The International Air Transport Association (IATA) last week released its analysis of the Croatian and Serbian aviation markets using data up until the end of last year, concluding that the sector plays a vital role in the economies of both states, serving as a catalyst for economic growth, employment and connectivity. Both nations benefit significantly from their aviation sectors, which bolster tourism and trade.
According to IATA, the aviation sector in Croatia directly employs 13.500 people, generating 726.7 million US dollars in economic output, which represents 0.9% of the country's GDP. When considering the broader impacts, including supply chain activities, employee spending, and tourism, the total contribution rises to 3.6 billion dollars, supporting 81.500 jobs. Tourism, heavily reliant on-air transport, plays an important role in Croatia's economy. Aviation-supported tourism contributes 1.6 billion dollars to GDP and employs 34.200 people. The organisation notes that international visitors inject 16.4 billion dollars annually into the economy.
Since 2015, Croatia’s international air connectivity index has increased by 42% within the Europe region and by 86% with all other regions. For Croatia, only 1% of all passengers arriving internationally continued their journey on a domestic connection. A total of 98% of passengers either finished their journey at the point of entry to the country or continued traveling using a different mode of transport. Only 1% of all passengers arriving in Croatia from abroad continued their journey to a destination in another country. The average real airfare in Croatia decreased by 18% between 2011 and 2023, with the local population now needing to work 2.6 days to afford a plane ticket. Croatia's airports also handle significant cargo traffic, with 9.400 tonnes of air freight processed in 2023.
In Serbia, the aviation sector employs 6.200 people directly, contributing 160 million dollars to the economy, or approximately 0.2% of GDP.. Expanding the scope to include tourism and supply chain activities, aviation supports 1.3 billion dollars in GDP and 45.500 jobs. Tourism in Serbia, supported by aviation, generates 530.6 million dollars in GDP and provides employment for 18.100 people. International tourists further contribute 3.3 billion dollars annually to Serbia's economy. International air traffic accounted for almost 100% of total origin and destination departures for Serbia in 2023, equal to 4.9 million passenger departures. Europe is the largest international market for passenger flows from Serbia, followed by North America and the Middle East. Almost 4.4 million passengers departed from Serbia to another country in Europe (89% of the total), 187.700 to North America (4% of the total), and 154.900 to the Middle East (3% of the total).
Since 2014, Serbia’s international air connectivity index has increased by 77% within the Europe region and by 359% with all other regions. For Serbia, 87% of passengers either finished their journey at the point of entry to the country or continued traveling using a different mode of transport. A total of 13% of all passengers arriving in Serbia from abroad continued their journey to a destination in another country. Serbia also boasts a growing cargo sector, with 14.100 tonnes of freight handled in 2023. The average real airfare in Serbia decreased by 27% between 2011 and 2023, with the local population now needing to work 4.4 days to afford a plane ticket.
Proof why Croatian government will never give up on OU.
ReplyDeleteOr Serbian government on JU.
DeleteFinancially, OU is in much more unstable state.
DeleteHow it is unstable if the government always covers its losses?
Deleteit doesn't get more stable than that.
Sure
DeleteThe fact that it’s a dead man walking, only surviving due to already overburdened tax payers’ money, is a clear sign that OU is a non-feasible project that exists solely because of political reasons and ego.
DeleteSame as JU then!
DeleteNot exactly considering it is profitable and has connected BEG with close to 100 destinations. The fact that you are defending OU with its barely 30 destinations in summer, losses, and one of the lowest load factors by a legacy airline in Europe is exactly why they will never change.
DeleteIs JU going to repay 900 mil. it received from the state? I don't think so.
DeleteAre you just going to make things up as you go. And in actual fact, unlike Croatia Airlines, Air Serbia has been repaying the government its Covid aid.
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2023/08/air-serbia-posts-record-profit-and.html
Croatian Airlines is the best airline in Europe, respectful management, professional crew and good results are what makes OU one of the best airlines in the world. A220 with reliable PW1000 engines is the best choice any airline could make!
DeleteAnd then you woke up! :)
DeleteWhen is JU going to repay whole 900 mil. of state investments?
DeleteWhat €900 million are you talking about?
DeleteInteresting article. The 13% onward connections from Serbia are because of Air Serbia. Pity OU hasn't done the same. By tweaking its schedule a bit and creating a proper wave at ZAG they could increase transfer passengers, as well as their passenger numbers and load factor.
ReplyDelete+1 I don't now why they are so stubborn and don't just shift their departures a bit. In most cases it is just 10-20 minute later departure which would open a lot connections.
DeleteManagement could not care less.
