OU they used to fly LHR-RJK on Weds ( I think they still fly LHR-zag on weds?). I am in year 31 working with tourism to Croatia and I cannot believe that ryanair would still fly STN to RJK without financial support. Easyjet dropped LGW TO RJK for BER to RJK this year..One airline with around 100 seat aircraft re UK to RJK for 2025 and told me recently that " the airport is not helpful" whatever that means? Brits love islands ( can fly direct to 9/10 ? Greek Islands direct) . Croats tell me " oh there is zagreb and trieste". one UK tour operator flies clients to Pula for Losinj.. long and expensive private transfer. Rab? even from RJK or ZAD allow 2.5 hours with waiting time/for ferry. forget ZAG..faster London to New York than from London to zagreb then losinj. I myself ( and others I advise) often fly to SPU then take PSO flight to PUY or RJK. Real pity as istria and kvarner are so beautiful and better value than the v v expensive South. I plan to move next year to Pula or poss near Opatija. Love it.