Delete^true unfortunately.
DeleteIt's not necessarily a bad thing that OU doesn't subsidize the cost of travel for people not coming or going to/from Croatia.
DeleteThat would stand true if the airline was actually making money. But it is far from it.
Delete^ It is even more true. Offering cheap connections would only worsen its financial performance.
DeleteI guess you are right. That is the cost of being mismanaged for over a decade.
DeleteState aid JU received would be considered illegal in Croatia.
DeleteAccording to the annual EU progress report the area on aviation actually gives Serbia glowing marks with no mention of your made up subsidies. Need I remind you that Croatia Airlines received 106 million euros in a single transaction in 2012 a few days before EU entry which it never repaid in order restructure itself. 12 years later, Croatia Airlines is in a worse financial state and has worse operational performance than in 2012. Perhaps for you that was money well spent. Not to mention it has millions of unpaid covid aid which the government keeps delaying the repayment. But why should they ever repay it? They have fans such as yourself to make sure they don't change a thing and keep producing losses.
DeleteYou JU supporters are just jealous that OU are updating their fleet with brand new state of the art Aircraft whilst you lot are leasing outdated old Aircraft!
DeleteYou are just a tad bit jealous, methinks. lol. It’s not how new your aircraft are, but how much net profit you make. And judging by those figures, I think people prefer JU’s “outdated old aircraft” to OU’s brand new white elephants. It’s like a bankrupt man saying he is all of a sudden rich because he got a brand new credit card.
DeleteWhy would someone far ahead in #1 spot be jealous of someone in #2 spot? It's the other way around.
DeleteThose who don't wish well to OU, if there are any, would actually want OU to get many more A220s as that would push the airline to the brink with unbearable financial burden.
Anon 18:11
Delete+1
If some airline is irresponsible with money that is JU. Where did 900 mil. € from the state went? Subsiding cheap travel from. Albania via Belgrade?
DeleteWell, that’s example of good investment. Today, JU is very profitable and connects Serbia to almost 100 destinations on 4 continents. Unlike all others in the region
DeleteThis dude is simmering with hate towards Serbia. So funny to listen to his comments. Haha
Delete"hate" is telling the truth.
DeleteAnon 18:32
DeleteGood investment is not when you are losing money for 11 years and then make some peanuts in one.
18:54 seems like you are describing OU.
DeleteWeren't people making up how BEG has 40%-50% transfers and that is the only reason its traffic has grown. So much for that. Air Serbia may have 35 or 40% of transfers but it's traffic does not account for all of BEG's traffic.
ReplyDeleteIt was never said that BEG has 30-40% of transfer passengers, but that AirSerbia does. Considering that they make 50% of BEG traffic, it's easy to estimate BEG transfers to 15-20%
DeleteGood. Hope that contribution keeps growing.
ReplyDeleteLots of room for improvement in cargo traffic in both countries.
ReplyDeleteCargo can be very lucrative. I wonder why neither ZAG or BEG has bothered developing it.
DeleteIs there actual demand for cargo from either?
DeleteCargo is probably not that lucrative for airport operator from small market like Croatia and Serbia. That's why operators don't want to invest in developing it.
DeleteCargo volumes are dependent on how economically AND industrially developed a country is.
DeleteIf there is sufficient demand for exports and imports of products by air cargo operators will rush both to launch new routes and build handling centers and warehouses.
Just my2cents
Small market, relatively good connection with big centres in Europe, air cargo too expensive for local businesses
DeleteIt's also other factors such as that croatia has sea access so that goods can arrive cheaper on ships. Air cargo is more necessary for serbia.
DeleteBut yes both should spend some more focus to develop air freight in both countries. As much as it can grow.
Maybe both counties are using rivers Sava and Danube for cargo.
DeleteIt’s impressive that Serbia’s connectivity index grew by 359%!
ReplyDeleteSerbia still seems to lag behind Croatia
ReplyDeleteCroatia is a tourism powerhouse. It's not a fair comparison.
DeleteWhat's concerning is that TIA alone will have well over 10 million pax this year.
Surprising that a “tourist powerhouse’s” airline is lagging so much behind JU in all parameters.
DeleteSo you are doubting that Croatia is a tourism powerhouse? LOL!
DeleteCroatia is a tourist country, but far from a powerhouse. There are individual island groups in Greece that have more passengers than the whole of Croatia.
DeleteNot all tourists are air passengers. Does that really need to be said? Do you drive to Santorini from Vienna?
DeleteAnon 11:36
DeleteYour jealousy is so obvious. BTW there is no Greek island which has more air passengers than Croatia.
Croatia is not even in the top 10 European tourism destinations by number of visitors, let alone the world. In the greater scheme of things, it’s got a pretty coastline but it’s relatively inconsequential in relation to global tourism powerhouses.
DeleteThe numbers are encouraging
ReplyDeleteOd kada je ponela ime Er Srbija, Komercijalna avijacija je dobila snaznu podrsku od strane vlade Srbije i ljudi koji rade u toj kompaniji. Kada medjunarodna institucija kao sto je IATA,
ReplyDeletePosalje pozitivne zakljucke, ni kriticari Srpske nacionalne kompanije se ne osecaju dobro.
Dodatak svemu jeste proslava Stote godisnjice Srpske Avio Kompanije. I njenog doprinosa u odrzavanju EXPO 2027 Godine. Za novi pocetak i dobar nastavak avijacije na Aerodromu Nikola Tesla Beograd. 🇷🇸🛫🌐🛬🇦🇺🛫
It is not a proper EXPO but a mini one.
DeleteMini for the world, but maxi for the region. With over 3 million foreign visitors expected, it’s nothing mini for a country the size of Serbia. It will be a major cash injection for many sectors of the economy.
DeleteI highly doubt 3 million foreigners will come to Belgrade to see an EXPO about sports that only lasts 3 months.
DeleteIt's not "mini" but specialised. Stop trying to deminish everything related to Serbia just because your soul is so sad!
DeleteAnon 10:00
DeletePrevious "mini Expo" was in 2017 in Astana and had 3,997,545 visitors. Therefore, Belgrade should easily have more than 3 million visitors.
Did EXPO Astana had 3 million FOREIGN visitors coming to it?
DeleteNo, neither would Belgrade.
^ Why is it so important to you to belittle?
Delete^ Why is it so important to you to lie to yourself?
DeleteYou are belittleing for no particular reason. But I guess it makes you happy so ok.
DeleteIf the truth belittles you, then you need to change your argument.
DeleteYea, 2,9 million foreign tourists at least are expected. Lots of Croatians will visit too. Maybe we see you there too 😁
DeleteWould be fun seeing for example Greek stats to alleviate any notions of grandeur.
ReplyDeleteThat is not a fair comparison at all.
DeleteGreece is a global tourism destination and has been so for decades, It is also far wealthier than the rest of the Balkan countries. AND it is further away from the rest of Europe so that flying is the more efficient way of going to it instead of driving,
Also isn't Greece much larger both by area and population? Makes a big difference. It also has a huge diasppra.
Delete@Anon 09:53 +1000
DeleteThat's an apples and oranges comparison. We should be comparing ourselves to markets like Bulgaria, Albania, Romania, Slovakia.
We definitely have room for improvement.
This comment on Greece being further away from the rest of Europe is funny, at least describing the cradle of western civilisation in that way.
DeleteThe 0% onward domestic travel for Serbia is not really good. Air Serbia should really consider introducing at least 2x daily BEG - INI flights to boost the transfers and be more competitive.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, I don't understand why they don't sell BEG - KVO - BEG flights and instead fly an empty ATR for positioning.
+1
DeleteMaybe because it takes you less time to get from Kraljevo to Belgrade by highway than by plane. And when the high-speed rail is finished it will be the same case with Niš.
DeleteNumber of 160 mil€ for Serbia is not correct.
ReplyDeleteOnly SMATSA has turnoover that is close to that amount.
Not to mention, Airport BEG,INI, Jat tehnick, MTU, ASL, Prince aviation...
You should more carrefully write texts..
It's not just raw numbers, it's how you identify trend patterns and extrapolate future growth. This is my selection of relevant data:
ReplyDeleteSerbia has 112% cumulative growth over the last decade, Croatia 87%.
International air connectivity grew in Serbia by 359%, in Croatia 86%
Serbia has the only hub in the region with 13% onward int conections, total for Croatia is only 1%.
Air Serbia's transfer hub at Belgrade airport is the main growth driver and will continue esp in the long haul sector. It is resilient to regional competitors and LCC challengers and positions JU well ahead of where OU's ambition is tracking to be by 2027.
Serbia is over dependent on JU and that's not good. It's quite obvious growth is slowing down because of that.
DeleteActually it's remarkable how well Croatia is doing considering how useless Croatia Airlines is.
Delete15:20 Not really, W6 had massive capacity drop at BEG for obvious reasons. JU is increasing capacity growth from March with long term plans to grow E family to 10 frames. Slower 2024 growth is just a temporary blip on a 10-year scale. All of this has been discussed before.
DeleteAnd what if JU collapses?
Delete